Cav's Place

Since I’m going to mention the new UPS in the post that will include this week’s run, I guess I should write one about buying it and the problems that make me still use the old one first, including everything else from those days as well, as usual. However, seeing as I didn’t even mention getting what should be the next computer’s PSU, I’ll include that in this post as well, and in fact start with it, or more exactly with the early hours of April 19, when I finished cooking around 1:15 AM, then moved what I had made into another pot and scraped what was left on the bottom of the one that I had cooked in, then ate lunch while working on the salad, and then ate dinner between 3:30 AM and 3:50 AM, getting in bed at 5:20 AM. Then, after eating lunch and doing the day’s squats, I left at 4:20 PM, with some recyclables with the deposit symbol.
After quickly checking Carrefour, entering with those recyclables, I picked up one more on the way to Kaufland and put them in the recycling machine from there, and since I needed to pee I went to the toilet and then decided to have a very quick look in the store as well, using a self-checkout to cash in the voucher received for the recyclables before walking out. I was worried that even that took too long, since I was picking up that Seasonic Prime TX-650, which would be the first internal component for the future computer, albeit one that I could also use on this one until then. That’s very high-end, it’s true, and unnecessarily so, but good PSUs with a lower maximum power seem to have just vanished from the market and, after exchanging some messages with Seasonic support, I learned that even that was soon going to be retired. That actually seems to have been the case since then, but at that point I saw that the store that I actually got this computer from, almost nine and a half years ago, had one left in stock, with something of a discount, and while they add a small extra charge if you reserve products on-line, if you go there directly and ask for a product that is in their own stock, you can pick it up with no extra charge. Of course, there is a risk of someone else picking it up or reserving it first, but that didn’t seem particularly likely with this model, so the bigger problem was that they close at 6 PM. But I was there at 5:45 PM and could get the PSU, walking out ten minutes later, with it in the backpack.
After picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol, I went to Auchan, entering with everything and getting cat food and some expiring caramelized walnuts… And, after waiting in line for a while, I realized that I had forgotten about the water for dad, so I rushed back and grabbed that as well. Then, after I was done scanning and was trying to pick everything back up, a woman asked whether I needed help and picked up a water bottle, supposedly to hand it to me, but I couldn’t grab it while she held it the way she was, so I had to ask her to leave it. But I eventually managed to get everything, and then I arranged the purchases and walked out… And, after crossing the street, I ended up sort of walking back and forth for a little while, trying to decide what to do next.
I eventually decided to get back and drop everything off before continuing in the other direction, and I was back that first time a little after 7:50 PM, with about 14 kg, and it took me over ten minutes to leave again, after dropping off the purchases and peeing again. Then I went to this other Carrefour, putting the three recyclables with the deposit symbol which I had picked up on the way in a cabinet and finding an apple pastry and a bread among the discounted products, and if I’d have bought both I could have used the voucher received for previous purchases that I had to use by the end of the week. But at that point I hid them and walked out, retrieving those recyclables… But then deciding to get the pastry after all. That meant that I couldn’t use that voucher, but I could put four of the five recyclables in the recycling machine and use the one received for them, so I used the recycling machine, went back into the store with the last recyclable, took the pastry, put the bread back in its place… But the self-checkout didn’t recognize the voucher, and when I called over the employee and said that I had just gotten it two minutes earlier, she said that it takes a while for those vouchers to be added in the system, so after she tried to scan it as well she said that I could walk around the store a little and then return, but after I also tried one more time, I just paid with cash and left the voucher for another time.
After putting the pastry in a bag and in the backpack, I entered Kaufland with it, and with the remaining recyclable, and got some discounted bakery products, but when I scanned the label for the regular bread I saw that it had no evening discount, so I looked around and took a lettuce with root that was discounted… But then I went back and took one regular bread for dad anyway. And that was when big evening discounts for green onions and lettuce were announced, so I went there, but in the time it took me to walk that distance, others had already taken nearly all of the green onions, and I saw really good bundles in their carts, while just a few bad ones were left. But I still got two of those, and then also two lettuces, plus one with root of another kind, which also had a good evening discount, so I left the first one which I had picked up there, since it was more expensive, even if there actually were two of them put together. Either way, I also got some peppers for dad, then went to the self-checkout, which didn’t recognize the green onions as the correct product, so I had to call over an employee. But, even if it didn’t scan, I didn’t need to call him again in order to use the 10 RON voucher which I had just been given that day as an apology for the fact that the 10% discount hadn’t applied for some sardines which I had purchased five days earlier, since I could enter the code manually and it was accepted. And then I took my time to arrange the purchases, hearing the closing announcement while I did that.
