Cav's Place

After being among people at this time of year both Saturday and Sunday, and on little sleep Saturday as well, it’s not surprising that I now have a cold, or at least I hope it’s just a cold. Felt my throat just start to be a little sore when I woke up yesterday and knew what was coming, which was one reason why I ran that day as well, knowing I should take it easy once it’ll really hit me, and that happened last evening. Not that bad at the moment, sore throat, nose just starting to be runny, feeling a bit weak and colder than I should, but let’s see how it’ll develop and how long it’ll last, because at the moment the forecast states that the only day when it won’t rain next week will be Tuesday, in which case I really should be running again then.

Speaking of running, yesterday I actually wore my training shirt as well and the time was 48:23, with sector times of 4:14, 5:10, 5:54, 4:27, 5:05, 5:56, 4:31, 5:13, 6:07 and 1:46, making for lap times of 15:18, 15:28 and 15:51. So actually matched the first sector record, in part thanks to the fact that the guy who had just passed my starting location right before I started looked behind when I caught up to him and pushed harder, first staying ahead and then actually slowly increasing the distance between us towards the end of the sector, and that made me push a bit more as well. But he went on a different route shortly after that and I didn’t maintain that pace, not that it’d have been possible either way, considering the gusts of wind. I seemed to be running against the wind on most straights, three of them just on sector two, leading to those relatively poor sector two times. But at least I managed to get below 1:50 on the final sector again, for the first time since setting the current overall record, over a month ago.

Since I’m going in reverse order, there are a few things to mention about Sunday as well, which weren’t included in the previous post, which was something of a mix between a personal one and a proper protest report but nevertheless only covered the protest itself. As such, I’ll start by mentioning that I walked both to Victory Square and back from Constitution Square, since dad had the metro card, and that I saw a mouse when I entered the building, at the top of the stairs, ending up chasing it to the next floor and watching it struggle up another flight of stairs to get there, since I was coming from outside and it was running away from me, so I couldn’t chase it out.
What I really want to add, however, is the fact that on the way back I managed to take my best picture yet of the night sky. I tend to take a very long exposure shot of the sky in a dark place on a street when I come back from somewhere well after dark, have the camera with me, the sky’s sufficiently clear and there’s a parked car conveniently placed in such a dark spot, placing the camera on the car, so it won’t shake, but normally I hold it tilted, don’t just leave it pointing straight up, so the image ends up badly shaken anyway. But this time I found a darker than usual place nearby, since some streetlights still don’t work, and just left it pointing straight up with the maximum exposure time and ISO setting my old camera is capable of, so 15 seconds and 800, respectively, and it came up with something quite nice, at least if you ignore the lens issue that makes a spot appear darker. Would have been better if closer to the new moon, I assume, as that was just after the full moon and it was close to the pictured patch of sky, so I assume that light drowned out some more stars. But still, there are plenty of stars there that I doubt you could spot with the naked eye from the city unless you have incredible eyesight.

