Cav's Place

On June 10, Liza woke me by meowing at 8:20 AM, and since dad had said that he won’t be able to go to Penny and get the second 150 RON voucher that I had won, from the same store, until at least three days later, so on the last day of the sale that included that special large pack of food for Liza, when the chances of still finding any would be low, I had decided to try to go in the morning, hoping to find different employees and not be recognized as a previous winner. Not that the regulations mentioned anything about not being allowed to win more than once, and I still had to give my name, so they could easily see that I was already on the list of winners from that store, but I’d feel less awkward about it… So I actually ate lunch, despite the fact that it was so early, and left just after 10:20 AM, taking the mask and the headphones but not wearing either. On the other hand, despite thinking about taking that large “shopping backpack”, since I had finally sewed that strap, or at least some sturdy bags, I decided against it… Which was an awful call.
After reaching the store, I grabbed a catalog and checked the machine, but the latest winning receipt number wasn’t listed, so I knew that I’ll have to point out that I had seen it on-line. Then I looked for those packs of cat food, but I didn’t see them, and when I checked the catalog I saw that it specified that they weren’t available in that location, nor in any of the others that I’d normally go to, except the one that’s next to that Kaufland. But I still had to get the voucher from there, so I looked for an employee and told her that I had seen on-line that I had won, and she took the receipt and said that she’ll get back to me, doing so after a little while and telling me to wait, which I did until the guy who I guess was the manager on that shift came, so I had managed to avoid talking to the same person. And he just told me to write my name on one of the forms and sign it, saying that I could just take the other one, unfilled, if I wanted to. So I did, and then he handed me the voucher and I said that I had seen that the validity had gotten extended, which he confirmed, and it obviously had to be done, since the date written on it was still June 1 but I had only received it then. And I walked out without buying anything, though I did check the expiring products, noticing that they had changed the discount from 30% to 40%. That didn’t last long, but it was in effect that day and I also noticed some roes among those expiring products, so I hid them, meaning to return if I won’t find something better elsewhere.
After putting on the headphones, I continued to the Penny that’s next to Auchan, finding plenty of those packs of cat food and taking five, which were too heavy for my flimsy bags even on their own, so I had to give in and use one of those large baskets with wheels. And then I found one last box of those caramelized walnuts, on top of the piles of walnuts with chili or Himalayan salt. I couldn’t find the price label at that point, however, so I went to a price checker, then saw the price label as well when I got back there, looking for more caramelized walnuts but not finding any. So I moved on, getting the other things I meant to get and taking my time to select some garlic, calculating how much to get in order to get to a total that was just over the required 160 RON, allowing for a small difference between the weight I saw when I checked and the one I’ll be charged for, since they weigh those products at checkout in Penny.
The problems started when I got to the checkout, since those walnuts didn’t scan, and the code wasn’t recognized when the cashier entered it manually either. So I said that they were recognized when I used the price checker and the cashier asked a coworker to bring her the price label, which she did after I told here where to find it, since at first she said that she didn’t know where to look. But that didn’t work either, so the cashier said that I couldn’t buy them, which meant that I was under the required total. But then the cashier saw the date listed on the voucher and said that she wasn’t sure that it was still valid anyway, so I told her that the period got extended but a total of 160 RON was required. However, she said that it said 150 RON on it, so it should work. But 150 RON was the value of the voucher, not the required amount, and it obviously didn’t work when she tried to use it, yet she said that it was because it had expired, so I again said that a total of 160 RON was required and she told me to find something costing 5 RON to add, since the listed total was just over 155 RON. But that wasn’t actually correct, since a discount only applied at the end, and it should have been obvious that more was needed, since those walnuts cost more than that, but my mind wasn’t really working anymore and I ended up rushing to grab another product that I had considered getting but had given up on. But, while that was more than 5 RON, it was less than those walnuts had been, so the voucher obviously still didn’t work, yet neither of us realized that the total was in fact still below 160 RON, so the cashier just repeated that the voucher was expired and I said that I needed to talk to someone about it.
