Cav's Place

On the evening of December 14, I left at 8:15 PM, with the plastic and metal, which I dropped in a recycling bin, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, entering Penny Basarabia with them, since I went there first and the machine didn’t work. Then I bought some cucumbers for dad… And saw that the cabbage was at the same lower price as what I saw listed on-line for Auchan, making it another reason why I really shouldn’t have bought that one two days earlier. Either way, I wasn’t given the receipt and didn’t try to reach for it, which made me somewhat apprehensive when I entered that Mega Image with the cucumbers in the backpack. But I didn’t care to use a cabinet, so I put the recyclables in the machine from there, waited for the cart with the products that are discounted by 90%, and eventually just cashed in the voucher, not seeing anything that I cared to get and seeing that the bakery products weren’t even bagged even though it was past 9 PM, and since it was Sunday I thought that they weren’t going to do that. However, after getting another PaysafeCard code, I saw the employee starting to bag the bakery products after all, so I decided to wait… Only for her to mutter something about 9:30 PM, ask what the time was when she was done, and then walk away when I said that it was, if I remember correctly, 9:18 PM. And I wanted to also get to Carrefour that evening, so I definitely couldn’t wait.
Since it was 9:20 PM when I walked out, I jogged to Carrefour, entering through the parking lot, and deciding to dash to the machine after grabbing three recyclables… Only to find that one wasn’t working at all and the other stated that it had no container for that type of object when I tried to put one in. So I put my things in a cabinet and bought the dental floss that I had gone there for and some expiring products, first scanning and paying for just one piece of dental floss, to make sure that the voucher with 30% of the value did show up on the receipt, and then putting the second piece and the other products on a second receipt.
After retrieving my things and grabbing one more recyclable, it was 10 PM by the time I walked out of that mall, so the machine from that Mega Image was already off for the evening by the time I got there and I just entered with everything, meaning to look for the products that would have the 90% discount but glancing at the bakery area first and apparently just missing the moment when those labels were placed on the refrigerated ones, because as I was on my way to that area another customer walked past me with some. Still, I found one thing left that had that discount and which I grabbed for dad, and then I added some packaged small baguettes that also had the 90% discount, plus two buns and another bakery product, these staying at 50%. That other bakery product wouldn’t scan, but there was another one like it left, so I asked the cashier whether she’d care to try that one if I’ll bring it and did so when she agreed, and that one worked, somehow. And then we exchanged a few words about such deep discounts, after which I walked out and went to a bench to arrange the purchases.
Since I wanted to check the nearby Mega Image as well, I jogged almost all the way back, actually reaching it just before 10:45 PM, entering with everything… And seeing two cabbages among the spoiling products, and one of them seemed more usable, so I bought it, making it yet another reason why I really, really shouldn’t have bought that other one. Either way, I handed the amount printed on the label, just rounding up a little, and the cashier said that it was fine, not charging me for the bag that it was in, though she didn’t give me a receipt either, and once again I didn’t bother to reach for it.
I got back a little after 10:50 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop what I had gathered down the chute, picking up three recyclables from the garbage room and having to straighten one of them. After that, I put the purchases in their place, ate an apple, and unplugged the network cable before going to wash at 11:55 PM, finally having actual hot water again. It was close to 12:45 AM when I was done, and then I got on the computer to check what was going on with the Windows updates, since they were paused until December 15, it already was December 15, and I didn’t want to let it install what I saw had been offered in November even for those who didn’t use a Microsoft account to enroll for extended updates. So, when I saw that the option to continue pausing updates was disabled, I tried something which had worked before, telling it to check without an available connection. However, it no longer worked, neither with the cable unplugged nor with the chipset disabled, just seeing a message that it couldn’t connect and to try again when a connection is available, the option to keep pausing remaining disabled. So I blocked all outbound connections that don’t match a rule through the Windows Firewall, and trying again like that gave a different error, but still didn’t allow me to pause updates again. So I added exceptions for BOINC and Edge, already having one for Vivaldi, briefly allowed connections again in order to do a manual update for Defender, since I couldn’t figure out how to add an exception for that as well, and then set it to block everything that doesn’t match a rule again and left it like that since then, only briefly allowing connections when I needed to do something that I didn’t know how to add a specific rule for.
Getting back to that night, it was almost 1:30 AM when I went back to the kitchen, and then I fixed something sweet and ate it and used what I could of the outer leaves of that cabbage, ending up eating dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:20 AM. And when I moved the dehumidifier back out of the bathroom, before going to bed, there was a pretty loud clang, though it seems to keep working normally, so I hope it was nothing relevant… Though I really should clean its air filter at some point. Not that it has anything to do with that clang, but I’m just reminding myself of it now that I mentioned it.

To get back to December 15, I could sleep quite well until the afternoon, just getting up to pee once, at which point I also briefly got on the computer and used that PaysafeCard code to purchase Wallet funds on GOG.com, before getting back in bed. But when I woke up again at one point and heard workers outside, I got anxious and just curled up under the blanket for quite a long time, maybe just occasionally catching very brief and agitated naps, before even checking the time again, seeing that it was a little past 3:50 PM. And a couple of minutes after 4 PM dad called, but after talking to him I got right back under the blanket, staying there for some more time before finally getting up. Either way, that evening I started reading An Immense World… And then I tried to make a purchase on GOG.com, still just to give away, to use a 15% discount code that was made public some time ago, but there was an error and the Wallet funds were taken but the order showed up as unpaid and I didn’t receive a code, so I contacted support.

Moving on to the morning, I woke up after dad did, a little after 8:40 AM, but after peeing I could get right back to sleep, which was the case the couple of other times when I was woken up after that as well. I peed one more time a little after 10:40 AM, when I was woken up again, but after once again getting back to sleep there was a louder noise. I didn’t check the time at that point, and I might have just briefly dozed off again before it repeated, but then I did check the time, seeing that it was a few minutes past 11:30 AM. And the noise continued after that, so while I initially still tried to get back to sleep, just before 11:55 AM I got up… Only for the noise to go down a little later. But the alarm was set to ring at 12:30 PM and I had an appointment at 2 PM, to replace that filling which had been replaced less than six months before and which was moving again, so I stayed up. It was annoying when, after another brief moment of drilling around 12:20 PM, even the scraping stopped and it was quiet for about an hour, and if I’d have fallen asleep during that time I might have slept through the fainter noises that followed as well. But I obviously couldn’t do that, so I walked out a little before 2 PM, getting there right at 2 PM.
I had taken the book with me, but I didn’t have to wait, so I didn’t even take it out. And the dentist did put quite a lot of work into replacing the filling, seeming to do all she could for it, but at the same time she kept explaining that the problem is that it covers most of the surface of the tooth but is shallow, so they can’t really anchor it, and that this is pretty much the last time they’ll be able to just put a regular filling and I should get ready for a root canal the next time it’ll fall off, not because the tooth itself requires it, because she checked thoroughly and all that’s left of it is healthy, but because there’s no way to get another filling there and make it stay in place. And the “boss” also came to have a look and she told me the same thing. So, even though the fillings are supposed to have a six-month warranty, or at least they did the last time I checked, I was still charged for the work, though possibly at a reduced rate, since I heard the dentist tell the receptionist what to enter in my file but that the charge should be “only” the amount that I was charged. Either way, I was out of there right at 3 PM, and on the way back I checked this Mega Image and grabbed two recyclables.
After getting back, I put some of the paper that’s stacked in the kitchen, minus the actual newspapers, into bags, and most of it in the large backpack, meaning to take 24 kg but seeing that the new scales don’t seem to be that accurate, adding or removing just a few sheets causing a change of 0.45 kg on the display, so I erred on the side of caution, walking out again a few minutes before 5 PM, with what I learned when I reached that recycling center, a little after 5:30 PM, were 24.5 kg of paper, and a total weight of some 27 kg, so a good 60% of my own weight. Either way, I asked whether they might also accept glass and was told that they didn’t, and also saw that the reward for aluminum cans was crossed out on the list, so I guess that they no longer accept those either and I kept all of the old ones, without the deposit symbol, for too long. But I didn’t actually ask about those as well, just walking away, picking up a few recyclables and having quick looks in the Profi, Penny and Mega Image from Decebal, putting those recyclables in the machine from that Mega Image and cashing in the voucher. And then I went to Tei, having a quick look in that Mega Image as well before entering the pharmacy and standing in line to get some things. And on the way back I also went to the nearest Penny, entering with everything and buying an expiring product and a few carrots, which were at least supposed to be Romanian, even if the price, with the regular discount that they had those days, was higher than what I’d normally care to pay. And I also picked up some more recyclables, some of them having been left around the machine from there, which wasn’t working.
I was back again a few minutes after 7:30 PM, put the purchases in their place, ate lunch, and left again a few minutes after 9 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol. And I jogged to the metro station, having dad’s card, and went to Obor, jogging to that mall as well, picking up some more recyclables, and putting them in the machine before entering Carrefour a little after 9:30 PM and getting some sweet pastries that had the 50% evening discount and a similar but packaged thing that was among the expiring products, having to use a regular checkout and cashing in the voucher received for the recyclables first, the value being greater than the total price of the purchases. And then I grabbed one more recyclable and jogged to Kaufland as well, putting that recyclable in the machine but then finding one more and going back to put that in as well, getting a second voucher. And, after washing my hands, I entered the store, with everything, at 10:05 PM, getting some discounted pieces of processed meat products, for dad, and making use of good evening discounts for some germinated wheat and just two red onions. The employee from the self-checkout area asked what did I have in the bag, but I just showed her that everything was clearly from Carrefour. And the closing announcement came just as I was paying, also using the vouchers received for those recyclables. And then I picked up a couple more recyclables before checking the Mega Image that was still open, putting my things in a cabinet and getting two breads for dad, even if they were only discounted by 50%, before retrieving what I had in the cabinet and rushing back to the metro station, just missing one train and arranging the purchases while waiting for the next one… Which came sooner than I thought, so I actually finished after getting on. And after getting off and grabbing a few more recyclables, I checked that non-stop Mega Image as well, entering with everything and then just walking back out.
I got back a little after 11:30 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop what I had gathered down the chute, put the purchases in their place, once again set all but a few of the almonds aside, to use before runs, and ate the rest of the expired nut mix that I still had, getting probably some 650 calories from that, did the day’s squats, and went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and shower, close to 1:10 AM. I was done at 1:55 AM, but then I got on the computer until 2:10 AM, after which I gathered some things in the living room, cleaned up a little and washed what was in the kitchen, mixed some things and put the result into two jars, boiled some of the germinated wheat and moved the rest into a jar as well, and used some more of that spoiling cabbage, finally eating dinner between 5:20 AM and 5:50 AM. And then I translated the quick review for A Life on Our Planet and added the Romanian version on The StoryGraph and Goodreads before getting in bed, at 7:05 AM.