But I’m 700 words into the post and am just now getting to what I should be writing about in it, which is how Saturday went, when I volunteered at the Botanical Garden for the second time, taking part in this year’s Autumn Cleaning after first going to the Spring Cleaning back in March. Admittedly, there may be less to say this time around, since we were organized into teams of three and each given an area to clear, but things changed after a point and there are a few other things to mention as well, so I’ll get to it.
See that back in spring I meant to wake up at 7:30 AM, waking up ten minutes earlier instead, and still managed to leave before 8:30 AM, but now I woke up at 7 AM and still only left at 8:20 AM. Nevertheless, I actually got about two hours of sleep, since I went to bed a bit after 4 AM and think I was asleep around 5 AM, which I didn’t expect. And then I got some three more hours in the evening, so overall it wasn’t bad, as there are plenty of days when I only actually sleep about five or five and a half hours without needing to wake up at a certain time, but I did work for a good six hours on just those initial two hours of sleep and was feeling rather out of it in the evening, even after that nap.
Either way, arrived there at 9:15 AM again, or maybe just a minute or so before, registered, drew a ticket as I was told, since this time the “prizes” were different gift shop items instead of the plants everyone got back in spring, arranged things in my backpack and waited until, right on time, Anca again led us all to the same area in front of the gift shop, where she told us what we were going to do that day and gave that speech about safety. Unlike last time, however, now she said we should work in groups of three and asked whether we’ll form our own groups or she should, eventually telling those who did form their own to go to one side while she quickly assigned the others, which led to me working with what I believe was a married couple. Or at least they had the same last name, but I can’t say I noticed any displays of affection, so I guess it’s also possible that they were siblings.
After that was done, we were told to grab the tools and follow her to the area we were to work in, or more exactly she said she’ll try a bit of positive discrimination and told the men to grab everything and let the women walk without a care, resulting in general laughter. And I actually grabbed six rakes, three in each hand, which became rather difficult to manage after a while, since we walked farther than I thought we would. But when I stopped for a moment because one was about to slip, a girl asked to take it instead, and then when we all stopped a bit before our destination, to wait for everyone to catch up, Anca spotted me and told others to help out, so within seconds I was left carrying a single rake, the one I ended up using.
Once in the proper area, we were told each team should work on a strip that’s about two meters wide, Anca eventually assigning the areas as well, and clear everything between the fence and the path on the other side. And since my teammates had grabbed the pruning shears and also gardening gloves for all, I stayed with the rake, though I also took the offered pair of gloves this time, since they were significantly better than what had been offered last time. Still not as good as mine, which I had with me, but good enough, so I kept mine for another time. Considering a few things we found among the leaves, it was probably a good idea not to take back and reuse what was used to protect my hands anyway.
After that, we got to work, with them usually pulling and cutting plants while I raked and tried to put everything into a pile, switching from one to the other because he took the area between the path going through there and the fence, which was small but full of large plants to clear away, while she started making her way from that path to the end of our strip. And we started quite quickly, advancing faster than others, but later during the day other teams did get ahead, not that any managed to finish their strip. Not that I’m aware of, at least. But, of course, the length of the strips varied significantly, the width was also not quite equal, and there was a significant difference in what and how much there was to clear in each of them, so there’s no way to really compare.
The problem was that once again the tractor took far too long to arrive and could load far too little, and this time there were no employees helping to load either, plus that it just tended to stop at the beginning of the area, away from where we were, and then, especially later, maybe again on the other side, after going around. And without someone to organize this again, there were a lot of piles building up. We tried to take a couple of baskets to where the tractor was, but it took too much time away from the actual work for too little gain, so we largely just built up our pile until Anca first asked the men to carry as much as possible directly to the place where it should really be gathered, which was quite far, and eventually asked everyone to drop everything else and just carry. So I ended up going the long way with a basket first with him, then with her while he went ahead with a wheelbarrow, then with an older woman who was on the tractor and helped me dump a basket in it after I was left alone with it. I’m sure I know her from somewhere too, but whether that’s from March or from some protest, I have no idea.
In between, my teammates did take a couple of breaks while I just kept working, seeing that I could do so and not even feeling like trying to find some tea, since someone had offered coffee a couple of times but that apparently wasn’t done for tea as well. Then again, when they took their first break, she went to bring something for all of us, but I’m not even sure if she brought tea for all or just water for me, because I didn’t even look at that cup, leaving it on the fence where she had placed it. I’m used to not eat or drink until late, after all, and at that point it seemed like it’ll be harder to get back to work after a break than to just keep going. And we did seem rather disorganized after that, actually, but that was probably due to the fact that we were all in the same area, after he had finished the one near the fence, and started to have to stop and carry baskets all the way too.
Rather nasty was the fact that, among leaves to rake and plants to pull and cut, there was trash of a different kind as well. And while a few plastic cups or wrappings from various things are one thing, there were also a couple of apparently electrical devices, unrecognizable for me but looking rather suspicious, and two syringes. Those were definitely the most troubling, and after spotting the first one while raking the area the guy had cleared I initially left it there, making sure he was aware of it as well, and then went back to pick it up with a leaf, so not even my glove will touch it directly, and leave it on the fence, on the outside. Then I did the same with the second after spotting it right after putting the first one away.
Either way, finished with the bottom of my boots full of mud, since it had rained a little the night before, and dirt all over, but my jacket had been up in a tree most of the time and I had my shoes in my backpack as well, so I changed out of the boots at the end. And speaking of the boots, I took them again now and my attempt to glue the bottoms back still held for the left one, but the front part of the right one came loose again right after I got there, on the way to the gift shop area at the beginning. But if I could do the work with both of them loose back in spring, I managed with one now, and it didn’t seem to have gotten worse than it was back then at least. I’ll definitely need to do something about those though, if they can be fixed at all anymore, because winter is coming too.
And speaking of finishing, Anca had apparently made the call to end the day’s work while I was still returning with that other woman after carrying that last basket. And since she also stopped to gather a pile of gloves left on a bench by others and then told me to get back and grab a bunch of rakes left against a tree, by the time I got back to the group my backpack and jacket were apparently the last ones left in a tree, somebody asking if they were mine, though I then saw that my teammates were still in the area too, having gathered their things but only walking towards the group after I started running to grab my stuff too. But getting back to the group just as they were leaving meant I was left with nothing to carry on the way back, another guy having picked up several rakes that time and refusing others’ repeated attempts to help until almost reaching the gift shop area.
Once there, we took the group photo and received our rewards, in the form of the diploma, the badge and the permit granting four free entries to the Botanical Garden, plus the prize each had drawn, without looking, at the start of the day. I got a magnet, being able to choose the text from what was still available, so I just pushed aside the first one, which said “enjoy life” or something like that, which I frowned at, and quickly grabbed the second to get out of there, and that said “be kind to others”. Other possible rewards were things like keychains, bookmarks or pens, plus one t-shirt and one pot, the ones who won those being told to go inside the gift shop and pick from what’s available there. In addition, two terrariums were given separately, at the end, as additional big prizes to two volunteers whose names Anca drew… Though she had to draw four to get two who were still there, even though she had told everyone to stay because there will be two big prizes at the end and those who’ll leave will lose their chance. And one of the names drawn was that of the girl I had been in the same team with, but they had both left just before that moment, so she missed her chance. Tried to send a message to someone with that name from the group, just letting her know she shouldn’t have left, but there’s no picture, so I can’t know whether that got to the right person or not, and I got no reaction so far anyway.