What I meant was that I was going to send a message on-line, so I left the products there and stepped away, but the cashier called after me and asked if I didn’t want my bags back, and when I turned back and grabbed them, another employee came, and a guard was also called to do something to the canceled receipt, at which point I assumed that the employee who had just arrived was a manager and I asked him about the situation, he checked, then asked for the canceled receipt, and then stated the obvious, that the problem was that the total was under 160 RON, pointing that out to the cashier as well, who said that she hadn’t noticed. So he opened another checkout and tried again, and I said that I had calculated the total with those walnuts, but when he took them the cashier told him that they won’t scan, and they still didn’t, and I still didn’t think to ask whether they could just enter that amount manually, or scan some other product with the same or a very close price, and I later realized that something like that could have been achieved even with some of the other products that I was buying, but I obviously couldn’t think of that then. So he told me how much was still needed and I dashed back in to grab something else and finally get over that required amount, though I misunderstood the total, thinking that it was 0.10 RON less, and I even asked whether what I had given was right and he confirmed, so I only later noticed that I had paid that little bit less. But it was disappointing that, after using both of those vouchers that I had won almost entirely for purchases that weren’t for myself, I couldn’t get just the one thing that I had wanted to get as a “reward” for myself.
I tried to put some of the purchases in the backpack before walking away from that checkout, since it didn’t stay open, so I wasn’t holding anyone up, but I realized that I had no chance, so I dragged everything to the cabinets, arranged a little more in front of them, then moved aside to allow people to use the cabinets and continued until everything seemed sort of arranged. However, with one box of cat food in a really flimsy bag and two more of those boxes and a bottle of vinegar in one that was only somewhat sturdier, and with the corners of those boxes already tearing the bags, things didn’t look good. And yet, instead of just trying to make my way back with what I had, I decided to go to Auchan as well, since I was there… Only to end up walking away from Penny instead of turning around right away and entering that shopping center through the back entrance. And then I somehow walked right past the entrance to the parking lot as well, without realizing it, and found myself at the intersection. But I still wanted to go there, even if at that point it meant going around, because I was thinking that I might also get bread for dad, and possibly look for some other “reward” for myself, instead of those caramelized walnuts.
When I got there, the guard post from that entrance was unmanned, but there was a guard in that area, so I asked him if I could leave my things somewhere, but he looked at me oddly and told me to go in and talk to someone from the store, so I guess that he wasn’t one of Auchan’s guards. So I just went in with everything… And found that the price of that bread that I was getting for dad had increased slightly, returning to what it had been before they had reduced it slightly, to match what was the price of the similar bread from Carrefour Orhideea at that point. So I didn’t get bread, and didn’t find anything to “reward” myself with either. I ate one of the tiny pie samples that were there, since I still didn’t have the mask on at that point, but even that seemed quite dry. I finally put on the mask some time after that, as I was looking around, and also found a way to squeeze the bottle of vinegar in the backpack, since that was something that could have also been bought from Auchan. Then, since it was clear that I won’t find anything else, I took some of those corn puffs with powdered milk, plus four bottles of water for dad.
After using the self-checkout, I took quite some time to try to figure out how to carry everything, those bottles obviously making the problem much worse. I had nothing to put them in, so I tried to use their own packaging, but I had torn it in order to remove the other two from the pack, so it was difficult, but I figured something out… Or I sort of did, since just as I was at the gate, about to return to the street, I stopped to try to rearrange some things and eventually tied that packaging. But it was slipping and the bags were strained, it was clear that they won’t last, and when I picked them back up after setting them down for a moment when I was almost back at that other Penny, the one bag that was better tore. So I found a way to tie it, struggled to carry everything to the store and put what I could in a cabinet, then bought two of those expiring roes and walked away, without retrieving what I had in the cabinet at that point.
I wondered whether to get back here and then just return there or check Carrefour as well, and if so when, and decided to go to Carrefour first, putting the contents of the backpack and those roes in a cabinet when I got there. But I didn’t find anything to get, so I eventually just made my way back to that Penny, leaving my things in that cabinet and taking a pretty large paper bag from a restaurant that I found in a garbage bin on the way, since it looked undamaged and clean, with the exception of two chewing gums which I picked off with leaves. And when I returned to that Penny and retrieved what I had in the cabinet, the guard and another guy were there and talking, so I felt the need to explain that I had left those things there because two bags had torn, since one flimsy one was also quite torn. Then I put two packs of cat food in that paper bag and the last one and those corn puffs in the two flimsy bags, one inside the other, hoping that they’ll at least hold that much. And, as I was making my way back, at one point I stopped to try to pick some fruit, climbing to stand on a bench, but there were few left that were in easy reach and I didn’t try to get any of the others, so I just put those in a little bag and threw it in the paper bag, on top of the packs… Only to somehow lose it at some later point. And a little later I saw that the boxes were starting to cut through that paper bag, so I was careful to prevent further damage.
