Cav's Place

Now that I finally went through it, I can say that the longest post I ever wrote has 7622 words, or 7629 if you also include the title. The one I believe held this “record” before had 7459, or 7465 including the title, meaning that it’d have just remained the longest if I wouldn’t have had to add that last paragraph. Either way, I really didn’t feel like even trying to come up with something else to write this week, but have one more “slot” left for a personal rant, so I’m using it now for a quick Sunday update, basically just to mention this week’s second run, which was Friday. It’s a good thing I didn’t end up delaying that long post and also adding the run in it, because in that case I wouldn’t have even had this much to include in this one.
I do wonder how it’ll go over the following weeks, however, both when it comes to the posts, since I may well need to resort to adding those remaining old book reviews in order to allow for more personal ones, and when it comes to the running, since the temperatures will be high until Thursday but it’s likely to rain tomorrow and Thursday and be windy Tuesday and Wednesday, while as of Friday another cold wave will come in, temperatures dropping sharply, with highs around or below freezing lasting over a week, according to the current forecast. And the week after the next I should start following that little schedule, to practice for the half marathon, if it will be held on schedule this year and I’ll be able to take part… Though now that I checked the site, I saw that the date was changed to August 8, though there was no announcement anywhere. Either way, it’s not like I can hope for anything other than avoiding an embarrassing time, but will need to practice even for that and under these conditions it’ll be quite an issue.

But this was supposed to be about Friday, when the alarm was set to ring at 2 PM, though that was a safety measure, and I got up after waking up just after 1:40 PM. Had the usual stuff plus the next to last serving of the old almonds, and also the next to last slice of my mother’s cozonac, with added jam, as the sweet thing, put on the full running gear, just leaving an undershirt underneath, took the jacket for the walk, tying it around my waist for the run, and left at 3:55 PM, when the reported temperature was 10-11°C, supposed to drop by about 1°C by the time I’ll finish, with hardly any wind. Didn’t take anything else with me, so I was going to come right back, but one reason for concern was that the “hot” water was cold when I left, though after it seemed somewhat warm when I washed my hands after getting back, I rushed to take a shower and managed to do so even though it felt mostly cold on my body.
Back to the run, the time was 48:54.81, with sector times of 4:16.29, 5:13.58, 6:09 (6:08.28), 4:30.18, 5:11.66, 6:03 (6:02.09), 4:31.10, 5:11.32, 6:01.07 and 1:49.24, making for lap times of 15:38.15, 15:44 (15:43.93) and 15:43.49. There were plenty of people, requiring plenty of weaving and going the long way around, and also just squeezing through in a few spots, but the only actual roadblock was right on sector one of lap one, two kids on bicycles weaving around and another cyclist coming on the cycling lane from the opposite direction, the three of them spreading out to avoid each other when they met and blocking the way for a moment. Otherwise, after seeing such a poor lap one, with that poor sector two and downright bad sector three, I pushed from the start of lap two and felt exhausted after that long sector two straight, dropping to what might be called endurance mode… Or at least that’s what it felt like, though that significantly less bad sector three time seemed to say otherwise, so it gave me a bit of hope and I pushed again from the start of lap three… Or, again, at least that’s what it felt like, though the times would again say otherwise, being nearly identical to the previous lap’s. But at least I worked on my breathing, managing to breathe more deeply on the long straights of both sector one and two and being able to sustain the sprint longer as a result. And in the end, after doubting it after the first lap, I at least managed to stay under 49 minutes… Which is still embarrassing as a goal, but seems to be the best I can currently still hope for.

Was thinking of reading Shadows of Self next week, to have the quick review for it as the first post and allow for another personal update after it, but that’d mean finishing it by Saturday evening, to also leave a little time to write and post that quick review and leave space for another Sunday update, and that seems unlikely, and the fact that I’m still playing both Venetica and Lords of Xulima makes it even more so. The other option would be trying to put together the year’s first “New Finds” post, and next week it might just be possible, since it seems I’ll have some more time on-line, but now that I took out the book, maybe I’ll try reading it, even if it may mean a break from the games that may lead to not feeling like continuing just when I was hoping to manage to get myself to actually advance in a more significant manner.

Last Monday, the alarm was set to ring at 1 PM, but when I woke up and saw 12:08 PM, I decided to get up. It was rainy and windy outside at that point, but I went out just before 2 PM and the rain stopped just then, though the wind remained and there were moments when I could barely move against it. Still, I was at the Sector 3 Treasury in 25 minutes, and just in time, because it closes at 4:30 PM but they stop dealing with state bonds at 2:30 PM! So the people working there were in a hurry, and quite snappish, the guard announced that the person who had arrived when I got in line to deposit the money was the last they’ll take, then the cashier even commented to another one that she gets so annoyed when the way I moved my hands caused the paper I had to sign to get blown back to her side, and then she also complained that I had bent the bills and the machine didn’t count them properly on first try. But I managed to hold it together and was done ten minutes after going in.
From there, I went to that confectionery, getting a Penguin cake. On the way and in the area, also checked two Mega Image stores and the new Penny, but didn’t get anything from any of them. And then I decided to also go to Kaufland after all, though I got a bit confused on the way and ended up next to a Carrefour Market, at which point I realized I wasn’t on the right route and turned around… Only to turn around yet again, meaning to also have a look in there, since the almonds I wanted should have been available in those stores too, but then remembered why, when checking the map, I hadn’t made any mental note of any Carrefour Market close to my route, since that one was “temporarily closed”. So I got back on the right route and had a look through Kaufland, just getting a few potatoes and forgetting about toilet paper. Then continued to the Carrefour from the park, going to the toilet before going in, then looking all over for those almonds that were on sale, but failing to find them and not asking. That ended up being a good thing, but I’ll get to that later, as that day it just made me lose a lot of time. Still, I got the cabbage I wanted, and also found that their panettone, which seems to surprisingly lack questionable ingredients, was finally on sale, so I got one of those, and the little cat food for Liza that was left, plus as much as I could afford of the one for Rocky, as it had appeared there again, and at their price, which is clearly the cheapest I know of.
After all that time spent there, I really had to hurry, but was back here just before 5:55 PM, as intended. Ate the Penguin then, but for the first time I didn’t like it. The fondant “belly” seemed to have a sting to it, which is actually the taste I associate with the candies that are called like that and why I don’t like them, but which wasn’t a taste I noticed in that cake so far, even though the ingredients do list it. And the fluffy dough filling was just bland, only the chocolate filling and the cracker “feet” having the taste and consistency I expected, though there also seemed to be less of that chocolate filling than usual.
Later that evening, I heard the fans being particularly loud after running Venetica for just a little while, and when I checked I saw that they were at an unusually high speed, so I went back to the game to check and saw that the CPU speed didn’t drop the way it tends to happen when the integrated GPU is pushed, and the temperatures did end up a fair bit higher than normal. That made me try Lords of Xulima as well, and when I saw the same behavior, the CPU remaining at normal speed and the integrated GPU being powered up on top of that, I wondered whether that BIOS setting not allowing additional power to be sent to the integrated GPU had somehow ended up changing itself. But when I also checked BorderZone, last Wednesday, I saw that the CPU speed did drop to 800 MHz, and I don’t recall what happened when I played Venetica or Lords of Xulima before and don’t seem to have made a note of it about either of them, while for some other games I did, so maybe this is normal and has to do with how the games use the hardware. Either way, since I loaded Lords of Xulima, actually wandered around a little and found that the next battle in the area I was focusing on didn’t need to be one I couldn’t win in a way I was comfortable with, as I remembered, I ended up getting back to that last Tuesday evening, and eventually also accepting to make use of some items in order to be able to win some of those battles I couldn’t have won otherwise, ending up getting back to that game as well and alternating between it and Venetica, taking it slowly with both but nevertheless making a bit of progress.

