Cav's Place

Ran my first marathon over a week ago and I’m yet to write a post about it, so I definitely must fix that now. Meant to do so yesterday, but helped dad with some work in the kitchen and also started reading Songs in the Year of the Cat, so decided to just keep reading, and also take a little nap in the evening, since by then it was highly unlikely that I’d finish the post and I therefore risked neither posting nor reading as much as I wanted to. And since this paragraph ends up being about yesterday, should also mention that I have one more ban to add to the list, this time from a smaller local freecycling group, after writing a very brief surprised comment in reply to an even harsher one written by someone else, both of us reacting to the fact that the administrator had started a contest with some small item as the prize for one member drawn out of those who invite at least 200 new people in the group. Utterly shocking requirement there, and when you also add the fact that she told me, after I sent a message asking about the ban, that members who write mean messages about the active ones are not needed, I think she has no idea what she’ll get as a result of such a request to spam people with invites and bring anyone and everyone in…

Now I’ll pick up from where I left off, at 6:45 AM on race day, when I woke up, one of the first thoughts being that it sure was weird to wake up while it was still dark outside. Had actually intended to set the alarm for 7 AM, but then saw that I had set it for 6:45 AM in May and still barely managed to leave at 8:15 AM, and since the plan was to leave at the same time, I definitely couldn’t wake even later. I mean, I just keep being slower, and this was proven now as well, since I only managed to leave at 8:25 AM, and again without managing to, shall we say, empty myself first. What’s more, only tried to do so once, while in May I tried twice, though it can be said that most of those ten minutes were in fact lost while trying to check the weather and whether there were any more announcements posted using dad’s mobile Internet, which barely loaded anything. Also lost a little time trying to put some tape on my nipples, since I remembered reading that men’s bleeding nipples, I guess due to rubbing against the t-shirt, are maybe the most common thing marathon first aid teams have to deal with, but couldn’t do that either due to the hair, so just gave up and hoped it won’t be a problem, and it wasn’t. In spite of all of this, I was at the metro station at 8:31 AM, so less than ten minutes later than back in May, though dad drove me there both times, and at Constitution Square at 8:52 AM, so just three minutes later than then.
Didn’t mean to waste time though, so first went straight inside to buy another energy bar from the Isostar stand there, to still have one to eat just before the start since there was nothing of the sort in the race kit, then also quite boldly grabbed an apple from those offering them and also a cup of water from those offered in another area, drinking part of it and using the rest to wash the apple before eating that as well. Also headed for the area where those offering radlers and taking pictures this time as well were, having a bottle offered to me as soon as I approached and also being invited to have my picture taken, so I took the bottle but said I’ll have the picture after the race, not before. Then left my bag in the wardrobe tent, giving up on the idea of changing into the shorts which I also had with me, grabbed a couple of peanuts and crackers offered by those from the NGO I had chosen to support, went to pee, pretty much just needing to walk along the row of toilets until I found a free one, not needing to wait in line, and made my way to the start. Since I was starting from the last sector, not having any previous time for this distance, finding the right sector wasn’t an issue, so I just made my way to the front of it and ate that energy bar rather in a rush, since the race was just starting. I guess I started my stopwatch and also marked the moment when I crossed the start line a second late, since I had the correct start time, 3:57, but was a second behind for the official time.

