Turning 41 Before Having to Change My ID Card
Once more, this ball of rock and metal that we keep trashing as if we and all other species that we share, or should be sharing, it with had plenty more to spare is pretty much in the same spot on its orbit as it was on the day I was born, and I guess it could be said that the one way in which I celebrated the moment was the little hobbit-like giveaway I made on the GOG.com forums. There was also an unfortunate consequence of that, but I’ll get to it towards the end of this post, in the part about yesterday that I’ll add later, since it wasn’t already written and I couldn’t write it today because my mother was here again, wanting to come and cook something, and I was in the kitchen with her until evening and then I had that giveaway to sort out, checked out some more things on the computer and, just before posting this, also shaved my head, because tomorrow I have to go and change my ID card, which expires today, and that implies having the picture taken as well… Or at least I hope I’ll manage to change it, because the earliest date that was available when I wanted to make an appointment for that on-line was December 23, so I guess it’s a matter of standing in line, with dad, since he also has to confirm that I live here, as the owner of the apartment, and hoping that our turn will come before the end of the schedule… And that we have everything that’s required, when I just learned that we lack a copy of my birth certificate, which he didn’t get around to making yet. Plus that I didn’t even get to look over the forms that should be filled. Not that I didn’t end up filling everything after getting there ten years ago.
But now let me get back to the morning of October 9, when I decided to try a hard fight on Lords of Xulima before going to bed, and when it seemed that I might even save some power points I got a little cocky and ended up losing a character, so I reloaded and tried again… And kept getting trashed until I said that I was going to make one final attempt… Which proved successful, but led to playing until 5:10 AM, making it clear that I was going to go to bed late. So I played a little more, finally getting in bed at 5:45 AM. But it was quiet again, and while I did wake up when dad left and then came back, I got back to sleep quickly both times and only got up a couple of minutes before 3 PM. And that evening I finally installed the Windows updates for September, everything seeming normal, including the usual errors.
On October 10, I was worried when I woke up to pee the first time, since it wasn’t even 8 AM and there were plenty of muffled noises coming from upstairs. But I guess the noise remained at that level and I could sleep just fine. So I got up after the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and after just warming what I had kept of the tea made two days earlier, when I meant to go out but eventually decided against it when the hot water went away, I had the usual stuff, with the yogurt being a bio (organic) one expired two days earlier and the sweet thing consisting of a bar, with plenty of added honey. On the other hand, I didn’t leave much in the toilet… And I raised the blinds and opened my window right after getting up and someone rang the doorbell soon after that, and at least one worker passed by in front of the window at a later point, possibly others as well, since I was usually keeping my back turned on purpose, so they knew that I was here, but I ignored them. Either way, I left at 4:30 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband and with the slip of paper with the emergency information in the pocket of my tights, just in case. The reported temperature was 20-21°C, and 18-19°C when I finished.
The time was 1:46:42, with sector times of 4:15, 5:08, 6:05, 4:37, 5:14, 6:01, 4:34, 5:15, 6:01, 4:41, 5:18, 6:12, 4:51, 5:23, 6:22, 4:49, 5:30, 6:17, 1:55, 6:19 and 1:55, making for lap times of 15:28, 15:52, 15:50, 16:11, 16:36 and 16:36, plus 10:09 for that final portion. I wanted to at least stay under 1:45 and probably pushed a little too hard from the beginning… But going well over six minutes on sector three of lap one made it clear that I had no chance, so I recalculated the target times, thinking that the realistic goal was to stay under 1:47… Only for that to also become questionable after going over the 4:35 that’d be the target for a 16-minute lap on sector one of lap two. At least I recovered on that lap’s third sector, when I pushed more, and things were pretty much the same on lap three, albeit without going over the target on the first sector and ending up a little bit less slow on the lap as a whole. And then it was a matter of damage limitation, the target remaining in doubt almost all the way to the end, especially after lap five was slower than I could afford it to be, so on lap six I kept telling myself that I had to shave a few seconds off that time. However, after gaining two seconds on its first sector, I lost seven on the second, so things looked bad and I had to push on the third sector, leaving the concerns about what I’ll have left for the final portion for later. And, while I failed to gain any time, I didn’t lose any either, covering lap six in the same time as lap five and thinking that I had a good chance if I’ll stay under two minutes on the first sector of that final portion. And I did that, after which I managed my pace, thinking that I should just make it if I’ll stay focused, and at the start of the final sector I realized that I might just squeeze under 1:46:45, pushing and managing that.
