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Books, Dehumidifier, Coins… And an Almost Certain Accidental Theft…

Two orders were supposed to be delivered this Wednesday, and while I had specified that the deliveries should be in the afternoon, the delivery people never care, and the store that I ordered the dehumidifier from even called me on Monday to mention that, and when they said that it’d have been likely to arrive the following day and I said that it won’t work for me, thinking that I really didn’t want to have to deal with that when I was going to run that day, they said that they’ll finalize the order that day instead, so it should arrive on the next. But only the books, as in those which had the estimated date range for delivery ending on December 13, did finally arrive that day, the SMS notifying me of it coming just after 9:30 AM and the delivery guy getting here some 20 minutes later, and again asking for the value to be rounded up and discarding the coins, in fact brushing them off the bills and saying that they don’t take “something like that”. So I gave him that 1 RON more, taking the opportunity to mention that the order was exactly a month and a half late… And after opening the box I found a card with “If you’re still looking for that one person who will change your life, take a look in the mirror.” handwritten on it, so I sent the store another e-mail, complaining a little about the delivery, including the fact that they hadn’t even bothered to mention what I had written about the preferred delivery time in the comments, reminding them of some serious problems with their site, and also “thanking” them for reminding me, not that it was needed, that I did find that person, talking realistically and not in “motivational” quotes, but 2025 marks 20 years since she left, and saying that they may see such cards as a human touch, but it fit really badly for me.
Either way, the books are The Narrow Road Between Desires, The Dark Defiles, Blood Communion, Ramses the Damned, Dawnshard, Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire and Mistress of the Empire, and this is pretty much the order I intend to read them in, at least up to Dawnshard, after which I’d really want to finally read Rhythm of War, while I may put off The Empire Trilogy for a while longer, possibly even for another year if I’ll end up having enough other books to read this year. But the problem with all of these is that a long time passed since I read the previous ones in the series, so diving back in may prove difficult. But I definitely mean to do it, and preferably sooner rather than later, so let’s see how that will work out.

To return to that morning, since I was still waiting for that dehumidifier, and also because the upstairs neighbors were making noise, getting back to sleep proved particularly difficult, and I’m not even sure that I had gotten a total of five hours of sleep by the time I finally got up, even if that was only around 3:15 PM… And at 5:20 PM I received an e-mail from the other delivery company stating that I hadn’t been found that day! But nobody had even called, so I tried using the landline to call the listed number, and when that was apparently out of service I sent them an e-mail about it. That e-mail is still left without reply, even if I sent one more since then, asking whether the problem had been caused by the sender or by them, but things were clarified the following day, when the delivery guy did call, at 12:40 PM, and when I asked what had happened he explained that he had only been given the pack of additional HEPA filters which I had also ordered, not the dehumidifier as well, yet the invoice was for the entire order, so he turned around when he realized that… And I ended up being woken up earlier on yet another day. But at least the delivery was made and everything seems in order.