Since I didn’t run last week, I’ll now skip straight to this Monday’s run. Initially meant to go Tuesday, but when I saw Monday’s forecast listing a high of 10°C two days before, and 9°C the previous evening, I set my mind on going then, to be able to just wear the running t-shirt again, since Tuesday’s forecast was listing 7°C. But when I went to bed in the morning, I saw 7°C for Monday as well, yet as long as the part about the rain ending in the morning held true, I still meant to go. And it did, as it was wet and a bit foggy but no longer raining when my internal clock again worked just right and I woke up at 1:29 PM, the alarm being set to ring at 1:30 PM. However, when I checked the forecast again at that point, I saw the high listed as 5-6°C, and in the end the reported temperature when I went out, at 3:45 PM, was only 4°C, or even 3°C according to some sources, and supposed to hold steady for the next couple of hours. But I had already had the usual stuff plus almonds, out of the old ones I still had, and doughnuts with added honey as the sweet thing, and was wearing the running shoes, tights and t-shirt, with the old running shirt over it, so I went out as planned, despite leaving basically nothing in the toilet and telling dad just before going out that it was the sort of temperature that’d have called for wearing more under that shirt. Also grabbed some cans to drop in a bin on the way, and obviously also wore the jacket and the gloves, plus that thing around my neck and pulled up so I won’t also wear a mask on the way, but the jacket wasn’t quite enough and I was shivering on the way to the park, becoming increasingly worried and considering coming back to put some more clothes on or even leave the run for another day. Still, when I took it off and tied it around my waist after getting there, it wasn’t as bad as I feared.
The time was a frustrating 49:00.71, with sector times of 4:19.40, 5:13.14, 6:04 (6:03.96), 4:33 (4:32.93), 5:09 (5:08.92), 6:03 (6:02.96), 4:37.64, 5:14 (5:13.20), 5:58.38 and 1:50.18, making for lap times of 15:36.50, 15:45 (15:44.81) and 15:49.22. I meant for a more controlled first sector, trying to sprint on that long straight but not being too bothered when I couldn’t sustain it, and under those circumstances that time was quite good, but then the sector two time was bad, and so was the sector three one, which made me realize that I couldn’t even realistically aim to stay under 49 minutes, thinking of 49:30. However, lap two was all right, so I was thinking to just stay under 16 minutes on lap three as well and then likely stay under 49:15. Yet lap three’s sector three was surprisingly good under those circumstances, and after at first thinking it nevertheless wasn’t good enough, after seeing that I could maintain a decent pace up those stairs, I really tried to aim to stay under 49 minutes, giving it everything on the final straight, being bothered when a man was walking across the path and I had to change direction because of him, but in the end being held back by my nose drying and my nostrils starting to stick together, and since I wasn’t going to breathe through my mouth, I was losing speed towards the end and ended up so frustratingly close, but nevertheless failing… Not that aiming for 49 minutes isn’t in itself a failure.
In terms of problems, at first I was wondering whether it was even possible to run around the lake, since I could see ambulances on the bridge. Counted four when I first reached the bridge, but more might have been behind those, and a group of people had gathered, but they were on the other side, and on the bridge and stairs, not on the path, and by the time I went around and actually got there, the area seemed clear. Other than that, I already mentioned that it was wet, so there were a few puddles to go around and I might have been a bit more careful on the paved areas, and there were also quite a lot of people. No roadblocks, however, and I wouldn’t say that I even had to slow significantly because of them at any point, but there was plenty of weaving and going the long way around, plus some spots where I had to calculate my way through. There were plenty of runners too, including a couple of groups that seemed to be training, though apparently for football, but they were either running in the opposite direction or being much slower, so none I could get any benefit from. Physically I felt entirely fine though, which was something of a surprise, even more so when at least until sector two of lap two I kept thinking I was facing a choice between a completely embarrassing time and cutting the run short.

After taking a few moments to catch my breath, I put on my jacket and mask, pulled that thing up again as well, and first went to that Carrefour. Meant to jog there, but couldn’t do so for long, the way that thing was tied and how tight I had made it on my face making it really hard to breathe. Did position it better when I waited to cross the road, but didn’t really try to continue running the rest of the way then. And from Carrefour I just got some garlic, spending quite some time trying to get a quantity that’d cost a relatively round amount and being asked to step aside by some people who were shopping for others while doing so. And I wanted to reuse the bag and the glue on Carrefour’s labels is really good, so I just put it on a finger and held it out to the cashier to scan, telling her that I was holding it because I wanted to reuse the bag… And after she scanned it she took it and put it right on the bag. I repeated that I had wanted to reuse that bag at that point, and she had already realized what she had done and made a little comment, but it was too late, and my attempts to pry it off ended when the bag tore, so I left it like that.
From there, I continued to Kaufland, jogging much of the way there. While I had positioned that thing somewhat better, it was still quite hard to breathe with it covering my nose and I didn’t keep pushing when I was running out of breath, so I was switching between jogging and walking every so often. Then I got the beets I had gone there for, but also saw cheap enough apples sold by the “producer” selling there, since they started this program through which, in some locations, they give a spot to a producer to sell their fruits and vegetables inside the store. In that location I just saw one person selling apples, but at somewhat higher prices, so far, but now another person was there, also with apples, and the prices were a fair bit better, and they also had the kinds I prefer at those cheap prices, so I decided to get some, and then some more yogurt as well. When I calculated after that, I realized I’ll end up 0.26 RON short of what I’d need if I was to also go to that pharmacy and get some hand and heel creams I was thinking of getting… And found 0.18 RON in the self-checkout machines. Oddly, none of them were in use, and I grabbed the coins in the first one but used the second, which had some more coins, which was how I got to that amount. Those apples didn’t scan, but the employee was right next to me, having nobody else to help, and as soon as the message appeared she logged on and sorted it out, saying that those indeed won’t scan normally.
Well, if when I left the self-checkout area I was still 0.08 RON short, when I stopped to arrange my purchases in the one larger bag I had taken with me, I spotted a 0.10 RON coin and grabbed that as well. I still thought I’ll find a line at that pharmacy, but the fact that I had found the needed amount made me pass by it anyway… And I found no line whatsoever, being able to walk right in, which is a first since this whole situation started, and even more surprising considering the hour. Was a bit worried that I couldn’t spare a coin for the cabinet, but I just tied the bag and walked in with it and nobody said anything, likely because you could see through it and notice that I had yogurt, apples and beets, so nothing they’d sell. Hadn’t also dropped the garlic in it, leaving it in the jacket’s inside pocket, where I had put it while in Kaufland, to empty that bag in order to get both of those kinds of apples, but nobody asked about that bulge either. And I could find those two creams relatively quickly. The problem was that I had ended up considering them because I couldn’t see that they had ingredients I had ruled others out for, because they didn’t have all ingredients listed on the pharmacy’s site, and when I checked the packaging I saw that they contained those as well… But they’re made by Romanian companies, at least one is definitely cheap for the quantity, and I took the fact that things seemed to have sorted themselves out so nicely as a hint that I should get them then. And I didn’t have to wait in line at the checkout either, only one person being ahead of me.

Since I was carrying the purchases from Kaufland in a single, rather flimsy bag and had the garlic and creams in the jacket’s pocket, I didn’t try to jog again on the way back, and was here just before 7 PM, though that was after struggling for a few minutes to get my keys out of that special pocket the tights have, I guess no longer being used to deal with it after only using the old running pants for a while. Either way, 7 PM was when my computer was going to stop recording a show and end up completely idle, after MilkyWay@home had stopped sending work, so I wanted to be here by then and try to see whether the issue had been fixed, knowing that the work I still had available won’t last that long, the logs indeed stating that the last work units had been finished at 5:50 PM and 6:16 PM, respectively. It still took me about half an hour to actually get on the computer, taking care of other things first, and since the problem hadn’t been fixed by then, I spent a little more time rushing to reattach to World Community Grid and select just Africa Rainfall Project, being their only current project that at least can be said to have some sort of environmental component, and in fact the only one that’s not medical, those two work units starting at 7:38 PM and 7:40 PM, respectively, so my computer was underutilized for an hour and 50 minutes, and idle for over half an hour. Each of those tasks was using over 670 Mb of RAM, however, and while that amount could drop even to less than half when I was using the computer, I guess it meant using the swap file, and I definitely noticed the performance impact, so it’s not something I can continue running, but hoped it’d get me over this period.
Well, the problem was that I assumed the MilkyWay@home issue will be sorted out by the time I’ll wake up the next day, as the announcement indicated, but that was clearly not the case, and it was eventually announced that the maintenance will continue. Then again, those Africa Rainfall Project work units also finished much sooner than estimated, the first at a time when I couldn’t get on-line right away, and once I did it took a little while before I could get more work for that project, so my computer again ended up underutilized for exactly one hour. And then, since the second one was also about to finish and I couldn’t seem to get another one to take its place, I gave in and also briefly allowed work from OpenPandemics – COVID-19, so one core was only idle again for less than seven minutes… And less than 15 minutes after that, I was able to get one more Africa Rainfall Project work unit after all, so I guess I didn’t really need to also get those other ones, and definitely not four of them, each seeming to run for some two hours. But I couldn’t know that then and wanted to have something to keep the computer busy until I was likely to get back on-line, at night… At which point I allowed it to get two more Africa Rainfall Project work units, to last through the next day as well, so I was fine until MilkyWay@home seemed to be generating work again.

