Cav's Place

I should have written the report about the recent protests this week, but can’t get myself to do that, I guess in some part also because I’m driven away by the complete focus on the way the gendarmes handled things and the violence, including from activists and other protesters I mean, which just serves to bury everything else, the original purpose of the protest. Initially meant to do it Monday, when I just had three days to cover, but gave up on the idea and instead started “Divine Empire” scenario number 20 in Disciples, again picking Humans since the Undead are not available anymore. Didn’t manage anything that day though, since I lost my main leader, tried to continue but was getting beaten back, so just gave up… And only tried again yesterday… And again lost my main leader and quit, then quit the third attempt as well, on the very first turn, since that went badly from the very start. Fourth attempt was finally successful though, started yesterday and finally finished today. Did reload the autosave after stupidly losing the main leader once though, but that was due to rushing to attack a tough ruin directly even though I had a thief close enough to inspect it that same turn. So it wasn’t easy, but the map was actually rather interesting again, this time due to being very resource-poor.

Moving on, this week’s run was Thursday morning, and 16 kilometers again, the time being 1:18:24, with sector times of 4:23, 5:11, 6:01, 4:33, 5:05, 6:01, 4:32, 5:08, 6:07, 4:37, 5:11, 6:05, 4:35, 5:10 and 5:45, making for lap times of 15:35, 15:39, 15:47, 15:53 and 15:30. So this is the second best time over this distance and also the second time I manage five laps in less than 16 minutes in a row. It was also nice to see that the fastest lap was the last one, even if it’s still not the fastest lap five, and how fast that sector three was. Just gave it everything, there was no reason not to at that point, and was also helped by other runners, at first two that had a pretty good pace and which I struggled to overtake though I wasn’t sure I still had it in me, and then just ahead of them I saw a woman running while pushing a pram, so I kept pushing over those final seconds to finish just ahead of her as well.
Speaking of runners, there were plenty of them at that time, since after getting in bed around 4:30 AM I had set the alarm at 7 AM but actually woke up some 15 minutes earlier and just got up then, being out the door just after 8 AM and starting to run at 8:15 AM, such a morning run having been the plan for this week. There were also quite a few people with dogs though, and plenty of workers, the pavement being washed, the garbage bins emptied, the grass mowed… Was a bit worried when I saw the main alley, from the entrance, wet when I got there, but 16 kilometers means just five full laps, so have nothing to do with that part, and while I did see one of those cars washing the path around the lake as well, it wasn’t a problem there. The wind bothered me a bit at times, but it wasn’t bad, and muscles, joints and toes held well enough. Was a bit worried about my left ankle and right big toe, after hitting myself quite badly during Sunday’s protest, but it had been a few days and my assessment that it may be a bit uncomfortable but structurally it was all right was proven correct.

Since I had slept so little, after getting back I took a shower and around noon I was back in bed, only to be woken up around 3 PM by neighbors drilling. Only actually got up to go to the toilet around 3:25 PM though, and not long after that it got quiet again, so I tried to get back to sleep, and eventually managed it, though it took me quite a while. Woke up and actually got up just before 6 PM, when my phone rang. At the time I had no idea who it was so I just ignored the call, but after I got another call from that same number yesterday I looked it up and learned that it’s the number of this nearby Carrefour, so I guess it was an attempt to contact me after the complaint I had sent, about the issue I’ll mention later. Still didn’t answer, of course, since I sent a message on the site and expect any communication to still be on-line, but it doesn’t matter much anyway.