I got almost three hours of sleep before getting up to pee the first time, but then the noise became more of a problem and I kept being woken up. Still, I was getting back to sleep pretty quickly each time, one or two of the naps probably approached an hour, and it was past 4:20 PM when I finally got up… Only for some people to start doing something in this area and walk past the window after 5 PM, when I thought that I was “safe”, and someone also rang the doorbell just after 6 PM, and again at 8:20 PM, and I was in the kitchen both times. At least they rang just once each time, not insisting when I didn’t answer, but when dad got back he said that a neighbor had called to let him know that at least the first time it had been the workers who wanted to install those things in the holes drilled in the walls, even if the previous day he had been told that they had 11 apartments already scheduled and there was no way to finish those in a single day, so getting to us as well seemed out of the question. Either way, since I started the washing machine late in the evening, after waiting for dad to get back, to see whether he had anything else to add, I “cheated” to take a first bite of dinner in my room before 3 AM but then took the laundry out of the washing machine and hung dad’s few shirts, caps and socks before slicing the bread, actually starting to eat just before 3:25 AM and finishing at 3:45 AM. And since I arranged the other things on the drying rack after eating, I don’t quite know why I took them out of the machine earlier. But setting them to dry so late meant only taking the dehumidifier to my room and starting it just before getting in bed, and obviously letting it run after that, albeit switched to night mode, so the lower speed, even if it’s rather noisy even so.

Well, while at first that noise did make it harder to fall asleep, it eventually became a steady background noise that probably blocked the noise made by the workers later, letting me sleep better overall. I still woke up a little before 9 AM, when dad left, but after peeing I got right back to sleep. Unfortunately, it was the dehumidifier itself that woke me again some time after that, when it switched to fan-only, the humidity becoming too low, and since it then increased again it alternated between the modes a couple of times, making it hard to stay asleep, until it turned off, at 10:55 AM, as it should have, since I had set it on the clothes drying mode and that makes it run for six hours. And, of course, after waking up again at that point, I could hear the workers and that once again made it hard to get back to sleep for some time. But things got quieter after a while, and I wonder if they even did anything else in this part of the building after their break, since the few other times I woke up, it seemed just quiet, and I only decided to get up after being woken again by an SMS from my provider, just after 4 PM… Only to hear some noise outside the window moments later, so I curled up under the blanket for a while longer, only getting up at 4:30 PM.

Getting to the early hours of December 19, after deciding to write a post before going to the kitchen, getting back while working on dinner to make a little addition, “cheating” to take a first bite of the salad in my room before 3 AM, but then taking too long to actually finish making it and realizing that I wasn’t going to be able to wolf everything down before 3:40 AM, I took it a little easier and ended up actually eating dinner between 3:35 AM and 4:10 AM, also looking up a few more things and making another edit to that post during that time. And I got in bed at 5:20 AM.
What I can say about when I was first woken up by noise is that it was past 10 AM and no later than 10:20 AM, but I can’t be more specific than that. And after going to pee and asking dad whether he heard anything about those ventilation systems being installed that day and being told that he didn’t, I got back in bed, but the noise continued, at times being particularly loud, and it was clear that the workers were right in this part of the building again, so I was anxious about that as well, which led to just some occasional, brief and agitated naps. I’m not even sure if they added up to more than half an hour or so of sleep, obviously of very poor quality, until the alarm rang, at 1 PM, and I got up. But the plan was to run, so I then had the usual stuff, using some of those expired baked and salted almonds, and went out at 3:40 PM, wearing the full running gear, one armband, and that thing that goes on my neck, the reported temperature being about 11°C, dropping by a couple of degrees by the time I finished.
The time was 48:12.07, with sector times of 4:21.73, 5:08 (5:07.47), 6:02 (6:01.81), 4:31.00, 5:03.16, 5:56 (5:55.87), 4:24.28, 5:04.32, 5:52 (5:51.50) and 1:51 (1:50.93), making for lap times of 15:31.01, 15:30.03 and 15:20.10. I was just aiming to stay under 49 minutes, though preferably by a safer margin, and that first sector wasn’t particularly encouraging, though after sector two of lap one I assumed that I’ll at least cover the lap in less than 15:30… Only to go over six minutes on sector three and fail, which was a bad sign. And when sector one of lap two wasn’t exactly promising either despite having another runner to chase, I knew that I had to push harder, even if it was still early in the run and I was concerned about exhausting myself too early. But I did enough on sectors two and three of lap two to be relatively certain of staying under 49 minutes even in that case and then really went for it on lap three, aiming to stay under 48:30 as well if possible. And that made lap three the fastest of the day, just marginally slower than what’d be the lap time target for 48 minutes, so after the end of it I aimed to get under 48:15 as well, which I did. Not that any time over 48 minutes isn’t still a poor one, but that day I actually think that I might have just managed to squeeze under 48 minutes if I’d have had the confidence to push from the beginning, which makes it frustrating and yet somewhat encouraging at the same time.
While there were no notable problems caused by people, there were plenty of runners, which was not surprising, considering the forecast for the following period. But I only had someone to chase right at the end of lap one and on sector one and a part of sector two of lap two, that guy checking his watch with increasing frequency and eventually stepping aside to let me ahead, and when I looked behind me after a little while I didn’t see him there. And otherwise there’s hardly anything to mention until sector three of lap three, when I stopped for a couple of seconds in order to get a good look at the time and then felt the effects of really going for it, in the form of a certain pressing need and a few jabs in my lower left leg, and towards the end of it my nostrils were tightening, though it wasn’t as much of a problem as the previous week.

I jogged back, just stopping for a moment to have a better look at another building that’s being retrofitted, at which point some kids passed by on bicycles and mocked my thinness. Either way, I also grabbed two recyclables, then got back and did the day’s squats, ate lunch, and checked the reply which had finally arrived from GOG.com support, seeing that they had offered me a code with the games which I had purchased, though the order still doesn’t show up in order history and the actual problem remains to be investigated, I guess. But that did take care of the practical matter, so I then changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again a couple of minutes after 7:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I picked up some more on the way to Auchan, almost all of them from a single area, then put them in the machine, washed my hands, and bought the tea that I wanted from there and some oranges that were among the spoiling products and discounted by 40% despite looking just fine. That made them only slightly cheaper than the regular price from Kaufland those days, since they had a good regular discount there, but I just went for it and at least I can say that they’re particularly tasty. Either way, I added a little cat food as well, then also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid.
Since, after arranging the purchases, it was almost 8:55 PM when I walked out of there, I jogged to Carrefour, then put the purchases and the recyclable which I had picked up in a cabinet that didn’t lock, since none seemed to… And found a coin left in that one’s lock, so I took it. And, on top of the tea that I wanted from there, I found a better discount for one more thing, so I grabbed that as well, which allowed me to use both vouchers received for previous purchases. And then I grabbed some more recyclables before retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging everything.
I had quick looks in two other stores on the way to Kaufland, and otherwise only occasionally jogged. But I added to the recyclables, then put them in the machine when I got there, yet before walking in I spotted a few more and went back to put those in as well, getting a second voucher. Then I peed and washed my hands, put my things in a cabinet, and it was past 10:10 PM when I entered the store, getting a couple of bananas that had a good evening discount, though a higher price was printed on the label, the price checker didn’t seem to work, and I didn’t have time to look for others, so I rushed to grab two expiring products that were discounted by 50%, the closing announcement coming just as I was getting the second one… And on the way to the self-checkouts I passed by that price checker again and saw that it displayed the correct price for the bananas, so it must have reacted awfully slowly. Either way, I used one of the vouchers received for the recyclables when I paid and cashed in the other one, picked up another recyclable, retrieved my things, quickly arranged everything, and washed my hands again, using the room for disabled people.
Since it was almost 10:40 PM when I walked out, I wanted to hurry to the Mega Image that closes at 11 PM, but I was worried about how some of the purchases were placed in the backpack and stopped to arrange them better after a little while. Then I picked up another recyclable and entered that Mega Image, with everything, just before 10:50 PM… Only to walk right back out, not finding anything to get. And the same thing happened when I checked the non-stop one. So I just made my way back, picking up a couple more recyclables.
I got back a few minutes before 11:30 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, ate a banana and a sweet pastry that I already had, put the purchases in their place, and went to wash just before 1 AM, being done a little before 1:45 AM. But then I gathered my clothes from the rack, spent some time on the computer, and only went back to the kitchen at 2:15 AM. And there were plenty of things to wash, and I also made a large salad, eating dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:30 AM. And then, after placing that cardboard slightly differently in my window and doing some more things in the kitchen, I went to bed at 7:10 AM.

