Cav's Place

Writing this on the second day of this year’s first actual heat wave, but I’m sitting here with the window closed and blinds drawn, so it doesn’t matter much. Not that it’d have really bothered me either way, the reported highs being the same as yesterday, around 35°C, and there’s also a fair bit of wind, which actually makes it nice in the kitchen, where the window is open. But I kept it closed until evening yesterday and I’m doing the same now, in part also because the bright light and maybe also the feeling of possibly being watched definitely don’t make writing any easier and I left it late enough as it is. Tomorrow these measures may be needed for the temperature alone though, with the forecast mentioning even up to 40°C, so it is likely to get rather uncomfortable even for me and I’ll be keeping an eye on my computer as well. But it should only be that one day, as it should get back below 35°C Sunday and next week should start with storms and significantly lower temperatures and then be quite fine after that.

But to start from the beginning of the period covered by this post, last Thursday I went to the Botanical Garden, to at least use the first of the four free entries I got when I volunteered, as I had been told that the best time to see some things was April or May and for others May or June and it was late June already. Since the greenhouses were listed as closing at 1 PM, I wanted to be there at 11 AM, or preferably even a bit earlier, so I meant to leave around 9:30 AM, considering the distance and that I was going to walk all the way. That didn’t work quite like that, but it was close enough, as I only managed to go out the door at 9:50 AM, but was there at 11:05 AM. And, either way, I noticed the summer schedule listed there, which contradicted the one on-line, as it stated that greenhouses were open until 3 PM, though on the other hand I saw the museum scheduled to close at 3 PM as well, though on-line it says 5 PM.
When I arrived, I saw a group of people talking in another language standing just outside. I later thought it was probably Portuguese, but I’m not certain, or I might have heard others speaking Portuguese instead, as they definitely weren’t the only foreign people there at the time. Either way, they walked in right after me, before I could show my pass to the person there, so I stepped aside and let her handle them first. However, that was not so easy, because they had someone who spoke English very well but the woman handling the tickets didn’t. I think they asked about two other languages as well, but that didn’t get them anywhere either, so they just tried to somehow sort things out without a common language while I kept meaning to step in and translate but couldn’t get myself to actually say anything at first.
Eventually did step in when the person who knew English took a folder, which I guess had the map when spread out and information, possibly also in English, on the rest of it, and someone else from their group grabbed several more, prompting the woman handling the tickets to ask if they’re not together, quite confused. So I translated that question, repeated myself when I wasn’t understood at first, then was asked to also ask whether the tickets for the “treehouse” are also paid there or at the entrance in question. That, of course, being the greenhouse entrance, and yes, I did say it was a greenhouse and not a treehouse, two or three times, but I didn’t seem to be getting through. Either way, was told those were also paid there, after which the group meant to leave, which rather confused me. They were leaving without their change though, so they were called back, I also shouted and explained why, then due to the lack of a common language the woman handling the tickets made the calculations on a piece of paper, to show that she was giving correct change, getting a thumbs up in return. Those calculations didn’t really make sense to me though, as prices seemed to be discounted even though they shouldn’t have been, but one more category seemed to be added, and in the end it seemed to me that they got more money back than they should have. But I probably got something all wrong.
Either way, after the group left, I stuck my head inside the booth through the small opening, though I guess you’re not supposed to do that, and gave my pass and a 5 RON bill, for the tickets for the greenhouse and museum. But, after first being asked whether I had any more of those passes, which was a question I didn’t get the point of, I was told that for the museum you pay at the entrance and something along the lines that maybe I’ll just leave 1 RON there if I want to for the greenhouse. That didn’t make sense to me, and contradicted what I had been told to tell the group, and I was wondering whether I was being waved through either because I had been a volunteer or because I helped a little with that translation, or perhaps a combination of the two, and asking myself how will the person checking for tickets at the greenhouse know that.
I had no reason to worry though, as there didn’t seem to be anybody checking anything at the greenhouses. I mean, there definitely was nobody at the small old greenhouse, which I found first, and then at the big ones there seemed to be someone at the table at the entrance, but she was talking to someone else and didn’t pay any attention to the people going in. Found the person who had spoken in English from that group there again, standing with one other, the rest having likely walked ahead, and she was clearly confused and wondering out loud whether they could just walk in or there was something else to do, but since I could just walk in, I just walked in and didn’t bother with anything else. Not I got much out of it, but I wanted to make sure I saw everything, so I looked at the plants and read the information available, though it seemed quite little to me and in one of the rooms I didn’t find anything at all. Also tried to read the labels on the plants, but I was mainly seeing scientific names, so unless one actually knew what it was all about, they didn’t seem to be of much help and after a bit I started pretty much ignoring them.
