Cav's Place

Was saying I’ll likely throw another quick post here just to have two this week, and this is it. Won’t quite be feeling sorry for myself in it though, because at least I just about managed to catch up on reading. Still a few pages short of where I should be right now, but less than a chapter and just finished part two, so I’ll call it enough for the moment. And I went out twice today, sort of watched parts of two matches and napped through a part of one, so it’s not like I just struggled to read, quite the contrary, feeling like it took a bit of effort to stop now. So I’m caught up in it again, which is unsurprising. Just needed a bit of time I guess.

As for going out, when I came back yesterday I saw some advertisements for another fair in this park nearby and meant to have a look, but didn’t want to head in that direction then, so went back out today, right after waking up. There was nothing to see though, and the fact that I also can’t find anything about it on-line makes me question what I saw yesterday, so it’s quite odd. Considering the fact that it should have started Thursday and the weather only cleared yesterday afternoon, and there’s still a fair amount of wind, it is possible that they canceled it, but that won’t explain the lack of information. In fact, it makes it even stranger.
Either way, after coming back I found out that the cats needed food, or more exactly a particular kind, as they refuse others, and dad couldn’t go buy more today, so even though I had just changed, I changed again and went to get said food, which is a first for me. Not that I couldn’t find that particular type, not for adults at least, so sent my mother a message with what kinds were available and she told me to buy the one with those same listed types of meat but for kittens instead of adult cats, which was what I did. Now whether they’ll eat it or not is not my problem. And yes, grabbed a couple more things while I was there too, including whole wheat fusilli, which I couldn’t find elsewhere so far, not made in Romania at least, and which I want to have before next month’s half marathon.

As for the events mentioned in the title, didn’t see anything else organized here for Earth Day in particular, but there was a cleaning of Vacaresti Nature Park scheduled for today, organized by some from the same group that organized the tree planting and also mentioning the fact that it’s Earth Day, but dad seems to have lost the metro card and didn’t get another yet, so getting there would have been a problem, and either way I didn’t quite feel up to working like that on next to no sleep again right now. On the other hand, there was also a cleaning of a part of a nearby park that can’t legally be maintained by the authorities, but it also started quite early and I would have felt uncomfortable with going either way, considering that there were likely to be very few participants and most of them, if not all, members of USR, as they’re organizing it.

The weather’s been weird this week, with low temperatures, rain, wind, and even sleet and snow. Quite a lot of snow in other parts of the country, but here what little of it fell couldn’t settle despite temperatures around or even slightly below freezing at night, since it was otherwise wet. Tuesday was quite all right though, despite being chilly, so I took the opportunity to run, the time being 51:52. Sector times were 4:34, 5:25, 6:22, 4:45, 5:28, 6:25, 4:58, 5:33, 6:29 and 1:53, making for lap times of 16:21, 16:38 and 17:00. And I actually struggled to manage even that.
There was some weaving involved, plus one moment when I had to avoid a cyclist almost crashing into a child who got right in the way, and another when a kid on a skateboard almost crashed into me, seeming unable to control his direction while coming towards me and ending up right in my path as I stopped for a couple of seconds to let him choose which way to go. But the bigger problem was the fact that I was feeling out of breath, quite clearly because I was just recovering from the cold and had been spending a fair amount of time blowing and spitting stuff out.