When I got back to Carrefour, I retrieved what I had in that cabinet as well and took my time to arrange everything. There would have been better ways to do it, putting more weight in the backpack, but I just did what I could think of at the time, and it was a real struggle to get back like that and I kept needing to stop. And the packaging of the water was also getting strained, so after a while I had to be careful with that as well, and when, at one point, I once again stopped to try to pick some fruit while giving my hands a bit of a rest, the water fell out of that packaging and one or two bottles got a little dirty, falling into fallen fruit. But I managed to get the bottles back in the packaging and continued, giving up on the fruit, also because a man was staring at me.
I was finally back just after 6 PM, with 26.5 kg, but needing to carry everything the way I did made things even worse than the weight itself. Still, I dumped the paper into that paper bag, cleaned the litter box, and went back out to throw what I had gathered from the litter box down the chute and then walk to the recycling bin and drop the paper in it. Then I put the other things in their place, but left the water and the cat food in the kitchen, took a bath, and managed to write that day’s post. I didn’t even munch on anything until after that, after 10 PM, when I ate those few little fruits picked the previous day, and later an entire bag of bagels. I also took a pill before starting to make dinner, just in case. And, after putting the cat food where dad had suggested, since he only took the water, I also looked through some things that he said that mother had asked me to look through, taking out some for him to take there. And I did a few other things as well, ending up eating dinner between 3:25 AM and 3:55 AM.

On June 12, I left at 3:25 PM, with 15 plastic bottles in the large “shopping backpack” and a bag of trash, dropping the bag in a bin after exiting the building. I had dad’s metro card, so I took the metro to Basarab, putting the bottles in the recycling machine from Kaufland, remembering to stop after each five, so I got three raffle tickets, and later I used them to enter under dad’s name. I didn’t think that there was any real chance of winning anything, and the prizes weren’t interesting anyway, but we had piles of bottles and dad kept using and leaving more… And we actually did end up winning something, though having the entry validated took some effort. But that’s a story for another time, so I’ll get back to that day and say that I then checked that confectionery and saw that they once again had that meringue cake, and the price was the same. But I left it for later and entered Kaufland, just getting the smallest package of the olives that were on sale from the area where those products that are already packaged are, though the quantity was still more than I’d have liked.
After throwing those olives in the “shopping backpack”, continuing to Carrefour and washing my hands, I entered the store with that backpack and got bread for myself and for dad, ending up getting too much because I eventually decided to also take a large one of another kind for myself, since it was on sale, on top of the one that I’d normally get from there. And then I stopped at a table from the food area and moved dad’s bread in another bag, leaving mine in the one that hangs from my neck, before making my way back to Kaufland and putting the bags in a cabinet, though I still entered with the backpack, even if those olives were in it.
I was looking for toilet paper, since we were almost out and I hadn’t wanted to carry it around, and I had meant to get back and buy one of those cakes anyway. However, the listed price for the packs of eight had increased, so I scanned one to make sure… And was surprised to see that they were actually discounted, even if that wasn’t listed anywhere! So what I still had allowed me to get two packs, plus an expiring nicer yogurt that I had spotted the first time around and which was still there, and still leave me with enough for the cake. But when I then went to the confectionery, nobody was there. So, after waiting a little, I tried to look, spotting someone through the door that’s on the side. She might have been on the phone, but what I clearly know is that she was leaning forward and definitely not looking in my direction, and I was running late. I should have at least retrieved my things from the cabinet at that point and put the toilet paper in the backpack, but my mind just got stuck on wondering how to get her attention. I eventually sort of tapped on the glass, and while it didn’t work right away, after a while she did look. I’m not sure that it was because she heard the tapping, but at least she finally walked over and I could buy the cake, though she didn’t give me a receipt. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged the purchases, the fact that I should have really done that instead of waiting becoming even more obvious when the metro was in the station when I got there, and in order to actually reach it I had to get to the stairs, go up and then back down on the other side, so I ended up waiting for the next one and losing eight minutes. And, while I had a mask with me, I never put it on, not even while I was on that crowded metro.