I picked up one more recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way to that Mega Image, but the recycling machine didn’t work, so I just put the bag with the vegetables in a cabinet, entering with everything else… And seeing that the bakery products that had evening discounts weren’t bagged and labeled separately anymore, and while there was a sign stating that they were discounted by 50%, the discount didn’t seem to apply to all of them and people kept arguing about those that weren’t discounted, obviously. But I found some nice pasta that was discounted by 90% and took two, and I asked the cashier whether I could use the recyclables instead of 1 RON, but she told me to use the recycling machine, and when I pointed out that it didn’t work she told me to come another day, even if the sign on the machine asked people to hand the recyclables to the employees if it didn’t work. But I didn’t press, just paying in full, then putting the pasta in the backpack and retrieving what I had in the cabinet.
I got back a couple of minutes after 11 PM, put that pasta in the fridge, ate an apple, and went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and shower, just after 11:30 PM. I was done just before 12:15 AM, then talked to dad… And he annoyed me by throwing away a little of what he was eating, including most of the hot sauce from his sister, after supposedly forgetting how spicy it is and just pouring straight from the bottle, so instead of that sauce lasting for who knows how long, he used most of it and then threw it away, along with some of the food, because he couldn’t eat it anymore. Either way, I then ate the apple pastry and a bag of snacks, had greasy things that dad had used to wash, sliced his bread and dealt with mine, and used the worse lettuce leaves and onion tops for the salad… And I cut myself while slicing my bread, right before finishing. So I ended up eating dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:30 AM. But I was staying up anyway, to watch the sprint race, so I got in bed at 7 AM…

I ended up waking up while the qualifying was red flagged, so I stayed to watch until the end, and then I couldn’t quite get back to sleep, so I drifted in and out for a couple of hours, getting some brief naps, before getting up. And I still had that Carrefour voucher that I needed to use, and the 30% discount on all canned products from Kaufland that I also wanted to make some use of for myself, so I was going out again, but when I went out of my room I found dad awake, and with the computer on and connected, and when I asked when had he turned it on he said just moments before, but I checked the logs and it had been over half an hour! And of course it was my fault for not going there and unplugging his network cable when I got on, he even literally said that he was “blameless”, and when I told him that he could have unplugged my cable from the router if he supposedly couldn’t know whether I was awake, even though I had made my tea and left it and the window open in the kitchen, he said that each should care for himself, because that’s “fair”, supposedly! So I pretty much flew in a rage before going out, a little after 3:30 PM, and even forgot to take those two recyclables with the deposit symbol which I hadn’t been able to put in a machine the previous evening. I realized it after walking out of the building, but I didn’t return.
Either way, I had dad’s metro card, but I first went to Carrefour Mega Mall once again, picking up a can with the deposit symbol on the way and putting it in the recycling machine, then using that voucher and the one received the previous day, both of which worked that time, for two discounted sweet pastries. The woman who was ahead of me at the self-checkout couldn’t get a product to scan, so I pointed out that the bar code wasn’t straight but she could enter the code manually and, after saying that it was the first time she used a machine, she tried that, but then the message than an operator will soon come appeared and she said that she was going to give up and go to a manned checkout, which she did, but the employee obviously still had to clear the transaction before I could use the machine. Either way, I could have found something else to add and use that voucher received for previous purchases instead of those received for the recyclables, but I chose to continue to Obor and see whether I’ll find something better there, so I put the pastries in the backpack and walked there.
I found three more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way and put them in a cabinet, but I entered with the backpack. And I did find expiring products to get, so I could also use that voucher, and then I retrieved the recyclables and, after having a quick look in another store, I put them in the recycling machine at Kaufland before entering the store with everything, getting a few things, and taking pictures of some prices, in case dad would be interested. And I also used that voucher received for the recyclables, and as I was arranging the purchases a man asked me how to use those scales that are there, since he apparently hadn’t weighed his potatoes.
After taking my time to get everything in the backpack, I put it in a cabinet when I had a quick look in Penny, though I then just retrieved it and continued to Auchan, grabbing two more recyclables with the deposit symbol and then entering with everything, using the recycling machine, and getting more cat food and water for dad, beeping him at one point to ask about another thing, but he didn’t want it. And at the self-checkout, after using the small amount that was on the store card, a warning with no message appeared when I tried to also use the voucher received for the recyclables, so I had to call an employee and she sorted it out. Then I also arranged the new purchases and took the metro back, picking up three more recyclables with the deposit symbol as I was getting close to the building.