Also installed this month’s Windows updates Thursday evening, and that second version of last month’s security bundle, which I hadn’t yet installed since I hadn’t experienced that problem caused by the first version. Didn’t really mean to install everything then, at first just meaning to install those for Internet Explorer and .NET, which I thought would be safer, so didn’t even make a backup first, but after rebooting to install those two something weird happened. Also got scared for a moment when I saw a text just showing up, only remembering after reading it about a little issue Emsisoft had the last time I tested something, which left it believing it had an “infected” file to delete after reboot, though there actually was no file there, so it failed to do so. But the real problem came after that, when, instead of the desktop showing up, I got a message that conhost.exe had crashed and the screen was otherwise just black, only the mouse pointer being visible. There was some HDD activity, so I waited a bit, but nothing seemed to happen. The pointer briefly changed to the “working in the background” one when I used the keyboard shortcut to open Task Manager, so it received input, but still nothing showed up.
No idea what that was about, whether it had anything to do with Emsisoft trying and failing to delete that test file, with one of the updates, possibly the .NET one, with Comodo Firewall, which had again lost its HIPS settings, with a combination of these, or with the video driver, which runs a .bat file at the start, so would cause conhost.exe to start and result in display problems if it fails to do what it has to do. But at least it wasn’t a lasting problem, since pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del resulted in the expected screen being displayed, so the problem only seemed to affect the desktop, and from there I was able to log off and then reboot normally, things seeming fine after that. Still, wasn’t sure they actually were fine, so I was wary of making a backup of the system at that time, deciding instead to keep relying on the previous one, and just install those security patches as well while I was at it. And those didn’t seem to cause any further problems, so I hope that was the end of that, all updates being listed as successfully installed now. And since those for Internet Explorer and .NET are cumulative, in case something less obvious did get messed up, the next ones should probably take care of it… I hope.

Since I’m not writing the protest reports, I’ll leave Saturday and Sunday out of this personal post as well for now, so I’ll just end it with Tuesday evening, when I went to buy a few things. First went to Auchan, meaning to take the free bus in order to spare my ankle but apparently just missing it and therefore walking there after all. Didn’t take all the plastic bottles which had gathered, since I didn’t know whether the recycling machine had been fixed, and it was a good thing I didn’t, since it still wasn’t working, so not sure what’s going on there. Also not quite sure what’s going on with Auchan, since they changed a lot in the bread area, and the whole wheat bread I tend to get is now almost twice as big as it used to be. Asked how much does it weigh now, since this is paid by weight, and the person working there hesitated a moment, then just placed one on the scale directly, without putting it in a paper bag, which definitely bothered me, but I bought them all anyway. The thing is that now, instead of putting the bread whole in the freezer and then eating one in two days, I have to cut it in half before putting it in the freezer, so it won’t stay out too long after that, and I end up eating somewhat less each day. But the weight differs a bit, one of the three I bought, which were the last three left, being small enough to be eaten in three days instead of four, so I cut a third of it and left it out and put the rest in the freezer. So I guess I’ll have to wait and see what weight they’ll settle on…
Either way, after dropping off the few things I bought from there, which included a lettuce I unfortunately ended up putting in a plastic bag because leaves kept falling off it, though in doing so I think I probably grabbed a few fallen from others as well, I took the other recyclables and, after dropping them off, went to Kaufland and Carrefour too. There were a few electronics to take as well, which I forgot about, but that still left a few things to drop off in the bins at Kaufland, so went there first, and when I saw that the day’s special discounts applied to some things I tend to get I just got quite a few directly, without checking the prices at Carrefour too first. Somewhat surprisingly, even more so since this is Kaufland we’re talking about, some of those products were already discounted and the discounts stacked, so they ended up being even cheaper than I thought they’d be, as the day’s special discount is applied at checkout, not listed on the price label, and I had calculated it starting from the full price, being quite sure that they won’t stack.
And then, once I got to Carrefour, there was that problem I mentioned earlier, which led me to send a complaint. They had two types of pumpkins and one was surprisingly cheap, so I expected it to be the kind that usually is cheaper, even though that’s still quite expensive at this time of year elsewhere. And indeed the price labels were placed that way, so I didn’t even realize until much later that the product names made it quite obvious that they had been misplaced, the employee placing them probably thinking the same thing I was, about which kind is cheaper. So I grabbed three of those, but when I gave them to the employee weighing things, since Carrefour obviously won’t trust customers to weigh their own things like Auchan and Kaufland do, the price label listed the more expensive price, and when I pointed it out she said that’s the price she has there for that. So I just grabbed the price label and gave it to her, to which she said that she believes me, but that’s the price she has listed there. So I just left the pumpkins there, obviously not being about to buy them at that much higher price, but had another look through the area later and saw that price label put back, even though it was apparently incorrect. If I’d have realized it, I’d have had a look at the other kind, because it’s normally the better kind, so if indeed it was so cheap I have to wonder why, but I didn’t and just left without any pumpkin. It’d have been quite a pain to carry those I meant to take anyway, since I had bought a watermelon as well.

