Cav's Place

After only managing to, finally, finish the last post in what became the series about this summer’s Dream Trek this afternoon and then going out again in the evening, this post was initially just another placeholder, only including the part about the first run, which may be the 300th over this distance if I also exclude the one that I cut short after three laps, because my stopwatch no longer worked, along with the longer one that I always exclude, when I had to go over the bridge and cross the street. Either way, the plan for this post was to include the three regular runs between the Dream Trek and the real start of the preparations for this year’s marathon, the last one of them marking the theoretical start, and I actually managed to edit it and add everything else, starting from the part about the rest of June 27, Sunday evening.

The salad made in the early hours of June 27 only consisted of kohlrabies and a piece of a regular onion, and then I got in bed at 5:20 AM… And I’ll also mention here that I saw several of those grain weevils in the kitchen again that night, and I have been seeing them ever since, but just here and there, and I can’t pinpoint a source, but at least I know that they’re not coming from the popcorn again, since I keep checking it. Either way, I then got up when the alarm rang, at 2:30 PM, and had the usual stuff, while the sweet thing consisted of two somewhat nicer, albeit recently expired, biscuits, with added honey. But it’s a good thing that I meant to go out after 5 PM anyway, since I opened a new bag of baked almonds with Himalayan salt and put all of the expired nicer biscuits of the other kind in the fridge, which required rearranging things, so that took a while, and I also went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, seeing that my chair was still there even then, picking up a glass bottle with the deposit symbol, getting back to drop it off and wash my hands, and ending up actually leaving at 5:45 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband. The reported temperature was about 32°C, and 31°C when I finished. And dad was just entering the building when I was about to exit, so we met at the entrance.
The time was 48:53.51, with sector times of 4:33.23, 5:10.69, 6:04 (6:03.21), 4:34.38, 5:11 (5:10.90), 6:01.22, 4:34 (4:33.60), 5:06.68, 5:56 (5:55.29) and 1:44.31, making for lap times of 15:47.13, 15:46.50 and 15:36 (15:35.57). The heat and the fact that it was just a few days after the Dream Trek made me just aim to stay under 50 minutes at first, but that poor time on the first sector made me push harder, wanting to at least stay under 16 minutes on the first lap and being worried that I’ll even go over 51 minutes in the end, my target lap times after the end of the lap adding up to 51 minutes. But when sector one of lap two was only a second slower than sector one of lap one, I wondered whether I could stay under 16 minutes on lap two as well, in which case I could hope to stay under 50 minutes after all. And at the end of the lap I hoped to stay under 16 minutes on lap three as well and actually get under 49:30, so I pushed harder on lap three, even more so from sector two, and after that sector I found myself wondering whether I could even get under 49 minutes. It seemed like just a passing thought, hardly possible, but I really gave everything on sector three of lap three and at the end of the lap I thought that I might just have a shred of a chance. It required a good final sector when I was already tired, and the heat definitely made it even harder, but I just pushed every step of the way and that surprisingly great time on the final sector meant that I even ended up with several seconds to spare. And each lap was faster than the one before, and so were most sectors, sectors two and three of lap three actually being the only decent ones, so I was quite content, considering the circumstances, though the time is poor in itself.
I was tired when I started, and I also felt the need to snap my back, having felt something wrong there ever since I had gotten in bed in the morning, and the heat was obviously a problem, so I knew that it was going to be hard. But the fatigue became less of a problem after a while, and so did my back, the only physical problems that appeared later being some warnings from my knees, those from the right one eventually being somewhat more notable. On the other hand, I’m not sure what to say about the wind. It might have had a slight cooling effect, but there were spots where I clearly had to push against it, and the humidity created by those new fountains is a problem that the wind only worsens. But at least there weren’t notable problems caused by people except on sector two of lap two, though that sector was frustrating from that point of view, since I had to briefly stop once, when a girl blocked my way by moving to shake the hand of another, calling her “president”, as they were passing each other and I was just about to pass between them, and I also had to slow twice, when I approached roadblocks and had to wait for an opening, and I might have actually slowed a third time, albeit briefly, when I approached a third roadblock, before going very wide in order to go around it. Other than that, I stepped in a hole that was under the lane, possibly on sector two of lap three, but it might have been on that same sector two of lap two, or even sector three of either of those laps, I couldn’t remember by the time I got back, but I know that my ankle really had to take a lot, I was thinking that it had twisted at least to 70°, so it’s a very good thing that it held.

