Cav's Place

On November 15, I went out at 7:45 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, including a bottle which hadn’t been accepted before, after tearing the paper that it was almost entirely wrapped in to make it look more like a regular label. And that way it was actually accepted, along with all the rest, by the machine from that new Carrefour Express… But when I tried to cash in the voucher, the cashier said that it hadn’t worked for the previous two people, and then tried it on both registers and it didn’t work for me either, so she said that it was a system problem, not their fault, and advised me to try again the next day. So, after frowning and saying that I hoped I won’t end up losing the money, I had to walk away, picking up another recyclable on the way to the actual Carrefour but finding one of the machines in use by someone who had a lot of recyclables and the other once again stating that it had no container for that type of object. So I just put that recyclable in a cabinet and bought the frozen spinach that I had gone there for, being relieved when I could use the voucher received earlier when I paid… But I forgot to also use the one received for previous purchases that I still had. Either way, I then had to put in the code quite a number of times before being able to retrieve that recyclable from the cabinet, picked up one more after walking out of that mall, and decided to also have a quick look in that Mega Image, entering with everything and then just walking back out, unsurprisingly seeing that they were out of the toilet paper packs that were two for the price of one those days.
I then rushed to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, picking up one more recyclable just when I got there, entering with everything just after 8:55 PM, and putting the recyclables in the machine, since the employee was placing the 90% discount labels on the bakery products but nobody was waiting there. Not that I saw anything that I actually wanted to get when she was done and I had a look, so I wandered around until the cart with the other products that had that discount was brought, finding that they were out of that toilet paper in that location as well. But then I did grab a few things from that cart… Only to be asked for less than what I had calculated, after using the voucher received for the recyclables, and when I checked the receipt I saw that the small baguette hadn’t been scanned, though I definitely heard a beep when the cashier tried to scan it, so I wonder what happened and whether the fact that I scanned the store card a fraction of a second later caused the issue. Either way, I just threw the purchases in the bag, over the frozen spinach, and walked out, deciding to add the price of that small baguette to what I mean to give away at some point, because I did rather want it, so I didn’t exactly want to give it away even if I would have spotted a homeless person that evening. Not that I did as I jogged to the non-stop Mega Image that’s close to the metro station, picking up one more recyclable on the way, when I stopped to read a sign, but then adding it and the purchases in a cabinet that I didn’t lock and then just retrieving them after seeing no bakery discounts and nothing interesting among the products that were discounted by 50%. And then I jogged part of the way back, grabbing one more recyclable and putting both in the machine from the nearby Mega Image before picking up one more and the label from a crushed one as I entered the building.
I got back two minutes after the start of the match, and then I put the purchases in their place, struggling for quite a long time to somehow manage to make the frozen spinach fit in the freezer. And at half time I went back down, seeing that the 90% bakery discounts had been made at the nearby Mega Image, getting a few products, and taking some time to look through the lists of ingredients, since they seem complete and much easier to read in that location and I wanted to check those for one of the breads bought from that non-stop location two days earlier. And then I also used the voucher received for those two recyclables when I paid, getting back a minute after the start of the second half of the match. And then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop what I had gathered down the chute, also put those new purchases in their place, did the day’s squats, and ate the last piece of a nice, albeit expired, chocolate, some citrus fruit, though I’m not sure exactly what it was, and the last bag of the microwave popcorn that had expired at the end of 2023, which popped really well and seemed only very slightly rancid. It wasn’t even 12:25 AM when I went to wash, no longer noticing that deep, dull pain which I had been feeling in a certain spot on my head, and being done a little before 1:10 AM. And then I managed to stick to the dinner schedule, though I did “cheat” a little in order to be able to say that I started eating before 3 AM. On the other hand, I noticed that the plastic packaging of the baguette that I ended up getting for free had a pretty large tear and I have no idea whether it had been like that all along or not, and I had just thrown it in that bag, but I ate the part of it that was closest to the tear that night anyway. And then I ended up getting in bed at 5:30 AM.

Liza woke me with a “concert” at 8:10 AM, and after peeing I got on the computer for a while, getting back in bed at 8:30 AM. But some noises were coming from upstairs by then, and while they weren’t loud, they kept me awake, and then dad got up as well, and I didn’t get back to sleep until after he left, which he said should have been around 9:30 AM, though I didn’t check. And a little before 12:10 PM I woke up again and peed one more time, managing to get back to sleep relatively quickly but waking up again around 2 PM, if not even a little before, since it was a while until I checked and saw 2:10 PM. And trying to get back to sleep just resulted in wasting time, so a little after 2:45 PM I got up. But then I timed the squats, doing them in a great 1:56! And late in the evening I had another little nap.

