Cav's Place

For the first three days after taking part in the half marathon, I kept going out to buy a few things, Monday going to Auchan, where I also took the plastic bottles and one can which had gathered, though at first the recycling machine was open and there was no bin inside, so I thought it was broken and just took everything to the underground parking lot, only to see it closed and functional again when I got back, making me run right back to pick the stuff up again. But otherwise I just went there for bread, ending up getting the kind I usually do because they no longer seem to make the cheaper kind I was actually looking for then, having replaced it with something a bit different and also almost 50% more expensive. I also got one more big bag of corn puffs, as that worked out to a total I’d more easily get exact change for. And, since the actual price was a little bit lower than the listed one, it also proved once again that price errors really are mistakes there, going either way while in the other hypermarkets the real price is pretty much always higher than the listed one when there are such errors.
Tuesday I first checked Carrefour and Kaufland, just grabbing one thing from each, then actually checked Carrefour again on the way back, to see whether any yogurt that expires soon and is therefore deeply discounted had showed up, but there was none. Then went to the other Kaufland, since the red cabbage was listed there as just being from Romania, while at the one I usually go to it’s listed as from Romania or Poland, which I take to mean it’s actually from Poland. Sure, it’s also possible that they just “forgot” to add Poland at the other one, but I did the best I could to avoid imported things when I can, as usual. And I also went to that farmers’ market, just getting apples and some green onions. Couldn’t get what seemed to me to be the better cheap apples though, since as soon as I got close the guy selling them noticed, called me over, asked what I wanted, so I had to get away, even more so after having already had an unpleasant interaction that day, after picking up a coin I spotted behind one of the empty checkouts while I had stopped there to put the cabbage in my bag, a guard coming and calling after me when I walked away, telling me I’m not allowed there. But could pick some apples that were still all right from two others, so it worked out in the end. My mood crashed though, probably not that much due to the day’s events, but simply due to the fact that I had been on a bit of a high after the half marathon and that just went away.
Still went out again on Wednesday though, not that it helped in any way. Just checked for some of that deeply discounted yogurt in Carrefour again, twice, before and after having another quick look through Kaufland too, but again there was none. There were some things in that spot, including two kinds of milk which had been placed there quite early, as they were all expiring on May 21 and normally they put things there if they expire in no more than three days, so I guess I got there just a little too late for yogurt. Not that I needed it anyway, as I didn’t eat much yogurt lately and as a result even what I still have is expiring soon, so picking up some more that I’d have had to eat even sooner would have actually been a problem.

But the good thing that happened last week was Friday, when I ran and pretty much smashed my previous record for ten kilometers, taking it to 46:39! And since my stopwatch said 46:39.19 and I’m quite sure I started it a bit early this time, likely close to a second early, it was likely less than 46:39 and therefore something I’d have listed as 46:38, but now it is what it is. Sector times, if only taking seconds into account, as I usually do, were 4:16, 4:50, 5:25, 4:14, 4:51, 5:45, 4:29, 5:03, 5:58 and 1:48, making for lap times of 14:31, 14:50 and 15:30. However, since there are plenty of new records there, I also tried to remember the exact times, and I know the first lap time was 14:31.78, which at least makes it likely that the real time wasn’t less than 14:31, even considering the fact that I started the stopwatch early. The second lap time was less than 14:50 though, actually being 14:49.34. Also know that lap two’s first sector time was 4:14.14, while lap one’s third sector time was 5:25.08. Lap two’s third sector wasn’t bad either, the exact time actually being 5:44.33. The problem is that I don’t know the exact new sector two record, since I didn’t really look past the seconds when I saw 4:16 after the first sector, meaning that the 9:06.70 I saw after two sectors can mean anything between 4:49.71 and 4:50.70 on sector two. Do know that lap two’s sector two time was actually 4:50.87 though, so that was a tiny bit slower either way.
Still, while I wanted to list those exact times somewhere now that I know them, I’ll consider the times as if I’d just look at the seconds, as I did so far. That means a new record on ten kilometers, 46:39, a new lap record, 14:31, a 14:50 on lap two that’s not just a new lap two record but also the second fastest lap so far, a new sector three record, 5:25, a new sector two record, 4:50, and a 4:51 that’s the second fastest sector two, and something that now becomes a three-way tie for the first sector record, at 4:14. The overall, lap and third sector records were just smashed, by 43, 20 and 17 seconds, respectively, while the sector two record improved by just two seconds, but that’s something as well, as is the fact that I did that very fast first sector on lap two. Couldn’t maintain that sort of pace on lap three, but by then I could afford to lose a fair bit.
And managed that even though the wind was quite a problem at times, making me turn my head to the side and push through in some areas, there were a few people to go around as well, even if that didn’t cost me more than a few seconds in total, and I didn’t exactly prepare for this run, in fact not even as much as I usually do. Again couldn’t even take a shit before leaving, didn’t even drink anything, as the tea was still too hot, didn’t eat one of the things I usually eat before a run, and also didn’t take one of those magnesium things that I decided to make some use of before runs, after they were apparently bought for dad some time ago and allowed to expire in March without him taking them. But I just went for it, pushing every step of the way to see what will happen, and this was the result… Even if it did leave me feeling drained for the rest of the day, way more so than the half marathon did. Then again, I was a whole lot faster now, as it works out to averaging 12.86 km/h compared to 11.31, and I drank more fluids during and immediately after the half marathon itself than I normally do in an entire day, plus eating what adds up to probably about six apples, that energy bar, the energy tablet, and all the pasta the evening before, while this was done on even less “fuel” than a regular run otherwise.

Unfortunately, the next day brought the week’s bad thing, as my UPS briefly turned off my computer as I was writing the previous post. Had just finished the first paragraph of the part about picking up the race kit, was correcting a word, and suddenly my computer rebooted and the UPS started beeping continuously. Not that I’m sure why it rebooted instead of staying off, which is what it should be doing in case of a power failure, but maybe it was so brief that it didn’t “count” it as actually losing power? No idea, but I do know that I made it worse by rushing and getting the reset and power buttons confused and as a result doing I believe two or three hard resets one after the other, not knowing why it wasn’t just turning off already, before realizing what I was doing.
After turning off the computer, I looked at the UPS and saw the LED flashing red, and that and the sound should mean battery disconnected or bad battery, and after three and a half years it’s quite normal for a battery to die. But I didn’t have the data cable connected or the software installed to get any warning before it actually happened, so after getting a power strip to plug everything in and turning the computer back on, I first connected it, seeing Windows report the battery being at 8% and not charging, and then installed the software as well, which reported that the battery was disconnected. But that doesn’t really tell me whether it’s the battery, or just the battery, or there’s actually a problem with the UPS itself. I mean, I definitely am concerned by the fact that it caused my computer to lose power, however briefly, when it either tried to briefly switch to the battery after noticing a power fluctuation or started a battery self-test that obviously failed immediately.
The thing is that both this particular UPS and branded replacement batteries for it were on sale at the time at the store I bought the UPS from, but the sale for the batteries ended now, and I wasn’t sure what to order. Sent them a question about the conditions for returning a battery if it proves that I actually need the whole UPS, but obviously nobody was there to answer Saturday evening or Sunday, though the fact that I didn’t get an answer today either worries me. At the same time, while I understand that the fact that APC makes UPSs that actually last and don’t need to be replaced every two years means they need to use these rebranded replacement batteries as another source of income, you should be able to use any battery with similar characteristics and the same size, and you can find some for even a third the price of the rebranded ones. And they really are just rebranded ones, not anything that APC manufactures in any way, as you can just peel away that sticker and see what the battery actually is. So, while not keen to risk it, I looked for that as well, and actually found a store that specializes in such things, also saying that they directly import what they sell, selling one actually listed specifically as replacing this particular replacement battery, which may also last a bit longer, considering the additional 0.6 Ah, and comes with a 26-month warranty instead of the typical one-year warranty that batteries, including the rebranded APC ones, have everywhere. And it’s also less than half of even the sale price of that branded replacement battery.