Since I got to Tuesday, that evening I used dad’s phone to send that guy I gave those 70 RON to a message, just asking what’s up, since the end of January, when he said he’ll call me to pay me back, passed, just to prod him a little, but also saying he can just thank me for the alms and leave it at that. The thing is that, despite repeatedly saying I wanted to send a message, dad handed me the phone and told me I needed to first enter the number, yet when I did so I noticed that it was calling. Had seemed strange to me, needing to do that without having a way to write the message first, and him saying that he can’t do that on his phone, but took his word for it until that happened… Still, that didn’t actually result in needing to deal with a call, but in noticing that either the guy’s phone was turned off or, despite asking me to call him at the time, so he won’t have to write my number to save it, he gave me a wrong number. Still, after struggling to figure out how to send a message and somehow having the phone end up doing other things, I went back to dad, explained once again that I just wanted to send a message, and after acting surprised, since of course he never listens, he sorted it out and I could finally send it. Whether it even gets anywhere remains to be seen.

Wednesday some people were coming over, so I planned to leave, setting the alarm to ring at 11:30 AM. It wasn’t easy to get up then, however, since I had a hard time getting back to sleep after waking up to pee, I believe at 9:10 AM, and actually think dad was up by the time I eventually managed it, and he had said he’ll get up at 10:30 AM. My internal clock still tried to work though, the dream I was having ending in a way which should have prompted me to wake up, but I knew I was too sleepy and was trying to fight it when the alarm settled things. Then I grabbed something to eat, quickly checked something on-line, noticing that those nice yogurts were on that two for the price of one sale again at Auchan, took the recyclables and left a bit after 1:05 PM.
After dropping off everything except a small bag of those things I drop off at Kaufland in a nearby bin, I went to Obor, going to Carrefour first, grabbing a bread and a cozonac, and then deciding to also get a huge pastry, the person who was there actually placing it on the scales to bag and label it, which allowed me to see that it was almost twice the listed weight! But I found myself unwilling to check out with those products, costing 20.88 RON, when I just had a 50 RON bill, so I ended up hiding those three things on a bottom shelf, behind some larger bread, and rushing to Kaufland first, dropping off those things and getting one bread from there as well, plus two pretzels. The pretzels that were on sale were a kind that I had decided against getting before, but I no longer saw anything that bothered me among the ingredients then, the problem being that just one seemed to be left… Yet just as I was about to get it, an employee came with a full tray and actually told me to wait for warm ones as she dropped them there. I still just took one at first, then placed my bags on some cakes, trying to figure out how to hold them, and an older woman told me to put them elsewhere, so the cakes won’t get warm or dirty, though they were in hard plastic cases, but after that I decided to grab a second and then used the self-checkout without issues and rushed back to Carrefour, scratching my hand in the cabinet door as I placed the purchases in one before going in… And not only finding my stuff where I had left it, and no more of those pastries left, so I couldn’t have gotten one if I wouldn’t have asked for it the first time around, but also finding eggs at the old cheap price, some having just been placed among the expiring products, though they weren’t, and an employee actually just changing the price to that cheap one on the shelf right after I selected the 20 I wanted.
After a toilet break, and thoroughly washing that scratch and then also using disinfectant from a dispenser, I quickly passed through that Auchan as well, getting tea but forgetting all about the yogurt and not turning around when I remembered, just meaning to get one more of those pastries I got on my way back from one of those long walks in November, from that confectionery that’s open until 9 PM. They didn’t seem to have any left, however, but I spotted something else I was interested in, for the same price, on my way to that tiny bakery I had also meant to check out on the way back from one of those long walks. So I first had a quick look in that bakery, then went back, seeing that the line in front of that pastry place had also cleared. One person was left, however, and she started arguing with the employee, and while I didn’t pay attention right away, I started to when I noticed her aggressive tone, the problem apparently being that she had asked for two of each of two kinds of pastries, and to have them placed in two bags, one of each in each bag, and the employee was probably confused by the request at first. And then the situation escalated very quickly, the customer lashing out and even starting to insult the employee, the employee losing her cool and snapping back, another employee coming to have a look and sort of standing in the area, seeming unsure what to do… And in the end the employee didn’t place the pastries in the bags as requested anyway, saying that sweet and salty ones won’t go in the same bag, which made the customer even angrier, at that point for good reason, and the argument continued until the employee asked what I wanted and told the other customer that she’d been making me wait. She didn’t give me a receipt though, and under the circumstances I didn’t ask for it, just continuing on my way and entering the building just after 5:25 PM. Went to bed at 5:20 AM again.

And now I’ll get to the day I skipped at first, which is Friday. With coffee being 30% off at Kaufland that day, I meant to get up when I’ll first wake up to pee without feeling too exhausted, but put a tomato in the salad I ate at night, so I first went to pee at 7:20 AM, which was too early. So I got up the second time, seeing 8:54 AM when I did, and left at 10:05 AM, taking the plastic and metal and a pile of cables and small electronics dad wanted to throw away, plus those things I take to Kaufland, and being pleasantly surprised when I saw that it was snowing. Far less pleasant was feeling my heart beating irregularly again on the way, though at least it seemed to mostly sort itself out after I got there, as there were just a few more such heartbeats on the way back, quite clearly triggered by moving in certain ways.
Either way, dropped off the plastic and metal in the bin that’s at the entrance of the mall that Carrefour’s in, then went in and got almonds, which is why I said earlier that not finding those other ones turned out to be a good thing, since the 500 gram pack was on sale instead of the 200 gram one, the price per unit of weight being even better; shockingly so, for that matter. Also got some potatoes, then went to Kaufland, dropped off the rest of the stuff and got what I meant to get, though I looked all over for one more thing my mother wanted before finally spotting some. The bag of onions wouldn’t scan when I wanted to check the price, and another person who was checking the price for something else tried to help me but she couldn’t get it to scan either, and it still didn’t scan right away at the self-checkout, but I used the gun and after a few attempts it finally worked. The machine started beeping then, but it kept working, yet I also had dad’s Kaufland Card, which he had recently made, to use the discount he had on it, and wasn’t sure how, so I selected to pay by voucher, then couldn’t leave that menu to select cash instead, needing to call the employee to sort it out. Then I walked back, stopping a couple of times to arrange things in the bags and backpack, and a couple more times because the bag with the toilet paper kept slipping from my hand, being hard to hold, and I guess that also made the stuff feel much heavier.
Was back just after 1 PM, but wanted pretzels, having found none at Kaufland, so I just dropped everything off and went back out to this nearby Mega Image, finding two with poppy seeds and getting them, at least as soon as I could, since it’s such a small place and that area was crowded and I had to wait for a chance to even just squeeze through, also keeping the distance being out of the question. And then, when checking out, the old man ahead of me didn’t have enough money, so it took a while until the cashier worked out what to leave aside until he could afford what was left, but I should note that she really was helpful and understanding and really tried to work out how to let him have the most useful things. And then I finally got back for good and dad left.