Back outside, I started wandering around, first going through the Rosarium, though most roses were wilting. That was still better than the Iridarium though, as that was what I had been told should be visited in April or May and there were no flowers to be seen at all anymore. Other areas varied, but there wasn’t really anything to catch my attention, so I just tried to make sure I explored every little bit of the place and read all information I could find, going back a few times through some areas and even ending up on narrow footpaths through grass and weeds, wondering whether those were areas the volunteers will work on next or they were just for the staff to use. Outside the sectors with certain themes, it all seems to be in a pretty poor state, but that does also create a few nice spots, such as an old bench under an old tree, a bit away from the main paths but still before being left with just those narrow footpaths and grass and weeds, where I found a couple talking and cuddling. Passed by the area a few times and they were still there, so I just passed right in front of them once, trying to go around otherwise, so I’ll leave them in their little world. On the other hand, did glance at another couple I saw, when I heard him start explaining to her, in English, what it’d mean if he’d be in an open relationship with her.
While exploring, I saw a huge tree with a large structure in it that definitely looked like a birdhouse but which was probably large enough for a person to fit inside as well, albeit probably not a tall person. Found no way to get to it though. On the other hand, after having missed them the first time around, when I got back to those areas after checking the map at the entrance to see where I didn’t recall having been, I found what I remember a sign stating was the first project of this group that calls for volunteers every year there, the Children’s Garden, as well as the Garden with Remedies, apparently arranged by some other group. The Children’s Garden, apparently built in 2012, is now a ruin though, and a rather creepy one at that, its location only enhancing that impression, while the Garden with Remedies is surrounded by a tall hedge, which made me miss it at first due to seeing a sign but finding no entrance, and contains several different areas separated by shorter hedges that are very close together, so I had to just squeeze through, and in some places go around because some trees were completely blocking the way. Also about the Garden with Remedies, can’t say I actually found anything there other than a lot of butterflies flying out of those hedges, and there definitely were no labels or other information whatsoever other than the large sign at the main entrance, describing, in a general sense, what should have been there. Almost missed even that one, since I had found my way in through a smaller entrance instead.
Back to that group, did see a few people, including the one who coordinates these events, sitting down and I think eating as I was passing through the area close to the gift shop. Later, as I returned there, I saw the coordinator and just one other person, probably an employee, gathering the tools and equipment. And that was when I also noticed what was listed as their third project, the Garden of Books, supposedly built in 2015 but already in a poor state, with benches out of place and turned over and nothing looking right anymore. What I guess would be their second project, Grandmother’s Garden, next to the old greenhouse, is the only one that seems to still be in use, and people were working there when I had a look. Found it being mentioned on their site back in 2011 though, even before the Children’s Garden, so something’s probably wrong somewhere.
If you noticed the fact that I initially mentioned a museum but then didn’t say anything about actually visiting it, that’s because I didn’t. Had a look at the entrance, decided I’ll return later, did so, walked up the stairs, but decided against going in, thinking that if I didn’t spend money until then, I’ll keep it as a free visit. Found myself even less interested in the museum than in the Garden in general anyway. And I still have three visits on that pass, so I can just go some other time if I’ll feel like it.

This post was supposed to be shorter than just that section was, and it took me two hours just to get this far. But this actually means I wrote very quickly, so let me now move on to what I did after leaving the Garden, at 3 PM. And what I did then was check three hypermarkets that are sort of in the general area, eventually ending up buying some things just from the last one of them though I had meant to get something from another as well. The price was the same, I usually prefer to avoid the one I did get the things from in the end, and the one I meant to buy from is currently celebrating 16 years and they’re offering scratch tickets and entries to a draw with each purchase. But I just forgot about it then, grabbing what I meant to grab and starting to walk back… For one hour and about 45 minutes, on a sunny summer day, while carrying a number of things. My arms ended up rather tanned, actually, but the back of my neck sure was red, and I’m still peeling skin from there now. That didn’t stop me from going out again Friday, twice, picking up a couple of things during the day and a few more in the evening.

