Cav's Place

Those people finally came to install those things in the holes in the walls on February 23, so dad woke me at 9:55 AM and they were done less than an hour later, but they installed it in my room over the insulation, which dad tried to start removing just then, and what we were trying to ask them and what they were answering were different things, so we couldn’t understand each other over the matter and I now have a couple of small holes there, not that it makes much of a difference. And they left quite a mess, so I then vacuumed to a fair extent in the three rooms and also in the kitchen and some parts of the hallway, though I didn’t take the opportunity to also clean my room, or even vacuum properly all over my floor. And after installing that thing in my room the guy asked for rags or towels, and then for mine, which was on the back of my chair, but dad brought him another and he stuffed it in the hole, on the outside, since they’ll only install the outer cover after everything’s done, so he’d have done that with my towel if we’d have given it to him! On the other hand, after they left I noticed that my bug net was removed, and I don’t think that the guy removed it when he went out through my window, so the other workers had probably done that two days earlier and I hadn’t even noticed it the day before, when I opened the window for a while before leaving! Either way, at least I caught a nap in the evening, and then I made mamaliga again, took one more of those supplements for immunity that aren’t expired, and caught up on some sleep, waking up to pee plenty of times, and apparently biting my tongue hard on the first such occasion, but always getting right back to sleep until the last time, at 3:55 PM, when workers seemed to be nearby and I just stayed in bed until it got quiet, getting up a few minutes after 5 PM.

Since I’m skipping the runs and a couple of other days that aren’t yet written, I’ll now get to February 26, when dad got up and woke me with some loud noise not long after I had gone to bed, and it’s possible that he woke me again before leaving, but I was so exhausted that I just fell right back to sleep. On the other hand, after getting up to pee a little before 10:25 AM, I decided to finally read some more of the book, doing so until a few minutes after 11 AM and seeing that I was getting through less than one page every two minutes. Either way, I then got back to sleep, and if the noise made by the workers or that dog woke me again, I fell asleep again so quickly that I barely realized it… Until my phone gave a low battery warning, a little after 2:10 PM, and after plugging it in to charge it seemed that I wasn’t quite exhausted enough to still get back to sleep despite the noise. But I was too exhausted to get up, so I just stayed there, maybe briefly drifting off a few times, until the phone beeped to indicate that it was fully charged, a little after 3:15 PM, and I got up.
Otherwise, dad had said that he was going to get back around 3:30-4 PM and then could help me cook, so I meant to get things ready and then let him at least check the pot while I read some more. However, it was past 7 PM when he actually got back, and he brought food, some of it supposedly for me, though it was ordered and therefore I couldn’t know just what was in it, while he wanted to use the grill for what he had bought for himself. And then he also had to get ready for the following day. And I couldn’t put off cooking, my phone number being about to expire, so I had to go out the following day, plus that I had done the tedious part already and couldn’t just put those ingredients away as they were. So, on top of doing all of the cooking on my own, I also had that grill to wash, both before and after he used it. And then I also tried to help him search for something that he couldn’t find, only wasting some more time, because I couldn’t find it either. So my plan went out the window and I barely managed to read a little more that evening.
On top of all of that, he had left a lot of food for Liza in the morning, which he wanted to throw away when he saw that she hadn’t touched it since then, so we both got angry and snapped at each other, and when I put it into something else, to give it to some other cats, he immediately sat right in it! He had been hovering right over my shoulder, telling Liza that he was just about to give her something else, I left that old food on the seat while I went to the sink to wash her plate, and as soon as I stepped away I heard a crunch and saw that he had sat down right there, and when I snapped at him he said that he hadn’t noticed that I had left it there. Well, what the fuck else would I have done with it when I hadn’t moved from there when I took it off the plate? Not that it wasn’t in a pretty sizable plastic thing, right in front of his eyes. Either way, after he changed his pants we sort of pretended that nothing happened, as usual, so I was left fuming silently, knowing that saying or doing anything would just result in further angry responses without changing anything.

