Cav's Place

I’ll start the post about the marathon from October 28, when I left at 5:30 PM to pick up my race kit, giving up on the idea of taking the UPS to be serviced, the whole part about the UPS issues being a matter for another post. Before leaving, however, I noticed they had changed the route, removing that entire part I didn’t know. That made most of the first walk, of a part of the route, pointless, but the change was definitely for the better, that part being replaced with the route coming this way again, and adding a small bit on Burebista. So I started by walking this part, first going in the opposite direction on Basarabia. Used the opportunity to also quickly check that new bakery and considered grabbing a bread, but decided against it, and saw that they increased the price of cakes by a third, so after considering trying some at first, at that low price they had shortly after opening, now it’s pretty much out of the question. Either way, also quickly checked that Mega Image, then turned around where the route did and made my way to Constitution Square.
Things were a bit tricky at that point, since I was getting there just before 7 PM and I guess I should have just crossed the road, but saw a police car there and didn’t even look to see whether crossing was an option, assuming it was there just to prevent people from crossing in that spot, though in fact the reason was probably just the opposite. So I turned right, to go around to the crossing… Only to see a fence on the other side, and others who also meant to cross ahead of me turning back. So I did the same at first, but turned back again after a few steps, after seeing first a woman crossing and continuing ahead, around the fence, on the street, and then four more people meaning to cross. So I crossed with them and we all continued ahead, along the fence, on the road, ending up going all around, since the entrance was just on the other side of Unirii Boulevard, where I hadn’t crossed when I got there.
When I did finally reach the entrance, I found a bit of a mess, several volunteers scanning certificates and confirmation letters and no organized queue, a guard occasionally telling one person or another to go to a certain volunteer. But things were moving, so I was given the bracelet I again had to keep on my arm until the race and was entering the truly pitiful Sport Expo area at 7:10 PM, seeing just two tents set up besides the areas for picking up the race kits and not finding the energy bar I was considering buying. And none of the NGOs had anything set up either, so I just went through the motions in order to get the kit, then stopped at a table to check what I received and stuff the bag in my backpack, and left a bit after 7:25 PM.
Then I went to the Carrefour from Unirii, finding the mushrooms I wanted and a few more bio (organic) eggs in the pile of cheap ones, and also bought some whole wheat pasta of their brand, even if they’re imported, since I couldn’t find some of that kind from here. Used a 5 RON voucher I had while paying, then went to that Mega Image as well, since the green onions were slightly less expensive there than in Carrefour and they were small and wilted in both places… And, as I was putting my things in a cabinet, somehow the bag with the eggs struck the cabinets and one cracked, though at least it didn’t actually break. And I had no 0.50 RON coin, so I left the cabinet door unlocked and looked through the green onions, ending up thinking that they were even worse than in Carrefour and maybe it’d have been more cost-effective to get them from there after all. But I found a somewhat acceptable bundle and bought it, using a self-checkout and paying by card, the employee needing to come to override the error, since for some reason it wouldn’t accept the green onions when I placed them on the scales. Then I wondered how to leave, since you need to use another exit if you use the self-checkouts, and was still confused after asking, not knowing which door the employee referred to and taking a few steps in the opposite direction at first. Eventually turned around and hesitantly stepped in the correct direction, but still had no idea what to do next until another customer showed me that I was supposed to use what’s labeled as the emergency exit. So I did that and then went back to the entrance, to retrieve my things from the cabinet, then on the way back also walked that part of the route that was going to be on Burebista.
After getting back here, at 9:50 PM, I put the things I had brought in their place, grated some apples, adding sugar and eating them after dad left, then quickly checked a few things on-line, took a shower that was longer than I thought, and only got back in the kitchen at 12:40 AM. There were still things to wash, however, and then I made mamaliga, in part because I couldn’t find any bread I’d have wanted to get, so I only had the whole wheat one from Auchan, and only enough of that for two days, which I wanted to be the next two. Either way, started eating dinner at 3:35 AM, and that was without having had lunch earlier. Got in bed at 5:25 AM.

Spent the evening of October 29 in the kitchen, making the pasta, which I then had as a late lunch. Started to eat dinner at 3:30 AM, and while eating I wrote what I posted that night, which meant I hardly did anything else on-line that night, yet still only got in bed at 5:35 AM.

On October 30, started preparing to make the large salad well before dad left, but took it slowly and it was a few minutes before midnight when I started eating the pasta and part of said salad, I guess sort of as lunch, since I sliced the bread after I finished that, the slices, with peanut butter, and the rest of the salad being dinner, finished at 1:55 AM. But then I somehow forgot past experience even though I had tried to make a mental note to not repeat that, so if the intention was to do something so I won’t have to worry about those intermittent UPS issues, which remain a matter for another post, the result was that my computer got turned off, so I then had to lose time I didn’t have to turn it back on and check a few things. If I’d have turned the monitor back on, I’d have noticed the problem, but after turning it and the UPS off, since the computer wasn’t plugged into it anymore, I unplugged the UPS and, while I did plug the monitor in the power strip, I left it off, since I was going to shave. But the UPS was still connected to the computer, so it appeared as if it had lost power and then communication, and I guess it’s a good thing I was still in my room, searching for something, when it turned the computer off. And at least that made me crap one more time, though I had done so in the evening as well. Then I shaved, placed the number on the t-shirt, changed the time on the clocks, got the bag ready and was in bed at 3:45 AM. So, even though the practice needs to go away in general, it’s a good thing the time went back that particular night, as otherwise it’d have been pointless to go to bed at all. Even so, a little after 4:30 AM, after napping just a little, I was awake again, and after a few minutes decided to get up and pee, just in case, which proved a good choice, since I really had to go again when alarm rang.

To finally get to the race day, October 31, I got up when the alarm rang, at 5:45 AM, and quickly went to try to crap yet again, actually managing something. It was mostly gas, however, and I unfortunately had a lot of that, the impression I got being that it was mostly caused by that large salad, and for some reason by the one fibber I had put in it in particular. Either way, I then had both a banana and an apple, and also baked pumpkin, and put almonds as well as peanuts in dark chocolate in the yogurt and cereals. Again forgot to finish those nicer biscuits expired long ago, however. But at least I didn’t forget to also take the pills before leaving, and left with dad a bit before 7:25 AM, and since he drove me there and the roads weren’t yet closed, it wasn’t even 7:40 AM when I was there. Did have one issue, however, the backpack’s straps being so flimsy that one tore after it got caught in something as I was getting out of the car.
After walking in, I went straight to the Sport Expo area… Only to find the same two manned tents, neither selling the energy bar I was looking for. Did have a closer look at some of those that were sold and asked about the price of one, but since it wasn’t what I actually wanted and I had also taken the second protein bar I had left with me just for this situation, I decided against buying anything. And, seeing as I think only two NGOs had manned tents, the one I had again picked not being among them, and the tent of that sponsor I had grabbed protein milk bottles from before and after the half marathon was also closed and unmanned, in fact nothing seeming to be offered to participants anywhere, and I didn’t care to take part in the warmup, I hardly had anything to do. But at least I wasn’t cold, so I quickly removed the shirt I had under the jacket, then sort of stood around for a while, made a few lazy moves of my own choosing at the edge of the group taking part in the warmup and eventually took the bag, with the jacket also stuffed in it, to the wardrobe, stood in line to pee, also seeing three people I recognized from the Dream Treks walk by during that time, though I hadn’t seen them gathering earlier, as it had happened before the half marathon, and then made my way to the start area.
Once there, since there were no start sectors again, I squeezed through until I was just in front of the 4:00 pacemakers, and the 2:00 ones for the half marathon, since the idea was to stay ahead of them as long as possible, ideally reaching the halfway point in less than two hours and staying ahead of the 4:00 pacemakers for 25 km. The start time was approaching when I reached that spot, but I still wanted to eat one of the protein bars, so I rushed to do so, staying next to the fence surrounding the start area and facing it, so I won’t face the other participants with my mask down, especially since there were repeated calls to keep our masks on until just after the start… Not that there weren’t plenty who were ignoring those calls, without the excuse of eating or drinking, but I wanted to do what I could. Either way, I’d have had to rush to finish that bar while making my way to the start line if the start would have been at exactly 8:30 AM, but since it was a little late, I managed to finish it in time and pull my mask back up, then got going.