There was little chance to find a way through at first, so I mostly walked to the start line along with those around me, then kept finding myself behind others which were running slower than I wanted to. Yes, I could have found my way through faster in plenty of cases, but that’d have required a lot of weaving and some sprints, which would have tired me at a time when I definitely couldn’t afford that, so I just did my best and was quite content to see that I had indeed managed to catch up to the 4:00 pacemakers after about four and a half kilometers, which was pretty much exactly as planned. However, I was already behind the plan in terms of actual time, as that involved six minutes for the first kilometer, 5:30 for the next 24, then six for the next five, seven for the next five, eight for the next five, and 20 minutes for those final 2.2 km, allowing for seven minutes as start time. Did mean to take it as ten minutes per kilometer at the end, so 22 minutes there, which would have allowed for five minutes as start time, but I rather discarded those final meters, being sure I won’t slow down quite so much to need to be so exact. And with a start time of just under four minutes, it didn’t really matter anyway. What did matter, on the other hand, was that I just couldn’t manage that pace of 5:30 / km because of all the slower runners around me.
That definitely didn’t improve after catching up to those pacemakers, because on top of my left knee starting to hurt at about that same time, which was something I needed to manage all the way to the end, I caught them just before the road, or more exactly the part of it we could run on, got narrower, and I was just completely stuck a little behind them until we turned on Parvan, and then I stayed around them quite a while longer because of the slopes on that part of the route, which didn’t allow me to push if I didn’t want to tire myself way too early. It was only at eight kilometers, as we were approaching Victory Square, that I could finally break free of them and start putting some distance, which I meant to keep doing all the way to 25 km, to be able to lose time after that and still stay ahead of them until 30 km or so. By then, I was almost a minute behind my target times and I quickly gave up on the thought of trying to recover it. Doubt I could have done so anyway, since I was still finding myself usually losing just a little bit compared to that 5:30 target, and therefore gaining very little compared to those pacemakers, their target pace being 5:41 / km, and having no chance to also catch the 2:00 half marathon group, which obviously had the same pace but had started farther ahead.
My situation got worse at the end of that small detour which I didn’t know to check when I walked the route, since it didn’t show up on the course map displayed on the site. The problem wasn’t just that I didn’t know that small area, but that it ended with a steep climb, which steep climb I wasn’t aware of until I reached it. It was short, but really steep, many just slowing to a walk, and I found myself asking out loud whether we had somehow ended up in a mountain running event. Of course, that made me lose even more time and allowed those pacemakers to get closer again, not that I was really aware of it… Until I slowed to a walk at the 15 km refreshment point and found them going past me almost right away. It is possible that they had been running faster for a while, trying to recover time lost before Victory Square, as I had I heard them say that they could even go to six minutes per kilometer when there are slopes, but I was also just starting to suffer the consequences of being unable to take a shit that morning. Even glanced at the toilets in that area, wondering whether I could try to solve the problem that way even though I hadn’t taken any tissues with me, but my best chance remained to just try to hold it in, eat some of the garlic I had with me when needed, and keep going, so I did just that.
It sure isn’t easy to run when you feel that you’re about to shit yourself, yet that’s exactly what I did, for some three more hours. There were cramps, there was gas, there was the need to make sure that just the gas was coming out, but I just had to deal with it the best way I could and not lose too much time because of it. Even tried to maintain that 5:30 target pace at first, hoping to get back ahead of those pacemakers, but by 17 kilometers they were a few more seconds ahead and I realized I was just pushing too much under those circumstances for too little benefit, so I settled into the pace my current condition allowed and recalculated the target times in order to still be able to afford to get to eight minutes per kilometer after 35. Also definitely still meant to stay ahead of the 4:15 pacemakers, which had a target pace of 6:02 / km, all the way to 35 km, failure to do so being something I could afford a whole lot less than starting to lose time to the 4:00 ones a whole lot earlier than planned.
As I approached the halfway point and those running the half marathon went straight ahead to the finish line while the rest of us went around it a second time, I wondered whether I could have even managed to stay under two hours as official time if I’d have only participated in the half marathon that day, since I think my time when I went past the finish line was 2:02:42 and I didn’t feel like I could have gained nearly three minutes before then. Also took it really easy just after passing that line, slowing to a walk, taking the energy bar I had out of my pocket and eating it while still walking, not pushing once I started running again either, having a look at the leaders as they went past on the other side of the road, approaching the finish… Covered that 22nd kilometer in some seven minutes, but that actually showed me that the target of finishing in less than 4:30 won’t be a problem as long as I’ll manage to finish at all. I mean, I had just covered a kilometer in about seven minutes while taking it easy and could almost afford to do that all the way to the end, pushing to be able to afford eight or more per kilometer later no longer seeming necessary.
The sight was a bit disheartening though. While I was on that narrow piece of road the second time, I heard two talking behind me, the man complaining that it was crowded again even after some 19 km and the woman telling him to wait and see how depressing it’ll be when it’ll be just us marathon runners left, and she sure was right. With more than two thirds of the participants only running the half marathon, when all of those peeled away, it wasn’t a nice sight… But at least from that point forward there was enough room to pass and be passed, so each could run at their own pace and I settled well enough into mine, both before hitting the wall, again around 25 km, and after. In fact, if you check my intermediate times in the official results, not counting the two which covered distances that were too short to be relevant, you’ll find that, even though the exact time per kilometer varied, with time lost on those with refreshment points or when I ate something, on average my pace was remarkably steady. Very similar times over the first part, then again very similar times, only about 1:10 / km slower, after hitting the wall, with the section between 20 and 26.5 km appearing in between since it included times from both before and after, and also that slow 22nd kilometer.
As I already mentioned, hit the wall at about 25 km, and from that point forward it was a matter of just taking it area by area, km by km, step by step, and just pushing through. Probably the hardest part was when I passed only hundreds of meters from home, running directly against the wind, which had been strong enough to be a problem in plenty of places before then as well, and thought to just peel away and give it up as a terrible idea, yet still kept going, all the way to the point where the route turned, at about 35.5 km, then passed by this spot again on the way back, thinking I still had kilometers to run and then will have to get back here once I’m done, even if most of the way by metro. Of course, certain pressing matters only got worse as time passed, I occasionally also felt a bit nauseous, and there was even a point, I think on the 28th kilometer, a bit before seeing a guy taking off his shoes and telling me when I asked that his feet hurt and he was going to try to run like that and see whether it helped, when I thought it wasn’t just gas that came out and was wondering whether it’ll end up being visible by the end. After getting back I found that it had been a wrong impression and I had managed to keep everything solid inside after all, but I didn’t know that then, so I tried to hold even gas in more and more after that point, which of course only made it even worse. The garlic really helped though, resorting to it when some relief was desperately needed; highly doubt I’d have managed without it.
Still, the times were all right, not according to the original plan but according to the new one, so I also felt at ease with my decision to change the moments when I meant to eat the energy bar and the two gels I had, from 15, 25 and 35 km at first to 21, 30 and 37, and then even delaying that last one a little longer and eating it after 38 km. It was hard, but it was manageable, somehow, the danger being only to crash completely or injure myself somehow, not to be too slow as long as I’d be able to keep going. And that was also proven when the 4:15 pacemakers went past me just as I slowed to a walk at that refreshment point that was just after that turn, at about 35.5 km, which meant that I could stay ahead of them until after 35 km, as planned. Yes, it wasn’t long after 35 km that they passed me, but that target had quite a safety margin, so those additional hundreds of meters actually meant I was very comfortably inside the target time, and that wind which had bothered me a fair bit until then was also going to come from behind all the way to the end. Was a whole lot slower than during my long practice run though, since back then I managed 35.2 km in 3:26:38 while the checkpoint which was apparently placed at exactly that same distance on the route of the marathon lists me as having a real time of 3:32:28.
The particularly slow kilometer was the 39th though. The last sponge point was just before the 38 km marker, so I slowed to a walk then, wet my face and neck, then kept walking as I took out that last gel and ate it, careful to get just about every last drop out, then also ate two pieces of garlic, which were a bit difficult to get out of what I had taken them in. Didn’t really get back to running properly after the garlic was in my mouth either, instead stopping a few times to let gas out, being very careful to make sure nothing else came out along with it. The first time I stopped for this reason during that kilometer, two people asked me whether I was all right, and the way I moved after I did it again probably didn’t look any better either. But I did what I had to do and couldn’t exactly explain it to others, so just said I was all right that first time and was relieved that nobody else asked when I did it again, especially since one of those who had asked the first time was still just behind me. In addition, while it may not seem entirely justified at a glance, was also relieved when I saw that I covered that kilometer in, if I remember correctly, 9:16. Pretty sure I didn’t even get to eight minutes over any other kilometer, and there were just a few over seven, I believe every single one a result of slowing to eat or drink, but I meant to be really slow on that one, getting ready for the end, and the target was ten minutes.
It was probably a bit late to eat that gel then, but I wanted to make sure I was going to get to the end in good shape, which I guess I did. Couldn’t quite just keep running after reaching the 39 km marker, both because I again slowed to a walk at the last refreshment point, around 40 km, and because I had to just about stop a few more times to make sure that just gas was coming out when I couldn’t hold it in anymore, but I did well enough until I reached the 41 km marker, and then did actually keep running all the way to the end. Can’t tell you what my time was on the 42nd kilometer or on those final meters, but I’m quite sure it was better than in had been in a long time, possibly even being the fastest since hitting the wall. And yes, those pressing matters still, well, pressed, but at that point I decided that if I was going to shit myself, I was just going to let it happen and still finish the marathon actually running, not stopping or slowing for anything anymore. And it’s just here at the end that I finally got ahead of my original plan. Seeing as the official time was 4:23:37 and the real time 4:19:40, if you consider the target real time to be 4:23, with 20 minutes on the final 2.2 km, then I likely only got ahead of it on the 42nd kilometer, while if you consider it as 4:25, with ten minutes per kilometer at the end, I probably got ahead of it at some point on the 41st.