I got here a couple of minutes after 8 PM, ate an orange and a sweet pastry, took a pill, just in case, put most of the purchases in their place, took a relatively quick shower, then also ate a small bag of bagels, wrote the week’s first post, and at night I fixed something to count as a combined lunch and dinner, in three parts, eating one part and a couple of bites of the second, along with a little lettuce and a clove of garlic, so let’s call that lunch, while working on the rest, then finally eating the rest, so let’s call that dinner, in my room, between 4:15 AM and 5:15 AM. It was past 5:50 AM when I got in bed, after dad got back… And after waking up at 9:55 AM, to watch the race, I tested the new PSU, on the old computer, then managed to take just a brief nap before being woken up by noise, though I’m not sure if that was Liza going to the litter box or dad getting ready to leave… And that’s it as far as the new PSU goes, since I didn’t dare to put it in this computer, so it’s been sitting on the floor ever since. But at least I managed to buy it before it vanished from the market, and the 12-year warranty means that getting it too early doesn’t matter that much.

To move on to the new UPS, I need to skip to the early hours of June 18, when I ate dinner between 3:10 AM and 3:50 AM, though the last several minutes were spent just getting the seeds which were stuck on the plate, and saw that the APC Back-UPS 850, which is what’s listed as the current option for those who have the UPS that I currently have, was discounted at that same store. So I went out a little after 5 PM, getting there 35 minutes later, getting the UPS, then opening the box and having a quick look, without actually taking the UPS out of the box. I then tried to put the box in the backpack, but it was far too large, so I put it in a bag and walked out. However, it was rather hard to carry like that, and when I spotted a bottle with the deposit symbol I stopped and put the box in the backpack anyway… Which meant that I couldn’t zip the backpack, and after placing it on that trash can in order to try to put it on, I only managed to get one strap on and then tried to walk away and deal with the other strap while walking… Which led to the UPS falling out, though I realized that it was going to fall and bent down before it actually happened, so it just fell from a small height and it was in the box. But I still put it back in the backpack after that, though I carried the backpack in my hands for a little while, until I found something better to set it on and finally managed to put it on. But the box was just going to fall out again if I didn’t hold on to it, so for a little while I walked while holding the backpack with one hand, and in the other hand I had that bottle. And that was obviously not a solution, so I eventually set the backpack back down and returned to carrying the bag with the UPS in one hand.
After picking up another bottle with the deposit symbol, I put both in the recycling machine from Kaufland, then I entered with the UPS, had a quick look at the spoiling products, found just one box of the kind of mushrooms that I wanted and took it. And I also saw one little bag of garlic, but when I peeled off the discount sticker in order to try to find the country of origin, I saw that the real label was completely blank, and when I found where those little bags of garlic where otherwise placed I saw that many were like that, making me wonder how were people supposed to buy them. However, some did have proper labels and the country of origin was listed as Romania, so I took that discounted one, also using that voucher received for the recyclables at the self-checkout and then cashing in the one left from three days earlier. And then I put the purchases in the backpack and made my way back.
It was almost 7:10 PM when I got back. Then I put those few purchases in their place, quickly tested that the new UPS provided power, plugging a hand mixer into it, ate another apple and something sweet from my mother, and left again just before 9 PM, taking the recyclables, which I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way, and those with the deposit symbol. And I picked up a few more of those on the way to Carrefour, and then some more that were around the recycling machine. But I used a machine that apparently only accepted plastic bottles, and others were aware of that and queuing at the other one that also accepted cans, neither accepting glass bottles. But that other one was used by a guy who had a whole lot of recyclables, so I just used that one for most of the plastic bottles, even a couple of those not being accepted, splitting on two vouchers, and then I moved aside, grabbed some more recyclables that were in that area and went up, washing my hands, putting the bag with the remaining recyclables in a cabinet, and getting some ends of bread and a carton of bio (organic) eggs that were among the expiring products and some cucumbers. However, when I tried to scan the bread at the self-checkout, a message that an operator will come appeared, and while one was next to me, waiting to turn off that machine since closing time was approaching, and she logged on, she couldn’t sort it out, the product code apparently being invalid, so I just left the bread even if it’d have been nice to get it. And then I put the purchases in a bag, retrieved the recyclables from the cabinet, and walked away just as they were announcing that the store had closed.
That meant that the Portugal – Czechia match had started, so in order to lose less of it I decided to go to the place where people could watch the matches in the park, and from the top of the first trash can from there I gathered several more recyclables with the deposit symbol, adding another can in the bag as I tried to find a spot to stand in, and as half time approached I went back to that trash can and gathered some more recyclables with the deposit symbol from it. And, after leaving at half time, I grabbed a couple more on the way back.