The weather started clearing this afternoon, so after the light rain stopped and I even saw some sun outside, I went to drop off the recyclables, grab some oranges and then pick up a spare mouse I had ordered earlier this week, from a shop I never had anything to do with before, though I see they’ve been around for ten years. They sold it for a good 30% less than it’d have been if purchased from the importer, and about half the price it’s available at in other stores, despite some saying it’s on sale at the moment, so even wondered whether it was some sort of mistake and they’ll tell me that’s the wrong price, but I guess not.
It’s a very simple thing, has no skates, so feels like the bottom scratches against the pad, which has a hard surface, and the scroll wheel feels rather wobbly and has nothing on it to improve grip, so clicking it as middle button without also moving it up or down is somewhat difficult. But it cost all of 11.66 RON ($2.75, €2.57), the size is decent enough, not one of those small ones, and the main reason I looked at it is that it comes with a five-year warranty, so I’ll feel safe keeping it as a spare for quite a long time and maybe feel ever so slightly less apprehensive about opening up the Kone XTD to see what I can do about the double clicking. May even use it while playing games that don’t make use of anything more than the basic buttons, especially since what I may be playing now is turn-based, so the fact that it’s slower due to the system mouse speed setting being used for both, the Kone XTD’s settings not applying a separate one to that one, won’t make much of a difference.

And not that I have any idea what the second will be, other than perhaps a quick one feeling sorry for myself again, just thrown here to stick to the number, but now that I finally wrote one post this week, let me get back to reading. Started The Well of Ascension Monday and barely finished the first part last evening. 120 pages in four days, half of them yesterday, as it was barely 20 per day until then, and so far today I just read one more chapter before going out, so at this point I’m far from even managing to finish it in two weeks, which would also mean by the end of the month. And I really wanted to finish it next week, preferably even before Sunday, so I’ll be sure I’ll have the quick review for it as that week’s second post and also have it clearly recorded that I managed to catch up on the year’s target as well, finishing the fourth book by the end of the fourth month.

As much as I want to start with the end, with today, I know I’ll panic even more if I do that and then be unable to write anything else. So if I’m to try to keep it together long enough, I’ll start with Sunday, when I went to check out a little fair I learned of. Was really tiny though, and there was nothing interesting for me there, but I also had a quick look through a somewhat less uninteresting one taking place close to where I live on the way, and also through the bookstore organizing the one I went out for. And then, since I had the metro card, meant to check out some prices in a farmers’ market I knew for being cheap, but I got there just after it closed, which Sunday seems to be at 1:30 PM, so couldn’t get inside and in the area outside some stalls were already empty and those manning the others were getting ready to leave as well.
The thing is that I could have reached the market before closing, if perhaps not early enough to have a really good look, but there’s a mall there as well and I wanted to see if I could find some information about something else, so I went there first, not knowing the market’s closing time. But I not only failed to find the information, as I couldn’t see it listed anywhere and of course I didn’t ask, but also seemed to have gotten there at a bad time, as an alarm was ringing as I was trying to go through the passage connecting the metro station with the mall. One of the doors of the rather creepy part of that passage also seemed closed, so as I spotted a guard rushing that way, everyone was going in, then turning around to go outside and enter through the main entrance, where crowds were forming. Yet alarms were ringing elsewhere inside as well, and while the stores on the ground floor were still open, the power was off for those at the floors above and below, with guards and employees at the entrances to turn people away. There were no announcements though and the guards on floors weren’t directing people in any way, the only information I heard being a store guard saying the sound was that of a fire alarm, so plenty were going up and down escalators, increasingly confused, especially since some larger stores separate floors into sections and if they’re closed people need to use the floor above or below to get around them. And then, when I made my way out, I saw that the revolving doors of the main entrance were off as well, the emergency exits being open instead.

Monday made me feel good for a change, because I ran another half marathon distance, with the same targets as three weeks ago, so aiming at 1:56 and hoping for 1:55, but managed a surprising 1:53:19. Must note that this time would have also been good enough to get an official time under two hours when I took part in last year’s half marathon, considering the 5:48.50 start time. And I remembered all sector times again, and they were 4:41, 5:31, 6:23, 4:49, 5:28, 6:28, 5:01, 5:28, 6:29, 5:00, 5:34, 6:32, 5:02, 5:44, 6:35, 5:10, 5:44, 6:47, 2:05, 6:48 and 2:00, making for lap times of 16:35, 16:45, 16:58, 17:06, 17:21 and 17:41, with the final 1.9-kilometer section being covered in 10:53.
Sure, each lap was slower than the previous one, but I just felt good all the way to the end, no longer hitting a wall, simply being able to run, which that 2:00 final sector proves. And you can also see the difference very clearly if you compare the times with those from three weeks ago, as I gained 1:00 on lap six and then 1:14 on that final section, 24 seconds only in that final sector, which only has some 400 meters. Of course, I in fact gained on each lap and on 19 of the 21 sectors, without losing time on any, as the times matched on the first sectors of laps three and four. And there was probably a little more in me, as I only struggled a bit on lap three, oddly, needing to push somewhat harder than I meant to at that point in order to remain under 17 minutes. And I didn’t feel like I was about to shit myself either, which is a first on such a distance, so didn’t even eat the garlic I had taken with me, as I noticed that it manages to counter that sensation.