Of course, any time above 1:45 isn’t good enough, and this is particularly disappointing after the previous week’s run, when I thought that I’d have had a good chance to even squeeze under 1:43 if I’d have continued to a half marathon distance. And another reason why it’s disappointing, and why I wanted a good time, is that I ran such a distance at this point as a way to “honor” this year’s Bucharest Marathon, taking place two days later and which I didn’t attend for the first time since 2019, since it didn’t take place in 2020, and I had registered for that edition anyway.
Moving on to the issues, there were plenty of people, those who bothered me more being young cyclists, probably teenagers and some children, and some of those with dogs, but while that meant quite a lot of weaving and going the long way around and a few moments when I had to squeeze through or take a step or two off the path, I wouldn’t say that they caused any problem that was actually notable on its own. Otherwise, some areas were rather windy, but I managed to deal with it. As for physical issues, my right ankle gave some warnings on sector one of lap two and a pressing need appeared on the following sector, both going away after that, before I started feeling some warnings from a spot above my left heel on sector one of lap three, followed on the following sector by the need to snap my back, the pain reflected into my chest remaining an issue for a longer time and seeming to move to different areas, though it eventually went away as well. But at the end of sector two of lap four that pressing need returned and got to be quite notable for a while, though it eventually faded again, what I had to manage until the end beginning on sector three of lap five, when my hands were going numb and multiple parts of my legs started giving warnings and getting heavier.
After grabbing a label with the deposit symbol on the way back, when I got in front of the building I also grabbed two recyclables, probably left by the workers… And then I hit my head against the scaffolding, albeit lightly. Then I ate the last five walnuts that were left in a bag for what was probably years and lunch, with some nicer bagels instead of bread, drank some of the last of those drinks I had been left with since the Dream Trek, expired for over two months, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 9:05 PM, just taking “my” recyclables with the deposit symbol, since my parents had once again brought a lot that had been emptied there but I had no time to deal with those as well. But then I saw a bag with more recyclables which had been left next to a garbage bin, quite clearly just to be taken by someone, so I took it as it was and put everything in the machine from the nearest Penny before getting what I wanted and using one of the vouchers received for the coins campaign as well as the one received for the recyclables.
After arranging the purchases a little, I continued to Kaufland… But I wasn’t sure that I had actually put the Penny store card back in my pocket, and when I stopped to check I spotted a 10 RON bill! So I took it, deciding to add half of the value to what I mean to give away. Then I put the purchases in a cabinet when I reached Kaufland and entered the store a few minutes before 10 PM, so it’s a good thing that they did get back to closing at 10:30 PM. On the other hand, the evening discounts weren’t good, but I nevertheless made use of one for a bundle of green onions, spotting a larger one among those that were left and also taking a bunch of torn tops that were just fine. And I also took some cornmeal and a shaving balm, then retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything properly, walking out a couple of minutes before 10:30 PM.
I picked up a couple of recyclables on the way to the Mega Image that closes at 11 PM… And I also caught a spiderweb, probably looking quite strange while trying to get rid of it and brush myself off in case the spider came along with it. Either way, I then put the bags in a cabinet, entering with the backpack and seeing that the only remaining bakery products that were discounted by 90% were some pretzels, so I took one for mother, without waiting for the receipt. And after adding that pretzel in the backpack and retrieving what I had in the cabinet I continued to that non-stop Mega Image, where I once again put the bags in a cabinet and entered with the backpack… But there were no bakery discounts whatsoever, just a few uninteresting products were discounted by 50%, and while I waited until after 11 PM, nobody seemed to intend to make more discounts. So I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, but happened to check another one as well and found a coin left in the lock and took it, so going there wasn’t a complete waste of time. And on the way back I gathered some more recyclables and then entered this nearby Mega Image a couple of minutes after 11:30 PM, leaving the bags next to the door, entering with the backpack, and getting two bags of bakery products that had the 90% discount, though the cashier rounded up the total by an amount that was more than the price of one of the buns from one of the bags, with that discount. Either way, I then retrieved my bags and got back here.
