Cav's Place

Since it was pretty much a complete joke, the AI opponent not daring to attack that dragon and letting me freely transform the map, actually finished that final “Divine Empire” scenario Sunday, so I can finally count Disciples as finished, after taking just one month to finish the campaigns and then a full year, on and off, to make my way through these scenarios. That means I really should be writing a review for it, since I was saying I’ll always review a game I finish if it has less than three reviews on MobyGames, and also if it has exactly three and I liked it or think I have something in particular to say not covered by the others, and the Gold Edition has none, while the base game has two. But since I’m still putting that off, I’ll just write this personal post now, to have a first one this week.

Monday I did something which may well prove to have been a very bad idea, but I had the money for this set aside all year, was rather necessary considering what I mean to do, and saw what seemed like a good sale in a store I could just get to, being in this nearby mall that also has a Carrefour, with a Kaufland also being nearby. So I first took the electronics I had forgotten last time, plus the plastics gathered since then and some of the paper, dropping it all off in the appropriate places, and also checking some prices at Kaufland since I had to go there to drop off the electronics anyway, but only buying cat food when I got back there, after getting everything else. Then went to Carrefour, seeing that the price for that better kind of pumpkin was indeed, and still, that surprisingly low one, this time the price label being placed correctly, so I bought one of those, plus another watermelon.
Then went to Hervis, for what I had in mind. I’m talking about a pair of new running shoes, actually looking for some specific ones I had decided on while looking through what they had on sale on the site. The site stated that this particular store had them in size 41.5, 42 and 42.5, among others, and I wanted to try all those sizes, since the old ones are 42 but may be just a little bit large, yet at the same time running shoes should be a bit large. However, they were high on the wall and I could only reach a 43.5, smaller sizes being so high I couldn’t even see whether they even existed. Did try though, not trying to climb but stretching as much as I could, and also looking through the boxes at the bottom, finding them all empty. That must have somehow made another customer think I was working there, though those who do wear black t-shirts with the store logo and I had a plain white one with a little green, since he asked whether I had some other model available in a certain size, seeming a bit bothered when he had to ask twice and then surprised when I asked how would I know. I was actually checking out and trying on those shoes in the larger size then, just to see how they feel.
One problem was the listed price though, the site listing 199.99 RON (€43.02 or $49.09) but the label listing 299.99 RON (€64.54 or $73.64). Not sure whether it was while I was still trying to work up the courage or after I had done so and the employee was getting new labels, but I saw another guy checking out a pair of these shoes, then looking at the price and immediately calling someone, saying there was a problem, at which point I muttered that I was looking at that too, though I doubt he heard. Either way, when I did go to an employee to point out the pricing issue, he pulled out his phone, checked, confirmed it and said the correct price was indeed the one on the site, apologizing for the wrong one on the label. Then he got the ladder and got a 42 down for me, which seems to have been the only pair in that size that they had, before going to get new labels to replace the wrong ones. Only asked for a 41.5 as well when he got back, and never did ask for a 42.5, as it was getting increasingly difficult to keep saying something. Since I was trying on the 41.5 when he finished placing the new labels on the others, he grabbed the 42 as well, but at least placed it within reach when he put it back, letting me know.
In the end, I got the 42 after all… Even if when I got to the checkout and asked about the warranty I was told it’s just 30 days, as it tends to be for clothing items bought from stores, even though I saw just these shoes, sold by the same store but through the “marketplace” of the largest on-line store from here, as having a two-year warranty, but I didn’t want to order shoes on-line and those charged shipping as well. Two years is what Decathlon offers for everything too, and what I had, and made use of, for the old ones, but couldn’t see anything there in this price range that looked interesting enough. So I really hope I won’t need that warranty, because it’ll be one huge waste of money if they won’t last, this being the most I ever spent on any item of clothing or shoes by a huge margin.