Was pointing out, a month and a half ago, that three weeks had passed since the last contact with Opportunity and that the more time that passes, the greater the risk that the next report will indicate a failure. Yet the storm continued, so the lack of contact did not, and still does not, indicate that it actually crippled the rover for good. As of now, however, this appears to be changing, and the team is getting ready for recovery efforts, stating that they have reasons for optimism, but also that, even if communication will be restored, there are risks that the rover will never be the same.
As the article states, Opportunity is not likely to wake up until the atmospheric opacity in the area falls below 2.0, and even after a first contact, assuming there will be one, there may be weeks before a second, and a lot more time will pass before the rover’s condition will be assessed and the next steps decided. But, of course, all of that is theoretical at the moment, since it all relies on the fact that Opportunity survived in a condition that will allow it to sufficiently recharge once enough sunlight will again reach its solar panels and communicate in some way, even by sending a simple beep at first. If the conditions will improve and the rover won’t give any sign, it’ll be a case of no news being the worst kind of news.

I guess it’s still a case of waiting and seeing, as it’s been ever since last contact, but now there’s finally something to wait for, though it remains to be seen whether the news will be good or bad. Still, while we are waiting, those who, as the article puts it, miss Opportunity as much as the rover’s team does can send an electronic postcard to share their thoughts. There are a few nice pictures to pick from, but the messages are limited to 150 characters, so you’ll have to be very brief.

Yesterday’s protest was just the beginning of something, in large part because the gendarmes made sure of it, using tear gas all day instead of extracting the few troublemakers, and eventually beating up even peaceful protesters after shit really hit the fan late in the evening, just minutes after I left. But this won’t be a protest report, but just a very quick personal post, since I’m going back there today and I guess a new series of protests just started, so there won’t be much time for writing.

