Cav's Place

While I managed to write everything that comes after walking away from University Square, after the Dream Trek, I can’t just post that and leave the part about the actual run for another post, especially since July 12 is next week and it’s 2025, so the initial form of the post skipped ahead after the first two paragraphs, the next three were only added on August 17, and it was January 19 when I finally edited this again in order to add the rest of this section. But now I’ll just pick up right from where I left off and say that it was a few minutes after 8 PM when I rushed out the door… And then I saw that the area around the stadium was closed because of a food festival, entrance seeming to require tickets, so I went around and jogged that part of the way… Not that I should have bothered, since it wasn’t even 8:20 PM yet when I reached the place where we were supposed to gather, which was once again that store from that mall, only a handful of people were there at the time, most showing up after that point, and Radu only started his speech at 8:43 PM, 20 minutes before the scheduled start time. And then, probably because of what happened last year, a quick warm up was done right there, and I missed it because I went to pee. But I didn’t miss the picture.
The “formal” start of the run was actually right at 9:03 PM, at sunset, and from there, since we jogged our way to the exit, making a short pause once we got outside, to wait for everyone to regroup and, I guess, to allow the organizers to make sure that everything was ready. But I didn’t know how long that pause was going to be, so I got the slip of paper and the pencil out of the running belt again, meaning to write a few more notes, but the signal to start running again was given while I was trying to do that and that bottle made it hard to get those things back in there quickly, so I struggled to do so while trying to at least walk quickly, ending up pretty much at the back of the group by the time I could run again. But that wasn’t a problem, so I still took it pretty easy, and it wasn’t long before we had to wait for quite a while at a stoplight and everyone ended up back together again anyway.
According to what we had been sent, this year we were supposed to make a detour through Morarilor Park on the way to that tram station where we always take a picture to mark the easternmost point of the route, and then turn around, get back to that park, and cross through it. However, we ended up using the “classic” version of that part of the route, without that detour and then turning left after that picture and going on Vergului, so without the detour made through that other park one and two years ago either, meaning that we only got back to what was the planned route this time around at the end of Vergului.
At least we stuck to it for a couple of hours after that, so we also ran almost a full lap around the lake in the park that I run in, albeit in the opposite direction. And, as expected, it was crowded, and while plenty of people cheered us, there were a few who openly complained, prompting a guy who was next to me to comment out loud that whenever there are running events there are people telling us to run through parks and forests and leave the streets for those who have places to go, but apparently it’s not all right even if we run not just in a park, but actually on the running lane created in it! And what made that somewhat funnier for me was that dad had this misguided belief that the Dream Trek was some sort of event that could be capitalized on, since when I mentioned that we were going to run through the park he kept repeating that those who sell things there should promote it as a way to draw customers and that they were stupid if they didn’t, completely dismissing my arguments that it’s an informal event that few who aren’t involved even know about, there are typically other events going on in that park on weekends which draw a lot of people, and runners generally bother. And he even said that he might be there around the time when we were supposed to pass through that area and have a look… And after the run he told me that he actually was, albeit in the spot where we were supposed to exit the park, but he didn’t see any large group, even if we didn’t just pass through there, but even took a short break after crossing the street, so I don’t know where he actually stood or when.
Either way, after we got moving again, we continued uneventfully along the planned route until we reached the first scheduled refreshment stop, in a location on Traian Street that I later saw is also the legal headquarters of the group that organizes this run, right at 11 PM, so ten minutes ahead of the schedule we had been e-mailed. One problem was that they had separated the food from the drinks, so while in that location we even had some chec, apparently once again made and brought by someone, plus tiny wafer pieces, small salty biscuits and pretzels, two kinds of jellies, pieces of apple, orange and banana, and high-protein pudding and yogurt, there was nothing to drink except water from a spigot that was in a corner of the yard, and while many filled bottles from there, I didn’t. And I didn’t even take a yogurt, but just a puddling, which I ate. On the other hand, since I didn’t notice that spigot at first and after it was announced that it was there the line became too long and it was too late anyway, I didn’t use it to wash my hands before eating either, so at first I took a piece of orange and one of banana, so I didn’t really have to touch the pulp, and used napkins to wipe my hands and hold a few other things, trying to touch them as little as possible. But everybody else was digging into everything anyway, so I eventually went for it as well, not getting any other pieces of banana or orange but returning multiple times for the other things that were still available. And if another serious problem was that there was no toilet in that location, I went in a nearby yard, wondering whether that building was abandoned, considering how it looked, the materials in the pretty overgrown yard and the large gap in the fence, and peed there. That led to missing the moment when light bands were handed out, but I didn’t care for those and got back in time for the group picture. And I did wash my hands after peeing.