Moving on to the morning of February 27, after getting in bed at 5:20 AM, it wasn’t even 8:15 AM when I was woken by drilling. But it only lasted a few seconds, so I went to pee and then got right back to sleep, and while I was woken up at least a couple more times over the next four hours, I got back to sleep so quickly that I’m not even certain that I was fully awake. But then I guess that I wasn’t so utterly exhausted anymore, and the workers were clearly in this area, so while the noise wasn’t that bad in itself, it was enough to keep me awake and I just sort of drifted in and out, perhaps catching a few very brief naps, before 2:20 PM, when the alarm rang and I got up to watch ski jumping. And shortly after it finished, the workers put back the pieces of insulation which had been removed by those who had installed those things in the holes in the walls and it’s a good thing that I was right here then, because in my room they were pushing that thing inside, so I rushed to tell the guy about it and pushed it back, after which he seemed to do the job properly. I also checked in dad’s bedroom, another guy working there, but there that thing had been pushed in very little and I could just press on it to get it back in place, after which it seemed fine, so I didn’t need to talk to that guy as well. Not that the whole thing hadn’t already messed me up a little on a day when I had to interact with people again, so I tried to prepare myself for that, and after doing the day’s squats, eating lunch, cleaning the litter box, and gathering my clothes from the rack, I left a few minutes before 8:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, a small bag of trash that I dropped down the chute, and that cat food, minus what was left on dad’s pants.
I grabbed a recyclable on the way to Mega Mall, but didn’t see the cats that I expected to see on that route, so I still had that cat food when I reached my provider’s store and waited for quite a while before charging the credit, without receiving a receipt but the change including a commemorative coin which had apparently been released in 2016 but which I didn’t have any of so far. And then I saw that Carrefour had once again removed all cabinets from that location, so I went to put the recyclables in the machine and then took the two that weren’t accepted to the information desk, getting the deposit for those as well before entering the store with that cat food and thinking that it was going to be very awkward if a guard would want to see what I had in the bag. But I found some expiring products to get, at half price, including beer for dad, and the employee approved the sale of beer from the computer, so I then also used the voucher received for the recyclables and arranged the purchases in the backpack.
After grabbing a few more recyclables, I put them in the machine from Kaufland and then just put that cat food in a cabinet, entering with the backpack and making use of great evening discounts for red onions, red potatoes, and a couple of bananas, plus a handful of those Moldovan grapes, even if they just had a 50% evening discount. And then I grabbed an expiring product for myself, even if it only had a 30% discount, and one for dad, with a great discount… After which I waited for quite a long time in line, the people using the three machines that accepted cash having a lot of products and taking their time, so the closing announcement came while I was still waiting. And after my turn finally came and I saw the total I decided to dash back to the non-refrigerated expiring products, which are close to the checkouts, and grab one more of those for dad, after which I also used the voucher received for the recyclables, retrieved that cat food from the cabinet, and walked out at 10:40 PM.
After putting the bags into a cabinet that I didn’t lock at that Mega Image and entering with the backpack, I got a nice expiring oat bar, at half price, and then retrieved my things, went to that bench, took too long to arrange everything for too little real benefit, and decided to check the non-stop one that’s next to the metro station, hoping to find some interesting discounted bakery products there, or at least some bread for dad. But I had also considered going to the one from Iancului, which I thought closed at midnight, and doing so would have been no worse, since checking that other one proved to be a complete waste of time, and I used a route on which I didn’t even see any recyclables, so by the time I got there I just had the pretty crushed one which I had spotted shortly after leaving the other Mega Image and a label that also had the deposit symbol, and then I put the bags and my gloves in a cabinet, entered with the backpack, and just retrieved everything after seeing that the bakery area was completely cleared and the couple of remaining expiring products weren’t interesting. But at least I grabbed a few recyclables on the way back. And, while I didn’t see cats in the spot where I expected to see them on the way back from there either, I wasn’t going to come back with that cat food, so I just left it there anyway, next to the little shelters built for them, where they might have been huddling, considering the temperature. I did finally see a cat a little later and actually considered rushing back to grab that food and bring it, but it dashed into a yard, so I kept going.
I got back just after 12:05 AM. Then I cleaned the litter box again and went to drop what I had gathered down the chute, talked to dad a little, ate a banana, put the purchases in their place, and went to wash at 1:45 AM. I was done a little before 2:25 AM, and then I washed what was in the kitchen, straightened that rather crushed recyclable, saw that a spot on the vitamin C pill that I meant to take looked odd but just scraped it off and took it anyway, and ate dinner between 4:35 AM and 5:20 AM. I got in bed at 6:55 AM, after rubbing cream on my hands and feet.

While I got right back to sleep after getting up to pee at one point and slept through dad getting up and leaving, I had been mostly awake for a while when I decided to pee one more time, just in case, at 1:25 PM… And I saw that dad had left a voucher from Carrefour which that neighbor had left in a bag she had given him on the kitchen table, along with a note saying that he had talked to her on the phone and she said that she didn’t want it back, and the deadline for using it was March 1, which led to just tossing and turning after I got back in bed, wondering what to do, since I wasn’t going to let it go to waste but it felt completely wrong to use it for us, plus that I didn’t feel like going back out that day and I wanted to watch the following day’s matches, so that’d have been a problem too. So I didn’t get back to sleep, eventually getting up a little before 2:25 PM, sending dad an e-mail about the issue, doing the day’s squats, and leaving at 4:40 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, wearing a mask again, for the only time during this period… And after seeing that my phone’s battery was so swollen that the back cover was off! But at first I thought that it was slipping out of the case, and when I saw that the cover was actually coming off I just meant to put it back, only realizing what was going on when it wouldn’t quite work, at which point I briefly took out the battery and put it back in… And then, despite being concerned, I put the phone in my pocket normally and left.
After taking the metro to Obor, since I had dad’s metro card, I went to Auchan, picked up a recyclable which had for some reason been left in the bin that’s next to the machine and then put all of them in, and got more cat food, also using the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid. Then I arranged the purchases and continued to Carrefour, picking up a few more recyclables and putting them in the machine from there… And then I picked up one more, putting it and the purchases in a cabinet and getting one of the bottles of wine that the voucher that I wanted to use was obtained for and which was actually discounted those days, so dad could take it to that neighbor, so most of the voucher would still be used for her benefit, and a bag of cat litter, so the remaining amount became a discount for that. That meant that an employee had to come to approve the sale of the wine, but then some other bar code accidentally scanned when I was trying to scan that voucher, so he had to come again and there was a misunderstanding between us, since I also had the voucher received for the recyclables. But the matter was eventually sorted out and I could use both vouchers. And then I retrieved and arranged my things and took the metro back, also picking up another recyclable and trying to have a look at the cats that I had left that food for, yet I still couldn’t see any of them and the plastic thing that the food had been in had also been taken away.
I got back at 6:40 PM, then cleaned the litter box, ate a citrus fruit, either a clementine or a Mandarin orange, put the purchases in their place, and after dad got back I sent a message to the power company, since he hadn’t even done that, much less actually switch to the better offer that I had been telling him about and which was expiring that day… Not that it seemed to do any good, so it was probably too late. Either way, just before 10:10 PM I went out again, without the mask, first having a look in the nearby Mega Image but seeing that they hadn’t made bakery discounts… But I also didn’t see dad’s car, so after looking around, thinking that he might have parked it in a different spot, I rushed back up to tell him about it, learning that he had left it at mother’s but hadn’t bothered to tell me. So I then went back out and jogged to the Mega Image from Mihai Bravu, seeing bakery discounts and getting a few things. And then I jogged to the non-stop one as well, putting those purchases in a cabinet that I didn’t lock and getting an apple circle that also had the 50% discount… And just as I was about to cross the road, the power went out in the entire area, including on the streets, so I started to pretty much run back, and dad sending me and SMS to let me know about it but not sending another one when the power was restored didn’t help. But I saw lights turning back on… Only to turn off again a little later. But this second failure was brief, and they were on again when I reached the building, and there were a few minutes left before 11 PM, so I had another look in the nearby Mega Image, but just from the door, seeing that they hadn’t made bakery discounts at all that evening.
I was back for good just before 11 PM, and while my computer was still on, dad’s, which had been fixed after having once again stopped working, wasn’t, despite being plugged into the old UPS, but the data cable isn’t connected and, while I tried to have a look after eating that apple circle, I couldn’t figure out what had happened, and he had been taking a bath, so he didn’t know either. So I eventually had to leave it for another time, and after putting my phone in a pot, to be safe, it was just about 12:25 AM when I went to wash. I was done a little after 1 AM, but then I spent quite some time looking for replacement batteries from stores that I could pick one up from, so I won’t spend almost as much on shipping as on the battery and risk being left with something useless if it somehow won’t work. And after getting back to the kitchen I had to clean up a little and wash some things, eating lunch between 2:45 AM and 3:10 AM, taking one more of those supplements for immunity that aren’t expired, and eating dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:20 AM. I got in bed at 6:55 AM again, after rubbing cream on my hands.

