Cav's Place

I wrote about the morning of February 10 in the post about the cold, so I’ll start this post with what wasn’t included in that one and say that I got up a few minutes after 3 PM, even did the day’s squats, and when it was almost 5:15 PM I went out, taking some trash, which I dropped down the chute, and the recyclables, which I dropped off in a bin on the way to Tei, getting what I wanted from there and one more tea that I happened to spot.
I’m not sure how much it helped in terms of time, but I had dad’s metro card and was barely starting to recover, so I took the metro and spared myself some of the effort of getting to Penny and Auchan, putting the purchases in the backpack while waiting and entering Penny with them. And, after adding the purchases from there in the backpack as well, I also walked into Auchan with it. None of that bread that I wanted to get for dad was left, however, and while I waited for 7 PM and saw that more bread was brought out at that time, that kind didn’t seem to be among what was in the carts, and when I finally managed to ask the employee she said that no more of that kind will be made that evening. So I got some liquid soap and some other kind of bread for dad, using what was still on the store card and also recovering the small amount lost on January 31, when the cashier from Auchan Obor apparently didn’t scan the store card, by entering all of dad’s breads as the cheaper kind at the self-checkout, though two were slightly more expensive, the total difference being just 0.05 RON more than what was lost then.
After getting back to the metro and rearranging what I had in the backpack in order to also add the liquid soap while waiting, I went to Carrefour Orhideea, where I ended up leaving my things on top of the cabinets, since the guards said that no free ones were left, and just got some chocolate for dad, since those vouchers were being offered for chocolate those days, ending up waiting a lot at the checkout, since both self-checkouts that also accept cash were out of order and I picked a line with a person who had a lot of products and apparently wanted to use multiple payment methods. But at least I used the voucher that I had, from previous purchases, and the receipt wasn’t taken away.
After retrieving my things and adding the chocolate in the backpack, I walked to Kaufland, put everything in a cabinet, used the toilet and entered the store when it was almost 9:20 PM. No more of that bread was left, nor any interesting sweet pastries, and the remaining buns didn’t have an evening discount, but I saw that one kind had what seemed to be a regular offer, six for the price of three, so I scanned some labels to confirm that everything was correct and then I saw that the employee seemed just about to clear away the buns that the deal applied to, so I asked her about it… And she initially said that it wasn’t like that, only confirming after I pointed out the label and she came to look at it. So I took six while a man who had heard the exchange held that glass up, after which I held it while he also took six. Then I just added green onions, which had an evening discount, since I couldn’t find fabric softener and had no time to dig through the grapes that also had an evening discount. I was in line at the self-checkout when it was announced that the store had closed, had no problems with the machine, retrieved everything from the cabinet, took some time to put the green onions in a bag and then in the backpack, and made my way to the metro station.
I got back here just after 10:45 PM and it was only about half an hour later when I went to shower, after just putting a few of the purchases in their place. After that, I ate a banana and a sweet thing, put some more of the purchases in their place and had a quick lunch, starting at 12:45 AM and finishing at about 1 AM. But dad had left greasy things that I had to wash, and there were some more purchases to put in their place as well, so the only way to at least stay close to the schedule was to once again have dinner in the kitchen, starting a couple of minutes after 3 AM and finishing just after 3:45 AM.

