Cav's Place

Since I still can’t make myself write about the half marathon, as in the actual run, but Thursday I went to Bookfest, I guess I’ll write about that now, to have a second post for the week, and I’ll start from that day’s early hours, when I went to the kitchen very late, several minutes after 1:30 AM, and there were some things to wash as well, and I didn’t rush, ending up eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:20 AM, and getting in bed at 5:20 AM. Then I got up when the alarm rang, at 12:30 PM, and left at 2:45 PM. That’d have been rather late otherwise, since the plan had been to leave by 2:30 PM and walk, but while I was getting ready dad said that he wasn’t going to mother anymore and could give me the metro card if I’ll be back by the time he’ll leave for work, so I tried to figure out whether I could get back by then and eventually took the card, the idea being that we’ll most likely meet at the metro station or on the way.
I didn’t take the recyclables with the deposit symbol, but when I spotted one I picked it up, meaning to cash it in at the Shop & Go that’s close to the metro station, but when I got there I saw a message asking people to use the Mega Image from Decebal to return recyclables. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, but I couldn’t do anything about it at that point, so I turned around, grabbed one more plastic bottle with the deposit symbol that I spotted in that area, and took the metro, meaning to go straight to Bookfest but ending up also checking that independent bookstore after all. That had been part of the original plan, when I thought that I was going to walk, and I actually considered getting off at Victoriei and going there after all, especially after just missing the metro when I switched, but I decided against changing the plan yet again, so I just waited for the next one, which came only a few minutes later, and took it for one more stop, but then I got rather confused and, even though I was only wondering whether I was going straight or would end up a little way off and would need to look for some landmarks in the distance and make a correction, I found that I had somehow turned around, only realizing it when I spotted the name of the street where that bookstore is. So I decided to extend that detour a little more and have a look there after all, leaving those recyclables outside and picking them back up after just looking around a little and only asking about the price of Dawnshard, since there was no additional discount and I couldn’t get myself to also ask if they really weren’t offering any special discounts during Bookfest anymore, since they had done that in other years, after they decided to stop attending.
I had been just about whimpering even as I walked without really knowing where I was, and checking that store had messed me up even more, but at least I finally knew just where I was, so I then made my way to the book fair, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way and leaving a third, a beer bottle which was still at least half full. And I wanted to see whether I could hand them in at the Shop & Go from that area, which seems to be pretty much the only such store from that area, so I lost quite some time to get to it, initially trying to find how to cross that intersection and get straight to it and then still going around those buildings, to confirm that no larger store was there after all. But once I did go in I found that it did have a recycling machine, so I used it, had a quick look in the store and then cashed in the voucher.

I got to the book fair a couple of minutes before 4:30 PM, but after just grabbing a plan from one of the information desks I went to wash my hands, in case I’ll see anything to munch on being offered. Then I looked all around, pretty much ignoring the major publishers, quickly glancing at many of the small ones, paying more attention to the Romanian fantasy publishers and to a couple of others that publish certain nonfiction books, and really taking my time to look carefully whenever I saw books in English. I also made a bit of a point of showing some interest in the area where several Arab countries, including Palestine, were presenting themselves, and they also offered some dates and I meant to take some, but I couldn’t work up the courage to do so at first. And at least there is an Arab bookstore, and that’s what used to be in that area in previous years, so it wasn’t exactly out of place, but what was out of place was that, separately from those other Arab countries, Saudi Arabia’s embassy also had its own area, and it was so formal and intimidating, with some staff members in suits and basically presenting the country, plus that there were obviously other reasons why I didn’t want to show interest in them, yet they were also offering dates as well as some things to munch on and, after also just walking away at first, without daring to take anything, when I returned to that area and saw another guy just walk by and grab something, I also reached over, took a bagel and ate it… After which one of those staff members covered the bowls and even moved the one with the munchies under the table, only taking it out when he was offering something to those who were actually engaging with them.