After what must have been the briefest nap, I found myself awake again and with that strange feeling in my body that made it hard to get back to sleep, but after I finally did I could really get some rest, only getting up to pee twice, getting back to sleep quickly both times, and only getting out of bed at 4:55 PM, though I had been awake for quite a while by then, and the last dream I had messed me up a fair bit. Either way, I then ordered a replacement battery, from the same store that I bought the case from, even if it’s far and the battery’s more expensive than others that I found, even by more than 50% compared to the cheapest ones. But it was listed as actually in stock and they offer more information, so it seemed more trustworthy. On the other hand, I gave up on the idea of making mamaliga again that evening, and since calendar winter was over I also stopped taking any supplements… And then the noise made by the workers made it really hard to sleep, waking me up at 8:20 AM or so and then only allowing agitated naps, so I only got out of bed a couple of minutes after 4 PM but I have no idea how much sleep I got, and the quality of it was bad anyway. But at least it meant that I was awake when that store called to confirm that the battery was in stock and I could pick it up.

After going back to the kitchen at 1:10 AM, having to continue washing and cleaning after dad cooked, and ending up eating dinner between 3:40 AM and 4:20 AM, the plan to also shave in the early hours of March 3 went out the window, since I ended up going to bed at 5:20 AM even so. That made me set the alarm to ring at 1 PM, to have time to do that before leaving to pick up that battery… But my body picked just that day to “clean the plumbing”, which hadn’t happened in a long time, waking me at 7:15 AM, if not even before that, and after peeing and cleaning up a little, I hadn’t managed to get back to sleep by the time the workers started to arrive, and then they worked right in this area, including actually painting around my window, and that neighbor’s dogs were also going crazy because of it, so there was no chance to get back to sleep and eventually, just before 8:40 AM, I got up and shaved. And then I spent some time on the computer as well, only getting back in bed at 9:25 AM, after moving the alarm to 2 PM… But the noise was impossible to sleep through, so just before 9:50 AM I decided to read a little, and after dad got up I exchanged a few words with him and sorted out a few things, getting back in bed yet again just before 10:30 AM, when it seemed quieter.
Despite the continued occasional noises, including what sounded like things falling right outside my window, and some even banging against it, after a while I did manage to get back to sleep, even if it was in the form of brief and agitated naps, broken for a longer time just after 12:15 PM, when my phone gave a low battery warning, so I set the stopwatch to ring as well, after figuring out how, and it must have been half an hour or so before I got back to napping, getting up to pee yet again somewhere around 1:45 PM, after which I’m not sure if I had just gotten back to sleep or not by the time the alarms rang, the phone’s battery emptying as it did so… Not that I needed any alarms, since some loud drilling started right at that very moment.
After turning the phone back on a few times, to drain the battery just a little more fully before removing it, I made sure that Liza ate what dad had left her, some men that I heard were supposedly inspectors walking around this area and at one point bringing a worker to cover the area around the thing that was placed in the hole in my room’s wall somewhat better, on the outside. Either way, I then had lunch and did 200 squats, to at least make up for the fact that I hadn’t done them the previous two days and leave just that day’s for a later time. And just as I was rushing to leave, dad sent an e-mail to let me know that they were five minutes away, since he was bringing mother. So I waited, but when those five minutes became more than 20, just before 4:25 PM I walked out, also taking the phone’s charger and the empty battery, with the contacts covered, as well as the recyclables with the deposit symbol. And when I got outside I saw that my parents seemed to just finish getting what they had brought out of the car, so I waited for them to cross the road and then got the metro card from dad, which made the day a whole lot easier.
After grabbing a few more recyclables, I knew that there was a Mega Image near the metro station that I had to get off at, so I put them in the machine from there and cashed in the voucher before walking to the store that I had to pick up the battery from, getting there just before 5:25 PM, putting the new battery in the phone, and seeing that it worked… Though in the picture on the site it said that it was made in Hungary while on the actual battery it said China, as expected. And when I wanted to have another look at it after walking out, I couldn’t remove it anymore, so I struggled for a while, then had a quick look in another store, and eventually decided to walk to Victory Square and take the metro from there. But on the way, after having one of my gloves fall out of the jacket’s pocket as I crossed a road and then rushing back to retrieve it when I realized it, I took a picture of a store’s name and noticed that it was saved in the phone’s tiny memory, and that it wasn’t detecting the memory card, so I had to open it again and put more effort into removing the battery, managing it and pushing the memory card back in fully.
After grabbing just one more recyclable before reaching that metro station, I took the metro to Obor and decided to check that Penny first, entering with that recyclable and then just walking back out, also seeing that the evening discounts were listed as starting at 8 PM in that location. And then, after beeping dad and asking whether they wanted anything when he called back, being told that they didn’t, I went to Auchan, putting that recyclable in the machine, along with another one which had for some reason been left in the bin that’s there, and buying another pack of cat food and what I counted as four small packs of biscuits for dad, so that was what I entered at the self-checkout and paid, also using the voucher received for those recyclables. However, when I reached Carrefour and put those purchases and the gloves in a cabinet, I found that I actually had five of those packs, and I have no idea how, because I was sure that I had counted them when I had taken them off the shelf. Either way, I decided to leave one aside and give it to a homeless person, entering the store when it wasn’t even 7:50 PM, so I had a lot of time to waste while waiting for the evening bakery discounts to be made. Admittedly, they started making them around 8:30 PM, but it was taking time, so I just kept wandering around, getting a bag of spoiling bio (organic) Mandarin oranges that were expensive even at half price for myself and a couple of things for my parents. But eventually being able to get four of those apple circles made it worth that time, and I got two breads as well.
After retrieving my things and arranging everything to some extent, I grabbed another recyclable, put it in the machine from Kaufland, then put everything in a cabinet from there, peed and washed my hands, and entered the store a little after 9:35 PM. And I beeped dad again after seeing some expiring products that I thought they might be interested in, but I had walked away from the first one before doing so, thinking that he wouldn’t be interested and eventually deciding to ask just in case, and by the time I got back there after he said that he actually was, it was gone. Either way, I then also made use of a good evening discount for carrots and of a decent one for some more of those Moldovan grapes, that time buying them for mother, and grabbed two pretzels as well, also for mother, since they were at half price, plenty of bakery products having discounts there that evening. I was at the self-checkout when the closing announcement came, the machine asking for an employee after I tried to scan an expiring product twice instead of each of them separately, since I had two identical ones, the employee who eventually came telling me that it won’t work like that for those products and sorting out the issue. And then I also used the voucher received for that recyclable when I paid, went to wash my hands again… And when I reached the cabinet where I had my things, I saw a 5 RON bill in it! And I didn’t think that I could have dropped it there without noticing it, which was proven true after I counted what I had, so somebody had slipped a bill into the cabinet, I guess over the top of the door! So I obviously couldn’t refuse it, which I’d have done if they’d have tried to actually give it to me, and the only thing left to do was to mentally add half of that value to what I mean to give away at some point.
After arranging everything, it was close to 10:40 PM when I walked out, and then I picked up a few more recyclables and checked that Mega Image that closes at midnight, putting everything else into a cabinet, entering with the backpack, and seeing that the bakery discounts were made even if it wasn’t quite 11 PM yet, so I got a bag of cheap buns and a sweet pastry for mother, plus a nice yogurt and a spoiling cabbage for myself, even if they were all only discounted by 50%. But at least I wasn’t charged for the bag that the cabbage was in. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged the new purchases, and rushed to the metro station, though I still picked up a few more recyclables. And I guess I rushed just enough, a metro that might have even been the last one going in this direction coming seconds after I reached the station. And after getting off here I checked the non-stop Mega Image as well, giving that small pack of biscuits to a homeless man, then leaving the bags next to the cabinets, once again entering with the backpack, and getting one more of those sweet pastries for mother, the cashier having to ask a coworker to print another discount label, because that one wouldn’t scan. And then I retrieved my things and grabbed a couple more recyclables on the way back.
I got back just after 11:45 PM, with just over 13 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, exchanged a few words with dad, talked to mother for quite a while, and after she went to bed I put most of the purchases in their place, rearranging things in the fridge, and also removed the worst parts of that cabbage, to see just how usable it was. It was a few minutes before 2 AM when I went to shower, with water that was below body temperature, and 2:20 AM when I was done. And then I had plenty to wash and clean in the kitchen, ate one of those bio (organic) Mandarin oranges and one of the apple circles, put the remaining purchases in their place, arranged a few more things for my parents to take in the morning, dealt with one of my breads, used some of that cabbage for the salad, took one more of those immunity supplements that aren’t expired, and ate dinner between 5:40 AM and 6:20 AM. I got in bed at 7:15 AM.