Was still feeling good about it the following day, and that may have in some way influenced my sudden decision to consider getting a ticket to a concert taking place that evening, after stumbling into an article announcing it. Slept little and went to buy some things first, also taking the book with me and, having the metro card, reading two chapters as I went from one place to the other, exactly one each way, and just about pissed myself before leaving the hypermarket I bought things from, just barely rushing to the toilet with all the bags with me after paying, but it still didn’t seem such a bad idea when I got back and I had stayed under two thirds of what I had been given this time, which was a condition I had set for myself even if I also had the money saved by not getting myself a pizza after planting trees, which were actually slightly more than the price of the ticket, so I went back out to look for a machine that sells such tickets, as I hadn’t found one next to the hypermarket I had bought stuff from.
Was about to give up then, as I went to the one I knew, being the one I had purchased the ticket for the charity festival I went to in October from, and couldn’t find the event there, so was thinking there was either a problem with the machines or the events for that day had been removed already, and the price of a ticket at the door was 50% higher, so I wouldn’t have been interested anymore in that case. But then I thought I’d have a look for others too, went to the other one nearby largely out of curiosity, as until then I had thought it belonged to another operator, and upon noticing the same problem but also once again that there were very few concerts showing up in total and none for the following day either, I wondered whether there was a problem with that filter, so searched for all events taking place that day and the concert was the first one that showed up.
So then I went there, arriving in front of the club 30 minutes before the listed start time but, seeing no sign, not being sure I had actually found it and walking farther for a bit before returning, some ten minutes later. Still saw no sign, however, so I went around the entrance and ensured that I was in the right place by looking at the menu on a table outside. Then I got confused again when I went inside, as the guard asked if I wanted a stamp, in fact just saying that word questioningly, explaining that it was for the concert after I asked what for. Then I gave the printed ticket to the other person and my hand to the guard, but facing down, so he told me to turn it around and pull my sleeve up, placing the stamp on my wrist. My rather sweaty wrist, as I was wearing the watch and the camera was also up that sleeve, and then the stamp got smudged even more after washing my hands when I went to the bathroom before the concert actually started, despite being careful.
There was enough left to be allowed back inside though, since the bathrooms are oddly outside… Outside and rather hidden, even though there are signs, as it seemed to me that the sign was pointing to some stairs and not to the door next to them, which I missed entirely, so I first went up those stairs, then back down, entered through the door on the other side of the stairs, got asked whether I had a stamp and whether my backpack had been checked by another guard, and eventually got pointed in the right direction after asking him where the bathroom was. And yes, my backpack had been checked by the first guard, who asked what I had in it and whether he could check, starting to feel through it as I just took it off and left him holding it, rather surprised, since I expected him to want to actually open it.
Inside, before going to the toilet, I found myself a seat on the side and read one more chapter of the book, which apparently made me seem quite safe for two girls who stopped in front of me and, when I looked up, asked whether they could sit at that table too. And one of them took out a notebook and filled quite a few pages, both before and during the first part of the concert, before handing it to the other one, who had otherwise been largely just enjoying the concert, to have a look as well. And after the other one said it was all right, the one who had been writing said they should go, adding that it’s not like they meant to stay to the end in response to the other one’s surprised look. And they did leave then, leaving behind a crumpled piece of paper that just contained the names of the band members. But I guess she had been writing some sort of review for the concert, despite not staying… And apparently forgetting to take pictures at first, as the other one took a few but I guess she got reminded she needed some as well, as some time after leaving I spotted her return, looking quite annoyed as she made her way to the front to take a few pictures, then turn around and leave again.
As for me, as expected, I didn’t get much out of the concert, other than some pictures I guess. No idea what made me think I would enjoy it, despite thinking that this band does indeed have an interesting sound. Plus, I counted some 130 people, including photographers and probably also some staff, so individuals stood out, and more than the fact that I felt, well, noticeable was the fact that I noticed several obvious couples all around me. Had two in front, one behind, one on my right… Those just being those right next to me and who were very obvious and in contact most of the time. So that made me feel even more lonely. I mean, this isn’t one of the couples I mentioned, but somebody caught a picture giving an idea…
Either way, the concert finished at 11:05 PM, so no metro anymore and I walked all the way back, though I did reach Unirii Square at 11:25 PM and could therefore have taken the night bus leaving at 11:30 PM, which’d have also meant finishing my book, as I only had a little left to read. But I may have been able to finish it before the concert as well, as the band got on stage at 9:15 PM despite stating in the announcement that it’s important to be there at the listed time of 9 PM since, unlike others who can even be late for hours, they will start exactly on time. Well, they didn’t, but I guess those are details. As is the fact that I could have also stopped on a bench somewhere to finish the book if I really wanted to, just getting back later, but in the end I decided to leave that final part for the next day, when I posted the quick review as well.