Well, that was the nice, easy part of that day. The rest of it started after 8 PM, when he got back. He said he’ll take a bath, but I was exhausted, and had disconnected right away anyway, so I didn’t use the opportunity to spend more time on-line, instead telling him I’ll take a nap and getting in bed… Only to be woken up by someone insistently knocking and ringing the doorbell, I think roughly around 9:45 PM. Since the person wasn’t going away and I could hear the water, so dad wasn’t going to answer, I eventually crawled out of bed, thinking to sneak to the door and try to have a look… And stepped in a puddle as soon as I left my room. Had actually thought of flooding right away, but placed a hand on the floor after waking up and it was dry in my room, making that puddle even more of a shock, since the source was clearly the bathroom, meaning that dad would have reacted to it unless he was unable to and making me to barge in there, spurred by the mental image of finding him dead in the bathtub.
Fortunately, I was greeted by the sight of him getting up from the overflowing bathtub, seeming rather dazed but obviously alive and saying he didn’t know why it happened when I said he flooded the place. So at first I left the bathroom, stepped back to leave the wet part of the hallway and just stood there, rather stunned, until the knocking and ringing, which had stopped for a couple of minutes, resumed. At that point I rushed back to the bathroom, finding him still naked and rather inefficiently trying to mop up the water and moving in to help, stepping on something so I won’t keep standing in the puddle, though my slippers and socks were already wet anyway, and grabbing a little rug, using it to soak water from the floor and wringing it in the bathtub. That allowed him to throw on a bathrobe and go to the door, saying something so the downstairs neighbor, since that was obviously who it was, went away to get to work on limiting the damage to his apartment.
By the time he returned, I was wondering whether the stuff floating in the bathtub was vomit or shit, so I asked him and he said it was likely vomit. Then I asked whether he had fallen asleep and he said he had. Also asked whether he was all right, and he said he was, but that’s quite clearly proven to be a lie as soon as he also went back to gathering the water, using a dustpan and leaning heavily on the bathtub and struggling to take a couple of laborious breaths each time he dumped its contents in it. So I asked whether he had really fallen asleep or passed out, he repeated that he had fallen asleep, I kept asking whether he was all right, he kept saying he was even though he obviously wasn’t, I asked whether I should call an ambulance, he firmly refused, and I eventually told him that if he really was all right he should go to the bedroom and deal with the carpeting, move the bed and do whatever else needed to be done there.
Since he did go, I was growing increasingly worried with every passing moment, being unable to keep him under observation anymore, but I continued to gather the water until it wasn’t a puddle anymore, then went to check on him… And found him in bed, facedown, the bed, carpeting and everything else untouched. At that point I just reacted, since he obviously wasn’t telling the truth and the mental image of finding him dead in bed wasn’t much better than that of finding him dead in the bathtub, saying I was going to call, we’re not discussing it anymore. He lifted himself a bit, shouted after me to keep refusing, telling me to stop it, but I grabbed the phone and called, trying to describe what happened despite the panic and the fact that talking to people messes me up, and doing so on the phone makes it even worse. He kept telling me to stop, at one point said he drank too much, but he wasn’t getting up and, if that was the case, it was too late to come clean in that manner, and I never saw dad drunk, so I obviously hadn’t thought of that possibility, though if there ever was a time when it’d have been a plausible explanation, it was likely that day, considering whom he had visited and how long it had been. Either way, the operator asked whether he could stand and push up on his arms, I asked him and he said he could, but when I asked him to prove it he refused, so I said in that case I’ll assume he can’t, had her hold for a few seconds to try to get him to cooperate, then walked away to continue talking, asking her what to do if he refuses help. And since she said she’d recommend having someone over to at least have a look at him, I agreed and was connected to the ambulance operator, quickly explaining the situation to her as well and saying I hope I won’t be fined for calling for no reason if he refuses, to which she said I don’t have to worry about that.
I went back to work after that, also having the quite gross matter of the bathtub’s drain being clogged with vomit and hair to deal with, but had to stop mere minutes later, when the paramedics rang the doorbell. Despite having quite a few hospitals nearby, I had expected them to need quite some time to get here, especially under the current circumstances, but they pleasantly surprised me. That still left me uncertain what to do, however, though that only applied for the first couple of seconds, since I knew I had to grab a mask, starting to rush to my room for it but ending up running to the kitchen first, since as soon as they stepped inside they asked how could we breathe that air, taking a look and telling me to turn off the stove and open the windows. Not that it was necessary for someone to confirm that dad needs to stop always leaving the stove on, using it for heating, or that there’s any point in it happening, since he won’t change his behavior, but at least it made me feel at ease leaving it off and the kitchen window open after they left as well, thinking I’ll tell him the paramedics requested it if he’ll complain.
Either way, they asked where the patient was and came after me, making for a moment of confusion when I first went to my room, to grab a mask, and he obviously wasn’t there. But I sent them to the other bedroom and then followed them there after putting on the mask… Only to find dad again refusing anything. He had fallen asleep again by the time they arrived and I wonder whether he had even woken up by the time they entered the room, and exactly how much of him was showing from underneath the bathrobe at that point, but when I got there the one who seemed to be in charge was apologizing for having bothered him, saying I called them or they obviously wouldn’t have come, and asking him to write that he refuses any aid and sign while he tried to sound rather amused by the situation, saying I must have just gotten scared and he can’t understand why I’d do something like that. They also asked for his ID card and he actually got up then, going with the other paramedic to grab it, leaving me to face the one who had been doing all the talking and trying to explain why I had called them and pretty much just getting a tight-lipped frown in return.
After that, they left, apologizing for having bothered him again and telling me, just as they were going out the door, to also write down that my father refuses their aid. So I rushed to do so, though I doubt anyone could have understood my handwriting under those circumstances and they frowned when they had a look, but when I said I could try to write more nicely I was told that, if that’s my handwriting, it is how it is, and they walked away. I still tried to ask one more time whether they couldn’t at least check his blood pressure or something, but was told that they won’t do anything against the patient’s will, and gave me more tight-lipped frowns as I again apologized for calling them.
When I got back to the bedroom, dad seemed asleep again, didn’t move as I checked his pulse, though it was over 100, and soon started snoring. So I grabbed a blanket from the living room to cover him, since he was lying on the ones he had there, continued to unclog the bathtub’s drain until the water finally drained away and got to work on limiting the damage in the bedroom, pulling up what I could of the carpeting from that area, moving the nightstand out, emptying the bed’s large drawer from that side and then somehow managing to pull that out as well, pulling up a little more of the carpeting, finding the hair dryer and having the poor thing run for the next several hours, aimed at various spots, not that it did much to help, getting a stool to pull that corner of the carpeting up on it, eventually getting a rag and the bucket and starting to try to gather some of the water soaked into the carpeting that way, and then, as I was getting exhausted, also putting the new electric heater to use, though it automatically shuts down when tipped over, so I could just leave it on until it got as hot as it was going to get, then tip it over and place it under the carpeting until it cooled. Since dad stopped snoring at one point, after that moment I’d also keep checking to make sure he was still breathing.
After some three hours of this, close to 2 AM, he woke up, I asked him how he felt, he said his lower back hurt, which he had said before going to take a bath as well, I asked how are things other than that, and he said that other than that he’s just fine, what could be wrong? Then he got up, went to the living room and got on the phone, passing by a couple more times over the next hour to see what I was doing, at one point saying mother said the next day was a major holiday and we shouldn’t work. I looked oddly at him and gestured vaguely around, telling him I don’t give a fuck, we have a lot of work to do, and when he came by the next time he said we’ll move the bed, because we’d make too much noise if we’d do it that night, but at least shouldn’t wash things. I asked what else should I be doing then, saying I’ll just crash if I don’t keep busy, and he just left again.
Though I had replaced the rag with the mop, which made it easier, by 3 AM I was completely exhausted, took the wheels off that heater and got it under the bed, but just couldn’t keep working otherwise, and as soon as I stopped I rather went catatonic, just sitting there and staring at nothing, rocking back and forth… He passed by a couple more times, went to the toilet, said something he ate must have disagreed with him as well, which was why he had thrown up, at one point just came to the bedroom claiming to look for that stool I had lifted that corner of the carpeting on, and eventually started moving what he could move around me, ignoring me, opening the window and leaving it open as he returned to the living room and I continued to just sit there with wet feet in wet slippers. Around 4 AM he returned and asked me to help him move the bed after all, and I sort of just did what I was told, freezing and staring blankly the rest of the time, so it’s all rather foggy. But I know that after getting things in a state he was content with for the moment, he tried to get the wheels back on that heater and couldn’t figure out how, or at least claimed to not know how, so I crouched next to it and did it, then was left in that position, again staring blankly as he left again for a little bit.
When he returned, he said he was going to bed, again, and told me to withdraw to my room as well… Which I did, after managing to sort of wash my feet a little bit in the bathroom sink, leave my slippers to dry next to the living room heater and get new socks. Eating was obviously out of the question at that point, and I also didn’t think I was going to sleep, but after staying on-line until then, just before 6:30 AM I did get in bed, and I think I managed three pretty brief and agitated naps, full of weird dreams, until I dragged myself back out of it, at 2:20 PM.

When he saw me up, he said he was going to call mother and tell her he fell asleep and flooded, meaning he had talked to her at night as if nothing happened and hadn’t told her then, but won’t mention I called an ambulance, repeatedly saying it’s beyond his comprehension why I did that. Asked if I agreed to that and I didn’t say anything, so he just repeated that it was beyond his comprehension and went to talk. Well, I refuse to feel guilty or embarrassed for acting in the manner I determined the situation called for, when he was obviously not all right and not telling the truth, and frankly, considering how hard communicating with others is for me, I expected a reaction that was quite the opposite of that. And if he can’t understand why I did it, maybe he should think a little for a change…
Either way, since I got to Saturday, I also restarted Witch’s Wake that day and quickly went through that part I hadn’t experienced initially, to see what I missed before finishing the review for Kingmaker, which I posted the following day. Back to Saturday evening, he moved things again in the bedroom, to leave the flooded part to dry, and asked me to help him with the bed, and at one point I did something to my back while helping with that, which made it feel even worse for a while, though by the next day it seemed to have returned to “just” causing me the “normal” amount of trouble.

