This is only the third personal post on a Sunday this year, and in fact only the second actual Sunday update thrown here as the last method of having two posts during the week, since the other one was the post about planting trees, which can’t normally be considered a Sunday update, right? Interestingly though, the one that obviously was a Sunday update was also written while I was reading a large book, which that time was A Dance with Dragons and now is Blessings of a Curse. It’s also harder this time, since I’m reading on the computer, and the way it’s written and its purpose are quite different.
Should be the last time I’m in this situation this year though, since there are three Sundays left until the end of the year and, if I go with the rule of one personal and one non-personal post per week, I’ll have the review for this book, which at this point I’m starting to fear will need to be a full one, even if on the short side for what a full review usually means for me, since there’s no way I’ll be able to squeeze my comments in the 300 or at the very most 350 words that are the limit for what I consider to be the usual quick one, then I also want to read another book this month and there will be the quick review for that one as well, and then I should definitely find a way to add another New Finds post somehow.
Was considering throwing something I posted on a forum recently as a post here, but I’m talking about the list of games I played out of that image of the List of Worthwhile DOS Games which I saw added there after having actually saved it when I had stumbled into it somewhere else at some earlier point, and the comments I made in that forum post wouldn’t really be fit for a blog post, plus that I didn’t just select the games I actually played, but also added those I’m uncertain about and some that are simply in series from which I played games, though I didn’t play the listed games themselves.
In order to make that suitable for a blog post, I’d have needed to take it apart, connect the games I’m sure of with my Games Played page, set aside those I’m uncertain about and see how to best approach them, and then decide what to do about those I had only added in the forum post due to having played others from the series. And I also wanted to add links for those that can be obtained or at least played in a browser for free and those that have free remakes, either completed or currently being worked on. And since I’m writing this at 11:30 PM, there was no way there was time for even a small part of that. Doubt I’ll do it by the end of the year either, or ever for that matter.
And now it’s less than 30 minutes before midnight and I really should post this quickly, but before I do, want to mention that I recently noticed my site now works with HTTPS as well. Apparently the change happened over two weeks ago and I asked my host about it to be sure, so if so far it was apparently forbidden to even try that unless you applied for an additional service, now it’s available to everybody. Will need to change a few things though, since there are some full URLs used and at the moment that obviously results in mixed content warnings. Hoping I’ll get around to it next week.
Another really quick one, just here to have something posted this week. Still nothing about the tooth, the next appointment being Tuesday, since I really want dad to go with me this time if it’ll be a matter of discussing options, and costs, and making a decision, and he was away for some days last week and for most of this week the dentists aren’t working. Not that there wouldn’t be plenty to say before the decision, but I just don’t want to. No clue what I’ll do.
Another reason for this to be a quick one is that I started reading another book and it’s a big one, and reading on the computer makes it even worse, so I’m spending quite a lot of time reading these days and I guess I’ll continue to do so for quite a while. Had grabbed it back in 2013, it had one update, or at least one update, since, and now I guess I just decided I’ll give it a go. Was initially quite sure I’ll only finish it the week after the next, since I started it Sunday and it has 21 chapters, so was thinking one per day for three weeks, but I read six in four days so far, so there may be a chance I’ll just manage to finish it by the end of next week instead.
Will be an odd one to write a quick review for though, since it’s a huge and diverse world presented in detail and even using some rather ingenious methods, the worldbuilding is just stunning, but I get nothing from the characters or action, it’s all completely flat and artificial, and the guy has some very specific sexual fantasies that are the very core of it all and presented in great detail and, well… While I actually support the points it makes against monogamy and think I likely stomach the rest better than most as well, I don’t feel particularly comfortable when so deep in quite nasty BDSM even if I must commend him for explaining it in ways that generally make sense, I definitely take issue with the raping, let’s just say I really wouldn’t want him around any little girls, and overall it’s just way too much of that.