My start time could have been better, since I mostly walked to the line, but I was pretty close to it and those pacemakers stayed behind me, and 53 seconds was good enough, trying to squeeze through the crowd seeming like too much effort for too little gain. Plus that I was going to slow almost immediately anyway, at the first turn, to remove my mask and put it in the little paper bag I had for that purpose and then in the pocket of my tights. Plenty were just throwing theirs away, of course, though I don’t recall seeing any more of those marked bins in that area, but a fair number were also placing them on their arms, so I guess it wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been. Either way, between the time lost with that and the crowd, I covered the first kilometer in 5:46, which I was actually very pleased with, the target being six minutes for that one, then staying under 5:30 for as long as possible starting from the second.
Well, I was actually rather too fast early on, the third kilometer being the fastest, with 4:57, since by then I had room to pretty much run at my own pace. I continued to have surprisingly good times even when I had to deal with the bad slope towards Stirbei Voda, at seven kilometers, though my right knee started giving me some warnings at that point and that was something I had to manage on and off from then on. And refreshment points didn’t make me go over 5:30 either at first, even though I took two cups each time, with the exception of the next to last one, and I probably lost a few seconds more at first, optimizing a little better after that. Either way, the first time I did go over 5:30 again was on the 11th kilometer, when I got to 5:37, though I still safely covered 11 km in under one hour. There had been another refreshment point during that kilometer, but I had already been gradually getting slower, closer to 5:30, so it was no surprise… What was a surprise being that I saw someone from the Dream Trek group stopped there, and since I didn’t see her number to make sure and didn’t check later either, but the first relay change was also in that area, I wonder whether some of them formed a relay team, or maybe more than one, which would explain not seeing more of them before the start.
Did get back under 5:30 on the next two kilometers, and again caught up to the woman in light blue, taking part in the half marathon, who had sort of been my target for most of that first part, but seeing as there’s also a slope going down in that area, that clearly wasn’t going to be the case for much longer. And it obviously wasn’t going to be the case on kilometers 14 and 15, seeing as the route climbed that short but steep slope pretty much at the 14 km marker… Which marker I actually missed. It was the only one I missed over the course of the race, and that was probably because it was more or less in the spot where I briefly stopped to tighten a shoelace I wrongly thought was coming loose. Then I basically just walked up that bad slope while digging the second protein bar out of the running belt, but the loss of time over the 15th kilometer was much greater, since my hands were frozen and I kept struggling and failing to open the wrapping, only finally managing to do so after reaching Cismigiu Park, where there was another refreshment point as well. I think I covered kilometers 14 and 15 in 12:18, and while that might be off by a few seconds, it’s clear that I lost about a minute and a half in that area.
Memories become less clear after that point, and my notes no longer include times as a result, but I think I got back to slightly below 5:30 on kilometers 16 and, maybe even more likely, 17, but if so then I’m pretty sure that was the last time that happened. Of course, with the much less steep but also much longer slope to climb on Elisabeta on the way back, the 18th kilometer was clearly going to be slower, and after that I was just tiring and had to settle into a pace I could maintain. I still had some moments, around the halfway point, on kilometers 20 to 22, when I dared to calculate the pace needed to finish in four hours, but trying to maintain one that would allow me to slow later made me feel that something was not all right as I was getting to the 22 km marker, so I just made sure that I reached it in less than two hours, I think with no more than a few seconds to spare, took out and had the first gel, and reassessed the situation.
I still tried to push while running the numbers through my mind, but minutes later, as I was reaching the 23 km marker, a certain pressing need suddenly appeared and I had to give up on any remaining thoughts of maintaining anything like that sort of pace… And started seriously thinking of looking for a proper toilet to go to. The first place I briefly considered was a restaurant on Mircea Voda, and then I more seriously considered a gas station I saw on the other side after reaching the river again. That was some way away from the bridge, however, adding a few hundred meters if I was to get there and then return to the route in the same spot, so I kept going… Until I saw another gas station, again on the other side but right at a bridge, just where the 26 km marker also was. So, with the experience from this summer’s Dream Trek proving that gas stations can be very valid options under these circumstances, I turned off the route and went there, fortunately catching the light while it was still green as well, and the toilet unoccupied. When the light turned off, I thought there had been a power failure, but since it happened twice while I was on the toilet and then it turned itself back on again, and the time it stayed on and off seemed very similar, it was probably a system meant to urge people to not keep the toilet occupied for too long. But it wasn’t like I wanted it to take any longer than it had to, getting up before really getting everything out and certainly without really wiping well enough, just getting enough of a relief to feel much better, then washing my hands and rushing back out, catching the light green yet again. The exact time that passed between turning off the route and returning to it was 8:50, but I lost a little more since I walked while putting my mask, which I had obviously worn inside the gas station, back in its place.
Then again, I wouldn’t consider that time as lost. I probably didn’t recover all those nine minutes by the end, compared to what I’d have managed while desperately squeezing my butt, like the first time, but I’m sure I recovered most of that, and definitely felt a whole lot better. And if even so, after a very long time without this happening, I again started bleeding badly since then, usually after runs, I don’t want to think about what’d have happened if I’d have held it in all that time… Though, considering how things seem now, it’s possible it wouldn’t have been significantly worse, at least after the first day or two…
Getting back to the marathon, on top of feeling somewhat content with the fact that I hadn’t just managed to stay ahead of the 4:00 pacemakers for more than the initial target of 25 km, but they hadn’t even overtaken me “on track”, seeing as they got ahead during my “pit stop”, the relief made the next few kilometers seem quite easy, the only notable moment being at the end of that section, where the cones marking where we were supposed to turn were placed in a confusing way and I might have also turned too early if the guy ahead of me wouldn’t have done so, which made me pay closer attention and spot the timing area a few steps farther. There was a referee there as well, of course, and I gestured to him and said that the guy ahead had turned early, but he told me, in English, that he had no number, which did seem to be the case when I finally overtook him, so maybe he wasn’t actually competing.
Catching up to that guy to have a look took me a while, and required pushing, but I could do that at that point, so I kept it up… Until I got to 30 km. I was fine when I reached that refreshment point, slowed, took and drank the first cup, then the second, then started running again, but as I meant to return to the pace I had before, my body just refused and I started experiencing the symptoms of hitting the wall. Nothing surprising, of course, 30 km being the latest that happened, the time spent basically resting on the toilet likely having much to do with why it happened two kilometers later than during the long practice run. And a bit of a slope was coming as well, so as I was approaching 31 km I slowed again and had the last bar, that being the one which had been in the race kit… Which was really sweet and made things much worse for a while, adding nausea and a little later cramps and a burning feeling from my stomach on top of the burning legs. I’m still quite sure I reached 31 km in just under three hours, and then it wasn’t like I hadn’t been in that situation before, so I knew what to do, got my head down and started working through it, taking it step by step. As a result, by 33 km I was starting to recover and at 34 km I was in, shall we say, a new normal.
From then on, it seemed easy, relatively speaking. There was also a nice moment soon after that, when a gendarme stationed around 34.5 km congratulated me, and around or likely a bit after 35 km an older woman shouted that just a little was left, to which I replied that said “little” meant seven kilometers. But otherwise I kept running the numbers through my mind, what times I needed to be faster than the first time. And I stayed well within them even when I had the last two refreshment points to deal with. Admittedly, the slowest kilometer was one which had been “affected” by a refreshment point, and I believe it was the next to last one, when I also had the last gel, but I covered even that one in less than seven minutes, albeit just by a matter of seconds. And said next to last refreshment point was managed by those organizing Rosia Montana Marathon, with a guy I knew from protests being there, but while we recognized each other I could barely nod in reply to his greeting, since I was having that gel at the time, which was also part of the reason why it was the only time I took a single cup, the other part being that it was an unusually full one. As for the last refreshment point, it was managed by the NGO I had chosen to support again, and the woman I had talked to before and after the half marathon was also there and again we recognized each other.
For quite a few kilometers, starting at least soon after we reached Basarabia, if not even a little earlier, a guy who kept varying his pace tended to stay just ahead of me, slowing until I overtook him, then speeding up again until he ended up a small distance ahead, then slowing again, this repeating several times until I finally pulled ahead, well after we were back on Decebal. But that was before that last refreshment point and now I’m getting to what happened after it, the next marker being for 40 km, and I’m again quite sure I got there in less than four hours, and I clearly realized it was possible to finish in less than 4:15 even as official time, so I started calculating what I needed for that and really pushed on those last two kilometers. And I also stopped trying to hold in all the gas I had when others were close, so I think it was also during those final two kilometers when letting one rip made a woman and a child waiting for an opening to cross laugh out loud.
My first target on the last kilometer was a guy who was just ahead of me and seemed stronger than his pace indicated, so I knew that if I’ll overtake him too early I’ll paint a target on my back, he’ll start pushing and after he’ll get back ahead I won’t be able to keep up, but he was a bit too slow, so I did end up overtaking him, and the result was exactly what I thought it’d be. But then I fixed the next two who were ahead as my next targets, closed in gradually, managing a great 5:43 on that 42nd kilometer, and overtook both over the space of 100 meters, between the marker for 42 km and that for 21 km, the finish line being the same for the half marathon and the marathon. And the woman was in a relay team and had such a disheartened look when I went past her at that pace… And I covered that last bit, from 42 km to the end, in exactly or even just under one minute, with quite a sprint on the final straight, even though there was nobody else I could catch.
The real time was 4:11:28, with an official time of 4:12:21. And I still felt fine at the end, so it could have been even better. But it was better than expected anyway, and 8:12 better than the first time, and if you add those nine minutes lost with the toilet break, the minute and a half lost with the wrapping of that first bar, and the seconds lost with each refreshment point, the other bars and the gels, and tightening that shoelace, you end up with an actual running time below four hours. But I obviously wouldn’t have maintained that pace without that “pit stop” and the refreshment points, and either way I’d have been rather disappointed to end up with a real time below 4:09, wondering whether I could have managed to get under four hours by squeezing my butt all that time yet again, however unlikely that’d have been. But as it was, it was just what was needed to be content… And still have the motivation to try again, hoping to eventually get under four hours, which is the last running goal I can think of for the moment.