After jogging back, I finished the tea and made another, ate a sweet pastry, and left again a little after 8:15 PM, with the shoes that dad wanted to throw away, those other things that I take to Kaufland, also some of those things that are to be put in their “turtle” for those other vouchers, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, minus those that dad had emptied not long before. And, after picking up a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, the one recycling machine that worked when I got in line also stopped moments later, so I went up, along with another guy, and he asked at the information desk for someone to come and fix the machine, so I then just asked for those other vouchers, which I was going to leave for dad after getting back, receiving them and then dropping off those other things in the “turtle” before going back down, dropping those other things in what should be the appropriate bin, then also the shoes in the one for clothes and shoes and other such things, then getting back in line at the recycling machine and eventually using it, being left just with the two bottles that were least likely to be accepted. So I put those in a cabinet, washed my hands, and finally entered Kaufland exactly one hour after walking out the door.
When I saw two pieces of that bread with cereals that were clearly in the wrong place, the label from that spot being for something else, I took the label that I thought was for that bread and scanned it, seeing that the 50% discount did apply, so I took one of those breads. Then I got some fruits and vegetables that had evening discounts, plus some spoiling white cherries, and I was looking through some non-refrigerated expiring products when I heard an announcement that the checkouts were going to close in ten minutes. It didn’t say that the store had closed, and it should have still been a little before 10 PM, but I didn’t check, just rushing to the self-checkouts, cashing in the voucher received for the recyclables… And then seeing that the bread showed up as having the full price, though that was slightly lower than the full price listed on the label which I had scanned, so I had probably scanned the wrong label after all. Either way, I set that bread aside and left it there, then had to call over an employee when the machine didn’t recognize the green onions as the correct product, so she logged on to override the error… And at the end she had to come again because the machine asked for an employee to complete the transaction, maybe because some old label from a bag had accidentally scanned earlier, the machine telling me at that point to continue with the other products, probably leaving the error to be sorted out at the end.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet, arranging everything and washing my hands one more time, I continued to that Mega Image, put everything back in a cabinet, saw discounts of 90% and got bread for dad and some buns, then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything yet again. I was thinking to perhaps give the buns, if not one of the breads as well, to a homeless person, if I was going to see one on the way back, but I didn’t, so the buns ended up being for myself. And I also grabbed another plastic bottle with the deposit symbol on the way back.
I got back a couple of minutes after 11 PM, ate a banana, left the bread and the buns on the table but put the other purchases in their place, and it was 11:45 PM when I went to wash. After I was done, a few minutes before 12:30 AM, I put the buns in the fridge, and the bread as well for the time being, ate lunch, taking occasional bites between 1:30 AM and 2:25 AM, and then still managed to stick to the dinner schedule, albeit by “cheating” a little in order to be able to say that I started eating before 3 AM. However, I then got in bed at 5:20 AM. And some time after getting up I decided to install and start Phoning Home. And there were no visits recorded on either of those days.

