Cav's Place

Shadow Magic is the last game in the “classic” part of the Age of Wonders series and intended as a direct sequel to The Wizard’s Throne. For the most part, anyone who played the previous game will immediately find it familiar, in both good and bad ways. However, there have been changes and additions, some of them important, and while the additions generally seem positive, even if in some cases only in the sense of offering a few more “toys” to play with for those who care to do so, most of the changes bothered me, very much so in some cases.

Of course, the most important aspect for a turn-based game is to create that “one more turn” feeling, which it does quite well. Same as for The Wizard’s Throne, only played the campaign, without trying any of the included single scenarios, playing around in the editor or having anything to do with multiplayer, at least this last part having always been the rule, but the 16 scenarios, 13 if you skip the tutorial ones, do take quite a while to complete and they kept me interested the large majority of the time. Sticking to classic turn mode, after I finished my turn I waited for the AI and checked what movements I could see, maybe fought a battle or two if attacked, then at the start of the new turn it was all too easy to go through build orders, possibly select the next thing to research if one completed and there were more items left, maybe capture a structure or grab a resource that was in easy reach, then I ended up thinking of the next troop movements, then since I did so I was tempted to carry them out as well, possibly also fight some battles that seemed easy… Unless major battles or particularly tricky situations gave me pause, before I knew it that “one more turn” was over and I was looking at the next.
There are no different paths to take or optional scenarios within the different sections of the campaign, but the campaign is nevertheless interesting, also keeping things fresh by switching wizards and races every three scenarios, and the different paths to victory and optional parts are in the scenarios themselves, more attention seeming to have been paid to this. In fact, victory conditions often do not involve defeating the enemies. The option is available and rewarding, even more so in terms of improving heroes and finding good items, but tends to be the hard way to win, enemy forces typically being overwhelming and scenarios often being designed to be won by using certain routes and completing other specific goals. Also, if in my review for The Wizard’s Throne I was complaining of scenarios hardly having any story of their own, now there are quite a number of scripted events and bits of text to read, often in the form of a short speech when units join, cities switch to your side or certain locations are reached. Still nothing to write home about and plagued by an issue I’ll mention under complaints, but it’s an improvement, as is the fact that units do have descriptions this time around… Though they seem to have forgotten to add one for one Syron hero.
The final scenario does require defeating the enemy, but that scenario is quite something, offering plenty of options and emphasizing just about every feature of the game, be it good or bad. And there are quite a number of features and strategic options to choose from, the different races and magic spheres tending to favor somewhat different strategies. The Nomads in particular bring some interesting mechanics, but other new races and units, and even some of the familiar ones, can be notable from this point of view as well, and the Shadow World only adds to this, though whether what is added by it appeals to you or not depends on how you like to play. Overall, I do think that the races are better balanced, the differences making it so it’s not a matter of the better race or unit of a certain tier, but the better one for a particular situation. The new item forges also add to the number of options for those who care to use them, though the created items are limited to three attributes and reasonably good items are expensive and take a long time to create, so I for one did without them after the novelty wore off.
Still on the topic of positive changes, while not massive, there seem to have been some improvements to the AI, and the odds remain stacked so much against the player that a truly good AI would make the game impossible, so the fact that it’s not exactly smart can often be forgiven. But I’d say even more notable improvements were made to the information offered to the player. Problems remain, but those largely have to do with information that you’ll probably figure out after a while, and even that was improved, for example the effects of skills now being listed when you customize a wizard. However, the most important change when it comes to the information provided is the fact that what you really do need to know very often, the base values that apply for a combat skill, are now listed when you hover the mouse over it, with the effective ones listed after selecting it, when hovering the mouse over the target.
Otherwise, the positive aspects I pointed out in my review of the previous game remain true. The difficulty can be quite high, even early on, but if it seems impossible you probably missed something, as once you understand what’s going on it doesn’t seem unfair and it is rewarding when you make it, one way or the other. The massive battles that can take place due to the fact that all units in adjacent hexes enter combat continue to set the series apart, teleportation gates provide additional tactical options once you manage to build them, and the fact that city defenders can now freely position themselves within the city at the start of the battle is an improvement. And, while potentially powerful, heroes are still units like any others, not requiring armies to hide behind nor being necessary for other units to be able to go anywhere, which concepts constantly frustrated and, quite frankly, baffled me in other TBS series. Other units are more important now, but it remains possible to play most of the game as an RPG with an added strategy element if you truly wish to do so, without this hindering those who have other preferences.