Before finishing what’s the longest post I ever wrote, I’ll also add that I was taking a nap now, definitely not meaning to get on-line and post this before eating tonight, and had told dad that I was going to take a nap, but found myself roughly woken up when he loudly knocked on my door to let me know he had disconnected… And was going to shave and take a shower before going to bed. Wonder if it was his way of ensuring I’ll be awake when he goes in there again, or at least that I won’t wake up and just hear the water, since it’s the first time he washes since this happened… Though now that he came out and I asked, he said he had no idea I was sleeping and that I never told him, and then, when I said I did tell him, that I didn’t say it loudly or clearly enough, which is what he always says when he just doesn’t listen, which is almost always the case.

With this expansion consisting of three entirely separate modules, I’ll review each of them separately, tackling them in turn here but also keeping the MobyGames review format in mind, to be able to relatively easily make the necessary changes and post there as well. One thing I need to make a note of, however, is that Kingmaker is the only complete module out of the three, with ShadowGuard being a first chapter or prologue and Witch’s Wake downright incomplete, ending quite suddenly, but I finished it almost three and a half years after starting it, while I played the other two from start to end after it, within the past year, so details or aspects I’d have otherwise mentioned may well slip my mind, especially when it comes to its early parts, which I played before taking a break that ended up lasting over two and a half years.

Getting right to it, on top of being the only included module that’s actually complete, containing the entire adventure, Kingmaker also tries to do some interesting things. Even the, if I may use the term, initial beginning may fall under this category, but I’d start with the first “character” introduced after what is in fact the real beginning, which is another talking weapon, taking good cues from Hordes of the Underdark but improving upon the concept, as this time around you get to choose the type and it also improves as you level, the improvements also being chosen by the player out of the available options. Then, there’s something to be said about the manner in which choosing companions is handled, and they all have their own personalities and stories, all of which can gradually be revealed, at least for the ones that are chosen, and the voice acting is also competent. And then there’s the overall story, which does try to have interesting elements, and twists towards the end, though how successful and engaging it ends up being is likely a subjective assessment, a matter of personal preference. One manner in which you can fail, angering your weapon, is a nice touch though.
On the other hand, I wasn’t keen on the actual gameplay. It’s rather straightforward, with tasks to complete in order to gain the required support before advancing to the final confrontation, and there’s choice when it comes to the order or even whether to attempt some at all, but what really frustrated me was the time limit. It might be possible to do and explore everything if you make haste and also accept the experience penalty and actually use your companions, but considering how the passage of time is triggered, I’m not sure even then, and either way I ended up missing out on a few things despite using every trick to gain more time. Admittedly, much of my time was spent grinding on the weak enemies that constantly respawn and I’d have managed much more without doing that, but wonder if it’d have even been possible to complete those quests without the levels gained in that manner, seeing as I wasn’t going to sacrifice even more experience and therefore didn’t take my companions to help in combat. And what added to the frustration towards the end was that, if you complete a quest’s objectives but can’t also turn it in before the vote, you can’t do so later, even if the NPC in question is still available and you talk to them.
I’d actually call this last issue a bug, and the same goes for the fact that the viewing angle is left in that “cinematic” one after cutscenes. Having all weapon upgrades available from the beginning may be another bug, seeing as the dialogue seems to indicate that they shouldn’t be, but at least that was a useful bug instead of a frustrating one. Other frustrating issues, however, had to do with constantly needing to hold my character back from rushing to Alias, and with how little money can be gained, how little loot is available, especially when it comes to useful loot, in my case the characters being rather naked most of the time and even so and despite only selling and buying at the end, to earn the most and pay the least, and obviously also reloading until I was sure I got the best possible prices, I was only able to afford a few things before moving on towards the ending.
Overall, it’s not a bad module, and it’s definitely much better if played as intended instead of how I played it. But the way it’s intended to be played is a way I’m not in the least comfortable with, so for me it was quite frustrating in plenty of ways. That said, the developers did try, and there are quite a few positive aspects as well, mainly when it comes to the characters and a couple of gameplay “tricks”, and maybe to some extent also to the overall story.

Moving on to ShadowGuard, I unfortunately don’t have many good things to say. Some interesting things are done with the cutscenes, but probably the one moment that truly is notable is offered by the book that is “played out”. Other than that, I definitely appreciated being able to have unlimited uses of the best damage cantrip on the staff, plus other items with uses per day, even if just one most of the time. And I also welcomed the attempt to limit resting by making it require food, though mostly as a concept, since food is cheap and more than enough, at least in my view, can simply be found.
The negative aspects, on the other hand, start with the very beginning, or more exactly with the fact that not even the slightest hint is ever offered about why it starts as it does. Of course, explanations were likely planned for later, this clearly having been intended as the first chapter or prologue of a much longer adventure, but that’s in no way an excuse. It may be an excuse for the fact that it’s so short, takes place in so few areas, is limited to low character levels and ends pretty much when the “real” adventure would begin, but that doesn’t make those facts less frustrating either.
Speaking of frustration, high on the list of causes for it was not only needing to accept the experience penalty for having companions along, some enemies being impossible to kill otherwise, but also having plenty of kills “stolen” completely by friendly NPCs fighting the hostiles, plus one place where Markus automatically shows up next to you before the battle even if you left him behind and therefore “stealing” kills completely in that situation. Other than that, at the Control Stone it’s likely a matter of repeatedly reloading until you happen to survive, and that definitely is the case with the slavers, while once you do you may find that you lost some weapons, if you were carrying too many around, and Markus won’t recover his at all. In addition, there’s no decent source of equipment left once things get nasty, until after the Control Stone.
Another issue was a particularly strange bug I only experienced while playing this specific module: I couldn’t take screenshots, the file created whenever I tried being empty, having no extension and being replaced each time. And, while I’m at bugs, companions normally want to hold on to their equipment, but if you make one dual wield, you can then take the main weapon away, in which case it ends up being treated as a plot item, can’t be sold and if you attempt to give it back, a copy will be created, creating infinite weapons if for some reason you care to. But equipment you give companions may also end up treated as theirs, so they’ll refuse to give it back without using this trick, which may lead to other issues later, especially if you mean to take something back from one and give it to another. On the other hand, I guess the fact that it instantly autosaves when loading the game in some areas is intentional behavior, not a bug, but it makes the autosave slot pointless.
Overall, ShadowGuard might have had some merit if complete, especially if those bugs and frustrating design choices would have also been fixed. As it is, however, with pretty much only those interesting moments offered by some cutscenes going for it and a couple of other storylines that seem to begin and then get completely forgotten, I’d say it doesn’t even serve to create interest for a potential continuation, and I for one wasn’t even curious enough to check whether one exists. Not that it’d have been much of an excuse for its inclusion in this expansion either way, a first part intended to generate interest in the full product being the basis of the old concept of shareware, meaning that it should have been distributed for free, while Kingmaker, as in the expansion, wasn’t.

By contrast, Witch’s Wake shows immense potential, alongside creativity and attention to detail, much effort being made to push the editor. A long list of custom subraces are supported; there are custom models even for some of the basic gear and common enemies; experience is granted bit by bit, little of it for combat and more for advancing the story, learning new things, entering new areas or obtaining important items, which also makes the low character level much less of an issue; there seems to be an entire system, a small game in itself, for dying and resurrecting; there are a lot of checks in many situations and they’re clearly spelled out; crafting also seems important, or at least intended as such… Above all of that, there’s good writing, there’s lore, there are hints of depth and promises of many twists and turns to come, and it all really feels like a story, which is greatly aided by the manner in which it is narrated. Choosing this form of presentation, relying on a single voice, that of a narrator, is a risk, but in Witch’s Wake it works beautifully and she delivers a stunning performance every step of the way.
The main problem is that Witch’s Wake is incomplete. I checked and no continuation seems to exist, and what’s here can’t even be called an episode or prologue, as it just suddenly ends in a manner that brings more questions than answers and even leaves what seems to be this part’s main quest hanging. In addition, as I repeated that final conversation, wanting to make sure I went through all the options, the very end failed to trigger more often than not, making me need to force the game closed. What’s apparently an important side quest is also impossible to complete, and that side quest, if completed, struck me as possibly offering another method of gaining access to what you miss out on if you refuse to do what the Night Hag asks, the fact that you miss an entire aspect of the game in that situation being another thing that bothered me, especially since you can’t know the consequences of the choices you make then, or what it may mean if you’re told, and given, one thing or another, since there’s randomness involved. Strangely, the journal entry states that you did accept even if you didn’t, but then again the journal’s not exactly helpful in general, even side quests not being listed, much less other information.
In terms of gameplay, Witch’s Wake can be seen as a brief demonstration of different things to do, creative ways of pushing the editor, but the obvious effort put into it and the story and all the depth and complexity it hints at seem to indicate that the aim was much higher. It oozes potential, showing effort, talent and creativity. If completed in a manner fulfilling all of this apparent potential, it might well have surpassed Hordes of the Underdark as the best content included in Neverwinter Nights: Diamond. Unfortunately, it seems to have been far too ambitious for what the developers could actually do, ending up abandoned but nevertheless included as it was, without even being given an ending suitable for an episode or prologue, leaving it a memorable but ultimately frustrating and underwhelming experience.