I’m quite sure I was at the door a little before 11:50 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, picking up another recyclable from the garbage room, after which I just left the cornmeal on the table until morning, since it was moist after having been next to the frozen spinach, and put the other purchases in their place, noticing that one of the buns was plain instead of with sesame. Either way, I also washed what was in the kitchen, did the day’s squats, put together and ate something sweet, thoroughly wiped the thing that dad had brought from mother and laid on the table, finished that drink, and went to the bathroom at 1:40 AM, to use the toilet and shower, with water that wasn’t exactly comfortable. I was done a little before 2:25 AM, and then I took out the last piece of that last walnut bread which I had purchased from Kaufland at the start of the year, before they stopped making evening discounts for bakery products, despite having dropped it on the store’s floor, and which had been left in the freezer since then and looked suspicious. I don’t know whether it was bad freezer burn or something had started to grow on it even there, so after washing it quite thoroughly I cut away those parts of the crust, then put it in the oven for a while. On the other hand, I found what looked like moldy areas inside a tomato that seemed fine on the outside. And I also took another one of those cold pills expired for over a year. And when I finally got to my room for dinner, which I ate between 4:30 AM and 5:20 AM, while writing notes about the day, I found that a piece of polystyrene stopped the blinds from being pulled all the way down. And my right eye bothered me and it was rather red when I checked before going to bed, at 6:45 AM.
I was rather worried when I got up to pee a little after 8:50 AM and once again heard plenty of muffled noises from upstairs, and even more so when a few louder ones soon followed. But I guess that things didn’t get worse, and in fact after a while it got quiet, so I could sleep. I did start waking up at ever shorter intervals in the afternoon, and a few times it was a while before I could catch the next brief nap, but it was past 4:10 PM when I got up, after some louder scraping noises once again came from above. And then I also took the bug net out a little and removed that piece of polystyrene that stopped the blinds from closing properly. On the other hand, while after I got up there was still some red around the edge of that eye and it still didn’t quite feel right, over the course of the day it got better. But a knuckle on my left hand kept itching… And that morning I ended up getting in bed at 5:30 AM.
When I had been mostly awake for a while and needed to pee again, I decided that I was going to do that and then get back in bed if it wasn’t even 2 PM yet… Only to see that it was 2:59 PM, so I got up, albeit taking it slowly, and after having lunch it was just after 7:20 PM when I left, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way, picking up another recyclable which had been left there and putting all of them in the machine from Kaufland.
Since the closing time had changed to 8:30 PM on Sunday, entering the store just before 8 PM meant that I still had some time, and I made use of evening discounts for regular and red onions, a lettuce, one Kapia pepper and two bananas. Then I also got some of those cheap yogurts, which actually had a small discount as well, and olives, and I meant to make use of the three for the price of two deal for canned products, getting canned mackerel, three in oil and three in tomato sauce. But they were all of their store brand and had the 15% discount if you used the store card, which normally applies on top of any regular discount, but it apparently overrides such special discounts, because at the self-checkout I saw that I wasn’t getting the price of two of the cans discounted, so I called an employee and she pointed out that the discounts won’t stack, removing the cans when I asked her to, though it took her a while to do so, apparently being initially confused by the fact that I had entered the number for each instead of scanning each can separately. Either way, the closing announcement came while I was at the machine, and after paying for the products I cashed in the voucher received for the recyclables.
I reached that Mega Image that closes at 10 PM several minutes before 9 PM, putting the few recyclables picked up on the way in the machine and the purchases in a cabinet and waiting for the 90% discounts to be placed. But, while the bakery products were already bagged when I got there and the employee came to arrange them a few minutes later, she went in the back after those women who usually look for those products arrived, not coming out until they eventually gave up and left. And, after standing around for a couple more minutes, I cashed in that voucher, retrieved my bag from the cabinet, and walked out as well. However, after a little while I decided to go back, seeing that the 90% discount labels had been placed on the bakery products during those ten or so minutes, and it was still before 9:30 PM, so they had quite clearly waited for us to leave. Either way, I didn’t bother to use a cabinet anymore, put the two recyclables which I had picked up in the machine, and grabbed a few things, though the apple pastry which had been there before was gone by then, using that new voucher when I paid but not receiving a receipt. And on the way back I picked up some more recyclables, dashing into the nearby Mega Image to put them in the machine but not staying to cash in the voucher at that point.
I was back just before 9:55 PM, and while watching the match I put the purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, ate a banana, a sweet pastry and a bag of snacks, and did the day’s squats. And just after the match was over I dashed back to the nearby Mega Image, bought a bakery product that had the 90% discount, once again without receiving the receipt, and cashed in that voucher received earlier. Then, after getting back, I cleaned the litter box and went to drop what I had gathered down the chute, and it was a few minutes after 12:30 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done just before 1:25 AM, and then I also used the worse lettuce leaves in the salad and arranged some things in the kitchen, eating dinner between 4 AM and 4:40 AM. But I still went to bed at the usual time, and I slept just fine, only being woken up by drilling from upstairs just after 2:20 PM.