Once past the line, I started to realize that I didn’t feel quite as bad as after that long practice run. May have just been an impression, because I knew what to expect, or perhaps the water and juice and apples from the refreshment points and the slower pace negated the effects of those seven more kilometers, not sure, but while I still felt like stopping and crying, it didn’t seem to hurt quite that much once it was over, the pain diminished faster, and I didn’t think that I won’t be able to get back from there. Admittedly, this last part may well have been a result of that previous experience, proving that I could still walk even in that state, but after drinking a glass of water and grabbing two bottles, I could even stop to peel a piece of an orange without fearing I’ll collapse with cramps. Also took another whole apple, that one just to take with me, not eating it there. Did eat something sweet offered at the stand of those making the almond milk which had been in the race kit, but I didn’t even see an actual name on the product, much less a list of ingredients, so while I’m thankful for the free tasty product, if it was an attempt to promote something, I’d say it failed. And those offering the radler and taking pictures also failed, because when I went to that tent again I found it largely empty, with just one guy cleaning up, who offered me another bottle of radler, which I took. Why did they take pictures of people before the race and left before most finished it is beyond me.
I still obviously needed to recover when I went to get my bag from the wardrobe tent, needing quite a few minutes to untie it from the bar I had tied it to, not quite having enough control or strength in my fingers and not quite being able to stand completely still without worrying that I’ll collapse with cramps, but I eventually managed it. Still sort of looked for someone offering massages, but didn’t spot anything like that and didn’t make use of the stretching area, since I feared I’d get too much attention if I’d do so, seeing it mostly empty, with just a guy taking off his shoes and checking his feet and another one having two trainers attend to him. So I eventually started to try to work up the courage to ask someone to take a picture of me, which ended up taking some 20 minutes. Did at first mean to ask those from the tent of the NGO I had chosen to support, but couldn’t manage it, so I went to the area that’s next to the finish straight and sort of wandered around, occasionally cheering a runner while glancing at people and trying to determine which one I could ask, eventually settling on a photographer and, probably several minutes later, finally managing to ask him to do so when there will be another break in the runners. And he agreed right away, taking four pictures, only one of them not being saved by the camera, and I kept two and selected one to post after getting back.

That finally done, I could leave, though I stopped one more time before exiting that area, to get my phone out and send dad a message to tell him my time and ask whether the Internet worked, also noticing at that time that I had two missed calls from the guy from the network, at 11:45 AM. Interestingly, a bit after that I got a message saying “I don’t know if the Internet works. Give me a sign when you get back to talk about how it was.” which I assumed to be from him, since it answered my message, without really looking at who the sender was, so I was quite surprised first to see a note from him on the kitchen table saying that the Internet did work and then to hear that evening that my mother had told him that she had sent me a message that I didn’t reply to. Still, even though I checked my phone a few more times on the metro, it was several days later, when I deleted some other messages as well, that I noticed that the message in question had actually been from her.
Since I mentioned the metro, it sure was uncomfortable after switching. I had just missed one at Izvor but the next one came quickly enough, yet when I switched at Dristor I saw the whole station full of people and no trains waiting, the screen saying nine minutes until the next one will leave, so being on a normal weekend schedule even though, on top of a good part of the city being closed due to the marathon, the national team’s match was about to start at 4 PM, those going there getting off at the next stop after Dristor as well. There was an old woman with two large bags who just squeezed inside and kept asking what’s going on, why is it so crowded, having no clue about either event, and that train didn’t even leave at the listed time, the doors opening again after attempting to close and some people holding them open to also squeeze themselves inside, after which point they were left open for a while longer, allowing another large group, likely the result of another train arriving at the connected station, to somehow squeeze inside.

If I’d have cared to walk, I’d have likely gotten back sooner on foot. Still, I was here at 3:50 PM, so in time to catch the start of the match, though definitely too late to go take that shit first too. Then again, it wasn’t such a pressing matter anymore, my body settling down after I stopped running, so I ordered the pizza as soon as I got on the computer, even though there was a chance it won’t arrive by the end of the first half, which wouldn’t have allowed me to go at half time either, since I’d have had to wait for the delivery guy. Still, that seemed to not be a problem when they told me that, just because of the marathon and match, they have many orders and it may take one hour. However, while indeed it wasn’t a problem, that wasn’t because it arrived during the second half, but because it arrived before the end of the first, after some 30 minutes, again faster than estimated. Whether they moved my order ahead in the queue because I mentioned that I was just coming from the marathon too or, seeing as it came faster when I ordered from them before as well, they just add a big safety margin to their estimates to be absolutely sure the delivery won’t be late, I don’t know, but it’s quite nice.
So I was able to quickly go and finally empty myself at half time, then took some three and a half hours to eat that large pizza and two pieces of pie which had been brought by dad before. I think it was apple pie, probably also with cinnamon and maybe also raisins. Really felt like I had stuffed myself, couldn’t quite fit the last bits, but managed, and then stuffed myself some more at night too, though I did eat less then than I normally would at night. Also drank one of those radlers that night, since it had no alcohol and I was getting very thirsty and couldn’t wait to make more tea and have it cool enough, and the fact that I didn’t need to wake up to pee until the next afternoon showed that I sure needed to drink.
Other than that, I was feeling better than expected. Yes, my left knee was a problem, hurting enough to even wake me at least twice that morning, my right heel looked and felt like it was about to crack, and I also found that I was a little sunburned, in the middle of October and on a day with a high in the low 20s, but I feared much worse and even those issues went away well enough over the following days. Can sure say that the shoes really did their job, since with the old ones I sometimes ended up with bruises under my toenails even after ten kilometers while with these I ran a marathon and had no problem. Or, all right, there was that heel, but it didn’t quite crack, and there was nothing other than that… Nothing the shoes could help with, at least, since the problem that bothered me the most was something I didn’t expect, that being how chapped my lips were. Probably in good part because of running against that wind, but they just cracked if I just opened my mouth enough to eat or speak, taking days to recover even if I tried to use some moisturizing cream eventually. There was a moment that evening when I saw myself in the bathroom mirror and wondered why was I dirty on my upper lip, before realizing it was dried blood due to it cracking like that.

What’s next? Not entirely sure. I mean, now that I got just finishing one out of the way, I definitely want to run a marathon in less than four hours, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to do that next year. In fact, I really doubt it, and since even much older people can get good times over such distances, I don’t feel like I’m running out of time for that. On the other hand, while otherwise a half marathon is almost becoming routine, I may be running out of time if I want to make it not be routine anymore and aim to get under 1:45, so there may be a reason to sign up for that again next year and leave another marathon for 2020. Could try both again next year too, sure, but at this point I don’t want to… And now that I checked the site in order to put the link, I saw that there’s a very early registration option available for the half marathon, only until October 31, though if you click through it says November 30, so I don’t know which is right. Does mean I need to decide quickly though, both whether I want to sign up and whether I want my medal engraved, which I never did so far but which may be something if I will manage to get under 1:45. Will just be a source of embarrassment, as well as a complete waste of money, if I won’t though.