All of that, coupled with being worried that losing power like that and the hard resets may have caused problems with my computer, obviously took a toll, so I slept particularly badly Sunday morning, having weird dreams, waking up plenty of times and having a hard time getting back to sleep. At one point, after one particular dream, I woke up in a fit of anger, punching the bed quite a number of times, only stopping when I was gasping for breath and my arm was starting to hurt. And that, of course, will only get worse as days pass and my computer is still plugged into a simple power strip, with nothing to protect it from power failures or fluctuations. Or, likely worst of all, any spikes.
The thing is that, Sunday afternoon, I sent an e-mail to that other store I found as well, describing the issue and asking about returns there too, and I didn’t get any reply from them yet either. But I’m uncertain about purchasing from them anyway, since they normally work with companies and actually have a message on their site stating that home users who want to go directly to their headquarters and pick up an order, since the shipping costs a fair bit, will need to have a card, as they don’t accept cash. And not accepting cash is something I definitely want to fight against either way, as a matter of principle, but in this particular case it’d also mean that dad would need to go there and pick up the battery, paying with his card, and if there will be anything to discuss he won’t know what to say, me telling him about it first being unlikely to make much of a difference. And so far I didn’t find that particular battery anywhere else, though I did find another one of that type, actually listed at 10 Ah but not “high rate”, at another store where I could pick it up and pay cash. The warranty there is listed as 24 months, not 26, and it costs just a little bit more, but it could be an option… Yet that other store seems to specialize in surveillance and security systems, and they say that battery is for alarms, while the first one, as I already stated, specifically sells that one as a replacement for this particular kind of APC replacement battery.

Considering the lack of replies, today is no different from yesterday and I’m still waiting. There are other stores that sell that branded replacement battery at a price that’s even slightly cheaper than the sale price I saw over the weekend, so I still have options if I’ll decide to go that route, but the longer warranty definitely makes me prefer this other option, though the question about how to purchase it remains. But the first question is whether I should purchase just a battery at all or I should replace the UPS instead, and unless I’ll be able to return the battery in case I notice problems, not only right away but also after testing it for a short while, I don’t exactly want to risk what may be simply wasting the money spent on a battery.
However, something that did change today is that I finally decided to pay a bit of attention to that toenail under which I have a bad bruise for quite a long time now. Being the next to last one, it’s normal for it to grow very slowly and therefore for the bruise to hardly move, but even so it seems to be taking too long for too little progress and, worse, I noticed last night when I showered that the toenail in question seems to be coming away. There is a tiny area at the base where the bruise seems to have mostly cleared away, but I’m not sure whether it’ll stop there and, even if so, whether that will be enough to prevent it from coming away completely. So I put a bit of cabbage there today, knowing that it can help in cases like this, but after largely ignoring it for so long, not even protecting it with a bandage during the half marathon and last week’s run, even though I had done so when I ran before, after noticing it there, it may be too little, too late. But I guess I just have to hope it’s not…

The previous post just covered May 13 and the personal post before it was on May 4, so this starts with May 5, when I walked the route of the half marathon, which was quite different from those from the previous years. Since it no longer goes through this area, I took the metro to the starting location and actually walked it start to end. Turned back a little before what would be the finish line, not crossing to get back to Constitution Square when I had passed through it once before, but went a bit around one area where I couldn’t use the sidewalk due to construction work and also went a fair bit farther in one place where there was a difference between what the map of the route showed and what the description said, so I went all the way to the spot mentioned in the description, just in case. Adding it all together, I walked some 25 kilometers, and at one point, as I was on Victoriei and Elisabeta, a sudden strong wind brought dark clouds. I think there was some distant lightning, but that wind was the problem, as it was strong enough to actually make it pretty hard to walk at times and it got dirt and leaves and who knows what else in my eyes and nose.
Got a bit worried pretty early on when, before even reaching the National Library, I think between the fountains and it, that spot above my right ankle where I almost had what I believe was a stress fracture two years ago started hurting again. But that went away… And some time later, on Berzei or even earlier, on Parvan, my left foot started hurting instead. And that kept hurting, getting somewhat better after a while as I walked but continuing to hurt and feeling quite strained after I got back. And that area where it started hurting was the one that concerned me anyway, having a pretty steep slope at one point and going somewhat up and down in general, and otherwise being quite unpleasant either way. So if I ended up with problems even while walking it, running there was definitely a worrying prospect.
Either way, since I was passing by it anyway I also checked the prices at that other place that I keep meaning to buy something from and never do, noticing that they had increased them compared to what I saw last year and what’s listed on-line. Took pictures of the list while I was there, but somehow missed the fact that the bottom part, where what I was actually most interested in was, ended up outside the shot, so while I remembered the price, all things of that type having the same one, I couldn’t see exactly what was available anymore. Not that it mattered anyway, since I didn’t get anything from there now either. Nor from that pizza place that I used to get a pizza from after a half marathon so far, though I also checked their prices on-line that night, noticing increased prices there as well, and also a few changes in the types of pizza available.

The next day I rather randomly checked a gaming forum that I used to be very active on way back and which I keep meaning to log on to once per month, since at one point, also many years ago, I thought I saw something stating that accounts that are completely inactive for over a month may be deleted. Highly doubt that was actually done, or at least not for accounts that had a fair amount of activity in the past, and I hardly ever remembered to do that so often anyway, so I usually logged on a few to several times per year, but now I guess I did so just in time to see that it was going to close for good on May 20, after the site itself otherwise shut down on April 18. Was actually still following the news on the site, glancing at the headlines through RSS and clicking to read the occasional article that seemed more interesting, and I should have noticed that those suddenly vanished, but I didn’t really pay that much attention to that fact and didn’t check to see what was going on right away.
The owner of the site said that part of the reason is GDPR coming into effect, as there are tens of thousands of users with personal data in the trading sections and any one of them could at some point cause problems, but it seems more of an excuse, since he also said that the site never made ends meet and was always more of a hobby, and other sections had stopped being maintained or had even been removed before and ended up redirecting to something else, so I guess he just used this as an opportunity to shut down the whole thing. Not that it’s not true that GDPR has plenty of issues and actually “managed” to turn what should have been a very positive change into quite a problem, not going nearly far enough when it comes to data gathered without users voluntarily submitting it, ensuring that personal information is not required if not actually necessary and making terms and policies be clear and easy to understand and not longer than they have to be, but giving anyone what pretty much amounts to the “right” to rewrite history on a personal level, modifying or deleting anything they themselves submitted and made public at any point. And that’s on top of that awful “right to be forgotten” ruling forcing search engines to remove results related to the past of those who request it. I mean, one of the basic rules of the Internet was that it never forgets, and that’s exactly how it should be!
But to return to the forum in question, it was one of the first places I was seriously active in, from 1999, or perhaps even 1998 on the old one. Not that I was active for that long, but I seem to remember having around 1000 posts, or maybe just a bit over, in early 2000 when I pretty much ran away from there, though now it finds just under 1000 in total, which may be explained by some threads being deleted and apparently at least one section being entirely removed at some point. After that, still in 2000, I see a few more posts in a day in April and a fair number over the last three days of July. Then just three posts in a day in February of 2002, asking for some advice about the components I wanted to purchase and being angered by the replies and the forum software, then a handful of posts again in February of 2003, possibly marking an attempt to return that didn’t last long, two more in 2007, asking for advice after that HDD failure, two more in 2008, to donate the old computer when I got the components and built a new one back then, and a few more in 2012, asking for options after the network I was in was taken over by one of the major ISPs, though the last two just answered some questions I happened to spot about Divinity Anthology, which I had just purchased. As for the last two before the one posted in the dedicated “goodbye” thread this month, those were from 2015, when the network I had switched to in 2012 was taken over by the one I still am in.
Despite not being active there in so long, I have plenty of memories, both good and bad, about that place. And it’s a connection to some better days, of the Internet as a whole I mean, that is now going away. That forum was also probably the place I got most involved with in that way, not a moderator on the forum itself from what I recall but creating and at first administering their IRC channel too. It was where I seriously got to speak my mind and argue back then, clarify values and ideals… And the community found there was quite something back then too, though I gather from the posts I saw now that it was no longer the case for many years now, which is hardly surprising, considering how things are going everywhere.