I managed to get back here before the second half started, though I then went to drop a little bag of trash down the chute. Then I cleaned a little after dad in the kitchen, put the eggs in their place, ate a can of sardines with an entire large bag of corn puffs, to count as lunch, went to wash a little before 12:30 AM, and was done at 1:10 AM. However, I then cut all of my nails, then washed and cleaned some more in the kitchen, also put the cucumbers in their place, and finally ate dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:10 AM. I got in bed at 5:25 AM.

And, since I didn’t want to turn off the computer if I didn’t have to and therefore left the new UPS unused until then, I’ll now skip to July 17, though I’ll start with the day’s early hours, when I went to the kitchen somewhat late, after shaving, and then had plenty to wash, also dealt with the two breads which I had bought for myself and was yet to deal with, used some more lettuce in the salad, and made the tea as well, so I won’t have to wait for it to cool after getting up, ending up eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4 AM. And minutes after I got up and did the day’s squats, there was a power failure, and the plan had been to replace both the UPS and the PSU and clean some of the dust from the computer at such a time, and possibly even install Linux again, though I didn’t mean to actually make another attempt to use it just yet, but that day I couldn’t do any of that, needing to return The Bone Season, which I hadn’t even finished yet, and I’d have also preferred to write the quick review before leaving. So it was fortunate that the blackout only lasted for eight minutes and I could just keep the computer on. But I was making a note of the fact that during those particularly hot days I was having the impression that even the new mouse had started double clicking, though it never happened when I tried to test it. Either way, after finishing the book and having breakfast, I did write the quick review, then also had lunch, and left at 5:35 PM, with that book and the other one that I also had to return, two cans that I dropped off when I eventually passed by a recycling bin, and also a reusable bottle full of tea, since it was still close to 40°C, the day’s reported high having been 42°C.
I reached the Library after just over one hour, picking up a bottle with the deposit symbol on the way, then I used the machine to return the books and walked out right away, drinking a part of the tea right in front of the Library, before walking out the gate. Then I went to Obor, grabbing another bottle with the deposit symbol on the way and eventually wanting to wipe my hands on some leaves only to pick a plant that I guess was quite prickly, since it pricked one of my fingers. I was rather worried at first, wondering whether that had really been the plant or something else which had been among its leaves, and I briefly considered going back to look, but I eventually just kept going.
I first went to Auchan, deciding against using the recycling machine when I saw the line but finding many bio (organic) eggs that weren’t even expiring soon among those sold by piece, so I got plenty of those along with the liquid soap that I had gone there for, but when I wanted to enter the eggs at the self-checkout machine I guess that I got a little confused between the two options to select the number and an employee was hovering around and she corrected me, then asked how I wanted to pay and her presence and that interaction was messing me up and I said cash before remembering that I still had an older voucher received for recyclables and telling her that, and a blank warning popped up after she changed the payment method and I tried to scan that voucher, which was actually the same thing that happened on April 20, so she came over and used the hand scanner, telling me that I should have done that when I asked what had happened. Either way, I then paid what was left with cash, just wanting to get out of there and forgetting that I had a small amount on the store card as well.
After taking my time to arrange everything and make sure that I wasn’t leaving anything behind, I continued to Carrefour, washing my hands in that mall, then putting everything in a cabinet, buying some things, including a bag of corn puffs that I meant to eat on the way back, then retrieving what I had in the cabinet, adding the new purchases, grabbing two more recyclables with the deposit symbol before leaving that mall, and then two more from outside. I actually found three outside, but the second was just crawling with ants and I dropped it when I noticed.
After using the recycling machine from Kaufland, I put everything in a cabinet, washed my hands again, entered the store a few minutes after 9 PM, saw that the bakery discounts were still limited to 30% in that location… And moments later the power failed, and the fact that everything turned back on after a few seconds probably meant that their generators had kicked in. That worried me, and for good reason, as it turned out, but I couldn’t do anything about it at the time, so I got a watermelon and a few other things, let an employee know that someone had left two buckets of yogurt among the non-refrigerated expiring products, then wandered around and waited for 9:45 PM, surprised by the lack of any evening discounts for fruits and vegetables. And the power seemed to go off again, very briefly, just as I was getting to the self-checkouts, though that was probably when it was actually restored and the system switched back to the grid. Either way, I was waiting to use one self-checkout and the customer who was before me seemed to be leaving coins in the tray, but the employee who had gone to do something at the next machine after the previous customer was done apparently finished and told me that it was free to use just before that guy finished grabbing all of his things, so I felt pressured to use that one instead… And then I ended up thinking that my receipt had fallen behind the machine when it actually hadn’t been printed because I had forgotten to also take the bill received as change, the employee pointing that out when I raised my hand.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet, drinking the remaining tea and arranging everything, I was surprised that there had been no closing announcement, even though that location was still listed as closing at 10 PM on the site and that hour had passed. However, when I walked out, after washing my hands one more time, I saw that the closing time was listed as 11 PM. That might have explained the missing evening discounts for fruits and vegetables, and the situation might have changed after 10 PM, but I didn’t go back in to check, just getting back here, eating those corn puffs on the way.