On February 14, I had bad dreams in the morning. Then I had lunch and shaved, and just before 6:45 PM I went out, once again with a FFP2 mask. After not finding anything to get from Carrefour, I got a lot of that bread for dad from Auchan, also “rewarding” myself with some of those corn puffs with powdered milk and having no problems with the self-checkout. Then I put the corn puffs in the backpack and went to Penny, entering with everything and getting a couple of things. The cashier asked whether what I had in the bag that hangs from my neck was from there and I partially pulled out one bread, showing her that it’s from Auchan. Then I continued to Kaufland, putting the other things in a cabinet but just forgetting that I also had the backpack, with those corn puffs in it. Either way, I was at the toilet and it wasn’t even 8:40 PM when bakery discounts of 75% were announced, so I rushed and, while no more of that bread was left, I could get one of another kind. The new discount labels weren’t yet placed, however, so I scanned several labels and found that the actual discounts varied, many products having 80% but that bread having only 62.5%, while a bun that I had actually grabbed just had the 30% regular discount that it had those days, so I put it back. Still, I grabbed a number of products that had good evening discounts, plus some discounted vegetables and one thing for dad that was among the expiring products, and I was at the self-checkout when the closing announcement came, having no problems with the machine. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything, walking away a little after 10:05 PM and then seeing a cart with a coin in it, so I connected it to the others and retrieved the coin. Then I tried to use another route on the way back, being close to getting it right but getting confused at one point and deciding to use the simpler but longer variant in that place.
I got back a little after 10:50 PM, with about 13.5 kg. Then I put most of the purchases in their place, washed something for dad, ate the bag of corn puffs with powdered milk that I already had and some of the discounted walnuts with chili which I had grabbed from Penny, which meant over 1000 calories in total, and it was 12:25 AM when I went to the toilet and to shower. I was done at 1:10 AM, then I finished putting the purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, dealt with my bread, and started eating dinner at 3:05 AM, though I actually finished at 3:35 AM. And, if I hadn’t coughed while I was out and had only done so occasionally after getting back, after dinner I once again started coughing quite badly, though it got better after I got in bed.

That meant that the cough was not a problem on the morning of February 15, but the bad dreams were, once again, and I just felt too tired to get out of bed. But I eventually did, and in the evening I finished Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, though I was feeling even more tired and out of it, so I then got back in bed and stayed there for most of the evening, only managing to post the quick review for the game after midnight. My throat seemed to be getting better, but it was still somewhat sore, and while my eyes otherwise looked and felt fine, some crap still appeared on them when I was in bed. And my back was still bothering me, after having done so while I was out the previous day as well, and there was also some pain in what seemed to be the muscles from my chest and sides, so it was probably caused by coughing.
Since dad had sent me an e-mail to let me know that he was once again going to bring many things when he’ll get back in the morning, when I went to the kitchen I sliced three of his breads and then tried to make room in the freezer, also taking some cheese out of there. And I kept thinking about the next day, when I was going to finally run again, after which I was going to be on a tight schedule and also had to pay the maintenance bill, so I was panicking and starting to shake, and having to make that room without knowing exactly what for but knowing that he was going to come after I’ll be in bed and would want to sleep only made it worse, as did the fact that he had set the clock from the kitchen, which had been running ahead by quite a few minutes, to the correct time without telling me, so the time wasn’t what I expected it to be and, in that mental state, I couldn’t understand why I no longer had that “buffer” that I was used to having. And then I also bumped by head hard, after bending to put that cheese in the fridge, and my vision was getting cloudy and I was panicking even more, wondering whether it was because of that or because of the panic, which led to a vicious circle. Either way, I started eating dinner at 3:20 AM and finished at 3:55 AM, after getting back in the kitchen and putting some jam on the last slices. And I once again started coughing after dinner, but not quite as badly.