Moving on to odds and ends, I stayed up after the dehumidifier was delivered and, after eating lunch, I left a little after 6:20 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, the additional 30 RON in coins which I had just managed to gather by then, and dad’s metro card, so I took the metro to Obor and went straight to Penny, putting those recyclables, along with the two which I had picked up on the way, in the machine from there and then asking the guard if they had someone to take the coins for their campaign that day… But he once again said that they didn’t and told me to come earlier, before 4 PM, and when I told him that I couldn’t he said that he really wasn’t lying, they just don’t have anyone to deal with them after that hour, and when I reminded him that the campaign ended the following day he said that I could go to another location. So I just bought a couple of things, using the voucher received for the recyclables, and since another customer was asking about using one of the vouchers received in exchange for coins I mentioned that I had also brought coins but had been told that nobody was available to take them, and the cashier incredulously asked who would do that, but then said that there was still time, since the campaign would last until March 31, being surprised when I told her that March 31 is the deadline for using the vouchers, but January 31 is the one for receiving them, as it’s even written on the message posted on the entrance. And I even checked again now and I’m not seeing anything about the campaign having been extended.
Either way, I grabbed another recyclable with the deposit symbol after walking out, putting it in the machine from Kaufland and then deciding to ask whether what I had been told when I had asked on-line was correct and I could log on to dad’s old physical store card, which I’ve normally been using, if I no longer have access to that phone number, and after the information desk employee initially meant to make a new card for me, she tried accessing that one, but the only thing that happened was what was happening if I tried to access it from their site, which is that a confirmation code was sent to that phone number that dad lost access to after not recharging it in time… So I just walked in with those purchases from Penny and only bought a small yogurt, which was still at that slightly lower price, using the voucher which I had been left with two days earlier when I paid for it and then cashing in the one received that day, since you can only cash in such vouchers at the store where you obtain them.
I then continued to Carrefour, grabbing a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol and going to the recycling machine… But it wasn’t working, stating that no containers were available, so I washed my hands and put my things in a cabinet before entering the store and getting a little garlic, some expiring products, including five energy bars that expired the next day but which were discounted by 85%, and a few more breads, since the bakery discounts had already been made even if it wasn’t even 8:30 PM by the time I reached the bakery area.
After retrieving my things, I also checked Auchan, not having to wait until or even after 9 PM in Carrefour giving me the time to do that, so I entered with everything, since they still haven’t put any cabinets back in that location, put the recyclables with the deposit symbol which I had picked up by then in the machine, and found a few more expiring products to get, the discount applying to the entire remaining stock, so there were no discount labels on the products, and when I scanned them I found that one was actually even cheaper than the listed price. But when I went to the checkouts from the exit that leads to the metro station, I found that the two unmanned ones that should also accept cash were out of order, so I ended up using the manned one but my brain basically shut down when I had to deal with a cashier without being prepared for it and I forgot to give her the store card, and when I realized it, after handing her the payment, including the voucher received for the recyclables, and said so, she just confirmed that I had forgotten to give it to her but didn’t offer to do anything about it and I couldn’t make myself insist, and those expiring products were of their store brand, so 5% of the value should have been added on the card and I just mentally added that amount to what I should recover from them at some point.
I then took the metro back, but since the match was taking place here and I still had some time before it started, I actually made a point of looking for more recyclables with the deposit symbol after getting off at this metro station, not caring that I was obvious about it and seen my others. There was even a spot where I grabbed some from a trash can, initially stepped away when a guy’s dog started barking and snarling at me, but after standing there for a little while I turned around and took the others which I had spotted in that area as well, despite that guy continuing to stand there, talking on the phone, and his dog continuing to bark and snarl at me. At least he held the leash well… And I ended up pretty much filling a bag, just between the metro station and here.
I got back right at 10 PM, when the match started, putting the purchases in their place and eating an apple during the first half, jabbing my hand with the knife… Then, after cleaning the litter box and going to drop a bag of trash down the chute at half time, I also washed what was in the kitchen and ate something sweet and a small bag of nicer bagels, and just after midnight I went to take a shower with water that was clearly below skin temperature, so it wasn’t even 12:20 AM when I was done, another problem being that I had to wear boxers that weren’t fully dry yet and didn’t want to also put on an undershirt and t-shirt that were in the same condition, but I had worn the ones which I had been wearing until that day while I was out, so I didn’t want to keep wearing them inside either, and I ended up just putting the training suit on, with nothing underneath the shirt. But at least it wasn’t cold, so I managed, and then I stuck to the dinner schedule as well… Though I then ended up getting in bed at 5:20 AM.