Moving on, the next day I finished the book I was reading, which required going to the bookstore I got it from for free, since that copy was missing the last chapter and the last bit of the one before it. So I left just before 8:45 PM and read the last chapter that was in my copy on the metro, at the station I got off at and actually on the street, on the way to the bookstore. Once there, after quite some time spent searching, I found the one copy they seemed to have of it on a shelf, which did have those pages mine was missing, even though they weren’t aligned correctly, having a large empty space at the top and the page numbers missing, as they’d have ended up below the bottom of the page. But all the actual text was there, so I sat down to finish reading, which may have taken me less than ten minutes, meaning that it may have taken me a bit longer to find it than to read. It was 9:35 PM when I finished, so wasn’t rushing, since they close at 10 PM, and I could just leave the copy I had with the employee who was there, telling her what had happened. She apologized but didn’t offer to replace it and I didn’t ask, and also said I have nothing to do with it when she said I could just keep it, explaining that I wanted to donate it but I obviously couldn’t donate an incomplete book.
It was about 10:10 PM when I got back, so even just managed to write and post the quick review for that book before midnight. My left foot wasn’t happy with the fact that I had walked again, but it was manageable, and I had been pretty careful, not running even if that meant just seeing a light turn red and having to wait for it to turn green again, and taking stairs slowly and one at a time. Really felt odd to walk that way, but I knew I had to if I wanted my foot to get better before the half marathon.

Not much to say about the next day. One thing would be that I started scenario 12 of that “Divine Empire” series in Disciples, which I only managed to finish on May 11, being stubborn enough to get my main leader all the way to level eight this time around. And the other would be that I added a privacy information page, just in case. Of course, also took the opportunity to quickly state my opinion about those aspects of the GDPR, and also of that “right to be forgotten” thing, that I mentioned above.

Skipping to May 10, wandered around, got a few things from this farmers’ market and a little thing from Auchan, where I also took the plastic bottles to the recycling machine, though I forgot a couple of them. And speaking of that little thing, it was something sold by weight and since I got a little more than I meant to and couldn’t put any back, I’ll admit I cheated a bit, pulling on the bag as I weighed it and ending up paying for 104 grams instead of the 134 I actually got. And after doing that I noticed an older man waiting behind me, so I guess he noticed, but didn’t say anything.
At that point I thought I missed the free bus I needed, but when the next one came I realized that was actually the better one, so I took it to where I wanted to go next… And promptly went the wrong way after getting off. Realized it after a while and went back, checking the two hypermarkets in that area as well but finding nothing I wanted. And I also went and checked out this pizza place that I actually ended up ordering from after the half marathon, having a look at a menu to see the details of their special offer, which aren’t listed on-line. Seems to just be intended for deliveries, not a place where you could sit and eat too, and as soon as I walked in somebody came to me and seemed to want to know what I wanted to order, but I just did what I went there to do quickly, since there was a pile of menus that I saw right away, and left without saying anything. Think I spotted the guy moving the menus away after that though, so they’ll be more out of sight, which seemed odd.
After getting back, I went back out to a place that organized a swap or free shop then, to drop off the whole pile of issues of National Geographic which had gathered since the previous time I dropped off a pile at such an event. Oddly, though the place is a cat cafe, I was greeted by a little dog, which had been left at the door and kept barking at me as I got there. But I just went in, dropped off the magazines, told a guy who approached me as I was setting them down and apologizing to a cat I had almost hit that they’ll be there in case somebody wants them, and meant to have a look around, checking out the place as well as what others had brought, though it seemed that, as expected, there hardly was anything else that wasn’t an item of clothing. But the guy tapped me on the back and said something that I think was “you made a gesture” and then asked if I wanted a beer, to which I said no and meant to just walk away. However, he didn’t give up so easily, asking if I had something to do, so I said I did and then had a quick look at the other room before just getting out of there.
Did sort of mean to check Kaufland again, to see the evening discounts, and also a confectionery, to see how the prices had changed from what I knew, so can’t say I lied when I said I had something to do, but decided against it on the way and as a result I got back at 7:45 PM. My foot, which had mostly recovered by then, had started hurting again even so, after all that walking. But it wasn’t bad, and I had a couple of days left before the half marathon, so I wasn’t exactly worried.
And before moving on, should also mention that the issue with the cause I meant to support out of the fee for this year’s marathon seemed solved that evening. Truth be told, I’m not sure I actually selected one, meaning to but possibly deciding to wait until dad would actually say he can come and make the payment, and then perhaps forgetting when he said he’ll come right away. But I had sent them a message to ask whether the fact that no cause was listed for me was due to an error, and in the first reply I was told there was a cause listed, but for the half marathon. So I replied to point out that I had sent the message from the marathon’s site and had supplied the reference number for my registration there, and after that they said they fixed it, adding the organization I had mentioned, which I could see when I checked. However, I can’t know whether they’ll actually donate that part of my fee to them or just added a bit of text…