Since we got going again a few minutes before 11:30 PM, we were still those few minutes ahead of schedule. And the next part of the run remained uneventful and I still felt just fine, continuing to tend to drop back a little when we stopped a little longer at crossings or to regroup and then get back close to the front, so I’ll just mention that we stopped for a group picture at the National Theater and another at Romana Square, the latter actually being included in what was posted, though otherwise this time around it was mainly the short videos made at these moments that were posted, and I won’t link to those. Either way, there was a slight change of route after that, to go straight to Victory Square and cut a few hundred meters, and then we continued to Herastrau, where drinks were provided, so I took and drank a 750 ml bottle, ended up peeing next to a tree, since the better toilet from that area wasn’t operational at night, and then walked a short distance to wash my hands at a drinking fountain. On the other hand, while we got there a few minutes before 12:30 AM and therefore remained those few minutes ahead of schedule, that schedule listed a mere ten minutes for that break, which was completely unrealistic, and we ended up leaving at 12:55 AM, after another group picture from which only a part seems to have been posted, assuming that I identified it correctly.
My notes mention that there was another slight change of route after that, but I didn’t include any details and by the time I finally got around to writing this part I really couldn’t remember what that actually meant. One obvious thing is that we clearly didn’t use those narrow alleys that were on the route at Obor, but I’d say that those were an error and wouldn’t have been mentioned, everyone knowing that we’ll stay on the main road, assuming that we actually got there and the change didn’t mean that we turned away earlier. Maybe I thought that I was going to remember the specifics because I wrote this before mentioning the fact that a knee jabbed me badly for a while, so the different portion might have been the one where I struggled, but the only thing that’s still clear in my mind is that those of us who were in the lead stopped to wait for the rest at the end of Mosilor, so we got there before crossing instead of doing so a little earlier and using that narrow street that was on the route. But that added at most 100 meters and I doubt that Radu would have announced something so small as a change of route, plus that I used that pause to try to sort out my knee, so it had been bothering me for a while at that point. Either way, that knee obviously didn’t make me fall behind at all, and it eventually stopped bothering me, which was quite a relief.
Moving on to what I do know, it was almost 1:55 AM when we returned to that location on Traian Street, for the next scheduled refreshment stop, though that time applied to those of us who were in the lead, the group getting more and more stretched by that point. Still, since we were supposed to get there at 1:40 AM, after everyone had gathered Radu happily announced that we were only 20 minutes late when in the past we tended to be about an hour behind schedule by that point. Either way, I used that spigot to wash my hands right away, and then I took some more of everything that was available, including a yogurt that time, though not including bananas, since no more were left. I’m quite sure that there was no more chec either, but I don’t actually remember. And I also don’t remember whether another group picture was taken there, and if so whether I was in it, because what’s clear is that I went to that yard to pee one more time before we got going again… And when I got back and washed my hands again, Radu saw me and loudly asked everyone to only use that spigot to fill water bottles, because there was no drain.