With Penny’s coins campaign ending yesterday, I still had to give those coins and meant to go out earlier, but when I woke up and saw that it was 11:14 AM, I went to pee and then meant to sleep a little longer… Only to be unable to get back to sleep, so I eventually checked the time again, seeing 12:15 PM and deciding to get up, though it was 12:30 PM when I actually did so… And then I wanted to put some of the expiring cocoa spread purchased from Auchan the previous day on a large doughnut and got really suspicious when what should have been the seal came right off and the top of the spread was covered in white stuff. Seeing as it expired that day, the white stuff was probably fat bloom and the weak glue might have lost its ability to hold that seal in place, since it didn’t seem to have been pulled off, but I nevertheless scraped off all of the top part, then moved most of the spread into another jar, just leaving what didn’t fit in that one, and also cleaned the upper part of the original jar on the inside and threw away what came off it before finally putting some of the spread on that doughnut and microwaving it.
Either way, it was 2:35 PM when I eventually left, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol which I had brought back the previous evening and those 30 RON in coins, which I could easily hand over at Penny Basarabia. In fact, the employee who came to take them after I let a cashier know why I was there and confirmed that I had separated them handed me the 30 RON in bills and the voucher directly, only asking whether I had 30 RON there almost in passing, when she took the coins, so before any chance to count them, which left me quite surprised.
I then went to Kaufland, picking up some more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way and putting all of them in the machine from there. And then I ended up washing my hands just with water, since there was no soap, neither at the men’s nor the women’s, since I tried there as well, while someone was using the room for disabled people… Which I found out when I pulled on the door and it opened, so that was a little awkward. Either way, I then just cashed in that voucher, not finding anything to buy, and grabbed one more recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way to Carrefour and two more which had been left in the cart that’s next to the recycling machine from there, managing to put two of the three in and then putting the remaining one in a cabinet before buying a few expiring products and some wafers for dad, using the voucher received for the recyclables when paying and confirming that the voucher with 20% of the value of those wafers was correctly listed on the receipt.
After retrieving that recyclable from the cabinet, things got somewhat awkward as I looked for more, at first because I grabbed one from a bin just before walking out of the mall and my glove caught the top of the bin and made it come off when I pulled back my hand, which caught the attention of another person who was walking by, though they didn’t say anything and I didn’t even look to see whether it was a guard or just some other random person, just apologizing by reflex, replacing that piece and moving on.
Well, that paled in comparison to what I did next, since I’m almost certain that I unintentionally stole a water bottle belonging to a kid who’s likely on one of our national football teams for that age range. I mean, Penny is advertising the fact that they sponsor the national football teams at all age levels and a group of kids with Penny on their shirts walked past as I was walking past the stadium, and then I spotted plenty of bottles piled around the trees that are next to the fence, so on the other side of that grassy area, away from the path leading out of that area, and I wondered whether the cleaning people hadn’t gotten that far after the match, so I went to check and my attention was grabbed by a bottle that was just thrown on the grass, meters away from the others, and while it was full of water, I emptied it and took it before having a look at those that were around the trees, seeing that some reusable bottles were there as well, realizing that those had been placed there on purpose and walking away, without the fact that the one which I had grabbed had most probably been there for the same reason even crossing my mind at that point. And I didn’t even come back with it, since I ended up picking up a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol and went to put all of them in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, using that voucher to pay for some potatoes that I found among the spoiling products, also being charged for the bags.
I got back at 5:25 PM, and then I used more of that spread, putting it between some biscuits that I then ended up microwaving a little too much, though they were still edible. And, after doing the day’s squats, I was calculating what I had gained and spent that day when I suddenly realized that I had almost certainly stolen that bottle, since it had most probably just been thrown away from the others for some reason, but still belonged to one of those who had left their bottles there on purpose. I didn’t exactly feel bad about it, however, because it was simply thrown on the grass, meters away from any other, which definitely made it look like litter, even if it was full, so it may be a lesson to the kid who did that. But I still decided to add half of the amount received for it to what I mean to give away. Either way, hot water had returned at that point, so I also washed… And at night, after dad took a bath as well, we put the dehumidifier in the bathroom and turned it on… And then I yet again ended up getting in bed at 5:20 AM.

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