Checked that farmers’ market again the next day, but still didn’t find one thing I wanted and the other was still too expensive. So, since I had the metro card, I went to another part of the city, to a farmers’ market that I knew to be cheaper. Also checked a hypermarket that’s there, not that I found anything, and had a quick look at a supermarket from the area as well, after going all around and eventually following a guy to cross in a spot where there wasn’t a crossing, because it’s hard to find how to cross the road there to the market, if you don’t come out of the metro station on that side.
As for that farmers’ market, it is cheaper than others, but also quite crazy, and I rather doubt there are many actual farmers selling their stuff there, even in the area where others shouldn’t be allowed. Still, found cheaper Romanian tomatoes, but still nothing from Romania at the few that sold the kind of peppers that I wanted. Found some selling some supposedly from Spain though, so at least they were from the European Union, and the price was also very good for this time of year, but when I just took four I was told they won’t be weighed and they’ll be 1 RON each, since the listed price only applied if I bought at least one full kilogram. Since that would have likely worked out to at least 50% more, and maybe close to double the listed price, I gave them back and walked away, which prompted the men there to shout after me, start laughing, tell me to come back because one will give me something, didn’t quite get what and didn’t care. That was false advertising and I wanted none of it.
The problem was that I still hadn’t purchased tomatoes and wasn’t sure how to get back to those selling the cheaper ones without passing by those guys again, so I first went back to the stairs leading inside and stood there for a moment, figuring out where I needed to go and how to get there. Then made my way to those tomatoes and decided to buy some large ones that weren’t the cheapest ones available and which seemed rather too large and nice to me, but my mother seemed to think they were very good when I showed them to her later. There were others that were slightly cheaper and looked quite ugly on the outside, but a couple were cut and they seemed very nice inside, so I was tempted to buy some of those at first, but eventually decided against it since I didn’t know whether I’ll manage to pick some better ones with the person selling being there. So I got five of that other kind and asked for them to be weighed, being told it’s just under one kilogram and asked whether one more should be added to get to 10 RON, but in fact I couldn’t even afford the 8 RON for one kilogram with what I had on me, so I said I actually wanted less and took the largest one out. It struck me as a little odd when I was told the new total was exactly 6 RON, as I couldn’t see the listed weight well, but then I checked, both on another scale in the market and on the one actually meant for verifying, and those four tomatoes indeed weighed exactly 750 grams.
After that, with the tomatoes in a bag, under the jacket I had with me just in case, I went to pick up my race kit, reaching the area not long after the time when they were supposed to start handing them out to registered runners but nevertheless finding quite a line. Actually, I first saw a line outside, at the tent for registration letters, though plenty had their letters, so I assumed they didn’t know that in that tent they just print them out for those who didn’t do so themselves and didn’t sign on-line either. Since I had signed mine on-line and had the picture on my phone, already open and with the area with the bar code enlarged, since I assumed that was what they needed, I went straight inside, first waited for a bit in the line for those who were registering there, then realized my mistake and moved on to the next. Or to one of the next two, since they were both for picking up the envelopes for the half marathon and a single person was being served at that one, while a few were standing in line at the other. However, that single person had quite a pile to pick up, so I actually ended up waiting longer… And then found out that, even though the instructions sent had stated that those who signed on-line should have the registration letter open on their phone, nobody cared for that, instead being asked for the number and my ID card, to check whether the name matched that number.
Then came the wait, as the line for the t-shirts started pretty much right there where I was, though those participating in other races were picking up their numbers and timing chips a bit farther on, so I just moved to the side rather than forward. And that line went to the other end of the tent, turned around on the other side and obviously continued to where t-shirts were being handed out, close to the exit. And that did not include the people signed up for the popular race, the line for those being in a separate tent. So a lot of people had the same idea I had, to go early in order to avoid the rush, expected more for the evening and for the next day. But the guy giving the t-shirts was still in a very good mood at the time, making a bit of a show as he grabbed each, threw it in the air, grabbed it again, handed it to the runner and stamped the envelope to state that the t-shirt had been delivered.
A shorter wait came after that, as the race kits were being handed out right after the t-shirts. However, there were two lines there and people were pretty much just crowding together, some trying to get ahead, most ending up at the older guy making the kits and leaving few for the girl, but both of them and a couple of others who were helping were trying to keep up. The problem was that the race kits were being put together there on the spot, the volunteer picking up a bag and putting inside what should be given to the runner, depending on the race they were registered for. That obviously leaves plenty of room for mistakes, and I did wonder whether I shouldn’t have gotten one of those cans that were there, I believe with some exotic fruit mix, as well, but I saw a single box of them and one guy with a number below 1000, so starting in sector B, getting one, so maybe they were just for the fast runners. Then again, at first I didn’t even notice that I had gotten both magazines either, at first picking another copy of one up from the Let’s Do It Romania place before realizing there was indeed one in my bag and putting that one back.
Once outside, I actually went back in quickly to glance at something else I had spotted while waiting in line, then finally went to the metro station to get back. That still left time to notice one more interesting thing, when a man and a woman, probably around 50 or so, got on next to me after switching trains. They were speaking in Spanish, and while she also seemed to have the accent I do believe she was actually Romanian, since she leaned in to whisper the Romanian word for something to him at one point. But what caught my attention was how they looked, a somewhat “hippie” look for her, considering the clothes and the dreadlocks in a few different colors, while he looked like someone used with being in the wilderness, quite a bear of a man, beard, sturdy but seriously worn clothing, pockets, pouches, leather boots with quite a few straps… And they also had quite a few stacked suitcases and bags. The guy didn’t seem to be used to the metro at all though, or to standing in moving vehicles in general, as he almost fell on top of me twice as the train got moving, before I moved aside and he, apparently quite gratefully, leaned against the wall where I had been standing.
After finally getting back, I ate a big bag of corn puffs and that really didn’t make me feel well. Stopped after half of it, talked to my parents for a while, but came back and finished it after that, which obviously only made it worse. Had plenty of gas, there was a weird feeling in my stomach, throat and mouth, then after showering I was quite out of it and shaking badly too. Partially recovered while making salad that night, after wasting over half an hour moving some cheese that wasn’t looking well anymore into a jar. Threw away a fair bit of it, and also had to move it twice, since I noticed after moving most of it that the first jar I had picked up was cracked. Also ate a little bit of it then, mostly licking the spoon I had used a few times. Stomach was not happy, but since I nearly finished that cheese since then and there were no more problems, quite sure that was all due to the corn puffs for some reason. And at least the foot was doing better. Hurt again while walking, but got better as I kept going and tried to walk in a few slightly different ways, and in the evening it didn’t start hurting again, actually seeming quite fine.

As for May 12, I tried to get back to bed around 5 PM, or maybe a little after that, after watching the first half of a handball match and seeing that things were not going well. Actually may have fallen asleep a bit later, but if I did I woke up almost immediately, hearing my parents getting ready to go to the dentist, at 5:45 PM. Couldn’t get back to sleep after that, so I just stayed in bed until 7:10 PM, then went to make myself a large salad and a lot of pasta and took a pretty huge serving to my room. Only barely managed to get here with the food as the first song of the Eurovision final was starting. And then I finished eating just before 11:30 PM, when the first song after the second planned break was starting.
Since I had written the bit about the semifinals already and did my best to write the rest of the post after the songs ended, I could post the first post about this year’s Eurovision minutes after the end of the broadcast. Then I got ready, putting everything in my bag, pinning the number on the t-shirt and otherwise checking that everything was in order, while watching a recording of the qualifying for the race and part of the recording of that handball match’s second half.
Once it was all done, I got in bed, just after 3:30 AM… And just after suddenly starting to feel pain in a spot in my left foot again, probably after not being careful with the position I had held it in when I quickly got back at the computer to check one more thing just before going to bed. Or, more exactly, before going to bed the first time, because I remembered I didn’t put the pasta in the fridge and got back up a little before 4 AM to do that, also taking the opportunity to go to the bathroom one more time. By then I had also realized that in that post about Eurovision I had included a paragraph copied from the previous year’s first one, forgetting to edit it, but I obviously didn’t try to fix it then.

Leaving the evening and night for the post covering the previous days, which I’ll write some other time, I’ll start this with Sunday morning, at 6:45 PM, when I woke up, having actually managed to sleep until the alarm rang. Did wake up at one point to go to the bathroom, I think a little after 5 AM, since I fell asleep at some point after 4 AM, but either way that means I got more and better sleep than I thought I would, even if I had set the alarm 15 minutes earlier than last year.
Speaking of last year, back then I got up 15 minutes later and left ten earlier, since now the plan was to leave at 8:15 AM and only barely managed even that. And had no more luck on the toilet now than I did then, though now I actually tried twice, even if I didn’t struggle for so long each time. Did think that was really going to be a problem, after stuffing myself the previous evening and not, shall we say, releasing any of it before going to bed, but in the end it wasn’t in the least. Or I guess there may have been a slight discomfort related to that early on, but not much and it went away quickly on its own.
Still on that topic, the first time I gave up after I felt something as I was sitting there, rather hunched over at that moment, and when I opened my eyes and looked I saw a cockroach on the top part of my pants, having either crawled up from the floor or fallen from the ceiling. The building’s basement is certainly infested and they keep crawling in through the walls, near pipes or through any other cracks they can find, and for a while they were dying when they got here, after something had obviously been sprayed there, but now they no longer seem affected, so it’s worse, yet that usually happens at night, so that was quite surprising, and definitely unpleasant.
Either way, in between those two attempts I ate something, including using the chocolate-flavored soy drink that was part of the race kit instead of yogurt for the cereals, also quickly fixed a paragraph in the first post about this year’s Eurovision, which I only realized after going to bed I had copied from last year’s first one and forgot to change before posting, and made sort of sure I had everything I wanted to take. Not particularly sure, as I didn’t actually check carefully, but it was all right in the end, and I took more things than I used anyway, including my jacket.
I was in a rush and quite a mess by the time I left, and having both my parents awake and around definitely made that a whole lot worse. But there’s also the fact that dad drove me to the metro station this time around, so even if it may have been just after 8:15 AM when I left, I was at the station I can take the metro directly to Izvor from before 8:25 AM. He had said several times that he could drive me all the way, but it’d have been entirely pointless and would have likely taken a fair bit longer anyway, and even this seemed rather odd to me, but since instead of going around he just used the streets we use to walk there, getting me as close as a car can get that way and just leaving me to walk the last little bit, it did mean I got there faster and also didn’t have to walk. My eyes did fall on a dead pigeon on the sidewalk in front of the building just as we left though, so that was unpleasant, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if I wouldn’t have been going straight ahead, to get to the car.