Got up at 3 PM yesterday, and also had to walk to Victory Square, since dad was using the metro card. So I had to rush, which also caused me to hit my head, fortunately not badly, on the corner of the table after picking up something that fell when I got a plastic bag, just to have it with me in case I’ll need it, and then I struggled to tie my shoes and put an ice cube there sort of at the same time, eventually keeping the cube under my cap for those few moments until I actually left, which was after 5 PM anyway, actually seeing 5:08 PM when I checked my phone just after I walked out of the building. That meant there was no way I was going to get there at 6 PM, as I originally intended, but thought 6:30 PM would be fine as well, not expecting many people to be there so early. Yet quite a lot were there at 6:20 PM, when I reached the area, needing to first go left and around, since a gendarme told me to do so. And it was a while longer before I actually got back to the Square to stay, since I first went to the toilet, some distance away.
Once back in the Square, I started wandering around and taking pictures, actually taking almost 250 in total, which has to be by far the most I ever took at any event. Unfortunately, I had left the image size on small on the auto setting and only realized it after I used it to take a picture using the flash, after it got dark and I had switched to manual for the regular pictures. Admittedly, you can still pretty much make out what’s in those pictures, and this is also what allowed me to take so many pictures using only two pairs of batteries, one of them used before, but there are a few pictures I sure wish I’d have taken with a better resolution, in particular those taken from a TV station’s platform, which I climbed on while they seemed to allow it. It was just after 8:10 PM then, so still quite early, but later on I wasn’t really seeing people on those platforms anymore, only some climbing part of the way and stopping at some point, so I didn’t try again. Did try to get on the truck that’s brought there and used as a stage by those who bring the sound system, but I got pushed back by a guy, so I guess that wasn’t allowed either unless you were one of them or someone approved by them.
Pretty much the only time when I got in the “hot” zone was rather early in the evening, but even so I caught some whiffs of tear gas, since it had started being used hours before I got there and it kept being used, canisters being fired as well. Did manage to take a handful of pictures before getting out of there though, since I didn’t actually get that close to the line of gendarmes. Got close to them in other parts, but things were calm there, and in general I tried to keep safe, being very careful even when I was getting back to the middle of the Square. Caught a few more whiffs of tear gas even so, when I did that, and when I also saw flares I quickly turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Some were just staring at the flares, saying they were fireworks and looking as if at a show, while many were sitting down when tear gas was fired, even though that doesn’t help, possibly quite the contrary. There was actually an odd moment when I was quickly making my way away as the wind was bringing tear gas over and had to weave around and even pretty much hop over others, as nearly everyone seemed to be sitting down.
At 10 PM I was on Kiseleff, just where it starts, and managed to see something on my phone about people gathering across the Square and talking about a march, which seemed like a good idea to me. But I had to be very careful as I made my way around, also looking for a few more signs to take pictures of, and when I finally got to the corner, past Antipa, and was trying to assess whether I could attempt to cross into the “hot” area, I saw a wave of people heading my way. So I made haste ahead of them, until I saw a guy with an interesting sign heading the other way and I tried to go after him. Couldn’t catch him though, and soon enough I felt the reason for that wave of people, so I gave up on taking a picture of that sign, crossed the road and headed the other way again. Remember checking the time and seeing that it was past 10:30 PM already. Tried to turn around and go back after a while, when things seemed better, but there was more tear gas just as I was approaching the Square again and I caught the worst whiff of it then, forcing me to turn around again.
Since by then I was already considering doing that, I kept going until I could turn left on the next road, then made my way around to eventually return to the Square, at 10:45 PM. So it can be said that it took me 45 minutes to cross the Square. And then 15 more before I actually left, since I made my way around with some care, taking a few final pictures, and walking away at exactly 11 PM, after admittedly just standing around for the last few minutes. It was quite clear that something nasty was coming, but based on the flow of people and the positioning of the gendarmes I was estimating 30 more minutes until it’ll happen… Yet it seems that it happened only a few minutes after I left, when a few assholes beat up two gendarmes left behind by the others, and at 11:10 PM, or 11:11 PM according to their own statement, the gendarmes moved in to clear the Square, triggering street battles that lasted into the night.
It was after midnight when I got back, seeing some things about violence in the Square on the way, including a guy who stopped to watch the news on his phone somewhere between Obor and Iancului. And passed another guy with a t-shirt I recognized from the protest just before Iancului, so I wasn’t the only one walking a long way. But it was only after I actually got back here that I learned what had actually happened, and was still happening. Also had a brief annoying exchange with dad, then quickly went through the pictures, posted them, and rushed to make something to eat, since it was past 1 AM by then already. And it was about 5:20 AM when I got in bed, and quite a while longer before I managed to fall asleep… Only to be woken up by dad drilling and cutting stuff before noon. In fact had woken up earlier, I think at 10:50 AM if I remember correctly, to pee, so I’m not even sure I had properly fallen asleep again when he woke me up. So now I’m heading back there, to who knows what will happen this evening, on too little sleep… And without having taken any of the recommended defensive measures. And without enough batteries to take anywhere near that many pictures again.

Was saying that I was getting increasingly worried about my left eye and eventually got myself to tell dad about it, and he scheduled an appointment. Well, that appointment was Tuesday, supposedly from 11 AM, but we got there at 10:35 AM, with me pretty much fully shut down and struggling not to have another meltdown since waking up, and went in earlier. Or more or less earlier, since it was quite a mess there, plenty of people waiting, most of them old, likely having arrived hours earlier and at least some of them waiting to have surgery, and at one point dad was called in while another person was sent out to wait for the eye drops to kick in, then I was also called in while dad waited for those eye drops to work, then we all took turns going back for the second part. And it was all very rushed, the doctor quickly saying that if we sit and talk she won’t get me checked out after I had barely managed to somehow say a few things after she asked what the problem was. Then she didn’t even want me to go out to get my glasses, instead just telling the other one to start putting lenses in to test me directly, and even rushing her when I started struggling to read letters and she didn’t immediately change the lens.
Either way, apparently my glasses are still fine, no change there after almost 11 years. However, when she actually checked my eyes there was good and bad news. At first she mentioned seeing something in my right eye, but I was already aware of that and when I said what I had been told back then she just moved on to the left, which is the current problem, and where she said she noticed scarring on the retina. They both had a look, seemed to confirm that they were seeing the same thing, and I can’t quite make out everything that got written down, but was told that the cause was likely a minor eye stroke I had quite some time ago. So the good news is that only a very small area is affected and it’s not something degenerative, shouldn’t in itself get worse, but the bad news is that nothing can be done about it either, so I permanently lost that little piece of my field of vision from my left eye, which gets added to that tiny piece lost to that indentation on the retina of the right one that I was told back then that I likely had since birth. And while nothing about this was said there, I’d say that the even worse news is that, if it already happened once, and while I’m still quite young as well, the risk of it happening again, probably with much worse consequences, will likely only increase from now on.