My parents were supposed to wake up at 7:30 AM, but I must have fallen asleep so quickly and slept so deeply that I don’t know anything about it, only waking up at 12:15 PM and going to pee. It does seem that the workers didn’t make much noise, however. Admittedly, that should have been during their break, but they didn’t seem to be taking it, or at least not all of them did, since I heard some voices and something being dragged on the hallway, and at some later point I was woken up by what sounded like something being done at my window again, but I was only awake for mere moments, getting right back to sleep, and when I did wake up again and remained awake for quite some time before finally getting up a little before 3:55 PM, I just heard one guy occasionally shouting, sometimes prompting some barking from that dog, and some rare and faint noises that I’m not even sure were made by them.

And now I’ll skip to yesterday, when I once again expected to have a hard time sleeping when drilling woke me just after 9 AM, but I guess that I was just too exhausted, because this part of the building was painted then, yet after peeing I got right back to sleep, was only woken up again around 11:30 AM, once again got back to sleep quickly, and stayed asleep until close to 2 PM, when I spent a few minutes on the computer and set the alarm to ring at 3:30 PM, for ski jumping, though I woke up again a little before that time, probably drifted off for the briefest moment, and woke back up with seconds left, just managing to turn off the alarm before it rang. And at night I made mamaliga, “cheating” to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM but then thinking that I had plenty of time, even after I actually started eating at 3:10 AM, so I checked some things on-line as well and ended up finishing at 3:50 AM. And before going to bed I used cream on my feet again.
The Formula 1 qualifying meant that I wasn’t going to sleep for long, but it was barely over an hour after I got in bed when I had to get up to pee. And then I caught another brief nap before 7 AM, when the alarm rang and I got up, getting back in bed at 8:25 AM… Only for the workers to arrive moments later, and then they placed the windowsills, so there was a lot of noise and it was probably only after they were done that I could get back to sleep. But then I could sleep, and things seemed to go quiet after a while, so I occasionally woke up again, but usually got back to sleep quickly… Until my phone started giving a low battery warning, way sooner than I thought it would, though the new battery was admittedly not full when I bought it. So after that point I just took brief naps between warnings, only finally getting up just before 5:30 PM, and after the phone turned off I set it to charge. On the other hand, the pain that I’ve been feeling in my lower back, mainly towards the right side, ever since this week’s run, or perhaps more exactly ever since I went back out that evening, doesn’t seem to be going away and it’s bothering me a fair bit.