Moving on to July 4, I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing consisting of the last two of those somewhat nicer biscuits which had expired not long before, with added honey, and I left at 4:30 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband. The reported temperature was 26-27°C, and it pretty much held steady. And, after calling while I was on the toilet to say that he won’t be back before I’ll leave after all, since he had said the previous day that he planned to be back around 4 PM, dad was actually in front of the building when I got there, calling the guy who had blocked his parking spot, so I waited for him to be able to park his car and then we exchanged a few words.
The time was 47:32.95, with sector times of 4:26.02, 5:03.93, 5:55 (5:54.38), 4:25.34, 5:04 (5:03.60), 5:45.00, 4:24.34, 4:56 (4:55.56), 5:47.53 and 1:47.25, making for lap times of 15:24.33, 15:14 (15:13.94) and 15:07.43. It is possible that I pressed the button a little early at the end of sector two of lap one, in which case the seconds were also off by one on that sector and the next, but I’ll leave things as they are, without question marks. Either way, this should have just been the second of the two more leisurely runs that I could afford between the Dream Trek and starting to prepare for the marathon, but with the forecast listing temperatures above 35°C pretty much every day at least for the following two weeks, and possibly until the end of the month or even longer, it was my last chance to have a good run, so I clearly aimed to get back under 48 minutes.
Well, that time on the first sector didn’t look good, so I pushed a little more and the next two sectors were somewhat better, but far from good enough for that 15:20 that’s the target lap time for 48 minutes. And that was on the first lap, so I was wondering whether I’ll even stay under 49 minutes and pushed harder on lap two, but after two sectors that were marginally faster than on the first lap I felt myself tiring, so I dug even deeper on sector three, thinking that I had to in order to at least maintain the pace… Only to be pleasantly surprised by that really good time on that sector, and by the fact that I actually had a chance to stay under 48 minutes after all. But that required maintaining that pace, which didn’t seem likely, yet I just kept pushing, and from sector two of lap three I pretty much gave everything, not worrying about what I’ll have left for the end. And, if after sector two of lap three I was more or less certain that, if there won’t be notable problems, I was going to stay under 48 minutes, at the end of the lap I was frustrated that it didn’t seem likely that I’ll manage to also get under 47:30, which did prove to be the case despite continuing to push on that final sector as well.
I felt the need to snap my back before the run, but it went away once I was actually running, the only physical issues being some warnings from the right knee on lap three, maybe from sector two, if not actually from sector one, and also a faint feeling that I hadn’t left everything in the toilet, which definitely started from sector two of lap three, but it wasn’t a problem. As for the problems caused by people, other than requiring some weaving and going the long way around, on lap one I hesitated next to that stand that’s on sector three, when I was about to pass a few other people, who had left the lane clear, but a man who was coming from the opposite direction and had been hidden from sight by them meant to use the lane to get around them. And on sector three of lap two there were two moments when I hesitated, first when I passed by a group of girls and one rushed at the one that I was passing closest to and pushed her into me, obviously on purpose, so I ended up elbowing that one who got pushed, though I’m pretty sure that I mainly hit her handbag, and then when a cyclist who was coming from the opposite direction had to use the lane, the rest of the path being quite crowded in that area, and while I saw him from a fair distance, he was fast and it startled me. Otherwise, there were the damaged or particularly uneven parts of the lane that I did my best to avoid, and while it had been cloudy just before I left, it was mostly sunny while I ran, only being cloudy again on sector three of lap three.