I think the blood comes after this, because I’m pretty sure it was Sunday. Either way, and this is once again something I guess most would file under “too much information”, one of those days I noticed blood out the rear end again, for the first time in quite a long time. Had admittedly rather pushed it, between holding it in when the bathroom was occupied when I meant to go and then even ending up skipping a day, trying to go right after waking up, especially after waking up early, when it usually just doesn’t work, and you definitely shouldn’t force things when you have such issues, and starting to feel a certain need while being outside and holding it in again. So it was likely to happen, it felt like it was going to, and then it did. Seems to be healing by now, though there was a little more in the first days after that.
One other thing is that I was so, shall we say, out of practice, that I didn’t even press the right way or wait enough for it to completely stop, just wiping and getting up, so I ended up with a bit of blood that even went through my underwear, got on my shorts, and then even on my chair. The shorts and the chair were easy to clean, though now the chair looks badly stained in the area where I used a bit of water and soap, likely due to all the dirt embedded in it over the years. It didn’t come off my underwear quite so easily though, so some trace of it was left. Makes it even more uncomfortable to think that women go through far worse on a regular basis…

Back to the trips I made, Monday I woke up early and went back to that farmers’ market, picking up some more apricots and green onions, plus a cabbage from two guys that had taken up a spot right in the corner, on a row that only had someone else at the other end, and seemed to be pretending that one was about to purchase something from the other, possibly taking turns. They had a label with where the products were from, but I only saw four cabbages and a bunch of supposedly green onions that were mostly wilted which they were pulling out of a bag. But the cabbages didn’t look bad and they were the cheapest ones there, so I just grabbed one of them and I’ll see how good it actually is, as I’m actually yet to get to it, still having enough from another to use tonight as well.
But that wasn’t all of it, since I wanted to get a few more things in a certain way, so while I didn’t go back out Monday, I did go Tuesday, wandering around, grabbing just a few things despite checking multiple places again. Actually, first grabbed a few things and checked multiple places, then got back, went back out to run, got back again, went back out to check out an announced protest against the person named as the new Prime Minister, and on the way back from there I took a detour to check some more places again and grab just one little discounted item. But, while at it, I found that, at least if you look in enough places and just want something to use right away, you can find quite a number of things pretty heavily discounted because they’re about to expire, so that’s something to keep in mind more.
Either way, was ready to wander around Wednesday as well, since there was still something to get in certain specific conditions, but I eventually found what I was looking for that time, so I could make just one trip, though I did check two other places on the way, just in case. Also, on top of what I actually went out to get, I bought a watermelon, the first one this year and also the first one I ever bought myself. They were huge and I got the smallest one, not counting those that looked different and were damaged, and even so I was close to the limit of what I wanted to allow myself to spend, but it’s good enough, and it is nice to have watermelon these days, considering the heat wave.

I already mentioned that this week’s run was Tuesday, and the time was 49:30, with sector times of 4:37, 5:11, 5:57, 4:33, 5:14, 5:58, 4:37, 5:18, 6:15 and 1:50, making for lap times of 15:45, 15:45 and 16:10. Was thinking I may end up skipping this week, seeing as I was going to wander around during the first part of the week and then I didn’t care for an evening run during the heat wave, but I found that time Tuesday and it actually went better than expected, considering the fact that I had just walked a fair distance. Pushed as hard as I could, probably even a bit harder than I would have normally dared to on that final sector, yet the time was definitely no record, so I really was at the limit.