I got back just before 6:10 PM, ate the cake, put the few other purchases in their place, and left again at 7:35 PM, still having that mask and still not putting it on. I passed through the farmers’ market, but few sellers were left at that hour, and while I saw a handful of spoiling apples that had a price label, being really cheap, and another pile that was next to them, of apples that were small and didn’t look too good but didn’t seem to actually be spoiling, this second pile had no price label, there was nobody at that stand anymore, and I couldn’t get myself to ask anyone else about it. So I moved on, had a quick look in that Mega Image as well, then went to Supeco and just got three beets. The price had increased a little bit, to match what had happened at Carrefour the week before. but it was still much lower than at Mega Image and I hadn’t seen any in Kaufland or Auchan at all those days. Either way, I threw those beets in the large backpack, entered Carrefour with it, and just got two beers for dad, obviously without being asked for my ID, unlike that one time. And, after adding the beers in the backpack, I continued to that Kaufland that was newer at the time, though I also stopped at that Penny first, entering with the backpack and then just walking out, so I only wasted some time, and it was already late.
After taking the purchases out of the backpack, putting them in a cabinet, and going to the toilet, it was past 9:10 PM, maybe closer to 9:15 PM, when I entered Kaufland, and the bakery area was almost cleared, and a guy took the handful of regular buns that were left while I grabbed a bag, so I just took one of the two regular small baguettes that were left, to at least have something, the discount being 75%. But there was an evening discount for green onions that at least brought the price down to something reasonable, and while most of the bundles were small and had a good part of the tops cut off, there were also a handful of large bundles that were still intact, and I took the biggest one. And all of the bags of lemons were at half price, so I grabbed one of those as well, along with two small yogurts. But the self-checkout didn’t recognize the green onions as the correct product, so I had to call an employee to override the error, then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and rushed out while I could still use the main doors. Then I placed the purchases on one of those tables and arranged them, walking away at 10 PM.
I then continued to Auchan as well, entering with everything and seeing that the 50% discount that applied to those pretty nice sweet things on Mondays if you used the store card still applied, so I took the lightest box out of the three small ones that were left, plus a pack of water for dad. While I was using the self-checkout, an employee closed the next one and when another customer asked for any that also accepted cash she said that there were no more of those there and he’ll have to use the manned ones, so I said that the one that I was using accepted cash, but she said that she was just waiting for me to finish in order to close that one as well. So I also used the amount that was already on the store card, then moved aside, retrieved a few coins that were on and around the other checkout, and meant to stay there and rearrange the purchases, to put the water in the large backpack and possibly use the checkout to get it back on, but that employee stared at me as I took those coins and told me to use that receipt before it expired or I won’t be able to leave. I said that I was trying to figure out how to carry the purchases, she said that there was a cart nearby, and I said that I was going to put them in the backpack after I walked out, so I just put the bag over the pack of water, lifted the whole thing and walked out of the checkout area like that. Then I set everything back down, rearranged the purchases, and walked away at 10:55 PM, though I still had to use the emergency exit, since the guard was just locking the door. And the backpack was digging into my lower back and tailbone on the way back, so at one point I stopped on a bench and tied the straps around my abdomen. That didn’t really help, and actually made one of my ribs hurt as well, but I managed…
It was past 11:40 PM when I got back, with 18.5 kg. And those straps were really hard to untie after I had tied them in a knot, but I eventually managed it, then just ate an orange, put some of the purchases in their place, exchanged a few words with dad, and went to the bathroom at 12:35 AM, just wasting time on the toilet before washing. I was done at 1:25 AM, then I washed and cleaned what was in the kitchen, and started eating lunch when it was past 2:10 AM, taking bites now and then. I also dealt with one of my breads and sliced one of dad’s, only finishing lunch at 3:15 AM, and I once again took a pill, just in case. I ate dinner between 4:10 AM and 4:45 AM, and got in bed at 5:30 AM.