Since it was 2:20 AM when we got going again, we stayed 20 minutes behind schedule, but people were tiring. This also meant that, while at first it had been announced that a group of three would stay in the lead and nobody should pass them, on that part of the run just one was left to head the group… Or, actually, I couldn’t remember who the third guy should have been even then, so I’m not absolutely certain that just one of the three stayed in the lead, but Radu had definitely dropped back, obviously not because he needed to but in order to stay with some of those who were starting to need encouragement. Either way, I was also making a mental note of how sustainable the pace maintained by that guy who was in the lead was, how easy it felt when I just stayed right behind him, even that slope that we climbed as we went past the Palace of Parliament being less of an issue than it used to be, though I otherwise still tended to drop back a little when we had to briefly stop, catching up after that. But this means that I know less and less about what everyone else was doing, just focusing on my own run and those few who were forming the head of the group, so the only moment that I actually made note of during this part was when Radu came to say that he had been announced that emergency vehicles were gathered in front of Golden Blitz hotel, so we went on Sebastian instead of Progresului, to avoid that area. That meant running on those tram tracks and needing to pay attention to the holes, but I’m pretty sure that nobody tripped, and the distance was the same.
After reaching Drumul Taberei park, queues quickly formed for the toilet and drinking fountain, but a few were quite loud while waiting and a policewoman was there and very politely asked us to be quiet because it was late and people living in the surrounding area wanted to sleep, the warning apparently being the result of actual complaints, because the call was soon made to go back and regroup at the nearby gas station and I heard her ask through the radio for “that complaint” to be canceled. Either way, only the men’s toilet was open when we reached that gas station, but then they opened the women’s as well, and it’s a good thing that I was the second one to use the men’s… Not that I made much use of it, since I meant to take a crap but when nothing came out right away I didn’t wait, just squeezing the tiniest bit out, wiping as quickly as I could, and clearing the way for the next person. But at least I got to go there, since the break only lasted 15 minutes, after which Radu said that we had stayed there long enough and we went back to the park, heading for the bridge, even though others were still waiting to use the toilet, resulting in the group splitting again and most probably not everyone being present for the group picture taken there.
By then, we were well behind schedule, so the southern part of the route, which was supposed to take us through Carol Park and then to the bridge in Tineretului Park, was out of the question. But drinks were once again supposed to be provided at the entrance to Carol Park, so we really had to do our best to at least get that far and that was the decision, to go straight there, without any other stops along the way, not even to regroup. That meant that the group split pretty much right away, but I was surprised by the distance between those in the lead and those who were trailing behind, and by the fact that after leaving the park I found myself in that mostly empty space. I’m now thinking that many of those who were initially in that lead group were actually those who had stayed at that gas station and never made it to the bridge in the first place, so they turned around to join the actual lead group when they met, but at that point I was worried that I had missed something and was dropping too far back. So I pushed, making my way past those who were falling behind and catching up to what by then was a small remaining lead group just before we went in different directions, with us probably taking the same route we had used to get there while the rest probably using the originally planned route, I assume after learning that they no longer had to avoid the area around that hotel. I don’t actually know that, but soon after taking that turn we stopped for a while and one guy went to look and said that the rest had continued on. And that split really worried Radu, who had once again remained with those who were falling behind and said when we reunited that he had called the two who were heading the lead group several times and they hadn’t answered. But then he told us to keep going, taking the shortest route to Carol Park and waiting for the rest there.
It was just after 4:50 AM when we reached Carol Park, so even those of us in the lead were over 40 minutes behind schedule, which actually called for us to be at the bridge in Tineretului at that hour. But that’s about a kilometer farther away from University Square, so we just about had time for a brief stop if we were going to go straight to the finish from there, and I had been saying that for some time, though when I exchanged a few words about it with another guy from the lead group on the way there he didn’t think that many of those who had fallen behind would still be able to cover even that distance before sunrise. But we could and we were there at that point, so we waited for Radu, who arrived a couple of minutes later and said that we had to get going again in ten minutes. By then I had taken two bottles and was drinking one, and then I meant to jot down a few notes, being surprised when the rest did get going when he said so, before 5:05 AM. So I struggled to somehow put everything back and also figure out how to easily carry both the remaining full bottle and the empty one, which I kept as well, and that led to being the last one left, struggling to close the zipper from the running belt when the two who were supposed to close the group asked whether I was still coming and whether I needed help. So I started running awkwardly at first, still struggling to arrange everything, but I easily caught up once that was done, being back in the lead group by the time we had to wait for quite a while at a stoplight, some actually complaining, I assume jokingly, that they had pushed to stay ahead of the rest and it had all been for nothing. Either way, once that light turned green I really went for it.