In spite of that, I then just changed again and, as I stated above, went back out, walking to University Square, albeit for no real reason. Those who asked people to come to the protest were expecting only a few to show up, but I have to say even I was negatively surprised when I just noticed two people there when I first arrived, at 7:15 PM, so 15 minutes after the announced start time. There were about 20 more nearby, in the spot where they’re gathering signatures for a doomed and, in my view, completely pointless attempt to organize a referendum to remove the mayor of Bucharest from office, and some of those may have agreed with this protest as well and a few did briefly mix after they gathered their things, after 8 PM, but that still doesn’t mean much.
So I wandered away, returned, wandered away again, returned again, and eventually just sort of stayed in the area, around the small group that had formed but not chatting away, like the others did, or even really staying inside it. Until I left, a little after 8:30 PM, I had counted some 30 people, but don’t think there were more than 25 at any one time, as some had already left before others arrived. And with no shouting or chanting and only a single pretty small sign, not even the gendarmes seemed to care to bother, two of them walking past, returning, seeming to briefly communicate with someone, and then apparently being told to just leave us be, which was what they did.

Since it was mentioned in Quiet, looked up this test, or some version of it at least, and took it as I read the book, saving the result because I thought there’d be more tests mentioned that I’ll end up taking by the time I’ll finish, so I meant to post all results at once. But in the end there was nothing else, or at least nothing clear enough for me to look up and take right away, so I was left with this single result, which I’m posting now, since I gave up on the thought of posting something else today. Took the liberty to fix typos, add some commas, and make the bars accurately reflect the score.

Eysenck Test Results
 

Extroversion (sociability)	|||| 13%
Neuroticism (emotionality)	|||||||||||||||||||| 77%
Psychoticism (rebelliousness)	|||||||||||| 48%

This test reflects the ideas of Hans Eysenck, a pioneer in the field of personality research. Through research and statistical analysis, he determined that personality is composed of three main elements: Extroversion, Neuroticism, and Psychoticism. Most current researchers agree on the significance of the first two traits, but there is less consensus on the third (so he may be wrong about its central importance, but it clearly plays some role in personality). Most people will score lower on Psychoticism. While Psychoticism implies more negative qualities than the other two traits (typically), a link has been found in several studies between higher creativity and higher scores on Psychoticism.

Here are your results on each dimension:

Extroversion results were very low, which suggests you are extremely reclusive, quiet, unassertive, and private.

Neuroticism results were high, which suggests you are very worrying, insecure, emotional, and anxious.

Psychoticism results were medium, which suggests you are moderately self interested, willful, and difficult, while still respecting the well being of others.

Prior to Eysenck’s discovery of Psychoticism, he correlated his original two traits with an ancient greek personality system known as the Galen types (Melancholic, Choleric, Sanguine, Phlegmatic). Below is a plotting of your scores on that map.

 
Take Eysenck Personality Test (similar to EPQ-R)

So would that map mean that the test in its initial form would most accurately describe me as sober, or are those just traits associated with the melancholic personality type and their order and which one you’re nearest to is irrelevant? Either way, seems fair enough, doesn’t it?

Unusually for me, read it in Romanian, so things may have gotten lost in translation and I may have failed to make some connections or even pay enough attention at times. Still, sure seems well written and properly researched, though the notes that weren’t just references should have been footnotes, as I had to keep looking at the notes section every few pages to see whether there were any of that kind connected to what I had just read. It does a great job of presenting how introverts function and why, including details that may be somewhat surprising, stresses their strengths and advantages, and definitely properly presents the problems with the Extrovert Ideal and shaping society according to it. If it’d have stopped at that, it’d have been a truly outstanding work.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. I may even mention how the author rather discards what may perhaps be at the outer edge of introversion and gears the book toward a need for balance, but I’m mainly referring to all those parts focusing on how to go against who you really are if you’re an introvert, even more so if it’s for a career or organized education, focusing on those as a person being a huge problem in itself in my view. There was also the comparison between the Western Extrovert Ideal and typical Asian behavior, which to me was a comparison between two deeply flawed views and behavior patterns. Or the compromise between “Greg” and “Emily”, which seems in no way fair or even tolerable for “Emily” to me. But most infuriating of all were all the parts of the chapter about children telling parents how to make their children behave less like what comes natural for them, stressing the need for methods that are much more considerate than the norm in no way excusing supporting the view that people must change themselves to fit society’s ideals at least to a significant degree instead of the other way around. Yet somehow, despite gritting my teeth because of that, I can’t quite take away that fourth star.