Seems like I didn’t have less to say after all, or not much less at least. But before ending this I should also mention that I got myself a pizza on the way back, from the same place I tend to buy from when I happen to do so, also going to the toilet there and then watching them try, and apparently fail, to figure out how to fit a group of 14 that was apparently coming a bit later in a small room. They were still struggling with that when the pizza was ready and brought to me, at which point a waitress insisted on giving me the “bill”, which was in fact the receipt, in a small basket even though I just tried to grab it straight from her hand. Then there was some confusion when I tried to pay there as well, the waitress I tried to give the money to probably being new, since she didn’t know what to do about that, and the one who seemed to be in charge taking the receipt from me and going with her to the register to show her… And then I had the young waitress rush after me on the street to give me back the receipt, which I had just left with them since they were using it when I left with my pizza… Which was a bit awkward, but also nice, seeing as some won’t even give you a receipt at all. And the pizza was once again tasty, of course.

Oh, forgot something that happened Monday night, when I went to the kitchen: The remote in the kitchen is held together by rubber bands and one had snapped, so I removed it and put another one there, but that was a tiny one which I stretched really tight in order to wrap around that side three times. What happened next was that I heard two loud snaps behind me when I went to the bathroom, but couldn’t figure out what the source was. Eventually did quite a long time later, when I was about to actually start eating after making a salad as well, and I wanted to change the channel and saw that rubber band missing. So I assume it snapped and launched with quite some force in a random direction, as I could find no pieces of it anywhere. Just hope I didn’t eat it, since I had water boiling for tea at the time, was making that salad, had bread sliced on a plate and other food in a bowl right on the table where the remote was, and that thing must have been filthy, and so is the remote for that matter.

And on the topic of things I forgot, should have mentioned earlier that I stopped reading my story too, after that sex scene which marked the last moment I had planned from the beginning before what should be the very end of what was planned as the first book, after the entire sea voyage. That happened at the end of October, and the next day, or more exactly the next night, so it was already November 1, I also fixed the handful of typos I had noticed and written down, after which I put my story away for good, no longer having anything to do with it after about a year and four months of my brain nagging me to start writing, seven full years of daily writing and three and a half months of daily reading.
Also glanced at an old backup file I had, since I was going to replace it with the file as it was when I stopped writing, so before fixing even those typos, and that told me that during the past two years and two and a half months of daily writing I managed to add just over 78000 words, so averaged less than 100 words per day. And all of it pointless, of course, since with the exception of that sex scene and one funny moment involving the troll, which I actually didn’t even get to include, the sea voyage was a complete blank in my mind all along and just trying to push forward, writing something and hoping I’ll get an actual idea at some point, obviously didn’t work at all.