Back in December, when the European Parliament voted in favor of the My Voice, My Choice European Citizens’ Initiative, I was saying that it was little more than a declaration of intent, and a particularly unambitious one at that, since it’s the approval of the European Commission that’s actually needed. And that didn’t exactly seem likely until the last moment. But it actually came, so the measure is set to be implemented.
But, as I said, it’s a particularly unambitious one, since the demand was not for abortion to be allowed all over the European Union, in fact the Initiative even explicitly stating that it does not seek to change national laws in any way, but only for the creation of a voluntary, opt-in financial mechanism to help countries provide abortion care to women who can’t access it in their own country and choose to travel to said other countries for it. And no new financial mechanism was created for it, the implementation being set to be through the ESF+ mechanism. Admittedly, with the details of the actual implementation being set to follow, using an existing mechanism may remove a hurdle and some delays. But, even when it comes to so little, the real question remains which countries will choose to take part and when.
Admittedly, considering how narrowly it managed to gain the necessary political support, this lack of ambition was the only reason why the Initiative met with success, and why its demands were fully met, albeit through an existing mechanism, while other successful ECIs were implemented partially at best. But while some would argue that this means that this is the way to go, I’ll continue to firmly disagree. Is it better to obtain something rather than nothing at all? Maybe, for the moment. And, taken as a stage victory, it does show a sign of support in a certain direction. But what about later? What about what’s necessary? What if what is obtained is far from enough, so it doesn’t solve the problem but may appear that it does and reduce the pressure to demand and do more?
In this particular case, I’ll say again that, even if many countries, and those that border others where abortion is banned or severely restricted in particular, will opt into the mechanism, requiring women to travel abroad for a procedure that’s traumatic in itself is hardly a solution. And another serious question remains what will happen to them once they’ll return to their home countries and what they did will become known. And I’m not just referring to any potential legal repercussions, but also to other, less direct, methods that both the authorities and the society from such countries will employ to get back at them. Admittedly, enforcing abortion access all over the European Union wouldn’t prevent such non-legal repercussions either, and would generate a far stronger backlash, but that shouldn’t count against doing what’s right and necessary.

A year ago, I was saying that things were looking grim, for Ukraine and not only. And this winter in particular was definitely grim over there, with Russia destroying the energy infrastructure and using the weather to try to freeze Ukraine into submission. But, just like their previous attempts, this one also failed, and winter is almost over. Admittedly, Russians continue to make gains, but recently it seems that Ukraine has obtained some small victories as well, and the very fact that Russia continues to demand the territory that they’re yet to obtain through war in those so-called negotiations that are nothing but a show set up for Trump proves that they’re frustrated with the failure and know that military action won’t bring actual success anytime soon. That doesn’t mean that they won’t win that territory if things continue as they are, but the only way they can conquer something is to turn it into a ruined wasteland first, slowly and with losses and expenses that they won’t be able to sustain forever, meaning that they only gain the results of their destruction, not anything actually valuable, while Ukraine has the time to build new lines of defenses behind the destroyed ones, continuing to be able to hope to hold on until Russia will no longer be able to continue attacking.
Of course, Russia is working through its European allies as well, the most notable being the Hungarian regime, though it’s far from the only one that continues to collaborate with Russia and block the still feeble attempts to truly support Ukraine, not to mention strike back. And now you also have lesser but nevertheless relevant things like Russia and Belarus being allowed to compete under their own flags in the Paralympics that show that the situation is increasingly normalized in the minds of many, Russia once again edging closer to being allowed to get away with it, as it has done each time before.
What’s going to happen in the end is anyone’s guess, but despite the fact that the situation in the US is pretty much as bad as could be expected, Trump slamming a wrecking ball into everything he can, I’d actually dare to say that things don’t look quite as grim as they did a year ago. Europe seems to finally start waking up when it comes to defense, albeit very slowly and unwillingly, and the very fact that they made it through this terrible winter may give Ukraine renewed hope in the coming months, regardless of the scars they carry. But, of course, the only way to end this war, and to ensure that another won’t start as soon as Russia will recover its strength, is for them to need to recognize defeat, and while the US could swiftly ensure that, they won’t, so I’m still waiting for the moment when European support and action will be expressed as “whatever it takes” instead of “for however long it takes”. If that day will come in the near future, there is still hope for all of us, when it comes to this and many other issues. If not, so much will have been lost and sacrificed for nothing…

In the Champions’ League, things sure went well for CSM Bucharest this time around, their easy victory against Ikast coupled with Ferencvaros winning against Odense meaning that they clinched second spot and advance straight to the quarter-finals. And to think that CSM had started the season by losing against Ikast and after six rounds had only two wins and four losses, which seemed to make obtaining one of the first two spot all but impossible. But then they turned their form around, won all of the following eight matches, and some other results played in their favor as well, leading to this… The problem being that it’s almost certain that they’ll end up facing Esbjerg, who should have no problems against Podravka, and this same duel took place in the quarter-finals in 2022, 2023 and 2025 as well, CSM losing each time.
On the other hand, the final round’s results had no relevance for Gloria Bistrita, who were already certain of the fourth spot in their group and therefore of facing Ikast, the winner facing Brest in the quarter-finals. So the two Romanian teams won’t be facing each other, but while that offers a theoretical chance of both of them making it through, seeing who their opponents are set to be makes it far more probable that we’ll once again have no team in the Final Four. But, of course, it remains to be seen what will happen then, and if we’ll even have two in the quarter-finals in the first place, since Gloria is unlikely to find Ikast as easy of an opponent as CSM found them this time around.

On the other hand, in the European League we had three teams and a single one made it past the group stage, actually winning the group with one round to go, so the last round didn’t matter for them either. And what’s strange is that we’re talking of Rapid Bucharest, who’re only seventh in the national league at the moment, while Minaur Baia Mare are eighth but tied on points with them and with one match less and Corona Brasov are third, but both Minaur and Corona ended up third in their respective groups, surprisingly so in case of Minaur, who were almost qualified after four rounds but then “managed” to lose the last two matches, the first one being against Larvik, who lost all of their other matches. And now Rapid will play Viborg in the quarter-finals and it won’t be easy to get past them, so I wonder if we’ll even have one team in the Final Four here… Or in either competition, considering what I said above.