Rating: 4/5

Just like I wrote the previous personal post Thursday because I was going to be out Friday and Saturday, leaving little time to write and adding more things to write about, making it quite impossible to fit in one post, I’m now writing this Wednesday because I’ll be out tomorrow and possibly also Friday and there will be more things to write about after that, making it quite impossible to fit in one post. The difference is that now I would at least have Saturday available for a very late first post of the week while last week that wasn’t an option, but I sure don’t want to wait and then need to fit even more things in it on the last possible day.

To start with Friday, I was going to buy some things again, going on what’s starting to be my usual route now, including that farmers’ market, hoping to find that person with the apples there again. Unfortunately, however, I didn’t, nor did I find anyone else with Romanian apples, so I just got a few apricots from there and a few oranges from a hypermarket, plus a few peaches from the same hypermarket for my mother. I was charged for the peaches as if they were the cheaper imported kind, but if they insist on having employees weigh and label fruit and vegetables instead of letting the customers do it, as some others do, I’m not going to correct them when they make mistakes in my favor.
Also got quite a lot of green onions and some smoked kashkaval from the market, but no tomatoes, since I went around a few times, trying to decide whether to buy any and, if so, where from and being unable to make up my mind until picking up a tomato to look at it prompted the woman selling them to call after me that she doesn’t know what she’ll do to me if I touch the tomatoes again, commenting to someone else after I walked away that it was the third time I did that. And she may have been right, definitely was at least the second one, but I still don’t see what her problem was.
Either way, that prompted a mixed fight and flight response in me, being confronted that way, so on the one hand I wanted to just get the fuck away from there while on the other I pretty much “saw red” and meant to turn around, slam my hands in all her tomatoes and shout in her face. But I just got out of there, giving up on the idea of tomatoes, whether from there or from anywhere else, and got back to drop off what I had already purchased even though the original plan was to make a detour and get other stuff as well, only dropping them all off after that, before going back out for only a second trip. But I had enough time for three trips, having started early enough, so I got everything else I wanted and there were no other incidents. And I also picked up 0.66 RON in found coins, though that included I believe 21 0.01 RON ones and it may be a bit awkward to make use of them now. Had spotted a few more of those on the floor at the end, but left them there for that reason.