With the ruling coalition again attempting to change laws dealing with the justice system, the proposed changes including elements from the infamous OUG 13 that triggered the massive protests at the start of the year as well as new potential threats, a call for another significant protest was made. Sticking to this year’s “tradition”, the starting location was again Victory Square, in front of the Government, and the date and time were picked so it’ll again be on a Sunday evening, people being asked to start gathering at 6 PM. However, with the proposals now going through Parliament, a march was planned, starting at 7 PM, with the protest initially supposed to finish at 9 PM in Constitution Square, in front of the Parliament. There were, of course, hopes of large numbers, but at the same time the activists and groups making this call tried to keep expectations in check, to prevent disappointment.
Well, they shouldn’t have worried. Sure, it was nothing like February’s peak, but even considering the estimates coming from the media, which tended to be of around 20000 participants, it was still something which may have appeared impossible before the autumn of 2013, and the estimates of up to 40000 coming from some activists would make it seriously challenge the biggest protests that took place before this year. I really couldn’t make my own estimate, said before that if it’s over 10000 I won’t even try and it was definitely far more than that, but I can say that it took 40 minutes for the entire column to reach Constitution Square, since the first ones reached it at 8:34 PM and it was 9:12 PM when I could finally see the end, while standing a bit before the end of the road leading to the Square, so 20000 seems rather low. Maybe 30000, to be in between?
Now it can be said that people were there for different reasons again, and it’s not like the ruling coalition didn’t provide plenty lately, among them the planned massive and deeply troubling fiscal changes and the changes to laws that would grant law enforcement additional powers and replace some fines with possible significant jail time, including for behaviors that certainly make the changes appear to be intended to stifle protests. But most of the signs and slogans had to do with the original issue and the general perception of PSD and their allies as corrupt and at war with the justice system, plus of course the overall anger and opposition to them, regardless of reason. I for one was actually quite bothered by the apparent absence of those changes likely to stifle protests from the participants’ agenda and the explicit support shown by a fair number towards certain people and institutions which, while opposing PSD in this battle over the justice system, are far from faultless themselves. But as long as the result is a rekindled movement pushing back against this ruling coalition and their program as a whole, and also since there’s no support actually expressed for PNL, it tackles the immediate concern, the rest being things that can be handled after, or if, they’ll be stopped.

Moving on to what actually happened, I got there a bit late, reaching Victory Square at 6:15 PM and stopping on the sidewalk in front of the Government to set my camera down, so the long exposure needed won’t be a problem, and take the first of my pictures. I obviously couldn’t estimate how many people were there at that time from across the road, but there were definitely enough to promise a significant turnout, considering how early it still was, and many more kept arriving. As I was going all around, initially meaning to use the public toilet nearby before seeing there was a line already, I heard some saying they expected traffic to be stopped soon, which was what happened.
Since, after seeing that line, I went to use the toilet at a place nearby which I had used for this purpose during those massive protests as well, I don’t know exactly when traffic was stopped at least on two sides, but it had already happened at 6:35 PM, when I got back. Few were making use of it just at that moment, so the road was quite empty, but quite a crowd was already in the Square, making your way through at least parts of that area getting to be somewhat difficult. But I had to make my way through, and quite quickly, because I wanted to take pictures of as many signs as I could before the start of the march.
That didn’t give me much time, however, since people started moving just after 6:50 PM, so about ten minutes earlier than planned. Very slowly at first, seeming to just gather at the edge of the area, making me wonder whether the gendarmes will try to stop us from leaving, but I guess they just needed a moment to get in formation and coordinate with the Police to stop traffic, because otherwise they caused no problems. They were present in large numbers, including some on horseback, one of the horses sadly looking to be in a poor condition and struggling, but those visible were in light gear and they just did their job, ensuring the safety of both participants and traffic. Considering the number of protesters, trying anything would have been terribly unwise, but considering their behavior towards the few still gathering every evening in Victory Square in recent months and the rumors that they had orders to stop further protests, it wasn’t a given that they’ll be as nice as they were. Now it remains to be seen whether some will be served fines later, however.