A few months ago, I was, in a way, praising the Wimbledon tournament for still allowing long matches, especially since it was the only tournament to do so for doubles as well, and renewing my calls to ensure that final set tie-breaks won’t be added to any of the tournaments where they don’t yet exist, and most preferably to have them removed from the US Open and the doubles matches from the other major tournaments as well, plus to have best of five sets for men’s doubles and a proper best of three for mixed doubles at all such tournaments. At the time I thought there were no final set tie-breaks in the Davis Cup either, but that just showed that I hadn’t been watching Davis Cup matches in quite a number of years, since final set tie-breaks had been announced back in 2015.
Unfortunately, what I feared then has now happened, and as of next year Wimbledon will have final set tie-breaks, admittedly only if a match will reach 12-12 in the final set and not 6-6 as it otherwise happens. This will affect a very small number of matches, but every single one of them a great chance for something truly special which will now be impossible to ever happen again. In case of doubles matches, at least as far as I’m aware, this marks the complete elimination of the possibility of extended final sets, while for singles matches it only leaves Australian Open and Roland Garros for those, be they viewers, spectators or even players, who still view tennis as an endurance sport, where in case of very evenly matched opponents it may be a matter of, almost literally, the last one standing, and I fear those may consider such an awful decision as well.
When the whole rest of the season, all other tournaments, are for those who want faster tennis, in recent years some tournaments even starting to use utterly ludicrous rules to make it even faster and even more of a game of chance, Grand Slam tournaments and the Davis Cup must at least remain the refuges for those who want something else, with the possibility of extended final sets, best of five in all men’s matches and best of three for anything else, and no other rule changes designed to make matches or the tournaments themselves shorter. If anything, I renew my proposal, described in that previous post, for a change that’d make it impossible for any match to be won in a tie-break in such a tournament, regardless of the set.

Of course, that seems extremely unlikely to happen, with tennis being just one more thing heading firmly in the wrong direction, which would also explain why, even in spite of Simona Halep‘s performances and the amount of news about her, and to some extent tennis, and especially women’s tennis, in general around here, my overall interest in tennis has dropped steadily over the past decade or so. Then again, I remember that before this started happening, I was saying that there can hardly be any place for tennis played on grass or a similar surface in the present day anymore, and that Wimbledon and the few other such tournaments should change the surface, which is a position that I maintain and which might have prevented this change of the regulations in the first place, because grass is the fastest surface and favors those who serve very well, making it particularly hard to break a serve and potentially leading to long matches that some find boring. If surfaces, all surfaces, would become slower, it would definitely make for more thrilling matches and reduce the risks of series of games won mainly, or even solely, thanks to serving very well. Yet, as another sign of the bad direction the sport is heading in, that’s exactly the opposite of what’s happening, even clay tending to become faster…

Since it seems I’m still not getting around to writing about the marathon itself and I signed up to volunteer at the Botanical Garden this autumn as well and I’ll be going there in the morning, let me at least try to go over the days after the race, starting from October 15. Yes, I also turned 34 then, but I don’t care about that… And was too exhausted to care too much even about the fact that I was woken up by knee pain a couple of times, just trying to somehow move it, referring to the left one, a little bit, until it hurt a little less, and then falling right back to sleep, only actually waking up in the afternoon, never needing to get up to go to the toilet before then either. Still, even though I did have some difficulty moving that day, the worst problem had to do with my upper lip, which was awfully chapped and just cracked if I tried to even open my mouth enough to eat, or to speak for that matter, probably in good part due to the wind. It’s quite fine now, finally, but for a few days it was quite a problem, despite trying to use some moisturizing cream too. On that first day there was a moment when I looked in the mirror when I went to the bathroom and wondered why was my lip dirty, before realizing that was dried blood due to it cracking like that.

That good sleep didn’t repeat itself next morning though, as it wasn’t even 8:45 AM when I woke up to pee the second time and couldn’t get back to sleep, thinking of the issue with the network I’m in and the potential consequences of paying or not paying for that equipment upgrade. Got up after about one hour of that and wrote an e-mail to dad, since it’d have been way too much to write on a note and leave it on the kitchen table, and at 10:15 AM I was just sending it and thinking to go pee again and then try to get back to sleep when he woke up. That meant I just went right back to bed, without going to the toilet again, since I didn’t want to bump into him at that moment, and that made it even less likely to manage to sleep again, so I just got up for good some time after 11 AM, when he left.
It still ended up being almost 2 PM when I went out, taking out the recyclables and going to Kaufland and Carrefour. Got just two things from Kaufland, thinking I had just enough coins to get only bills back, but found that I was missing 0.05 RON, which I later found had fallen in my room. Still, the cashier had some coins left in front of her and I quite boldly pushed one before her and said it’d be exact change if she’ll take one of those too, which she did, though at first she said those were for something else, to which I said that in that case she could just give me back my coins and also the rest in change, which I guess she didn’t want to bother with. Did spot a 0.05 RON coin behind another, unused, checkout as I was leaving and thought to try to grab it and turn around to give it to her, but it’d have been hard to reach and decided against making myself even more noticeable. So just continued to Carrefour, got a couple of things from there too, and after checking out somebody doing a survey approached me, so I guess I got the opportunity to make a few recommendations… And also to get confused about my age, since at first I said I was 33, then corrected myself, also saying that I got it wrong just because I had just turned 34 the day before. Wonder why the area around the National Arena was closed though, making me go around on the way back. Hadn’t paid attention at first, since going to Kaufland first meant I went around it on the other side anyway, but on the way back I walked up to the gate and saw that it was closed, so had to go back and then around, seeing people gathered at the other entrance and at first thinking it was for the under 21 national team’s match, but that was in Ploiesti…
Went back out just before 5 PM, but thought it was 6 PM, so meant to take the free bus to Auchan but ended up walking, since I ended up outside after it should have passed, and it wasn’t late. Did catch another one just after the park though, to go the last part of the way like that. Also had the plastic bottles, plus one can, which had gathered with me, but the machine was broken again, so just left them there again. And before going into the hypermarket I bought another Paysafecard code, which I used for Celestian Tales: Old North and the Howl of the Ravager DLC after getting back. Then I purchased quite a lot of things, since it’s their anniversary period now and there are good prices for plenty of things. Got to actually picking up everything, no longer just browsing and calculating, just five minutes after a free bus should have left, so with 30 until the next, but just got to the checkout with six minutes to spare and got out of the checkout area one minute after the bus should have left. Tried to rush after stuffing things in my bags a bit more as fast as I could, hoping to catch it at the other exit, but there was no trace of it when I got there. Not entirely sure it left at all though, since somebody was wondering out loud about that number when I got to the stop, and a couple of people looked after one that just drove past without stopping, thinking it was the one they needed. And then the next one, which drops me off some distance away, was five minutes late, but at least it came and I could get back, since walking with all of that would have been quite a problem. Got back around 7:45 PM or so, and when I turned on the computer’s monitor I saw a logged blackout at 7:22 PM, lasting a minute and 40 seconds.