On February 10, I woke up to pee a few minutes before 8:30 AM and heard some noises that seemed to be from the workers, but dad was also getting ready to leave, so that might have also been the reason, especially since those other noises were faint. But they did get somewhat louder after that, so it took me a little while to get back to sleep, and later I woke up a few more times even if it seemed pretty quiet, so I basically got a series of naps, until a little after 12:50 PM, when some hammering started and I initially decided to get up. But after checking the time I got back in bed, thinking that it was too early, yet I couldn’t get back to sleep even if the hammering stopped after a while, so I eventually cut my losses and got up just before 1:40 PM. And then I did the day’s squats and went out at 5:10 PM, wearing a mask and taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
Since I had dad’s card, I took the metro to Obor, having a look through the farmers’ market, then grabbing another recyclable and putting all of them in the machine from Carrefour. And it seems like I got there just when more expiring products were being brought, since an employee brought two carts and it’s possible that he might have had even more to bring, but I couldn’t stay longer, so I grabbed a few, plus a bag of spoiling oranges, and then also used the voucher received for the recyclables at the self-checkout. And after taking the metro back I made a detour to also check the nearest Penny, which proved to be a complete waste of time, since I put the two recyclables picked up by then in the machine, entered with the purchases, saw that they were out of the cat food that was on sale as well as of the cheap buns, couldn’t find anything else to get either, and then I waited in line for a little while but eventually decided that I wasn’t going to wait even longer just to cash in so little, so I kept the voucher for another time and walked back out, jogging almost all the way back, though when I got here I also had a very quick look in the nearby Mega Image, once again entering with everything. And after getting back, a little after 7:15 PM, I ate one of those oranges, cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, and then rushed to take a quick shower. And at night I made mamaliga.

Since I woke up a few times, and after dad got up I probably didn’t get back to sleep right away either, I only got some four hours of sleep by 10:25 AM, when I got up after he left and spent some time on the computer, and while I got back in bed after a little less than half an hour, there didn’t seem to be any chance of getting back to sleep again, so at 12:10 PM I finally cut my losses and got back up… Which also resulted in giving up on the plan to go out again that day. And while I did get back in bed one more time, just after 3:20 PM, it still took me quite a while to fall asleep again, Liza having quite a “concert”, I have no idea why, and the loud voices of the workers also having much to do with that, and I didn’t stay asleep even after that, so I just managed to take a few short naps before getting up again, a little before 5:20 PM. But I did manage to nap some more late in the evening.

That nap led to getting to the kitchen around 1:15 AM, and then I peeled and boiled carrots, once again had no green onions and used a red one, also moved something into a jar, and struggled to slice the packaged and sliced gluten-free bread which I had bought from the expiring products from Carrefour, wanting to see whether it made any difference in how I felt. And I also cleaned the litter box before instead of after eating. So I started eating dinner at 3:40 AM and only finished at 4:35 AM, in part because that bread got really stuck to the plate after I microwaved it, and struggling to get it off in my room eventually resulted in breadcrumbs on my desk and floor, so I cleaned up and then went back to the kitchen to scrape it off, which I should have done from the beginning.
After getting up after the alarm rang, at 1:30 PM, I had the usual stuff, everything being expired except some of the cereals, since I mixed two kinds in that bag, and I guess the apple and the honey, but the yogurt was a small but really nice one made from buffalo milk, the almonds some of those baked and salted ones, and the sweet thing two of those nicer biscuits, with added honey. I also cleaned the litter box before leaving, just after 4:20 PM, and wore the full running gear, that thing that goes on my neck, and the old gloves, plus the jacket on the way, tied around my waist while I ran. And I had some things in the pocket of the tights. The reported temperature was 8°C, but it had rained and there were still a few occasional drops. And while I couldn’t actually check what it was when I finished the run, what I see on sites showing past weather seems to indicate 6°C, and I know that it was 5-6°C at 7 PM.
The time was 1:20:47, with sector times of 4:20.42, 5:14 (5:13.85), 6:10.15, 4:40 (4:39.69), 5:19.47, 6:05 (6:04.47), 4:39.03, 5:18 (5:17.97), 6:14.68, 4:44, 5:29, 6:15, 4:50, 5:26 and 6:04, making for lap times of 15:44.42, 16:04 (16:03.63), 16:11.68, 16:28 and 16:20. Even if I still checked the exact times on the first three laps, I meant to go for 16 km from the beginning, hoping to somehow squeeze under 1:20 but wondering if I’ll at least manage to get under 1:21, and after a decent first sector the rest of the first lap made me question that. And then the first two sectors of lap two made me wonder if I wasn’t heading for something similar to the previous time, so I tried to do somewhat better on sector three and I guess I did just enough to give myself some hope, which remained despite all of lap three being at the level of the first two sectors of lap two. Still, I was only pretty certain of squeezing under 1:22, since that only required 17 minutes on each of the last two laps, but that original realistic target of getting under 1:21 seemed possible, so I tried to see what I could do, what pace I could sustain on lap four and then whether I could do better on lap five, thinking to push on the first sector, let myself recover a little on the second, and then give everything on the third, but apparently not doing much of anything on the first sector and then having to push more on the second instead. But, despite stopping for several seconds on that sector, at the end of it I was pretty sure that I was going to get under 1:21, and the last sector ensured that it was by a very safe margin. Not that it’s not still a bad time, but it was a definite improvement compared to the previous one, so I had to be content with that.
It was wet and there were some puddles, but that wasn’t a notable issue, and the quite few people really caused no problems. On the other hand, the feeling that I hadn’t left everything in the toilet appeared quickly, possibly even before the end of the first sector, and it was definitely there on the second, and at a later point, I think on lap four, if not even on lap three, it got worse and seemed like it could become a problem, but then it faded to some extent and it was fine. As for other physical issues, I was occasionally getting lightheaded and something seemed to be a little wrong with my right leg, the sensation worsening after I felt some pain in my back at one point, though at least it wasn’t long before both that pain and that worse feeling passed. Otherwise, I stopped to check the time three times, briefly on sector three of lap three, maybe for a little longer on sector one of lap five, and for several seconds on sector two of lap five. But by the end of that sector I was catching another runner who was just a little slower, and after I passed him he seemed to want to stay behind me, so he might have helped me push just a little harder on the last sector. Not that I didn’t mean to push on that sector anyway, and it wasn’t long before I put some distance between us, but my lungs were definitely straining for air on that sector, so I might have played it a little safer otherwise.