On February 17, I had lunch, did the day’s squats, and left a little after 6:25 PM, with 11 bottles, though one was a small one from cough syrup and some had been straightened, so I wanted to see how the machines from Penny were going to accept them. But I first went to Carrefour, putting the bag with some of the bottles in a cabinet but entering with the backpack, where I also had bottles, and getting some beer for dad. Then I retrieved the bag from the cabinet, added the beer in the backpack, and continued to Penny, setting aside that cough syrup bottle after the machine rejected it the first time, but retrying until I managed to make it accept the straightened ones. Then I put the backpack in a cabinet, got what I had gone there to get and asked at the checkout whether I had to do anything in order for the receipt from the recycling machine to be entered in the raffle, being told that it’s entered automatically. And the cashier rounded down the amount that she asked for, but I had already placed the exact amount on the counter and didn’t take back the 0.01 RON coins.
After retrieving the backpack from the cabinet and arranging everything in it, I continued to that Kaufland, finding a cart with a coin in it in the parking lot and connecting it to another one in order to retrieve it, and then once again putting the backpack in a cabinet. I still couldn’t find that pack of two bottles of fabric softener, but I saw an employee scanning the labels of the bakery products and stood around, waiting a little longer after another employee asked the first one whether she had entered the discounts and said that they didn’t show up yet, at which point the first employee said that she had just entered them and it’ll take a little while. But when I took the label for that bread and scanned it, I saw that the 50% discount did apply, so I took a glove, since I hadn’t washed my hands, and grabbed one bread, after which I also spotted a sweet pastry that I like and which hadn’t been sold there before and took two of those as well, after scanning the label to make sure that the discount applied, since it was only while I was doing that, a little before 8:30 PM, that bakery discounts of 50% were actually announced. Then I used the self-checkout without problems and retrieved what I had in the cabinet.
I washed my hands when I got to Auchan, then I entered the store with everything and bought slippers, once again having to make do with size 41-42, since the next size was 43-44 and that’s too large, and also an undershirt, only two of size M being left and both having small problems that I noticed as I looked over them, so I picked the one that seemed better, deciding that strengthening that spot by sewing a little should be enough. And then I saw that 20% was going to be returned on the store card for all milk those days, so I got two of their own brand for my mother, meaning that 25% was actually returned, since 5% is always returned for those products, and it therefore ended up being slightly cheaper than other store brands. But when I scanned the undershirt at the self-checkout, a message appeared that told me to wait for a supervisor, so I called one over and she entered the code manually, and then she also scanned the slippers.
After just throwing the purchases in a bag, I also rushed to the other Kaufland, getting there when it was past 9:50 PM, putting that bag and the one that hangs from my neck in a cabinet but rushing in with the backpack and finding that the bananas had a higher evening discount than what I had seen at the other location while I was there. Those that were left were bad, but I managed to quickly grab three that were somewhat less bad until an employee came to take away the boxes and I left him to it. And that was it, since I still couldn’t find that pack of fabric softener, nor anything else that I cared to get, and I rushed to the self-checkout when it was announced that the store had closed, having no problems with the machine when my turn came. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and took quite a long time to arrange almost everything in the backpack, with the exception of what I had in the bag that hangs from my neck and two bottles that go towards that other voucher from Penny that I had picked up. And struggling to close the backpack when it was so full resulted in part of the zipper key breaking off, though it remains usable. On the other hand, as I walked away I found another cart with a coin in it, so I connected that one to another as well and retrieved the coin.
On the way back, I quickly checked that Mega Image that closes at 11 PM, putting the backpack in a cabinet and then retrieving it, and then I also entered the one that’s next to Tei, putting the backpack as well as those bottles in a cabinet and finding that food for Rocky. But I was uncertain that the sale included that specific kind, so I told the cashier that they should be four for the price of three and she scanned four and said that they weren’t included, at which point I said that in that case I didn’t want them and left, retrieving what I had in the cabinet.
I got back at 11:15 PM, with almost 13 kg, put some of the purchases in their place, ate a banana and one of those sweet pastries, and went to the toilet and to shower at 12:20 AM. I was done a little before 1:10 AM, after which I put the rest of the purchases in their place, dealt with my bread and also moved some cheese in a jar, so I started to eat dinner at 3:10 AM, but I still finished at 3:40 AM. After not touching it since I had gone to bed that morning, it was only after I started eating dinner that I got on the computer, after turning on the monitor minutes earlier. Otherwise, I took a pill that should have helped with my throat, since that was the problem at that point, though the pain seemed to be at the back of my tongue and mouth, or more exactly under and on the sides of my tongue and at the back of the roof of my mouth, not actually in my throat. And, after coughing just a few times while I was out, always when I was indoors at the time, I started coughing a fair bit while making the salad, and continued coughing after dinner, even if it wasn’t as bad as before. It was past 5:25 AM when I got in bed, and while I coughed less after that, the pill didn’t seem to help with the pain.

I slept a lot, however, waking up multiple times but only going to pee once and getting back to sleep quickly each time, and I only got up after dad got back, around 4:30 PM. My plan was to cook, but dad said that he’ll make mici again and there was also something that he didn’t want, so I ate that plus one of the mici… Even though he left the packaging on one side of two of them, including that one! I peeled it off and grilled it a little more, but that was some sort of plastic, so the fact that it had been grilled like that the first time definitely wasn’t healthy. Either way, I did little else that day, just writing some of what I posted the next day, since in the evening I crawled back in bed and even napped a little more, feeling really tired again, and also noticing how swollen some of those additional lymph nodes were, which explained that pain. And, after deciding to move something in a jar just before starting to eat dinner and seeing that I’ll fail to start before 3 AM as a result, I also washed a rag used by dad and started eating at 3:05 AM, though I still finished at 3:40 AM. I got in bed at 5:25 AM.