The next day I cleaned my room for the first time since late February, not counting that time from early May when I just partially vacuumed, and at night I also changed the sheets and turned over the mattress… And I also found out why I hadn’t used that sheet that had been unused for a very long time, and which I had washed a while back: It’s too short for this bed, so I still had to resort to the other one that I regularly used, but since I removed the blanket, I kept that one as well, to cover myself with it, and I also used one of the pillowcases from that set. It seemed rather stained on one side, but I put that side on the bottom.

In the early hours of June 19, after washing and cleaning in the kitchen after dad had cooked, I started eating dinner at 3:05 AM, but still finished at 3:40 AM. Then, when I flossed, something white and hard came out from the spot where work was done, and I did feel something on the side of that tooth ever since that work was done, and that was gone after that, but it probably wasn’t the actual filling, since that tooth would have been hurting since then in that case. Either way, I got in bed at 5:25 AM… And at some point someone started drilling, but I was so exhausted after the runs and wandering around that I probably continued to sleep for a while, obviously badly, since I remember the noise entering my dreams. It was probably around 12:30 PM, roughly, when I did wake up, though I only checked the time when I finally got up, after I gave up trying to get back to sleep, and it was 12:54 PM at that point.
After realizing that I didn’t have my cap on when I first walked out and returning for it, it was 3:15 PM when I actually left, with ten plastic bottles in the “shopping backpack”, plus a can that I threw in the recycling bin at the metro station, since I had dad’s card and used the metro to go to Obor. I once again just carried a mask around, without putting it on. And at the metro station I realized that I had forgotten the store cards, but only the one from Penny would have been required in order to get a discount on some bagels, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to get a bag anyway, so that made things simpler.
I wanted to look for cat litter at that place from Obor Hall, but the Hall was once again closed for cleaning. Then I had a look at those places that are between the Hall and the farmers’ market and saw cutting boards that seemed to be like what dad had asked me to look for, but I didn’t get one at that point, continuing to the farmers’ market, looking all around, and only finding cabbage that still had the price that it had almost everywhere the previous time I had been there outside, at traders. However, a few of those who were selling inside had no price labels for it, so when I went back in I asked and one did say that it was at that price, so I made a gesture to indicate that I’ll return, finished looking around and then did so, getting two… And being given a bag even though I had mine in hand. I said that I didn’t need it, but the person who was there said that she’s too used to give them, so I then moved the cabbages into my bag and used that one for the apples, since I got more of those spoiling but cheap ones from the same person as the previous time, the others asking at least three times as much even for those that looked bad. And then, while I went back to the place where I had seen those cutting boards, I couldn’t buy any because it had started raining and that place is outside, so the person who was there had gathered everything made of wood and was rushing to also gather the rest, closing up and actually just telling someone that she was rushing to close because of the rain, even if it was only 4:10 PM and the place was supposed to be open until 5 PM.
After continuing to that mall and having a quick look in that bookstore, I put my things in a large cabinet, entered Carrefour, and got a few expiring products and the one bag of cucumbers that was among the spoiling products even though the cucumbers seemed just fine, with the exception of one that was snapped. I obviously didn’t charge myself for the bag at the self-checkout, but I also didn’t use the vouchers that I had, for previous purchases, only realizing that I had pulled them out but didn’t use them after paying with cash. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged everything, and found that it wasn’t raining anymore when I walked back out.
When I put those bottles in the recycling machine from Kaufland, I also explained to an old woman who was there how it worked and what the discount receipt was for, but my attempts to make the machine accept those beer bottles that usually cause problems met with no success, and when I eventually just threw one of them in, I just lost it, since the machine didn’t count it. So I just put in five of the other bottles, then looked around for two more, to have five more that would be accepted, but the area seemed to have been cleaned and the garbage cans emptied, so I put everything in a cabinet but then I walked out again and went to Penny, and while I didn’t find what I wanted for myself, I did find one last piece of something that I got for dad, even if it looked a little strange, plus the coffee for my mother and an expiring piece of cheese, since the price ended up being the same as that kind of cheese should have had at Kaufland starting two days later. And I also picked up two plastic bottles from that area, before returning to Kaufland, retrieving the backpack with the remaining bottles from the cabinet, putting the new purchases in that cabinet, and using the recycling machine again… And, after putting in those two found bottles and my remaining three “good” ones, I tried the remaining beer bottle once again… And it was immediately accepted and counted, though it was basically also wasted, being the sixth. Either way, another woman was there at the time and asking about glass, and I was uncertain about that, so I read what’s written on the machine and saw that glass bottles should be accepted, but she said that she had jars and I didn’t see anything that clearly specified whether those would be accepted or not, so I told her to just try, and while she initially said that she was worried about breaking the machine, she did seem to mean to try when I walked away.
