Cav's Place

Though I did get up and spent some time on the computer while dad was getting ready to leave, on August 31 I could otherwise sleep, since it was Sunday. But that sleep was agitated, and I also had one of those dreams where I had woken up, everything seemed normal at first, but then odd things started appearing and it quickly turned into a nightmare that I couldn’t escape, even when I did realize that I was dreaming, so I had to force my mind to reject that false “reality” by making it too terrible, making the people who had entered the apartment torture me. I was rather proud of the solution when it worked, though I was unsurprisingly quite a mess when I woke up. But then I managed to get back to sleep, getting up when the alarm rang, at 4 PM, to watch the race. And later I actually managed to finish the review for Lost Words: Beyond the Page, even if not before midnight, so I initially posted a version that lacked the conclusion and had a single paragraph instead of what later became the section that’s before the conclusion, expanding it to two paragraphs a little later. But before going to bed in the morning I did finish, rewriting those paragraphs, making them a separate section, adding the conclusion as well, and then also submitting it on HonestGamers. As for the pills, I stopped taking anything for the throat and took the last plain Paracetamol that we still had as the cold pill, and that one actually had August 2025 as the expiration date.

On September 1, after eating lunch, taking one pill and doing the day’s squats, I left at 8:40 PM, with the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol… But without the backpack, so also without any bags except the dirty ones that I had the recyclables in, which I didn’t want to use for the purchases. And it actually took me a while to realize it and I was rushing to that Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, so I had no time to get back if I wanted to catch the 90% discounts. And, while I had the headphones on, I didn’t listen to anything that evening.
At least I did reach that Mega Image just in time to see 90% discount labels being placed on the bakery products and took a few things before the two carts of other products that had that same discount were brought and I rushed there, grabbed one thing… And by the time I checked to make sure that I was actually interested in that product, other people had taken all but a couple of others, which I wasn’t interested in, and which were also taken within the next few seconds anyway. And I couldn’t put the recyclables in the machine either, since it reported that one container was full and nobody was dealing with it, so that made carrying the purchases even more of a problem. But that other product which I had bought came in a bag, with handles, and I managed to stuff all but one of the bakery products in there and was then able to hold that bag and that remaining product in one hand, so while I had a moment when I considered getting right back, I decided to stick to the original plan after all.
After putting the recyclables in the machine from Kaufland, I rushed to Carrefour, put the purchases in a cabinet, bought a bug repellent for mother, and grabbed a discarded plastic bag and two of those large bags for bakery products. Then I retrieved the purchases and went back to Kaufland, putting the recyclable grabbed on the way in the machine and the purchases from Mega Image in a cabinet, peeing and washing my hands, and entering the store a little before 10 PM, with those bags which I had grabbed from Carrefour… And with that bug repellent, which I had forgotten in my back pocket. Either way, I took a bundle of green onions, with a good evening discount, then also got some olives, being charged for the plastic box, and asked about the cheese that was on sale, being told that what was left was crushed and they had put it in boxes, and if when the employee showed me those boxes I initially said that I didn’t want any, I then decided to take one after all, at full price, just without being charged for the box, since I asked and was told that they won’t discount it, though it was quite clear that this was why they had placed it in boxes. And I did check, after also grabbing two of those cheap yogurts and a bunch of Moldovan plums, which were discounted by 90%, but they probably expected that and the rest didn’t appear among the discounted products. So I was just about to reach the self-checkouts when the closing announcement came, then also used the vouchers received for the recyclables, retrieved what I had in the cabinet… And once again forgot about that repellent when I put the purchases in a cabinet from that Mega Image, the guard asking about it when I went to retrieve what I had there, after finding nothing to get, and initially seeming doubtful when I showed him the receipt. But he eventually accepted that I had purchased it from Carrefour. And then I went to a bench and arranged everything, and picked up two recyclables on the way back.
I got back at 11:25 PM, put some watermelon on a plate, cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, ate the watermelon, put the purchases with the exception of the bakery products in their place, talked to dad a little, washed what was in the kitchen except the grill that he had used, and went to wash at 1:10 AM, being done just before 2 AM. Then I washed that grill as well… And when I put that supplement with vitamin C and zinc into the tea, a little of the tea splashed into the tube, and since that supplement dissolves in liquid, I had to take out a few of the pills, initially putting them in a cup. Either way, I then used a small flatbread purchased from Mega Image to make myself something sweet, some of the honey ending up stuck on the plate after I microwaved it, so it took me a while to get all of it. And I also took another cold pill, put the bakery products in their place as well, and took a first bite of dinner in my room at 4:25 AM, though I then moved those supplement pills into a jar, so I actually started eating when it was past 4:30 AM, being done at 5:20 AM. And I got in bed at 6:20 AM.