On the morning of February 20, I got in bed at 5:20 AM, though it could be said that it was past 6:05 AM when I actually went to bed, since that was when I got back to bed after getting up to find room in the fridge for the few things that dad had once again brought, and he got back a few minutes before 6 AM and I’m not sure whether I had just fallen asleep or I was just about to at that point. And it was quite a long time later when I finally managed to actually fall asleep, and the situation repeated after getting up to pee at one point. But things were much worse when I woke up to pee the second time, since my eyes were running again and I started coughing and just couldn’t stop after getting back in bed. My eyes were bloodshot when I eventually went to try to blow and spit, and I spent about half an hour doing that, stopping when I simply had no strength left, since I still felt that a little more was there. But at least that solved the cough, and by that point my eyes also looked normal once again. I couldn’t get back to sleep, however, so I got a total of about three and a half hours of sleep that morning.
Those lymph nodes no longer felt swollen and the pain was gone, but I was so exhausted that day. I spent most of the evening in bed, but I just managed get a few pretty short naps and they didn’t really seem to “count”, so I felt like I was barely conscious and so terribly weak, I barely moved, shivered, felt cold… And some of the pain seemed to have returned after I finally got up, though at least it wasn’t bad anymore. On the other hand, after taking quite some time to wash what was in the kitchen, which meant what dad had left but also doing my best to scrub the pot which I had burned to some extent two days earlier, I took it too easy, thinking that I had plenty of time, and once again ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:05 AM again, though I still managed to finish at 3:40 AM. And it was 5:20 AM when I got back in bed.

I really should have finished writing this post today, but I didn’t, and since there was more to write for February 21 and I got back on the computer too late to finish that part before midnight but the short sections about February 25 and 28 weren’t a problem, I initially posted this without February 21 and then added that part in between, below this paragraph, before going to the kitchen Monday night, so in the first moments of Tuesday.