It was a few minutes before the scheduled time of 5:30 AM, at sunrise, when I reached the finish, at the statues in University Square, at which point I had 5:04:04 as total actual running time, and while that’s obviously an approximation, there was just one moment when I forgot to press the button and I’m quite sure that I compensated for it quite accurately. And, assuming that I didn’t get the couple of spots where I’m not quite sure of the route wrong in any significant way, the total distance was about 45 km, which is also what was posted at the end. Either way, there was more chec, so I grabbed a piece and ate it before we did a little stretching, and otherwise I also took another bottle of that drink and two shakes, being handed one and grabbing a second one some time later. As for the draw for the prize, the first two whose names were drawn weren’t there, so the third one finally got it. There obviously was a group picture as well, but also the one video that I will link to, when all of us who were there at the end were asked to form a chain that each then ran past, high fiving everyone else. And, after standing around a little longer, I walked away right at 6 AM.

After picking up a couple of recyclables from the underground passage, I took the metro for one stop, putting everything in a cabinet when I reached Carrefour Unirii, buying a few things, and then retrieving what I had in the cabinet and returning to the metro station, getting back here just after 7:35 AM. Then I put the purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, ate a bag of chips, getting over 650 calories just from that, and left again when it was almost 9:25 AM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up a few more from the garbage room, and some pretzels that I gave to a beggar who was in front of the metro station, since I took the metro for one stop instead of walking to that store… And that beggar was holding a message that I didn’t read, but I saw that it had a cross at the top, and when I handed him the pretzels he asked whether it was “in the name of the Lord”, so I shrugged and said “as you wish” before walking away.
When I reached that store and was initially told, by a cashier that I hadn’t seen before, that the machine had stopped working and that people keep coming with many recyclables and it can’t handle all of them, I feared that I’ll have to turn around and take them back, but then she told me to try to use it, maybe after exchanging a few words with someone else, I’m not certain, and I saw that it did work after all, and I assume that it had just been emptied, because I could put everything in without it stopping, so I just split into two, to have dad’s on one voucher and mine on another. And when I told the cashier what the total should be, including the bonus, she said that she trusted me and will just give me that amount, though she then asked whether she should trust me, having a look at the vouchers, and I did the calculation on my phone as well and showed her the result, receiving that amount.
Then I took the metro to Carrefour Pantelimon, washing my hands when I got there, entering with the few recyclables picked up on the way, and getting the year’s first watermelon, even if it was imported and more expensive than I’d have wanted, since it wasn’t large and at least it was from Greece instead of a non-EU place and still a little less than what dad tended to pay for the watermelons he got from the market, mainly for mother, even in the middle of the season in previous years. Either way, I also got a little more cat food… And then I saw that they had finally added self-checkouts that accept cash in that location as well, so I used one before arranging my things, picking up another recyclable, and deciding to test my luck by getting an instant ticket from the Lottery place that was there, though I just lost the money, not winning anything, and they had increased the price of those tickets in the two and a half years since the previous time I got one. But at least there was no bad luck on the way back, so I took the metro, I think finding another recyclable somewhere, and when I got here I saw that I had time to quickly check the nearby Mega Image as well, entering with everything, though I didn’t find anything to get.
I got back again a little after 12:05 PM… And then I bumped my head after putting the found recyclables on the balcony. But it’s not like bumping my head is unusual, which will be proven even a little later in this very post, so I then washed the watermelon, ate some of it, put it and the cat food in the fridge, made tea, did the day’s squats, went to the toilet and to wash, and then went to bed… Only to sleep for less than two hours before waking up and being unable to get back to sleep, and even the feeling of being sleepy was just going away as time passed, so I eventually gave up and got up. Then, since I needed a second post that week, I quickly played No Response and wrote the quick review while eating lunch… And just before going back to the kitchen at night I decided to lie in bed a little more… And ended up falling asleep for probably about half an hour, so it was past 1:20 AM when I woke up, and a little later I actually came back from the kitchen to get back on the computer for a little while, ending up eating dinner between 4:10 AM and 4:55 AM and getting back in bed at 5:40 AM.

