Cav's Place

I’ll start from the early hours of March 24, when I ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:25 AM, though I licked a couple of things in the kitchen first, and it was past 4:20 AM when I finished, taking it easy, since I was going to stay up to watch the race anyway, so I only went to bed at 7:35 AM. And I’ll also add here that there were no visits that day either… And that, in the early hours of March 25, right after dinner, I had to rush to the toilet even though I had just been there before going to the kitchen, and what came out was increasingly fluid and made it clear that my body wanted to get rid of everything.
The fact that something still didn’t feel quite right was at least part of the reason why I couldn’t get back to sleep after waking up to pee, but I’m quite sure that I had slept for over five hours by then, and after tossing and turning for a while, I decided to start reading The Bands of Mourning, which I only finished on April 7, when I also wrote the quick review. Either way, after reading for a while, I could get some more sleep, and then I also took a nap, late in the evening… And that day was also when I accidentally found the source of the weevil infestation which I had been noticing for a while, and it was what I least expected, the popcorn bought from Penny on October 21 and supposedly valid until February of 2025, but which was almost turned to dust and utterly full of them, so it obviously had to be thrown away. I wanted to take pictures of it first, possibly in order to send a complaint, but when dad asked whether I’ll go to throw it down the chute or he should, I said that if he wanted to go, he should, and he did go right away, so I didn’t stop him in order to do that. Interestingly, the opened bag that expired back in August and which was right on top of those two still looks just fine. But I ended up throwing away food, and mine, since I had bought that popcorn from “my” money, which made me feel really bad, plus that I had been relying on that popcorn for the Euro… At least I did spot a good discount that allowed me to replace it since then, but it was so unexpected, I was sure that some of the flour that was there and expired for years was the source, even though I had tried to look up those little bugs and they seemed to be grain weevils, which didn’t seem to fit. But I guess that it did fit…

Moving on, I did finally have green onions for the salad made in the early hours of March 26, and I once again put peanut butter on some of the slices of bread, but on the others I put something sweet brought by dad, and I think that there were more of those than those with peanut butter. Either way, while something still didn’t feel quite right after eating, at least I didn’t need to rush to the toilet again, but then I kept waking up, and the first couple of times it seemed that it might be a good idea to go to the toilet after all. But I didn’t, except to pee at one point, and I did manage to get back to sleep quickly each time, until the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and I got up. Then I had the usual stuff, and this is the last time I’ll mention that this now includes those baked almonds with Himalayan salt, and the sweet thing consisted of another kind of nicer biscuits, with added honey. Things weren’t exactly solid when I went to the toilet, but it wasn’t that bad either. Just in case, I put that slip of paper with the emergency information in the pocket of my tights before leaving, a little before 4:15 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 15-16°C, dropping to about 14°C when I finished.
The time was 1:18:57, with sector times of 4:20, 5:09, 5:59, 4:37, 5:04, 5:57, 4:35, 5:13, 6:07, 4:40, 5:17, 6:11, 4:43, 5:12 and 5:53, making for lap times of 15:28, 15:38, 15:55, 16:08 and 15:48. After a previous time over this distance that was better than expected, I aimed to get under 1:18, but sector two of lap one already seemed a little slower than it should have been, and only barely squeezing under six minutes on sector three of lap one was a bad sign. And sector one of lap two was definitely concerning, so I pushed more after that, despite the problems that I was having, and the next two sectors were somewhat better, though still not even enough to cover a second lap in less than the 15:36 that’s the pace for 1:18. And then things just got worse, so on lap three I just tried to stay under 16 minutes, managing that but being even more worried by that poor time on sector three, while on lap four it was only a matter of limiting the losses, managing to stay under 16 minutes on each lap being out of the question. But I was close enough to wonder, at the start of lap five, whether I had enough left to at least still somehow squeeze under 1:19. That meant 15:50 on that lap, which hardly seemed likely, but I tried to see what I could do, and while the first sector wasn’t promising, I pushed harder from sector two and that sector’s time seemed to just give me a shred of a chance. It required sector three of lap five to be the best sector three of the day, by two seconds, which didn’t seem possible, but I just gave it everything, pushing every step of the way, and somehow made it in the end. But it’s a bad sign to just barely squeeze under 1:19 after giving absolutely everything, and the unpleasant surprise was that I was over 30 seconds slower than the previous time despite quite clearly expecting things to be the other way around.