After getting back, I rearranged some things in the freezer, to make room for what dad had brought, and ate watermelon, that being the year’s first one, brought by dad on June 29, from the trip he had taken. Then I also ate lunch, did 200 squats, since I had kept putting them off the previous day until I forgot to do them at all, changed, took dad’s recyclables with the deposit symbol, leaving those which I had picked up and brought back the previous time, and left again at 8:45 PM, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way to Mega Mall, where I first dropped the can which I had also taken with me in a recycling bin, then went to use the recycling machine, surprised that it took all of those many recyclables, just the two that had a small bar code requiring multiple tries but even those eventually working. Then I found a sweet pastry that I was interested in among the discounted products, under some packaged leafy greens and fruits, and it was the only bakery product that was there, so it had probably been either hidden by someone or forgotten when those fruits and vegetables had been placed there, but it was wrapped in plastic, so I took it, then I cashed in the voucher received for the recyclables before paying for it… And then it fell from my hands as I walked out of the checkout area. But it was still wrapped in plastic, so I picked it up and then put it in a small bag and in the backpack.
After continuing to Kaufland, I washed my hands and entered the store, with the backpack, when it was past 9:35 PM, maybe even closer to 9:40 PM. I was interested in two buns from the bakery area, and while they didn’t have a discount label, I took them after scanning the regular one and finding that the 50% discount did apply. And I also took a sweet pastry. Then I rushed back to the fruits and vegetables, grabbing one more product on the way and then getting a number of things from there that had evening discounts before starting to walk to the self-checkout area at 10 PM, grabbing some cornmeal on the way… And then being surprised that there had been no closing announcement, or in fact even one stating that closing time was approaching, even though I had checked the site before leaving and the closing time for that location was still listed as 10 PM. But a few other locations had switched to 10:30 PM or 11 PM, and nobody was telling me to hurry up either, so I also had a look at the expiring products before actually getting to the self-checkout… Which didn’t accept the green onions as the correct product, and no employees were around, so it took a while before I could call over the one from the information desk… Who left again right after overriding the error, so when the lettuce with root was not accepted either, I once again had to wait for quite a while, and nobody was at the information desk either, but three other employees were chatting next to the recycling bins, so I eventually waved at them and one finally came over… Only to simply pick up the lettuce and set it back down, the machine accepting it at that point even though I had done the same thing multiple times while waiting and it hadn’t worked. Either way, I then arranged the purchases just a little and, after walking out, I saw that the closing time listed at the entrance had indeed changed to 10:30 PM, just that I hadn’t looked there on my way in.
After picking up another bottle with the deposit symbol on the way, I also checked that Mega Image, struggling to put that bottle and at least the large bag in a cabinet but being unable to make them fit. But the guard told me to just leave them next to the cabinets, because he was there and will watch them, so I did so, leaving the other bag there as well, though I still entered with the backpack and the bag that hangs from my neck. Then, after getting some expiring products that were discounted by 90%, including another one of those packs of buns, retrieving my things and walking out, I stopped at a bench and rearranged everything properly. And I once again considered giving those buns to a homeless person, but I still didn’t see any on the way back.
I got back a little after 11:05 PM, but after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute. Then I put most of the purchases in their place, which took quite a while, and during that time I also noticed that the buns from that pack seemed to have a strange smell. But I shrugged it off, and in the end they didn’t seem to cause any problems. Either way, I then ate that sweet pastry from Carrefour, going to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, at 12:45 AM. It was almost 1:50 AM when I was done, then I cleaned the grill, which dad had once again used, then washed the other things that were in the kitchen, selected the remaining purchases, setting aside what I was going to use for the salad and putting the rest in their place as well, and finally ate dinner between 4:20 AM and 5 AM. I got in bed at 6 AM… And after some two hours of sleep I woke up, deciding to go to pee, just in case, and then I got on the computer for a while, getting back in bed a few minutes before 9:30 AM, and needing a while to get back to sleep, though I eventually did… And after getting up I noticed more key combinations that can’t be used on the new keyboard…

On the morning of July 6, dad got back very early again, so I talked to him a little and ended up going to bed at 5:25 AM. And after getting up that day I finished If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal, also managing to write the quick review in the evening, though I just put the English version on Goodreads at the time, leaving the translation for later, since I had tried to have The StoryGraph add the edition automatically several days earlier but it wasn’t just that it still hadn’t been added, but there was no notification that it couldn’t be added either, that message only appearing two days later, at which point I added the edition manually and also added that same English review there as well, editing both of those reviews one more day later, so on July 9, in order to also add the translation. But, to get back to July 6, I’ll also mention here that no visits were recorded that day.

In the early moments of July 7, I apparently reached a spot in Phoning Home that my computer can’t deal with, since it constantly crashed with an “out of memory” error in the logs, and since I saw textures being mentioned, I assume that it refers to video memory, though when I’m using integrated graphics, it’s probably still a matter of total system memory. Either way, that kept happening even at absolutely minimum settings, with the resolution at 320×240, and when I also tried installing the game on dad’s computer, since it has a dedicated video card, even if it’s very weak, and also a 64-bit OS, even if it also has only 4 GB of RAM, it wouldn’t even start. Since the errors from the logs were different, the first problem on dad’s computer might have had to do with the old drivers or some missing dependencies, but I didn’t try to troubleshoot it and I wouldn’t have installed or changed other things on it anyway. So it was clear that I couldn’t advance in that game anymore and had to give up, though I still poked around a little over the next few days, making the final save in the early hours of July 10 and uninstalling it after getting up.