Since I have nowhere else to put this, I’ll start by mentioning that there were no visits recorded again on January 13 and 18. But, to get to the beginning of the period covered by this post, though I meant to wait until I’ll switch the associations before doing it, I ended up switching to using Vivaldi for Facebook as well in the early hours of January 9… And went to bed at 5:20 AM again that morning. But I mentioned switching the associations, and I stuck to my plan with that, changing settings to make Vivaldi generally the default browser on January 14, though I’m still keeping no actual, full, default browser. I’m still thinking of installing another one, mainly because I’d rather not be logged on Facebook and Google in the browser I use for everything else, and also don’t want to keep logging off and back on each time, but there’s still nothing else catching my interest except perhaps Pale Moon, which may also no longer be supported, or at least not properly.

Going back a bit, on January 10 I received Pillars of Eternity: Definitive Edition from likely the greatest giveaway yet on the GOG.com forum, again organized by that same user who is so incredibly generous time and time again, and also creative, this time around truly bringing back a community spirit that seemed forever lost, many others wanting to get involved and some doing so in ways I didn’t think possible anymore. Also started the included novella that evening, finishing it and writing a really quick review on January 14, but when it came to actually downloading the game, Vivaldi acted very oddly, constantly creating new processes and using all memory until I managed to force it to close, at a point when it had some 250 running processes. I was more careful when I tried again, starting the large downloads separately and checking each time, and it didn’t do it again then, but then it did happen again the next day, while downloading Spiritfarer.
I ended up doing that because the games not given away in the actual giveaway were donated to The Community Giveaway said following day, and despite feeling awfully awkward about it, I asked for that one from there as well, and received it. And, as I already mentioned, Vivaldi again messed up while downloading it, and that time I decided to wait it out, to see what happened, and after creating some 850 processes and obviously pretty much freezing my system before it finished, it eventually did complete the download and close those additional processes on its own, though a very long time passed between the moment when the download was listed as having reached 100% and those processes closing and the message that it had completed showing up. And I’ll also mention here that it was again 5:20 AM by the time I got in bed that morning.

Still on the topic of games, I’m obviously yet to write that review for Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker, but on January 18 I finished Syberia II and, since I never intended to write a full one, posted the quick review for it that same evening. And then, after eating, or more exactly after stuffing myself with mamaliga with quite a bunch of things added in it, I got back to Venetica, trying to remember how to play and what to do, after having dropped it in November of 2019. I’m yet to actually advance, and the fact that I’ll be losing attribute points from now on, since it seems the point automatically gained each level doesn’t get added if an attribute is already at 100, adds to the frustration, but I’m poking around the area and do mean to make myself push forward soon enough.
But, since I was at the early hours of January 19, I’ll also mention here that, when I disconnected before going to bed that morning, the network adapter vanished from the list again. It reappeared when I enabled it again from the Device Manager and didn’t vanish again since then, though I didn’t reboot, but it was something of a concern when I backed up on the external HDD after waking up, apparently for the first time since October, as I’m wondering whether I backed up the system in a state that had an error.

Going back a bit one more time, on January 12 I cleaned my room a little, also changing the sheets and flipping the mattress to the “winter” side. Didn’t read anything that day though, and in the evening I might have chipped a tooth a little in the pit of a sour cherry from a candy. And at night I noticed that the pasta I had made quite some time before and hadn’t gotten to finish, since plenty of other things had been brought during that period, had formed a film of mold on top, so I had to throw that part away and then, since I was making mamaliga again that night, get to what was left the next day, after first sort of washing, then thoroughly boiling, and then microwaving it as well. And there were three servings of sarmale left as well, and those also really needed to be finished, since dad had apparently left all of them to me and I just couldn’t get through everything, so I mixed one serving into the mamaliga made that night and then at least split the remaining two with him two days later.

Getting to the runs, an absolutely awful one was on January 15. I woke up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, but slept poorly and kept waking up, having strange dreams… Either way, had the usual stuff plus hazelnuts, with some of those better biscuits with added honey as the sweet thing again, finally opening that jar of honey to offer myself a little more before a run in such conditions. Didn’t leave much in the toilet though, and was out the door a bit before at 3:15 PM, also taking the paper, to drop it off in a bin along the way. Wore the old running pants and shirt, with an undershirt and two t-shirts underneath, the regular shoes and also that thing around my neck, pulled up to cover my nose and mouth. Also had the gloves, and the jacket for the walk, with quite a lot of things in its inside pocket again, so I again had to be careful when I tied it around my waist before starting to run. Though the forecast had threatened with worse, the reported temperature was 2-3°C, it was sunny and there was little wind, which meant that at least that second t-shirt was too much and I ended up overheating at one point, being relieved, at least from this point of view, when the light started going down and the temperature dropped a little more.
Knowing I’ll have an utterly dreadful time for ten kilometers, I went for 16, aiming for 1:22, though at first I of course still held on to a shred of hope that I’ll surprise myself and manage 1:20… And only managed a dreadful 1:23:23, with sector times of 4:29, 5:31, 6:20, 4:51, 5:25, 6:15, 4:49, 5:24, 6:24, 4:58, 5:29, 6:25, 5:00, 5:40 and 6:23, making for lap times of 16:20, 16:31, 16:37, 16:52 and 17:03. Did admittedly start with that thing pulled up to also cover my nose, both to protect it and trying to see what effects that had, but the quick estimate I made at the end of the first sector was that it was likely to cost me two and a half to three minutes over the five laps, so there was no way to continue like that and I pulled it down. Even so, realized after sector two of lap one that I had to push to even stay under the slowest ever time over this distance, that 1:24:06 I managed the first time I covered it, and it was only after lap four that I knew I was going to at least manage that and wondered whether 1:23:30 was possible. Not that managing that made it noticeably less of an embarrassment. And it really was all I had, pushing, trying take longer steps, to sprint on the straights, but just being unable to sustain the pace, probably the only good thing being that I at least used the run to try to figure out how I step, how my feet hit and move.
My left ankle started bothering me relatively early, possibly even on lap two, and it definitely was bothering me on lap three, though it never became that much of a problem. Other than that, dogs caused a roadblock on the long sector two straight on lap one, and it was again dogs that made me slow at one point on the same straight on lap five, though the worst roadblock, clearly costing me a few seconds, was caused by people on the long straight on sector one of lap two. And there were a fair number of people in general, but those were the major issues, otherwise just needing to weave and go the long way around. On the other hand, on that long sector two straight on lap four I heard someone coming quickly from behind, made sure I left the way clear, gave a thumbs up as I was overtaken… Then had a look and saw that the guy was quite old, and he just rushed past me and went off into the distance. And he wasn’t just doing a short sprint, because by the time I turned towards the bridge he was past it, and the last time I could see him was on the long sector three turn, when he got to the end of it and the start of the turn going in the other direction when I was reaching the place with kurtoskalacs.

After that awful run, I went on my planned route, first checking prices at the Carrefour from the park but not getting anything from there. Also spotted an €1 coin on the floor, but just picked it up and placed it on the counter of the tiny store that was there, and noticed a guy searching himself and then taking a firm step towards me when I did that, so maybe it was his, but I just walked away and didn’t even look to see whether he took it. Then I went to Auchan, actually finding myself on the way to Kaufland before realizing that I wanted to go to Auchan first and turning around. Realized almost immediately that, from where I had ended up, it’d have likely been faster to keep going and turn left a bit later, but I didn’t want to turn around yet again, so I just kept going and got bread and garlic from there. Then I finally went to Kaufland as well, getting a few things from there too and also grabbing an empty box that dad was likely to use. I also wanted a pretzel, but they had none left, so on the way back, with the places around the metro station already closed, I had a quick look, from the door, in that Mega Image that’s next to the pharmacy and then, after reaching it just before closing, also just taking a couple of steps inside this one that’s across the road, to try to look there as well, but they seemed to have none left either, so I did without and was back at exactly 9 PM… And in bed at 5:20 AM again.
After all of that, I woke up at 7:45 AM and couldn’t get back to sleep, cutting my losses after an hour and getting back on the computer for an hour and a half, and I’m quite sure it was past 11 AM when I finally fell asleep again. At 1:55 PM I meant to get up and pee, but when I saw the time I thought it was too late to get back to sleep, yet couldn’t really get up, being both too tired and too depressed, so it took me another full hour to actually get up. At least I got a pretty good nap in the evening… Though then it was yet again 5:20 AM when I got back in bed.