After finally entering Kaufland, there didn’t seem to be anything interesting to get, but I heard an announcement about discounts of 50% for some products from the self-serve glass, and I had no idea what or where that was, so I looked around for a while… And ended up noticing that the cheese that was supposed to be on sale starting two days from then actually had an even lower price just then! So I shouldn’t have bought that expiring one from Penny, and I couldn’t get much more after buying that, but I couldn’t completely ignore that good price either, so I asked for the smallest piece. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged everything, and wondered which other Penny to go to, since I still wanted what I hadn’t found at that location.
The fact that I just missed the metro when I got back to the station helped with the decision, since I had no time to go to one of the farther locations, so I eventually decided to go to the one from Decebal, putting my things in a cabinet when I got there and grabbing what I wanted for myself and another one of those products for dad. But that location’s small, there’s little room to move, and an employee kept cleaning, driving around in that machine, so I had to keep moving aside for him and there were other people there as well, we couldn’t find room to squeeze around each other, and I was starting to panic. So I tried to block out the panic attack and push through by switching to anger, but my brain had pretty much disconnected, so I somehow miscalculated the total and when I went to the checkout I gave an amount of money that I thought would result in an amount of change that would be easier for the cashier to give, but what I gave also happened to be the full price of the products, both of which had a discount at the time, so the cashier probably thought that I meant to pay the full price at first and told me that there was a discount, I thought that the discounted prices were lower than they actually were and said that I knew about the discount and should be paying less, she asked how could the price be what I said when the system listed something else… Maybe she misunderstood, maybe I did, but I only knew anger and panic at that point and was determined to hold off the panic attack, so I got even angrier, said that I’ll show her what was listed at the shelf, grabbed my money back from her, left the products there, and rushed back… Only to see that she was right.
Well, that’s when things got really messed up, because I sheepishly made my way back to the checkout, couldn’t find my products there anymore, and a moment later they were handed to me by the woman who had been ahead in line but had allowed first the person who was ahead of me and then me ahead of her because she had called someone to ask what cigarettes to buy and didn’t seem to get a useful answer. And she said that she “got” those products when she handed them to me, so I assumed that she had picked them up from the counter, snatched them from her hand and meant to get back to the checkout, yet when I saw the line that had formed I rushed back in the store. I couldn’t say why I did that, but I probably looked absolutely furious… And when I got back to where those products were and had another look, I ended up standing right next to that woman, who had also returned in the store by then, and didn’t even acknowledge her… Which made it all the more embarrassing when I finally went back to the checkout, with the same products, told the cashier that she was right, got told that the products were already paid for, reminded her that I had taken my money back… And got told that the woman in question had paid for them, the cashier also pointing out that she had even told me that she “got” them when she handed them back to me. And then she kept repeating that it seemed that I couldn’t understand Romanian, and kept calling me “boy”…
When I finally realized what had happened, I just froze in shock, ending up just standing there while the cashier kept snapping at me. When I might have been able to move again, I wondered whether that woman was still there, to pay her back, and tried to have a look, but the cashier told me to not get back in with those products and I froze again, unable to say or do anything. When she realized that she was talking to nobody, she told the guard to not let me back in, again saying that it seemed that I didn’t understand Romanian, so I had a guard stand in front of me and the other next to me while I was just staring at nothing and choking on tears, until I eventually managed to somehow retrieve my things from the cabinet and shuffle out. One guard came after me, but I just froze again and he didn’t say or do anything, so both of us simply stood there until I somehow managed to shuffle away. I just had to keep telling myself that I had to get back in time to give dad his metro card back, somehow forcing myself to shuffle along, step after step. I was probably moving like a zombie, and still pretty much staring at nothing, and my mouth was probably open as well, and at some point I realized that I was drooling… And it took me 45 minutes to get back from there, though it should normally take 20 minutes. I might have stopped for a couple of minutes at some point, but I don’t really know.