Getting back to Monday, since it was three weeks since taking my keyboard to be fixed and I hadn’t heard anything, I sent a message to the store to ask what was going on and minutes later I got notified that I’ll get the money returned, either to use for another order or in an account. I sure thought it’d be easy to fix, but apparently not, and at the time I was quite worried, since I had purchased it on sale, so that amount wouldn’t have covered much anymore, and either way the options for a wired keyboard with the standard US layout and which isn’t black can be counted on one’s fingers, not even needing all of those from one hand if you want some additional functions too. Still, with nothing else to do, I asked if I could give someone else’s account, being told the next day that I could. But when I checked again then, I saw that the keyboard showed as being available again, after having been out of stock everywhere until then, so I pointed that out and again asked why couldn’t it have been repaired or replaced.
As a result of that, Wednesday I got a call, the person who called saying they understood from my message that I wanted to order another one of the same model. Not sure how they understood that, but sure, I could get another one, the problem being that it’s not on sale anymore. But after checking she said she’ll sort that out, so I’ll get it at that same price, in exchange for the money which should have been returned for the defective one, so in effect it’d just be a replacement. Did ask again why couldn’t that have been handled under warranty and she just said it couldn’t be fixed, but in fact I got the better deal this way, since this one has the warranty as a new product and I didn’t pay anything else for it. Plus that they delivered it for free too. She actually caught me by surprise when she said that and asked me to confirm my address, since I expected to have to go pick it up… And then she also amused me after she set the phone aside to work on the order and likely forgot about it, since I ended up waiting for some ten more minutes before finally hanging up, after hearing her talk to someone else about how much a kilogram of something cost and laughing out loud. Sent another message then, saying it seems she forgot about me on the phone and asking about the warranty and an estimated delivery date, and instead of a reply I got yet another call the next day, being told all details had been given to me the day before, but finally having those questions answered when I asked them again on the phone.
Thursday evening I got a message stating that the package had been sent to the delivery company and this morning, a bit before noon, the delivery guy called, waking me up. So I threw my pajamas off and my training shirt and boxers on, then ran to turn on the intercom with my pants in my hand, finding that it was already ringing when I pressed the switch. So opened the building door, threw my pants on too, and thought I was ready for the guy when he got to the door. Found that I wasn’t though, since he asked for the series and number of my ID card and I didn’t have that, so I had to go back to my room and get my card. Invited him in, but he said he’ll wait at the door, so at first I tried to just walk away, but Micky wanted to go out, so after trying to hold her away for a few seconds I turned back around and closed the door, opening it again when I got back. Still, that meant the guy got a good look at my back when I first walked away, so must have noticed that my shirt was on backwards, yet I only noticed that after getting back to my room and connecting the keyboard, after opening the boxes in the kitchen.
The thing is that it may just be my keyboard, or at least the one sent to replace it by the manufacturer. Didn’t write down the old one’s serial number, and this is very clean anyway, but the box had a second seal, even that being torn away, placed on top of one which had been cut, so the keyboard is clearly not actually new, and now it shows up as completely out of stock again, meaning that this was the only one even their supplier had. It’s possible that it was some miscommunication, but there’s also a chance that this whole thing was an attempt by the store to make it appear that they’re the ones who sorted things out instead of the manufacturer, or even an attempt to be left with one to sell, even as a resealed product, if I wouldn’t have noticed it to ask as I did, since it had originally been purchased on such a deep sale. But as long as it was sorted out and it works, it’s all good, and I have a new warranty for it in case of problems later on, so if they did try to gain something from it, they were actually the ones who ended up losing.

Back to Monday one last time, that evening I also finally ordered the SSD I had my eyes on, since it would appear that the market is being flooded with this model lately and prices dropped a whole lot. I first planned to get a 250 Gb SSD back when I got this computer, but after being torn between first three or four and eventually two models, at the time I had more or less settled on the 850 Pro, yet that series became quite pointless when the 860 Pro was launched and it no longer came with the ten-year warranty, yet still remained way more expensive than the Evo, which in turn also had the write limit increased. So over time I had finally settled on the Evo and even though I meant to wait until next year to buy one, I’ve been keeping track of prices and now they were too good to pass on the opportunity, since I had enough money set aside. It ended up costing only about 40% as much as the 850 Pro used to cost when I first meant to buy it.
The order was made from this smaller store that moved even nearer recently, and Wednesday I got the message that I could go pick it up. They had free shipping for an order of this value, but I decided not to make them cover the costs for that when I can just walk there to pick up a small item, and that was a good choice since after seeing the message I remembered that I no longer had any spare SATA cables, so if I’d have received it then I’d have been unable to connect it. So I sent them a message asking whether it came with a cable, since some do, or if not then if I can add one, adding the link to the cheapest one in their offer, and just come when they’ll both be ready, since the site said the cable would take four days to arrive. Well, got no actual reply to the message, but my order was changed to have a cable added to it, at first being added as a service, then the entry being renamed to “SATA III cable” and then renamed again to just “SATA cable”, the price being listed as zero and the order remaining listed as ready to be picked up. That made me wonder whether it did come with a cable and they just wanted to let me know by doing that or somebody just looked around, grabbed a spare cable and threw it alongside the SSD, possibly not being certain that it was a SATA III one and not something older.
So the next day I went there after waking up and at first just had the SSD brought to me. When I pointed out that there was supposed to be a cable as well, the receptionist went to the back and shouted to someone that he forgot the cable, at which point I noticed that she had their cat curled up on the chair, so she was just sitting on the front edge of it, and that was where she sat back down when she returned. Two guys came then as well, one pointing out that the invoice just said “SATA cable” and they had a whole lot of such cables, no way to know which one and bring it, plus that it was listed as costing zero, so there could be no cable in the order. I said that it was added manually like that after I sent a message to ask whether I could add a cable, with a link, and also told them an approximate price, though I actually knew the exact one at the time I had sent that message, and at that point the other guy put a box of cables on the desk and the one who had been talking just grabbed one, still in its sealed bag, and handed it to me, asking if that was fine, and when I mentioned the price again he waved it away, saying that if the invoice says zero, it costs zero. So I left with my stuff, but then went right back after taking a few steps and noticing that the serial number on the warranty certificate didn’t match the one on the product, the receptionist, who had actually checked the part number but obviously not the serial as well, just crossing out the one on the certificate and writing the correct one, then stamping next to the change to make it official, saying they have many of them and it’s hard to grab the right one, but it wouldn’t have been a problem either way. Now one could call these things unprofessional, but as long as they were sorted out right away and with a smile, to me they just make them more, well, human, for lack of a better term.
The scary part came after that though, since I was too scared to put it in. Still, eventually first backed up and finally installed this month’s Internet Explorer update, and also the SSD’s software, then rebooted, then after checking that things seemed fine I turned off the computer, opened it and struggled to get the SSD in. Would have been much easier if I’d have connected the cables first, but thought it’d be too hard to squeeze my hand down there like that, the 2.5″ slot being on the floor of the case, and place it just right for the screws to go in from the bottom. However, while the cables would have indeed made it harder to place the SSD right, as it was it was surprisingly easy to place it and then really hard to connect the cables after it was in place, being really hard to get my fingers in there and plug them in. Also had to disconnect and reconnect some cables, including connecting some differently, and to move one of the HDDs one slot up, since I now needed all four SATA power connectors I have and the distance between two was smaller than the one between the DVD drive and the first HDD. But I managed to get it all done in the end, though I couldn’t also clean the dust as well as I would have wanted, as my mother apparently took the hairdryer with her, so I just carefully used the vacuum cleaner a bit, not putting it too close and moving quickly, which doesn’t work too well, and in order to get dust out of heat sinks you need something that blows anyway.
The only thing I did that evening was split it in two partitions and copy the stuff from my Games partition to it, swapping drive letters once that was done, so all links for that partition will just point to the SSD. Don’t even have the cloning software, theirs or any other, installed, to move the operating system, but I’m actually considering a fresh install anyway. It’ll sure be hard to do a fresh Windows 7 install now, considering the situation with the updates, but I have nothing but time to lose if I’ll try. I mean to disconnect the HDDs when I’ll do so anyway, which means I’ll be opening the computer again and maybe have another chance to clean it, and maybe also figure out why is there so much vibration from at least one fan now. So I could perhaps download some updates to the SSD, I’ll see about that, then disconnect the HDDs, just install a fresh Windows 7 on the SSD, install any downloaded updates and any others I can manage to install more or less normally, maybe the security software too, though I’m still thinking what to do about that, and then see whether it worked or not. After that I’ll reconnect the HDDs and then either boot on the SSD if I actually finished or on the HDD if I gave up, not really risking anything and being able to just format and try again later if it went badly. But there’s no rush, and I may wait until next month’s Windows updates to try anything, if not even longer.