Moving on, after we got out of there it sure was weird, those eye drops and the sunlight making us almost blind. Dad was saying he was walking mostly with his eyes closed, I just kept my right one open a little, trying to look through my eyelashes and managing reasonably well, looking ahead a little more when there was some shade and mostly just a little in front of me the rest of the time. Managed less well when I stopped at the farmers’ market on the way back though, since dad had somewhere else to go and we therefore went our separate ways. In the shade it was manageable, though I couldn’t quite trust myself to pick good stuff by looking at it even there, but sunshine pretty much made me unable to see, and for example I couldn’t see anything at all on any price label not in the shade. Did wander around for a while, waiting for it to get at least a little bit better, but even after getting back here I was seeing green and red, as if I had stared at bright lights for quite some time, and even a few hours later, when it otherwise seemed fine, I glanced at the sky and thought it was still sunny until I was surprised by lightning, which made me look more carefully and notice that it was actually cloudy.
As for the market, it seems that prices went up, so stayed away from cucumbers and only got half a kilogram of tomatoes, out of the cheapest ones I could find that weren’t a complete mess, and even those were more expensive than those I bought before. Also almost tricked myself with plums, since I found some small ones that looked nice enough and were also cheap, but somehow messed up a very simple calculation and put 660 grams on the scale while thinking I should be paying as much as for 750 grams, but the guy who was selling there told me the correct price and didn’t seem to want to go through the trouble of finding small change, so rounded down to what it’d have been for half a kilogram. Could have been left with only that much, if not even less, when the bag I had the plums in tipped over after I set it down when picking those tomatoes, the plums spilling all over and some of them rolling under the stall, but I managed to gather them all back, even if I had to reach under there and even use one of the ears of corn which I had also purchased to just manage to reach the last one and carefully pull it out.

Going back, since I mentioned trying not to have another meltdown, of course I had one Monday, when I was in the kitchen and dad insisted on trying to talk to me about the appointment, trying to get me to explain just what the problem was, and I just lost it, throwing down what I had in my hand at the moment, which fortunately was just an empty cup of yogurt and therefore didn’t break, and running to my room screaming repeatedly that I didn’t know, including I think several more times after slamming the door, as I was pushing against it to make sure it stayed closed, before curling up in a ball in bed. Only went out of my room to run to the toilet until he went to bed that night.

Further back, Sunday evening I went out for a little walk and happened to bump into Alex, who ranted for some 20 minutes as I sort of just stood there, both of us stopped on the corner of the road, since he had just crossed and I was about to when he noticed me. He actually mentioned some interesting things I hadn’t been aware of before and which I’d have wanted to know more about, and of course I wanted to say some things as well, but since we were face to face, I barely got a few words out, and probably quite stupid ones too. What was annoying was that one of the first things he did was ask what did I do for a living though, and I of course just asked whether it mattered and then only added that it wasn’t when he said I had an interesting brain and he was just curious whether it was put to use. Seriously, what people generally do “for a living” is breathe and drink and eat and sleep, the other meaning of the term being something we must get rid of, not continue to define ourselves by! And when even those who strive, or at least strove, to change things fail to see that, or at least to act like they do, it’s not just frustrating, but also sad and disheartening.

As for Disciples, just have two of those “Divine Empire” scenarios left. Finally finished number 17 Sunday, then that same day moved on to 18, which was the first one from this series that I couldn’t play with the Undead, as I had played all the others until then. But I picked Humans and finished it that night, since it seemed really easy. Number 19, which I started Monday and finished yesterday, was trickier, but also somewhat interesting due to the map. Did quit and reload the autosave at one point, Monday night, after losing my main leader in an improperly planned attack on a strong neutral city, but otherwise it went well enough. It was also the last one I could play with the Undead, so I did so again. Now I guess I’ll go back to Humans for the last two and see how that goes, and then I’ll have another review to write… For a game started over a year ago and with the main campaigns finished just about a year ago, since I’ve been working my way through this series of scenarios, on and off, since then, taking them as something of an expansion and wanting to finish them before considering the game completed.

