Cav's Place

Had something thrown on me and couldn’t find the time to post so far, so I’m late with this and everything that was to say has already been said a whole lot better in a whole lot of other places, but I still have to at least make a little post now that it’s official that Opportunity‘s mission has come to an end. Of course, it was quite clear that this was coming for quite some time, the conditions worsening and therefore the chances of the rover communicating again if it hadn’t done so when they were as good as they’re going to get for a long time to come being almost zero, but I must say I was a bit surprised to see that announcement when I did, less than three weeks after the one about a new strategy meant to attempt to elicit a response. Was very much aware that those were the final efforts and the chances of success were extremely low, but did expect them to try for another month or two since they did decide to try some new things. Then again, also expected them to want to reach over 1000 recovery commands sent and then stop, which I gather did happen.

So… Goodbye, little rover. You left a large mark, and on top of the discoveries made, you inspired people and likely helped usher forward other current and future missions, and at least somewhat lessened the poor state of space exploration. We’re nowhere near where we should be, in this field and so many others, the difference between what could and likely should be done and what is being done constantly increasing, but it would be even worse without you and your success and unbelievable longevity. I can only hope that you will get the recognition you deserve in the future, and that when humans will set foot on Mars, if not even before, thanks to other robotic explorers, you will be retrieved, cleaned, fixed up as much as possible without changing who you are, and enjoy a proper and honorable retirement.

And yes, I’m quite aware I’m talking about, and to, a machine, and should in fact thank the team for all these things, but I did grow to rather care for that little rover… And there is also the fact that she used solar power while Curiosity and the Mars 2020 rover use a nuclear generator, even though it has been proven, mainly thanks to Opportunity, that solar power is completely feasible on Mars, without any of the obvious risks and problems brought by nuclear energy. And if people from Opportunity’s team work, have worked or will work on the teams of those other rovers, I’d see it as tainting her legacy in one important way, so I’d just rather not even think of them… And maybe look more towards the planned European and Chinese rovers, as potential proper successors of Opportunity.

With Windows updates being released today, I’ll be trying to install them tomorrow and then I’ll see what happens after rebooting, likely leading to restoring from that backup yet again when I won’t be able to log on. And since I have that plan to make what will basically be a current backup that should still allow me to log on if I’ll restore it again later, that will require some care and may not go quite right, so I just want to get this out of the way first.
Should really add some non-personal posts too, and at this rate I’ll absolutely need to after this month, but I may just give up on even that rule instead, no idea at the moment… May finish Eschalon this week, though there’s obviously no chance of doing so today, so I’ll need to remember to copy the saves back if I’ll restore that backup, since it annoyingly doesn’t put them in its own folder, but either way I don’t plan to write a review for it to hope that it’ll be this week’s second post, since it already has three on MobyGames and it’s not a game I particularly want to review, and it’d be very hard to do so anyway, after taking a break from it for close to two years. After all, didn’t even review Hordes of the Underdark and that one has only one review and I likely enjoyed it more, but after all the years it took me to finally get to the end, there was no way I could put something together.

Ran again yesterday, and definitely confirmed regaining my speed in what should be the last run with speed as the goal, since next week I should gradually start preparing for this year’s half marathon. I was actually feeling quite tired and thought it’ll be hard, but the time was 47:16, making this the third fastest time over this distance, only a second away from the second. Sector times were 4:16, 5:00, 5:44, 4:25, 4:56, 5:49, 4:30, 4:59, 5:52 and 1:45, making for lap times of 15:00, 15:10 and 15:21. Have quite a number of exact times too, though of course that’s a matter of just when I pressed the button. Still, to list those that would now seem to be in the top ten, the exact total time was 47:16.18, the first lap time was 15:00.10, the first lap’s first sector time was 4:16.32, its third sector time was actually 5:43.80, and I believe the second lap’s second sector time was 4:55.84, though there is a chance it may be something between that and 4:55.78.
The reported temperature of 12-13°C meant I could just have a t-shirt on again, though I did wear the jacket on the way to and from the park, so had it tied around my waist while running, and I felt a bit of wind too early on. Definitely didn’t mean to aim for such a time, just hoping to confirm that I had indeed regained my regular speed and not fail to stay under 48:30 again, yet after the second sector I decided to just push hard and go for a very fast first lap, maybe even under 15 minutes, failing that by the slimmest of margins. After that, I started thinking of getting under 48 minutes, and then, especially after lap two as well, of being faster than last week and preferably even getting under 47:30. Lap three’s first sector was quite slow though, and then on the second sector I spotted a 1 RON bill with nobody in its immediate vicinity, so I took a step to the side and grabbed it, then stuffed it in a pocket. That obviously caused me to lose a bit of time and I thought my chances of staying under 47:30 were even lower, but I pushed like crazy to try to make up for it and did indeed manage a very fast second sector despite that loss, and then finished the lap with a time that made it clear I’ll easily manage that. Had also considered a new third best time as I was nearing the end of the lap, but I thought I didn’t have enough left to manage that, yet just gave it everything again and not only managed it by some margin, but in fact was a mere second away from the second best time. So I guess it can be said that I was 1 RON away from a new second best, since I lost more than that getting that bill. At the same time, maybe I wouldn’t have pushed quite that hard if I wouldn’t have been trying to make up for that, and I definitely lost more time getting around people, since there were still quite a few, though obviously nothing like last time.