Which gets me to Thursday, when the cold I had actually expected to come a little earlier due to my parents having it already, dad starting quite badly last week, finally got around to affecting me as well. Was wondering why I felt so cold that day at first, as there were no other symptoms, but then my throat and the roof of my mouth started itching in the evening and I understood the message, and then it was made even clearer when my nose got full of crap as the night continued. Not many other symptoms though, so it’s not too bad, but having all this crap and needing to blow and, as of this evening, also spit it out all the time makes it hard to even rest, much less sleep. Woke up at 8:50 AM today, so after likely less than three hours of sleep, and couldn’t fall asleep again, neither in the morning nor when I tried again, rather briefly, in the evening.

But this is hardly the only reason why I couldn’t sleep anymore today, because despite the MS-DEFCON 1 status I bit the bullet and installed the April security-only Windows update bundle, feeling too exposed since I always quickly install at least the security updates. And that status sure is there for a reason, since, after the reboot, I once again noticed the problem that first appeared back in September, that time after installing some optional updates. Had already installed the Internet Explorer update on Wednesday and the .NET one, in this case the full package available through Windows Update, on Thursday and everything seemed fine, but after installing that one today my coolers are again stuck at the minimum speed on the “Performance” setting, no longer changing speed according to the reported temperature, and I have no idea what to do about it, as there’s no newer BIOS version to update to, that being what I was told fixed the issue back then.
I guess there’s a chance there is some corruption somewhere and overwriting it may solve the problem, but don’t even know if that’s possible if it’s the same version, not something I ever tried or looked into. Or it may even work if I simply restore the default settings and then, after it loads them once, put the current ones again. But I have no idea and I dread to try anything at this point, as it’s not like the temperatures are in any way a problem and no other issue seems to be present at the moment and back then there were others as well, so I don’t want to risk making things even worse. Plus that I couldn’t even take the computer somewhere these days, being Easter. But, at the same time, while this is easy to spot, I wonder what other issues may go unnoticed yet eventually have nasty effects if not sorted out. And I’d first want to know how is it even possible for Windows updates to affect what should be a BIOS issue in such a manner.
Again, no idea what I’ll do. Not that I can deal with much, but definitely can’t deal with computer issues in any way. And now I see the forecast mentions rain starting tomorrow and pretty much lasting for the next several days, so the idea of just somehow struggling to just wait out these couple of days, when places will likely be more crowded, and then make a point of being outside most of the day just because I’m less afraid of that than of being at or around my computer when it has issues I can’t cope with probably goes down the drain as well. So not only not solving anything, but not running away either. And there’s still the cold to deal with as well.