At least it was past 5:20 PM when I finally got up, though I did go to pee twice before that point, also spent a little time on the computer on the first such occasion, and only actually slept for a total of about seven hours, if even that, since there was a little drilling from above just after 11:30 AM, and while it stopped quickly, after that point I had a very hard time getting back to sleep and quickly woke up whenever I finally did. Either way, I’ll also mention here that, since a discussion on the GOG.com forums had made me have another look at what was available and I finally spotted a monitor that seemed to be just what I’d want in case I ever had to replace the one that I’ve been using for some 18 and a half years, and it seemed to have the lowest price it ever had around here and the store offered an additional 10% discount on monitors those days, I decided to go for it, also adding a few accessories for the vacuum cleaner to the order and dad paying by card. And at night I ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:35 AM and it was past 4:25 AM when I finished getting what was stuck on the plate.

After having to get up much earlier than I’d have wanted, since I was scheduled to have that lost filling replaced at 2 PM, I just managed to walk out the door seconds before that hour, so I jogged, getting there pretty much right away, and I had a few minutes to wait anyway. And they did confirm that it was the same one which had also fallen in May of last year, being replaced on the 15th of that month, but I was charged for it in full anyway, the dentist saying that the shape probably makes it hard to stick in place, but she’d rather not drill more into the tooth and risk harming it when she doesn’t need to, since no new cavity developed, and she actually praised me for how well I had cleaned, saying that she basically had nothing to do except put a new one right in the hole, and that I had no other problems either, except plaque of course, but I still ignored the strong recommendation to make an appointment to have that removed. On the other hand, when I stood up I banged my head against the light, which hadn’t been moved out of the way.
The good thing was that the delivery, which was scheduled for that day, was supposed to be made later, so after having a quick look in the nearby Mega Image and picking up a few recyclables on the way back, I waited for it, rearranging my books a little during that time, since I had kept meaning to do that ever since receiving the new books, almost five months ago. And after it did arrive I obviously took the time to set up the new monitor, arranging things so the old one could stay connected as well, though I changed the settings so only the new one would be used, and then fiddling with things for a while, finding that if I used the “Economy” preset, which also means sRGB, HDR and any of the gaming enhancements except adaptive sync being off, and set the refresh rate to 60 Hz, or in fact up to 120 Hz, its power use is exactly the same as the old one’s, albeit with that one having sRGB on and a refresh rate of 75 Hz… And turning sRGB on makes this one’s power use increase massively, so I’m keeping it off. And I also keep Ambiglow off, though when I tried to leave it on while watching TV for a while, it didn’t seem to make a difference… But, speaking of differences, the difference in size and resolution will definitely take some getting used to.
On the other hand, what caught my attention even more was that, while the CPU temperature had reached a high of 61°C while processing some images or checking other games and the fan speeds continued to remain fixed, when I started Lords of Xulima, since I quickly checked how the installed games worked at this much higher resolution, and it reached 62°C, the fans suddenly sped up! I heard it, and was monitoring the system, so I saw it reported as well, and that has pretty much been the rule since, and in fact a couple of times I noticed them starting to speed up a little when the CPU was reporting a few tenths of a degree less than 62°C. So it’s not that the system can no longer react to the temperature, but that it ignores my settings and uses different ones that make it only increase the fan speed at higher temperatures, or maybe only under certain scenarios. At least that means that there should be no actual risk of overheating, but it’s definitely strange, and it remains a concern, especially when temperatures are about to go over 40°C.