I felt tired from the beginning and it was also rather windy, especially right after the bridge on sector one on the first two laps, so I had to fight the wind instead of taking advantage of that downward slope. And it was also on sector one, I think of lap two, but it might have even been on lap one, when I stepped in a hole that I didn’t know was under the lane in that spot, though my left foot came right from above, so it was just surprising, not a problem. But I know that it was on sector one of lap two when things got rather unpleasant, starting with a pebble getting in my right shoe and hurting my heel a little for a while, then having a roadblock to squeeze through and my left calf muscle starting to give some warnings, while right from the start of the next sector I suddenly felt quite a lot of gas and it caused a fair amount of pain, radiating up to my heart, then I had to briefly stop when I went off the lane in order to avoid running right past a large dog and found myself facing a cyclist who was coming from the opposite direction and had chosen the same side to go around the women who had that dog, and on the long straight I had to slow and squeeze past a little kid. And I seem to recall another problem caused by people on lap three, probably on sector one or two, but I can’t remember more than that, and at least the number of people, which had been pretty high until then, dropped after that, and I was actually noticing that the last lap was quite clear, which is probably why I managed to at least squeeze under 1:19. And those initial physical issues also went away after a while, in fact I can say that I was starting to feel quite fine by the end of lap two… But the times tell another story.

I jogged back, though I took a moment to have a quick look in the nearby Mega Image. Then I had lunch, with an entire large bag of corn puffs instead of bread, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again a little after 7:30 PM, somehow deciding to stay without a mask. And since I haven’t used one since then either, I won’t mention this anymore until I will wear one again. Either way, I finally took those cans that I wanted to donate again. I was wondering about also taking the canned coconut water taken after the Dream Trek, since it had probably already been old at the time, the listed expiration date being back in October, but instead I opened it and poured it in something, seeing that it was yellow, maybe even going towards brown, but the smell seemed fine, and I also carefully tasted just a little and the taste seemed fine as well, so I put it in the fridge, deciding to boil it, just in case, and drink it after I’ll get back.
I went to Obor, but I wanted something from Auchan and the offer ended that day, so what I was going to do next depended on whether I found it in that location… And I didn’t, so I didn’t get anything else from there, needing to ask an employee how to leave without buying anything, so they opened the gate. Then I went to Carrefour, dropping those cans in the box for the food bank, getting one expiring product, and being relieved that they had started making the bakery discounts before 9 PM, so I also took a bread of a new kind and two sweet pastries… Only to later see that they seemed to have missed putting the label with the discounted price on one of those sweet pastries, so I went back and replaced it with another one of the same kind, the total being just enough to let me use the voucher received for previous purchases. So I did that, then walked away with the purchases in my hands, though when I got outside I stopped on a bench and arranged them after all, before continuing to Kaufland.
After washing my hands, I entered the store, with everything, just before 9:15 PM. The bakery discount labels were just being placed at that point, so I asked the employee whether some buns were also discounted and she said that everything was, but when I pointed out that it was just by 30%, she said that they’re no longer allowed to make higher discounts, claiming that one reason was that people were rushing to grab many products when the discounts were high and then leaving them around the store or at the checkout, but saying that what’s left gets donated, isn’t thrown away. Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be Kaufland’s new policy in general, or at least the limit is 50%, possibly 60% for a few products, since it’s been a while since I’ve seen those discounts of 75% or even more that I was used to seeing, shortly before closing time or when many pieces of some products were left. But that evening I had to deal with that situation, so I just got two of those buns, scanning the regular label in order to confirm the discounted price, since the employee had placed the discount label for a different product there. Then I got some more cheese, since there was a 30% discount those days, a lettuce that had an evening discount, and something for dad, scanning it in order to confirm the discounted price, since that offer ended that day and the price label had apparently already been changed. Needing to reach another Auchan location meant that I couldn’t wait for 9:45 PM before going to the self-checkout, but I guess that it didn’t matter.