Since I mentioned heroes, I’ll start my complaints with the fact that, due to how you can now choose attribute increases when gaining a level, they’re significantly weaker than in the previous game. Others may prefer them this way, but since I do like to play this sort of games as RPGs with an added tactical element, with heroes typically handling the offense and particularly tricky situations and other units the defense, it’s an unpleasant change from where I’m standing. And this reduced power isn’t compensated by more control in their development, since gaining a level still offers three random options to select from, not a free choice, and at times you’re not even offered three valid choices, since it’s possible to have one option show up twice or existing or even weaker abilities, such as protection from something that the hero is already immune to, to be among the choices.
Still on the matter of weaker units, breath and some other special attacks are now limited. This does tend to only apply to those abilities that broke the balance and some of the new ones that could do so, the Human Air Galley for example remaining the only unit capable of defeating any number of melee ground units without any risk of retaliation and in fact even gaining the ability to ram and bring down enemy air units, but when you’re used to certain strategies and just want to play the campaign, not go against other players, it’s rather unpleasant… As is the fact that you can’t make use of a unit’s healing ability outside combat anymore. There is some automated use of it at the end of the turn, but I was never certain if it worked the same as in The Wizard’s Throne and, either way, that can’t make up for no longer being able to manually select which other unit to use it on. And while I’m here, I’ll also mention the fact that units in transports now also use movement points, at a fixed rate of two per move. It does make sense, since if a turn covers a certain amount of time then that time passes for all units, not only for one, but in that case shouldn’t the transported units use a set percentage of their movement points instead of a fixed number? And this is just a thought, but if the idea was to make some changes that make sense, in a realistic way, shouldn’t flying units be penalized underground, and be unable to fly over stalactites? Also, as more than just a thought, it would definitely help to be able to arrange units in the field as well, not only city defenders, even in the sense of selecting their positions in a stable formation, not before each battle.
However, the change that caused me the most trouble is not among those mentioned above, but the automatic surrender. In Shadow Magic, units that face overwhelming enemies tend to surrender automatically, which causes all sorts of problems. This can happen even to attacking units, or to units defending cities, or to units that couldn’t normally be struck by their enemies. It doesn’t matter that you can use spells and tactics to win, or at least to force a draw; it doesn’t matter if you’re trying to wear down the enemy, sacrificing some units to weaken the enemy force and possibly buy some time; it doesn’t matter if you’re trying to gain a bit more experience in some easy battles; units that wouldn’t normally stand a chance in a straight battle are likely to just surrender automatically. This completely ruined the strategy of defending cities I used in The Wizard’s Throne, that of finishing up on gaining experience late during a scenario, after getting the enemy under control, or that of harassing a more powerful enemy earlier during a scenario, and it caused me a few massive losses, including cities and access to entire areas of the map, despite the fact that tactics and magic would have made the battles in question not only possible, but in fact basically certain to be won.
When it comes to the story, this time around the problem is that much of it tries hard, way too hard, desperately so, to be funny, which definitely doesn’t fit the grim setting and events. What comes before and after each scenario is all right, but most of what you get to read during the scenarios themselves is a joke, literally, and that also goes for most unit descriptions, which just doesn’t seem right at all. Some occasional comic relief works, making a game where the whole point is to be humorous also works, but when you have a story about terrible wars, desperate refugees, the threat of complete enslavement and basically the possible end of the world and yet almost everyone either keeps making jokes or, well, is a joke, often as a way to point out stupidity or insanity or both, it really doesn’t fit and may even leave a rather bitter taste.
Otherwise, there are some technical problems to be aware of as well. What I played was the GOG.com version and I’m not sure if they’re specific to it or not, but one thing I wondered about was why does such an old game need to constantly use all of one CPU core while it’s running. The big technical problem, however, is the fact that the game will become increasingly choppy, then start simply exiting, with no crash message, apparently when switching between the turns of AI opponents, and eventually no longer start at all the more time passes since the last reboot. For those who turn their computers off daily, or at least reboot regularly, this wouldn’t even be noticed, but since mine is usually only off if the power fails or I need to change some component or move the desk and only rebooted to install Windows updates or in case of a serious problem, it meant that even if I got used to it being choppy, which can start to happen within days, I was forced to take a break every month, the point at which it no longer started tending to come after about three weeks or so. This was one important, and perhaps the most important, reason why it took me close to two years to finish the campaign, since sometimes I didn’t feel like getting back to it after the next reboot, or perhaps started or got back to some other game and didn’t bother with this one again until I either finished or took a long time off that one.
Other than that, the bug that makes you sometimes need to do something else, such as capture a structure, in order for the game to realize that you completed a quest from one of the Spirits remains, as does the one causing negotiations to be ignored if the AI partner would have accepted but doesn’t have the mana required for the transfer. And the fact that when an ally joins you in battle they control their units, but when you join an ally you don’t control yours and in fact don’t see the battle at all, only being presented with the outcome, also remains unchanged and just as unpleasant. In addition, while the issues are minor, often just a matter of some text that seems out of place, a few of those scripted events that make scenarios nicer may not quite work as intended, and pushing past the intended path to victory and striving to defeat the enemy instead may cause even more little oddities.
And to finish with the complaints, despite the improvements I mentioned, the AI definitely won’t win any prizes, and there are still some problems with the information received, albeit much fewer and less important than in the previous game. When it comes to this information, for example I finished the game without really knowing what each level of a magic sphere did and, more specifically, what being a specialist actually implied, only thinking to do a quick search and get the exact information while thinking of writing this review, because the game itself didn’t provide it. And then there was the final Syron scenario, which on top of being listed as “very hard” but in fact being very easy, possibly even the easiest if you quickly understand how it works and play it right, has a victory condition that isn’t as clear as it should be. It’s explained at the beginning, and there is another way to win it if you “cheat” a bit, but after again taking a break and then just reading again what showed up when I checked the objective, I wasn’t quite sure I correctly remembered what I had to do and had to check a guide to confirm it.