After that, changed, grabbed the recyclables to drop off on the way and went to Kaufland and Carrefour. Mainly meant to look for some things for the cats, since I saw that such products were on sale now at Carrefour, but dad mentioned something from Kaufland too and I went there first, to check prices too. On the way there it wasn’t much of a problem that I couldn’t go around the stadium, as I normally do, since there was a match there that evening, which I had forgotten about until a few guys approached me as I got close to the entrance, one asking whether I was going to the match, and I suddenly realized I had to go around. Was quite an issue on the way back though, having to go around when I was carrying quite some weight.
Either way, I saw some better yogurt when I was in Kaufland, discounted because it’s expiring soon, and I could just get one with what little I still had for regular expenses these days and that 1 RON I had found, but I didn’t mean to buy it then and then store it until I’ll get all the other stuff and I knew somebody else was going to get it if I left it there, being discounted like that, so I hid it behind some milk and then went to Carrefour… Where I couldn’t find the cat food I was mainly looking for, so just got the other thing and then went back to Kaufland, to get what I had to get from there and also retrieve that yogurt from where I had placed it, to buy it as well. Carrying it all back was a problem though, even more so since I had to go around the stadium area. Carried more a few of times, albeit with difficulty, but now after a while I seemed to run out of strength in my fingers, first in my left hand, but eventually in the right as well, so I had to keep stopping to keep the stuff from falling from my hands. As I was getting close, I could barely take a handful of steps before having to stop again. But eventually made it…

As for Sunday, since dad had told me Saturday evening that he wanted something from the pharmacy and it was quite a lot cheaper at the one I tend to go to for such things, I went right there after waking up… And basically searched the whole place for it, starting from where I thought it was more likely to be, going down the list of probable locations, then starting from where I was after exhausting said list and looking everywhere else, finally finding it in what was pretty much the last possible place, just before getting to the area with stuff for babies, which is the first one from the entrance and where that thing couldn’t have possibly been. The thing is that if I’d have started from the idea that I had to search everywhere, not thinking that I could figure out where it should be, I’d have started there and found it right away. But at least I did find it without needing to ask. Was very sleepy after getting back though, cold too, was worried something wasn’t right, but it was a fair bit better after catching a quick nap between the rounds of ski jumping, missing the first 12 jumps of the second round before waking up.

Don’t have much to say about these past few days and I definitely won’t get myself to write a non-personal post, but I guess it’d be about time for a shorter personal one too, after so many very long ones, just thrown here to have a second one written this week. Trying to get it out of the way earlier too, and would have done so either way, before I’ll get even more sleepy, but just as I was starting to write it my Internet access went out for a few minutes, and while it recovered quickly I did notice people working at the next building again, after having stopped while it was cold, so I fear cables being cut yet again.