Arranging the purchases was going to take some time that I didn’t really have, but I had some six kilometers to walk in about an hour, to still have time to get something from that Auchan that closes at 11 PM, so I did arrange the purchases before walking away, a little after 9:45 PM. And I walked as fast as I could while still walking, since what I had bought for dad was in jars and I couldn’t run with those in the backpack. But it was enough, and I was entering that Auchan at 10:40 PM, with everything, and I did find what I was looking for, and then decided to get some more water for dad as well. And when I got to the checkouts I saw that those that accepted cash and were still open were manned, so I dropped the water on the belt and was taking those other things out of my pockets and putting them there as well as the cashier scanned the water… But then she saw a coworker, asked him something, and they both just walked away, so I just took her place and continued. She got back very quickly and seemed to mean to take those other things off the belt, but I told her that they were mine and entered them. Since at that point I wanted to get out of there quickly, I didn’t use the small amount that was already on the store card… Only for the machine to spit back a bill that didn’t fully come out, so I looked at it in confusion and the cashier reached in the slot, pulled out the bill and put it back in, at which point it was accepted. And I managed to arrange the purchases well enough to be able to carry them out before the doors were locked, so I could leave through the regular ones, and after crossing the street I stopped on a bench and arranged more properly. And, for some reason, just as I was done, a guy asked whether I was all right.
I got back a little after 11:40 PM, with 12.5 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box and threw a bag of trash down the chute, put what had to be refrigerated in the fridge, ate some walnuts and a sweet pastry and boiled and drank the coconut water. Boiling it was probably what caused it to taste much worse than it had when I had taken that little sip, since when I looked it up I saw that it should be refrigerated or chilled before drinking if you want a good taste, but at least it didn’t cause any problems. Either way, I went to shower when it was almost 1:15 AM, and the water temperature was uncomfortable… Only to get better just as I was about to be done. But I couldn’t stay any longer, as it was 1:40 AM when I was done even so. Then I bandaged a toe, which had apparently been badly rubbed by the shoe, put the other purchases in their place, dealt with my bread, and also used the worse leaves of the lettuce for the salad, eating dinner between 3:55 AM and 4:40 AM. I got in bed at 5:35 AM.

On March 28, I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, shaved, had lunch, and left a few minutes after 4:30 PM, taking the new camera and the spare battery with me, since I was going to pick up the cover, which did arrive in time to allow me to use it when I went to plant trees, despite what I had been told when I had ordered it, and I wanted to make sure that it was the right size. But that store closes at 6 PM and it’s a long way away, so I jogged part of the way, and actually got there in exactly one hour… And, as I was paying, I noticed a bug on my jacket’s sleeve that looked like a bedbug, which was concerning. But at least the cover was fine, I put the camera and the spare battery in it, then put it like that in the backpack and started on my way back, picking up some plastic bottles with the deposit paid, mostly from that area.
The next stop was at what used to be Cora Pantelimon, which is now a mix between the two, since Carrefour purchased Cora but they didn’t fully switch over yet. Or at least that’s how things stood at that time. Either way, I put the bag with those plastic bottles in a cabinet, washed my hands, then explored the place for quite a while, eventually getting a few things, needing to use a regular checkout, since no self-checkouts accepted cash. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, added the purchases in the backpack, and continued to Kaufland Basarabia. I didn’t really have time for that, but I had never been to that one, so I decided to check it out, finding a cart with a coin in it in the parking lot, connecting it to others that were just a few steps away and retrieving the coin. Then I used the recycling machine, washed my hands again, just with water, since there was no soap, and entered, with the backpack, getting just two things. And the first one scanned before I was ready at the self-checkout, as I was moving it towards the scanner, and I stopped in surprise and then got confused, uncertain which side the scales were on, but an employee who was nearby noticed and placed that product on the scales, and then I continued, also using the voucher received for the recyclables. Then I added those purchases in the backpack and arranged a little.
The next planned stop would have been at Penny, but I definitely had no more time for that, so I continued straight to Mega Mall, at one point picking up a can with the deposit paid and a plastic bottle without it, but I decided to hold on to the bottle as well and threw it in a recycling bin in the mall, after once again entering through the parking lot. Then I put the can in a cabinet but entered Carrefour with the backpack, getting paper towels and a discounted sweet pastry. The paper towels should have had a discount for the second pack and that didn’t show up after selecting that I had finished, so I called an employee over and she said that the app might be needed, but then I realized that the machine was still asking about the number of bags, so the total only showed after entering zero, at which point the discount also applied, and I also used the remaining voucher received for previous purchases. Then I retrieved that can and tried to walk away with the new purchases in my hands, eventually stopping for a moment, to find a better way to hold them, but still struggling on the way to that Kaufland, especially after picking up another plastic bottle with the deposit paid.