I woke up at 11:10 AM, probably shortly after dad got up, and badly needed to pee, but it was over an hour later, after dad left, when I went, staying on the computer until then, and getting back on it for a while even after that, only getting back in bed at 12:35 PM. But at least I then got back to sleep, waking up some three hours later and getting back in bed yet again after peeing once more, thinking of trying to catch another nap. When dad called, right at 4 PM, I gave up on that idea, but I was still wary about doing much of anything at a time when the workers might be around, even if there was no sign of them, and in fact I hadn’t heard anything in the morning either, so after talking to dad I got back under the blanket and it was close to 4:45 PM when I finally got up for good.

When I was about to get to sleep that morning, I noticed some faint pain in my head that was close to where that deep, dull pain used to appear when I rubbed or pressed that area, usually while washing, but not quite in that same spot, so I was quite concerned, though at that point I calmed down when I noticed that if I pressed in a spot that was pretty much the opposite, I also felt some pain, so I assumed that the cause was how my headphones had pressed on my head. Still, thinking about that probably had something to do with why it was hard to get to sleep. And the same thing happened after waking up to pee as dad was getting ready to leave and staying up for a little while, since he wanted to tell me something. But I eventually did get a few more hours, and after eventually getting up to pee once more I napped for another hour or so, and possibly caught another little nap or two after that as well, since I stayed in bed until a little before 4 PM.
I had considered trying to go out that evening, but I eventually decided against it, staying to cook and hoping to finish that day’s post… Only to still fail to do that, so what I posted before midnight was an incomplete version. On the other hand, I timed the squats that evening, doing them in the kitchen but in 1:53, so I was just two seconds shy of the record! And I wasn’t that exhausted despite really going for it, so I might have probably managed to shave a few more seconds off that time and possibly even have a new record. But, to get back to my head, since that faint pain remained in that area during the day as well, I was increasingly concerned. And at night I stayed on the computer for a lot longer, checking out some things until around 1:30 AM and then seeing a lot of security errors in event logs and realizing that BOINC wasn’t connecting, so I tried to sort out the issue and I don’t know whether I did or it sorted itself out, but it was almost 2:15 AM when I noticed that it had done so at 2:03 AM. That led to only finally going to the kitchen at 2:20 AM, and there were some things to wash as well, so I ended up eating dinner between 3:55 AM and 4:35 AM and getting in bed at 5:20 AM.

Dad had said that the workers would come to install those things in those holes drilled in the walls on December 22, and he got up early to wait for them, so after once again taking some time to fall asleep, roughly around 8:10 AM I woke up as well, and a little before 8:20 AM I went to ask him whether there were any news and pee, getting back in bed after he said that there weren’t. But I couldn’t get back to sleep, and when I heard him getting things from the freezer I got back up, since he had said that he wanted to take all of the sausages to mother and I was supposed to take them out while those workers would be here… Only for him to say that they weren’t coming then, but probably the following Monday, so he was starting to get ready to leave. As such, even if I hadn’t eaten anything that I usually do on a night before a run and I had slept so little, I considered going to run that day instead of going out that evening and then running the next day, as originally planned, since the weather was going to be similar. But I didn’t set an alarm, thinking to go if I either won’t be able to get back to sleep or will happen to wake up around 1 PM on my own… And, despite getting in bed a few minutes after 9 AM, I was still awake an hour later, when dad left, at which point I also saw that he had probably taken away the food he had given Liza in the morning, after asking me whether it had been put back in the can, because she wasn’t eating it, along with something else, and had opened another can, that food obviously being left on the plate as well, since he feeds her to get rid of her and she knows it and just goes to stay with him, but then he says there’s a problem with the food and wants to get rid of it and open a new one…
At least it was quiet after that, I finally fell asleep again after a little while, and I happened to wake up at 12:52 PM, so I decided to run… Only to think that I was going to crawl back in bed for just another moment and end up falling asleep again right away, waking up again at 1:41 PM, which seemed very late at first. But then I decided to try to rush and go anyway, so I had the usual stuff, the yogurt being a nice one which had just expired the previous day and the almonds once again some of those expired baked and salted ones, tried to leave what I could in the toilet in much less than the usual time, and left at 3:40 PM, wearing the full running gear plus that thinner training shirt, despite how torn it is, that thing that goes on my neck, and the old gloves, even if they don’t do much good, the other pair having been left out all year and having accumulated a lot of dust and dirt. With the reported temperature being 4°C, I also wore the jacket on the way, keeping it tied around my waist as I ran… And after I started running I realized that I had just sipped a little tea, putting more in a mug so it’ll cool down a little but rushing to go out and forgetting about it.
The time was 49:17.38, with sector times of 4:18.72, 5:17 (5:16.85), 6:04 (6:03.44), 4:38.03, 5:11.94, 6:04 (6:03.43), 4:38 (4:37.60), 5:10.21, 6:02.19 and 1:55 (1:54.97), making for lap times of 15:39.01, 15:53.40 and 15:50.00. Since I hadn’t prepared for this run and it was also the first one of the season that required a shirt and gloves and carrying the jacket, I was just aiming to stay under 50 minutes, so that first sector was better than expected. But the second was concerning, and while I had stopped for a few seconds in order to see the time, the overcast sky meant that I was going to have to keep doing that and after the end of the lap I knew that I had to cover the second one in less than 16 minutes if I wanted to be at least somewhat safe… And sector one of lap two wasn’t exactly encouraging. But the rest of the lap was good enough, making me think that I should be able to squeeze under 49:30. That meant that I couldn’t be more than a few seconds slower on lap three, however, so I pushed more, actually ending up a few seconds less slow even if on sector two of lap two I didn’t have to stop to see the time while on sector three of lap three I stopped twice, albeit perhaps more briefly than on other sectors. Either way, I had no reason to stop again on the final sector, the last interval time remaining listed at the end and being quite certain after sector two of lap three that I was going to stay safely under 49:30. But, of course, that’s a bad time in itself. Still, I was a fair bit less slow than I thought I’d be under those circumstances, so I was relatively fine with it overall.
There were relatively few people, so there was some weaving and going the long way around, but I wouldn’t say that they caused any notable problems. On the other hand, I noticed from the beginning that I hadn’t left everything in the toilet and on sector two of lap one it even felt like something was threatening to come out, or even that it actually did. Fortunately, what came out was just gas, and I did have plenty of that throughout the run, but the feeling of anything more than that being there faded after a while and only flared back up at one point on lap two, I think on sector two, before once again fading and reappearing only on sector three of lap three, when I was pushing. But, as I already mentioned, the fact that it was overcast made it dark and, with the obvious exception of the first one, I stopped for up to a few seconds in order to see the time on each sector except sector two of lap two and the final sector, when I didn’t even look at the time at all. And those two brief stops from sector three of lap three probably meant that the actual loss of time was similar to that from the other sectors when I stopped, but the first such stop, on sector two of lap one, was probably the longest, when the fact that the stopwatch wasn’t quite where I usually wear it meant that I needed a little more time to focus on it. And, of course, taking the glove off in order to press the button and then putting it back on might have caused a little loss of time as well, but that’s irrelevant by comparison.