With the march itself being uneventful, we reached Romana Square at 7:20 PM and University Square at 7:50 PM. By then, I had finally managed to work my way through and get ahead of the column, to take some pictures of the front as well, though I had to drop back a little and then get back to the sidewalk, which I otherwise used much of the time as I tried to advance, and go around the gendarmes trying to maintain some order there, as one grabbed my arm and shoved me back when I rather unexpectedly found myself breaking free of the column and stepping ahead of the banners held at the front. No complaints about that, since it was my fault for not realizing it, as you really shouldn’t just walk through the head of the column.
It was a good thing I was ahead of the column well before University Square though, since for some reason I felt a certain pressing need again by then and could run to the toilet in the underground passage and get back out in time to see the column stop as people were asked to hold a moment of silence… Which also meant I could go before those toilets are temporarily closed for cleaning, which the listed schedule says happens at 8 PM, so going after the march got going again, some five minutes later, since a call was made to sing the anthem after the moment of silence, wouldn’t have been an option. Didn’t personally sing it though, instead using the time to look for something to climb on for a couple of crowd shots.
The thing is that I only had one unused pair of batteries, had put it in the camera from the beginning and the camera already turned off at some point during the march. I’m sure it was before reaching Unirii Square, which happened at 8:10 PM, but it may have already been before University Square, I’m not sure anymore. Either way, from that point forward I had to keep swapping between that pair and the three drained ones that I also had with me, squeezing just a little more out of each in order to eventually take dozens more pictures. I was worried that I’ll need to give up at some point, but in the end I could make it work, though two pictures, one taken in Constitution Square and another actually on the way back, after catching up to the person who had that last sign I had spotted, ended up as bad as they did after my camera turned itself off twice as I tried to take them somewhat more properly and then I couldn’t get myself to once again get close and try a third time right away.
But to return to the march, after passing Unirii Square and turning right, there was a section of road that was dark, those with loudspeakers asking participants to use their phones as lights because, they assumed, the mayor had ordered the lights turned off so the march won’t be visible. And in fact it is something that tends to happen, lights being turned off as a march either approaches or goes around the Parliament, but this time the area affected wasn’t large and Constitution Square, which was reached at 8:34 PM by the first ones and a minute later by the actual head of the column, was properly lit… Though the Square itself was closed off, work to prepare the Christmas fair having already started, so people had to go around that entire area in order to gather on the road on the other side, in front of the Parliament.
What actually took place there, I can’t say too much about, since I started making my way back right after making sure that the march will actually end there, wandering up and down the stream of people that kept arriving, looking for signs I had missed. That allowed me to know that it took the entire column 40 minutes to reach the Square, or more exactly the end of Unirii Boulevard, though, as I already stated above, and also to see that people started leaving quickly after reaching the Parliament. Admittedly, that place is huge, even the road itself, with the Square closed off as it was, offering room for huge numbers, but the crowd was quite rarefied when I finally made my way back to the other side and eventually left as well, at 9:25 PM. Did read that some gathered in front of the nearby Ministry of Justice after that though, the last ones leaving around, or at least not long after, 10 PM.

There would probably be a few more things to add, but this was rushed and already even messier due to being a mix between an actual protest report and a personal post, so there’s just one last thing I’ll mention and that’s that opposition politicians announced their support for the protest and, in particular in case of those from USR, the fact that they’ll attend. Some known activists were bothered by this, Claudiu lashing out in a post written the next day even though he and plenty of others are in the process of registering a party, but I for one only seriously frown at the reported presence of at least one leading member of PNL, though I can also understand the problems with the fact that former Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and some others from his group also took part. USR members who used to be activists and who took part in plenty of protests before becoming politicians, on the other hand, have every right to be there as far as I’m concerned, even if I definitely agree that now they should first make use of the tools their new positions offer them.

This should have been written earlier, and the plan was to write it yesterday, but I really didn’t feel like it and there was a match to watch last evening too, so instead I pushed to finish Silverthorn and make the quick review for it this week’s first post and leave today for writing this, since I won’t be writing anything over the weekend. With 114 pages left, it was a bit of a push to finish that, but I would have just managed it before the start of the match if I wouldn’t have stopped to make myself popcorn then. As it was, I just glanced at the first half of the match and finished the book during it instead, and then I wrote most of that quick review at half time, making a few additions and corrections during the first part of the second half in order to be able to post it well before midnight.

Said I won’t be writing anything over the weekend because I signed up to volunteer at the Botanical Garden again, tomorrow, and then there’s a protest announced for Sunday evening that I intend to at least have a look at, participating if a reasonable number of people gather, and perhaps sort of wandering around the area even if they don’t or the gendarmes cause problems. So, on top of wanting to avoid a Sunday update, I won’t have time for one then anyway, while Saturday evening I hope I’ll be catching up on some sleep, since I’ll be going there in the morning on next to none, and after running today as well.