After using that recycling machine as well, dad called as I was on my way in. And it was already late, but I nevertheless decided to put all of the purchases in a cabinet, then I washed my hands yet again, and it was almost 9:40 PM when I entered the store. Much to my relief, considering what I had been told two days earlier, at Obor, I saw bakery discounts of 50%, getting two buns and a bread. The bread had no discount label, but I asked the employee and she said that it was discounted as well, so I took one, but also took the label and scanned it, to confirm the discount. Then I got some bundles of wild garlic that had a good evening discount and some deeply discounted bio (organic) lemons, even if most of one would need to be thrown away. And I used the new voucher at the self-checkout as well, then retrieved my things from the cabinet by the time the closing announcement came, but then I took my time to arrange everything before going to check that Mega Image as well, putting the other bags in a cabinet, but entering with the one that hangs from my neck, with the bread and buns, and the backpack, where I just had empty bags and the camera, in the new cover. But I decided against getting anything, so I just retrieved my things and got back.
I was back a couple of minutes after 10:50 PM, after grabbing one more bottle with the deposit paid… And I completely forgot that I had meant to at least take off the jacket and shake it on the hallway, before entering, and the fact that I later saw a bug on the kitchen wall that also looked like a bedbug made me even more concerned. Either way, after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute and picked up another bottle with the deposit paid from the garbage room. Then I put the purchases in their place, with the exception of my bread, ate an orange and a sweet pastry, and went to wash when it was almost 12:40 AM. I was done some 35 minutes later, then I washed and cleaned what was in the kitchen, talked to dad a little more, and also used some of the wild garlic and almost all of the lettuce that was left for the salad, and I moved something into a jar as well, ending up eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:15 AM. I got in bed at 5:25 AM. And, once again, no visits were recorded that day.

In the early hours of April 1, I ate dinner between 3:20 AM and 4:05 AM, and got in bed at 5:25 AM. And the computer’s clock went forward by another hour. It tended to repeat the daylight savings change after a week, or a week and a day, but now it was after just one day, for some reason. But by now I know what to do in order to prevent any problems with BOINC, so I turned it off before synchronizing the time and then turned it back on, and everything was fine.
After having lunch, I left at 7:50 PM, taking some cat food that Liza hadn’t touched, which I left for the cats that are behind the building, the plastic and metal, which I dropped in a recycling bin on the way, and some more recyclables with the deposit paid, which I put in the recycling machine from Penny Basarabia. But I didn’t find what I was looking for, with the exception of one last bag of corn puffs of their own brand, which was on sale. Actually, there were two bags, but one was torn, and I considered mentioning that to the employee who was in that area, arranging and taking pictures of the shelves, but instead I just commented that they don’t have the products that are on sale and she told me to come in the morning if I wanted those, not so late. So I just bought those corn puffs, and since the price was less than what I had on the voucher received for the recyclables, I was given the difference. Then I put the corn puffs in the backpack and continued on my way, picking up another plastic bottle with the deposit paid as I approached Kaufland Pantelimon and putting it in that recycling machine, but then going to Carrefour, entering with the backpack and buying a few things, which I didn’t bother to put in any bag until I reached Kaufland, where I put them in a cabinet.
After going to the toilet, I entered the store, with the backpack, when it was almost 9:15 PM. The bakery discounts were still of 50%, but not much was left, so I took the one sweet pastry that I could be somewhat interested in and two buns. I considered some sweet pastries that should be really nice, and which were actually discounted by 60%, but they were expensive even so and I eventually gave up on the idea. Then I grabbed an expiring bread for dad, but when I later saw that they had placed new discount labels on some of the expiring breads that were left I replaced it with two others. If I wouldn’t have taken it, they’d have quite clearly made that one cheaper as well, but someone else might have also taken it first, so that was that. Either way, out of the vegetables that had good evening discounts, I also took several bundles of wild garlic, also adding what was scattered into one of them, a lettuce with root, and just a handful of potatoes. And, as I was checking the expiring products, a guy asked whether I had 0.50 RON to give him, because he didn’t have enough for the deposit for the beer that he was getting, so I incredulously asked if he was really asking for money for beer and walked away. But closing time was approaching and I still had to make use of the 30% discount on cereals and pasta. That discount also applied to croissants and bars, and I had a look, but decided against getting any of those, so I grabbed some of the other things, the closing announcement coming as I was trying to figure out how to carry everything… And when I reached the self-checkout I realized that I had left the bag with the bakery products in that spot, so I dashed back and retrieved it.