Was a bit worried when I started reading this, but I shouldn’t have been, as it really is good epic fantasy. Though this rather tends to keep away that, well, “magical” atmosphere that some other works in this genre have, having such a clear and clearly explained magic system is interesting as well, and this system is rather different from what you may expect, which also goes for certain particular plot twists. But that atmosphere probably wouldn’t have fit anyway, as overall The Final Empire is gritty and somewhat grim despite the occasional humor. Wouldn’t call it dark though.
There are some too fortunate events here and there and the characters may occasionally get away with more than they should, but until part five this is all quite fine. However, said part five does rather push it, seeming somewhat rushed and chaining together such a series of fortunate events and shockingly positive developments that tends to go too far. One crucial shockingly positive development in particular sure made me roll my eyes and shake my head…

Rating: 4/5

Since I included last week’s run in the previous post, I’ll now skip straight to Thursday, when I finally got around to trying to glue my boots back, as they had been waiting for me since March 18. Tried to do both too, since the bottom of the right one was coming loose on both sides as well, just the bit at the front preventing it from ending up the same as the left one, and that didn’t seem too secure anymore either. That didn’t work too well, as it didn’t allow me to use this type of glue properly, so I don’t think I did much of anything for the right one and only one side of the left one seemed to be holding on pretty well, with the other still pretty loose and the front far from fixed as well, yet that was enough for it to hold on Saturday. Did make me feel rather odd Thursday evening though, as the vapors released by this type of glue have certain effects if inhaled and, while I left my window open for some time after using it, I eventually closed it yet the boots were left in my room until I went to eat at night, so was wondering why was I feeling the way I was for a while, before figuring it out.

Friday I went to a small event in front of the Russian embassy, meant to show solidarity with the Russian protesters. A formal notification had also been submitted and a protocol signed, so we could stay in front of the embassy, not being pushed across the road as other times, and the gendarmes had no complaints to make even when some briefly got close to the embassy wall to take pictures or film. I did that myself for a few of the pictures I took and I just noticed one of them glance my way, but didn’t do or say anything else. Those pictures of mine aren’t too useful though, as I had forgotten the resolution at 640×480 and only realized it after leaving.
The event was to start at 6 PM and I got there just a few minutes after that time, only finding a few others there, but about 40 attended in the end, though once again just a few were left when I walked away as well, around 7:45 PM, despite the event being scheduled to last until 8 PM. The two representatives who had been invited to talk to the ambassador were already inside when I got there and it was around, or at least close to, 7:30 PM when they finally came out, by which time others had been making jokes about sending messengers to plead for their release for a while. In the statements made to the media and the talks with the other participants they explained that the discussions went nowhere, the Russian side launching accusations and doing everything to distract from the matter at hand, on which topic they said, apparently using just these words, that human rights are not above Russian law.