Overall, Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic definitely has problems, solving a few of those which had plagued The Wizard’s Throne but doing nothing about others and adding some notable ones on its own, but it even now remains a pretty good fantasy TBS, having positive elements that other games in this genre continue to lack or even specifically reject, lacking some negative ones that are otherwise unfortunately all too common, and definitely creating that “one more turn” feeling that is mandatory for the genre. As such, despite the changes I was bothered by, the completely out of place determination to constantly insert humor in such a grim setting, and even the technical problems that I had to put up with and which kept forcing me to take breaks, I did finish it and can say that for the most part I enjoyed it.

Seem to be having some issues at the moment, including repeated ones with my Internet access at night, but I’d rather just catch up instead, starting with yesterday’s run. Only went out at 3:50 PM, but days are getting longer now and it was sunny too, so light wasn’t a problem, and neither was the weather, with a reported temperature of 6-7°C and the wind not bothering me, though there seemed to be some and I was a little worried at first. There weren’t that many people either, though they did cost me a bit of time in a number of places. The time was 48:20, with sector times of 4:15, 5:08, 5:51, 4:30, 5:03, 5:59, 4:32, 5:03, 6:04 and 1:55, making for lap times of 15:14, 15:32 and 15:39. It was quite clear after the first lap that I won’t get under 48 minutes, but I was never really in danger of going over 48:30 either, so did push a bit but not as much as during other recent runs, and on the final sector I probably even took it a bit easy, hence that poor time. Interestingly, the knee didn’t bother me at all as I ran, though it decided to remind me that it’s not fine after all as I was trying to take my shoes off after getting back.

It’s a good thing the water temperature was good last evening, for the first time in a week. There keep being problems, repeatedly leaving many people without hot water or heating, and while this area wasn’t really hit by them in full, the “hot” water was barely warm for several days, and actually quite cold on Sunday, when I think it only had around 25°C, and in fact I saw someone posting a picture on a group showing a measured temperature of 26°C. Saturday it was around body temperature, ending up slightly below it by the time it reached my skin, so I had to just manage to shower with it like that, considering how sweaty I was after carrying all that weight I carried that evening. It was somewhat better Tuesday, when I showered again, but still definitely not comfortable. Might have been a tiny bit better Monday evening, but decided to wait another day then.

But something I really want to mention is that on December 24 I finally managed to finish Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. After starting it back in February of 2017, that’s something. Played it on and off, taking longer breaks for other games and shorter ones caused by that bug that makes it get increasingly choppy, then start just exiting, with no crash message, when changing between AI opponents’ turns, really seeming to only happen with opponents and not allies as well, and then no longer start at all the more time passes since last reboot. It does seem to take about three weeks to get to that point, and sometimes it took even longer, but with me only rebooting when I absolutely have to, usually for the monthly Windows updates, and in a couple of cases skipping those as well, that meant that even if I learned to put up with it being choppy most of the time, there kept being periods when I just couldn’t play it anymore, and sometimes I didn’t feel like getting back to it after the next reboot. Now let’s see about a review, since I definitely want to write one and meant to do so before the end of the year, but right now I’m not sure I’ll manage it.