I got back a couple of minutes before 11 PM, with 15 kg, checked the computer right away and found that it was off, so I just put some of the purchases in the fridge, set the water for another tea to boil, and decided to finally switch to the new UPS, thinking that it shouldn’t take that long. So I did that, everything seemed fine at first, and I definitely liked being able to see the actual power used, which was 78W at first but then increased to 83W and stayed there while I could still see the data, that value being much lower than I thought it’d be. And I confirmed that the power failure which had affected this area had apparently been the same one which I had noticed at Obor, so it must have covered a large part of the city. I didn’t see anything about it in the news, and dad, who worked that night, said that he hadn’t either, but the logs stated that the power had failed at 9:08 PM, the computer turned off without problems at 9:29 PM, and the router had connected again at 9:48 PM, and as far as I know it needs three or four minutes to do that after turning on again, so the times match pretty much perfectly.
Well, things only seemed fine for a few minutes, after which the data connection with the UPS was lost. I also noticed that the low voltage setting was as loose as possible instead of as tight as possible, but I’m not sure whether I saw that before the connection was lost or after, what I know being that when I tried to change it back the software became barely responsive. So I turned off the computer and the UPS, and after turning them back on I could once again see the data, but both of the voltage settings were at the defaults, and then the data connection was lost again, before I tried changing anything else, and just unplugging the cable and plugging it back in didn’t change anything, a message appearing that the USB device had malfunctioned.
Even though, as far as I know, the latest version of the software just uses another version of .NET, otherwise being identical to the previous version, which I had at the time, I then downloaded that new version, also noticing at that point that the software itself is being discontinued, but the new software requires at least 64-bit Windows 10, so I won’t be able to use it at all. Not that it should matter, since this model of UPS has been around for quite some time and shouldn’t require some new software, and in the manual it’s the old software that’s listed, the new one not being mentioned at all, but it was something that I could try… But when I wanted to scan the installer, EAM just got stuck, fully using one CPU core without actually doing anything, and I couldn’t even stop the scan. Maybe it was because I closed the browser the moment the download completed and then tried to scan right away, so the file might have still been locked in some way, but the result was that I had to reboot, and then I restarted in safe mode, thinking that it might be needed in order to remove the old software, but the installer service isn’t available in safe mode, so I booted normally again, Comodo Firewall forgetting its HIPS settings again at that point, and then I uninstalled the old version and installed the new one… Which, as expected, didn’t change anything, as it still reported that it wasn’t receiving anything from the new UPS.
I left things like that as I went to the toilet and to shower, I’d say a little before 1 AM, though I’m not sure exactly when, and I think that it was a couple of minutes after 1:30 AM when I came out of the bathroom. Then I switched back to the old UPS and everything was fine, except some gibberish showing up after some actual data in the firmware version field, but I have no idea whether that wasn’t the case before as well. Either way, I was obviously all messed up, whimpering and shaking, and sent dad a scared e-mail, not that he was going to help in any way, and of course he didn’t. But I then managed to put the purchases in their place, ate an apple and two candies, drank the tea… And cut myself while washing the reusable bottle, only noticing it after getting back to my room to check the computer again and being left wondering whether I had left blood on anything, since a fair bit of it was on two fingers, but I didn’t seem to find any. And I finally ate dinner between 4:25 AM and 5 AM, saw that there were no visits that day, and got in bed at 6:20 AM, though sleeping was obviously a problem.

Well, on July 23 I plugged the new UPS into the old computer, which still has Linux Mint 18.0, then turned off the power strip and let it run on battery for quite a while, then turned the power strip back on and left it like that until the battery was fully recharged, a few hours later, and it never lost the connection. Of course, that was without any additional software, it just displayed the battery charge and whether the computer was on battery or not, without any other information, and there was also an awfully long delay, I’d say around a minute or so, between the power being turned off or back on and the notification being displayed, but the fact that the battery level was displayed throughout that time meant that the UPS was sending that information, the connection wasn’t lost, so the problem is not the UPS. And it’s not the computer either, nor the software, since it doesn’t happen with the old UPS… Which I’m still using at this point, since I haven’t really done anything about the issue other than looking it up back then and seeing that others have been having it as well.