I’m going to be sleepy because, after meaning to go to bed at 4:30 AM last night and eventually managing to be in bed just after 4:45 AM, I woke up at 9:45 AM today in order to attend an event organized by this new party created here, including some of the more leftist “old guard” activists. Thought I should at least do that much since I keep criticizing them for hardly being leftist enough and definitely not being visionary, just supporting some pretty basic center-left concepts that are a mix of “classic” ideas and a modern structure but largely allowing the system to continue when what’s needed is completely replacing capitalism with something else, truly radical leftist policies that are also futuristic, moving on from past and even present concepts. And now I’m also criticizing them for their list of candidates for the European Parliament elections, specifically for their choice of top candidate and for putting all women first, which is discrimination just as much as if they’d have put all men first on purpose and not in any way more tolerable.
Of course, I didn’t say anything there and, with everything on-line as well, there was little reason to attend, since I didn’t even stay more than a couple of minutes to try to listen to what they were talking about when everyone started just chatting after the event was over. Had plenty to say, to them and even to someone else from the audience, but of course I didn’t, just trying to decide whether I’ll write some stuff, much of it one more time, now or just leave it. Still, I just wanted to go, so got ready quickly and was actually out the door just a bit after 10:45 AM, when the plan was to leave at 10:50 AM, and was there more than ten minutes early despite walking slowly after getting out of the metro, and the event started 15 minutes late anyway. Finished some 20 minutes early too, so was back just after 1:50 PM, again with no need to rush, since dad had said he needed the metro card back by 2:30 PM.

Wednesday was a pretty bad day… Or not. Woke up at noon and went to pee, then meant to sleep some more but ended up just staying in bed for almost exactly two hours more, mostly in my own mind, imagining a few moments of an alternate past, things going somewhat better than they did. A few thoughts of some vague future in which things would be good again too, but I guess that’s too impossible even for daydreams… And for evening dreams as well, since I meant to nap in the evening, trying to make up for those two hours, and just ended up staying in bed for some two more hours, things going pretty much the same way. Andra’s birthday being next week probably has something to do with that, but it’s not just that. Not that I hadn’t occasionally done so before as well, but in recent months I’ve been finding myself thinking more and more often of a note I found while looking for something in the desk drawer after she left, while I was still there, obviously written by her early on, saying what she felt and how much she loved me… And I wish more and more that I’d have taken it, a connection like that, a piece of evidence that it was real. But I didn’t, and it’s just something left in my mind, which may or may not remain… And perhaps even may or may not be real…

As for yesterday, when I updated Emsisoft Anti-Malware after I woke up, I saw a notification that my license had been extended by 89 days. Had asked the support guy I’m talking to exactly when it expires, since I remembered that it should expire on February 14, but the program itself doesn’t list the actual date anymore, just the number of days left, and in my account on the site it said February 13, but the exact time wasn’t listed there either. I recalled that it was a bit after 9 PM, but if I either remembered the date wrong or they cut a day from it when they changed something, since they did change things regarding licenses and in ways that harmed existing customers, I assumed they could have changed that as well, so asked whether it’s the start or the end of the day, since I plan to install Windows updates and then see whether this version that was pushed to the delayed channel now will let me log on after rebooting, since the previous one definitely didn’t, and decide whether I’ll extend the license or need to start testing other products again based on that, and said that it was going to be tight either way, since the updates will only get released in the evening of February 12. And, yes, when I checked my e-mail after seeing that I saw his reply saying that it is indeed the 13th, around 8 PM Germany time, so I remembered the time correctly at least, since that’s one hour earlier, but then he added: “In May. You’re welcome.”
So been feeling awfully rotten and guilty about that since then. I mean, I didn’t ask for any extension and he said I shouldn’t feel guilty, that it’s in part just because I have problems with it for some time and they’re trying to make it right in some way and in part that it can even be said that I earned it by spotting that vulnerability, but by mentioning it like that, and after having mentioned it before as well, I do feel like I sort of did ask, in a way. And now I also feel rather pressured into extending it… But if it won’t work, I can’t do that. Quite sure that anything else will be even worse in general terms, have more nuisances I’ll need to deal with and even more serious issues, but if they changed something that simply won’t let me log on anymore, and if their new surf protection module also fails in some common scenarios in any browser and in even more in Internet Explorer, and I use that, as strange as it seems, I’ll need to switch, and meant to start trying other stuff this month. But now that I have three more months, I definitely don’t feel like wasting them on trying something else, yet that leaves me with the problem of what to do after needing to reboot. It may not be so terrible at the moment, if there won’t be any other issues and I’ll just reboot once per month, when installing Windows updates, since I should be able to restore from that December 22 backup again, install updates, update other programs, import changed settings and a few other things, then make another backup and only after that’s done allow Emsisoft Anti-Malware to update to one of these “bad” versions, so I’ll basically have a current backup that will still let me log on, but this is definitely no solution. So not sure what to do…