Well, even though there were just two people ahead of me who were waiting to use a machine that also accepted cash, it was just after 10:20 PM when I finally left the checkout area, since a single employee was there and the machines kept causing problems. The people who were using two of those three machines had started using them before I got in line and were only done around the same time I was, one machine seeming to keep requiring the employee to override errors and the person who used the other being stuck because a bakery product simply didn’t seem to exist in the list and a bakery employee was called to sort it out but none seemed to come. At least I spotted a 0.50 RON coin around that second machine and retrieved it while waiting, but I actually ended up using the third one… Which was causing its own problems. After the person who was using it when I got in line was done, the next guy was initially stuck because a product refused to scan, which seemed to be a known issue, since the employee came with a price label that she had placed nearby and scanned it, and when the guy was done scanning he had to call the employee once again, to approve the sale, even though he didn’t have alcohol.
When my turn finally came, at first the machine didn’t recognize the wild garlic as the correct product, so the employee came to override the error, and then it required an employee to approve the transaction in my case as well, even though I also didn’t have any restricted products. And after she did that, when I was about to pay, the choice of payment method was replaced with the message asking to scan the product before placing it on the scales before I could make a selection, even though I hadn’t even gotten to touch anything after the employee had cleared the sale. But that message disappeared on its own, just when she had gotten back there, so I was finally able to pay, after checking that the discounts had applied correctly, and at that point I also used that voucher received for the recyclables.
After I could finally walk out of the checkout area, apparently being the last customer to do so, I took a moment to check the receipt and make really sure that each of the discounts had indeed applied correctly, then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged just a little before rushing out, picking up another plastic bottle with the deposit paid on my way down. Then I stopped at one of those tables that are outside and arranged the purchases better, though I still kept them in the bags, only leaving those corn puffs in the backpack, since I also went to that Mega Image and put the bags into two cabinets. Then I put that bottle in the recycling machine, entered with the backpack, but decided against getting anything, so I just cashed in that voucher, then retrieved what I had in the cabinets and walked away.
I got back just before 11:20 PM, though after cleaning the litter box I took some trash and dropped it down the chute. Then I put most of the purchases in their place, ate an apple and the sweet pastry, and it was 12:55 AM when I went to the bathroom, ending up just wasting time on the toilet before showering. It was 1:45 AM when I was done, and there was a lot to wash and clean in the kitchen, since dad had made himself some soup, and I also put the remaining purchases in their place and used the worse lettuce leaves and a little of the wild garlic for the salad, so I only ate dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:20 AM, and it was 6:10 AM when I got in bed… And just after 10 AM I was woken up by the sound of the plants from the fenced area that’s behind the building being mowed and I went to take the “before” pictures, even though there’s little difference, since there were only some tufts of grass there at that point. And at least I was able to get back to sleep after that.

On April 3, I noticed that, at that same store that’s outside the city, the price of the keyboard that I had been looking at had dropped, and it was in stock, so I could pick it up right after ordering it and left to do just that, just before 4:25 PM, taking a couple of recyclables with the deposit paid. I meant to use the recycling machine from Kaufland Basarabia and then also check the price of the cat food that was on sale in multiple places, but I checked the time when I got there… And then just kept walking, only remembering my plan quite a few minutes later. So I kept going, reaching that store just before 5:30 PM, even though I didn’t jog, so I walked really fast. And, after opening the box and having a look at the keyboard before walking out, I started picking up more recyclables with the deposit paid… And at one point a dog that was digging through trash along the train tracks caught my attention; it didn’t seem to be a stray but also looked too dirty to be a pet and just didn’t seem to belong there… And some time later, just as I was about to turn and make the detour to Auchan Titan, I saw the posters about a lost dog, remembering that I had noticed them the previous week as well, and the dog looked like the one in the picture! But quite some time had passed since I had seen it, I was thinking that it had probably been much closer to the end of that road than to where I was at that point, but I didn’t really know, I couldn’t recall anything specific about exactly where it had been, so I kept going, despite hesitating and feeling that I could have done something.