After getting back, I cleaned the litter box, ate a banana and lunch, did the day’s squats, changed, albeit leaving on the running t-shirt and that training shirt, and left again at 8:45 PM, with a small bag of trash that I dropped down the chute and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, reaching the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM less than a minute after 9 PM and seeing that the bakery discounts, still of 50%, were already made, so I grabbed some buns and some sweet pastries. By that point, the regulars were waiting for the cart with the products that are discounted by 90%, but I decided to start putting the recyclables in the machine instead of joining them right away… Only for that cart to be brought almost right away, so the more interesting things were gone by the time I hit the button and the receipt was printed and, after having a look at what was left, I had resigned myself to just buying those bakery products and went back to the machine and put in almost all of the remaining recyclables. I had two left when it reported that the PET bin was full, but one of the two was a glass bottle and I put it in before noticing the message, the machine took it before printing the receipt, and I hadn’t paid close attention to the amount listed before that message appeared, so I’m not sure whether it counted it or just “ate” it. On the other hand, when I looked at the cart again, I saw that a bio (organic) yogurt which I had seen in someone’s hand had been put back, so I grabbed it, using one of the vouchers received for the recyclables when I paid and cashing in the other one.
After arranging the purchases a little, I continued to Kaufland Basarabia, picking up some more recyclables on the way. Those included a glass bottle with a missing neck, which was unsurprisingly not accepted by the machine from there, so I dropped it in the bin, but I kept another one that was also not accepted despite being whole. Then I put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered the store at 9:55 PM, the closing time having changed to 11 PM in that location. And, after grabbing a bag of oranges that was among the spoiling products and had a great discount despite seeming just fine, though I later noticed that one orange from it was moldy, I made use of evening discounts for some broccoli for mother, plus really cheap green onions and radishes, taking quite a number and walking away to select the better ones, deciding to keep the two regular bundles of green onions which I had selected even after getting back there and seeing that larger ones, with the bad parts cut away, had appeared. But I had also seen a post on Kaufland’s Facebook page announcing a 25% discount on flour, cornmeal and pasta, yet there was nothing of the sort listed on the site or in the store, so I took some cornmeal and used a self-checkout to check, just leaving it there when no discount showed up and going back, since employees were adding piles of expiring products with good and even great discounts, so I grabbed what I could until a few minutes before closing time. And then I also added an expiring bio (organic) jam, though the 55% discount meant that it was still expensive, getting back to the self-checkout when the closing announcement came and needing to call over an employee to override two errors, the machine telling me to place the broccoli on the scales after I already had and then not accepting the bundles of radishes. Then I also used the voucher received for the recyclables, retrieved what I had in the cabinet, and walked out through the emergency exit.
Since I had quite a lot of things to arrange, I went to one of the tables that are outside and took my time to do so, only finally walking away at 11:20 PM and picking up another recyclable on the way to that Mega Image, getting there a little before 11:30 PM, putting the bags in a cabinet that didn’t lock, since there were no free ones that did, and entering with the backpack apparently just after the cart with the products that are discounted by 90% was brought out, since I saw a guard coming with quite a number of such products. But at least I still found a lot of bread that I could get for dad, so I took five, plus a little “reward” for myself. On the other hand, there were no bakery discounts and no sign that they were going to be made. Either way, after retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging the new purchases, I picked up some more recyclables on the way back.
It was close to 12:25 AM when I got back, with just about 14 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box again and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, left the radishes on the counter but put all of the other purchases in their place, eventually ate one of the sweet pastries, and it was almost 2:20 AM when I finally went to wash. I was done at 3:05 AM, and then I washed what was in the kitchen and cleaned up a little, removed the large majority of the radish leaves, since they were clearly unusable and the bundles wouldn’t fit in the vegetable box from the fridge with all of them on, and finally ate dinner between 5:35 AM and 6:15 AM. I got in bed at 7:20 AM.

After just about three hours of sleep, I woke up while dad was getting ready to leave to buy some things, exchanging a few words with him after peeing and then getting back to sleep so quickly that I didn’t even realize when it happened, even if I could hear what seemed to be the workers talking in this area. But I woke up again when he got back, after another hour or so of sleep, and stayed up for half an hour, arranging what he had brought in the fridge and getting back in bed after he left again. And then I slept for some three more hours, waking up once after having one of those highly realistic bad dreams but realizing quickly that it was a dream, forcing myself awake, and then managing to once again get back to sleep surprisingly quickly. And after waking up for what was probably the last time, unless I drifted off for a few more moments at some point, I stayed in bed for another hour before getting up a few minutes after 4:30 PM. On the other hand, at night I ended up eating dinner between 3:55 AM and 4:35 AM and getting in bed at 5:25 AM, once again with the dehumidifier running in my room, and this time at full speed.

Well, I fell asleep just fine with that steady noise, but it woke me when it shut off, a little after 7:30 AM, and getting back to sleep after that proved almost impossible. I drifted off occasionally, but the naps were brief, and after dad left I spent about half an hour on the computer before getting back in bed… And just wasting two hours, since if I fell asleep at all, it couldn’t have been for more than mere moments, but I only finally got back up at 1:25 PM. Then I had lunch, cleaned the litter box, noticed that the magnetic band from dad’s metro card was peeling off and struggled to put a tiny bit of sticky tape underneath it to make it stay in place, and left close to 4:10 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, grabbing another one from the garbage room, since I went there to drop a small bag of trash down the chute. And, on top of pulling that thing that goes on my neck up to also cover my mouth and nose, I wore a mask as well, considering the spike in cold and, especially, flu activity.
At least the metro card worked, but then I watched a train close the doors and leave just as I was going down the stairs, so I had to wait for the next one and, with stores closing early that day, I was running late as it was. But I went to Obor, so I didn’t have much to walk between them, and I couldn’t find the cat food that was on sale in Auchan, so I just had a quick look around, holding on to the recyclables, and then followed someone out, after trying to ask an employee to open the gate only for her to walk past me and to a customer who needed help. And then I grabbed one more recyclable on the way to Kaufland and put them in the machine from there, separating dad’s from mine, so I got two vouchers, and still being left with that one that wasn’t accepted. So, after washing my hands, I entered the store with it, probably a little over an hour before closing time, and made use of a few decent evening discounts. Then, after getting some cornmeal as well, I used one of the vouchers received for the recyclables, cashed in the other, arranged the purchases in the backpack, and walked out a few minutes before the closing time of 6 PM. But Carrefour closed at 7 PM, so I went there next, picking up one more recyclable and putting it in the machine, which didn’t accept that other one either, before washing my hands and entering the store with everything. And, while the bakery area was completely cleared, possibly by the employees, I got there just in time to grab a carton of expiring eggs before someone else grabbed the rest as I was checking whether any were cracked. And, fortunately, none were, so after wandering around for a while, I just bought that, also using the voucher received for that recyclable. And, after adding the eggs in the backpack and entering another store just to grab a couple of coins, I took the metro back and picked up a few more recyclables.
Since I had seen that this nearby store also closed at 9 PM, same as Mega Image, after dropping off the purchases, putting the eggs in their place, grabbing a cap that granted a free can of beer which I had found for dad some time ago and which he never redeemed and spending quite some time looking for the can tab that offered the same prize which I had also brought him but failing to find it, getting annoyed when I realized that he might have lost it, I went back out to at least redeem that one can. But first I put the recyclables in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, which didn’t accept that one either, and cashed in the voucher, seeing no bakery discounts and no sign that they were going to be made even if it was past 8 PM. And then I went to this other store… Only to be told that they don’t have prizes left, with the cashier seeming to really want to explain himself, saying that they receive only two crates and they go quickly, and he also complained to the organizers of the contest about it, since they’re listed as a place where people can pick up the free cans but have none to give unless they give from their own stock, which they can’t do because they’ll then have to take the loss. So, after also awkwardly saying that the cap had been on the desk for a long time and it could wait a while longer, so I’ll try again some other day, it was 8:15 PM when I got back for good, having a relatively normal evening and night after that.

I caught up on sleep on Christmas, getting out of bed a few minutes before 4 PM, not being awake that long before that, and only waking up a few times and getting back to sleep quickly even earlier. And then I took some supplement that’s supposed to help immunity, after meaning to do so the previous night but forgetting. On the other hand, that night I “cheated” in order to be able to say that I took a first bite of dinner in my room before 3 AM but actually started eating at 3:25 AM and couldn’t wolf everything down by 3:40 AM, so I took it easier after that and finished at 3:55 AM.

When I woke up after dad did on the morning on December 26, I cleaned the litter box and told dad to take a little bag of trash out when he’ll leave… Only for him to forget it, so it’s a good thing that I was still awake at that point and got up to check, rushing to knock on the door before he walked away, so he stepped back in to take it. And then I decided to remove the cardboard from my window, since the workers weren’t going to be around, and read until 12:20 PM, getting back to sleep after that. That sleep was in the form of a series of naps, but I nevertheless got some more of it by the time I decided to get up, at 4:15 AM, though I only actually did so 20 minutes later. And before going to bed in the morning I took a vitamin D3 supplement, expired for over two years.

After eating mamaliga at night, I kept getting up to pee, but I also got right back to sleep each time, even if at one point I also cleaned the litter box and left the small bag with what I had gathered for dad to take out when he’ll leave… And it’s a good thing that I woke up when I heard the key in the door and checked, since he was leaving it there again. Either way, I finally got up for good a couple of minutes after 4 PM, and then I finished An Immense World and wrote the quick review, posting it in both languages on The StoryGraph and Goodreads. So I managed to read 12 books this year as well, even if that includes the remaining three novellas written for The Bard’s Tale IV, which aren’t on Goodreads, so it appears that I only read nine books if you look there. On the other hand, I clogged the toilet again, and my attempts to unclog it without really reaching in only resulted in wasting time before still having to get my hand in the water all the way in order to be able to reach far enough with that metal thing. Either way, at night I took another one of those expired vitamin D3 supplements. And when I flossed I once again tried to also do so between that tooth with the replaced filling and the next one and the floss finally seemed to have a way to slip in there, after that had seemed impossible until then and I wondered whether the dentist had attached the filling to the next tooth as well… But it didn’t do so all the way and I didn’t want to force it too much… Yet something seemed to have moved there even so, making me wonder whether that filling isn’t already starting to move again.