The above is the bare minimum that had to be included in this post, but the original plan called for it to include the rest of the day as well, which would mean quite a lot more. But the above was already added in three parts, with the first, actually added rather early Sunday evening, ending as I got to the start area, the second, added before I went to bed Monday morning, at which point I also changed the time to 11:59 PM, getting as far as the “pit stop” and the mention of bleeding, and the third only being added before I went to bed Tuesday morning, which was actually even later than usual just because I wanted to at least get that far. And on top of clearly making it my longest post yet, adding all the rest would likely take quite a while longer, and I can’t just keep editing a post in this manner, this fourth part already being added in the early hours of Wednesday, making it even worse than the previous personal one, so I’ll just get as far as leaving that area and leave the rest for some other time. The problem is that I just have one line of notes, and even that’s about the time after I got back, only the receipts reminding me of what I did before that, so delaying even more will make it even harder to remember, and more likely that errors will slip through… But it doesn’t matter anyway.

Returning to the marathon, after receiving the medal I made my way to the area where the finishers could grab more cups of that drink, bottles of water, apples and bananas and got a bottle of water and two of each of the others, drinking that drink, eating one banana and holding on to the rest. While I was there, a guy complained about the lack of any fruits at refreshment points and I said it was the same at the half marathon, and one of the volunteers working with the fruits said that he heard there had been fewer refreshment points then too, so I said the number had been the same, just that there had been nothing to eat. That guy continued by saying that it’s different for a half marathon, might just be acceptable, but for a full marathon it can’t be and it was the worst organized one he ever saw, but I found myself saying that, under those circumstances, I’m content that it took place at all. After all, with the explosion in the number of cases and deaths having finally forced our authorities to enact some new restrictions just as of that week, that had been in doubt pretty much until the last moment. I did raise an eyebrow at the small number of apples that seemed to be left though, not spotting any others behind the tables. But maybe I just missed them.
Either way, after leaving that area, with that sponsor’s tent still closed and unmanned, that NGO unsurprisingly still not having one and nothing else catching my interest, I retrieved my bag from the wardrobe, dug out the camera and, since nobody else was asking for their bag at that moment, asked the wardrobe volunteers whether they could take a picture of me, and one of them did. Still wanted one next to the final straight though, so I then made my way there and after trying to work up the courage for a couple of minutes managed to ask a woman to take a picture of me as well, and she did. Then I took off the number and medal, put everything in the other backpack I had fortunately taken with me, went to the toilet, put on my jacket and headphones and finally left that area a bit after 1:30 PM. Even though I had felt fine while wandering around in that area for close to one hour with just the t-shirt on, moments after leaving I felt cold even with the jacket, stopping again to put that shirt on as well.

The Purring Quest is a niche game, aimed at a particular audience, the content, the “characters”, and the aesthetics mattering more than the actual gameplay, to the point that the primary genre could probably be said to be cute cat game and not platformer. And from that point of view it definitely delivers, with lovely graphics, accurate animations, fitting music, relevant messages sprinkled throughout the game and, for those who are into that sort of thing, appearances by several famous Internet cats. And I’ll also mention here that the main screen updating according to your progress is another nice touch.
The above may even be all that needs to be said about the game, as long as it’d be playable, which it is… Even if it might not have been at launch, since on top of some bugs and other lesser issues, the initial release only included the high jump mechanic. But double jump, which I for one would consider the game unplayable without, was added in version 1.4, released five weeks after launch, which is a pretty short amount of time to alter the gameplay in such a significant, and positive, manner. And since I’m reviewing the fully patched version I played, which allows the player to choose between the two jump mechanics, so I obviously chose double jump, I won’t hold the game’s launch state against it, especially since it’s an indie game, made with limited resources and for a cause.
Still on the matter of the actual gameplay, but from another point of view, it must be said that each of the five stages differs from the others, not just in terms of the setting, but by introducing new elements that fit together well and altering similar ones in ways that need to be taken into account, so the game never gets dull. There are mice that just walk, frogs that hop and pigeons that fly and may also drop “bombs”, if you know what I mean. There are objects to hide behind and objects to move, and some to knock over just for the fun of it. There are crumbling, moving and bouncy platforms. There are creepers, sprinklers, windows that open and close, and old ladies that peek outside. Eventually, there are even cameras and lasers. And the end of each stage is completely different from the others.
Seeing as some types of damage, such as being struck by small animals or objects, don’t break your progress but others, such as being caught by dogs or falling, send you back to the last checkpoint, some developers might have been inclined to send the player back to the beginning of a stage after losing all lives, with more sadistic ones even erasing some or even all progress. In The Purring Quest, however, you continue from the last checkpoint whether you lost one life in a “bad” way or all of them, the difference being that if you lose all lives they’re restored at that point, so losing all lives may even be recommended sometimes, especially before tricky sections where you’re likely to take a lot of “regular” damage, like the end of the first three stages. And if you find after completing a stage that you missed some collectible, you can restart it and only get what you missed, not even needing to reach the end again.

Still, it’d be nice if all progress would be saved, as in killed mice or frogs and, in most cases, moved objects. And I’d have definitely wanted to be able to save anywhere, checkpoints that get to be too far apart meaning not only that you may have to go through too much of a stage again if you take “bad” damage or lose all lives, but also that you can’t quit whenever you may need to. And only having the single, automatic save means there can’t be more people playing the game on the same account.
Then again, it’s a short game, and while I wouldn’t have wanted the stages to be any longer, considering how different they are from each other I’d say the game wouldn’t have overstayed its welcome if each would have had a second part as well, adding more content even if more truly different stages wouldn’t have been feasible. Of course, that’s not really the point of such a game, which I’ll say again is mainly meant to be cute and support a cause, and others may prefer it as it is, but in my view it would have been better that way.
Moving on to the negative aspects of the gameplay, I’ll just get it out of the way and start by saying that the high jump mode is basically unusable, so I pity those who wanted to play the game soon after release, before double jump was added. But it was added, so that doesn’t matter anymore, what’s more important being that carrying momentum in jumps makes them imprecise. That’s another thing that I gather was worse at launch, and the fully patched version makes quite a few allowances compared to what being truly realistic would mean, the fact that I managed to finish the game relatively quickly being proof enough of that, but imprecise controls in a precision platformer tend to cause frustration.
And, speaking of frustration, the end of each of the stages can definitely cause plenty of that. The first may be a rather typical boss fight, so after figuring out what you’re supposed to do it should go well enough, but the second is tricky even after you do figure it out. Not sure if describing exactly what I’m referring to would count as a spoiler, but I’d rather not and just say that even if you do what you’re supposed to be doing, it often won’t work, so you just have to avoid losing all lives until it does work enough times. And then you have a particularly tricky platforming section at the end of stage three, which you’re likely to need to keep trying until you learn well enough, since I doubt anyone can simply react in time. And another tricky platforming section comes before the end of stage four, but in that case the actual end is completely different and the one part of the game that didn’t seem to fit at all with the rest, since we’re talking about a rhythm game, and quite a long one at that! At least you’re allowed several mistakes in that rhythm game, while at the end of stage three there are a few spots where you can stop and rest, but the end of stage five takes everything away, each mistake meaning that you have to start over, and a few collectibles pretty much requiring you to sacrifice the chance to complete the stage in that run, so all you can do is keep trying, hoping to get a bit farther each time and learn it so well that the correct moves pretty much become muscle memory.
Otherwise, I did find myself wondering why seven lives instead of nine. And how high you can fall from without losing a life. Or why there’s no option to replay the ending, not to mention one to see the credits, needing to go through that tricky part at the end of stage five all over again if you want to do so. And I’ll also add under negative odds and ends that the foreground scenery can sometimes obstruct the view and that Kimchi gets bored quickly if idle and the first command given after one of those animations starts is ignored, which is quite a problem if you need to wait for just the right moment to move. Since that may make some sense in a way, I’m not sure it’s a bug, but the one clear remaining bug I found has to do with hiding from dogs after they spot you. Usually it just requires a bit of patience, the screen remaining black for a few seconds before the game recovers and you find yourself back at the last checkpoint, but once, when Kimchi also for some reason ended up “hiding” next to the hiding spot and I tried to quickly get out and hide again only to be spotted by the dog in that brief moment, the dog ended up turning back and forth in front of the hiding spot and Kimchi wouldn’t come out, so I was stuck and had to force the game closed.