After the run, I checked Carrefour and then continued to Penny Titan, picking up a recyclable on the way and putting it in the machine, then putting on a glove and taking two cheap buns and two sweet pastries, with the 30% evening discount, and using the voucher received for that recyclable and the one remaining from two days earlier when I paid. And then I jogged most of the way back, being at the door at 7:40 PM and then going to wash quickly, since I wanted to watch a match, after which I had a pretty normal evening, so I’ll just add that I rubbed some cream on my feet before going to bed in the morning.

Liza woke me with a “concert” just before 8:20 AM, and then she went to the litter box twice and meowed some more, but since I noticed the workers when I went to pee, it’s likely that they had woken her, and then the noise made by them definitely kept me awake for quite a while. But the noises weren’t exactly loud, so I eventually managed to get back to sleep and I think that I pretty much stayed asleep until 1 PM, when they woke me again and I guess that I wasn’t that exhausted anymore, because the one brief moment of drilling had been in the morning and the voices, hammering and scraping weren’t exactly loud in themselves, but after that point I could just catch a few brief naps and otherwise drifted in and out, at times not knowing whether I was asleep or awake. And I had definitely been awake for a while when I finally got up, just before 4:15 PM. And then I had lunch and did 200 squats, since I hadn’t done them the previous day, and because dad got home just as I was doing the squats I could take the metro card and go to Obor, leaving a few minutes after 8:30 PM, wearing a mask and taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
Since I wasn’t going straight to that Carrefour, it was really late, so I jogged to the metro station, and after getting off at Obor I picked up a recyclable, put all of them in the machine from Auchan, and got most of what I wanted from there, being unable to find the chips that I’d have also wanted to get for dad, but on the other hand I noticed that those corn puffs with powdered milk, which had increased in price before, were marginally cheaper than they used to be before that increase, so I took some of those as well.
After quickly arranging the purchases, I continued to Carrefour, picking up two more recyclables, putting them in a cabinet along with the purchases and the gloves, and entering the store at 9:20 PM. Then I grabbed a bunch of bakery products that had the 50% evening discount, including two breads and an apple circle, plus a piece of some dessert that dad likes and which had that same discount and a carton of expiring eggs, also at half price. However, once again a single self-checkout that accepted cash was still working and it was used by two people with an overflowing cart, and when I went to stand behind them the woman told me that it’ll take quite a while, and someone with a cart was in line at that slow but particularly careful cashier as well, so I yet again looked for another, and it yet again proved to be a bad choice, since that one kept looking at me oddly and eventually asked whether I had a cold, obviously because of the mask, and then she charged me for the plastic box that what I had bought for dad was in, so the total was more than I gave her but I expected it to be less, so when I saw that she wasn’t giving me any change I asked for it, at which point she told me that I should be giving her a little more and to check the receipt, asking whether I had that change and then saying that it apparently doesn’t matter if it’s the other way around when I just walked away, though I then turned around to say that I had looked at the prices listed on the products and she said that she had done the same, though that obviously wasn’t the case.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging everything as quickly as possible, I rushed to Kaufland, putting those recyclables in the machine and everything else in a cabinet, peeing and washing my hands, entering the store when it was past 10:05 PM, and getting beer for dad and roes. As I was looking around for something else, I think that an employee faked sneezing multiple times when I walked past her, probably also because of the mask. Either way, since I noticed some evening discounts for beets and those Moldovan grapes, I added some of each before getting to the self-checkout just before the closing announcement. And the employee from that area came to approve the sale of the beer just as I finished scanning, without me having to ask, so I then used the voucher received for the recyclables, retrieved my things, arranged everything just enough to be able to walk out, and then I took my time to actually arrange properly, so it was close to 10:50 PM when I walked away.
After wasting some time by going to the Mega Image that closes at midnight, putting the bags into two cabinets that I didn’t lock, entering with the backpack, and then retrieving the bags on my way out, I picked up a recyclable and reached the metro station just when both trains were there. And the one going in the other direction was the last one, so the guard asked which way I wanted to go, and then I had to wait for the next one going in this direction, picking up another recyclable during that time. And after getting off here I checked the non-stop Mega Image, leaving the bags next to the cabinets, entering with the backpack, and just buying the one cheap bun that was left, with the 50% evening discount, without waiting for the receipt or stepping back to ask for it when I saw that it was printed and the cashier was crumpling it, so I just retrieved the bags and picked up another recyclable on the way back.
It was past 11:50 PM when I got back, with 18.5 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box, but I set the bag of trash down for a little while and it fell over and spilled, so I had to gather things up before taking the trash and dropping it down the chute. Either way, I then put most of the purchases in their place, ate an orange, and went to wash just before 1:15 AM. I was done just under 40 minutes later, but then I spent some time in my room and sorted some things out, only getting back in the kitchen at 2:40 AM. And then I had some things to wash, also put the remaining purchases in their place, dealt with one of my breads, ate the apple circle, cleaned the litter box yet again, and finally ate dinner between 4:45 AM and 5:30 AM. I got in bed at 7:05 AM, after rubbing cream on my hands and feet.

It actually took me a while to fall asleep, and the same thing happened after waking up at 10:40 AM and going to pee, but at least I did get right back to sleep the next few times I woke up, until a little after 2:35 PM, when I didn’t feel that tired anymore and decided to pee again, just in case, after which I stayed in bed for almost two more hours and sort of drifted off a few times, but I’m not sure if I even caught another actual nap. And the following morning I once again had a pretty hard time falling asleep. At least that was no longer the case after I got up to pee at one point, but then the upstairs neighbor’s dogs woke me and kept me up for quite a while, and while I did get back to sleep after they finally went quiet, I didn’t stay asleep for long and it seemed that I’ll just waste even more time if I’ll keep trying, so I decided to start reading Capital and Ideology, spending almost an hour doing that before trying to get back to sleep yet again just before 2:20 PM. However, the alarm was set to ring at 2:55 PM, for the day’s first handball match, and if I managed to fall asleep at all by then, it couldn’t have been for more than mere moments.