Yesterday was the obvious day to run this week, so I did, and can finally say that I regained my speed. Interestingly, the time was the exact same one I managed when I said this last year, but while the weather was also good, this time around the park was anything but clear, in fact being quite crowded and forcing me to weave around people, keep looking for spots to get through, and slow and even stop quite a few times. In spite of all of that, the time was indeed 47:39, with sector times of 4:18, 5:03, 5:48, 4:28, 5:00, 5:49, 4:23, 5:03, 5:56 and 1:51, making for lap times of 15:09, 15:17 and 15:22. So, yes, unlike last year, when each lap was faster than the one before it, now each one was slower, but the real time for lap two should be about the same as that for the first, if not even slightly faster, considering the roadblocks. Lap three did seem somewhat clearer though, so the slower time is really due to me getting tired, but not by much, and the fact that I likely left a second or so at the end wasn’t because I was completely out of energy. Can’t quite say why I slowed down just then, with the finish line in sight, but I noticed myself doing it and didn’t really care enough to do anything about it on those final meters, being so pleased with my time already.
All the way, even just before going to bed in the morning, the forecast stated that the high will be 13-14°C, with little wind, 5-6 km/h, and a partly cloudy sky, which was to get even more cloudy around 5 PM. However, when I woke up and looked outside, I saw that it was really sunny, and when I opened the window it definitely seemed warmer than it should have been, so I checked the weather then and saw 19°C! The wind was listed as around 10 km/h, but it didn’t seem like it when I looked from inside. What this meant was that I went out just in a t-shirt, since there was definitely no reason to take the jacket anymore, which I had planned to do at first, according to the forecast. So no additional weight to carry at all, barely faint traces left of the symptoms left after the flu, and the rib was much better as well, in fact that day being the first when I noticed I could get up normally after waking up, without needing to find a “good” way to move. There was, and still is, some pain, but nothing like it used to be, though that spot is definitely swollen. And I finally took my running shoes again too, which obviously helped as well.
Did feel a bit of wind at the start, but can’t say I noticed it anymore after a while. The people, on the other hand, were a serious problem, many not even caring to leave some room when they were just walking from the opposite direction and seeing that I was running and trying to hold a certain line, and I was trying to prepare myself mentally for failing to get under 48:30 once again. Even after those first two sectors that were faster than expected I only just started to hope to get there again, not for anything better, even getting back to thinking I won’t make it after the roadblocks on lap two. It was only at the end of lap two that getting under 48 minutes started seeming possible, yet even then I thought it was going to be very hard, and it obviously wasn’t. With a clear path, I’d have quite clearly been looking at a top three time, possibly even a new second best, though at the same time I’m not sure I’d have pushed so hard in such a scenario, since now I knew I had to give it absolutely everything whenever I had a bit of space and did so.
For once, dogs seemed more of a problem than children, and mothers who have eyes only for them and get in the way. There were still plenty of them not looking, or the children not coordinating their movements either, and getting in the way, but women pushing prams even cleared the way, being ahead of me, through the crowd that was in front of one of the food stalls on the first two laps, and without a similar “service” on the third I had to go around the bench on the inside of that curve, not really cutting the curve since I went right back on the path after the bench. On the other hand, definitely noticed the issues caused by dogs stretching leashes and barring the way through the already narrow spots between people, and not just in the area around the entrance of the area meant for dogs. On sector two of lap two it was first a situation created by dogs that caused me to have to stop for a moment, though a child probably trying to get a little bit away from the dogs and people coming from opposite directions were the other “ingredients”. And the second issue on that sector had to do with four or so people with dogs coming one after the other and me just barely managing to weave my way around all but the last one, when the stretched leash completely blocked my way and I had to stop and step to the side to get around the guy holding it. On the other hand, there was even an issue with another runner, who was admittedly running in the same direction but should have been aware that I was just about to pass her when she just stopped in front of me and turned to hug another woman, with a baby, that she obviously knew. Almost ran right into them, and probably should have done so, on purpose.
The worst moment was at the start of lap two though, under the bridge. One of those maintenance trucks was just getting under the bridge, driving very slowly, and a guy was walking in front of it, apparently unaware until he noticed the two women pushing prams in the opposite direction stopping next to the wall and me trying to get as close to the wall as I could too, at which point he suddenly looked around and stepped aside, seeming a bit startled. However, that left me completely stuck behind those women, since the truck’s mirror was pretty much just above their shoulders, there was absolutely no way through until at least the mirror cleared them, at which point I also somehow just squeezed through. Likely lost some five seconds just there.