Getting back to July 7, I went out at 2:50 PM, after doing the day’s squats. I went to Kaufland and got what I wanted, checking at the self-checkout that the discounts applied properly, then I took some time to arrange everything in my backpack, realizing pretty quickly that it wasn’t a good idea but wanting to at least keep everything there and avoid bothering to use a cabinet when I’ll also go to Tei, intending to move the purchases back in a bag after that. Either way, I then found a bottle with the deposit symbol in the parking lot and turned back to use the recycling machine, keeping the voucher for another time, then went to Tei, entering with the purchases and getting what I wanted… And then I just threw those purchases in a bag and still kept the others in the backpack. Then I grabbed a couple of fruits from a tree on the way to the farmers’ market, spotting many more that looked nice and ripe in another but moving on because some people were there at the time. And checking the farmers’ market turned out to be a waste of time, and that was a problem, since after picking up some more fruits on the way back, mostly off the ground, I realized that I was out of time, so I took off the backpack and jogged the rest of the way, with the backpack in one hand and the bag in the other.
I made it back just in time, a couple of minutes after 5 PM, managing to turn on the TV seconds before the start of the race. And I was relieved to see that nothing had cracked or been cut in my backpack. But one of the fruits which I had picked up off the ground had been crushed, so I discarded the skin but, despite thinking that at that point the pulp would have likely also been dirty or contaminated by something, I still ate some of it, after trying to wash it a little.

On July 8, I was going to run in the evening, when the temperature was at least going to start dropping a little, so I didn’t set an alarm, getting up when it was close to 3:20 PM. Then I ate some watermelon, later followed by a doughnut, with added honey, the yogurt with cereals and baked almonds with Himalayan salt, the yogurt having expired three days earlier but being a “creamy” bio (organic) one with 4.5% fat and 5.5% protein, and a banana. I also drank most of the tea before leaving, at 7:50 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband, and with some things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was about 34°C, with the forecast listing about 31°C when I was going to finish, though I couldn’t check to know for sure.
The time was 49:22.89, with sector times of 4:27.86, 5:17 (5:16.22), 6:05.84, 4:24.03, 5:16 (5:15.81), 5:56.13, 4:40 (4:39.84), 5:24 (5:23.97), 6:03 (6:02.56) and 1:50.63, making for lap times of 15:49.92, 15:36 (15:35.97) and 16:07 (16:06.37). Considering the heat, and also the fact that I had been out the day before, I was just aiming to stay under 50 minutes and controlled my pace on the first sector, so I was content with that time… And then I saw that work was once again being done in that area that’s on sector two, which at first glance seemed completely closed off. However, after wondering for a moment whether I’ll have to give up, I saw how others were getting through, using a spot where the fence was slightly pushed aside and then picking their way through a muddy patch, between the lake and the path. And everyone had to use that small space, so running through was pretty much out of the question and that loss of time made me seriously question staying under 50 minutes. And going well over six minutes on sector three of lap one and needing just over ten seconds less than 16 minutes to cover the lap made me doubt it even more. So it was clear that I had to stay under 16 minutes on lap two as well, and the first sector’s time was surprisingly good, giving me hope, and after being able to deal slightly better with that area of sector two, getting under six minutes on sector three and being a fair bit faster on the lap as a whole compared to the first one, I even started wondering about getting under 49:30, and about staying under 16 minutes on each lap. Sector one of lap three put that second goal in doubt, and losing even more time than before on sector two made it pretty much impossible, but I could still get under 49:30, which I managed after pushing on sector three and on the final sector. Of course, that’s a bad time in itself, but I was content with it under those circumstances.
There were plenty of people and there were a couple of spots where I hesitated even on lap one, and I remember one, on the long straight of sector two, where a couple were walking next to the lane and the dog that was behind them, without a leash, seemed to mean to come in my direction as I was about to pass between it and them, startling me, so I almost slammed into the guy, though I actually only touched him a little. But on the long straight of sector two of lap two I stopped for an instant when a woman and a boy were cycling on either side of the lane, coming from the opposite direction, and the boy lost balance and tipped towards me just as I was about to run past him. And cyclists coming from the opposite direction made me hesitate twice on sector three of lap two. And on sector one of lap three I was catching up to a guy who was running on the lane and the boy who was on a scooter, next to the lane, on the inside, and they suddenly stopped right in front of me, next to the drinking fountain, so I almost slammed into the boy, having to stop for a moment and touching him probably somewhat roughly as I pushed past. And I seem to remember a brief stop on the long straight of sector two of lap three as well, but not the details, and I’m not entirely certain that I’m not mixing it with the earlier moment involving the boy on the bicycle. But it probably is different, because I seem to remember a roadblock. And there might have also been something on sector three of lap three, but I was pushing and I guess that my mind wasn’t exactly recording anymore, so I couldn’t really say. However, I do remember the little boy who started running in front of me on the final sector’s straight, and I probably gained a little time by having that target, until he had to give up and stopped, after probably about a hundred meters or so.
Otherwise, the heat was just draining me on the way to the park and I definitely felt it on the first lap, but it lessened after that. And there were also the usual uneven or damaged portions of the lane, but the major problem was the one that I already mentioned, the work that was once again being done in that same spot from sector two, and the fact that everybody had to get through that small space where the fence had been partially moved aside and then pick their way through a pretty muddy area that was off the path, next to the lake, so it was always crowded as well. I mostly walked through there on lap one, did better on lap two, but on lap three there really was no room, so I walked for an even longer time than on lap one, and trying to also have a better look at the stopwatch at that point caused me to lose even more time. And that was after slowing to a walk for a couple of seconds while trying to have a better look at the stopwatch on sector two of lap two, realizing moments later that I could have waited until that area where I was going to be slow anyway, but then doing the exact same thing on sector two of lap three, and then looking one more time when I was in that area as well, as I already mentioned. And another moment when I briefly slowed to a walk in order to have a better look at the time was on sector one of lap three.