Actually put the new shoes back on before exiting the mall and walked back wearing them then, only then noticing the lack of that little thing holding the shoelaces at the front that the old ones have, and which pulls up that part of the shoe when the shoelaces are tightened, while without it that harder bit ends up pressing on the bottom of your toes if the shoelaces are tightened. But, after noticing that, I tightened the shoelaces differently on the left shoe and it hardly seemed a problem, yet of course just walking in them for a bit wasn’t any sort of useful test and I wanted to run in them as soon as possible, which I did Tuesday. Again wanted to go relatively early, though not as early as last week, so didn’t set any alarm, but got up after happening to wake up around 8:20 AM. Only went out the door at 10:15 AM though.
Did get a bit worried on the way to the park, the left shoe not feeling quite right, seeming just a bit tight at the back and even more at the little toe, but it was all right while running, everything except it being tight at that toe seeming almost solved by the time I was done, and that toe not looking too bad after I was done either. And they do help while running, as at first I had to get a feel of, well, stepping again, as they absorb the shocks way better and also push the foot back up a bit, so I knew I was going too quickly and had to hold myself back a few times over the first sector, getting a good time even so, 4:17.52 to be exact. And the overall time was good too, 47:55. Sector times were 4:17, 5:03, 5:51, 4:26, 5:01, 5:54, maybe around 4:28, maybe around 5:05, 5:57 and 1:53, making for lap times of 15:11, 15:21 and 15:30. On lap three I again forgot to check the time after sector one, as I was calculating what times I needed to stay under 48 minutes and I just got lost in that at just the wrong time, so I know the first two sectors were covered in 9:33, that when I did look it was 4:41 after the start of the lap, and that it was likely less than 15 seconds after what I consider to be the end of sector one, but otherwise I can only estimate.
That little toe did sting a bit after I was done, but like I already said, it didn’t look too bad, and it seems to be in a somewhat odd shape anyway. The thing is that if I look, the little toe on my right foot seems to press harder against the shoe, yet I feel absolutely nothing wrong there. I probably should have tried the 42.5 as well, especially since the listed length of the 42, 26.5 cm, is smaller than that of the old shoes, which are also size 42 but list 27 cm. But those are just a bit loose at the back, especially the right one, which is probably also why the cloth ended up tearing a bit there and I needed to protect that heel with something for quite some time now, so I think this is still the best size I could have chosen. Now it remains to be seen how I’ll feel in them in the longer term… And how well they’ll last, also since I may have spotted a little area, in the middle, where that bottom layer of rubber may not be glued on quite right on the left one. Not really sure though, and don’t want to start pulling on it.

Moving on, went back out after that, since there was a note on the kitchen table to get some sugar that was on sale at Carrefour, and also got some plums and carrots while I was there, and some cat food of another kind from Kaufland, since I had forgotten about that the previous day and the money left along with the note could cover that as well. Also noticed that it was a good thing I got that pumpkin and watermelon the day before, since even though normally Carrefour changes prices Thursday, the watermelon had gotten 50% more expensive, while that type of pumpkin got to a price that’s more normal for this time of year, some four and a half times more than what I got it for. I’m yet to cut and bake that pumpkin though, so if there’s any particular reason why it was so cheap I’m yet to see it.

Also saw yesterday that The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, which I had ordered earlier this month, when that store I prefer to buy from announced 20% off everything for one day, had arrived, but I only got the e-mail letting me know I could come pick them up at 3:15 PM and by then dad had left, using the metro card, and I didn’t know when he was going to be back or whether he’ll leave again after that, so I caught up on some sleep and left picking them up for today. So I at least bought something from them this year as well, after having done so once per year since 2012. The time of year changed though, since the orders were made in April in 2012, March in 2014 and 2015, and February in all other years, including the one I ended up canceling earlier this year.
It was rather odd when I got there though, as they didn’t even have that little sticker there anymore, so if you don’t know where you have to go there’s nothing letting you know they’re in that house. There is one of those stickers on the door, but it’d be hard to notice through the fence. At least that told me I was at the right door, yet it remained stubbornly closed when I got there, after they had unlocked the gate for me. Not sure whether I had to push harder or they had to unlock that as well and didn’t, but I tried opening it a few times, then went around and looked at the other door, seeing that there was no sticker there, then went back and tried again, eventually hearing someone inside tell someone else that someone was at the door, so she came and opened it.
Things went well after that, but somewhat less well on the way back, since for the first time in quite a while I took the metro the wrong way… And didn’t even realize it at first, to get off at the first stop, only doing so at the second, which is a pretty complicated station that I haven’t used in many years, so even if I’d have remembered anything it wouldn’t have been useful. But since I had dad’s monthly pass I could just go through the exit gates and then back in through the entrance ones right in front of them, changing lines without having to try to figure out whether I could have done that without reaching the gates. It did mean I ended up on that second train after 5 PM, after I had gotten on the first one just before that time, and it clearly showed, the second one being far more crowded.

So now I still have a review to write, which I won’t be doing tomorrow but really should do before the end of the week. Also still have a protest report to write, but not that sure I want to, though either way I should write about what I did during the August 11 and 12 protests, since I left that out of the previous post. And then, or possibly even before any posts about protests, I really should start reading something, likely starting with just these books I picked up today. They’re really big ones, so they’ll take me a while, but I really should get back to reading, since I haven’t read anything since May and this year I’m falling behind even that crappy goal of averaging one book per month. If I’ll at least manage to finish these two by the end of September, I’ll have four more to read in the remaining three months to at least manage that.

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.