On the morning of February 21, I had a really hard time getting back to sleep after going to pee a little after 9:45 AM, in good part because of the noise coming from the upstairs neighbor, but I guess that wasn’t the only reason. It was almost certainly past 11 AM when I even managed to get in that state that’s in between being asleep and awake for a while, and then there were brief naps that I was waking up from with a start. After finally falling asleep at some point, I woke up again after dad did, checked the time after a while, saw 1:39 PM and went to pee again… And my door kept banging because of the wind, since dad had opened a window or the balcony door, but after a while I somehow fell asleep again and didn’t even wake up when dad left, only doing so a few minutes after 3 PM, though it was almost 3:30 PM when I finally got up.
After having lunch, including a chili pepper that really burned, I went out at 6:45 PM, taking the old MX518 and an old ball mouse that dad had dug up, to throw in a bin for electronics. Still with the FFP2 mask, I walked to Obor and, after quickly checking two sports stores, I asked about socks made of wool at that place that’s in front of Carrefour, being told that just two pairs were left and immediately seeing why, since one no longer had the label and one sock from the other pair was a little damaged, so I didn’t buy them. On the other hand, I found a bag of spoiling Fuji apples in Carrefour and bought it, since those apples really are tasty, plus some peanuts, using both of the vouchers that I had at the self-checkout. Then I put the purchases in the backpack, entered Penny with it, got something for dad, added it in the backpack and returned to Carrefour, once again entering with everything. I thought that they might add bakery products to the expiring ones, but it ended up being a waste of time.
I finally dropped the mice in the proper bin when I got to Kaufland, then I washed my hands and entered the store, once again with everything, at 9:15 PM, getting some bakery products that had evening discounts. I was scanning labels in order to see the current prices and the discounts eventually increased a little for some of the products, but not for any of those that I had taken. Still, the discounts that applied to those were already higher than what had been announced at the time, and some also had regular discounts those days, so I wasn’t sure whether the higher discount that was announced after I walked away from that area had already applied or it didn’t apply because those products had been cleared away before a certain hour… Though one hadn’t even been cleared away when I got back there for another look, so this latter scenario couldn’t have possibly applied to all of them. Either way, bananas also had an evening discount and, after digging through them, I found some that I could get. And then I added just two potatoes and, after digging through those as well, a handful of red onions. Regular discounts applied to those and the prices were still too high, but at least they weren’t quite so outrageously expensive. On the other hand, I completely forgot to check for the food for Rocky, even though I really should have bought some if any would have been left. That type of cat food was discounted for just two days and that was the last of them, so I don’t know whether any would have been left, but I didn’t even look, spending the last few minutes searching once again for that pack of fabric softener and still failing to find any before it was announced that the store had closed, at which point I rushed to the self-checkout, having no problems with it. Then I took some time to put everything except the bakery products, which were in the bag that hangs from my neck, in the backpack, and it was several minutes after 10 PM when I walked out.
I decided to check some Mega Image stores on the way back, and I entered the first one with everything except a plastic bottle that I had picked up, even if it was damaged, since at the time I thought that, if it’d be accepted, it would go towards that voucher for Penny, not yet knowing that only those of certain sizes counted. Either way, I left that bottle at the entrance and just checked for discounted bakery products… Though I had a strange feeling while doing so, ending up wondering whether the store was actually still open at the time, so I left quickly and retrieved that bottle, once again leaving it outside when I entered the second Mega Image. But that time I also put the backpack in a cabinet, though I once again left after a quick look, retrieving my things. And then I wasted some time by crossing to a third Mega Image only to find that it had closed at 10 PM.
I got back a little before 11:15 PM, but a few minutes later I went to throw a bag of trash down the chute. Then I put the beets in the oven, ate the banana that was still here and a sweet pastry that I also already had, finished that expired drinkable yogurt which had been brought by dad, mixing oats in it, and put the purchases in their place. I finally went to the toilet and to wash when it was almost 12:50 AM, finishing at 1:40 AM and once again starting to eat dinner at 3:05 AM, but it wasn’t even 3:35 AM when I finished.
Physically I felt quite well, no longer being exhausted and just coughing a little after eating, but mentally I was messed up, just really crashed, and realizing that I had forgotten about that cat food made it even worse. And at night I had Vivaldi check for updates and saw an error, which led me to find out that version 5.7 requires at least Windows 10, and to the fact that they had actually announced dropping Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 support back in November. But, while I have no idea what other browser I could possibly switch to if needed, that will become a problem in time, and so far I’m still using this one. On the other hand, the MobyGames redesign already was a problem, and still is, so I had to just about give up on what was pretty much the one site that I still felt comfortable using.

On February 25, I cleaned my room a little and changed the sheets, despite once again sleeping little and badly. And my nose had been a little irritated and those lymph nodes had started to swell again to some extent, bringing back some pain, albeit at a lesser level, since the run from three days earlier, and those problems were worsened by the cleaning, probably mainly by the dust. However, despite feeling just exhausted when I came out of the bathroom, after washing myself after cleaning, I still made mamaliga as well.

On February 28, I was noticing that my throat was no longer hurting. But, to start from the beginning, the guy who’d be supposed to read the heating meters rang and knocked a little after 9 AM, waking me, though dad obviously kept sleeping. And since I didn’t get back to sleep right away, just after 9:20 AM I went to pee, just in case, and then I also washed what dad had left in the kitchen. I still couldn’t get back to sleep, however, so a little after 10:20 AM I got on the computer, returning to bed an hour later and eventually getting a couple more hours of sleep. I napped just a little more late in the evening, going to the kitchen when it was around 1:15 AM, and since I also scraped something that dad had left on a pot, saying that he was going to scrape it and then obviously not doing so, and also exchanged a few words with him, I ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:10 AM, but once again still managed to finish at 3:40 AM. And before going to bed that morning I went back to playing Diggles, after having stopped on June 17. But I got in bed at 5:20 AM again, after seeing that dad had left the plate with what I had scraped on his desk, along with some trash, so I cleaned up a little.