Otherwise, getting back to Saturday, meant to go to the commemoration of the Revolution, which was also intended as a protest, but I wasn’t exactly comfortable with the specific agenda of the protest at this particular moment, so the idea was to go to the march and then see how things will play out later. But the march was supposed to start at 5 PM or 5:15 PM and dad said he’ll be back after 5 PM, so my original plan of just grabbing the metro card from him and going right out wouldn’t have worked. And that of first going to that event and then to other Carrefours, to look for that thing he had asked me to look for and a couple of other things that were on sale, definitely wouldn’t have worked either, since it’d have gotten too late and I realized I had to be back around 10 PM. So in the end I asked him to let me know when he’ll get on the metro and we’ll meet at the station, I’ll get the card and just go look for those things, then try to get back in time to watch the match too.
The thing is that he said he’ll likely be back closer to 6 PM, so I thought I’ll be ready by 5:30 PM and wait for the call, but that call came much earlier, at a time when I was on the toilet too, and from the voice mail and the message he sent later I understood that he was getting close to getting on the metro, not off it. So I knew I had to leave earlier than planned, but was actually thinking I’ll still have to wait for him a bit when I was about to go out the door, at 5:05 PM… Only for him to call again just then and ask where I was, because he had gotten off the metro already. What followed was a rather confused exchange, him asking whether he should just come and we’ll meet here, then saying we’ll meet on the way, which was definitely a bad idea, since we use different routes and I couldn’t even really explain mine, though he asked me to a few times. So I rushed out the door and kept looking while hurrying there, worried that he started walking too and we’ll miss each other, but in the end I saw him still waiting there, so it worked out.
Then again, any time gained by meeting him there was lost right away, since the train going in one direction was already in the station when I got in, but I let it go in order to take the one going the other way, since that’d have meant fewer stops. But it also meant first waiting for that train to come, then for it to slowly cover that last bit at the end of the line, then switching trains, waiting again since two trains going the other way came before the first one going the right way, and even that wasn’t the one I needed, so I got on it without realizing it at first, then got off it after two stops and waited for the next one, which also waited for a bit where the lines split.
Once I finally got to that Carrefour, I looked for what he wanted but couldn’t find it, and couldn’t find the cat litter either, the whole area being almost empty, with just one or maybe two bags of some other kind left. That was actually a funny moment, since I got there right behind another guy who was looking for the same thing and was also on the phone at the time, and we both stopped and stared for a moment, then he told the person he was talking to that he’s there and looking, but that’s about all he can do. Considered getting some garlic, but decided not to bother, meaning to check the Carrefour next to the park on the way back, though there is a bit of a walk from the station and that makes it not really worth taking the metro from there, so maybe if I would have gone there I’d have just walked back, and either way it’d have meant hurrying in order not to miss the start of the match. Also considered charging my phone card with just 1 EUR instead of getting the garlic, to activate it for this period, or even simply to go to the toilet, since I had to pee, but did neither.
When I got back to the station, the train I should have taken was just leaving, but I got confused again and went to the other side, only realizing I took the same one I came with once on it. Still, really don’t think I could have caught that first one, and the next one going that way was just leaving the station when the one I was on was getting there two stops later, so waiting for that one would have been the same thing in terms of number of stops, counting from that one where they met, and could have in fact ended up being slower, due to merging lines and perhaps needing to wait for another one to get far enough ahead. Plus, going that way actually offered me another option, stopping at another Carrefour instead of the one I had been thinking of and likely saving a bit of time, not going back and forth.
There is still a bit of a walk, from that stop to the Carrefour in that area, but I rushed there, finally going to the toilet at first, then looking again for what dad wanted and again not finding it. Yet, even though there was just one large bag left and that was only because it was badly torn, had better luck with the cat litter though, since there were plenty of small ones, half the weight at half the price, working out to the same thing. So I grabbed six of those and 860 grams of garlic, to get to an almost round amount. The total was 0.05 RON short of said round amount, but I didn’t get that coin as change, so that was that… Or not quite, since I then spent quite a few minutes trying to also shove the garlic in my backpack’s smaller compartment, after filling the large one with two of those bags, and eventually still had to give up on the idea and just carry it in one hand, so couldn’t be perfectly balanced, with just two bags in each hand. It was 7:35 PM when I finally left that spot.
With time so tight, I just pushed myself to hurry to the metro station, not allowing myself to rest for even a moment, despite carrying about 20 kg. And that was a good thing, since the train was just there when I arrived and I managed to get in and hurry down the stairs in time. Even that still didn’t leave me much time to walk from the station here, but pushed myself again, still not allowing myself to rest for even a moment despite feeling that I needed to a couple of times, and made it back just moments before the match started, at 8 PM. Then, after catching my breath, putting the stuff away and changing, also made popcorn during the first half, meaning to eat it during the second but instead spending some time on-line while mostly just listening to the match and only starting to eat the popcorn close to the end, so actually ate most of it after it was over.