Last but not least, woke up early today and went to run before it got hotter. Not quite early enough, as it was 11 AM when I started running, but that was after getting up at 8:55 AM, and after not sleeping well for those few hours either. But it went well enough for a routine run, the time being 48:17, with sector times of 4:25, 5:08, 5:54, 4:25, 4:58, 5:54, 4:29, 5:10, 6:03 and 1:51, making for lap times of 15:27, 15:17 and 15:42. Quite nice to see exactly the same times on sectors one and three of the first two laps, and also that pretty good time on sector two of lap two, which was just when I tried to push a little in order to make sure I could if there was any need to do so. But there was no need to keep pushing after that and I was never actually worried about not getting under 48:30 again, so I just did what I had to do and got back. And now, since I won’t be napping this evening, I sure hope I’ll sleep well and get up late tomorrow, because there’s a protest tomorrow evening and I’ll be going again, for the first time in two months, even if mainly just to see what will happen.

Wanted to finish another one of those Disciples scenarios before writing this, but I still didn’t manage it and want to avoid another Sunday update, so this will be a rushed post. Not that avoiding a Sunday update is the only reason to want to write it sooner, the other one being that I don’t want to wait more before writing about yesterday’s run, since I ran again and covered another half marathon distance, the last run over this distance planned until spring. This should give me more options for the next planned runs, so I was considering it anyway, but then dad seemed to decide to insist on giving me money for a pizza a few days ago, which of course made me feel really bad. Somewhat fortunately, the place I tended to buy from before is closed these days, so I had another reason to wait before buying it, which gave me a chance to search for something to do in order to be at least somewhat able to justify buying it, which led to the decision to not only move this run forward, but also push for another record over this distance.
Yes, I managed that new record, 1:48:20, a mere six seconds faster than the previous one. Of course, the difference is that said previous record was quite accidental and I think I could have done a fair bit better if I’d have really tried, while now I did prepare a bit, actually aimed to make a new record and pushed as hard as I could all the way. But I didn’t do better last time, so this is the record, with all the time gained over the first three laps. After gaining 31 seconds over the first lap, 23 over the second and six over the third, I was exactly a minute ahead of the previous time, so after lap four marked a loss of three seconds it was a matter of controlling that loss and I just managed it, with ten seconds lost on lap five, 20 on lap six and 21 over that last portion. Sector times were 4:23, 5:14, 6:07, 4:35, 5:16, 6:08, 4:39, 5:21, 6:09, 4:42, 5:22, 6:19, 4:47, 5:28, 6:26, 4:52, 5:35, 6:26, 1:58, 6:41 and 1:52, making the actual lap times 15:44, 15:59, 16:09, 16:23, 16:41 and 16:53, plus 10:31 for that final portion.
It was pretty hot for something like this, sunny and with the reported high around 30°C, though it was 4:15 PM by the time I started, so the temperature was starting to drop a bit. It was also quite windy, the wind really being a problem in certain areas. And there were some people to go around as well, though it was rather weird, as there were areas that were almost completely empty and then suddenly I had to weave or even look for a way to squeeze through. So the conditions do make me feel better about the fact that I had to struggle so much for such a small difference, and about getting slower just about every sector, but there were moments when I was starting to think I won’t make it. Was thinking I’ll lose 30 seconds on that last portion, and possibly something similar on lap six as well, so after gaining that minute over the first three laps I was aiming to at least keep that difference over the next two, and when that didn’t happen I knew I was in trouble. Did manage to only lose 20 seconds on lap six, but that still left me less than 30 ahead, and with legs already starting to burn almost like they had over the final kilometers of the first official half marathon I ran, needing to just push through it step by step. I calculated 6:40 for that portion’s sector two, so otherwise the final sector three of a regular lap, as the worst case scenario that might still just work, with 6:35 being the safe time, and when I saw 6:41 I didn’t think I still had it in me to make up for it over that final sector. But it seems that I somehow did have it in me after all!