Didn’t feel tired after the run, but I guess I was, since this morning I had one of those dreams within dreams to a quite extreme extent, four or five “layers” of it, with just the first one seeming a regular dream. After that, it seemed that I had woken up, but was in fact still dreaming, seeing myself here and now but with something not quite right, as it tends to happen in such cases, the unusual elements being less obvious each time. The last time I “woke up” without actually waking up, I was getting quite desperate, and was also for some reason really sad because I had heard dad making pancakes in the previous dream and the fact that it had been just a dream meant that after all that mess I didn’t have pancakes either, and curled in a ball and cried, possibly screamed as well, not sure anymore, but of course that was also a dream, and I then woke up from that as well. Was rather surprisingly calm when I was actually awake though, just waiting for it all to settle. Did wonder what was real and what had been a dream about a few things for some hours though.

As for Sunday, grabbed two very short “games” from itch.io, No Response and Causeway, since they were again free at the time and at least No Response seems to be appreciated if taken for what it is, a very short experience, a “walking simulator” meant to just put the player in a certain state. In a way, grabbed them because they’re not on MobyGames and I thought it’d be something relatively easy to submit too, but couldn’t do that since they seem to be 64-bit only, though I definitely see no reason why they’d need that, so I couldn’t play them. But at least I managed to do the usual 100 squats in a very fast time again that day, since I timed myself again, pushed hard and finished in 2:49, so just three seconds slower than what is likely my fastest time, since I highly doubt I do them so quickly when I don’t time myself.
However, things got interesting, in a bad way, at night. Dad had taken a bath, finishing around midnight, I went to the kitchen at 1 AM, got some things ready, then went to pee at 1:20 AM… And stepped right into quite a puddle. He didn’t tell me or ask me to do something about it if he didn’t manage to sort it out, didn’t even leave a note for me to find after he went to bed, but he had somehow managed to leave a few millimeters of water on the bathroom floor, likely even one centimeter in the corner. One of the rugs, the one with the rubber back, was set to dry, but the other, smaller, one, made out of a part of a carpet, was right in the puddle, completely soaked, the two little things I had placed in the corner to catch the moisture dripping off the cold water pipe when it’s cold outside and that gets really cold were floating freely, one of them a good half a meter away from its place, and the mop was just left in the middle of the puddle, with the handle discarded somewhere. Not its actual handle, as dad broke that one apparently opening or closing the window with it, so this one doesn’t fit it properly and it’ll keep coming off. There is a handle from something else that does fit, but he won’t remember what it is even when just told, so he told me yesterday that he just got annoyed by it coming away and left the mop there to just soak up the water on its own, which of course couldn’t happen with such a quantity. Managed to clean up well enough, but it took me 20 minutes, and with the water having been there for well over one hour to begin with, maybe even two hours, depending on exactly when it ended up on the floor, I definitely worried that we had flooded the downstairs neighbor… But maybe we didn’t, since I didn’t hear anything about that.

Wednesday I got back to Eschalon, and I’m actually trying to push forward, since I know I gave up back in 2017 because I was too wary of doing so and don’t want to let myself get like that again, so I’d rather get back to it now instead of writing this, but I guess I’ll try to get it out of the way first. The date of the last save was May 19, 2017, and it was actually made after an important main quest moment, but the previous save was from May 10 and the playing time was just 0.2 hours less, and the one before that was from April 16, with the playing time only 0.1 more hours less, and basically just a handful of steps away from the May 10 one. So I guess those last two were the last attempt from 2017 to get back to the game, after having been too wary to continue in April, and then I thought I had been wrong to continue and just gave up for good. Of course, since I can’t remember exactly what I was thinking then, I can only hope it was just a case of me worrying and my perfectionism getting in the way and not that I actually realized I had done something wrong, as that’d imply that continuing from that last save will eventually put me in a bad position, but I guess I’ll keep both the April 16 and May 19 saves around, just in case.