Moving on to Saturday, I went to that “fair” for NGOs again, still just out of curiosity, and walked all the way there and back, despite the distance. However, I arrived pretty much at the same time as the storm and got caught in it, so there was nothing to see because the strong wind that came before the heavy rain knocked tents over and blew away whatever it could, so everybody was busy recovering what they could, gathering their things and preventing more damage, after which they started to leave. After posting nothing since the start of the storm, the organizers eventually announced during the evening that, due to the bad weather and the damage caused by the storm, the event, which was to continue Sunday as well, was canceled.
The weather during my walk there, with clouds and some wind, was pretty much just right to make it all right for such a long walk on a summer day, but as soon as I entered the park I saw a huge dark cloud right ahead. Nothing to do but head straight for it though, so I walked past the stage, reached those first tents which I guess were for organizers and maybe also sponsors, decided on the side to start from and went to the first tent there. That was supposedly the “customs tent” and I saw people picking up something with “Pass” written on it from there, so I wondered what that was all about, but there were too many people there and I thought I’ll get back to it later, moving on to the second.
Well, I didn’t actually get to that second tent, because a powerful gust of wind hit just as I turned and, after all sorts of things started flying, I found the tent coming towards me instead. Was just reacting to the situation, so I’m not sure whether it tipped over right away and I pulled back enough for it to fall in front of me, then grabbed it when it was picked back up, or I had to grab on to it right away, but I know that I firmly planted my feet, aimed for one of the bars of the support structure and grabbed on to it as it was coming towards me, using my other hand to keep the other parts from slamming into me. Then, once I felt that the tent itself was no longer the immediate threat, I turned my head around to make sure I won’t get pushed into the stand selling various things that was right behind me and that no things falling or flying from it will hit me. When it was clear that the people working there had also reacted quickly and were holding things in place, I could start looking around, noticing that the girls who used to be in the tent I was holding were picking themselves up after having it first on and then going over them, starting to rush to gather what they could as the wind was blowing their things away. Also noticed that one or maybe two other guys had appeared to hold on to the same tent I was holding and one of them said we should try to put it down, which we managed, so it didn’t act so much like a sail or a kite anymore.
With that initial moment over, I started helping the girls gather their materials, though I was just picking up whatever I could and dumping the things wherever I could while they and the others who were in a similar situation were trying to see what was theirs and what wasn’t. Problem was that they were placing the stuff back on their tables, which was pointless because the wind just scattered everything again right away, so when I noticed the boxes which used to have been either at the back of the tent or perhaps even behind it I grabbed one, meaning to place it on the stuff on the table. Not sure if I actually did though, as one of the girls saw what I was doing and said we should indeed put things in boxes, to which I replied that we can just put the boxes on the things, which she agreed was also a way to do it, and after that I’m not sure whether she placed one box on the table and I placed the other or she actually took both, possibly after I dropped the one I was holding. Either way, stuff wasn’t flying around anymore, at least.
As the area was starting to be cleared of papers, one of them looked at what I was bringing and said she didn’t think those things were theirs and that she believes they were “ours”, obviously having assumed that I was part of the team working the “customs tent”. When I said there’s no “us” because I just happened to get caught in it when it started and was trying to help and then sort of wandered away, somebody who actually had been working in that “customs tent” said that, in that case, maybe I could help those trying to gather their tent, as that was also knocked over and somewhere on the alley by that point. Had no idea what to do though, so I went to them and probably just got in the way for a little while, before having another look around and going to help a guy gather the structure of another tent which he had already taken apart. After that, or at least I think it was after that, the first guy who had joined me in holding on to the tent that came towards me said we should at least pick up the tents still on the alley and move them off it, next to some trees, so they won’t be in the way anymore.
After the two of us and one other guy did that, I heard some volunteers, or at least I think they were volunteers, saying they should go to the debate area because there’s a complete mess there. So I started heading that way as well, but slowly, taking my time to have a look at the tents that were on one of the alleys. Some were already closed though, so I couldn’t even see what NGOs should have been using them, while in the others people were busy gathering their things. Being connected to each other, the tents themselves hadn’t been blown away though, only the last one, which was completely empty and abandoned by the time I reached it, leaning rather heavily, while in the one next to it a pretty short and thin girl was holding on to the support structure as hard as she could, to prevent it from being dragged down by the leaning one, while the others were rushing to gather everything up.
When I reached the debate area, I saw the tents upside down on the alley and two guys trying to gather them but not seeming to manage anything, yet no sign of the volunteers. But before heading that way I had noticed how others had taught a guard to help them with the feet of another tent, so I did just that and found that it worked, one segment sliding into another step by step. When the other guys noticed, one told me to tell them how to gather the tents as well, if I knew, but I said I just saw how to do what I was doing with the feet, so we just did that for all of them, then sort of scratched our heads a little, tried to push on the other parts for a bit, then the other guy said we’d better just leave them as they are, because he already broke one trying to help, though we could perhaps turn them so they won’t be upside down anymore. So we remove the canvas, turn the structure, and eventually move them off the alley as well, placing them between the trees. Then I also stack two chairs which hadn’t already been stacked, the others move some other things as well, eventually one of them takes the canvas from the tents and starts piling it over some other stuff and I help with that as well, then wander away, because it had started pouring.
As I made my way back on the alley, I found some activists I know still in their tent, though they had gathered their things otherwise, and greeted them, pointing out that they were among the last ones still there when they said they were just taking shelter, which prompted one of them to look around, seeming quite surprised to notice that it was true. Didn’t stick around there though, looking for shelter first under trees, then under tall bushes as well, then back under a large tree while also placing its trunk between myself and the direction the wind was coming from. Three cyclists were on the other side of that tree at first, a few steps away, but some worrying sounds started coming and they first carefully moved towards them and then left, so I moved next to the group of volunteers, who were making makeshift raincoats out of garbage bags. Spotting the girl who was the source of those sounds, they meant to see what was happening, but I commented that it may be a bad idea for everyone to go, and I think one of them may have said the same thing, so just a few went, coming back a few moments later to tell the rest that a girl was having a seizure, but she was with her mother who said she didn’t need help, claiming it was epilepsy. Didn’t seem like it and nobody was convinced, a few other possible explanations being passed around, but doubt anybody knew enough to feel confident in contradicting the claim, so I guess they decided to just ignore the issue.
Eventually I took a few more steps and got under a large umbrella that was next to a nearby stand, since it was firmly fixed, provided better shelter and just a few other people were under it… And simply stood there until the rain stopped, though the others had left after it had stopped pouring quite so badly the first time and I was left sharing it with only a sweeper, who also left its shelter a couple of times, returning quickly as the rain got heavier again. But I have no problem being patient and saw that huge dark cloud slowly moving past the park, so I just waited until the rain stopped for good, though I wasn’t confident enough that it won’t start again to stick around any longer after that, more clouds still being above and the wind direction seeming to start to vary. About one hour and a quarter passed between that first powerful gust and the moment I left, making my way behind the cloud. Ended up walking back into the rain shortly before changing direction, but once I did that the cloud could get far enough ahead before I had to head right its way again, so it was all right, albeit a bit chilly. And can’t say the day wasn’t interesting…