Well, it just so happened that the small area of a publisher of Romanian fantasy which I had also noticed last year was just in front of the Saudi Arabia area, and while I initially only had a look from a distance, rushing away when one of the people from there engaged with me as soon as I approached, after going all around I returned to the Arab countries’ area and grabbed a date after all, and then I wanted to see whether I could get something else from the Saudi Arabia area as well. So I went back there and, since several people had gathered and I couldn’t work up the courage to just reach over right away, I tried to see whether I’ll be allowed to have a better look at that publisher’s books on my own, and that time around they did let me do so without interacting with me. And I spotted the one which had attracted my attention last year, so I considered buying it, but as I was thinking it over I had another look at Saudi Arabia’s area and saw that those bowls were on the table and uncovered again, so I reached over to take a date from there as well, and since that made my hands sticky I then reached past the people who were engaging with the staff in order to also grab a napkin to wipe with. And then I went back to that publisher and bought the book, even if it is in Romanian and therefore my expectations are low, since reading in Romanian just feels wrong in general and in case of fantasy in particular I really can’t see how it can work in Romanian at all, my admittedly few past experiences saying that I just can’t deal with it. Either way, I wasn’t given a receipt, but I then just put the book in the backpack and made my way out, returning the plan to the information desk, washing my hands again, since they still were a little sticky, and leaving a little after 6:20 PM.

Since the metro cards kept getting messed up after I used them at Aviatorilor in the past, when I got off at Victoriei to switch trains, I stepped out through the gate and checked the card, confirming that it still worked. Then I went back in, got off at Obor and first went to Auchan, finding a deep discount for that bio (organic) “Greek” yogurt, albeit only the kind with 10% fat, since they had piles of it expiring the next day. The discount sticker only listed a 30% discount from the full price, but the sign and the announcement that kept being repeated stated that the real price was 30% of the discounted one, or a little over 20% of the full one, though the announcement also stated that the discount will be applied at checkout. Either way, I took two of those and also meant to get some eggs, but after selecting those that didn’t have code three from those that were sold by piece, I decided to check Carrefour first, so I left them there, but decided to get some tea, since I had checked on-line and hadn’t seen any discount for it at Carrefour, the full price was marginally cheaper at Auchan, and I didn’t want to risk forgetting about it if I’ll get back for the eggs or needing to get back just for it if I’ll find cheaper eggs at Carrefour.
I had that voucher received for a few recyclables which I had put in the machine from that location on May 15, after scanning the store card because the sign stated that a small additional amount was offered in that case, and which I was then unable to use because, while the machine will also scan the physical card, the app is apparently required to use a voucher received after you do so, the printed voucher not being usable otherwise, not even at the normal value, and that day I had been told that the employee who could turn such vouchers into regular ones was busy. However, I only meant to mention it if I’ll see the guy who had told me to come back another day, and he wasn’t at those checkouts, so I’d have normally picked an unmanned one to use, but it was the manned one that was free, so I went there after all, and it proved to be a good thing, because the full discount for that yogurt apparently had to be entered manually.
Well, just as I was about to pay, that guy walked over, so I decided to ask him about that voucher, and then the two of them had something of a back and forth, with the woman manning that checkout saying that she could just turn it into a regular voucher and the guy saying that it’ll confuse him and he wanted to do it some other way. She said that he was embarrassing her in front of the customers and even reached over and canceled my attempt to pay, but I didn’t really get what she wanted to do, so after initially saying that I’ll come back after checking Carrefour, I said that I’ll just wait there and let them decide what to do and paid in full… At which point she seemed frustrated with me as well and said that she had wanted to deduct the amount from the total. But she eventually wrote down the code from my store card and walked off, and I took some time to stuff the purchases in the backpack, until she came back and gave me the money, albeit only the regular amount that was actually printed on the voucher, of course, so I still felt tricked out of that small additional amount and mean to recover it at a later time. Either way, she asked whether I had given my information when I got the store card, because she couldn’t find any name associated with that card number. Of course, dad got the card, long ago, but if there’s no name associated with it, it’s even better, though I told her that I thought that I had given it. She still said that I should register for a card again, but I just shrugged it off and left.