This week’s run was Thursday, after initially meaning to run Tuesday and giving up after opening the window that day. According to the forecast at the end of last week, there was going to be a short break between the days of freezing rain, which caused thousands of trees to break or get uprooted by the weight of the ice, plus countless branches breaking off those that survived, poles also falling, cables snapping, hundreds of cars and all sorts of other things getting damaged, and the regular rain, which was supposed to start Wednesday afternoon, so I thought Tuesday was my only chance. However, by then the forecast had changed, the rain still being supposed to start Wednesday afternoon but stopping between Thursday morning and evening, so if I was to believe that new forecast I had a second option, and decided to make use of it when I opened the window after waking up Tuesday, heard what appeared to be rain and quickly realized that it was all that ice melting, causing not only what in effect was rain if you were under anything but also, worse, a “rain” of icicles that simply made it unwise to go out at all. Plus, I had seen all the branches and even entire trees gathered at best in piles everywhere the previous evening, and the pole which had fallen across the street and still hadn’t been picked up, so if the sidewalks looked like that, I doubted that the path around the lake was clear enough by then.
The thing is that the weather turned out to have been good for running Wednesday too, and I woke up before noon, when dad left, so there was no danger of the rain coming before I’d get back, the forecast pushing it to the evening anyway. However, it’s possible that it was actually too warm Wednesday, 8-9°C, the lower limit for running with just a t-shirt on and I didn’t intend to do that, so in the end Thursday proved to be the better choice. The rain just ended in the morning and the sky remained overcast, so it was wet, a lot of humidity in the air, some wind too, though I can’t say I felt it after I started running, but the reported temperature of 6-7°C meant I could wear my training shirt as well. Still thought I’d overheat, dressed like that, but I didn’t.
Pushed every step of the way, meant to at least get back under 50 minutes and managed it, the time being 49:11, with sector times of 4:21, 5:09, 6:05, 4:33, 5:04, 6:03, 4:34, 5:15, 6:12 and 1:55, making for lap times of 15:35, 15:40 and 16:01. After the first sector I wondered whether I had even recovered my normal speed, realized I hadn’t after the next two sectors, but then the second lap, sectors two and three in particular, made me hope to even get under 49 minutes. That ended after I saw the time for the third lap’s second sector, but I still pushed to see how close I could get, despite feeling that I was simply out of energy.
Still took my regular shoes, there were some puddles to go around, the piles of fallen and cut branches had been pushed to the sides but there were a few areas with small branches not swept away, which were slippery under those conditions, and there were three spots, one in sector one and two in sector three, where branches that are usually low were even lower and needed to be avoided. The other two were fine, but one of those spots from sector three required me to dodge quickly the first time, and then, despite thinking that I’ll remember it and know what to do on the next two laps, found myself likely thinking of something else just at that moment on lap two and very suddenly dodging out of reflex when the branches were just in front of my eyes, leaning left and making my rib hurt a fair bit, though it wasn’t much of a problem otherwise. The other issue was that on lap three’s third sector I felt like I needed to take a crap again, despite having gone twice before leaving. Not terribly so, but it was another thing to manage. Other than that, breathed out mostly through my mouth, but obviously never in.

Since I mentioned the rib, it still hurts quite a lot when I wake up, so it definitely doesn’t agree with my sleeping position, or with something I do in my sleep, but it’s not much of a problem anymore otherwise. Using creams twice per day, usually one with natural ingredients, the other one just the first time and before running. It still feels swollen in that spot, and it got worse before getting better though, something just snapping Saturday, when I was in the kitchen after wiping the dust in my room and also getting over the corner of the bed from the other bedroom to take a picture of something, and the pain definitely getting worse after that moment. Not that I let that stop me, since I had started cleaning my room after a long time and I finished in spite of that, changing the sheets too.

Saturday was a pretty bad day in terms of how I felt for other reasons too. Then again, was panicking before I got to bed that morning too, feeling that tickling again in my chest and coughing again a bit, so I went to bed at 4:30 AM and again had to blow and spit stuff out when I woke up. It wasn’t much, but it was again yellow, possibly even with a trace of blood from the nose and what was coming from my throat and chest maybe even getting greenish again. Still felt that tickling too, though it did seem somewhat different, more like a normal feeling after having to cough and spit stuff out. My left hand was also twitching and it took quite a while to stop, and even when it wasn’t obvious anymore, after taking a nap late in the evening, before taking a bath, I could still feel it wanting to do that a few times. Still, after the bath and while eating that night I started hoping that the treatment had indeed worked, since that feeling making me cough didn’t get worse, and might have even felt a bit better, though I again got worried when it did get worse before going to sleep, so got in bed at 4:45 AM.
The next day I no longer had much of anything to blow, but there was still some stuff from throat and chest, and definitely that unpleasant color again. That feeling that made me cough was much reduced though, and remained so after I got in bed, even if it was noticeable again then. And that’s more or less how it’s been since then, still noticing a bit of that feeling but not really making me cough anymore except when I wake up, when there may still be a bit of stuff to spit out, though the color seems to have mostly cleared, and late at night, or early in the morning if you prefer, just before I get in bed and while I am there, before falling asleep. It’s not bad then either, not even something I need to really make an effort to manage anymore. On the other hand, a tooth, in the upper left side, seemed to want to start hurting, this getting quite noticeable Tuesday night, or Wednesday morning, when a combination of this, the fact that I had napped late and being worried by some noises the HDD was making made it very hard to fall asleep. Does, however, seem to have gotten much better on its own since then.