Until I’ll get around to writing about race day, let me catch up on the period before it, starting with October 6, when I left a bit after 2 PM, maybe around 2:10 PM, rushing and forgetting to take out the recyclables too. The plan was to cover a part of the route of the marathon, including the area I didn’t know, and get to the other Auchan in time to take the 6:05 PM bus to get to this pharmacy before closing too, since it closes at 6:45 PM on Saturday. And it went very well, despite thinking I was losing valuable time when I had to wait quite a bit for my turn at the toilet in Izvor Park. On that part of the route that I didn’t know I also found a metro card with eight trips left, seeming to have just been dropped but being on the sidewalk that goes along the river, where very few people walk. Reached the end of that part of route, the turning point, around 5:15 PM or so, and was at that Auchan before 5:30 PM, giving me time to even shop a bit and still be out around 5:50 PM, needing to wait for the bus to leave, which was also a couple of minutes late.
At that Auchan I found boxes of that yogurt that were expiring later, so could get one, also that energy bar that wasn’t available at the Auchan I usually go to, and frozen corn, which also seemed to be missing there. Forgot to check for mushrooms though, and while I saw very cheap unpackaged soy, they didn’t have cubes like that, and even though the slices were also much cheaper than even the unpackaged cubes at the other one, I didn’t get any then. As for the pharmacy, did find the gel I wanted for the marathon, so grabbed two of those, but not something else which Alma had recommended to use after it, so decided to just give up on that idea. Also grabbed something dad wanted, but he wanted four and possibly one of a different kind as well and I just found three of the kind of pills he was mainly interested in, so just got those and didn’t try to ask about the other kind, since you need to stand in line and ask for those and I only got out with the other things five minutes before closing anyway.
There’s another thing I need to mention though, and that’s that when I reached Constitution Square the second time as I was walking the route I felt my left foot start hurting again, seeming like it was about to start feeling like it had when I walked the route of this year’s half marathon, so I tried to figure out exactly why that was happening and noticed that I sort of “threw” that leg while walking. Also noticed, while I was trying to correct that issue, that I may not quite have the full movement range of that ankle anymore, possibly due to hitting myself and that bump that’s left there now. But I was careful to keep my walking style in check and the foot stopped hurting, and it was fine after that day as well.

October 6 was also the first day of voting in the referendum, but I meant to wait and see what the turnout will be anyway, so I just kept my eyes on the announced numbers the next day. Complained against the campaign to boycott it all along and stressed that I was going to vote against the proposed change no matter how many attacks are aimed at those who vote, and I’d have felt terrible if I wouldn’t have voted, seeing how I keep stressing, and definitely believe, that if you don’t vote you lose any right to have the authorities pay any attention when you try to complain or make suggestions after that, but I did seriously consider going against all of that this one time for the cause and not vote after all if it’d be close, saying I will go vote as soon as the turnout will be announced to have reached the required 30% or if it’ll be under 20% at the last report. Would have really wanted to vote if it’d have just been under 25%, but in that case I’d have seriously considered giving an invalid vote.
Fortunately, there was no reason to be torn in the end, since the turnout was clearly low all along and still under 20% at the last report, at 8:30 PM, with data from 7 PM. So I waited for that report, ready to go right out, and did just that as soon as I saw the numbers, since there was absolutely no danger of the referendum being valid anymore. The person responsible for my address was a young woman who might have been from one of the parties supporting the boycott, and at the time I thought that was why she looked at me suspiciously and took her time to check my information before giving back my ID card after I voted, showing her displeasure that someone of my age and living in this area voted, but after I thought about it for a while I remembered that the guy responsible for my address at the previous elections had placed two stickers on my card, then removed one when I pointed it out, obviously leaving some glue there that attracted dirt since then, giving someone glancing at the card reason to believe I might have voted already and removed the sticker to vote again, since the system to check this in real time wasn’t used now.