Both last week’s run and this week’s were on Friday, last week’s time being 48:51, with sector times of 4:33, 5:13, 5:55, 4:31, 5:10, 5:57, 4:37, 5:13, 5:49 and 1:53, making for lap times of 15:41, 15:38 and 15:39, while this week’s time was 47:51, so exactly one minute faster, sector times being 4:22, 5:08, 5:50, 4:17, 4:59, 5:50, 4:35, 5:05, 5:54 and 1:51, making for lap times of 15:20, 15:06 and 15:34. So, while last week was when I struggled, needing to push hard on the third lap’s third sector to stay under 49 minutes, today’s run was the second one under 48 minutes, though 25 seconds slower than the record, and it included a second lap that was just marginally slower than the fastest one and a first sector, actually of the second lap, that was actually a bit faster than the second fastest first sector, because I write down just the seconds but remembered the exact time of the first lap, as in including the hundredths of a second, at that moment and knew that I had covered that first sector in less than 4:17. And this of course means that it is possible that the second lap as a whole wasn’t actually slower than the fastest one. But, either way, I did lose a bit of time at the start of its third sector, when I thought that the training shirt, which was tied around my waist, was slipping off, so it most probably would have been the fastest without that.
Probably shouldn’t have taken that shirt out at all, as I just wore it when walking to the park and back, but with a reported temperature around 10°C and a cloudy sky, I didn’t want to risk it. Still, there was pretty much no wind today, so that definitely helped. What didn’t help, on the other hand, was the fact that the cloth on the inside of my right shoe, at the back, is getting torn off in a spot and that’s injuring my foot, not that I knew that until after I got back today. Just knew I had a blister there for a while and I felt it more when running, in fact even stopping for a couple of seconds at the start of last week’s run to try to arrange my sock a bit differently, which actually means that last week’s real lap times are even more equal than they appear. Today it felt like something was pushing against the scab I knew had formed there, so assumed it’ll either get torn off or pushed in, some blood will, shall we say, lubricate the area, and then it’ll hurt less, so just pushed through it and that was what happened, as when I checked after getting back I saw a fair amount of blood on my sock and also on my shoe, but also spotted that damage while looking for the blood. This issue makes today’s time even nicer, but I’ll need to figure out what to do about that shoe.

Back to last Friday, in the evening I went to the commemorative march marking two years since the Colectiv club fire, which was organized on Friday because a charity festival was again taking place on October 30, the organizers didn’t want to overlap the events again and October 30, 2015 was on a Friday. What was odd was that the event called people to gather in the park at Unirii Square from 7 PM and stated that three songs will be performed in Bucur Square, in front of the old Communist-era factory where the club used to be, by those bringing guitars, starting at 10:32 PM, which was when the fire started, but the announcements regarding traffic being stopped stated that people will gather between 6 PM and 7 PM, after which traffic will be stopped on the sections of road that the participants will march on, until 8 PM, and then in case a large enough crowd will gather the streets surrounding Bucur Square may also be blocked until 11 PM.
That part worked out all right though, not many being present at the starting location at 7 PM, when those who were there were commenting that there were more reporters than participants, but quite a crowd having gathered by the time the march started, at 7:30 PM, and probably more joining on the way, so I rather tend to agree with the organizers’ estimate of about 3000 participants, other estimates ranging between “hundreds” and about 4000. And the march had a pretty decent pace, so the head of the column was actually in Bucur Square at 8 PM.
People did start leaving shortly after that though, lighting some candles and then wandering off since nothing else was happening, so those who did bring guitars were told to gather close to the monument erected there at 9 PM and the first attempts to start singing were at 9:20 PM or so, when I heard a few estimates stating that only about 400 people were left. Still, the guitarists couldn’t quite manage to work together and they were just trying to sing various songs, not those they should have prepared, plus that one had brought a child along who just got in everyone’s way, so it was quite messy, but a few moments worked out all right and they kept going, eventually holding a moment of silence after 10:30 PM and then singing three songs after that, though those weren’t those which had been announced. Since I left after the third, at 11 PM, I don’t know whether anything else happened after that, but I’d say 150 to 200 people were still there at the time.
And since I got to what I did, took no pictures, it simply felt wrong somehow, and actually spent the time before the march reading, under the streetlight in front of the lift leading to the metro station, then continued during the march as well, until I finished the chapter, and then read some more after reaching Bucur Square, before the guitarists were asked to gather. But to get back to reading before the march started, that also meant I was right there for those who were just passing through and wondering what was going on, muttering under my breath when a few just wondered out loud and then gave wrong answers to themselves, and answering one woman who asked me directly. And I also answered two women who were foreign and asked first whether I knew English, which should have been easy to determine since I was reading a book in English, and then how to cross to the other side of the road, since there is admittedly a single crossing in that area, in the corner which is the opposite of the one where the crossing that lets one cross the road on the other side of the park is, so the confusion is understandable.