On the morning of November 17, I ended up getting in bed at 5:20 AM, and when I woke up just before 8:45 AM and wanted to pee, dad was in the bathroom. But he was done quickly, so I could go, and it wasn’t long before he left, after which I could get back to sleep. There was some noise made by the workers, but what seemed nearer were the shouts, everything else seeming rather distant, and when I woke up a couple more times after that, I just got right back to sleep, getting up after the alarm rang, at 1:30 PM. Then I replaced the yogurt with a vegan one, soy-based and with some added fruits, without any added sugar or sweeteners, even if it had expired the day before, but otherwise had the usual stuff, including the usual sweet thing, though the apple was bio (organic). Unfortunately, even though after eating the apple and “yogurt” I felt that I had to go, I ended up only reading a newspaper while on the toilet. Either way, I left at 3:45 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was about 15°C, dropping to 12-13°C by the time I finished.
The time was 48:10.76, with sector times of 4:21.35, 5:03.06, 6:02 (6:01.75), 4:35.06, 5:06 (5:05.79), 5:51.46, 4:29 (4:28.88), 5:02.06, 5:51 (5:50.81) and 1:50.54, making for lap times of 15:26.16, 15:32.31 and 15:22 (15:21.75). I was once again thinking that staying under 49 minutes was the realistic target and the first sector seemed more or less in line with that, but the second gave me hope that I might at least cover the first lap in less than the 15:20 that’s the lap time target for staying under 48 minutes. However, I obtained that time after trying to sprint all the way on the long straight despite feeling drained over 50 meters before the end, and that led to going over six minutes on sector three and thinking that I’ll have to push even to stay under 49 minutes in the end. And sector one of lap two only made those concerns worse, but on sector three of lap two I pushed harder after hearing another runner behind me. He wasn’t there for long, passing me and then stopping before the end of the lap, but it still made quite a difference, and completing two laps in just a little under 31 minutes made me think that I might even have a chance to stay under 48:30, so I kept pushing, and after sector one of lap three it seemed that I might even have a chance to beat the previous week’s time, which became almost certain after the following sector, assuming that there won’t be notable problems. And in the end I was almost frustratingly close to 48 minutes. Not that anything over that isn’t still a poor time… And this was obtained with that little help from that other runner and almost no notable problems to speak of, other than perhaps a certain pressing need that only appeared towards the end of lap three, when I was giving everything.

Dad was cooking when I got back, so I then cleaned to some extent in the kitchen and thought that he was going to finish too late for me to be able to eat what he was making for lunch, so I ate something else instead… Only for him to actually end up finishing around that same time. Either way, I also did the day’s squats, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 8 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and the paper and all of those cardboard pieces from toilet paper and paper tower rolls which I had been gathering for years even though the group which had asked for some at one point hadn’t done that again.
After leaving the paper and cardboard in a recycling bin and picking up some more recyclables on the way, I put those in the machine from Carrefour and then just cashed in the voucher before continuing to Mega Image Titan, picking up a few more recyclables, managing to put just two of them in the machine before it reported that the bin was full, and then just cashing in that voucher as well, since I didn’t find the cat food that I was looking for. And then I went to that Penny as well, the machine appearing functional but not doing anything when I tried to put in the remaining recyclables, so I entered the store with them and got what I wanted to get for mother and a cabbage, since I saw that it had a good price. I shouldn’t have done that, since I’m yet to touch it and there were better options since then, and that also “allowed” the cashier to give me a little less change, but I couldn’t have known any of that at that point.
After arranging the purchases a little, I then took the metro for one stop, having dad’s card, and went to Kaufland Basarabia, putting those remaining recyclables in the machine and then seeing one more nearby, ending up with a second voucher after putting that in as well. Then I put the purchases in a cabinet, having to try a few before finding one that locked, used the room for disabled people to pee and wash my hands, the cleaner pointing me that way when I meant to go to the men’s, and entered the store a little after 9:40 PM, getting two sweet pastries for mother that had the 50% evening discount and then making use of great evening discounts to grab all of the remaining radishes, some green onions, along with a handful of torn tops, a lettuce, and the handful of good grapes that I managed to pick out of what was left. And then I also got the last piece of the kind of cheese that had a regular discount those days, plus some processed meat pieces that were among the expiring products and one more thing for dad, the self-checkout machine rather surprisingly accepting all of those pieces… But it didn’t accept the radishes as the correct product, so after counting the bundles one more time I called over an employee to override that error. I was still at the machine when the closing announcement came, but then I also used the vouchers received for the recyclables, retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged the purchases just enough to be able to walk out, having to use the emergency exit, and then used one of those tables and took quite a lot of time to arrange everything properly, so it was past 10:45 PM when I finally walked away.
I put the bag in a cabinet when I reached that Mega Image, entering with the backpack and seeing that the cart with the products that had the 90% discount was brought before the discount labels were placed on the bakery products. But I decided against getting anything from it and went back to wait at the bakery area, eventually getting a few things from there… And once again receiving less change, and since it was in the form of a bunch of 0.05 RON coins that added up to 0.10 RON less, it was quite clearly done on purpose. But after the mistakes done in my favor, I’m not going to comment about such things happening at Mega Image for a while, so I just retrieved what I had in the cabinet, took some time to arrange the new purchases as well, and grabbed a lot of recyclables on the way back, most of them from a single bin, as I was passing through the park.
I got back right at midnight. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put most of the purchases in their place, ate a few plums, and it was 1:25 AM when I went to wash. I was done just after 2:05 AM, and I had a lot to wash and clean in the kitchen, plus the rest of the purchases to put in their place, which also meant rearranging some things in order to make room. And I also used a few radish leaves and the worse lettuce leaves for the salad, and fixed and ate something sweet… Which ended up being too sweet. Either way, I finally ate dinner between 5:25 AM and 6:20 AM and got in bed at 7:15 AM.