The plan for the next day was to cover the rest of the marathon’s route, since I could use dad’s card to get back to Unirii Square, to start from there, and leave after I’ll end up at Izvor. Sure, mostly knew that part of the route, but obviously still wanted to walk it just before the race. Later learned that a part of the map listed on the site was wrong, so I didn’t know what that small detour would involve until I actually ran it, and the end of it sure was unpleasant, but at the time I just walked the route I knew, having worked out a plan that was even more efficient than what I had originally meant to do, to repeat as little as possible during this walk, even if during the race I’ll have to go both ways or more than once through certain areas. And that really was necessary that time, since I only left around 4:15 PM and was still some way from finishing when it got dark, actually getting to that part that goes through Cismigiu Park, which I didn’t know at all, after dark. And while that was clear once I got there, after leaving the park I got rather confused again, thinking I had walked too far and spending some time trying to get some directions or a map to load on my phone before giving up and just continuing, which proved to be the right choice, as I actually hadn’t walked far enough. Not that I needed darkness to get confused that day, since it first happened at Victory Square, where I chose the wrong road to continue on, realizing it and getting myself to the right one after quite some time. Not much of a problem there though, since I had to go both ways anyway, so walked all parts of that road, just not all of it in both directions.
Was finally back at the Izvor metro station at 8:05 PM, took the metro to the nearest stop to the other Kaufland and went there to get a bag of that kind of pasta that I wanted to make just before the race. Got out of there at 8:50 PM and walked to the other Auchan, getting just the soy, since I couldn’t find any of those mushrooms there, and at the same time definitely confirmed that they don’t carry that kind of pasta, since I walked in with the bag from Kaufland and tried to scan it for a price check, the machine stating that the product was unknown. When I went in, I thought I might just even have a chance at catching the 9:25 PM free bus, but it was just after 9:30 PM when I got back out, so thought I’ll take the 9:35 PM one and walk from where that leaves me, yet there were none of that number there at all and I saw a couple of other people wondering what was going on, so a few minutes after it should have left I decided to just walk, being in front of the door at 10:15 PM. If I’d have waited for the 10 PM bus and it would have left on time, I should have been here earlier and without having to walk, but had no way of knowing that won’t also fail to show up.
Later, after showering, the wax clogging my left ear for a long time now moved in a bad position again and I’ve kept struggling with it ever since. It was very bad just then, and that also affected my balance and I knew I had to do something about it before the marathon, but while it seemed better after a couple of days, it still feels a bit wrong even now. Should do something about it someday, but that’s scary too… Though at least that night I had a reason for annoyance to make me think of it somewhat less, after I tried to get something out of the freezer and a plastic box with some herbs fell out, the lid flying off as it was in the air and the box ending up facedown, some of the herbs spilling all around. Tried to quickly wash and brush off the top layer of what was left before putting it back, then cleaned what was on the floor, with the cats appearing very interested in what I was doing.

Went back to Auchan the next day, to the usual one this time, since I definitely still needed those mushrooms. Had no intention of walking more than I had to at that point, so went out some seven minutes before their free bus should have arrived, and it of course ended up being a similar number of minutes late, so had to wait for quite some time. Also had to get something for the cats, and got some more of their food too while I was there, plus a few other things, a tea actually being the result of me miscalculating how far some money dad had given me earlier would go and leaving me with less for the farmers’ market, but it was fine anyway.
Not sure how to feel about a guy getting my attention and handing me a 5 RON bill as I was looking at bread, saying he saw me looking and that I should get myself a croissant or something. Refused him and quickly got away from that area, and by doing so and starting to look for the other things at that moment, I ended up walking past the spot where an employee had apparently fainted, others gathering around, holding her, getting a chair, trying to wake her up with alcohol and vinegar… When they put her in the chair, a guard was trying to both help those holding her and hold the chair at the same time and didn’t quite seem to manage it, so I rushed to hold that chair for a few seconds, then went on my way again. Hope she ended up being all right in the end…
Did have to return to the bread area though, since dad had also asked me to get him some bread, and he wanted it sliced too, using the machine that’s there. I definitely wouldn’t use that, but if he wanted it like that, I did, struggling to slice all five, leaving others who had less to use it after each, and also struggling to put each bread back in the plastic wrapping I got it in, not taking another bag. Had both an employee and another customer tell me that those bags will tear, but they didn’t, so I managed it in the end, though it took a whole lot longer than I thought it would, so after doing that and getting the mushrooms and tea as well, I noticed that it was just the time when the next bus should leave, and I had no intention of trying to make it to the other one, leaving ten minutes later, and walking part of the way. So I just wandered around a while longer, then accidentally used a classic checkout instead of one of the “fast” ones, and got to the bus stop quite early for the next one, which got a bit uncomfortable when a guy started muttering something, then asked why was I standing and to come sit down, which prompted me to walk to the other end of that area.
Once back, it was very obvious that dad had a cold. Had warned me about it a few days before, but it was getting worse and I really couldn’t afford anything of the sort, so I had to be as careful as possible, and in the end it worked out, as I didn’t get it. My headphones were also a concern, as the broken part of the side I had recently glued again had pretty much gotten loose the night before and that side was largely falling apart, so I didn’t put them on during the day, only doing so again, very carefully, at night. But I’ve kept doing that ever since, simply being careful, and they didn’t fall apart completely just yet, though I’m sure they will soon enough unless I finally glue them again, if there’s any chance for that glue to hold. Admittedly, hadn’t actually glued that part that’s broken off then, and something else broke off at that time, making one of the screws no longer do anything at all, which put added pressure on a fix which was bad to begin with.

On October 10 I received Divinity: Original Sin from the Community Giveaway on the GOG.com forum, after having asked for it myself when I saw five copies suddenly show up. Was actually looking for Dragon Age: Origins, since there had been copies dropped in the list multiple times during the sale and I actually just missed a couple of them, so even took to checking on my phone when I woke up to go to the toilet, but when I did so one morning, apparently on October 7, I spotted those instead and decided it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass on and the number of copies made me feel little guilt over it even if I won’t be able to start the game on this computer. Did start to feel rather guilty when it was suggested, and then confirmed, that those keys had been donated by the same guy who does those massive giveaways in which I had already won first The Witcher 3, back in spring, and then, only last month, a free choice of a game, which I used for Lords of Xulima, but I had already asked and I do want to have that game around, so that was that. And at least I had purchased codes for Bloodlines and Theme Hospital during the sale and dropped them in the Community Giveaway then, to give something back.

The next day I went to the farmers’ market, getting the last things I wanted to get before the marathon, and spent over three and a half hours in the kitchen after dad left. But it was what I saw on the way to and from the market that worried me, since workers seemed to be finishing connecting that, and in fact this, entire area to this network of underground cables supposed to replace all those used by the LANs left in the city, and I knew that years ago, when this project started, they would force all cables to be removed in the areas covered this way. Looked things up after seeing that and noticed that the project had been resumed last month, after having apparently been blocked since 2013 just because of these practices that drove LANs out of business, but the authorities are yet to regulate it in a manner that would change things, though they have done so in another city, so there may be hope, question being whether it won’t be far too late for most… Including for me, especially considering what happened Saturday.