The next evening I wanted to go out again, mainly to take advantage of the last day of Kaufland’s offer of 30% off all fruits and vegetables after 10 PM, but also meant to have a look at the Carrefour next to the park too, for what dad wanted. Meant to leave at 8 PM, was at the door five minutes after that, but dad said something then, so it was a few more minutes before I actually went out. Not that it was of any use to go to that Carrefour either, not finding the other things dad had asked me to look for when I said where I was going either, so after a quick look I started walking to the Kaufland from that area, but since it was still early, on the way decided to take a detour to the Auchan from that part of the city too… Which also proved to be just a waste of time, so I eventually reached that Kaufland a bit after 9:30 PM, waited until 10 PM to be sure and got a few things, including a stock of something for dad, though I still didn’t find what he had asked me to look for… And then, after getting back, I realized that the first thing he had asked me to look for, the one I had checked out four different Carrefour locations for, could be ordered on-line as well and picked up without paying for shipping, so I taught him to do that and he did it that evening, meaning that I wandered around so much for no reason.
Happened to spot one of the known protesters from the “old guard” while in Carrefour and I tried to greet him, but he just gave me a little confused look and walked past, possibly not recognizing me, though I’d find that a bit odd. The thing is that he had just had a harsh exchange with another activist in the comments of a post made by one of the best known “old guard” ones, clearly giving the impression that the problems between them had been brewing for quite some time, and I had intended to send them both a message to ask what was going on, but didn’t do that, and then obviously couldn’t get myself to ask him directly that evening. Thought of it, but there was no way I could manage to actually say something, couldn’t have even if he would have returned my greeting. On the other hand, a guy seemed to want to catch my eye in Auchan, but whether he recognized me and I didn’t recognize him or he wrongly assumed I had heard what had been said between him and the woman he was with before she walked away, I have no idea.

As for Monday, woke up at 9:30 AM and at first meant to just roll over and go back to sleep, but then I remembered I wanted to check that Auchan again early in the day, after seeing that they now also list products on site, including where they are in stock, and the specific kind of cat food dad had asked me to look for, since the male cat at my grandmother’s apparently likes it, was supposedly in stock there, though I hadn’t seen any the previous evening. So I got up, checked the site again, saw that it still said it was in stock there and that there should also be a limited stock at the one I usually go to, and at 10:30 AM I was out, only needing to wait a couple of minutes for the free bus heading that way.
Just lost sleep and wasted my time though, since there was still none of that particular kind, yet I then lost even more time by taking the bus that most directly took me to the regular Auchan I go to, checking there as well… And finding none of that brand whatsoever, that entire area was empty, with just the price tags left. Did also consider taking their bus to a third location, but the site said it wasn’t in stock there, so assumed the chances to find anything were even lower than where it should have been in stock, and decided I had done quite enough anyway, so took the one taking me back here instead… Which, interestingly, was the same vehicle I had gotten on the first time, meaning that I got off it at one end of the line and back on at the other. Wonder if the driver noticed…
Was back just after 11:50 AM and crawled back in bed around 12:30 PM, though I mostly just sat there, only getting up at 4:30 PM but not really sleeping that much. Though it rained later, the weather would have been good for a run in the first part of the day, but it ended up being good yesterday too, when it wasn’t wet anymore either, so it wasn’t a problem that I didn’t go then. I was tired anyway, and my upper legs hurt, so it’d have been very hard to try to get back at least under 48:30 then, and that’s even without getting up so early and wandering around first.

Oh, and Tuesday I bumped by head again in the kitchen. Had done so a few days before too, but more lightly then and I didn’t pay much attention, yet that day I definitely noticed a bump there a bit later, despite taking an ice cube and holding it there for a while. It’s possible that I didn’t hold it in the right spot though, since I think the bump was a bit above the area where I had held the cube, so that probably just made me feel cold without offering much of a benefit.

Already said what I had to say on the matter two months ago, after the announcement that Wimbledon will introduce final set tie-breaks, albeit only at 12-12, so this will just be a quick post, but couldn’t fail to mention that now a similar announcement was made by Australian Open as well, and on short notice too, the tournament taking place next month. Worse, the tie-breaks there won’t wait until 12-12, but be introduced at what would be the regular end of a set, 6-6, though they will admittedly be “match tie-breaks”, going up to ten instead of seven. And while in case of Wimbledon the change seemed to have infuriatingly been widely welcomed, in case of Australian Open it seems to have been widely condemned, yet they don’t seem to care.
So, as I was saying two months ago, these trends are why my interest in tennis keeps dropping overall, despite Simona Halep‘s results. It was, and should be, an endurance sport, yet it has become less and less so, and now Roland Garros remains the only actual major tournament as far as I’m concerned, and even that only applies to singles, since even there it’s just the singles that have no final set tie-break, plus that even so men’s doubles aren’t best of five sets and mixed doubles aren’t even best of three. And I dread the prospect of a similar decision there as well, though at the moment I still want to hope that the fact that it’s played on clay and serving is somewhat less important will go some way towards avoiding that.