A few minutes before 11 AM, what might have been just a second of loud drilling woke me up, but just after that dad pulled what he wanted to take to mother out of the freezer and would have woken me anyway, so I got up to make sure that he took everything, also learning that he had no Internet access on his computer and fixing that by fiddling with the cable a little… And I heard something being moved on the building’s hallway as he was about to leave, and when he walked out we saw that our windows had been brought in front of the door, or at least those for the balcony were, according to what dad said when he got back. Either way, after some time on the computer, at 11:45 AM I got back in bed, but there was a fair amount of noise made by the workers and it was a while before I could get back to sleep, and then I woke up a few more times, and I was awake for quite some time when I checked, saw that it was almost 4:10 PM, and decided to get up, though it was past 4:35 PM when I actually did, and that was only to change and grab the book, since I then read for a while. And at night, after selecting and washing and boiling the radish leaves, by which point my back was really complaining, I ended up eating dinner between 3:55 AM and 4:55 AM, after which I did the day’s squats, since I had kept putting them off until then, and yet I still managed to get in bed at the usual time.

Despite the fact that there was some noise, I could more or less sleep until somebody rang the doorbell a little before 12:30 PM, and dad hadn’t left yet, but he didn’t answer, since there are the notes on the door and windows asking the workers to call him if they need to do work here. I got up after I was pretty sure that whoever it was had left and told him that they’ll likely see him when he’ll leave, and while he dismissed that idea at that point and I got back in bed, I couldn’t get back to sleep, he left around 1 PM, and a little later he called to say that he had been called and told that they had some windows to install, and a guy was just coming down the stairs when he left and stared at him, so he wondered whether that was the same guy who had called. Either way, he told them that he’ll be home the next day, but when I asked whether they were just going to work on the balcony or do all the windows, he said that he hadn’t asked, and also assumed that they won’t also drill the holes in the walls and install some other things, but hadn’t actually asked about that either, so I have no idea why he called, since he had nothing relevant to tell me. And between worrying about that and the noise, which had some occasional worse moments, I stayed in bed until 4:25 PM but only caught a few more brief naps during that time.
Since dad had said that he was going to get back around 5 PM, I waited for him after getting up, but it was past 7 PM when he actually got back, at which point he said that they were going to do everything and came to discuss moving my desk, disagreeing with my plan, which led to a brief shouting match while I got desperate and had no idea what to do and what I was saying anymore, and then I just went catatonic, standing there in the hallway and drooling until he finished talking to someone on the phone and wanted to go out, and when he saw that I still wasn’t moving he asked whether he had to call the emergency number… So I tried to move, just somehow shuffling a few centimeters until he left, and then somehow shuffled to the small bathroom to wash the snot and spit, after which I tried to get Liza to eat what was left on her plate, which led to getting scratched when I tried to take the plate away and gather the remaining bit of food a little more, since I was struggling to move and obviously couldn’t pull my hand back in time. And the plate fell from my hand too, so I then had to look for that bit of food… And then I somehow got the vacuum cleaner out, opened the windows from both bathrooms, and vacuumed the spiderwebs, also moving the tiles placed there in the small bathroom by mother. And later I slowly fixed myself something to eat, with layers of mozzarella and olives in a small flatbread that was far from flat, and when I went to my room to eat it I redeemed an ebook I won in a giveaway on The StoryGraph.
Eventually, without even coming out of my room to pee, I moved the boxes from my room as dad wanted, after which I also moved the computer desk on my own, sorting things out so I could still use the computer that night. I did have to go to pee after a while, seeing that dad had gone to bed, though I probably woke him at least a couple of times before I was done… And after that I ate some candies that should have still been valid, and which had been kept in the fridge, but they had been brought by dad through the heat of summer and they hadn’t just melted, but the packaging was oily, so I don’t know whether the fats had seeped out of them or something else had dripped grease on them at some point… I washed them and microwaved them, putting them on a citrus fruit, I’m not sure exactly what, which might have even made things worse, but so be it. And after spending a little time on the computer, I only went back to the kitchen at 2:40 AM, ending up eating dinner between 4:10 AM and 4:45 AM and getting in bed at 5:20 AM.