In the end, I was at Constitution Square at 8:49 AM, when last year I see I got there at 8:55 AM. Still didn’t take part in the warmup though, instead wandering around for a while, at first with my bag, just in case somebody’ll give me something again. And I did see the ones who offered me that radler last year there again, and actually stood next to the girls for a few minutes, but they ignored me completely, giving bottles to others who were passing by… Until I dropped off my bag, later, and happened to walk past again, at which point one of them offered me a bottle, which I had to refuse for the same reason I did last year, namely that I wasn’t going to drink it and didn’t care to go get my bag again and put it in it to bring it to dad.
But this time around, on top of eating the energy bar that was also in the race kit while wandering around, I also grabbed an apple from those that had baskets of them for people to take, then also got a glass of water from where those were offered, drinking part of it and using the rest to wash my hands and the apple before eating it, since there were just two of those things where you could wash your hands in that area and neither seemed to be working. There were a lot of them in front of the last line of toilets though, those before the starting area, where there hadn’t been any last year, so I used a toilet in Constitution Square but washed my hands there.

The start time was approaching when I got to the start area, and since there wasn’t a fence at the end of it I just went straight in by mistake, at the back of sector E, instead of going around and entering sector C directly, so I had to make my way through. But did so in time, getting all the way to the front of sector C and staying there until the start was given, though many stepped forward just before that, runners from all sectors gathering in sector B. Considering the very few disqualified runners listed in the results, it again looks like all their warnings that those who’ll line up in the wrong sector will be disqualified were only empty threats, and in truth I don’t really see how they can be anything else.
Still on the topic of the start time, I guess I missed it by some three seconds, as my stopwatch was showing 1:52:50 at the end but the timing chip reported 1:52:53.25 as official time, yet the real time was 1:51:54.09 and 1:51:54 was also the real time I had calculated, after getting to the start line when my stopwatch showed that 56 seconds had passed since the start. So I guess the guy counting down got it wrong, and I did think I heard the gun go off a bit before he gave the start, but chose to ignore that sound and listen to him instead. Good thing it didn’t make a difference.

Despite all those people who moved forward before the start, it was still a whole lot better than even last year, many of those around me having a more or less similar pace and the route offering plenty of opportunities to overtake early on. Of course I was still held back at times, but I covered the first kilometer in 5:33, which was a fair bit faster than expected, and only got faster after that. I think I covered the next kilometer in 5:14, but base that more on what I remember about the next times, so I may be a few seconds off. Then I missed the sign for three kilometers, but know that I got to four 10:22 after reaching two, so an average of 5:11 for three and four. I was thinking that the reason for missing that sign might have been the big pile of dung in the middle of the road that I had to avoid on Unirii, obviously from one of the horses of the mounted gendarmes or guards, but that rather funny moment, which prompted a guy behind me to shout a warning that we’re in an obstacle race, seems to have been before the point where that sign should have been, at least from what I remember. Either way, I was doing well at that point, and did even better on the next kilometer, which I covered in 5:00.
Then things got worse. Kilometer six wasn’t that bad, since I seem to remember covering it in 5:26 despite getting a cup of water, one of juice and a slice of apple at the refreshment point and pretty much just walking while I drank, even if I ran for a few steps with the cup of juice in my hand and spilled some on me as a result. But after that the times were not dropping sufficiently and I was worried about what was coming, since I made use of every refreshment point, getting water and juice and apple each time all were offered, and I think there was just one where only water was available so I just got that, and they were more frequent after that, with what should have been sponge points in between the refreshment ones. And in fact the one after the first relay change point didn’t seem to be a sponge point at all, so I got my sponge ready and then just put it back in my pocket when I didn’t see the water to put it in. But the bigger concern was the part of the route that was coming, as I had walked it and knew it was going up and down to some extent and included a steep climb at one point, even if it was short. Heard a guy tell another that it’ll be hard after kilometer 11, until about 16, and I assumed they were talking about the same thing, but it didn’t add up and I really have no idea what that was about, because between 11 and 16 there was Kiseleff and going mostly a bit down on Victoriei, which I’d say was the easy part.
The hard part was before that, but it was also somewhat shorter than I feared. We still hadn’t reached it when we passed the sign for 19 kilometers, which was obviously going to apply when we’ll pass by that spot the second time, and I heard a guy joke that we were almost at the end. But I know the sign for eight came after that for 19 and I was still focusing on getting to the end of that area before the first ones will go through it a second time, so I won’t have to move aside. Managed that, but while I no longer remember the exact times, I know I ran that part against a noticeable wind and definitely wasn’t happy with my pace. And the next times didn’t make me any happier either, even if I reached that steep climb faster than I thought I would and that entire area, of two kilometers or so, wasn’t as bad as I feared. Did do what I could to not tire myself more than I had to, using little steps for that steeper slope and otherwise staying close to the sidewalk when I could, slopes being less noticeable there, doing my best to stay behind others to get a little help that way and in the shade where possible, but even so I thought it was going to be worse than it was. It was odd that the side roads leading to that one hadn’t been closed though, so at one point I saw a line of cars stopped after being able to reach the intersection but go no farther, and a driver arguing with police officers, or another trying to come out of somewhere.
The refreshment point after ten kilometers came after that area, so while it helped in one way, in harmed in another, as I lost time again, and remember covering kilometer 11 in 5:31, which really wasn’t something I could put up with anymore. So I decided to push harder, which also meant leaving behind a girl which had been more or less just in front of me for quite some time, possibly several kilometers. Didn’t check her number, so all I remember was the little skirt she had and therefore couldn’t identify her, not seeing pictures so far either. Did identify the guy who maintained a similar pace with me over the next kilometers though, as he had “Andrei W” on the back of his t-shirt and that W indicated a rare enough name. Not that I know just what that pace was, as I again don’t remember the exact times, but it was getting better, and then got even better after 16 kilometers, when I pushed even harder and left him behind as well.
It wasn’t fast enough to keep the 1:50 pacemakers behind me though. Since their starting location was halfway through sector C, they started behind me and were gaining little by little, eventually overtaking me when I slowed down again at what should have been the sponge point at 12.5 kilometers, which was actually around 13.5. There actually was water there, so I could wet my sponge and then use it on my face and the back of my neck, but then after putting it back in my pocket I soon felt something different in said pocket and when I checked I noticed that it was empty, and I didn’t see any sponge when I glanced back a couple of times. So I lost it and couldn’t use it again at the last sponge point, nor bring it back here, where we’re still using the one I brought last year to wipe the kitchen counter or table, even if it’s falling apart by now.
I was just behind the 1:50 pacemakers at 14 kilometers, but by 15 they were pulling ahead, and after the refreshment point that came after that distance I was in danger of losing sight of them, since the road wasn’t exactly straight. Since we were on Victoriei at that point, others were getting in the way again as well, the road being narrow there. I also remember a pretty large guy wearing black who stayed around me for some time around there, but couldn’t identify him either and I didn’t exactly try to, for some reason not really noticing him as clearly at the time as I did the other two I mentioned and, most of all, this other girl who had put the sticker with the number that you were supposed to place on your bag on the back of her t-shirt, so I could clearly see the number when she was in front of me. We passed each other several times on Victoriei and after that, when we got back to that area the route passed through twice, and I think we may have in fact started doing so earlier, while still on Kiseleff. She didn’t seem to be maintaining a certain speed though, going a fair bit faster when she was passing me and then slowing down. Left her behind too, if not by that much, when I pushed even harder towards the end, but I see that her real time was better than mine, her start time being more than double even though she should have started from the same sector, and I actually looked for her and sent her a message to congratulate her for it.
Either way, with the 1:50 pacemakers getting quite far ahead by 16 kilometers, I also ate that energy tablet that had been in our race kit then, having kept it in my pocket for a moment when I’ll think it may be needed, and pushed even harder, slowly starting to realize that I may actually manage a new record. Think I was around 20 kilometers when I realized even my official time may beat the time managed over this distance through the park at the start of April, until then thinking I only had a chance to do that for the real time, which is the one that matters when it comes to this anyway. Then again, I didn’t really think that far for the first couple of kilometers after starting to push then, since I knew that the part on Elisabeta started with a slope going down but then returned the same way, and wasn’t sure how climbing a slope after 17 kilometers was going to affect me. But, again, it wasn’t as bad as I feared.
The final kilometers actually seemed easy. Once again, easier than they should have felt, telling me that I hadn’t pushed as hard as I should have. And since I remember the exact times again, I’ll say I covered kilometer 20 in 5:08, 21 in 5:00, making this tied for fastest with kilometer five, and those final meters in 26 seconds. That actually makes me slower at the end than last year, as then I covered the final 1.1 kilometers in 5:09, while now it was 5:26. But was nevertheless overtaking plenty of people over that final part, and raced a guy right there at the end and finished ahead of him as well. Was actually somewhat amused by those who were on the sides and telling the runners that there’s little left and we can do it, when I felt that I could have done several more kilometers quite fine.