Moving on to the next day, that was when I picked up my race kit, getting there a little after 3 PM and finding that at least there weren’t long lines this time around. However, the system failed just before the couple who was ahead of me, and the volunteer who was there said it was the second time that day, and the schedule stated they’d only start handing out the kits at 1 PM. The people managing the system, who seemed to be Italian, started running around and seeming quite concerned, but she wasn’t worried, saying it had fixed itself after some five minutes the first time and will likely do so again, which was proven correct. So I could move on to get my t-shirt soon enough, the volunteer who was handing them out asking everyone what size they wanted regardless of whether they had one reserved or not, which I gather resulted in them running out of certain sizes soon after that. Though I can see the point, it seemed strange that the t-shirt seemed sealed at the top, making me struggle for a bit to try it on before I realized that and carefully pulled it apart, which may have caused some threads to come loose.
Then I went to get the rest of the stuff, the bag and what they put in it, but since I was still paying attention to the t-shirt I didn’t notice that there were two volunteers and a line in front of one, since the line was hiding him from view, so I just saw that there was nobody in front of the other one and went straight there, only to realize after he asked the other guy what the kits for the marathon were that this guy was supposed to just hand out the kits for the half marathon runners. I pointed out that the balloons didn’t say there were different lines, that only being written on some pieces of paper that were on the desk and impossible to see if there was a line, and he said it doesn’t say they’re different, but different things go in the bags. Was somewhat concerned that I ended up with a half marathon kit as a result, especially when I saw no energy bar or tablet in the bag, but then again I had two cans of pineapple pieces and one liter of almond milk, which I doubt would be given to half marathon runners, so I guess it’s just that Isostar decided to not give things for free this time around.
Speaking of Isostar, they may not have given things out, but they were selling them cheaper this time around, as I noticed that the energy bar I had purchased from Auchan was cheaper at the Isostar stand that was there, which hadn’t been the case before and was a bit frustrating. What was a whole lot worse, however, was noticing that difference in the route which I mentioned above, a detour which showed up on the course map that was there and which was not on the map on the site, so I couldn’t have known of it before then and therefore walked straight past it when I checked the route. Tried to ask about it on-line after getting back, but the only answer was from another guy who was also wondering about it, the organizers not saying anything.

As for Saturday, the previous post covers the problems with the Internet access and how that made me too worried to be able to get back to sleep that afternoon or evening, which had initially been the plan. But at least that meant that I cooked after waking up, while dad was away, so in the evening I just made the salad as well and ate, though the time spent doing that meant that my computer worked on just one CPU core for 55 minutes that evening, since I had suspended all SETI@home work units except the one long and few short ones, to be able to better estimate the amount of work left if my Internet access won’t be restored the next day, and forgot about it, the short ones finishing well before I got back to my room. Either way, once I did get back, I probably ate about as much as I do in two days. Did otherwise only have a normal “breakfast” that day though, and finished by 1:30 AM, to have a full eight hours to digest everything before the start of the race.
After making sure everything was ready, was in bed around 3:20 AM, and probably fell asleep around 4 AM, though at 4:30 AM I was already getting up to pee, probably mainly because of the salad, and had to do so again at 5:25 AM. Worse, found it difficult to get back to sleep that second time, feeling hot, having gas, some body parts feeling numb and generally feeling like I was about to have a panic attack. Did just manage to fight it off and get a bit more sleep eventually though, before waking up when the alarm rang, at 6:45 AM.

Yesterday I woke up, grabbed something to eat, got on the computer… And saw that I had no Internet access again. Had a signal, so it wasn’t my cable being cut again, but had a message about a failed connection already at 9:14 AM, so the problem appeared then or earlier and hadn’t been fixed in several hours, making me assume that the work being done on the next building was the cause again, only some two and a half weeks after the cable cut by them had been fixed, and with the marathon being the next day, I really couldn’t afford that… But I had to deal with it either way.
Tried sending dad a message then, to call the guy and ask what’s going on, but I guess he was busy because there was no reply, so after a while I sent a message to him myself, and he called back and said everything was hacked apart this morning at this next building, all the fiber optics, and since he has the equipment there that also serves us here and this friend of dad’s around the corner, and he wasn’t allowed access to that guy’s building anymore some time ago, he talked to the administrator of the building where the work is being done, which is apparently the same one as for this one, and also to that friend of dad’s, so he could talk with his administrator as well, to see about getting the equipment here and then draw the cables from here to both sides if possible. He was concerned about the next building, since he said he had more clients there, while here it’s just me and that guy, but at the time he thought putting the stuff here was his last option for this area either way, so if it won’t work then there’s nothing he can still do to continue supplying services. And even if there would be an agreement, there was no way to fix things that day, so I couldn’t check anything then and even in the morning, before leaving, I had to struggle with dad’s mobile Internet, which was very slow, to just barely manage to check for any announcements or replies and the weather, with things not quite loading properly even after long delays.
So I was in quite a bad state and my plans of sleeping a good part of that day went down the drain, as I was too close to a panic attack to manage any of that when I tried in the evening. But there was good news while I was wasting time worrying in bed, since dad got back and talked to the guy and the administrator, got them talking to each other, and apparently they sorted things out and the word was that it’ll be fixed today. Still too late for me then, but it was actually fixed quite early today, more specifically at 11:45 AM, when I also noticed after the race that I had two missed calls from the guy, probably to ask to make sure it was actually working right. Of course, I was about 23 kilometers into the marathon at that point, and my phone was in my bag, in the wardrobe tent.
There was also a note from dad when I got back, stating that the other guy asked whether the speed could improve and the Internet guy said yes, but since it’s just the two of us on this node now, we’ll need to pay for the new equipment needed… The issue being that I have no use for a better speed, not when it’s working properly at the normal speed, I mean, and dad has even less, so if we’d agree we’d just cover half the costs for something that other guy would use. At the same time, it would mean an investment in the network, but it’d obviously only make sense if we’d get guarantees that there are no more risks of service being cut in any foreseeable future, so it would be worth it if they could somehow be provided… But I have to wonder how come it’s just the two of us here now, when yesterday the guy told me he had more clients in the other building and everyone was hooked up to the same node, and dad understood that the arrangement allowed for the node to remain there. Not that I’m in any way certain that dad understood that correctly, of course.

So things went from a very real chance of no longer being able to stay in this network to plans of investments in its future in less than a day, and I’m wondering what will happen next. I mean, with the work continuing on the next building for months, and this one likely also getting in the program at some point, and the plans to move cables underground and charge LANs an arm and a leg for the use of that network being unblocked again last month and this area actually being covered just these days, things looked grim, but when I told the guy that I thought he’d move the equipment here just after my cable was cut then, he said he didn’t think of that because there had been other buildings where this sort of work was done and he always worked things out, so he assumed it’ll be the same now, even after the cable for that friend of dad’s was cut twice after mine was. Whether this means he just went back to wrongly assuming that or got some guarantees himself after the discussions with the administrator, remains to be seen.

Either way, this spared me the trouble of thinking of what else to post this weekend, and at least there was no need to do what I was considering while I wasn’t sure it’d be fixed at all today, which was using dad’s computer and the mobile Internet to throw a quick post somewhere else, just mentioning there’s a problem, and moving it here, with that timestamp, once something would have been worked out.