The alarm was set to ring at 10 AM, dad having said that the workers were supposed to come after 11 AM, but I must have woken up around 8:30 AM, after he did, though it was close to 8:50 AM when I checked the time. And then he went out for a while and I went to pee, just in case, but soon after that the noise got worse, possibly from upstairs, and while I only actually got up at 9:45 AM, after turning off the alarm, there was no chance to get any more sleep. And I put the day clothes over the pajamas, managed to place the chair on the desk as well, right against the monitor, to leave every bit of space, and then dad handed me a part of a plastic sheet and I used it to cover my bed, though as I did so I noticed a bug and when I squashed it I saw that it was filled with blood, and I don’t know what it was. Either way, I shouldn’t have hurried, since it was past 11:30 AM when the two guys actually got here, just when I was saying that they’ll probably come after their break, taking that as being at noon, yet instead it was somewhere around 1:30 PM or so when they just left without a word, likely to take their break. But, despite struggling for quite a while to remove the old windows and then also taking that break, at 3:05 PM they had also finished installing the new windows and left, so there were “only” some three and a half hours during which I had to appear somewhat functional despite being almost frozen stiff because of both panic and cold.
However, the huge problem was that they didn’t keep my external blinds in place, first saying that the cable had to be cut and they won’t drill a hole in the new window to draw a cable back through it, and then removing the blinds entirely. And, of course, the old bug net is a different size, so that can’t be properly placed on the new windows either, so things were as bad as they could be. And the new window is also somewhat smaller, mainly in height, and the one from the kitchen is a fair bit smaller in width, and they put some polystyrene on the sides of that one before using that foam and at night I noticed at least one little hole. But there will be a lot of work to do to encase these new windows on the inside anyway, the matter probably being more urgent with those from the bathrooms, since they won’t be doing anything else for those and dad said that they didn’t even use any screws, so it’s just that foam holding them in place and therefore they really need something sturdier, and the one from the small bathroom, which we admittedly don’t care about, is a fair bit smaller than the hole. Not that I have any idea when they’ll do their part to encase the other windows on the outside… But that part also implies reducing the available space on the outside, so while dad used its remaining two screws to just sort of hook my external blinds into the EPS, the old holes drilled into the actual wall probably no longer being available because of the thicker windows, so more light comes in around them but they pretty much still cover the window for the time being and, while doing so risks damaging the EPS even more and possibly even having the blinds fall over, there may even be a chance to pull them up if I open the window and then find something to tie the cable to and hold it in place after pulling it, that will stop being an option the moment they’ll do that.
Either way, after they left I started cleaning, though I wouldn’t really say that I cleaned my room, since I only vacuumed the visible areas, albeit thoroughly, quickly wiped a part of the top of the desk, and later changed the sheets. But I got back to my room to do the other things after vacuuming the rest of the apartment as well, and that took quite a while, considering all the mess, including the one from the living room, which wasn’t caused by the workers. And I also washed a lot of things in the kitchen. And at night I decided to finally bake the pumpkin that had been in the fridge for quite a while, eating a piece of it after taking it out of the oven and seeing that it probably wasn’t quite done but leaving it like that, and I also dealt with my two breads that I was yet to deal with, these things and what I still had to wash and clean in the kitchen leading to only eating dinner between 4:50 AM and 5:25 AM. And I got in bed at 6:35 AM.