While I’m on this topic, I did go Monday as well, just to have a look and light a candle, since I hadn’t done that Friday and didn’t go to the concert either. Since there was no time to arrive at, I just waited for dad to get back, so I’ll have the metro card, and eventually got there at 9:15 PM, lighting said candle, taking a few pictures this time, and otherwise wandering around a bit for the 25 minutes I spent there. A TV station was using the area around the monument as their set for a talk show on the topic, so that area was cleared of other people, the otherwise relatively few who were present at the time being on the other side, some spelling “Coruptia ucide 65+” (“Corruption Kills 65+”) with candles. Unsurprisingly, recognized some of those taking part in the Victory Square protests in that group.

Moving on, went out to buy a few things Monday and then again Wednesday, and Wednesday was actually interesting. Not for any good reasons, but at least one of them was funny, seeing as a bird apparently decided to use me as a toilet, not that I realized it until quite some time later. I mean, I felt something falling on my head as I was waiting at a traffic light, but passed my hand over my cap and didn’t feel like I had knocked anything away, so shrugged it off. Then shrugged it off again when, after crossing the street, I noticed I had something on my hand, thinking I must have had something in my pocket somehow, since I had put it there by then, even though I could see nothing when I looked in the pocket either. So it was quite some time later when I happened to glance at my right shoulder and spot the rest of the crap, at which point I took my cap off to see a bit still on it as well.
Was quite amused by it, and also somehow made a mental link to an old skit by a comedy group from here, so I spent the rest of the way struggling, at times not entirely successfully, not to laugh out loud. Must have looked quite weird, laughing to myself or struggling not to and with bird poop on me, plus that I had last shaved almost a week before. But I was going to the hypermarket in a mall that’s relatively nearby, so once I got there I went to the toilet, took my jacket off, cleaned it as well as I could in a sink, and washed my hands well as well. Little to do about the cap, as I couldn’t exactly try to wash that as well and then wear it while it was wet, but I rubbed a bit of water on that spot and then threw it in the laundry basket when I got back.
The second thing that happened wasn’t amusing though, as there was a power failure just as I was checking out. The hypermarket’s generator kicked in after a few seconds and I could check out, though the belts weren’t working anymore and the cashier struggled to scan the large pumpkin I had bought and pass it back to me on the other side, but the rest of the mall seemed to have more of a problem, being quite dark for one. More lights seemed to come on as I was going up on a non-functional escalator, or in fact a moving walkway, since it’s flat so people will be able to use it with the carts, but the escalators and the doors weren’t working, leading to quite a number of people gathering in confusion around the exits until somebody who knew the trick came to manually open the sliding doors that are inside the revolving ones.
Was worried about my computer, as the UPS still doesn’t have the data cable connected or the software installed on this one, so it couldn’t turn it off if the battery would get low, before actually running out, and got even more so after I got out and saw that the traffic lights weren’t working either, meaning that the problem was quite significant. And that did prove to be the case, as I saw reports stating that a large part of the city was affected, nothing having any power for about an hour. But by the time I got to the park I’m passing through on my way from that mall, I could see streetlights turning on, since it was starting to get dark, and then once I was out of it I saw lights at some windows too, which I guess means that this area wasn’t affected, or perhaps only very briefly, for a few seconds or at most up to a couple of minutes, as it tends to happen when there are problems nearby, and either way my computer was still running when I got back.

In between, Tuesday, I guess some girl from Brasov very bluntly hit on me on OkCupid, which I’m pretty sure marks the first time someone sent me a message with that sort of obvious intent. Hadn’t signed on there for about a year until I tried, and failed, to look for someone’s account rather recently, and then had just quickly logged on again one more time, I think on Sunday, before I got an e-mail announcing that I had a message. And then, after exchanging a few more, leading to me mentioning that the current version of my profile would these days be on Patook, she just asked how long has it been since I last had sex, also saying that for her it’s been eight or nine years. And I, of course, answered, giving the exact date as well. Then she asked if I’m open to the idea, I asked what idea, and she said that of us being in a relationship and having sex at some point. So I had fun just a bit more, starting my next reply by saying that I’m of course open to it for each of us, separately, but then got serious and said I am not and cannot be interested in her or in any other new person in that way, explaining exactly why. Since I got no other reply after that, guess that chased her away, and that finding my profile “riveting and compelling” didn’t refer to anything else.