Those dogs were an even worse problem on the morning of February 16, when they woke me a little after 8:50 AM and basically kept crying, since that was what it was, until noon or so, meaning that for some three hours I’m not even sure if I managed to catch a few very brief naps. And dad stayed home that day and went to the kitchen at 2:25 PM, so I decided to get up at that point, since I really needed to pee and then it seemed like there would be another source of noise if I’d try to get back to bed. And he later told me that he had talked to that neighbor and she said that she won’t leave her dogs with her parents anymore since she cut contact with them, which must be really weird after recently moving right next door to them, and they keep crying, or at least one of them does, over being left alone, and the situation is likely to continue. Either way, I then ate lunch, shaved, did the day’s squats, and left at 8:45 PM, taking the plastic and metal and the recyclables with the deposit symbol but not wearing a mask.
After occasionally jogging on the way, I managed to enter the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM just before 9 PM, and since it seemed that I was going to have enough time, I then put the recyclables in the machine. However, the belt wasn’t working properly, one side was hardly pulling, and I had two heavier glass bottles that it apparently couldn’t pull quickly enough, so it kept returning them, and refusing them if I tried to place them deeper inside, and I had to try several times until it finally took one. That meant that the 50% discount labels were placed on the bakery products and the cart with the products that are discounted by 90% was brought while I was still struggling to get it to accept the second one and other people got a few things before the voucher was printed and I could get there as well, but it didn’t seem like there had been anything particularly interesting. So I just took some cheap buns and a pretzel from the bakery area, and then I tried to get the machine to accept that bottle again, an employee coming to try to help after a while. But she had no luck either, so I kept it, bought those things, and cashed in the voucher. The cashier was new and the other one came to help when one of those discount labels wouldn’t scan, tearing the bag a little while peeling it off, and then one of the coins that I used to pay fell inside the register, around the scales, but she said that it was fine, though she crumpled the receipt as soon as it was printed and I didn’t ask for it.
I occasionally jogged on my way to Kaufland as well, and after putting that bottle in the machine from there, I entered the store, with those purchases, just after 9:30 PM, seeing an evening discount for red cabbage and that one of those that were left seemed acceptable, so I took it. And then I dug through the crates that were set aside, getting another handful of those Moldovan grapes, which also had an evening discount, and a bag of spoiling lemons that had a deep discount. And I got some more roes as well, also using the voucher received for that recyclable when I paid. And, since there had once again been no green onions and the total was just over 10 RON, I asked for another one of those 10 RON vouchers, receiving it, though that cashier did mention that I needed a receipt for at least 10 RON when I asked.
After continuing to that Mega Image, I put my things into a cabinet… And found that they were cleaning the refrigerators again, with the expiring products piled up in carts along with others, so while I couldn’t spot anything discounted by 90% when I tried to have a look, that doesn’t mean that nothing was left. But I saw some spoiling carrots and needed something for the salad that I was going to make before the next run, so I bought those, along with another pretzel and a bread that I initially meant to be for dad, everything being at half price, though the cashier also charged me for the bag that those carrots were in. However, after retrieving my things, going to that bench, and arranging everything, I realized that dad would probably have problems with that bread’s harder crust, since he recently had some teeth pulled out and some time needs to pass before the rest of the work can be done. So I decided to keep it for myself and continued to the non-stop Mega Image that’s near the metro station, picking up some recyclables on the way, putting my things into two cabinets that I didn’t lock when I got there, and getting two regular breads for dad, those being discounted by 70% between 8 PM and midnight. I had to wait for a cashier to come, since none of the checkouts were manned and in fact the only visible employee when I got there was the guard, and the one who did show up after a little while didn’t give me the receipt, but I just shrugged it off, retrieved my things, and picked up some more recyclables on the way back.
I was back at 12:05 AM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop some trash down the chute, after which I ate a banana and a sweet pastry, put most of the purchases in their place, and washed what was in the kitchen, during which time I noticed that the water temperature was dropping, so by 1:30 AM, when I went to the bathroom, it was only good enough for a shower and I was done in less than half an hour. And then I put the remaining purchases in their place, also dealt with that bread that I ended up keeping for myself, took another kind of supplement for immunity that wasn’t expired for a change, and ate dinner between 4:55 AM and 5:35 AM. I went to bed at 7:05 AM.

That dog continued to cry, but the sound was far quieter and I also kept hearing something like furniture or a door being bumped against, so I wonder if the neighbor put it in another room and closed the door that day. Either way, with muffled voices being the only sounds from the workers as well, I could sleep, waking up multiple times but getting right back to sleep until the afternoon, when I started sort of drifting in and out and only took a few more brief naps by the time I got up, just after 4:35 PM. And then, since dad’s computer had once again stopped working the previous evening, I turned my old one on again to confirm that it still worked just fine and do the updates.
On the other hand, the following day the noise made by the dog was louder again, and after being woken up multiple times, a little after 11:30 AM I decided to get up… Only to get back to bed after a little while, since dad said that he wasn’t leaving the following day anymore, so he didn’t need what I had meant to go out to get. But, even though the dog seemed to go quiet, it took me a very long time to get back to sleep, and while it was a couple of minutes after 4 PM when I got up again, I had been awake for some time by that point, once again because of that dog.

The plan for this post was to also include this week’s run, and in fact get up to date, since I went out again yesterday. But those parts aren’t written yet and in fact I ended up having to initially post this at 11:59 PM with one of the above paragraphs still in the form of notes, so I decided to leave the rest for another time, editing the post in order to sort that out and add this paragraph a little after midnight and also changing the title as a result, since this week’s run would have otherwise been the relevant part… And now the title really doesn’t seem to fit, because I just read a little more of that book after starting it, but I didn’t want to say that it’s about that dog and some wandering around and it is accurate, in the sense that I did start to read it…