After crossing the finish line I got my medal, as the timing chip wasn’t that kind that had to be returned anymore, so there was no other step to go through, and then walked to the area with stuff for the runners to grab, getting a large cup of juice, which I drank, and a water bottle, which I just took back with me unopened. Didn’t see bottles of juice anymore, so I then moved to the tables on the other side, grabbing two slices of apple and stepping out of the line to eat them, then getting two pieces of orange as well, but dropping one and deciding to go back because of that, grabbing two more slices of apple. Also got a napkin and a piece of paper roll to wipe my hands and mouth while I was there, since those were on one of those tables as well. And then I went to the table with small cups of juice, possibly a sports drink, and grabbed and drank one of those as well before leaving that area.

Wandered around a bit again after that, ignored those offering massages, and went back to those offering those radler bottles since I knew they were also taking pictures and waited in line to have mine taken as well. They were actually printing them out, so I can’t put a link to it, but you can’t even see the medal in it, much less my stopwatch, which I had removed and was holding next to the medal just to have my time there as well. The guy told me “higher” and pointed to the lens, but I held my head higher instead and didn’t quite get to move my arms as well before he took the picture. And while you could just grab bottles of radler from their coolers and another girl was also handing them out to those who had their pictures taken, I can’t say I noticed her until after I walked away, so after standing around a little I just walked back and said I didn’t get one, so she gave me one too, which I took back in case dad wants it.
Not quite sure of the order of things after that, but do believe I got my bag back before anything else. Then went to the men’s changing area, checked that everything was still in the bag and saw a sponge left there on the floor. Since I had lost mine, I wanted to take that, but not put it among my things, not knowing who had used it and how, so I took the little bag with the two cloves of garlic I had taken with me out of my pocket and ate those, trying to hide what they were from others, then grabbed the sponge and put it in that plastic bag. Not that I actually took it in the end, deciding that it was likely too unhygienic and just throwing it and the bag away later, before leaving. And the other thing I did while there wasn’t a good idea either, since I changed my t-shirt with the other one I had with me but then realized I didn’t actually have a picture where I looked like a runner, the printed one not counting, so after considering changing back outside, behind something that I believe was a generator, I eventually got back to the changing room and changed again there.
Not sure exactly when, but at some point I also got another apple from the same place I had grabbed one from before the start, and this time around I went to the area with tables and just grabbed a half-empty bottle of water left on one and used that to wash my hands and the apple before eating it.
Also looked for the people from Let’s Do It Romania, I believe twice, since they’re those I chose to support with that part of the fee this time around and was wondering whether I could ask them to take a picture of me. But they were in their location inside the large tent, close to the exit but otherwise in a location better associated with those selling things than with the NGOs that could be supported, all of those except them and one or two others having tents outside. And they didn’t seem to be involved with regular runners, as I just saw those in their t-shirts sitting there and resting. So I couldn’t get myself to bother them, and didn’t really see the point anyway, especially since I didn’t exactly want a picture inside. Did spot some of them outside too, at one point, but didn’t bother them then either.
That still left me with no picture, so I first took a selfie with my phone, but that couldn’t be enough and I didn’t even get it on my computer yet. So I took out my camera and started wandering around, staying around a few people I saw taking pictures of others for a bit but being unable to say anything, then going to that area that’s across the road from the Parliament, where the finish line was, still trying to work up the courage to ask someone. Sat around a couple of girls at one point, then for longer around a group of people, but couldn’t get myself to ask any of them either, and eventually wandered away, feeling that I may just leave without a picture after all. But then I saw an older guy taking a picture of someone and then trying to take selfies and close pictures of his medal, or possibly multiple medals that he somehow had, can’t remember anymore. So I somehow managed to get myself to ask him, but it would appear that what I said made no difference, and he did seem to look at me as if he couldn’t understand what I was saying but got the idea well enough since I was handing him my camera. Couldn’t recall his number, but I’m quite sure it was over 6000, and possibly starting with 62, and that he seemed to be over 50 and, certainly, had the name listed as “Oleg”. And I could just find one Oleg, and everything else matched as well, since he’s also listed as being Russian, so I guess I know who took my picture now. He actually took two, but I just used one.
After that, I checked that the pictures had saved correctly, knowing that my camera may corrupt them, and breathed a sigh of relief. It also seems that two pictures was everything the used batteries I had put in it could handle, even though there had been no low battery warning, as after that, when I took pictures of my stopwatch, the display wasn’t working anymore, which is what happens when the batteries are very low but for some reason the camera doesn’t turn off yet. Though I think it was turning off too, but not sure anymore. Not that it matters, since my stopwatch was wrong by those three seconds anyway.
Not sure whether I took those pictures before or after changing my shoes either, or even some before and some after. Did that outside, no reason to get back to the changing area for that, and it was close to 1 PM already anyway, so getting a bit late to get back there, the popular race being about to start. So I spent quite some time around that area before finally leaving, as I was just heading to the metro station, yet to reach the park and therefore the start area, or just reaching it, when the start for that race was given. It was funny to hear the guy starting to count down in Romanian, then remembering that there may be foreign runners in that race as well and switching to English at eight, but taking a moment to do so, which left him needing to catch up and resulted in him counting down really quickly from five.