I’m not sure what time it was when the noise woke me because I was just paralyzed in bed for a while, but it wasn’t yet 9:45 AM when I managed to crawl up and go to pee. The noise was just terrible, terrifying, I had a hard time holding back panic attacks. And there was more noise coming from upstairs even after the workers took their break, at noon, so it was only a few minutes before 12:30 PM when I got back in bed, and I was still awake just before 1:10 PM, when the noise from upstairs started yet again. But I stayed in bed and caught some brief and agitated naps before finally crawling back up, just before 2:45 PM. And then I stayed at the computer, feeling quite out of it, until the noise stopped, around 4:30 PM… At which point, instead of going back to bed, I did some other things, since until then I had felt that I pretty much couldn’t move, also because of the workers walking past the windows. So I only added about an hour and a half of sleep later in the evening, and I might have just dozed off again when dad got back, just after 10 PM, and I got up. Otherwise, I stopped taking any other pills, just continuing with those supplements that I definitely had to finish, after getting them wet. And, after it was past 1:30 AM when I went back to the kitchen, I tried to “cheat” and take a first bite of dinner in my room just before 3 AM, but it was a couple of minutes before 3:30 AM when I actually started eating and, despite trying to hurry as much as possible, I finished at 3:45 AM.

The noise from upstairs woke me at 8:15 AM, before the workers also started outside, and since I had woken up to pee once by then, I almost certainly didn’t even get two and a half hours of sleep. And then I decided to set The Witcher 2 aside, since I had reached the big decision two days earlier, and actually got back to Lords of Xulima, which I had last set aside at the end of March of 2021. But I eventually noticed that things had gotten quiet, so at 11:25 AM I got back in bed and it was past 6:40 PM when I got up, though various noises did return and I obviously kept waking up, and I also went to pee a few times. But, including those from the morning, I’d say that I got some seven hours of sleep in total, however interrupted it was. And then I ate lunch, did 200 squats, since the previous day I had once again kept putting them off until I forgot to do them at all, and went out a little before 9:20 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I picked up some more on the way to Kaufland, putting the rest in the machine from there and being left with two which I had picked up from that area and a rather crushed one, which weren’t accepted, plus a discarded label which I had also picked up from there. So I put those in a cabinet, washed my hands, dashing to the room for disabled people to do so properly, since there was no soap in the men’s, and entered the store at 9:55 PM. But there were few evening discounts and none for anything that I cared to get, and while a few more appeared after 10 PM, they were too low. On the other hand, there were a whole lot of large bio (organic) cucumbers that were discounted by 75%, taking their price down to that of regular cucumbers, so I took two that were just fine, plus two small packs of expiring gum for dad and a cheap yogurt, so the total allowed me to use the voucher received for the recyclables at the self-checkout. Then I put the purchases in the backpack and walked out a few minutes before 10:30 PM.
On the way back, I picked up more recyclables and checked three Mega Image locations, entering the first one with everything and getting some bakery products that were discounted by 90%, the cashier just throwing away the receipt without even looking at me after taking the money, then putting the bags in a cabinet when I reached the second one, entering with the backpack, and just wasting time by waiting until after 11 PM without seeing anything new getting the 90% discount, then retrieving what I had in the cabinet and leaving the bags next to the door after entering this nearby one, walking in with the backpack, and then retrieving the bags on my way out… But the interesting thing was that I noticed a couple of bakery products with the 90% discount, and while I wasn’t interested in them, it marked the first time I saw that discount in this location.
I got back at 11:35 PM and cleaned the litter box, but I had seen something in the nearby Mega Image that dad might have been interested in, so I asked him when he finished his bath and, since he said that it’d have been nice and it was still before midnight, I dashed back there and bought it. Then I put watermelon on a plate, went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, ate that watermelon, put the few purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, moved that crushed cheese into a bowl and a jar, since dad wanted some, and made something sweet once again. But I didn’t eat it right away, going to wash first, since it was already 1:55 AM, and being done a little after 2:30 AM, after which I ate that sweet thing while working on dinner. And I once again moved the slices to another plate and got what was stuck on the one used to microwave them, took that supplement, and ate dinner between 4:30 AM and 5:25 AM. I got in bed at 6:25 AM.

Once again, at 8:15 AM I was woken up by noise, so I got back on the computer for a while, playing more Lords of Xulima, finally getting back in bed right at noon. And I actually got some sleep, waking up once while it was still quiet and getting right back to sleep, then waking up again around 2:30 PM, I guess, because I thought that it was only a few minutes later when I checked the time and saw 2:38 PM… And then I thought that I had just been awake for about half an hour, without falling asleep again, before getting up… Only to see 5:23 PM, so I obviously did fall asleep again, and while I don’t know when or for how long, I’d say that I probably slept for some two more hours. And I tried to catch another nap in the evening, but dad got back right after I had fallen asleep and I got up, only getting back in bed about an hour later, and while I spent about another hour lying there, I couldn’t fall asleep again. And I once again only took that supplement.