Moving on, Wednesday I left a bit after 4:05 PM, first going to that Carrefour from Obor, using a variant of that shorter route first used two months ago, to also avoid the market area, thinking I’ll have a look and then also go to that Auchan, looking mainly for bread and perhaps some more of Liza’s food. However, I found that food at the same price at Carrefour and the bread I get from there, which actually seems to be much better in that location, had the 50% discount for expiring products, so I got some of that as well and there was no more need to go to Auchan. Also found a good sale for those bagels my mother wants, getting quite a lot, plus bread for dad that was also 50% off. And I also got the lemons I did mean to get from there, and another one of those 3 kg bags of oranges, actually getting one that was also 50% off, noticing a place with spoiling and damaged ones that were discounted in this manner and finding one in which all seemed fine bar the remains of a squashed and moldy one. Weighed it and saw 2.7 kg, so I guess they had removed as much as they could of that one before placing the bag there and I ended up paying 50% less and getting just 10% less.
I did mean to do one more thing in that area, and that was to check that place I got pretzels from on my first long walk to “pay” with PET bottles, wanting to see whether I had correctly identified it when trying to look it up. So I got there during Biden’s speech and was just having a look while listening to that on the radio on my phone, but the woman who was there kept trying to talk to me, which was obviously even more awkward than it’d have normally been, so I walked away perhaps faster than I’d have otherwise intended, and obviously without buying anything.
That left me with plenty of time, and after having quickly checked one Mega Image from that area on the way to that place, I decided to check the others as well, looking for products with the 50% discount, including some pastries. There was nothing interesting in that first one, but in the second one I found a “creamy” yogurt and a pack of quail eggs. Didn’t get them then though, moving on to the second one and grabbing some black radishes, after asking what the price was, since it seemed that they had discounted all the ones they had left and there were no more at the regular price, or even a price label for them. I had also spotted some pastries that were also discounted in that manner, but somehow forgot to grab them when I got the radishes and after the cashier muttered something that sounded like a complaint about the fact that she had to count the exact change I had given her when it was near closing time while in the morning, when she needs coins, nobody gives her any, I didn’t go back. But I then crossed the road to the fourth Mega Image from that area and found a couple of discounted pastries I wanted to get there as well, so I got those instead. And then I got back to the second one, seeing that yogurt and those eggs still there and getting those as well.
Finally made my way back after that and was entering the building just after 9:10 PM, having carried some 16.5 kg, including clothes and the usual stuff in my pockets. With that thing covering my nose as well, I was breathing rather heavily at times, but since I had the backpack and that bag I hang around my neck and the bags I carried in my hands were also pretty balanced, I didn’t struggle. On the other hand, it was only then, after taking them out of the bag, that I noticed that one of the quail eggs wasn’t just cracked, but had a hole in it, and later saw several more that were cracked, all of them from one area, so on top of expiring soon, that pack had been struck in that spot. But even that one with the hole ended up being fine, since dad already ate it, along with a few others, and I ate three more tonight, putting them alongside the piece of fish that was left in the mamaliga I made.
Back to Wednesday evening, I had an orange and a few crackers with honey before showering, but then only started eating dinner at 3:15 AM, and only moved to my room to continue an hour later, finishing half an hour after that. And it was actually 5:35 AM when I got in bed… And woke up the second time around 9:40 AM, washed all dad had left in the kitchen, peed, and then my mind was too busy to let me get back to sleep before some neighbor started banging loudly. After a while someone knocked and rang the doorbell too, but didn’t try again when nobody answered… Eventually the noise died down and I could start drifting in and out of a restless sleep, and finally actually catch a little nap, but a bit before 1 PM I was awake again, when dad started moving around in the kitchen, and after a few more minutes under the blanket I got up. Did nap in the evening, but was completely exhausted even after that.

Friday I meant to get up when I woke up because dad made some noise, a little before 1:15 PM, but with the alarm set to ring at 1:30 PM, I crawled back under the blanket and actually think I briefly fell asleep again, only actually getting up after the alarm rang. Then I had the usual stuff plus the last of the hazelnuts, the yogurt being the “creamy” one picked up from that Mega Image two days earlier and the sweet thing some of those nicer biscuits with added honey again. When I went out, just after 3:55 PM, the reported temperature was 7°C, it was rather cloudy and I had the old training suit, with just an undershirt under the shirt, and the running shoes, plus the gloves and that thing around my neck, pulled up to also cover my nose on the way, so I won’t also wear a mask. Also took the jacket for the walk to the park, but had it tied around my waist not just during the run, but on the way back as well, since I jogged. Also on the way back, had a quick look at the expiring things in this nearby Mega Image, but just to have a look, having taken no money with me anyway.
Back to the run, the time was 48:54.62, with sector times of 4:11.13, 5:11.17, 6:05 (6:04.82), 4:34 (4:33.96), 5:11.35, 5:59.17, 4:34 (4:33.84), 5:14 (5:13.56), 6:02.28 and 1:53.34, making for lap times of 15:27.12, 15:44.48 and 15:50 (15:49.68). Pushed from the beginning, managing that very good sector one time despite a roadblock that made me slow and probably also stop for just an instant, but then things started going poorly even though I had no other “excuses”. There were a fair number of people, but usually just making me need to weave or go the long way around, at most causing me to slow a little a couple more times, I didn’t feel the wind at all and had no noticeable physical issues, simply being unable to push harder, and definitely running out of breath well before the end of the long straights I tried to sprint on. Maybe my chest felt a bit tight because I didn’t want to snap my back in that rough manner anymore, so I just dealt with it as it was, but that was it. So I realized after sector two of lap one that any thoughts of returning under 48 minutes were just dreams, and that poor sector three of lap one made it clear that even 48:30 was out of the question, the only goal left being 49 minutes. Throughout lap two, I doubted even that, but the noticeably better sector three, possibly managed thanks to another runner who caught up to me and then stayed behind me for a while before finally overtaking and getting well ahead, gave me hope and I just pushed as much as I could on lap three, just managing the time needed to feel relatively safe on the final sector.

To finally continue from where I left off, on November 23 I woke up when the alarm rang, at 11:30 AM, feeling better, and left with dad at 1:05 PM, since he went with me that day and therefore drove there. We had 60 bottles with us, since the 20 I had were wine and vinegar ones, which I had been told the day before could be given despite the rules stating otherwise, so I gave him 20 that were certain to be accepted and took 20 more, which we left in the car, in case those wine and vinegar ones won’t be accepted after all. But the girl who was there, who was a different one, was talking to someone else about what seemed to be an unrelated issue and, after that person told us to go ahead and put in the bottles, she didn’t seem to care, barely sparing us a glance before giving us the raffle slips to fill. Unlike the other one, however, she didn’t also offer a pen, not even when I asked for one, when mine didn’t work on that shiny paper, so we went back to the car to use one of dad’s and entered that mall just before 1:50 PM.
Also proving that we had arrived on a different shift, there was a guy handing out the rewards, and after briefly discussing it we each got four Bianca peppers, all eight weighing a total of 658 grams, four Kapia peppers, four parsnips and four carrots, the only difference being that dad asked for four squashes and I asked for four apples, weighing 590 grams. Since dad went to my mother after that and took the squashes and parsnips, two carrots and two Kapia peppers there, I had taken a small spring scale with me, to get some approximate weights for those, seeing roughly 680 grams for the squashes, 600 for the parsnips, 210 for the carrots and 270 for the Kapia peppers, while the exact weights I saw after getting back here with what was left was 733 grams for the carrots and 696 for the Kapia peppers, bringing the totals to about 943 and 966, respectively.
Getting back to being there with dad, after getting our rewards I made a quick dash to the expiring products, finding nothing interesting, and he paid some bills, and it still wasn’t even 2:05 PM when we went back outside. Then, 40 minutes later, he dropped me off at Arcul de Triumf, the ride having been quite uncomfortable for me, since I felt really carsick after selecting, separating and weighing what he was to take to my mother while in the car. And having him around, needing to communicate, and also having had to deal with different people in order to drop off the bottles and get the rewards, had really messed me up as well, so on top of being nauseous I was really down, out of it, feeling like crying and unable to even do that, moving as if in a dream…
Either way, dad meant to drop me off at the metro station, having followed a route that wasn’t the initially planned one and getting there first, but when we had talked about it the day before and he said he wanted to drop me off there, I realized he should be coming from the other side, get to the Arch and then make that detour just for me, so I had told him to drop me off at the Arch instead and planned my own route from there, so after I realized where he had stopped I told him to take me to the Arch and he did. Then, with no more shopping centers on my way, I stopped at the Victory Square public toilet, waited in line for a bit, wondered why the old man who was ahead of me walked away after the guy ahead of him went in… And had my answer when my turn came, seeing that the toilet was clogged. But I still went in, peed and washed my hands, washing being the main reason I had wanted to go just then.
From there, I walked to that pastry place that’s roughly around the Romana Square area, but decided against getting anything from there, instead getting one of those carrot and orange cakes from the other one nearby. Went part of the way back to that pastry place after that, thinking to get something from there as well after all, but decided against it once again on the way and turned back around, sticking to my plan. Got a bit confused in a few places, but made it well enough, being at that confectionery at 4:50 PM, finding one last Penguin cake, buying it and getting back a bit after 5:10 PM. Didn’t check my exact route and the distance covered that night, but based on my notes and what I still remember, it seems I walked less than ten kilometers.