I actually picked up so many recyclables that at one point I had to stop, spread them out on a bench and rearrange them. Then I put them in the recycling machine from Auchan, and when I was done a woman asked whether only those with the deposit symbol worked or those with the recycling symbol also did, so I told her that just those with the deposit symbol did and picked up the plastic bottle that was in a cart that was next to the machine and showed her that it had been dropped there because it didn’t have it. And then I decided to also search through the large bin that was a couple of steps away, finding two cans with the deposit paid… But also nicking myself in what I assume was a tiny shard from some broken glass bottles. I had seen them there, but in another corner of that bin, yet I guess that some tiny shards had scattered, since I felt a little prick, put those cans in the machine, then looked and noticed a tiny mark. It was very small, but it was there, so I thoroughly washed my hands, then had another look in that bin, to try to see the labels from those broken bottles, but since I didn’t want to reach in yet again and couldn’t flip those shards over by using a plastic bottle, I eventually gave up. And dad called seconds later, so I entered the store, with the keyboard, after talking to him, getting some of that cat food and a couple of other things and also using the amount that was on the store card and the vouchers received for the recyclables. Then I arranged the purchases, which I put in a cabinet when I reached that Penny. And, when I was retrieving what I had in the cabinet, after just getting some bagels, the guard asked to see my backpack, so I told her that she’ll just find a few more bags in there and pulled them out to show her.
On the way back to Kaufland Basarabia, I picked up a plastic bottle, saw that it didn’t have the deposit symbol, decided to look for a recycling bin to put it in, couldn’t find any before reaching the recycling center from that area, which was obviously closed at that hour, and ended up leaving it at the gate. And something got in my shoe as I was approaching Kaufland and it really bothered me, so I limped to a bench and managed to get it out. Then I put my things in a cabinet, used the toilet, and entered the store at 9:05 PM, just as the labels listing bakery discounts of 50% were being placed… And that timing was required in order to get two of the products that I ended up getting, since the moment the employee placed the label, others reached towards them as well, so I got one of each and they got the others. On the other hand, I took a price label for the bread that had a regular discount those days and wanted to scan it, but there didn’t seem to be any working price checkers, so I used a self-checkout to check and saw that there was no additional discount. Then I got some vegetables that had good evening discounts and also just grabbed the scattered green onion tops that were still in the crate, keeping them in the bag as I scanned the other products at the self-checkout, after adding a few other things, so I guess that you can count those tops as stolen if you really want to, even though it’s not like they could make up a bundle. Either way, I forgot to hit that I was done after entering the bread and buns and the machine told me to scan the product first, so I looked in confusion, but the employee came, realized what happened, and sorted it out. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, the closing announcement coming while I was arranging the purchases, and it was a little after 10:05 PM when I walked out, needing to use the emergency exit.
After picking up one more bottle with the deposit paid on the way, I got back at 10:45 PM, but after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, at which point I picked up two more bottles with the deposit paid that were in the garbage room. Then I ate an apple and a sweet pastry, put most of the purchases in their place, moved something into a jar for dad, and also did the day’s squats. It was just before 12:30 AM when I went to the bathroom, but I washed a couple of things before washing myself. I was done at 1:10 AM, but then I cut my toenails, put the remaining purchases in their place, had plenty to wash and clean in the kitchen, also dealt with my bread, and used some of the worse lettuce leaves and some more wild garlic for the salad. I also had lunch, taking occasional bites, between 3:15 AM and 4:05 AM, and when I put what was left of my bread in the freezer I had to move dad’s breads and a bag tore, so I had to move that bread into another bag and then make it properly fit back in there. After all of that, I ate dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:25 AM, though I spent the last several minutes just gathering the seeds and breadcrumbs that were stuck on the plate. I didn’t get on-line, and got in bed at 5:55 AM.

I was woken up a little before 11:55 AM, when the new washing machine was delivered and the old one taken away, my parents having decided that they won’t even try to have it repaired because what broke off might have damaged other things and it might not be worth it. And then I also connected the new keyboard, which is clearly of lower quality than the old one, and the lighting is also just around the keys, not also through them, making it next to useless in the rare moments when I do want it on, though I eventually figured out that I can just about make out the keys if I set it on yellow and go past the lowest brightness level. And the macro keys that are on the left mess up the positioning of my fingers, as I tend to start from there, so I end up pressing those macro keys instead of Ctrl, Shift, Tab or Caps Lock, and in case of Esc it’s either that macro key or I overcompensate and press F1, and I can be a key off when typing as well, especially with my left hand. Things did get a little better since then, but this is still quite an issue, so it remains to be seen when or if I’ll manage to type properly again. And the old keyboard didn’t fit in this box, being wider. Or it would fit in itself, but there’s no more room for the cable to bend, it seemed about to snap if I tried, so I had to leave it out of the box. But what’s more concerning about the new keyboard is that I occasionally get two spaces when I press the key, and this problem is a good part of the reason why I bought it, since it was why I had the old one replaced back then and recently, after several years, the replacement was starting to exhibit the same problem, so it may prove to be a complete waste. Either way, we then also tried the washing machine, and it seemed to do its job.