Then came Saturday, when I planted trees again, taking part in the event organized close to Bucharest by the same group which had organized the event I took part in last year. Of course, the fact that I have serious issues with their other views remained and actually got even worse, considering other recent events I saw them at and the fact that the organizer of this particular event even took part in that march against abortion the week before and posted messages also clearly supporting the initiative to change the Constitution to clearly define family as based on the marriage between one man and one woman and lashing out against those who take issue with enforcing this “traditional family” concept. And they also still wanted to call to confirm participation, and this time I did answer, though a post stated that many others didn’t. But at least this time they also sent e-mails with the details and posted on the event page as well, so people had the information they needed.
Or most people had it, at least, as there was one guy there who started talking to everyone and kept saying he didn’t see any e-mail before leaving and hadn’t been called. He said a lot of things actually. Also claimed not to know that this time we had to pay a part of the price of the bus ride, 10 RON each, but paid when asked. Unfortunately, he sat next to me on said bus and kept trying to chat on the way, while also being quite busy trying to get to his e-mail to look for the code we were supposed to show in order to confirm our participation and get some points for the future events organized by the same group. Since he couldn’t do that on his phone at that moment, he asked someone else to create a hotspot for him before giving up after a while, then asked others to let him borrow their phones and check there, pressing when he was refused until he triggered some rather annoyed reactions. Not that the part about the code was working anyway, the organizer saying he had problems with it and was unable to scan.
But to get back to what I did, I set my alarm for 6:30 AM and might have gotten up to 45 minutes of sleep as a result, since I might have fallen asleep faster than usual. Got dressed, put the two sandwiches and the washed apple I had set aside before going to bed in my backpack which was otherwise stuffed with things I took just in case and didn’t use, quickly grabbed something to eat then as well, went to the bathroom and left at 7:15 AM, as planned. We were supposed to be at the meeting place at 8 AM and I didn’t want to risk being late, after all.
Well, could have slept a while longer, because I rushed, the metro was already there when I got to the station, and I was at the meeting place at 7:45 AM, finding only a few others also already waiting. The bus was already there, but even the organizer showed up a few minutes later, at which time I was eating the sandwiches, to get that out of the way as well. And we only left at 8:25 AM, since he wanted to wait longer, in case some were late, some indeed arriving well after 8 AM. Though it was just about full, only one bus was needed, unlike last year.
After some confusion on the way, since the route we were supposed to take was blocked and the driver had to find some other way, we arrived at the destination at 9:05 AM, which was actually on schedule. Found another bus there, with a group that eventually took part in the same activity, but behaved as if they were separate from us before actually going into the forest, seemed to mostly stay in a somewhat different part of the area where we planted while working, and then left around 2 PM on their own, the rest of us staying a little longer. Admittedly, the schedule included in the e-mail stated that the actual planting will end at 1:30 PM, with “taking pictures, enjoying the results and having lunch” listed for the next hour, followed by “gathering trash” before “heading home” at 3 PM. And I also heard the organizer tell the bus driver that we’ll be leaving no later than 3 PM.
But I’m getting too far ahead again. Once at the destination, a quite long wait followed before some hoes which later proved to be quite useless were distributed and we left for the forest. During that time, I ate the apple as well and then mostly stood around a few others who also seemed to be feeling uncomfortable and not really caring to have much to do with the rest. Three of us eventually ended up rather close together and the one girl broke the ice by saying something to the other guy and we exchanged a few more words after that, but the fourth stayed a little way away even from us.
I wrote down that we got to the forest at 10:15 AM and I think that means we arrived at the location where we were to plant trees at that time, though I’m not absolutely sure anymore. The schedule in the e-mail stated that we should have actually started planting at that time, after 15 minutes of receiving instructions, but some worker who was there actually started complaining about us volunteers, which obviously bothered people, some raising their voices to say that in that case we should just leave. The matter seemed to be somewhat sorted out when the person in charge spoke up, making a pretty interesting introduction before allowing another worker to provide us with the necessary instructions. He had also told said worker that he’ll just have five minutes, but he started haltingly telling us various stories about the area and didn’t seem to care to get to the point until somebody shouted that he’s starting to forget why we came there that day and he finally decided to quickly tell and then also show us what to do.
The problem was that, unlike last year, the holes weren’t already dug, and the hoes we had received from the organizers might have been the useful tool the year before, but weren’t good for actually digging, and only a handful of spades were to be found there. So the idea was to form groups of three, one person with a spade, one with a hoe, and one with no tool, but even that wouldn’t have really worked due to the small number of spades. But people found a way eventually, more or less, and I also found myself in a group with a couple, as I had a hoe, he had a spade and she didn’t have anything. Was rather lost for a while at first, walking around a little and wondering what to do, until I turned back and found them starting right in the corner of the area, and when I tried to help the guy asked for my name and made the introductions right away.
The thing is that I pretty much did the least, one of the “official” pictures showing pretty much how things went: The poor guy struggled with the hard part, digging the holes, making his way through all the roots in the ground, his girlfriend took saplings, held them in the hole and pushed most of the earth back in, and I pushed the rest, getting a couple of thorns in my left hand despite the gardening gloves, and trod on it to compact the soil. We had been told to put a third back in, compact it, do the same with the second third, then put the final third on top and leave that as it was, not tread on it as well, so that was what we did. A few times, after letting him dig ahead, the two of us tried to plant separately, each dealing with one sapling, but that was obviously slower. Also, a few times she tried to compact the soil while I held the sapling, the smaller feet and shoes helping in smaller holes, but my boots were much better suited for it. And a few times she tried to dig as well, and while she quickly gave up each time, not finishing any hole, I didn’t even try, knowing I wouldn’t have managed much. Used the hoe a few times to try to help him cut through some roots, but it was otherwise quite useless, just something we carried around.
For most of the time, we worked on the last row of trees in the cleared area, which was supposed to be planted with common dogwood even though most of the area was supposed to be planted with oak. However, there seemed to be far too few common dogwood saplings, so when we needed more the workers there gave dog rose instead, saying that’s another name for it, only for the one who had shown us what to do to have a look and say we planted the wrong kind of tree. He then took the dog rose saplings… And returned with them, saying they are indeed out of common dogwood and apparently that’s what it had been replaced with. And that was rather fortunate, because the small roots meant holes didn’t need to be as deep, though the guy usually did his best to dig them properly anyway. Was rather odd that very little of the sapling was above the root though, at times barely a few centimeters being left out of the ground.
Eventually, after reaching a part of the row which had already been planted by others, we moved to a row which was supposed to be planted with oaks, towards the center of the area, where the places for the holes weren’t even marked, so the guy tried to respect the distance by eye. He had suggested going there, being far from the edge and hoping there will be fewer roots, yet he found the situation being the same, if not worse, and the much larger oak saplings required deeper holes, so the work was even harder. I also ran around a little then, bringing saplings and then also a bucket, as we had left ours behind at first and I couldn’t find one when I took the first load. Also left them for a bit when that other group left, as at that point we had been left just about alone in the area, those being the ones who had been planting nearby, and I wanted to find the organizer and find out what the plan was, being told that yes, it would appear that they left, and we were going to follow soon enough, but not to worry because they won’t leave anyone behind. When I told this to the guy, he said they’ll leave me somewhere in case I’ll somehow miss the bus, since they came by car, then made a joke about taking me in a different direction, which confused both me and his girlfriend, who was trying to explain both where I should be going and where they needed to go.
We were still working when I heard the organizer tell someone else to gather the rest, which were grouped quite some distance away from us, but there didn’t seem to be any rush, so I kept doing what I was doing and some of the workers came to help us as well. And they sure knew what they were doing, working alongside us, telling the guy to stop trying to cut through the roots and just find some way around them, as all that’s needed is a bit of space to get the sapling’s root deep enough, not a completely clear hole, and also telling me not to compact the soil so carefully, but instead to only tread on it once for each of the first two thirds. As such, with their help, we could quickly finish that part of that row, up to the area which had been just abandoned by the other group and including the empty holes they had left.
After taking the tools and bucket back, while waiting for the others to get ready to leave, or in fact first to gather for some group pictures, I heard workers talk about what we had managed, saying we planted half of what was needed at best. And that was what I had seen as well, nobody getting to much of the area. Yet the organizers posted that 12000 saplings had been planted, the initial target being 15000, though the information we found there listed 20000, or more exactly 6700 per hectare, two meters between rows and 75 centimeters between trees on each row, and the area had three hectares. And they also stated that over 400 volunteers participated, though I was thinking we had been at most half as many as last year, when we had been a bit over 300.
Either way, we left at 2:45 PM, I took the last of my pictures on the way back to the bus and, after checking that everyone was there, we got going at 3:25 PM. Interestingly, two people who had arrived by bus didn’t return with it, and while the organizer knew of one of them, who had apparently also come from another city, finding a second person missing led to some confusion and him trying to call to find out what happened, but he eventually said he must have left some other way, though I’m not sure he actually confirmed that. And yes, that very talkative guy, who had also managed to persuade the workers to give him an oak sapling, sat next to me again and I couldn’t even write down the time we left at right away, since as soon as he saw me take my pencil and little notebook out he asked what did I mean to do with those and I just put them back and waited, mostly ignoring him until he moved behind me, to sit next to that girl who had broken the ice between those three of us at first. She had sat behind me then, though she hadn’t been there during the first part of the trip, and didn’t sit at the window, so was blocking a seat and making it clear she didn’t want anybody sitting next to her, but after that guy turned to ask her a few things she did move to the window and he took that as his cue to move next to her and keep talking. Assume he was trying to pick her up, but who knows.