True, particularly long matches take a lot out of players, but I’d much rather have them play fewer tournaments each year but be ready and willing to stay on court much longer if necessary when they do play. Besides, there are many players and the best ones being more careful in selecting which tournaments to participate in would give the others a chance to shine as well. And for said best players, those going far in the major tournaments, it could even be a matter of just taking part in the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open, one or two other more important tournaments before each of these, to prepare, plus possibly the Davis Cup or Fed Cup, and the ATP Finals or WTA Finals for the very best. That would make for a maximum of 14 tournaments played each year, but at least the major ones, if not those others played in order to prepare for those as well, shouldn’t have final set tie-breaks of any sort, men’s matches should be best of five sets for both singles and doubles and women’s matches and mixed doubles should be best of three. If anything, I’d even go for returning to having no tie-breaks at all in case of the major tournaments, or at least for that idea I mentioned before, making it so it won’t be possible to win a match in a tie-break, regardless of the number of sets.

This week’s run was yesterday and it was a bad one, the time being 49:55, with sector times of 4:32, 5:20, 6:08, 4:42, 5:13, 6:02, 4:42, 5:17, 6:10 and 1:49, making for lap times of 16:00, 15:57 and 16:09. That’s the slowest I’ve been since that first run after the flu, in March, and other than that I actually got exactly this same time in August of 2017, while the last time I was even slower, not counting that run back in March, was a month before that, when it says in that post that I had to tie my shoelaces back twice, though I guess I’d have still been just a little bit slower even without that. Still, at -3°C, with ice in some parts of the route and considering the fact that my times haven’t been good for a while anyway, it can be tolerable… Barely.
Went out wearing the thinner training suit I wear around the house under the running one, plus obviously undershirt, t-shirt and boxers, two pairs of socks, gloves, my woolen cap and the promotional cap received when I last planted trees on top of it, and my regular shoes instead of the running ones. And the two pairs of socks and pants were useful on the way to the park, since when I tried to jump over a large puddle that I couldn’t go around due to parked cars I did touch it a little, a bit of water splashing on me but not really getting through both layers. Otherwise, jacket still tied around my waist while I ran, of course, and in the pockets of my pants I had some tissues and a mint and eucalyptus candy, though I didn’t need either, and my keys in the pocket I’m not used to have them in, because before leaving I noticed a hole in that one, probably created just by them over time. Not big enough for them to fall through it yet, but I’d have been worried about it, while as it was I only even quickly checked that I still had them in that pocket on sector three of lap three. The cap could have caused me to lose time, since it almost flew off my head, I think close to the end of lap two, but I caught it in time. Not sure of the effects of deciding not to take the glove off when hitting the button to mark an intermediate time on my stopwatch, since I had to be more careful and also turn the stopwatch to see it better, to be sure I hit that button, and that might have slowed me a bit more than taking the glove off and putting it back on. And not having it off also meant not wiping my nose, but it was actually a lot less runny than I thought anyway.
There was hardly any wind and, dressed like that, the cold wasn’t a problem either, and in fact I started sweating a bit towards the end of the first lap and was even starting to overheat early on lap two, but later it was fine again, possibly meaning that the temperature had dropped another degree or so. The ice, on the other hand, definitely was an issue. Some areas were cleaned well, though most of that long left turn was among them and that meant I couldn’t exactly take advantage of it and push there, but there were also patches or even whole areas with ice, including spots where the layer was very thin and I couldn’t see it at first, needing to learn where it was after noticing where I was slipping on the first lap. In addition to that, it seemed that in the areas where the path wasn’t completely cleaned of ice, most turns were cleaned better on the outside, forcing me to take the long way around.
Though there weren’t actually that many people, everybody obviously tended to stay on the cleaned parts, and therefore even one person could mean time lost if the clean part was narrow. One guy annoyed me, walking towards me close to the end of the first lap and staying firmly on the clean part, which oddly enough was on the inside of the turn in that spot, forcing me to go both the long way around and on ice. On the other hand, it was funny just after I started, when a couple was walking ahead of me just as I was going under the bridge, this time in the same direction, and she went right just as I was about to go around them on that side, which would have resulted in us slamming into each other, the wall not leaving me anywhere else to go, if he wouldn’t have just grabbed her and yanked her towards him at the last moment, I guess being able to better determine where I was by the sound, since neither of them turned.
Interestingly, my knee was quite fine, though I feared that needing to correct so much when I was slipping was going to make it hurt badly. Maybe it was thanks to the slower speed, maybe the two pairs of pants also had something to do with it, possibly providing just a little bit more support, but it actually surprised me… Though it was still the left leg that I had some other issues with, in the form of a cramp, albeit a faint one, that I had there for most of the time. And then about halfway through lap three I started feeling something jabbing into that big toe too, stinging quite badly, so I had to run a bit oddly in order to reduce the pain. Still don’t know what it was though, since it seemed to have moved out of that spot around the end, not bothering me on the way back anymore, and when I took my shoe off after getting back here I couldn’t find anything.
Before starting, I was saying that just covering the distance was going to be an achievement and time won’t really matter, but what I actually thought was that managing to stay under 48:30 under those conditions would be extraordinary, yet going over 50 minutes was still intolerable, so tried to see what I could do on the first sectors and when I noticed that I was off the 50-minute pace after the second one and still not quite back there after the third, the exact first lap time being 16:00.30, I definitely got worried… And that bad first sector of lap two just made it even worse, and on the second sector I didn’t recover much, yet on the third I finally did enough and knew I even had a few seconds to spare… Which seconds I lost right away on lap three though, so I started it thinking I’ll need no worse than 16:07, since 1:55 on that final sector should be all right if I won’t slow down, and ended up being two seconds over that and after pushing on sector three, leaving me tired and with plenty to do on that short final sector. But I just managed it, and without breathing through my mouth either, even if I was really out of breath for that final bit.