At least whatever had moved this morning seems to have gotten back in place, at least for the moment, and today I slept really well, getting up just after 4 PM and only waking up a few times until then, getting back to sleep quickly each time. But I definitely feel a strange sensation in that area of my head and I’m getting really worried… Still, at the moment it is what it is, so I did the day’s squats, ate lunch, and after posting this I’m going out, almost certainly getting back after midnight. And this is a new second longest post, though still a fair bit behind the longest one.

This was another nice read, mixing the sort of “curiosities” that make up popular science with more advanced elements that nevertheless remain accessible and easy to read. And the effort made to show how other species perceive the world as differences, presenting each case as it is instead of focusing on comparisons to humans and which may be better or worse, is largely successful. But, past the chapters dedicated to specific senses, the twelfth one, where they’re all brought together, struck me as particularly interesting, and answered crucial questions that I hadn’t even realized I should have had. However, the thirteenth and last chapter is the most impactful, leaving behind the “dissection” of animal senses and presenting the harm we’re causing from this point of view as well, though light and sound pollution, but also in more indirect ways, which is an issue that tends to receive far less attention than other environmental concerns… Not that those receive anywhere near enough either, but that’s another matter.
The only issues, other than perhaps at times appearing a little more lighthearted than it should have been for my taste, have to do with the chapters about nociception and magnetoreception. Admittedly, in both cases the problem is mainly how little we really know about those topics, in case of other species in the former case and in general in the latter one. And while the rather meandering magnetoreception chapter does at least make it clear that the topic is being actively researched, the one about nociception and pain also shows that the matter isn’t even really being looked into, so the fact that it’s rather devoid of content isn’t the fault of the author, but it still stands out in a negative way.

Rating: 4/5

Eleven years ago, I was listing who and what I voted for ever since getting the right to do so, and the plan was to make another such post at the end of last year, considering the number of elections we had in 2024 and the fact that the next ones were only supposed to be in 2028. But, of course, after the first round of last year’s presidential elections was annulled, those ended up being rescheduled for this year, and Nicusor Dan winning led to the need for elections for the position of Bucharest’s mayor. So it’s only after these also took place that I can finally post the list, the unpleasant thing being that, according to the law, these last elections should have taken place in September, so before the old ID card expired, but PSD kept throwing a wrench in the plans and they only took place on December 7, so I couldn’t have one more sticker properly placed on the back of that card and have it in the picture I took before just that remaining free corner of the card was cut off when I submitted the request for a new one. Still, since those stickers are no longer placed on the new cards, not even for those who, like me, choose to not switch to the electronic ones, when I voted I could ask the guy to place a sticker on the old card instead, even telling him to squeeze it just in the remaining space, next to the cut part… But he ended up placing it over an older sticker instead, and when I peeled it off and placed it in that empty spot on my own, part of that old sticker got torn off, so a new picture wouldn’t look quite right. But, still, I like the fact that I can show that I at least voted each time I had the option while I had that card, the 2004 general election, the last time when the parliamentary elections and the first round of the presidential elections took place on the same day, remaining the only time when I didn’t.
Sure, one’s vote is supposed to be secret, and I have seen people criticized or even threatened with legal action for making it public, but that mainly happens on the day of the elections, when it can justifiably be seen as campaigning, or when people with a certain degree of notoriety do it, since in that case it counts as an endorsement, while this is mainly for my own use and posted long after the fact… Perhaps too long, because I can’t remember my votes in some cases, so I’ll be listing more or less educated guesses and it’s not impossible that I’ll end up editing this post at some later point if I’ll somehow figure out that those guesses were wrong.

At least I do easily remember the oldest ones that need to be included in this post, the 2016 local elections, not that it’s hard, since I voted for Nicusor Dan for the position of Mayor of Bucharest, his USB party for the Bucharest City Council, their candidate, Roxana Wring, for the position of Mayor of Sector 3, and once again USB for the Sector 3 Local Council.

Since USB became a national party, renaming itself to USR, by the time of the 2016 parliamentary elections, I voted for them for the Senate at that point. However, my vote for the Chamber of Deputies was one of the 4295 that went to Remus Cernea, who ran as an independent in Bucharest.

Next comes the 2018 referendum that aimed to define marriage as explicitly between a man and a woman in the Constitution. Those who opposed the proposal called for a boycott and viciously attacked anyone who didn’t agree, the only hope of the proposal not passing being for the turnout to fail to meet the 30% threshold, but, as always, I did firmly argue against the call for a boycott and intended to vote no matter what. Still, if it appeared that it was touch and go, with the required turnout possibly just being reached right at the end, I had considered casting an invalid vote, so I once again waited for the last update and then, when it was clear that there was no danger of getting to 30%, I went and obviously voted no.

The 2019 European Parliament elections are the first ones that I’m not entirely certain about, since USR had been pretty much taken over by a group that I had serious issues with, and they also ran in an alliance with PLUS, while on the other hand Demos had made a doomed attempt to try to run, obtaining only 12028 out of the required 200000 signatures and obviously having their list rejected. But it seems that the only valid option was to vote for the USR-PLUS alliance anyway, and I do seem to remember that I was somewhat pleased with the activity of Ramona Strugariu, who’s the last person who made it through from their list and therefore the one for whom any additional vote made a difference. So I guess that I’m only mentioning the fact that I’m not entirely certain because I don’t have a very clear memory of the moment, but there doesn’t seem to be any risk of being wrong.

Moving on, or in fact not really, since it took place at the same time as the European Parliament elections, the 2019 referendum is another one that I’m not entirely certain about. It’s quite clear that I voted yes to the first question, about prohibiting amnesties and pardons for corruption offences, but the second one, asking about prohibiting emergency ordinances in the field of offences, punishments and judicial organisation and extending of the right to directly appeal to the Constitutional Court against the ordinances, was more complex and I had questions about the exact results of such a decision. It does seem that I’d have probably also voted yes in the end, but I don’t really know, so this will remain with a question mark, even if not that big of one.

Another question mark has to do with the first round of the 2019 presidential elections. I once again have no clear memory of who I voted for, and it doesn’t seem like I had any reasonable option for a protest vote, so did I vote for Dan Barna, even though he was the apparent leader, or at least the public image, of the group taking over USR, or did I vote for Klaus Iohannis even then, just to go through with it? Or did I cast a protest vote for a candidate with no chances after all, even if I don’t recall doing so and I don’t see who I might have picked? A vote for Barna probably seems most likely, at least if I also think that he was in third place and Viorica Dancila was a particularly weak candidate from PSD, so there might have been at least a small theoretical chance of him ending up second and therefore PSD not having a candidate in the second round, so I’m going to list that I voted for him unless I’ll find some information that’d clearly indicate otherwise, but I really don’t remember.

Either way, at least there’s no question about the second round of the 2019 presidential elections, when I obviously voted for Klaus Iohannis. Of course, it was once again a matter of choosing a lesser evil, but there was no question about it.

The 2020 local elections are easy when it comes to the position of Mayor of Bucharest, since I obviously voted once again for Nicusor Dan… But that’s about it, and it’s also as far as I got with this post before midnight, so the rest of this paragraph was added almost an hour later, starting with wondering whether I voted for USR-PLUS for the Bucharest City Council or I cast a protest vote. And I seem to remember doing something of the sort, but in that case, was it for the Green Party or for PER? I didn’t want Florin Calinescu, who had ended up being put forward by the Green Party at that point, to end up in the Council, but knowing that they had no chances of meeting the threshold, I might have given them the vote. But PER was even more certain to be nowhere near that threshold, so they were an even more risk-free protest vote. At this point I’m going to very hesitantly say that I might have voted for the Green Party for the Bucharest City Council, but it’s little more than a guess. And I’m not certain what I did for Sector 3 either, obviously being pissed that USR-PLUS had chosen to support PNL’s candidate in an attempt to have any sort of chance against Robert Negoita, which was a false hope and just ended up angering people who also rejected PNL for no real reason. Still, it seems likely that I complained but nevertheless did vote for that common candidate, Adrian Moraru, for the position of Mayor of Sector 3. But what I did about the Sector 3 Local Council is once again a good question. The Green Party didn’t have a list here, but PER did, and USR-PLUS also had one, separate from PNL, so did I vote for them, hoping to cast a useful vote, to perhaps add to the opposition to Robert Negoita, or did I still cast a protest vote, in which case it’d have been for PER? Thinking about it rationally, voting for USR-PLUS seems more likely, but that’s once again just a guess.