On September 5, despite obviously waking up multiple times, including two when it was quiet but I had to pee, once before the workers got here and once during their break, and my dermatitis also acting up badly again, so at one point I put some cream on those areas, I could always get back to sleep quickly and, while it was made up of brief and agitated naps, I got a fair amount of sleep, getting up a few minutes after 2 PM, though I hadn’t set an alarm… But then I cut my right thumb, probably in the can of cat food that dad had almost emptied, getting some blood on my towel before realizing it. Either way, I once again ate a banana instead of an apple, a worker being right in front of the kitchen window at that point, though I kept my back towards him, and mixed some more of those baked almonds with Himalayan salt with the yogurt and cereals. And I also shaved, then just finished reading a newspaper on the toilet, which wasn’t that much of a concern when I had gone before going to bed in the morning, ate two of those nicer biscuits, with added honey, and left at 5:20 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband and with some things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was about 31°C, likely holding steady, though I couldn’t check what it was after the run… But I was feeling so out of it… Exhausted, lightheaded, barely moving, with a mind fog…
The time was 49:25.83, with sector times of 4:24.26, 5:09.16, 6:00 (5:59.94), 4:35.53, 5:20 (5:19.66), 6:06.34, 4:39 (4:38.12), 5:21.19, 6:01.25 and 1:50.38, making for lap times of 15:33.36, 16:01.53 and 16:01 (16:00.56). Between the awful lack of sleep, the heat, and the fact that I was just recovering from the cold, I was thinking that getting under 50 minutes would be great and I pushed a fair bit from the start, being relatively pleased with that first sector. But the second seemed somewhat concerning and I wondered whether I’ll even stick to the 6:10 that’s the target for a 16-minute lap on the third and therefore at least squeeze under 15:45 on the first lap. And, despite doing better than that, I thought that I needed to cover lap three in 16 minutes to even have a chance to stay under 50 and didn’t see that happening, so I was thinking that I might even have to settle for staying under 52 in the end. But sector one of lap two gave me some hope, and while sector two pretty much took it away, I pushed on sector three and ended up covering the lap in just over 16 minutes. That made me once again hope to stay under 50 minutes, so I kept pushing, and after sector one of lap three I wondered whether I might even squeeze under 49:30. It seemed unlikely, but I went for it, continuing to push even when sector two of lap three made me think that I needed an extremely unlikely fastest sector three of the day in order to still have a chance, since I didn’t think that I’ll be able to recover much of anything on the final sector. But I was just about there at the end of the lap, and digging as deep as I still could on the final sector resulted in being quite safely under 49:30 after all. Not that this isn’t a bad time in itself, ending that series of six below 48 minutes started a month and a half ago and the slowest since June, but I’m content with it under those circumstances.
I needed to snap my back from the beginning and couldn’t quite do it, so it got worse as I approached the end of the first lap, and while the feeling lessened after that, it didn’t go away. And there was some pain from the right hip, also from the beginning, and the feeling spread along that leg as time passed, and while it eventually also lessened, that was probably because I was sparing that leg, which led to my left leg starting to give some little warnings by the end of lap two. But the main problem was that I was so out of it, it was hard to just keep going, so the run felt awfully hard, and my reactions were particularly slow as well, so it’s a good thing that it wasn’t that crowded. Still, I hesitated and slowed on sector two of lap one because a kid on a scooter turned in front of me, while on the following sector I hesitated, albeit just a little, when I saw a cyclist coming from the opposite direction, even if he was still quite far. And another moment when I hesitated a little was on sector two of lap three, when a girl was about to run across the path and cut me off, and while she stopped just in time, I couldn’t have known that she would. On the other hand, at the start of sector two of lap two I stopped for an instant, but that was because I couldn’t get a good enough look at the time at first and then my eyes wouldn’t focus well enough to see the small digits once that interval time moved above the current one. And there was a fair bit of wind in some areas. And my nose and throat were getting irritated, but that feeling actually went away not long after the run, what was left being that my lips felt very dry.