After the run, ate the last of the baked pumpkin I had, spent a bit more time on-line, then took the recyclables too and went right back out, to Carrefour and Kaufland, mainly because dad had said he wanted something found at Carrefour. Had initially meant to do this after the free shop I planned to check out that day, but then noticed that it was going to start at 8 PM, so that wouldn’t have really worked, making me change the plan and intend to go there on the way, then change it again to avoid carrying the purchases with me all the way, and having to worry about going in with the stuff I was taking with me in order to possibly drop off at the free shop. So I just went there first, not finding what dad wanted and deciding to not get anything else from Carrefour then either, since it means I’ll have to check out others these days anyway, but getting a few things from Kaufland instead. The queues were really long, but I still managed to be back at 7:55 PM, so it was quite fine.
After peeing, I threw the book I had just finished, the issues of National Geographic which had gathered since I last dropped some off at the previous such event, and the disk with Two Worlds II I still had from that gaming magazine in a backpack and left again, getting there just after 8:40 PM. Since they had specified that this was for presents, not clothes unless they’re really good or in some way special, there were few things there and few people in that area too. Of course, when everyone brings clothes, I definitely don’t care, so now there was at least the chance to find something interesting, but didn’t spot anything at first and was wondering whether to even drop anything off, since the magazines didn’t exactly fit the theme and, after initially meaning to drop off the book either way, I had decided to keep it for the next book exchange, since that’s where I got it in the first place, unless I’ll take another book from there, and there was none that I wanted. Plus, those packs of cards and maybe even that old clock which I dropped off last time would have been better suited for this event, and I never took anything so far, so it could be said that I gave my share anyway.
Still, sat down and wrote a little note about the game, mentioning that it activates on-line and I don’t know whether it’ll still work, but at first I just put it and the note back in the backpack and wandered around a little longer, just leaving it after it seemed that I had wasted too much time and it was getting really obvious that I was just waiting to see whether anything more interesting would be brought. After leaving it, thought that “bought” me a bit more time, so looked through a book for a while, then had another look around and spotted a scented candle, very slightly used, and eventually decided to take it and walk out… Only to see others just coming in then and bringing a number of things, which made me turn around, waste a bit more time having another quick look through the part of the “alternative library” that’s also there that I could see, the table that’s in front of that area being full, and then have another look at the new items, again taking as long as I felt I could before leaving again, this time for good, and getting back here at 9:55 PM. At least one person was definitely looking at me suspiciously, but they tend to know each other over there, kept chatting, and I was obviously not one of them anyway. Plus that I wonder whether she wasn’t someone I had a few heated discussions with on-line…

Speaking of things received for free, Sunday I won another game in a giveaway on the GOG.com forum. This time it was Mount & Blade: Warband, and it surprised me, since it had been the only one I entered for and was by far the most requested in that thread. Then again, since not many entered, that still meant good odds, but it really did surprise me… And then I felt even more awkward when, after asking about the odd code, being told that it had been a bonus code for the boxed copy and wondering whether it was all right for someone other than the buyer to redeem it, the person who had organized the giveaway offered to buy another copy and gift it to me if I was uncomfortable with the situation. Of course, I had already redeemed and downloaded it by then, so nothing else to do, and I wouldn’t have accepted such an offer either way, but it was awkward and then I was wondering how to avoid digging myself even deeper and likely failing. Either way, now I have another game, and this time one I can actually play, and I’m thinking I’ll try to do so next year, which will sure drastically lower the chances of finishing others…

Moving on, Monday I left dad a long note about problems around the apartment, and with him. Nobody to talk to, of course, he won’t care, mostly won’t even believe they’re problems, but did what I could and at least there don’t seem to be negative consequences. As for that night, it marked the first time this winter when I was cold enough to actually want to turn on the heater in my room, but when I did so I found that it once again didn’t work and didn’t feel like grabbing a tool from the balcony to try to fix it again. Had fixed it once a bit ago, checking that it seemed to work and turning it right back off after that, but I guess it’ll keep getting stuck from now on, so I’ll need a tool here if I’ll want to be able to turn it on when really needed. But that night I managed without it, just shivering here and then curling in a tight ball and wrapping myself well in the blanket when I went to bed, and it didn’t seem that bad since then, so it’s still off.