After getting back, I ordered that pizza from the same place I ordered from after this year’s half marathon. A regular one, but of the same kind as that large one ordered then, and this time I ordered some sauce as well, though it would seem that the kind I ordered is more expensive than the listed price for sauces on the menu, which the person who replied only told me after confirming the order, at first saying that the listed prices and therefore the total I mentioned were correct and correcting a bit later, when I had already left the computer. Admittedly, it is listed there with the correct price, but not as a “sauce”, so I thought that referred to something different. Got back and noticed that message after a few minutes, so it’s a good thing I had some coins in my pocket to have the exact amount. Would have intended to leave the delivery guy a little tip if I wouldn’t have ordered a sauce, paying the same amount as what I thought I’d have had to pay with a sauce, but when a somewhat more interesting sauce was offered among the options I decided to get that as well, and then ended up actually paying 1 RON more than I intended even without any tip anyway.
The guy came almost suspiciously quickly though, only just over 20 minutes after I was told it’ll be between 45 and 50, and seeing as I don’t quite see how it’d take less than 15 to drive here from where they are. And he was actually here a bit faster than even that, since he first called to say he was at the door without actually being here. I said I didn’t hear anything ringing, he said he only knocked, I rushed to get the keys and open, but there was nobody at the door when I did. Wondered what to do for a moment, then decided to go down to the building’s door, in case he was actually there, but that was when my phone rang again, the guy apologizing and saying he was accidentally at the next building and will get here right away. He was very apologetic once again when he did get here, but I was just slightly amused. And the pizza was again very good, even though I do still wonder how could it have been made so quickly.

Was so dehydrated though, the pizza, with two kinds of cheese, probably not helping either… Drank two liters of tea that day, and I very rarely drink more than one liter or so per day, also ate watermelon before leaving to run, and I still felt very thirsty, which again very rarely happens. That was probably at least part of the reason why I couldn’t sleep at first, so after tossing and turning for a good hour, at 6:20 AM I got up and made myself more tea, then played some more Disciples, after not playing at all the previous day. Eventually, with another half a liter of tea in me, I got back to bed a bit after 8 AM… Only for my phone to beep minutes later because the battery was almost empty, so I plugged it in to charge and then got back to bed yet again, finally managing to fall asleep a bit later. It was just 1 PM or so, maybe a few minutes after 1 PM, when I woke up again though, and got up then as well. Tried to take a nap in the evening, but dad decided to continue working on something he started to do in the bathroom yesterday just then, so I hardly got any more sleep.

And now let me get back to mention a few earlier things as well, so I won’t end up needing to catch up again later. In fact I’ll start by going just a little earlier, to the night before the run, when I was making a note of it being just a beautiful summer night. Not hot, clear starry sky, no wind to speak of, stillness and silence that the crickets only enhanced, and the orange glow of the streetlight behind the building only adding to it. I’m usually quite bothered by these lights, but these orange ones can enhance these moments… And remind me of the nights when I was living with Andra, or still there after she left, and happened to be on the balcony at a very late hour, looking down at a similar streetlight in front of the entrance of the next building and thinking the same thing.

To finish this, I’ll also mention that on August 1 I took out the recyclables, after dad had cleaned up some stuff and there ended up being a lot of boxes to throw away, among other things. Also noticed, when I put my pants on, that the pen which should have been in a pocket was no longer there, so not sure what I did with that, and while I see one like it in the kitchen I doubt I somehow left mine there. Either way, had a few bags to fill with everything dad had taken out, the plastic which had also gathered and a few old electronics he was throwing away as well, and took the opportunity to take the used batteries which had also gathered. After dropping off the paper and plastic, went to Carrefour to try to exchange those batteries for two new ones, according to the sign, but the person at customer service saw me holding them while standing in line and told me they had no batteries to give before it was my turn. So I just walked away, had a quick look inside, then went to the nearby Kaufland as well, dropped off the electronics there, put the batteries in a pocket since I no longer saw the sign advertising a similar exchange scheme there, had a quick look inside there as well, then came out and asked the person at customer service whether they still exchanged them after all. At first she told me I could go in, leaving me confused, but when I asked where should I go, and repeated the question about the batteries, she apologized and said she thought I had asked whether I could go in with the little bag I had them in, then did exchange them for two new ones.