Even if one were to look at it just as a game, The Purring Quest, fully patched, would likely be seen as a pretty good platformer, offering plenty of variety, though it is rather too short. But that’s more of a bonus than the relevant conclusion, seeing as it primarily aims to appeal to cat lovers, support and inform about a cause, and look and feel cute start to end. And from those points of view it thoroughly delivers, so feel free to ignore my complaints if that sounds like something that would appeal to you.

The plan for this week’s personal post was clearly to write about the marathon, but then again the non-personal one should have been the review for The Purring Quest and that didn’t happen either, so I guess it’s little surprise that this post isn’t about the maraton. The reason for it is more surprising, however, since I was sure that another planting season was going to pass without being able to plant trees, the e-mails from the two NGOs whose tree planting events I attended in recent years again specifying that they’ll only accept people who can provide their own transportation, but when I received a reminder from one of the NGOs that people could still sign up for their November 13 event, on Thursday, I replied, first to say that while the subject correctly mentioned November 13, the actual text said November 6, but also adding that it’s rather strange for an environmental NGO to urge people to drive to an environmental event. And Friday I received a reply, stating that they do offer transportation, a bus picking up those who can’t get to the location on their own Saturday morning, at 8:15 AM, from Victory Square. And there was indeed an option in the form that had to be filled in order to sign up, stating that you needed transportation, but since the e-mail clearly stated that the event was “exclusively” for those who can provide their own transportation, and there was absolutely no mention of a bus anywhere else either, I assumed that anyone selecting that would get rejected.

The thing is that my plan for Friday was to run, the second time this week, since the weather is likely to get worse, and that wasn’t exactly a good idea if I meant to plant trees the following day, and had to leave in the morning and therefore get pretty much no sleep either. In addition, the message received after I filled that form, which I did before leaving to run, stated that the required antigen test had to be done at one of the locations of a certain center, not before the event, as I had assumed, so I had to go there that evening as well. But I stuck to the plan, so I first ran, which is a matter for another post, and after getting back I clicked the link I had been sent and selected the location I wanted to get tested at, then had the few little pieces that were still edible of a quince which had gone really bad and went out again at 7:15 PM. And in fact my initial plan did include going out again that evening, but to buy a few things, and the testing center was in another direction. There was a Penny on the way though, so I meant to at least get the things I meant to get from there on the way back.
Well, that seemed in doubt after reaching the center I had selected, at 7:40 PM… Only to be told that the system was down and asked to return in half an hour or so, to see whether it had recovered. With stores needing to close at 9 PM, that was time I didn’t want to lose, but had no other options, so I crossed to the Mega Image from that area and wandered around for a while, considering getting a discounted cake but deciding against it after being unable to find its actual price, not wanting to add another interaction in order to ask, and returned after some 25 minutes, finding a few others in line. And it was some ten more minutes until the forms were completed, since after my turn came, they didn’t find my name on the list provided to them by the NGO, likely because I had filled that form so recently, so they had to contact someone from there to confirm that I was among those they’ll cover the cost of testing for. And some ten more minutes passed while waiting to actually go in, the person ahead of the one ahead of me taking quite a while for some reason. But at least that was the end of it and I was out moments later, a little after 8:30 PM, being told to wait for the result by e-mail and SMS.
Then I rushed to Penny, grabbing just the frozen peas, since I couldn’t find green onions, and then found I even had time to also check the next Mega Image, grabbing a bagel and being out just before 9 PM despite waiting for quite a while behind a guy buying a lot of stuff. Then, after getting back at 9:15 PM, I ate that bagel, with added jam, showered, also removing the scabs from my elbow and knee, which are another matter for another post, and then made mamaliga, adding a little butter, two eggs and, very unusually, dad’s green beans, so they won’t get thrown away, since he had left them in the fridge until he said they were at the limit, close to spoiling, and still preferred to make himself something else that day as well. The result was too much food and also rather watery, and I also ate it too late considering when I had to get up, but that had also been part of the plan for that day and I continued to stick to it. Then I also shaved and managed to get in bed at 4:15 AM… Only to get up to pee again after only some 20 minutes, if even that. Somehow did fall asleep after that, but very briefly, peeing again at 5:10 AM. And dad got back soon after that, the cats also obviously started meowing, and my chances of getting any more sleep seemed slim to none. I might have napped for just a few more minutes though.