I only edited the post again in order to add what follows Friday evening, but that didn’t help with the fact that I really can’t remember who I voted for in the 2020 parliamentary elections. I know that I even told those from USR that it’s unlikely that I’ll vote for them, and both the Green Party and PER ran, but considering who was on those lists, did I really go through with such a protest vote, knowing that there was no “risk” of them meeting the threshold, or did I vote for USR-PLUS after all? There was also the big push among activists, especially the left-wing ones, for a vote for Valeriu Nicolae, who ran as an independent in Bucharest for the Chamber of Deputies, and he ended up a mere 17 votes short, but I had some issues with that and I’m pretty much certain that I didn’t vote for him, and I think that I remember the relief that he wasn’t a single vote short. So… I really don’t know. Despite Florin Calinescu still leading the Green Party at that point, the fact that they definitely had no chance probably means that they were my option for a protest vote and I can rule out PER, and this may be plausible. But I find it almost equally likely that I eventually went against what I had said and voted for USR-PLUS after all, maybe hoping that they’ll somehow manage such an unbelievably good result that even Florina Presada and Octavian Berceanu, who had been demoted to clearly ineligible positions under any plausible scenarios, would make it. Or I could have split my vote between the two… And it really pisses me off that I didn’t write such a post after these elections, when I would have remembered, especially since no other elections were planned until 2024…

At least it’s much easier with these recent elections, starting with the 2024 European Parliament elections, when Nicu Stefanuta ran as an independent, after having left USR, and voting for him was an easy choice. And it was so nice that, against all odds, he actually made it, just edging past the threshold.

At the 2024 local elections, I voted for Nicusor Dan for the position of Mayor of Bucharest, REPER for the Bucharest City Council, Lucian Judele for the position of Mayor of Sector 3, and the REPER-SENS-URS.PDF alliance for the Sector 3 Local Council. And, while Nicusor Dan winning again was such a relief, I must say that I was particularly pleased when I saw that REPER had created this alliance just in my sector and put someone from SENS in second spot, which ensured that she’ll be elected if they’ll go over the threshold. Not that I thought that they will, considering the higher requirement for an alliance, so I was even more pleasantly surprised when I saw that they actually did make it. On the other hand, I wasn’t that convinced by their list for the Bucharest City Council, and in fact can’t say that I can “retrieve” the specific memory of casting the vote for them, but I definitely wasn’t going to vote for the alliance that USR was in, and a protest vote for PER was also out of the question when their list was bafflingly led by a guy who had broken away from Nicusor Dan’s NGO and started fighting against his efforts to defend green spaces from developers. And I also didn’t exactly like to vote for the candidate supported by USR and that alliance for Mayor of Sector 3, but Lucian Judele could have been a decent option in himself, while on the other hand Ana Ciceala hadn’t only just recently given birth but also chose to double down on that by running as “primama”, which is supposed to be a mix between the words for “mayor” and “mommy” but also basically sounds like “first mommy”, and focusing her program on developing infrastructure for small children and their parents, so I most definitely wasn’t going to vote for her. Not that it mattered, with Robert Negoita not only somehow still winning, but doing so with over 50%.

Moving on to the annulled 2024 presidential elections, I ended up voting for Kelemen Hunor, and it was actually less of a protest vote than it appears, because I actually thought that, out of the particularly poor choices that were available, he and Cristian Diaconescu were the most suitable for the position under the present circumstances, and Hunor being the president of the party representing the ethnic Hungarians meant that he was also a great choice as a vote against the rising far right, which tipped the scales in his favor in my mind.

When I edited the post Friday evening, I forgot to add the 2024 local referendum from Bucharest, which took place on the same day as the annulled presidential elections, so I made one more edit in the early hours of Saturday, to add this paragraph as well. The questions put forward by Nicusor Dan were whether the Bucharest City Council should decide how tax revenue will be allocated, with the understanding that in that case more will be directed to the City Hall and less to the Sectors, and whether the Mayor of Bucharest should emit building permits for the entire city instead of each Sector doing so independently, and I voted yes to both. On the other hand, PSD demanded the addition of a third question in exchange for their support for the referendum, that being whether the Bucharest City Hall should fund and implement a drug prevention program in all of the city’s schools, and I voted no to that, because such a program should be funded and implemented nationwide, by the government, not by the city.

Getting back to what I added Friday evening, for the 2024 parliamentary elections I didn’t just vote with a clear conscience, but also cast positive votes, actually for my choices, not against others or as a protest. For the Senate, I voted for REPER, who had Octavian Berceanu at the top of their list in Bucharest and had also opened their lists for Demos, one candidate from there being in third spot. On the other hand, while Ana Ciceala led the list for SENS for the Senate and I still wasn’t going to vote for her, I definitely voted for SENS for the Chamber of Deputies… Sadly, neither reached the threshold, REPER doing particularly poorly, while SENS proved why the continued persistence of those who call for an electoral reform, including them, to merely demand lowering the threshold from 5% to 3% instead of removing it completely won’t do any good, because they obtained 2.84% for the Senate and 2.99% for the Chamber of Deputies. And in fact there were no parties between 3% and 5%, so such a change would have made absolutely no difference.

Getting to the 2025 presidential elections, so those that were actually validated, I voted for Nicusor Dan in both rounds, being so relieved when he somehow managed to snatch that second spot from Crin Antonescu in the first round and prevented me from having to vote for that guy in the second round just to be against something even worse.

And Nicusor Dan becoming president led to the need for new elections for the position of Mayor of Bucharest in 2025, where I was among the 804 people who voted for Dan Trifu, sticking to the choice I had made as soon as he announced that he was going to run and still not wanting to vote for Ana Ciceala, even though she was in SENS and had changed her speech and program since running in this sector, while at the same time dismissing the calls to cast a “useful vote” for Ciprian Ciucu. But I must say that Ciucu is definitely a far, far lesser evil than the other two who were seen as having real chances, so it is a relief that many did cast that useful vote and made him a clear winner, despite what the polls had listed all along.

Among this year’s slew of attacks on contraception, abortion and women’s rights, and now even China turning around from their previous policies even more and adopting more of a “stick” approach to increase natality that may well only lead to more STDs instead, the fact that the European Parliament voted in favor of the My Voice, My Choice European Citizens’ Initiative seems like a ray of light… Until you actually read any details and see how faint it is. After all, the Initiative doesn’t ask for abortion to be allowed all over the European Union, in fact even explicitly stating that it does not seek to change national laws in any way, but only demands 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. Yes, that means that the intention is to provide those services free of charge to the women as a result, and that is important for many, but it may also be a lesser problem than the need to travel to another country for a procedure that’s traumatic in itself… And then there’s the question of what may happen to those women when they return to their home country that criminalizes what they just did.
What’s worse is that even such a weak demand faced a forceful opposition and actually seemed likely to be rejected until the last moment, so any hint of an actual reasonable request, like guaranteeing access to contraception and, when necessary, abortion all over the EU, would have reduced the chances to zero. And it’s not like this vote actually approved even this weak measure, the Parliament’s vote just showing support, the European Commission being the body that needs to approve it. And then, of course, even if it will be approved, the question of who’ll volunteer to opt into such a mechanism remains, the measure itself not even being worth the paper it’s printed on without the countries that border those that restrict abortion access becoming part of the mechanism.
Still, while I find it hard to actually be pleased by what, at this point, is little more than a declaration of intent, and a particularly unambitious one at that, it does once again prove that the European Union, or at least the European Parliament, remains the one faint beacon of hope when it comes to anything heading… Well, no, make that anything not rushing away from the right direction at full speed. Not that it’s not hard to even say that much, in good part considering the current dismantling of most aspects of the Green Deal, as woefully insufficient as it was even in its full form, the most recent being giving up on the 2035 internal combustion engine ban, but when the other “powers” of the world are definitely speeding along in all the wrong directions, here there may still be at least some sort of a starting point… If only we’ll actually manage to do something with it without things becoming impossibly worse first. And this may actually be the main reason why this is a ray of hope, faint as it may be: In part because it’s an approval of a European Citizens’ Initiative, a little step taken as a direct result of European citizens using a tool provided by the EU to demand it, but also because an opposing Initiative was rejected, albeit back in 2014.