Other than that, since my mother scrubbed the kettle I used to make tea in yet again and likely got a good part of the enamel off even if I keep telling her to leave it alone and in fact got this one years ago after she did that to the old one, I said enough is enough and looked for another, this time a stainless steel one. The problem is that these tend to be small, and are also usually made specifically for coffee and with a wider beak, and I want a one-liter one that I can then pour straight into the bottle I keep in my room from. And I thought I had found just the one and knew a hypermarket that carried the products distributed by that firm, so went there and bought that one yesterday, also finding it discounted… And then found that, though the label on the bottom says one liter, it actually holds 900 ml when completely full, so even less if you also want some room for the water when it starts boiling. But I got it now, so I’ll see what I’ll do with it I guess.
And this was far less quick than I meant it to be, so let me just also add this week’s run here, which was Monday and great and disappointing at the same time. Was initially wondering whether I’ll even manage to stay under 35 minutes again and was even more worried after that very fast first sector, thinking I pushed too hard too soon and will get too tired later because of it, but ended up managing 34:01, making this the second fastest time on this route but just missing on it also being the second one under 34 minutes.
Sector times were 4:26, 5:13, 6:00, 4:33, 5:05, 5:51 and 2:53, making for lap times of 15:39 and 15:29. So fastest second lap time and fastest sector three of lap two, which really was when I actually started pushing. Had actually set conservative targets for the second lap, just meaning to stay under 35 minutes after seeing the first lap time and only considering it to mean that I had 20 seconds to spare, and was completely surprised by that sector two time, not having felt as if I had pushed like that at all. Then, as I said, decided to give it everything on those last two sectors, but needing to go around a woman and her child and dog right on that steep slope at the start of the final sector definitely didn’t help and in the end I fell just short.
The author created an interesting world here and the book does take you through a significant part of it. Does so by using a lot of shortcuts though, so I’d quite like to explore and understand more of this world, The Joined Realm being a pretty short single book that focuses on what a single character knows and sees in a relatively brief span of time. There’s much that’s not shown and, despite some information dumps that I’d say are more necessary than jarring, plenty not even told.
There’s also the matter of the series of fortunate events that allow the characters to keep going and the fact that, in spite of a number of less typical elements, the action is steered down a pretty cliché path. Still, it is enough to keep you interested throughout and overall makes for a decent read, even if the writing style is a bit rough. There’s a fair need for more editing though, to get rid of quite a number of obvious mistakes.
Rating: 3/5
Not sure it was the best idea to wait until today for this week’s run, since it was quite cold, the reported temperature being 6°C, but on the other hand it was sunny and only noticed some wind at the very start, while on previous days the reported temperature may have been a few degrees higher but it was cloudy and there was some noticeable wind. Either way, while it didn’t feel particularly cold once I got going, obviously with my jacket just rolled up and tied around my waist, it was a bit of a struggle and there was something of a cramp in my left leg for most of the second lap, followed by some pain in both legs after I was done. And it won’t get better from now on, so I’ll need to see how to pick my way through this second winter and when to make use of my buffer so I won’t be behind, or at least no more than a couple of weeks behind, in March.
Still managed to just barely stay under 35 minutes though, even if I had to both take a somewhat tactical approach and really push, at least starting with sector two of lap two, for it. The time was 34:58, with sector times of 4:39, 5:20, 6:08, 4:35, 5:13, 6:01 and 3:02, making for lap times of 16:07 and 15:49. Lost a couple of seconds on the first sector when a tiny dog charged my legs, but even so that time was quite worrying, but at least it acted as an early warning that allowed me to work out a suitable approach from then on.
Otherwise, been down, scared and angry, mostly for the usual reasons but also for a couple of new ones. Don’t feel like posting about any of it though, even if one reason for anger made me wander around for a while yesterday, after dropping off the recyclables. And no, still don’t feel like posting about the tooth situation either, so this is pretty much here just so I’ll have something posted this week and now that I decided I won’t be going anywhere tomorrow, waiting until then would have made me feel like I should write more and I don’t care to. Right now, I really have to get back to reading The Joined Realm, since I’m just barely on pace to finish it by the end of the week and at this point I’m wondering how I’ll finish it early enough on Sunday to also post a quick review by midnight.