Either way, it was a few minutes before 6 AM when I checked the time and got up, the alarm being set to ring at 6 AM. There was no time to take a crap, which was going to be a problem, but the more immediate one was that need to still pee so often after the mamaliga and salad. And removing those scabs, the one on my knee in particular, hadn’t been the best idea either, so I quickly put some bandages in those places again, and also did a partial backup, since there’s no UPS to protect my computer these days, that whole thing remaining yet another matter for another post. Adding all of that to filling and signing the required forms, which dad had printed at work, to how slow I am in general and to the fact that I hadn’t exactly gotten anything ready before going to bed, and in fact hadn’t even really been certain of what I wanted to take or even wear, meant that it was close to 7:45 AM when I finally went out the door, when the plan had been to preferably leave at 7:30 AM, and 7:40 AM at the very latest.
I did have dad’s metro card, and that was the first time I used the metro after deciding to avoid any public transportation last March, for safety, and I mostly jogged there, but that didn’t help me in the least, since I then waited for some six minutes and was getting really worried by the time it came. After all, we had been told to be there ten minutes before leaving, so at 8:05 AM, and at that point I was starting to wonder whether I’ll even make it by 8:15 AM or end up missing the bus if they’ll stick to the schedule, especially since I no longer remembered which exit I had to use in order to be closer to that parking lot. But I furiously worked my brain on the way and managed to figure it out, so I came out where I wanted and could also cross quickly, just in time to see the others get in the bus. So I ran, apologizing when I reached the group’s coordinator and asking whether I was late, but after she asked for my name and had a look at my certificate she said they were still waiting for a few others, so at least I wasn’t the last one, though it was 8:10 AM when I got on the bus. And quite a few more minutes passed until two others calmly walked up, drinking what I guess was coffee. By then I had started considering asking whether I could rush to pee one more time, if we were going to wait any longer, since I obviously hadn’t taken the time to do so before exiting the metro station and a trip lasting close to one hour sounded like it could be quite a problem. But, even if somebody seemed to still be missing after those two arrived, the coordinator made a call and then told the driver that we could leave, so I just hoped I was going to make it.
And, even if the bus left a little after 8:20 AM and the trip took 45 minutes, I didn’t just make it, but actually only needed to go once, a little before noon, though the situation was really desperate at that point. But I’m getting ahead of myself, so let me get back to the proper order of things and say that, after we got there, a little more time was taken by the formalities, five or six needing to fill and sign the forms there, not having done so ahead of time… And apparently I had also forgotten to sign one of the papers, so I was called to do so. And I also took off the sweater and that thing worn on my neck as I sort of stood around, being probably among the last to go up and receive the kit, since I couldn’t quite get myself to do so.
When I did finally get myself to ask for a kit, the guy saw I was wearing the hat received from them two years ago and didn’t give me another, but insisted to give me another one of those things that can be worn on the neck or to some extent also on the head, if the cord is pulled tight, since at that point I was no longer wearing that one received from that other NGO, two weeks after that last tree planting event organized by this NGO that I attended. I tried to refuse it while struggling to get myself to say that I’d have actually wanted another hat instead, but could do neither, so I ended up with another one of those and remained with a single winter hat with the exception of the one knitted by Andra. And also ended up with another one of those thin blue vests, not even remembering to try to give it back at the end, even though the one received from that other NGO that last time has been hanging in the kitchen these past two years, and I definitely have no use for it. Either way, also received another bottle, but it’s smaller and the quality seems worse than that of the one received from them the previous time, and it was also given full of water, but I never touched that water and just poured it out after getting back here. On the other hand, I wasn’t offered gloves, so I reached for a pair, but when the guy noticed that he said I needed a smaller one, and it seems he was right, since the ones I was given seemed to be the right size. Tea and coffee were also offered, but I didn’t take any.
I was just about to go to the toilet when, at 9:25 AM, we were asked to gather around to listen to a few things. And then there was no more time to go, since right after those speeches we walked the short distance to the start of the area where we were to plant the trees, were shown the proper way to plant and, just after 9:45 AM, were told to make teams of two and start working… And also that two people should plant about 50 trees in the three hours we had for that first shift, the participants having been split into two groups, with others, who really had to get there on their own, supposed to arrive and start after we’ll finish. But, lacking a teammate, I was obviously at a loss before I could even start, just standing around for a moment. But since nobody approached to ask me whether I wanted to team up, I started haltingly walking along the line of people starting to work, first spotting one of the girls who had been on the bus and asking whether she had a teammate, since she seemed alone at the time. But she said she did have one, so I took a few more steps and saw a guy who had started working despite being alone and, after taking another moment to have a really good look and make sure I didn’t miss a possible teammate, asked whether he needed one and he said he did, so I could also get to work. And, seeing as, while not that strong, he was bigger than me, I didn’t feel too bad for pointing out that I lack strength, have a hard time digging and do much better if I’m in a team where that’s not my task.
Didn’t directly ask him to keep digging, but I’m sure he got the message and the fact that, after having started to dig on his own, he then started passing me the shovel and we took turns even if I was struggling with those first few holes, meant that he wasn’t willing to do more. So I also said that I’d be very happy if we’ll get to 30 trees and he seemed to agree, and when at 10:30, so after just about 45 minutes, we had nine, that estimate seemed quite accurate, considering the fact that we assumed we’ll get slower as we’ll tire and it’ll get warmer. However, what ended up happening was quite the opposite, since it then got cloudy and colder, remaining so from then on, and the ground also became softer and the grass and roots much less of a problem, so digging became much easier and my teammate kept at it for a while, digging several holes and saying he was starting to enjoy it while I couldn’t even keep up with him when I just had to plant the saplings. And the situation was quite similar, just the other way around, when we did switch again. It stopped being so easy for a moment, so he struggled a little with a hole and then I struggled more with one, but otherwise I saw how easy it was as well and could dig without problems.
During the first part of our shift, we talked a fair bit, with me likely saying more than my teammate did, which was odd but at least meant I felt quite comfortable. But I was obviously even more comfortable when digging was much easier and we just got our heads down and kept working, mostly silently. What was uncomfortable was that I had a fair bit of gas and obviously had to hold it in, which also increased the pressure in the other, more troubling, way as well, since I hadn’t been able to go in the morning. And then I of course also had to pee more and more, but just as that was approaching an unbearable level and I was wondering how to say I had to take a break for it, and whether I’ll be able to just take care of that without the other as well, since I was starting to get cramps but really didn’t want to have to use the sort of toilets available there for that, it was my back that was the first to actually make me stop. That pain sometimes caused by that bone spur, radiating from my chest to my throat and mouth, suddenly appeared as I was planting saplings while my teammate was again digging, and I wasn’t able to sort it out while continuing to work, so when it became too bad I stood up and tried to rather gently snap my back for a while. I had limited success, but tried to work a bit more, until the total level of pain and discomfort caused by this and those pressing needs became really unbearable.
At that point I probably rather suddenly stood up again, said I had to make a pit stop and pretty much marched away, across the field, through the line of bushes separating it from the area where the gathering place was and straight to the toilets that were some way away from it. Then, after peeing and also releasing some of that gas, I made my way to that gathering area, to grab two packs of biscuits, my teammate having mentioned wanting to look for something to eat as well. What was strange, and troubling, was that, while at previous events of this sort there had been a way to wash hands, now when something like that would have been even more needed I could only see bottles of disinfectant, so I had to make do with using one of those and then returned to the planting area, handing one of the packs to my teammate and eating the other, doing my best to not touch the biscuits with my hands.
According to the schedule we had been sent, the first shift was supposed to work until noon, but it was also supposed to start at 9 AM and we had been 45 minutes late for that, so if you also add the fact that we were supposed to be given a sandwich and left to eat and drink for a while after we’ll finish working, it came as no surprise when the coordinator for the group arriving by bus, who was helping with the row next to ours at that point, said that the bus was going to leave around 2 PM. But my teammate hadn’t arrived with it, and after going back to count how many we had planted and saying 34, and asking whether I was all right, to which I replied that I was fine and had just needed that pit stop, it was he who surprised me by saying that in that case his job there was done and left. Since it was 12:05 PM, I guess he meant to stick to the initial schedule, probably having other things to do.
So I was left on my own, but it was still easy to dig and, trusting his count, set my mind on planting six more, to get to 40. And I was doing that when the guy who I guess was the forester tasked to help us came to also ask whether I was all right and to tell me to just leave the shovel after the last sapling I’ll plant when I’ll want to stop, so the second shift will know where to continue from, also saying that the bus was going to leave around 2 PM but I could stop whenever I wanted when I said I came on the bus and was obviously going to leave whenever it will. And those from the second shift did stick to the initial schedule, since they were supposed to start at 12:30 PM and had gathered for the brief training just as I was finishing with those six saplings and went back to count… Only to find that I had 39, meaning that there had been 33 when my teammate left. It’s possible that I missed one, maybe the really small one I know we planted, but I counted twice, looking even more carefully on the way back, and the result was the same, so I planted one more, then left the shovel as I had been told and, at 12:40 PM, made my way back to the gathering area.
Had considered working until 1 PM, but on the one hand the next “milestone” would have been 45 and I didn’t think I’ll be able to plant five more in 20 minutes, and on the other I couldn’t spot any of the others from the bus when I looked around when I stopped, and that impression was proven correct after I took the sandwich, since as I was eating it I heard the coordinator say that just two were still missing. So I said that in that case it seems the bus will leave before 2 PM after all and she said yes, since everyone seems to want to leave. And those last two, who in fact were the same two who were the last to arrive in the morning, also came moments later, and after a little more time spent waiting for one who had decided to check out the nearby park, we were told to head to the bus, so I had to hurry to finish that sandwich and didn’t just forget to try to leave the vest, but even forgot the dirty gloves in my pockets, instead rushing to grab a tea, putting a teabag in a cup of cold water since I couldn’t spot the hot water and couldn’t get myself to ask where it was, and another pack of biscuits. And I drank that “tea” while following another guy to the bus, with only those last two and the coordinator behind us. Also opened the biscuits on the way and started eating when I got to the bus, but with everyone else already in I actually ate them after getting in the bus as well, putting my mask back on after I was done.
Either way, the coordinator didn’t come with us on the way back, telling the driver that the same 13 people were on and to just leave us back at Victory Square. And, speaking of the 13 people, the bus had 20 seats, including the driver’s and the one at the door, so if you also add the coordinator, it means there were a maximum of 18 seats available, and preferably 17, and if someone failed to show up, as it seemed in the morning, it means that the number of people saying that they needed transportation had been close to the maximum they had allowed for.