Moving on, I had somehow counted the days wrong all along, so it’s a good thing I didn’t skip reading on any more days last week, because I was just on pace to finish The Hero of Ages Sunday, which I did, posting the quick review then as well. And then I started Quiet, or more exactly the Romanian edition of it, that same evening, and I’m hoping the quick review for it will be this week’s second post. Pretty sure I didn’t mess up again, so I should finish Saturday, or at least Sunday if I won’t read at all tomorrow or read too little both tomorrow and Friday.

As for this week’s run, that was Tuesday and the time was 49:50, with sector times of 4:29, 5:12, 6:02, 4:32, 5:14, 6:09, 4:43, 5:19, 6:21 and 1:49, making for lap times of 15:43, 15:55 and 16:23. So, despite the route being clear enough, I only just managed to match the time I managed two weeks ago, when the park was crowded, these being the worst regular run times after the half marathon. And that last lap was the worst one in even longer, things actually getting difficult from the second lap’s second sector, so it’s a bit embarrassing. At the same time, it’s interesting that I consider it embarrassing even though the reported temperature was around 30°C, I didn’t even drink anything before leaving, as in not even the bit of tea I usually take from the bottle in my room before going for a run, and my right hip is still not happy about something, yet I still managed to stay under 50 minutes, which until some ten and a half months ago seemed too insane a goal to even consider, and which I only first managed seven months ago.

If I was saying that I wouldn’t call The Final Empire dark, The Hero of Ages definitely is, despite an ending that doesn’t quite fit. On the other hand, if The Well of Ascension at times seemed to me to read as I expect a good crime novel would, only on a much bigger scale, The Hero of Ages didn’t leave the same impression. There is a solid direction, there are revelations that build upon each other, the scale is even grander, and the stakes, the importance and impact of actions and events, as high as possible while confined to a single planet, but perhaps it moves too quickly and goes too far, leaving behind a feeling that details, even important ones, are overlooked in the process, that it occasionally falls apart at the seams.
It definitely is written well, and it also touches upon quite a number of issues and occasionally offers arguments which may or may not be considered bits of wisdom, likely depending on whether or not the reader agrees, so I have no reservations in stating that it’s a good book. At the same time… I expected more. Or, more exactly, I expected better, though I do now realize that The Well of Ascension may have set the bar too high in certain aspects and made me carefully search for certain elements, looking for flaws and dismissing potential positive aspects if they didn’t mark a significant improvement, which may have been too much to ask. For example, after having correctly figured out the identity of the spy in The Well of Ascension pretty much right away, I felt that the author may have allowed me to do so in order to lull me into complacency and then surprise me with even greater revelations, while now there was no similar feeling after also immediately figuring out the identity of the Hero of Ages. Yet is that because there really was nothing greater hidden beneath, or is it because I was somewhat inoculated against that feeling, searching too carefully and expecting too much? I couldn’t really say…

Rating: 4/5