Since I forgot to change the date of that scheduled post before posting the initial version of the one posted just before midnight on December 7, it ended up showing up for a moment, though I realized it and sorted it out right away. And then, a little after 12:05 AM, I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done at 1:10 AM, but then I spent a little time on the computer and moved what I could easily move without turning it off, to have a little less to do after dinner, so it was almost 1:25 AM when I went back to the kitchen, but I still easily stuck to the dinner schedule, actually finishing at 3:35 AM. However, it was just over half an hour later when I really got to work on moving the desk back, and it was almost 5:20 AM when I thought that I was done and turned the computer back on… Only to realize that I had mixed the power cords and the one going into the computer was the one that should be left available for the old one, so I had to turn it off again and switch them. And it was 5:55 AM when I got in bed, by which point it was very clear that my digestive system was dealing with something.
On top of that, I also had a stuffy nose when the workers who were supposed to drill those holes in the walls rang the doorbell and woke me at 8:20 AM. Either way, dad told them to start with the living room and I rushed to change and remove the cardboard covering my window, after which I helped dad when they needed water and stood around while they worked, their power strip being moved to my room when they got here and staying here while they worked on the other bedroom as well, so my window had to stay open and the bug net moved aside until they were done and I only shut it again at 10:30 AM, when I heard them ask how to get back out and then immediately supply the answer themselves, saying that they’ll go through the balcony. And at least they did drill the hole on the other side, even though the plan supposedly calls for it to be drilled on this side where I have the computer, so it’s a good thing that I moved the desk, because they called someone about it, saying that they should all be aligned and there are even talks about moving it for the apartment from the fifth floor where dad had seen that it had also been drilled on this other side, but they did insist on the phone that we had furniture on that side… Only for dad to repeat, loudly, that he had moved the furniture from there, because at the same time I asked him whether it was really all right for the hole to be drilled on that side in his bedroom, so if the person on the other side of that call heard that, it’d have sounded really bad, and the guy actually snapped at dad to shut up because he was trying to say that it was furniture that can’t be moved, and later I heard him say that it has to appear like that because those in charge won’t care about a computer desk, but only about large furniture covering the wall.
Either way, I was once again frozen, on top of having only slept for some two hours, not feeling well, and seeing that my face was quite yellow when I went to the bathroom. But I had to at least vacuum the obvious dirt from my room, and dad also wanted to cook, so I took what he needed out of the freezer, and also washed what was in the kitchen at that point and cleaned up a little, before getting back in bed at 11:15 AM, at least to warm up a little, since the workers were drilling those holes at other apartments. But the noise was relatively distant, at least at some point, so after a while I did get back to sleep, and when I was woken up I fell asleep again almost immediately, at least until the drilling became much louder. According to dad, that must have been when they got to drill the remaining hole upstairs, for the living room, which must have been why that sort of noise didn’t last that long and after it ended, a little after 3:20 PM, I crawled out of bed to pee, hoping to be able to get back to sleep after that. However, despite only checking the time again and deciding to get up when it was almost 4:30 PM, I couldn’t do that. But at least my digestive system seemed to have gotten through most of the problem, though on the other hand my nose remained stuffy, and dad later asking me to hold the garbage bag open while he struggled to pour the contents of the vacuum cleaner’s bag in it and therefore clouding both of us in dust and dirt for quite a few minutes definitely didn’t help. Either way, some time after midnight I crawled back in bed and had another little nap, after which I couldn’t persuade myself to get back up for a longer time than what I had spent sleeping, so I only went back out of my room close to 1:50 AM and ended up eating dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:35 AM. And no visits were recorded for December 8.

At least I could sleep quite well, waking up a few times but getting right back to sleep until 2 PM, when the noise got louder and I was kept awake for a longer time. But I eventually managed to catch a couple more brief naps until dad getting back and another “round” of louder noises made me get up, just before 3:45 PM. And then I had lunch, did the day’s squats, and went out at 7:35 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up one more on the way to Penny Titan and putting them in the machine from there before getting what I wanted and a bun, with the evening discount of only 30% from there, to be able to use another one of those vouchers from their coins campaign, along with the one received for the recyclables. And after arranging the purchases in the backpack I entered that Mega Image with it, seeing that the bakery discounts, still of 50%, were already made, but just buying some garlic and adding it in the backpack before deciding to stick to the idea of running the following day and therefore not coming back too late.
Still, I did make the detour to Carrefour on the way back, once again entering with the backpack and getting some expiring chickpeas that actually have the same expiration date as those I purchased back in July, when they had a regular discount, and which I’m yet to use, so these were much cheaper and I really shouldn’t have bought those, not that I could have known it then. Either way, I got a bag of cat litter as well, scanning it to confirm that the price was the one from the catalog, since the price label listed a slightly higher one, and then I also used the voucher received for previous purchases when I paid. And then I added the chickpeas in the backpack, grabbed some recyclables on the way back, put them in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, and cashed in the voucher, only leaving the cat litter aside when I went to the checkout to do that… And then I grabbed one more recyclable right after walking out, plus one without a label that seemed to fit the label that I still had, but I wasn’t going to go right back and put those in as well.
I was at the door at 9:55 PM, having carried 12 kg, and I only weighed 45.5 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, washed what was in the kitchen, ate a sweet pastry, diced two small apples, mixed them with some sugar, and ate those as well, and just after 12:20 AM I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash… With water that was below body temperature, so it wasn’t even 12:50 AM when I was done, and then I got under the blanket, thinking to stay there until I’ll stop shivering… But that didn’t seem to be happening, so I had to make do with just warming up to some extent, since even so it was past 1:35 AM when I went back to the kitchen, and after also taking a cold pill that was most probably expired since September of 2024, I ended up eating dinner between 3:40 AM and 4:10 AM.

The workers woke me early in the morning, with what sounded like scraping and cutting either foam or EPS outside my window, and at one point some loud banging as well. I don’t know when it started, since it was a while before I checked the time and saw that it was close to 8:50 AM, but they eventually moved away and I caught another little nap or two until a few minutes after 10 AM, when I stepped out of my room as dad was getting ready to leave and asked him what had they done. But he didn’t know, having just heard the banging but saying that he hadn’t seen anything changed, so after spending a few minutes on the computer, until he left, I went to pee and blow my nose, what came out being a deep yellow with a greenish tint and rather chunky, and then, a little after 10:20 AM, I got back in bed, managing to get back to sleep quickly and staying asleep until 1 PM, when the alarm rang and I got up. Then I had the usual stuff, the yogurt being a bio (organic) one expired for a few days and replacing one of the almonds with an apricot pit. I had two left to crack, but unless there was a tiny core that flew off when I managed to crack the shell and I couldn’t find it, the second one seemed dry. Either way, I left at 3:40 PM, wearing the full running gear, one armband, and that thing that goes on my neck, the reported temperature being 10-11°C, dropping by a couple of degrees by the time I finished. And on the way to the park I was stopped by a couple, or more exactly by the guy, who asked how many kilometers I run per day, seeming a little disappointed when I said that it’s just once per week, and usually ten, sometimes 16, but then asking a few more questions about running and seeming to also have a discussion with the woman through me, in a way.
The time was 48:55.89, with sector times of 4:19.79, 5:10.03, 6:10 (6:09.50), 4:37 (4:36.94), 5:14.41, 6:06 (6:05.40), 4:28.44, 5:09.03, 5:55 (5:54.53) and 1:47.82, making for lap times of 15:39.32, 15:57 (15:56.75) and 15:32.00. I was hoping to be less slow than the previous week, but didn’t really know what to expect, and that first sector wasn’t exactly promising. But it could have been worse, and the second sector wasn’t quite that bad, so I was thinking that I should just cover the first lap in less than 15:30… Only to be shockingly slow on sector three, leading to once again wondering whether I’ll even stay under 50 minutes. And sector one of lap two only made those concerns even more founded, though I then did enough over the next two sectors to at least cover the lap in less than 16 minutes. But that required already starting to push by the end of that lap, and just staying under 50 minutes was not a target that I cared to aim for, so I pushed harder from the start of lap three, hoping to somehow squeeze under 49 minutes after all and thinking that I might just have a chance after sector one of lap three… Only for the following sector to change that. But I still went for it on sector three, even if I didn’t really think that I still had enough in me, and did just enough to give myself a chance at the end of the lap. I still had to gain some seconds over the final sector, however, so I pushed every step of the way, even if my nostrils were tightening and I even breathed in through my mouth, through gritted teeth, a few times, but I did manage a surprisingly good time on that final sector, ending up frustratingly close to the previous week’s time. But it was still worse than then, and that was a bad time anyway, so this was only worse…
Towards the end of lap two I started feeling like I hadn’t left everything in the toilet and the feeling continued on sector one of lap three, when I also felt some warnings from the back of my left hip, but then both of these issues went away. On the other hand, at the end of the long straight of sector one of lap three I felt that I had pushed too hard and had to slow for a few seconds, though I then managed to push through the issue. However, my nostrils started tightening as I continued, the problem becoming more notable towards the end of the lap and getting even worse on the final straight, as I already mentioned. Otherwise, there was a pretty normal amount of weaving and going the long way around, but no notable issues caused by people, except perhaps slowing a little on sector one of lap two, as I made my way through a roadblock. And on sector three of lap three I might have also slowed a little while trying to get a better look at the time. But I kept running on both of these occasions, so they wouldn’t really be worth mentioning if I had anything else to list.