Don’t have the exact time, but it was around 2 PM when we got off the bus, and then I went to get two more pizzas from that place that’s close to Victory Square, to use the last of the points I had on that card. I checked even the night before and it still didn’t say that they were about to expire, but I wasn’t going to push my luck even more, seeing as they’re supposed to be valid for one year, were charged on November 20 last year and should have in fact expired last December, even the fact that they were added to dad’s physical card at all being the result of them working something out for me at that point because I didn’t have their app, the amount I had won for doing that survey normally requiring it in order to be used. There’s still a small amount left, the points which dad had gathered the few times he had used that card, which had expired by the time I contacted them for that other matter and which they also added back at that time, or in fact two days later, but the pizzas I got added up to exactly what was left from what I had won and couldn’t find another combination I wanted that’d get closer to the full amount and didn’t care to go over it and pay the difference, which would have also raised the question of leaving a tip, so I left that there, and if it’ll expire then so be it.
Getting to what actually happened while I was there, the experience was rather unpleasant. The person who should be at the door wasn’t there when I walked in, but another waiter came to ask what I wanted pretty much as soon as I opened a menu, so I told him, and also that I meant to pay with that card, but also said that I was going to have another look and he seemed to ignore that, quickly walking away with the card, just when another waiter also came and I told him I had already ordered. Though I’m not quite certain, I think he smirked at that, but it was when the one who should be at the door got back that things became really awkward, since I was slowly making my way to the bathroom, meaning to pee again and also wash a little, being quite aware of how I looked, when she “intercepted” me, asked rather incredulously whether I wanted to sit at a table and when I said I had ordered to go she asked me to wait outside or by the door. It did strike me that nobody had even asked to see my certificate, which should be required to even enter such a place, but I just said that I knew I looked rather odd and had just returned from planting trees, to which she made no other comment. It did seem like she wanted to say something else when I stood just by the door, pretty much in front of her, but I didn’t want to go outside and that was the other option I had been given, after all, so I just told her that I was first waiting for the card to be returned and then mostly looked outside while I waited, and she didn’t actually say anything else. And that waiter didn’t return my card first, as it had happened when I went there after the marathon, so we both waited awkwardly until he came with the pizzas. But at least that didn’t take long and he made a point of being particularly polite.
That still left me needing to pee and wash, but I was using the metro, so I got to Obor quickly enough for the situation to not be that desperate just yet, allowing me to first check that Auchan and grab some trash bags, leaving my backpack in a cabinet but taking the pizzas with me when I went in, since they didn’t fit. Then I passed through the market, having a quick look through a part of it and finding someone with cheap green onions, but deciding to leave that for later and making my way to that Carrefour. Once there, I used two cabinets to store everything, since the only way to make both the pizzas and the backpack fit in one would have been to put the backpack on top and I obviously didn’t want to do that, then rushed to the toilet before going in. And the only interesting thing I found were cheap eggs, so I checked the whole pile one by one and found exactly ten with code one that weren’t cracked, those being the only thing I bought.
Then I also went to that Kaufland, finding a lane for those going straight to the hypermarket and another for the rest, someone scanning the certificates of those using this second one, which hadn’t been the case before. The issue is that you must use this second lane to put things in the cabinets or go to the bathroom, and when the guard saw me juggling pizzas and a bag of eggs while trying to get my certificate out he waved me through, though after putting everything in a cabinet I made a point of showing him the certificate before going in. Just got a cabbage and some onions though, then I believe I went to the bathroom again, though I think I went, albeit just to wash my hands, before going in as well. Either way, I then also got the last salt and poppy pretzel they had at that place that’s also there and left, the guy who gave it to me just taking the receipt and throwing it away as soon as it was printed.
Decided to give up on the green onions when I again passed through the market, but didn’t also give up on another cake from that place I found across the road. I was wondering whether it was still open, since it hadn’t been after the marathon, but it’d have been strange for them to close when they just recently opened, so I went to have another look and did find them there. Still didn’t get a receipt, and admittedly a sign asks customers to ask for one, which might imply that they won’t give it automatically, though they obviously should. But they don’t even have a sign with the place’s name, nor did they completely take down the one of the exchange office that used to be there, so I asked what the name was and was told something, and that they’ll put up a sign soon.
After that, I got back on the metro and got back here, walking in at 5:20 PM. Then I threw what I had on me into the washing machine, though I forgot about the things that were in the backpack, ate the remaining quince, took a bath, hung the laundry to dry, and eventually made the salad, having it alongside one of the pizzas for dinner. No, I didn’t have the cake that evening, because I was quite down, feeling that I hadn’t pulled my weight during the event and had attended mainly to check that box again, for my own benefit, and much less for a cause, so I set my mind on cleaning the stove top two days later, if dad will remove it again, having the cake and the second pizza then, because that sort of effort was going to make me feel that I deserved a reward.

This is by far the most I’ve “cheated” with a post so far. To post an unfinished post before midnight and add the rest later isn’t unusual, but that normally happens when I can’t quite finish it by midnight, so what’s added later is a matter of lines, or at most a few paragraphs. This time, however, it was just a first part that got posted Sunday evening, before midnight, then I added some more before going to bed that night, then some more Monday afternoon, yet another part a few hours later, and finished it before going to bed that night, so in the early hours of Tuesday. Really doesn’t seem right, but didn’t want to split it, and didn’t have slots left for that anyway. But yes, since I’m writing this in the early hours of Tuesday, just before going to bed, I’ll add that I did wash that stove top this evening, and just now had that second pizza. But, of course, as so many others, that’s a matter for yet another post I have no idea when or if I’ll get to write…

This wasn’t the plan for this week, but since I was able to spend much more time on-line, I decided to add another post in this series now. And I also removed a band from the list even if it’s still active, because I initially meant to include it in this post, but then found that I couldn’t really justify doing so, and they’re not in the least new, so it’s not a case of seeing a certain potential and waiting to see how they’ll develop. On the other hand, as I was going through others, I found a band that did split up but which I do mean to include, so I’m hoping I’ll remember, because I had already picked three for this post and I’ll leave it at that for now.

With nothing connecting the bands in this post, I’ll go alphabetically, starting with A Sound of Thunder. With their latest full album, released just under a year ago, otherwise being a “best of” but including what I gather is one actual new song, Explorer, that will be my first pick, and at 13:42 it’s quite an epic and sounds pretty much as you’d expect for something of the sort. As for the older song, selected so it won’t also be on that album, I’ll go with The Night Witch.

The second band is Eternal Silence, and they typically insist on also using male vocals, which in my opinion doesn’t work out, but they also have some songs where that’s not the case, so my picks will be out of those, the recent one being Glide in the Air, which is nice enough, while the older one is the quite lovely December Demise. I sure wish they’d focus on such songs much more, because they can do a good job with them.

As for the third band, that’s Scardust. With their most recent album being released on October 30, 2020, they wouldn’t quite fit this idea of posting bands with new material released within the past year, but I’ll “cheat” a little while also making things simpler for myself, so for the purpose of picking a recent song I just checked the two they posted videos for less than a year ago, even if they’re from that album, and will go with Mist. As for the older song, I’ll go with Sands of Time. Unfortunately, other songs I listened to aren’t at this level, but from these you should be able to see what they can do.

The first run I’m yet to write about was way back on October 4, when I got up after the alarm rang, at 2 PM, though I was awake for a few minutes at that point, and after stretching after waking up at an earlier time I had a cramp in my right calf, where this usually happens. Either way, then I had the usual stuff, the yogurt being a bio (organic) “Greek” one, and a doughnut with added honey and some sort of jam as the sweet thing, put on the full running gear and left just after 4:15 PM, when the reported temperature was about 20°C, supposed to hold steady or maybe drop by just 1°C by the time I’ll finish.
The time was an amazing 47:04.33, with sector times of 4:07.39, 5:01.56, 5:39 (5:38.63), 4:27.37, 5:01 (5:00.35), 5:48.47, 4:25.03, 5:01 (5:00.90), 5:47.04 and 1:48 (1:47.59), making for lap times of 14:47.58, 15:16.19 and 15:13 (15:12.97). That’s the fastest time over this distance since last September, and at that point it was also the fastest final sector since then, and the first lap is a top ten lap and the fastest lap since last August, those being the only two times below 47 minutes since the last one before the state of emergency, last March. Pushed on that first sector, and the time was tied for second fastest at that point, though if you take the exact time it really was the second fastest first sector ever, and actually think I could have been a couple of seconds faster, but didn’t want to exhaust myself like that right away. Either way, I expected to probably cover the sector in just under 4:15, so I was surprised. Then I tried for a first lap in less than 15 minutes, and while I doubted it, even more so after sector two, the great sector three meant I managed it by quite some margin. Still assumed I’ll get exhausted and wondered if I’ll even stay under 48 minutes, but on lap three I started thinking of 47:30 and ended up frustrated that I was just seconds away from staying under 47 minutes. As for issues, there was some wind on sector one of laps one and two, and my right knee bothered me as of sector two of lap two, but otherwise the conditions were great and there weren’t many people, so there was some weaving and going the long way around, but no notable problems caused by them. Did feel something odd in the left side of my chest, not sure if lung or heart, maybe feeling like a bit of fluid, but it seemed to go away eventually.