After the run, I went straight to Carrefour, finding a 1 RON bill on the way, buying a few things, and needing to use a regular checkout, because that single self-checkout from that location that used to accept cash had been replaced with another one that didn’t. Then I continued to Kaufland, that location closing at 11 PM, so I washed my hands, entered with the purchases, and spotted a new kind of bread in the bakery area, where the evening discounts were once again of 51%. And that new bread looked like it might be good, so I asked the employee what it was and she said that it was written on the discount label that was in front of it, which I had ignored because it mentioned a “baguette” and that looked like a regular bread. And that discount label didn’t list the ingredients, and I couldn’t find the regular label, so I initially only got two regular breads for dad. Some of that bread with sunflower seeds was also left, but it didn’t have a discount label, and when the employee left I took the regular label and scanned it, confirming that there was no discount, at which point I also tried to check the ingredients for that new bread, ending up struggling with that obviously malfunctioning touchscreen for a while, before finally moving to another price checker and finding those ingredients, which were listed in English but actually did look quite good. And when I got back to the bakery area I did spot the regular label for that bread as well, and it also listed the ingredients, still in English. So I grabbed that bread as well, then I also got a watermelon and wandered around for a while before eventually making my way to the self-checkout and also using that voucher received for that recyclable the day before. Then I arranged the purchases and walked away just before 10:55 PM, and I found two recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way back.
I got back a little before 11:30 PM, but after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute. Then I put the few other purchases in their place, leaving the bread on the table, washed just a couple of the things that were in the kitchen, did the day’s squats and ate lunch. And, after putting the t-shirt which I had been wearing inside those days in the laundry basked, I realized that the others were in there as well, so I ended up taking an undershirt and going to shower when it was past 1:05 AM. I was done just before 1:40 AM, and then I washed the other things that were in the kitchen, including a large pot that dad wanted to use after getting up, also dealt with my bread, though I just put dad’s in the drawer for the time being, drank the lemonade taken during the Dream Trek, which had just expired, and only finally ate dinner between 4:15 AM and 5 AM, with a part of that new bread, which contains walnuts and which at the time I thought was more like something that I’d want to eat before runs, but which I have since decided to keep in order to eat just like that, after runs, or at least after some of them. Either way, I got in bed at 6:15 AM… And at 10:45 AM I got up to pee and it was hard to sleep after that, if I was falling asleep it was only briefly and then I was waking up again, so I stayed in bed until around 1:15 PM, but likely slept less than half of that remaining time, possibly much less, and that sleep consisted only of brief naps.

I’ll also mention here that on the morning of July 10 I got in bed at 5:25 AM, after cleaning up after Liza vomited and exchanging a few more words with dad, who got back very early once again. And after I got up there were two brief power failures, and then I installed and started Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition, being surprised that it worked even though it’s listed as not supporting Intel graphics. And on July 11 I started The Bone Season, which I finished on July 17, when I also wrote the quick review.