After the run, I went to Carrefour, grabbing a recyclable on the way and putting it in the machine, the guy who was waiting for the employee to finish servicing one offering to allow me ahead when he saw that I just had one. Then I entered the store and looked for the TV that dad had asked me to get, finding it and thinking that several were left, so I initially moved on and grabbed some cheap biscuits for dad, just to check whether the vouchers with 30% of the value of certain categories of products actually were once again offered even if you didn’t use their app, confirming that and also using the voucher received for that recyclable when I paid for them. And then I remembered to check whether the earlier hour gave me a chance to find any of that bread still unsliced, and I did, so I bought one of those as well before walking out of the checkout area and then back in through the entrance, the electronics area being in that part of the store… At which point I saw that a single one of those TVs was still available, not counting the one on display, the others which I had initially assumed to be the same model actually being the “smart” version, so it’s a good thing that it hadn’t been taken by someone else by then. Either way, since the cashier from that area asked, I also had it quickly tested, though another guy who was there asked about it at that point and had a look at the accessories, removing the remote from the bag, which I wasn’t comfortable with. And when I walked out the guard stopped me and asked for the receipt, saying that she had to put her own stamp on it as well if I wanted the warranty to be valid. And on the way back I picked up a few recyclables, along with a small bag to carry them in.
I was back a little after 8 PM, then I dropped off the purchases, cleaned the litter box, ate a lot of watermelon, grabbed the backpack, and left again at 8:40 PM, rushing to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, so I didn’t make use of the fact that there was a match to look for any recyclables, just picking up one on the way. But I got there at 8:55 PM and waited for the 90% discount labels to be placed on the bakery products, grabbing the two apple pastries once the employee got to them. And then, after putting that recyclable in the machine, I noticed that the cart with the other products that had the 90% discount had already been brought and people weren’t gathered around it, so I don’t know if it had been brought earlier or nobody else noticed either, since a woman got there seconds after I did and grabbed the third bread, since I had just picked up two, for my parents. And then I also used the voucher received for that recyclable when I paid, once again not receiving a receipt. Either way, I didn’t want to lose even more of the match, so after putting the purchases in the backpack, I jogged back, though I stopped at one point to make sure that the little bag with the money was also in the backpack.
I got back at 9:25 PM, just in time to catch that silly second goal. Then I put the few purchases in their place, did the day’s squats, ate one of the apple pastries, and after the match, at 11:05 PM, I went out again, to check whether there were going to be 90% discounts at the nearby Mega Image once again, though I was quite sure that, if there were going to be any, they’ll appear at 11:30 PM. But none of the remaining bakery products had any evening discount, and while I saw that machine that prints them left on a shelf and a 90% discount label was printed, it was for a product that was no longer available, and while I wandered around the guard took away the bags used for bakery products, so it seemed like they weren’t going to make more discounts that evening. Still, I wandered around a little longer, then walked out and wandered around a little outside as well, checking from the door a couple more times before finally giving up and coming back.
Then I cleaned the litter box one more time, went to drop that bag of trash down the chute, and picked up two bottles with the deposit symbol from the garbage room, though one looked interesting, so I asked dad whether he wanted to keep it and he said that he did. And I talked to him a little more, including about the new TV, which he placed in the living room and tested, and it was past 1 AM when I finally went to my room to eat lunch while writing some notes about the day, finishing that lunch at 1:40 AM and going to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, when it was almost 2 AM. I was done a little after 2:50 AM, then also did a proper search for the digital channels on the new TV, moved something into a jar, took another one of those supplements and also another expired cold pill, and ate dinner between 4:35 AM and 5:05 AM. And I got in bed at 6:35 AM…

Well, the workers had today off as well, same as last week, but whoever the upstairs neighbor hired to work on her apartment didn’t, so at 9:05 AM I was once again woken up by that extremely loud drilling that seems to be right above me and which makes me panic, and it was so loud that it still drowned out the music when I went to the computer, put on the headphones and turned the volume to maximum! But it did become less loud after a while, and eventually it seemed to stop, so at 11:50 AM I got back in bed… Though by then I had some serious gas, which I guess was part of the reason why it took me quite a long time to fall asleep again. And I didn’t get back to sleep right away after getting up at 3:40 PM to pee either, plus that I woke up yet again before 5 PM, when I had set the alarm to ring, to watch handball, and I really don’t know whether I had just fallen asleep again or not by the time that alarm did ring and I got up. Either way, while I was in the kitchen I bumped my head against the corner of the table… And just when I had gotten back in bed in the evening, dad got back, and even if I did get back in bed once more about half an hour later, he was making little noises and if I slept at all before going to pee again, some 45 minutes later, it couldn’t have been for more than mere moments. At least I did get a little sleep after that, but less than an hour… And when I got up I saw that he had gathered what had been hung to dry in his bedroom, since the balcony is unusable now, leaving my running t-shirt but not realizing that one other thing was mine and then being unable to find it when I asked for it, so I don’t even know where it is now, and I’m quite sure that I’ll have to wash it again anyway.