There’s a fair bit more to say about the tooth issues, after going to the dentist twice this week and having three of them give an opinion, but things are obviously quite nasty and I just don’t want to deal with that anymore, so I’ll leave it for later. Probably won’t go again next week, so I guess there’s time to do that then without really having more stuff to add, while now I can just throw something else here quickly enough to avoid a Sunday update yet again.
One thing I really want to post now is that I ran yesterday, and went for ten kilometers again, not that I actually planned to at first. I just came from the dentist, went to the toilet, changed and went back out to take advantage of the almost complete lack of wind and sunny day with a temperature around 10°C, so a bit too chilly but otherwise good conditions, and likely better than I’ll find again before spring. And I did rather mean to try to run away from the panic I was experiencing about the situation with the tooth, so I just started running and wondering whether I’ll stick to the usual seven kilometers or try this, only really deciding to go for ten when I started sector three of lap two.
That was because I only meant to do this if I’ll manage to get under 50 minutes for the first time and at that point I knew I could do it, and I did, the final time being 49:28, with sector times of 4:33, 5:16, 5:55, 4:29, 5:08, 6:02, 4:40, 5:20, 6:13 and 1:52, making for lap times of 15:44, 15:39 and 16:13. Making a note of that second lap, since it’s the second fastest second lap and the sixth fastest lap overall, and yet I could keep going just fine after it, and had a little more left at the end. Not sure if giving it everything would have gained me those 29 seconds needed to get under 49 minutes as things were, but on a clearer track even that should have been possible.
Otherwise, Tuesday went to a debate about Trump’s victory, why it happened, what it may mean for us here and for Europe as a whole and what can be done, and discovered an interesting place, since the location was some sort of mix between a bar and a library, as there are a fair number of books available for clients, plus board and card games.
And then today I went to the march organized as a reaction to the initiative to change the Constitution to clearly specify that marriage can only be between a man and a woman and support the “traditional family”, signed by nearly three million people and waved through the following stages up to the point that there were serious talks of organizing the referendum at the same time as next month’s Parliamentary elections. That didn’t happen, but there now seem to be signed agreements with nearly all parties to hold it in April, and nearly all parties also explicitly support this initiative. Mind you, neither same-sex marriage nor civil partnerships of any kind are currently allowed in Romania, so this initiative is meant to strengthen an existing ban and pretty much ensure things won’t change for the better in the foreseeable future.
But enough about the issue itself for now, since this is a personal post. If you’re interested in more, there was an article that was shared for those looking for some more information in English, and there are also the pictures I took and what I said in the album description about the actual march. I just want to ask how to allow people who aren’t my friends to tag either themselves or their friends in those pictures though, since somebody asked and I think my settings are about as public as they can be, so if it’s still possible to do that and you know how, care to share?
There was also a discussion scheduled after the march and I did sort of intend to go there as well out of curiosity, but after the run and having to wake up at noon both today and yesterday, which obviously means I didn’t get enough sleep since I normally fall asleep around 6 AM and these days it may have been even later, I was feeling quite sleepy and I just came right back. Was also sort of thinking of going to buy a few things, but gave up on that even earlier, so I guess the current plan is to go Monday, even if I will run out of a couple of things now. Will make do, I guess, and then I’ll see whether I can actually use those vouchers I won, because otherwise I hardly have anything on me and the odds of that changing are slim. And considering the coming dental expenses, any purchases other than necessary daily stuff seem quite out of the question for a long time to come… Not that I haven’t been putting almost everything off since spring due to lack of funds anyway.
Edit: Forgot to say that yes, the review means I played Gone Home. It was free on itch.io last weekend and announced on the “Temporary game giveaways” thread on the MobyGames forums, so I decided to grab it, started it Sunday and finished it Monday. And while I can’t call it a game and also can’t call what I did with Akalabeth having played it, if you just look at the list there are five different titles I finished this year, six if you count the Tropico 4 DLC pack, or even just Modern Times, as a separate game. And that’s good enough.