Went straight to the metro station since, after wondering what to do for quite some time, I had again decided against getting something from a place I could walk to from there. I keep meaning to get something from there but so far never did, and this time around I also broke the “tradition” of getting a pizza from that other place after a half marathon, instead getting straight back here and allowing myself to decide later whether I’ll order or get a pizza from another place I had found out about or go to them after all, after changing. That did mean I didn’t go to the toilet again, since I didn’t use one of those that were there before leaving either, and that did quite suddenly become a problem just as I was almost back and stopped to put my bag on a bench and search through it for my keys, which I had just thrown in there when leaving, since dad was going to lock the door. And as I was doing that my body suddenly realized how much I had drunk and I really was just about to piss myself before I finally found my keys and got here, though once here I could take some things out of the bag, albeit while sort of dancing around, before finally rushing to the toilet.

As for the pizza, this other place seemed to take orders on-line as well, and could deliver here, and has a special offer depending on the day, and Sunday after 3 PM you can get a 32 cm pizza for free if you order a 40 cm one, and you can pick anything, doesn’t have to be the same or a cheaper one if it’d be the same size. And since dad had left before 3 PM and took the metro card, I wasn’t that keen on walking to either of the places, being in opposite directions but at a similar distance. Wouldn’t have been a problem at all, of course, but I just didn’t feel like it, and didn’t want to change twice either, so that was another thing in favor of ordering from this newer place. That did mean spending all I still had out of what I had set aside to use for things related to the half marathon on that very large pizza, so not getting anything sweet as well, but I had gotten enough of that in me that day and it also meant getting a second pizza, which I could eat the next day.
So I waited until it was a bit after 3 PM and then sent them a message, making sure I understood the offer correctly and ordering the slightly cheaper pizza in the large size, as that meant spending all those 36 RON (€7.77 or $9.27) I still had for this, and the slightly more expensive one in the normal size, as that’d have been 38 RON (€8.20 or $9.78) in the large size. And, while the more expensive one fits my “definition” of a pizza better, having both mushrooms and olives, I liked the other one better, so it was a good choice after all. And they did deliver it in the 45 minutes they said they would, or perhaps just a little bit faster, but I was still caught rather by surprise because I was asked for my phone number along with the address, so I assumed they’ll call first and they didn’t. Now that would normally be a good thing, but since I was expecting a call I wasn’t expecting to need to open the door without one, so I rushed out of my room without taking my keys, dad’s were obviously not there, and since my mother was here at the time I asked for hers but they weren’t where she said they’d be, so we both searched for them quite desperately for a few moments… Before she noticed that they were actually in the door.
After that, everything went fine, just handed the guy the money and he gave me the receipt and the pizza boxes, then I took them to the kitchen and had a look. Asked my mother whether she wanted a slice of the large one and left her one on a plate, then actually took both to my room. I didn’t intend to eat half of each, but wanted to leave myself the option, and either way that meant the other one could cool here, so after I finished that large one I could just put it in the fridge. And yes, I did take a picture again, but I didn’t upload it anywhere yet.

Seems like I am managing to once again add what was missing from the previous post on Monday, so let me get right to it, starting with comments about the top five acts in the actual classification. The comments about the top ten in mine will follow right after them. See said previous post for the links to the performances.

It was apparently very much expected that Israel would win, but I for one was unhappy even with the fact that I had to place it in my top ten in the final, after adding another half a point to the song mark compared to the semifinal. Still not something I could like, that difference just stating that I wasn’t actually bothered by the song anymore, the position otherwise being due to the fact that it was one of the few entries that put some thought into having some show value as well, even if largely consisting of silliness. But I’m guessing the fact that it won is in good part due to the message perceived by viewers and how it connects to certain recent events and campaigns, though I for one have to struggle to pick something meaningful out of that silliness, and might have missed it entirely if it wouldn’t have been pointed out in other things I happened to read or hear.
Cyprus is more baffling though. Heard before the final that the betting odds had changed to suddenly list it as second favorite, and also that the singer is apparently famous in her home country, but all I saw was some pretty average “summer song”, and it didn’t have a significant show value either. Definitely no message there and I can’t think of anything justifying a massive “political” vote in favor of Cyprus at this moment either, so I really can’t explain it.
Austria had a decent song, definitely better than the two above, and it was performed well, but it was still nothing that’d stand out, and just seeing a guy standing on a raised platform, and later walking around a little, means that even that was dragged down by the lack of show value. Though that was no longer the case in the final, I remember that at the end of the semifinal I had to check two or three times because I couldn’t remember which one it was and it was slipping my mind again even after I had just checked. But I guess juries look for somewhat different things, as 271 points were received from them, only 71 coming from televoting. And I guess I can’t say I’m exactly bothered by it ending up in such a high position, at least.
That can mostly apply for Germany as well. Pretty good song, likely better than Austria’s, definitely performed well, but still not something to truly stand out, and in terms of show value what was displayed behind the singer could barely compensate for the fact that he was the only one on stage and really just stood there. Especially considering the rather poor edition overall, not bothered to see it end up fourth, may even say that it’s the one act out of the top seven that I find least undeserving of its position, but no more than that.
Italy’s position is the one that’s most obviously explained by the message. The song is in Italian, which is a problem, but those bits of the lyrics displayed in various languages compensate to some extent, and either way it’d have been pretty hard for viewers to avoid learning what it was about from other sources, likely including the commentary in most, if not all, countries. The song was just a method to deliver said message, pretty much being mostly spoken, and there was hardly any show value to speak of, but the message was pretty clear and relevant for many at this time. That’s even more obvious when you see that they received 249 points from televoting and only 59 from juries.