Had a banana and cake after getting back and started cooking something, but didn’t finish before leaving again, at 7:10 PM, having a list of things to buy for my mother. Had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image, then rushed to check prices in the Carrefour from the park, then hurried to the Penny that’s near the newer Kaufland, or more exactly to that other store that’s also there, for cheese, but even though I was there at 7:53 PM and it’s supposed to close at 8 PM, it was all dark and closed off and nobody was around. So I just got the frozen beans from Penny, meaning to ask when that store closed, but the cashier kept talking to another customer and I couldn’t get myself to ask the guards. Then I went to Kaufland and got what I meant to get, plus two large apples and one of those large cucumbers, discounted since it was going bad. Waited until just after 9 PM, but there were no bakery discounts. Then I hurried back to Carrefour, saw 9:33 PM when I put my stuff in the cabinet, and got what I meant to get from there. Wanted to use the few potatoes to get to exactly the amount left in my account, but after the announcement that the store will close in 15 minutes I was hurrying and ended up a bit short. Still, used my card, and the self-checkout, having no issues, though a guard was interested and asked what I had in each bag, especially since I had two labels on the one with beets, since it had torn, so I used one to hold it together. Then I retrieved my things, spent some time arranging everything in bags and backpack, and was back at 10:25 PM, carrying almost 17 kg, including everything. Then I finished cooking and had a late lunch, finished just after 12:30 AM, took a bath, finished at 1:35 AM, and started eating dinner at 3:20 AM.

Moving on to the series of three runs in five days, the first was on October 14. The alarm woke me at 8 AM, I had the usual stuff plus almonds, with doughnuts with added honey as the sweet thing, and put on the full running gear. But I also had that thing on my neck, pulled up on the way to also count as a mask, and the wristband to wipe with, and of course wore the jacket on the way and even took gloves, though they stayed in my pockets on the way to the park. Left at 10:20 AM, when the reported temperature was 9°C, supposed to hold steady. The forecast forced me to go at that hour, since it was only going to get worse later, but it was raining even then, albeit lightly at the time, and if I considered giving up on the idea even before leaving, when I got outside and that moisture made me feel cold even with the jacket, I considered it even more. Still went for it, however.
The time was 1:19:45, with sector times of 4:19, 5:16, 6:07, 4:33, 5:14, 6:07, 4:33, 5:14, 6:04, 4:37, 5:20, 6:09, 4:41, 5:23 and 6:08, making for lap times of 15:42, 15:54, 15:51, 16:06 and 16:12. Didn’t really aim for anything when I started, allowing even for just staying under 1:24 at first, but I thought I was rather slow on the first sector and the time proved otherwise, so I started thinking of 1:21, hoping for two laps in less than 16 minutes and to lose less on the third than I had gained on the first two, and the first lap fit that idea, even if I lost a bit on sector two. Then so did lap two, and on lap three I was surprised to see the same times on the first two sectors, which made me push a bit more on the third to end up with an even better time. At that point the target clearly became 1:20, so I couldn’t afford to lose much, and aimed for 16:10 on lap four, which worked out. At the start of lap five I wondered about 1:19:30, which’d have required 15:56, but the first sector made it quite clear that was out of the question, so I then wondered about the previous time, and after sector two pretty much put that out of reach as well, at least under those conditions, I just settled for staying under 1:20, which I managed by some margin.
Put the gloves on after tying the jacket around my waist and kept them on, struggling to press the button on my stopwatch like that and also to move the glove a bit in order to see it, which likely led to a bit of lost time as I focused on that. I clearly lost a bit when I slowed a little at the start of sector three of lap two, to get a proper look at the time, and also failed to press the button at the end of sector two of lap five. Rather surprised it only happened that one time, but I was looking at the stopwatch, so I’ll go with what I saw, though my brain might have played that trick it plays when the eyes are yet to focus, leading me to think I saw then the image I actually saw up to half a second later, so that sector might have been a second faster and the next a second slower, but that doesn’t matter that much.
Otherwise, the rain stayed light and manageable right until the end of sector two of lap two, when it got heavier for a lap, and the wind also picked up then. Both lessened on sector three of lap three, but if the wind didn’t pick up again, the rain varied, mostly around a moderate level, with brief moments when a cloud shook itself and it was heavier and periods when it was light again, but wouldn’t say that any of these had a significant duration either. And I wasn’t cold, which was surprising. But oddly, there were times during the first two laps, while it rained less, when I felt I was breathing water, which feeling went away after that, I guess because I got used to it. And it was also during the first two laps when I moved the jacket back several times, since it kept moving to one side as it was tied around my waist, but after that I just left it as it was and it settled into a position I got used with. On the other hand, my right knee started bothering me a bit, I think on a sector two, though I’m not sure if of lap three or as early as lap two. And on sector one of lap four I felt like crapping. The feeling might have first appeared earlier, maybe on sector one of lap two, but if so it wasn’t bad and went away quickly. It was more noticeable on that early part of lap four, but then it again went away, until sector one of lap five, when it returned and was worse. It then lessened again on sector two, but returned with a vengeance on sector three and towards the end it felt like I was just about to crap myself, so I likely slowed a bit in order to gain some control of that.
That sort of weather obviously meant there were few people, and if you add the runners, cyclists and those who were there for rowing practice, it’s possible that most of those I saw were there for sports. And there were several runners, and they seemed to be serious ones, also doing plenty of laps, and on the last sector I was overtaken by the guy I see as the second in command from that group that organizes the Dream Treks, and he congratulated me as he passed by, no idea if because he had recognized me or simply because I was a fellow runner in that sort of weather. I just greeted him, then saw that he was doing intervals, which explained why I had been hearing someone who seemed faster coming from behind for quite a while but wasn’t overtaken until that point. And I overtook him again when he slowed, he overtook me again when he sped up, and then I had that moment when I felt I was about to shit myself and he pulled ahead and the distance kept increasing until I finished. Otherwise, that group preparing for rowing practice blocked the path on sector two of lap three, and another person was just reaching them when I also did, so I had to squeeze past that guy and then take to the grass to get around them. But the rest of the time it was the puddles that caused me to weave and go the long way around, though from lap three there were areas where avoiding all of them wasn’t exactly a realistic option anymore, so I stepped in a few from then on, and tried less to avoid the smaller ones.

Took a bath after getting back, and the left side and heel of my left foot, which felt rather numb, didn’t get better during it. And my right foot was burning again. Either way, in the afternoon I finished the book I was reading at the time, though I just posted the quick review, the Goodreads version being in both English and Romanian, the following evening. Back to that evening, I napped for some two hours and then ended up making mamaliga at night, though dad wasn’t working.

In the early hours of October 16, while eating at night, I requested and received Diggles: The Myth of Fenris from The Community Giveaway on the GOG.com forums, again donated by that same guy who donates so much. Even installed and started it then, though I’ve been playing just a little since then. I should also take and add screenshots for it, since it oddly has only three so far on MobyGames, but I’ll see about that. Either way, I saw the CPU reach 67°C while just playing a little bit, and I think at some later point I even saw 1-2°C more, and it had been getting to 60°C even without playing, so that made me realize I really had to clean the computer. And I eventually did that, but that’s for another post.

Back to October 16, the alarm woke me at 2 PM, I had the usual stuff plus almonds, with doughnuts with added honey as the sweet thing again, put on the full running gear, also took the jacket and gloves and that thing on my neck, pulled up on the way, had some things in the pocket of my tights and the inside one of my jacket, and left when it was close to 4:30 PM, when the reported temperature was 11°C, supposed to hold steady while I’ll run. It was raining again, and also windy, but felt less chilly on the way than two days before. The weather was going to be a whole lot better the following day, so I kept thinking of giving up that day and going then instead, and then running on consecutive days for the first time, to still do the three runs in five days, but I stuck to the plan.
The time was 49:04.54, with sector times of 4:19.41, 5:10.31, 6:06 (6:05.97), 4:35 (4:34.41), 5:09.22, 6:07 (6:06.69), 4:33.78, 5:13 (5:12.81), 6:01 (6:00.69) and 1:51.25, making for lap times of 15:35.69, 15:51 (15:50.32) and 15:47.28. The target was to be faster than I had been over the first three laps two days earlier, and I managed that, pushing just as much as I had to for it. And I slowed at the start of just about every sector to have a good look at the time, a few times doing so more than once, until I was sure, so I’d have quite clearly been under 49 minutes just without that. And stairs were slippery when so wet, so I was careful when I went up, making that final sector time even better than it looks.
The rain lessened as I got to the park and the trend continued, so for the first lap and a half I’d say it was mostly light with periods of drizzle and brief heavier moments and then it was mostly a drizzle with brief heavier moments. And for the most part the wind wasn’t as bad as the forecast indicated, though there were a few gusts even earlier and it did get pretty bad right at the end of sector one of lap three, making me have to fight it much of the time after that. Otherwise, there were few people, but a few did make me go the long way around. However, the main reason for weaving and going the long way around were again the puddles, of course, those being clearly worse than two days earlier, and after finding no way around and stepping in a sizable one on sector three of lap one, as I was passing the docks, the next two times I passed by there I used the paved docks to go around. As for physical issues, there were some warnings from my right hip on the long straight of sector two of lap two, but they went away after that.