It was a few minutes after 8:30 PM when I got back, with 12 kg and still in shock. Dad was getting ready to leave, so I wordlessly cleaned the litter box, putting what I scooped up in the bag of trash that he should have taken out, and then I noticed that he had moved something in the kitchen and that messed me up even more. He was still here when I sat down to take off my shoes and ended up freezing there and starting to whimper, but he just asked whether I was tired as he walked out, leaving without another word when I just shook my head. And he didn’t even take that bag, so I went to throw it down the chute after I recovered a little. Then I put the things that had to be refrigerated, with the exception of the eggs, in the fridge, tried to rearrange what dad had moved, and went to shower. Then I once again rearranged what he had moved, put more things in their place, and had lunch, with the rest of the bag of bagels opened two days earlier instead of bread. I initially couldn’t get myself to go back to the kitchen at night, eventually managing to do so at or maybe a little after 1:15 AM, at which point I put the remaining things in the fridge and also sliced the ends of dad’s bread and put it in the freezer, washed and cleaned what he had left in the kitchen, and had dinner between 3:15 AM and 3:50 AM. I got in bed at 5:40 AM, after quickly installing Matomo Analytics.

On June 27, I woke up with a start when someone was at the door, apparently to offer a new contract from the power company, and my back started hurting after that. Fortunately, it didn’t last, and I did mean to try to go out, so I even did the day’s squats and left at 4:50 PM, going to Mega Mall, without a mask. I first checked that sports store, but I didn’t ask about anything even though I probably should have. Then I entered Carrefour, finding something to get and also seeing that garlic had a discount if you used their app, so I weighed some and added a little more in the bag after printing the label, calculating the weight so I’ll end up paying very close to what I’d have paid if I’d have used the app. And I finally remembered to use the vouchers that I had at the self-checkout. Then, after having a quick look at something in another store, I continued to Kaufland, put the purchases in a cabinet, and found two expiring breads that I could get for dad, though I only bought one, since I knew that there’d have been no room for more in the freezer. I also took a box of expiring quail eggs, plus a small red cabbage for myself. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, and before getting back I also had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image, putting my things in a cabinet even though it didn’t lock and then just retrieving them and walking away, getting back just after 7:05 PM… Only to leave again about ten minutes later, after dropping off the purchases, putting the eggs in the fridge, and rushing back in for a moment to check what matches were on at the time after initially walking out without having done so.
I went straight to the other Kaufland and saw that the red cabbage looked better there, but I already had that small one and didn’t get more. What I did get was a bag of potatoes, since those already had an evening discount. It’s possible that the discount would have increased later, but I couldn’t wait. And I also took a bag of heavily discounted lemons that were not really moldy, though it’d be more accurate to say that I put together such a bag, since it was torn and lemons were scattered in the crate, so I put those in it and then checked the weight, seeing that it was actually still a little under what it should have been. Then, on the way back, after having a very quick look in another store and then also checking the Mega Image that’s next to the farmers’ market, entering with everything in both cases, I also entered Supeco, once again with everything, and bought some beets and some cornmeal that I happened to see there. I had prepared the exact amount when I got to the checkout, but then I couldn’t hold everything, and when I tried I dropped all but one coin, so I set everything down, probably to the amusement of the cashiers, put the beets in a small bag and recovered the fallen coins, with the probable exception of one, but that was just a 0.01 RON one. And it was a little before 9:20 PM when I got back, though I then cleaned the litter box and went to throw a bag of trash down the chute.

Since I had to post the week’s first post today and wouldn’t have been able to finish this before midnight, I included the part about June 27, since it’s much shorter, in the initial form of the post, but left out the part about June 19, which would be the main reason why I ended up writing these odds and ends posts after all, so I edited the post in order to also add that part Tuesday evening. So at least I finally posted the reason why I ended up wanting to spend a certain amount, a little more than what that woman had paid for my purchases, on products that I then gave to homeless people, only finally completing that “process” at the end of the year, on December 28, since I only looked for certain products when they were deeply discounted, to stretch that amount as much as possible, and also tried to give to different homeless people.