Either way, it was 7:50 PM when I finally went out again, deciding to go straight to the Carrefour and Kaufland that are next to each other, despite initially meaning to either go in the other direction or at least make a detour to also check Penny. And I’d have had time for that detour, and I still had to go around the area that’s around the stadium anyway, since it was still closed even though that food festival had finished two days earlier, but I couldn’t have known any of that. So, after putting the few recyclables that I picked up on the way in a cabinet when I reached Carrefour, I got what I wanted plus two expiring products, then arranged those purchases, retrieved the recyclables, and continued to Kaufland, putting everything in a cabinet, washing my hands, and entering the store at 9 PM. But I didn’t see evening discounts that I cared for, so I only picked up a bundle of radishes in case the discount would increase, then got some other things, including some canned tomato paste that was at half price, I’m not sure why… And while I was wandering around I heard an employee say something about 11 PM and there were no closing announcements, so I waited until after 10 PM before going to the self-checkouts, and there were still no announcements. But there were no new or increased discounts either, so I left the radishes there, then retrieved my things and arranged everything just enough to be able to carry the stuff to that Mega Image, where I put the purchases in a cabinet that I locked and the recyclables in one that I didn’t, then took a packaged bread for dad and a pretzel for mother, both being discounted by 90%, and a small pack of cat food. Then I retrieved my things and went to a bench outside, taking my time to arrange everything properly. And then I remembered to check and saw that the closing time for that Kaufland was listed as 10:30 PM at the entrance, though the large sign still listed 10 PM.
I got back just before 11:15 PM, with almost 12 kg. Then I put the purchases in their place, also showed dad the new monitor, spent some time on the computer, ate a little chocolate and some watermelon, washed what was in the kitchen, waiting for dad to go to bed since he had to wake up very early but still had things to do, did the day’s squats as well, and finally went to wash at 1:40 AM. I was done at 2:15 AM, but then I noticed that one of the two remaining bananas had gone completely soft and had leaked in that basket, so I cleaned up, throwing away the paper bags that it had leaked on and washing the plastic ones a little, and also tried to see whether any of it was still usable, eating a couple of tiny bits that still had a trace of something that didn’t look completely spoiled. That meant losing a fair bit of time, so I only took a first bite of lunch at 3:15 AM, but it was quite some time later when it could be said that I actually started eating it, on and off, while working on dinner. And I also moved the olives into a jar. Either way, I finished lunch at 4:20 AM, ate dinner between 4:35 AM and 5:30 AM, and got in bed at 6:05 AM, just after dad woke up. And one annoying, and somewhat worrying, thing was that a spot on my right thumb had kept itching all day and, if anything, it seemed to be getting worse at night, though I couldn’t see anything there.

I woke up a little before 9:30 AM and decided to go to pee, and then I wanted to check something on the computer and ended up fiddling with things again, so I was still there a little after 10:20 AM, when there was some more drilling from above, and at a later point somebody rang the doorbell as well, by which point I was trying to check the route taken during the Dream Trek once it started changing and, while I’m not sure of some details, I pretty much confirmed that the different options hardly seem to make any difference at all in terms of distance, making that estimate of 45 km quite accurate either way. But checking that took quite a while, so it was 12:10 PM when I finally got back in bed… And, while it had been relatively quiet for a little while before that, more loud noises started coming from above moments later, as if heavy things were thrown or falling, my bed shaking quite noticeably a few times. That didn’t last long, but various lesser noises continued, so it took me quite some time to fall asleep again, and at 1:50 PM I was awake again, going to pee one more time and having another quick look on the computer before getting back in bed yet again and catching a few more naps, though I had been awake for quite a long time when I finally got up, a little after 4:30 PM. And then I noticed the image shifting a number of times, so I started to look through settings to see whether I could figure out what was going on and spotted something called Pixel Orbiting, which a quick search told me I correctly determined to be the culprit, but for the time being I’m leaving it on. On the other hand, at night, after making mamaliga, I saw quite a number of ants in the living room, helping themselves to the breadcrumbs scattered by dad… But now I’d consider the fact that we definitely have fleas again to be the far bigger problem.