Other than that, Monday evening, a bit after 7 PM, I went to Carrefour and Kaufland, dropping off the recyclables on the way as well. Got a few things for myself and more that my parents wanted, needing to ask about the coffee, since in the spot where it should normally be there were just the smaller boxes, which weren’t on sale, those that were on sale having been moved to the main alley, so at the end of a shelf, but that being the one with cereals, not coffee, so I hadn’t noticed them and assumed they had sold out before somehow managing to work up the courage to ask an employee and being told where to look. Either way, after going through the mall Carrefour’s in again on the way back, I saw two carts outside, one definitely having a coin in it, so I just connected it to the other and grabbed the coin. Didn’t spot a coin in the other, but didn’t mean to take them all the way back for it anyway, so can’t say I looked too hard either.

And now, after taking a break to sort of listen to the second half of a match while checking some other stuff on-line, let me get to yesterday as well, when I went to get some more things, since I definitely needed bread. Found myself waking up around 9:45 AM and got up a bit after 10 AM, waiting for dad to leave first, then put the plastic bottles which had gathered in a bag and meant to leave at 11 AM, yet couldn’t make it and decided to wait for the next free bus, going out at 11:30 AM and waiting ten minutes, since it came pretty much exactly on time. Saw the recycling machine open when I got there, but it was quite clear that it was just getting emptied, so I wandered around for a bit and could use it when I got back there, knowing that I didn’t risk it filling up either. Then got some stuff from Auchan, but couldn’t come right back because I couldn’t find one thing I was completely out of, and according to the price that was in that spot on the shelf it’d have been a bit more expensive than at Kaufland anyway, since Auchan apparently increased prices a whole lot lately, this actually being one of the smaller increases I noticed.
So I had to go to Kaufland too, and meant to take the free bus that’d get me closer to it more directly, yet ended up missing it. Thought I had more than enough time when I got in line, but it took a while and I ended up in the station right when it should have left, yet it had apparently left at least a couple of minutes early, since I didn’t see any bus driving away when I got out either. Still, since that bus has a short route, there should have been another leaving in 15 minutes, so I waited, yet when that one should have left the driver and one other man started working on the engine and it didn’t go anywhere, and I ended up waiting for 23 minutes and taking the next bus coming here, which also left a couple of minutes early. Did use it to get closer to Kaufland, in fact being able to get off it a little bit closer than if I’d have taken the other one, just that it doesn’t go there directly, so I wasted a fair bit of time and would have likely gotten there faster on foot.
At Kaufland I managed to find the thing I still needed, though at first I thought they were also out, since the box with those little bags was behind another, the spot where that price label was being empty. So got two of those and one more thing, and even found a 0.05 RON coin a few steps away from me when I got in line and had a look around, this allowing me to give the exact amount to the cashier. And then, after almost giving up on going inside Carrefour as well when all the cabinets were full when I got there, changing my mind after a girl came and got her stuff out of one a few moments later and I could use it to store my purchases, the same thing happened there as well, though in that case I found that coin right after getting the two things I got from there, on my way to the checkout, and it didn’t allow me to give the exact amount but one that left the cashier just needing to give me back 0.50 RON. Then found two more 0.05 RON coins after walking away, one right past the checkout, and also one 0.10 RON one at some point, though can’t recall where anymore. On the other hand, for once I left a cart that clearly had a coin in it next to the exit of that mall, since I saw it but was in a hurry. Had lost time getting there, then a few more moments checking out the nearby sporting equipment store for something dad’s looking for, and I had seen ski jumping starting at 3:35 PM in the TV schedule, though I thought the round started at 5:10 PM, so was wondering what that was about and was already late, only getting back just before 4 PM and seeing that I had missed the first 15 jumps of the qualifying, which had likely started at 3:45 PM.