Since I picked up another plastic bottle with the deposit symbol on the way to Carrefour, I searched for the recycling machine in that parking lot and put it in when I eventually found it. Then I washed my hands again, entered the store with everything and, when I didn’t find any interesting expiring products, I meant to just cash in that voucher and leave… Only to happen to pass by the teas on the way to the self-checkout and see that the one which I had just bought from Auchan did have a discount there, and I even checked again after getting back and confirmed that it wasn’t listed on-line, so I’d have had no way to know that. Either way, I bought one more, frustrated that I had lost some money, and used that voucher when I paid for it, though that didn’t exactly go smoothly. But, of course, having problems with those vouchers is pretty much the rule at Carrefour, and at least that time I was able to use it on my own, albeit after moving to another machine, since when I first tried to scan it and the machine asked me to enter it instead, I tried to cancel that prompt and the message that an assistant will soon come was displayed… Yet the assistant seemed busy, so after waiting for a little while I just walked over to another machine that was free, and when I was once again asked to enter the voucher I typed the code, actually being surprised that I got it right on the first try even though it’s long and hard to see.
After also adding that tea in the backpack, I returned to Auchan and bought those eggs, but I had to wait a long time at the self-checkout in order to do so. The machine from the information desk, which should be manned, wasn’t, and it was therefore off until the employee who had handled my voucher eventually got there, but I thought that my turn was about to come at another machine at that point and didn’t want to face her again anyway, so I stayed where I was. And, until that point, there were two machines that accepted cash in that area, and one of them was manned by the employee who had caused problems multiple times before, and she was really slow anyway, so I initially took my place in line at the other one, which was unmanned… Only for another employee to come and start feeding money into it, at which point I moved back to the manned one, losing one place compared to where I’d have been if I’d have picked that line from the beginning. However, since the employee who manned that checkout was so slow, the other one was done feeding the other machine well before my turn came, so at that point I went back to that other line, losing what I thought was still just one spot in the process. Yet the foreign couple who got to use the machine after that employee was done needed some help, and then the two guys who were next, and just ahead of me, split their purchases and paid separately even if they seemed to be buying the same products, the second also remembered to get bags after the first one scanned his products, and the first one’s money were awfully crumpled up and he struggled to get the machine to accept them.
At least there were no problems when my turn did finally come, but I actually checked and saw that, even though only a few people had, in fact, been ahead of me, 17 minutes passed between the moment when I first took my place in line and the one when I actually got to use a machine. And time was a problem at that point, dad calling while I was waiting and asking where I was. But in the end it was fine, since he said that he’ll call again when he’ll walk out of the building and that happened just as I reached this station, so we met on the way, and in fact much closer to here than to the metro station, and I gave him back the card.
I got back a few minutes before 9 PM and decided to not go out again, so I just went to dump what I gathered from the litter box down the chute and grabbed another plastic bottle with the deposit symbol from the garbage room, then put the purchases in their place, arranged a few things in my room, ate some salty snacks, spent some time on the computer, and scraped what I could from what was still stuck on the cast iron pot, which had been in the fridge ever since I had last made mamaliga, four days earlier. Then I went to the toilet, did the day’s squats, in the bathroom, and washed, being done at 12:10 AM. But I had decided to make mamaliga again that night, and even though I still had to wash that cast iron pot and the other things that were in the sink, I even managed to stick to the dinner schedule, somehow, though eating that so quickly led to needing to rush to the toilet again before going to bed.
On the other hand, the light bulb from the kitchen was flickering badly, and while that had happened a couple of times before and taking it out and screwing it back in had sorted it out, leading me to believe that the contact might get a little loose after a while, that night it didn’t help, and when I replaced that light bulb with another for a few minutes, that other one didn’t flicker, so the problem clearly seems to be with the light bulb, even if I only bought it less than a year ago. Still, rubbing it a little, putting it back once more and screwing it in really tightly made things much better that night… Only for it to start flickering badly yet again last night, so I’m expecting it to fail… We have more, and I guess this explains why they were so cheap, but it’s still annoying.

I’ll also mention here that, in the early hours of June 1, I once again took it too easy in the kitchen and ended up eating dinner between 3:20 AM and 4 AM. Then, after getting up, I redeemed Lost Words: Beyond the Page, after having requested it in The Community Giveaway on the GOG.com forums, and it was a relief that the donor was not once again that user who donates so much. Either way, this morning I got in bed at 5:35 AM, after dad got back and we exchanged a few words.