To finally get to the last day in this series, November 24, I woke up at noon, when the alarm rang, and went out at 2:20 PM. Dad had said the day before that he wanted something from IKEA and had no time to also go there then, so he meant go with me again on this last day, for which reason he also left the backpack in the car when he got back, but considering how his presence had made me feel, I firmly refused, so he left it for another time and I walked again, this time heading first for the Carrefour from Obor, using a slightly shorter route I had found on the map. Since my mother had sent a list of things to buy again, including some things weighing some five kilograms that didn’t need to be refrigerated, I meant to buy those from the Carrefour Market that’s in that other mall, where I usually went to pee, leave them in a cabinet and retrieve them on my way back, but since, despite having peed as late as possible before leaving, I felt like I had to go again pretty much as soon as I got out of the building, I guess because of the cold, I decided to go there first, doubting I’d have made it that far.
Well, I guess I would have made it after all, since I decided to first buy those things, then leave them in a cabinet, retrieve my backpack from it and rush to the toilet, this being about an hour and a quarter after leaving, which was my best time to that other mall. However, I was in a quite desperate situation at that point, and since I had the backpack in my hand and saw a hook in the stall, I hung it from it in a hurry… And pricked a finger in the nail or screw holding the hook in the next stall, since those are apparently longer than the partition’s thick, so the pointy end comes out right next to the hook from the other side, and I didn’t notice it in time. And yes, there was a bit of blood, so it broke the skin, and I didn’t even buckle my belt, just peeing and quickly buttoning my pants again, then getting the backpack back, careful not to prick myself again, and rushing to thoroughly wash my hands, after which I also used some disinfectant from the first dispenser I saw. I of course worried that something was going to happen because of that, but at least there were no obvious consequences, so maybe it was fine in the end. Still, the next day I sent an e-mail to that mall, describing what had happened and saying they should do something about that issue, but there was no reply.
Was out of that mall at 3:45 PM and continued straight to Baneasa, having no more need to stop at that other mall. Still didn’t see the girl who was usually there when dropping off the bottles, but the one usually handing out the rewards was there instead, apparently filling in for another one who should have been there then. Said other one returned with some pastries while I was putting in the bottles and they started talking excitedly about some college papers and an ethics committee meeting, then squeed and hugged each other, and then just asked me if I had 20 and handed me the slip and, unlike the one from the day before, also a pen.
Was in Carrefour just before 5:25 PM, trying to pick what to get without attracting attention, but the guy who was there, clearly also filling in since he was in regular clothes, noticed me and asked for my slip and what I wanted. Since I saw another kind of peppers, similar to the Kapia but not quite the same, and asked if they were different and he said yes, I got four of each, the Kapia weighing a total of 380 grams and the others 302 grams, then added four black radishes, weighing 875 grams, four red onions, weighing 437 grams, which were just in a corner of one of the crates that otherwise had regular onions, and four beets, weighing 462 grams. Then I went to buy what was left on my mother’s list and a few other things, but somehow “managed” to forget the sour cream, only realizing it when the amount I was asked for was lower than I expected. Mumbled something about forgetting something and going back, but didn’t ask the cashier to hold my purchases for that, so I rushed to put the stuff in a cabinet and went back in for the sour cream, at which point I also saw that girl back to handing out rewards. Almost ended up at the same cashier at first, but noticed it, thought it’d be awkward and moved to the next.
The first cashier had given me 16 RON as change instead of 15.90, not asking whether I had a 0.10 RON coin, but then I found myself receiving a hundred times more, completely by surprise. Was arranging everything in the backpack after retrieving the stuff from the cabinet, and when I was close to finishing a man thanked me, no idea why, and handed me a 10 RON bill. I asked why, tried to refuse, dropped the bill on the floor at first, but when I looked up and around he had already walked away, only turning his head again for a moment to wave at me. So I eventually took the bill, though I meant to look for a place where donations for animal shelters or something of that sort can be dropped off and either donate 5 RON or buy 5 RON worth of pet food and donate that, depending on what’s accepted. Had found a place that lists on their site that customers can spend 4.90 RON to have them donate one kilogram of dog food to a certain shelter, and one of their locations isn’t far from here, but I couldn’t get myself to walk in and ask how that works before ending up giving 70 RON to that guy, and at the moment I’m considering those to have been a “donation”, even more so since he was saying he’ll get paid on January 20 and call me to decide where to meet in order to pay me back, and January 20 obviously passed and there was no word. So if he will somehow surprise me later, I’ll see about donating those 5 RON, half of the amount I received so unexpectedly, but so far it seems I ended up “donating” 65 RON more than intended.
Back to that day, after another toilet break I was out of that mall just before 6:45 PM and rushed, since I had to get back to Obor and retrieve what I had left there by 9 PM and wanted to also get a pizza on the way, so I had to give myself plenty of time to wait for it to be made, in case it’ll take longer than expected. Had sent a message to another place I considered ordering from, to ask about their schedule, and was told they were taking orders until 10 PM, so I could have done that after getting back, but decided not to risk it and instead try a place I kept passing by on this long route and which I had gotten somewhat curious about. So I was inside that place just after 7:55 PM, after checking what the daily deal was through the window and then looking through the screenshots of their menu which I had copied to my phone, making sure I couldn’t be interested in either of those two pizzas and deciding what to order instead. Did have to wait a little longer once I was inside, since the guy who was there was taking an order on the phone when I walked in, but I used that time to have a look through the menu they had there as well, noticing that the prices were 1 RON lower than those listed on the site.
After ordering, I asked how long it was going to take, to know when to return, and he said it’ll only be about ten minutes and I could wait there, so I did just that… Even if it probably wasn’t the best idea, and he only put his mask on when he started making my pizza, having had it off until then… And then, after having told the person he had been on the phone with that he had nobody available to make deliveries that evening and will have to see what he can do, as my pizza was cooking he poked his head out the door, putting his hand on the wall, and asked a neighbor whether he wanted to make a delivery, returning to my pizza after that. But I didn’t comment on that, just asking about his delivery problem and how business was going, his answers being to repeat that there was nobody available for deliveries that evening and, respectively, poorly.
Was out with my pizza at 8:10 PM, thinking I should have ordered from that other place after all, since the one I was holding was smaller and had been 1 RON more than the one I had meant to order from that other place would have been… Plus that I wouldn’t have had to carry that one all the way from there. But there was nothing to do then, so I kept going, was at that mall from Obor just before 8:35 PM and back out ten minutes later, after retrieving my things from the cabinet and actually going back in once, to grab a 0.50 RON coin I had spotted just as I went out the door. Took me a bit longer to figure out how to more properly carry everything, the pizza box being quite an issue, but I could eventually continue on my way, getting back here at 9:30 PM, having carried 14 kg, though five just from Obor.
After having just an apple earlier, only started eating at 3:15 AM, obviously reheating the pizza, on which I had also poured the poppy seeds left in the bag the bagel bought from Carrefour had been in, after moving it to another, to store it better for later. Also started to microwave the Penguin cake, but stopped the microwave seconds later, as it started melting and toppled over and I had to rush to prevent it from spilling off the plate, that cake therefore being the only such purchase made during that period which I didn’t thoroughly microwave before eating. But it had returned to its normal consistency by the time I ate it, at the end, so the only issue was the shape. Finally got in bed at 5:25 AM.

Before posting this and finally finishing with the posts about this period, two full months after it ended, I’ll add that I believe I only finished everything I got in exchange for the bottles last Thursday night, with the last small beet, after having used the other one that was left three nights earlier. But there might have also been some purchased beets mixed with those I got for the bottles, so while I believe those were older and I used them first, I’m not absolutely certain. What is certain is that I had finished the last of the cabbage and Kapia peppers the week before, the cabbage Monday night and the peppers before and after that week’s run, so Tuesday and Wednesday night.