After returning to Bucharest, the initial plan was to check out the science fiction and fantasy fair I had also checked out right after the planting last year, as the dates matched again, and then buy myself a pizza, and maybe also a cake from a hypermarket if I’ll get a cheaper pizza and still have a little left, as it couldn’t be enough for a cake from a confectionery. But I had pretty much given up on the pizza and cake before getting back, thinking I couldn’t afford wasting the money I had set aside on something I’ll consume at once, even if I had set them aside just for that, and then also gave up on the fair when the bus driver agreed to let people out if some wanted to get out at red lights, and the second time he did this was at a metro station that’s one stop away from mine, so I hopped off there as well and just took the metro, while in order to get to the fair it’d have been a good idea to go all the way to the end, being dropped off in the same place where we had gathered in the morning.
Did stuff myself after getting back though, making myself something to eat, so at least that was taken care of. Was all sorts of messed up though, exhausted, dehydrated, I assume badly so since even I noticed it and I don’t usually even feel thirst, sunburned on the back of my neck and my ears… And feeling down otherwise as well, also because we hadn’t managed to do much in general and I was unhappy with my part in it as well, but maybe even more so because this was another experience I wanted to share with Andra and couldn’t… And because spending the day with that couple made this hurt even more, especially since it was clear they were together for a long time despite being young. Looked them up, saw they’re together since 2011, and while I didn’t see their ages, she finished college last year.