Though there were less problems in the final than in the semifinal, reflected in the fact that I increased the song mark, Denmark’s song could have been performed better. Nevertheless, I quite liked it, and I liked it from the first moment I listened to it, way before the competition, ending up a bit stuck on it for a while at the time. It also had some show value, and what happened on stage actually fit the song. It wasn’t the best in the competition from either point of view, but it was one of the few good ones from both, and one of the very few which had drawn my attention before the competition as well, so it pretty much had to end up at the top of my classification.
Finland is most definitely a case where I don’t agree with my own classification, and also another one where I increased the song mark between the semifinal and the final. Could have also been performed better, but there were parts of it that sounded interesting, and it had show value as well, which led to it gaining quite a number of places. I definitely didn’t want to see it so high, and ignored it when deciding who to vote for, voting for Estonia instead, after Denmark, but it did rather grow on me in time, going from a song I didn’t care for before the competition to one I could listen to well enough in the semifinal and then to one that maybe I wanted to listen to a couple more times after the final.
Estonia probably had the best song in the competition, at least in my view. Yes, it was a rather boring one, if I may say so, and too classical, again if I may use the term, even more so considering the choice of language, but there is objective quality there and it was performed very well. That use of the dress, which is nothing new anymore, barely made up for the fact that there was a single person on stage and she, for obvious reasons, couldn’t move at all from a certain spot though, so that lack of show value dragged it down.
The Netherlands is the third entry in my top four that I gave a better song mark to in the final than in the semifinal, and the second that I did that for simply because it grew on me, not because it was performed better. It also was another song that got my attention to some extent even before the competition, even if I was never stuck on it, and one that seemed quite different from the rest. Plus, can’t deny that I may have been a bit influenced by the fact that I remembered the guy from their great entry from 2014.
While I’m admitting things, I definitely must say that the marks I gave Spain and therefore the position it ended up in were probably influenced to a fair extent by listening to the song back when I listened to all of them, before the competition. Not that this wasn’t still one of the better songs of the competition, but what I heard then was probably better, and the guy didn’t perform it too well either. Nevertheless, it’s not a case where I disagree with my own classification, not at all. In fact, I’d say Spain joins Denmark, Estonia and The Netherlands to complete the list of entries I would have been content to see winning this year’s competition, albeit without challenging that top three.
Ireland had a decent song which was performed well and was also helped by some show value that also had something of a message without the song mentioning it otherwise. Yes, simply showing a gay couple shouldn’t count as sending a message anymore, but it unfortunately does, and it’s a necessary one in many places. And there’s also the fact that it’s known that homosexuals make up a significant part of the audience, in terms of influence even more than in terms of numbers, and this entry quietly, casually, acknowledged that. It would have ended up quite a bit lower in my classification without this, but this message delivered in this manner, as something completely normal, not making a point of it, is something I can definitely get behind.
Ukraine’s entry is another that could have been performed better, but the song itself was all right and there was some show value as well. There’s little to say about it otherwise, so I guess it ended up in this position mainly because I could remember it, largely thanks to the show and the guy’s look, and wasn’t particularly bothered by any element, which can be said for few other entries this year.
Speaking of show value, that’s definitely something Moldova had. Even if, in the end, I didn’t particularly dislike it either, certainly did not like the song, being bothered by certain instrumental parts the most, since I know that kind of music all too well and really don’t like it. However, can’t deny that they put a whole lot of effort into the performance and that made them gain quite a lot of places in my classification, and I’m content with the position they ended up in.
Already covered Israel, being the only entry in my top ten that also ended up in the top five in the actual competition. As stated above, I found it quite silly, and not in any good way, and might have even missed any message entirely if it wouldn’t have been pointed out by other means. It only ended up in the top ten because I had to recognize that some effort was put into the show, silly as it was, and even that wouldn’t have happened if I wouldn’t have increased the song mark too in the final, though if I listen to it again now I can’t quite justify doing that to myself anymore. So, yes, I rather disagree with how high it ended up being in my classification, despite being the only entry in the top half of it that ended up higher in the actual competition. Plus, I do wonder about the political implications of a vote for Israel at the moment, and of what having the competition take place there next year may mean.
As for Lithuania, there was a lot of emotion in that entry. Could have been performed better, but this can be forgiven to some extent when the primary focus is the emotional component, and that’s definitely the case for this entry, even more so than for Spain’s. And that moment at the very end also saved the otherwise all too static performance to some extent. So, while it couldn’t have been too high, this was an entry that I just wanted to see in a decent position.

Before ending this, I also want to make a note of the fact that, on top of the only act from the top half of my classification that ended up higher in the actual competition being Israel, the only ones from the bottom half that ended up lower were Australia and United Kingdom, though there’s also the fact that Slovenia and Portugal were on the same place in both my classification and the actual one.

I’ll do the same thing I did in 2016 and 2017, and for the same reason, so there will once again be two posts, this one including my classification and some general comments about the final and the semifinals, while the next will contain the comments about the top songs, both in the actual classification and in mine. Once again, I’m hoping to manage to post that second one on Monday, but the fact that I did so the previous two times doesn’t have to mean I will again, so not making promises at the moment.

Overall, really wasn’t impressed with this edition, finding few acts in the semifinals that I really wanted to go through and quite a few of those I would have picked if I had to failing to qualify, others that I liked less or not at all taking their place. In spite of that, the final seemed a bit better, in part because the countries that automatically qualified sent decent songs this time around, and in part because a few acts seemed better performed than during the semifinals. Either way, on top of few songs impressing me, I again noticed a rather poor show value overall, many again seeming to no longer give much importance to actually doing something on stage, regardless of how much use they made of various effects. Also, not keen on camera tricks being used the way they were, several acts having images overlaid instead of something actually happening on stage or at least being displayed on the screens there.
Once again, didn’t know much about the performances before the actual competition this year, only listening a couple of times to the songs, mostly in the official versions posted on the official channel. Didn’t follow news or updates, didn’t watch anything from rehearsals, and if I happened to see a couple of videos from national finals, it was more by accident and only of the winning songs anyway. Also, pretty much didn’t watch or otherwise follow anything over the last month or so before the competition. That means I had no idea about the potential show value, how good or bad the voices were likely to sound live or any background stories.

My ranking system is still the same, giving one mark for song and another for show value, plus a positive, neutral or negative modifier, and ranking first according to the overall mark that is the result of averaging the song and show ones, then according to the song mark and then, if both marks are equal, according to the modifier. In case all three are equal, the ranking is the result of me trying to quickly compare the performances in question at the end.
Once again, still largely for my own use, I’ll list all the information here, with the first number being the position in my classification, the one between parentheses that follows it being the actual position, the first number that follows the country name being the overall mark, the second being the song mark and the modifier, if not neutral, being listed at the end. All links are from the official channel, so they shouldn’t vanish.

One thing I want to point out though is that I probably have more questions than ever about my own classification. There were quite a few acts that I gave different marks to in the semifinal and the final, in part because of what I already mentioned, namely that I found some acts to be better performed in the final, but I must also admit that there were moments when I perhaps didn’t quite pay enough attention during the final, and this last part may have affected the six acts that qualified directly the most. I’m quite sure the results would be somewhat different if I’d watch and rate again, but this is how I saw things live and this is how it’ll remain.

1. (9.) Denmark (7, 7)
2. (25.) Finland (7, 6.5)
3. (8.) Estonia (6.75, 7.5, plus)
4. (18.) The Netherlands (6.75, 7)
5. (23.) Spain (6.75, 7)
6. (16.) Ireland (6.75, 6.5)
7. (17.) Ukraine (6.75, 6.5)
8. (10.) Moldova (6.75, 6)
9. (1.) Israel (6.75, 6, minus)
10. (12.) Lithuania (6.5, 6.5)
11. (14.) Bulgaria (6.5, 6.5)
12. (15.) Norway (6.5, 6.5)
13. (19.) Serbia (6.5, 6.5, minus)
14. (11.) Albania (6.25, 6.5, plus)
15. (4.) Germany (6.25, 6.5, plus)
16. (3.) Austria (6.25, 6.5, plus)
17. (20.) Australia (6.25, 6.5, plus)
18. (5.) Italy (6.25, 6.5, plus)
19. (24.) United Kingdom (6.25, 6.5)
20. (13.) France (6.25, 6.5)
21. (2.) Cyprus (6.25, 6)
22. (22.) Slovenia (6.25, 6, minus)
23. (21.) Hungary (6.25, 5.5)
24. (6.) Czech Republic (6.25, 5.5, minus)
25. (7.) Sweden (6, 6)
26. (26.) Portugal (6, 6)

My ranking matched the actual result for Portugal and Slovenia, was two places off for Hungary, Lithuania and Moldova, and three places off for Albania, Australia, Bulgaria and Norway. On the other hand, I was at least ten places off for Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine, and even more than 20 places off for Finland.

To mention the semifinals as well, in my classification I had Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium and Iceland go through from the first one instead of Albania, Austria, Cyprus and the Czech Republic, but would have also wanted Switzerland there instead of Israel, though it was clear that Israel wasn’t going to get kicked out. At the same time, the only one I really wanted to go through was Estonia, the rest being acts I’m not, or wouldn’t have been, particularly upset over, while Albania and Austria were acts I didn’t mind going through, though the same can’t be said about the other two, which were last in my classification. As for the second one, had Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and San Marino going through instead of Australia, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia and Sweden, but only actually wanted Denmark, The Netherlands and Romania, so at least two out of three made it, the rest again being acts I didn’t care too much about, while at the same time not exactly being bothered by most of those that did qualify either, the one exception being Slovenia.
Still on the topic of the semifinals, it was the first time Azerbaijan, Romania and Russia didn’t make it through a semifinal. Not sure about any other firsts, but these were obvious, and while Russia didn’t deserve to go through even if you just consider the performance itself, the other two should have clearly been in the final.