The drilling woke me up just after 10:30 AM, and it was loud and just about relentless, but after going to pee I got back in bed and managed to catch some naps that might have been mere seconds long while it continued. I don’t know when it stopped, but it eventually did and I got a longer nap at that point, waking up to pee again a little before 2:30 PM. And then I got back in bed again, but there was movement outside my window and I was worried that somebody would take down the external blinds, whether intentionally or not, so while I did catch a few more naps, they were brief and agitated, and after receiving an SMS with an ad from my provider and seeing that it was 4:29 PM I didn’t get back to sleep, though I got back under the blanket and waited for the workers to leave, and then I still took it easy, actually getting up when it was almost 5:10 PM. And it must be the first day in a very long time when I didn’t open the window at all. Either way, after having lunch, I went out at 8:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up one more on the way to Carrefour and putting them in the machine, then cashing in the voucher and just buying a cabbage that was rather banged up found among the spoiling products, obviously without charging myself for the bag it was in.
I then continued to Kaufland, picking up one more recyclable and putting it in the machine from there, then putting the cabbage in a cabinet, making use of evening discounts for some regular onions and a single red one, adding a couple of other things, using the voucher received for the recyclable when I paid, then retrieving the cabbage and rushing to that Mega Image, putting the purchases in a cabinet that didn’t lock, since none of the free ones seemed to, and getting a few things that had the 90% discount, which included some habanero peppers. I was asked for a little more at the checkout, so I said that I must have made a little mistake, but when I checked the receipt I saw that those peppers cost 0.10 RON more than what was printed on the discount label, which was odd. But I shrugged it off, retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged the purchases a little, and on the way back I picked up a few more recyclables.
It was close to 11:20 PM when I got back. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a small bag of trash down the chute, and after putting a few of the purchases in their place and spreading out the few others, dad wanted to check that the windows were straight, and we found that none were! Or at least none except those from the bathrooms, which is strange, seeing as those were the ones that weren’t screwed on. The ones from the kitchen act as if they are straight though, staying in place if opened, but those from the bedrooms open more on their own. The strange thing is that I checked whether mine was straight while the guy who installed it walked away and he caught me doing it and asked whether it was, and when I said that it didn’t seem like it he showed me that it was on the side, explaining that the middle may be a little off, and when I told him that I had heard from someone that theirs hadn’t been installed straight and closed on their own he opened it to show me that it didn’t. But he did open it fully, so I couldn’t see whether the problem was the other way around, plus that this was done before the glass was put in and that foam sprayed around, which might have changed things. And there’s also the fact that the one from dad’s bedroom also has no foam on the bottom, since it supposedly fit snugly, but you can feel the cold air coming through there. But the guys said that they’ll be around on Tuesday and we should let them know if there are any problems, so I guess dad will call them and we’ll see what they’ll do, which also means that it’s a good thing that I didn’t move the desk back yet… Though I’m worried that they’ll make something worse and wonder if it won’t be better to just leave my window as it is.
But, to continue with the part about last night, I ate a large piece of baked pumpkin and it was almost 1:20 AM when I went to wash and 1:50 AM when I was done. And then I had a little chocolate, put the remaining purchases in their place, and ate dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:25 AM, using the worse parts of that cabbage, plus a part of one of those peppers, which resulted in my hands feeling and looking rather burned, and some of that burning sensation remains in a few fingers. Either way, after watching the Formula 1 qualifying, I went to bed at 7:10 AM.

As for today, it was quiet and I could sleep, at least until getting up to pee the second time, at 1:05 PM, since after that I had a hard time getting back to sleep and only got a couple more naps once I finally did, at least the first of them seeming to have lasted mere moments. And the second couldn’t have been long either, since it was just after 3:30 PM when I was awake again, checked the time, and decided to get up, sort of watching the ski jumping qualifying, though I spent quite some time to place the old bug net outside the window, trying to make it stay at least somewhat in place, after also pulling the external blinds halfway up. The good thing is that, while somewhat larger than the new window, the old net may just fit on the frame, at least if they won’t encase it too much on the outside, so we may not actually need a new one for the time being, but since it now has to be removed whenever I want to reach the cable for the blinds, really fixing it in place may be an issue. Either way, I decided to go out again today instead of tomorrow, after doing 200 squats, since I hadn’t done them yesterday, and eating lunch, so I’m just posting this now in order to have the week’s first post.