Did go to that fair Sunday though, after rather surprisingly waking up at a reasonable hour. Walked there and back, since dad had the metro card, but not sure it’d have helped much anyway. At least a part of the way was nice, with flowered trees and that scent, but my brain kept wanting to get back to sleep and I occasionally needed to remind myself to keep walking. And I walked all the way and back in order to just spend a few minutes looking around there, despite perhaps having been able to buy two books I may have been interested in, oddly enough written by a Romanian author, with the money I hadn’t spent on pizza and possibly cake. That’d have been possible if the listed discount applied to the price on the sticker on the back and wasn’t already included in it, but I only “processed” that after leaving, and not completely even then.
Still like the crowd that attends that fair though. Not many, it’d be a problem if there would be many as it takes place in small locations, but you can see it’s a crowd for science fiction and fantasy, comics and other geeky things. Just in the brief time I was there, saw a girl at the stand of the store I recently got the new books from buying something by the same two authors, though not the same books, saying she’s bothered by translations in Romanian and talking about what I believe was the time Sapkowski was supposed to come to the major book fair from here and then didn’t. A guy with long hair and a jeans vest making a beeline for the comics and grinning from ear to ear when he got there. A girl quietly checking out comics as well, but seeming to try to vanish into the corner, blend in with the wall and not have anything to do with anyone while doing so. Another who seemed to have bought herself a book which she was happily holding while having picked herself a place to observe as much of the area from without attracting much attention. Understandably, draws people not keen on other people, or on this “reality” for that matter.