One last thing I’ll mention before ending this post is that something weird happened as I was showering earlier. Dad had mentioned something about a meeting and 8 PM when saying when he should be back today and I wasn’t sure whether that meant he’ll be back at 8 PM or that’s when the meeting will start, or when it’ll end, or perhaps that he had a meeting nearby at 8 PM and he’ll drop by before leaving again to go there, and I assumed it was getting close to 8 PM when I’m sure I noticed more light through the window in the bathroom door and heard sounds which really didn’t seem to be something the cats could cause. So I assumed he did get back then, thinking nothing more of it until I finished my shower, got out of the bathroom and saw not only that he wasn’t home, but that there was no trace of him having stopped by. And when he eventually did arrive, around 10 PM, he said he hadn’t stopped by earlier, so I’m rather worried. Didn’t notice anything missing at a quick glance, I guess he didn’t either since I told him and he didn’t mention anything so far, and the door wasn’t forced, but something strange happened…

After the improvement and the greater scope of Magician: Master, Silverthorn marks a rather brutal return to immaturity in pretty much every aspect and, for the most part, a simple heroic fantasy adventure. It’s quite forced as a sequel at first, but eventually it finds its way and elements start to connect, albeit not necessarily in a smooth or, at times, even reasonable fashion, so it eventually grows and opens the way to another bigger story, but it does not contain it.
Expectations are very different today, or at least mine are, but, keeping them in check, I wasn’t exactly bothered by anything while reading it and it actually went faster and smoother than I expected. Taken for what it is, assuming teenage boys as the target audience once again, recognizing the fact that the fantasy genre has improved massively in the decades since it was written, and not expecting details that aren’t absolutely necessary to the action, carefully developed and developing characters, or significant depth or wisdom, there’s not much that can be said to be particularly wrong with it. That’s just far from being enough, however.

Rating: 3/5

Note: This is one of the books I took with me when I got thrown back to Bucharest, over 11 and a half years ago. A few months later, after learning that Andra returned to England, this time for good, I just stopped reading, and since I don’t reread books, those left became something of a small collection of connections to that period, not to be “used” by reading for as long as possible. Did read a few since, I remember three and there’s a chance that one or two more may be slipping my mind, but those were picked from those not registered on BookCrossing and I don’t think any of those I may be forgetting came after the last one of them that I marked as read, in 2011. So, after Magician: Apprentice was the first, this is the second one “used up” in such a manner in several years, and also the second one that’s also registered on Bookcrossing since way back then, which is also why the rating is out of ten instead of out of five.
I’ve been considering giving in when it comes to these for quite some time, even bought Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon back in 2014, to have this whole part of the cycle, but managed to keep holding off until now. But as more time passes, everything crumbles more and more, so here I am. Definitely not making it available on BookCrossing though.

Oddly, seeing as the two are actually a single book which was split for this extended edition, Magician: Master is noticeably better than Magician: Apprentice. The first few chapters are more or less the same, “immature” remaining perhaps the most accurate way to describe pretty much every aspect, but chapter four suddenly takes everything to a different, higher level. While reading it, it struck me as something which must have been written by an entirely different person, and a much more skilled one at that.
After that it goes up and down and dedicating more than two chapters to the aftermath makes for a rather anticlimactic finale, but there are a fair number of good sections in between and, on average, it remains a clear improvement. The genre even switches from heroic to epic fantasy, though the story remains focused on a few characters and some small areas, a short scene towards the end underlining just how small. The action is still terribly rushed, a whole lot is still skipped and details are still lacking, harming depth, immersion and character development, but somewhat more attention seems to be paid to the parts taking place in Kelewan and the overall impression is of one book that had everything not essential to the story itself cut out of it, while I was saying that Magician: Apprentice at times seemed more like a collection of connected short stories. A few bits of wisdom may even be said to have been thrown in as well.

Kept thinking of Betrayal at Krondor while reading this. In spite of technical limitations, made more notable by the fact that I played it several years after release, I definitely remember how well it managed to generate the feeling of immersion, and that I described it as “playing a book” when mentioning it to someone a decade or more later. Now I wonder how my impression of that outstanding game would have changed if I’d have played it after reading some of the relevant books… And if it’s not a case of a game being better than the books…

Rating: 8/10