Tuesday, the noise dad made just before leaving woke me up and I couldn’t get back to sleep, so it was still before noon when I eventually got up. Really needed to go to Auchan, after deciding against doing so the day before and having to halve the amount of bread I ate the previous two nights because of that, so I took it easy, but eventually took the plastic bottles which had gathered and the light bulbs which also had to be thrown away, including that one with the cracked base, which I didn’t want to keep around anymore, and went out five minutes before the free bus should have gotten here… And ended up waiting for 17, since it was 12 minutes late. But at least the recycling machine worked, though I didn’t have many bottles this time. It was the light bulbs that I had a harder time with, since I wandered around for a bit and couldn’t find any place to drop them off, so I eventually put them in my jacket and went in like that, bought a few things, then only finally found the proper place to put them when I wandered around a bit more after getting back out, since I had done so in between buses, at least if they’d have respected the schedule.
Well, they didn’t. I was at the stop six minutes before the bus I needed was supposed to be there and there were plenty of people but no buses, and that area got really crowded as more time passed and people were wondering what was happening. Eventually two other buses came, I don’t know if a few minutes early or very late, and then the one that I can take to the park also showed up, a few minutes late and coming to pick people up right after dropping off those brought there. Did consider waiting for the right one, but after seeing that the one which was just arriving wasn’t that one either I ran to that one just as it was about to leave. Would have been here a couple of minutes earlier and without needing to walk back from the park if I would have waited, since the right bus drove past me as I was walking, but I couldn’t have known that at the time.

As for Wednesday, after starting it the previous evening, finished the book and wrote the quick review for it, also translating it into Romanian and posting it in both languages on Goodreads, since it’s a Romanian book. I may be forgetting something, but it may in fact be the first book actually written in Romanian that’s not nonfiction that I read since I started having access to books in English, and likely since before getting to know Andra. Not that there were more than a handful of books of any kind, so including translations and nonfiction, that I read in Romanian since I started having access to English ones, but I seem to remember that I was still going to high school, or at least that it was around that time, when I read Maitreyi, and that it was odd for me even then, just because it was written by a Romanian author, and really don’t think there was another one after it.
Other than that, dad was making noise at night, so around 12:30 AM I went there to tell him it’s not all right, thinking of the neighbors, and saw that he had changed some furniture to make things fit again after he moved things around again, and he asked me to help him… And also showed me that he had signed up for digital TV, since they had increased the price of the analog-only subscription and with the signing of a new two-year contract the price of the basic digital one was the same, and the number of channels is about triple. Of course, that only works on the TV the box is connected to, each additional one costing a bit more, and it couldn’t be connected to my TV tuner at all, so at first I was worried that we had been switched completely to digital and I won’t be able to see anything on the computer at all anymore, but I guess it just means we get digital on one TV on top of the analog channels still on the others as before, so I guess that’s fine. Still, I was there for one hour, trying to figure things out, since he said he doesn’t have the patience for it, as usual, and having a hard time changing channels. So, even though I was even thinking of going to eat a bit earlier and try to go to sleep a bit earlier as well, hoping to get a bit more sleep before the next day’s run, it was after 1:30 AM when I could even get to the kitchen, so had to rush to even stick to the normal hours.

Got this from a book exchange, so didn’t actually pay for it at least. Wouldn’t have given much even because of the size alone anyway, a more serious magazine likely being longer. Admittedly, that at least meant I could go through it quickly, but some problems could have been fixed by writing more, a lot more, if that’d have meant adding explanations, worldbuilding, making things make sense and have some depth. As it is, I wonder why it’s considered science fiction, since there’s no science in it, and I’d say it can’t be called fantasy either, since that should also make sense, be internally consistent, even if in a place where the laws of nature differ, and there’s nothing of the sort here. I guess it could be seen as some sort of fairy tale, but that’s about it.
For example, how come there are so many messenger pilots and planes and apparently even common, everyday messages are delivered in person by plane? How come this happens in a village, and how come it has an academy to train the pilots for that matter? Then, how were the children just forgotten in said village right away, and how come nobody cared when they were noticed again? Even if you allow for some interventions according to what’s explained at the end, none of that makes any sense. Interestingly, the stranger things that happen later could make some sense, assuming fantasy “rules”, and the last 30 pages are actually much better in every way, but there are few attempts to explain and everything, whether we’re talking of events, character development or feelings, is rushed through and… At times sort of in a fog, if I may say so.
And then there’s the matter of the dialogues, which are completely forced, not natural or believable in any way. The writing style itself can be passable otherwise, but definitely not when it comes to anything spoken, that being so bad that it actually made me check whether it wasn’t somehow written in a different language at first and then translated, badly.

Rating: 2/5