Then I went to Tei, getting there a few minutes before 6 PM. Stood in line outside at first, and 25 minutes later had the iron and could go to the other side for the other things, so I still had just enough time. Also found a discount for something dad usually wants, so got two of those too, but couldn’t find one thing for myself and had to ask about it, then went to the checkout and was using one of the chairs to arrange everything when the announcement that the pharmacy was closed came, so it was 6:45 PM. And something rather funny, albeit not for him, was that after I walked out, I stopped before a large puddle and a guy who was behind me didn’t, stepping around me and right in it, then yelping and jumping out. I messed up a bit as well after that, however, going that way for a few steps, then for some reason thinking it was the wrong way and turning around, so I ended up at that intersection and had to go around to reach Carrefour, just grabbing two things from there, though I wandered around for a while, checking other stuff.
Got back at exactly 8 PM, which was the curfew for the unvaccinated, and I hadn’t taken my certificate, forgetting all about that… Not that anybody ever stopped me to check in all the time since then anyway. Either way, as I was having watermelon the guy who had obviously also rang twice, insistently the first time, as I was getting ready to leave came again, dad opened and was told we were supposedly flooding him from the kitchen heating pipe, and we had plastic bottles piled up there, so dad sent him away at first and then started digging those out, I continued… And as I was down there and just in my underwear, oil from dad’s cooking splashed on my back. But we took those bottles out for no reason, there was nothing there, so dad took pictures and went to show them to the guy and he didn’t come up again to see for himself. But since we have quite a large stain on the ceiling there as well, the matter was pursued further and I seem to recall that a problem was found two floors above us, though I still wonder how did the guy below us have issues when our floor was dry. Either way, I then had some cake, washed and made mamaliga again.

Moving on to October 17, I finished The Purring Quest and submitted screenshots for it. There are also some additional credits which I mean to submit but keep putting off, but the main thing is that I definitely mean to write a review, that in fact being the original plan for this week’s first post, so let’s see if I’ll at least manage it next week if I didn’t now. But, to return to that night, I started eating dinner at 3:25 AM.

But now let me move on to the last run in that series, on October 18, when the alarm woke me at noon, since I had to run earlier in order to be able to go for this year’s first long walk to “pay” with PET bottles after that. But that’s a matter for another post, so to return to that first part of that day, I had the usual stuff plus almonds, again with doughnuts with added jam as the sweet thing, put on the full running gear and nothing else, since it was cloudy but not raining or even windy anymore, and left a bit before at 2:20 PM, when the reported temperature was 14°C, likely to increase to 15°C by the time I’ll finish.
The time was an amazing 1:16:16, the fourth fastest over this distance, with sector times of 4:17, 5:06, 5:55, 4:28, 5:02, 5:51, 4:28, 5:04, 5:49, 4:30, 5:02, 5:52, 4:25, 4:54 and 5:33, making for lap times of 15:18, 15:21, 15:21, 15:24 and 14:52. Aimed to just stay under 1:20, with the first three laps in less than 16 minutes and losing less than I gained on the last two, thinking that if I’ll be faster than the previous time, maybe managing 1:19:30, it’d be a bonus. But the first lap was faster than expected and after sector one of lap two I realized I could gain a minute over the 1:20 target on the first two laps. Didn’t really mean to, but after sector two it was clear it was going to happen, so I started thinking of 1:19… Only to realize with surprise that I kept gaining a lot on lap three as well, and at the end of it that I had managed the exact same time as on lap two and had gained a total of exactly two minutes, so I started thinking of 1:18. And if at the start of lap four I was thinking I just needed to make sure I won’t lose time, stay under 16 minutes, after the first two sectors I wondered whether I’ll be able to gain 30 more seconds, which I managed by some margin. So I just went for it on lap five, quite certain of at least 1:17:30 even if I’ll end up exhausted at some point, but aiming for 1:17, and after two sectors even wondering about 1:16:30. Didn’t believe it was possible, but just pushed like crazy on the last sector, and ended up even faster by quite some margin, and also with the fastest ever lap five and third fastest sector three.
Had something in my left sock since I left and it was hurting my heel, and trying to move it a bit didn’t help that much and I didn’t remove the shoe and sock to try to get it out before I started running, but over the first two laps or so it did move in a way that made it stop being an issue. On the other hand, I was getting dizzy on sector two of lap two, thought it’ll be hard from then on, but that went away soon. Not sure if it was also then or a bit later that my right leg started giving me some warnings and some time later I realized I was moving it in a way that risked injury, so I tried to fix that, and had to keep paying attention because I was returning to those movements if I didn’t. Otherwise, there were a few gusts of wind, but nothing serious. And there weren’t many people either, though I did sometimes have to weave or go the long way around.

And the last run I’ll add in this post was the morning run done on the week of the marathon, on October 27. The initial plan was to wake up at 6 AM, but things were quite a mess that night, so I changed the plan and had the alarm wake me at 7:30 AM instead. I was sweaty and my nose was stuffy at that point, but it cleared later. And, after having initially given up on the idea after being unable to finish baking it at night, I got back to wanting baked pumpkin, so I turned the oven back on… And was in kitchen, hadn’t touched it again in quite a while, when it turned itself off again. So I turned it back on yet again, and at least that did the job. So I had the usual stuff plus almonds, the tea being made before going to bed, and also some baked pumpkin, and regular biscuits with added honey as the sweet thing. Had crapped at night, so I saved a lot of time by not trying again. But had to use the old running suit, after having been unable to wash the tights, and while I had nothing underneath the shirt, I did wear the jacket on the way to the park, obviously tying it around my waist as I ran. And I also took the running belt, with the gels I had bought for the marathon in it, to test it like that. Left just after 9:15 AM, when the reported temperature was around 4°C, but clearly supposed to increase by a few degrees by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 47:17.63, with sector times of 4:06.38, 5:01.57, 5:49 (5:48.09), 4:32.56, 5:04 (5:03.41), 5:50.53, 4:24 (4:23.68), 4:59.25, 5:50.48 and 1:42 (1:41.68), making for lap times of 14:56.04, 15:26.50 and 15:13.41. Aimed to stay under 48 minutes, and after that very fast first sector, the second fastest ever, I also aimed for a first lap in less than 15 minutes, which I just managed. The first sector of lap two was rather slow, however, making me worry that I might miss the 48-minute target, but I recovered well on sector three, and the first sector of lap three was really good. So I realized I could keep pushing and did just that, ending up with a lap three that was a fair bit faster than lap two, and a final sector that was tied for second fastest, albeit with no less than four others. I considered aiming for 47:30 after sector two of lap three, realizing it was going to take a mighty push on the final sector, so that was just what I did, but the time was just amazing either way. And my last steps didn’t quite work out, might have lost a tiny bit of time, perhaps just enough to cost me the chance of putting this down as 1:41.
Rushed to the park and to start running, and even so it was 9:31 AM when I did, but I didn’t forget to make sure to tie the jacket above the belt, so it’ll press down on it, and also throw the keys in the belt, which added weight and unbalanced it, so I could really test it. And it started feeling like it was sliding a bit on the side with the keys from the end of lap two, but it nevertheless held all the way to the end. On the other hand, the jacket being tied higher also made it a bit harder to breathe, and from the end of sector two of lap one the upper part of my abdomen was hurting and so did my back and I couldn’t snap it. Still, it got easier at some point on lap two, maybe towards the end of it. Also, something seemed to be in my left shoe again, eventually moving so it stopped bothering me, but for the first two sectors or so it did bother me and it might have actually cost me a bit of time, so that first sector might have been even faster otherwise.
But the more serious issue was that they’re pouring what’s probably meant to be a running surface, removing the cycling lane where it used to exist and scraping a lane on the side of the path that’s towards the lake otherwise, and also coming from one side entrance to the lake. They had already replaced that bit, from that entrance, and that entire area was closed off, but while no part of the path around the lake was closed off, machines were still removing the cycling lane in one area and the scraped part was uneven, so I did my best to avoid it, needing to be careful when I stepped in it in order to go from one side to the other. That meant going the long way around a fair number of times, and having a harder time getting around people. Not that there were many people, but that made it harder to deal with those who were there.