After having a quick look in the nearby Mega Image on the way back, I ate lunch, put jam on a large doughnut and ate that as well, did the day’s squats, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, cleaned the litter box, and went out again at 9:10 PM, dropping a small bag of trash down the chute and taking those recyclables with the deposit symbol that I came back with the previous evening, picking up some more on the way to Kaufland and putting them in the machine from there. That label wouldn’t stay on that one that I was trying to place it on and after a few tries the machine printed the voucher and asked for assistance, probably signaling a fraud attempt, but I just moved to another, was more careful, and it worked on the first try, so I got a second voucher. Then I washed my hands and it was almost 9:45 PM when I entered the store, finding that the bread that had a good regular discount those days was already bagged and that the price label listed the full price, but I took it, looked for a price checker that worked, confirmed the discounted price, and took three of the four remaining loaves. Then I also took two expiring mixes of baked and salted almonds, cashews and walnuts, which had a great discount, plus a few bananas and a handful of Moldovan plums, the evening discounts being good but not great, used the vouchers received for the recyclables at the self-checkout, and took my time to arrange the purchases in the backpack, walking out right at 10:30 PM. And on the way back I checked two Mega Image locations, entering with everything and then just walking back out, and picked up a couple more recyclables.
I was back at 11:20 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box again and went to drop what I had gathered down the chute, ate a banana, put the purchases in their place, and at 12:45 AM I went to shower, with water that was even colder than the previous evening even though during the day it had been burning hot. And the site continued to list everything being normal in this area, though there is a nearby area where it’s listed that the water temperature doesn’t meet the required parameters. Either way, after trying to let it run a little and noticing that, if anything, it seemed to get even colder, I just went ahead with it and was done just before 1:10 AM. Then I washed what was in the kitchen and cleaned up a little, including sweeping the floor, dealt with one of my breads, took what was the last cold pill that I could find that didn’t have damaged packaging, and which wasn’t even expired yet, and opened one of those nut mixes and ate the cashews and walnuts, plus just a few of the almonds, keeping the rest of the almonds to use before runs, and since the whole thing has some 950 calories and the ingredients list almonds as making up just over a third, I got over 600 calories just from that, maybe more like 650. And then I ate dinner between 4:35 AM and 5:15 AM, the abdominal pain which I had started feeling after getting back and which I initially thought might have been caused by needing to pee quite badly and struggling to hold it in on the way back that evening only getting worse after eating those nuts and the situation definitely not improving after dinner, though at that point it was clear that I had a lot of gas. But things did seem to get somewhat better by the time I went to bed, at 6:55 AM.

I’m pretty sure it was past 10:30 AM when I was woken up by awfully loud drilling, but I didn’t need to pee and remained curled up under the blanked for quite a while before crawling out just enough to check the time and see 10:48 AM. And then the drilling started getting more distant and probably even stopped at some point, so I could get back to sleep, being woken up again around 1:10 PM or so, since it wasn’t yet 1:15 PM when I got up to pee and exchange a few words with dad before getting back in bed. But I was just wasting time, the noise not letting me get back to sleep, so a little after 1:45 PM I got up again, cleaning the litter box and getting on the computer as dad was getting ready to leave. But I was too sleepy to do much of anything, so at 3:20 PM I got back in bed yet again, despite the noise, most of it coming from upstairs by then, the workers who’re retrofitting the building seeming to have moved away from this area. Still, after just lying there for quite a while I eventually managed to catch some brief and agitated naps, only getting up again several minutes after 6:10 PM. And at night I ended up eating dinner between 3:50 AM and 4:30 AM.

At least I could sleep quite well until the afternoon. I did get up to pee once, and was briefly woken up a few more times by noise, but I was mostly asleep until just before 2 PM, when it seemed that dad was about to leave, so I waited for him to do so and then went to pee again before getting back in bed. However, the noise got much worse after that, in good part coming from upstairs, but a fair bit was from outside as well, and at one point I heard a worker wonder whether someone was at home, so what naps I still got were brief, agitated, and filled with those highly realistic bad dreams. But I definitely wasn’t going to move around and risk being seen, especially after hearing that question, so I only got out of bed several minutes after 5 PM, when I knew that the workers were gone. And then I did the day’s squats, cleaned the litter box, and at 8:35 PM I went out, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
After having a quick look in that Profi Go and picking up two more recyclables on the way, I reached the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM several minutes before 9 PM and put the recyclables in the machine. Then, seeing that no cheap buns were left in the bakery area and not really caring for anything else if the discounts were still going to be of 50%, I waited for the cart with the products that were discounted by 90% to be brought and wanted to make sure that I won’t miss it… Only to notice a good price for cabbage and think that I could take my time to select a good one and remove the outer leaves, since the employee was placing the discount labels on the bakery products, yet when I looked again I saw that the cart had been brought, and I had once again missed anything more interesting, only some sauce being left, which I didn’t care for. But I had seen some chicken parts that had a 50% discount and which dad could use, so I bought those along with the cabbage, which I had weighed first, at the unmanned checkout, to know what the total would be. And then I used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid, after the cashier accidentally scanned the regular bar code for those chicken parts at first, so I said that the total couldn’t be right and he saw what had happened and corrected it. And then, thinking that the handball match was starting at 9:30 PM, I jogged back, though I picked up another recyclable and meant to put it in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, only for it to report that a bin was full as soon as the person who was using it when I got there was done, so I came back with it.
I got back at 9:35 PM, noticing that something had bitten me on the right leg, right where the top of the sock was… And that the handball match actually started at 9:45 PM. Either way, I ate a few plums and rearranged some things in the fridge to make room for that cabbage, and a little before half time dad got back, looking really unsteady on his feet and just barely dragging himself to the couch, quite literally dragging his right leg with his hands and complaining of terrible pain in that area that’s been bothering him. So I exchanged a few words with him, but I meant to have another look in the nearby Mega Image at half time, expecting the bakery discounts to be made, so I dashed back down at that point to do so… Only to find no bakery discounts and, despite standing around for several minutes, no sign that they were going to be made. On the other hand, I saw that the price of cabbage was a little lower than what I had paid in the other location, but all of it from this location looked really bad. So I had nothing to get and just came back up.
Dad was getting ready to take a bath when I got back, but he also seemed at least a little drunk, so I asked him about that and he said that it’s nothing compared to the pain, which I took as an admission, becoming concerned that he may fall asleep in the bathtub again. Either way, I then went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, then ate lunch, mixing some partly melted candies which had been brought by dad during summer, in the heat, into it instead of eating them separately, and then waited for dad to come out of the bathroom, so it was past 12:35 AM when I could finally go… And just over 35 minutes later when I was done, even though I also used the toilet before showering, because by that time the water, which had definitely been hot earlier, was barely around body temperature. That made me crawl in bed again, only getting back to the kitchen just before 1:55 AM and ending up eating dinner between 4 AM and 4:40 AM, during which time I also checked the price of cabbage at Mega Image and saw that the lower one was the correct one, so it wasn’t like that at this nearby one just because it was so bad and I had for some reason ended up paying a little more at that other location… And by now I noticed that it should be even cheaper at Auchan, and I could end up going there one of these days, so I shouldn’t have bought that from there, and it’s not like I touched it yet. But, to return to that morning, dad got up to go to the bathroom while I was getting ready for bed, so we talked a little more and I got in bed at 5:55 AM.

I could pretty much sleep until just before 11:30 AM, when dad was about to leave and loud noises started coming from upstairs, so I got back in bed after going to pee, but getting back to sleep was quite a problem and I was just catching agitated naps. And the thing is that I only decided to get up when I noticed that it was starting to get dark, checked the time, and saw 4:26 PM, and at that point it had been mostly quiet for some time, but I had also remained pretty much awake just during that time, at most drifting off very briefly once or twice, and I’m not even sure of that. Either way, when I later turned on the TV tuner’s software, the image went briefly dark again, making me think that it may have something to do with that. But what I was really anxious about was that my cousin from my father’s side was supposed to come in the evening and take a look at what had to be done around the apartment, and dad had said that he should be here around 9 PM… Only to get back around 8:30 PM and say that it was supposed to be around 10:30 PM instead, which pretty much threw a wrench in my plan to make mamaliga in the evening. And things got even worse when it was actually almost 11:10 PM when he got here. At least he agreed with my ideas and dismissed dad’s, so after he left dad had to admit that I knew what I was talking about when he had snapped at me over what he considered to be senseless plans. And, even if it was so late by then, I then did make mamaliga after all, “cheating” in order to be able to say that I took a first bite in my room before 3 AM and having a little more in the kitchen, but actually starting to eat in my room close to 3:20 AM and finishing at 4 AM. I got in bed at 5:30 AM. And no visits were recorded on December 13.

As for today, the initial plan was to post something else, but that’s not written while this personal update is, and I’m going out again this evening, so let me start from the morning and say that I managed to get back to sleep quickly after the first time I got up to pee and also after waking up when dad left, but after going to pee again, around 11:20 AM, there was some noise from upstairs and it took me quite a long time to fall asleep again, probably only doing so after it was pretty much quiet again. And even after I did, I only managed some agitated naps, with bad dreams, before the alarm rang, at 3:20 PM, and I got up to watch handball, also doing the day’s squats and making the system backup during the match, since Windows updates are paused until December 15 and I learned that some November updates have been offered even to those who don’t use a Microsoft account to enroll for extended support, and also that the option to pause updates gets disabled, so I have to see what I’ll do about that and whether I can avoid dealing with the matter for a while longer. Either way, I ate lunch during the final, with some nicer bagels instead of bread, leaving a few to munch on towards the end of the match, and now I’m rushing out.
However, before I do, it seems that I need to once again mention that the middle button of my mouse seems to be double clicking even worse, and it is still under warranty until February, but it’s not being produced anymore, and even the brand vanished, being completely taken over by Turtle Beach, so I wonder what may happen if I’ll send it to be fixed, because I want this model, not the money back, which I won’t be able to use to get another one like it, or having it replaced with the newer model, which has three buttons less.