Cav's Place

In the early hours of April 25, after dealing with the two breads that I still had to deal with and moving the remaining peanut butter into another jar, I ended up eating dinner between 3:35 AM and 4:15 AM, with peanut butter on all of the bread. Then I set the alarm to ring at 2 PM, but when I woke up at one point and really had to pee, I decided that if it was past 1:30 PM, I was going to turn it off and get up… And it was 1:31 PM, so I did just that, which also meant that I had time to shave without problems, after having given up on the idea of doing so before going to bed. And then I had the usual stuff, though the yogurt was a “Greek” one which had just expired and wasn’t quite what you’d want before a run, having 10.1% fat, of which 6.9% saturated, and only 5% protein. But I also added raisins in dark chocolate in it, and another sweet thing consisted of some more of those wheat things, putting jam and bio (organic) honey between them. And I also took another of those somewhat better supplements for immunity, drank most of the tea, and then decided to wait to see the temperature at 5 PM, which was about 24°C at the station inside the city, and that held steady but, oddly, at the other two it was 26-27°C when I left and 25°C when I finished. Either way, I left at 5:05 PM, wearing the full running gear, including returning to the better shoes, and also taking one armband.
The time was 1:50:28, the sector times for the first four laps being 4:31, 5:15, 6:12, 4:40, 5:20, 6:16, 4:46, 5:26, 6:20, 4:55, 5:34 and 6:26, making for lap times of 15:58, 16:16, 16:32 and 16:55, while I covered lap six and the final portion in 17:16 and, respectively, 10:29, the sector times being 4:58, 5:40, 6:38, 2:01, 6:36 and 1:52. The problem is that, while I know that I covered lap five in 17:02, the sector times seem to have completely slipped my mind, so much so that I skipped over them without realizing it when I wrote down the times, and I did so in a hurry, without checking what I had written and only at night realizing that I couldn’t remember those times and noticing that they weren’t in the file either. I eventually worked out that the time for sector three of lap five was 6:30, since I did clearly remember 13 seconds at the end of a sector two after I had gone over one hour and the hundredths were no longer displayed, so it must have been on lap five, since after sector two of lap six the time was 1:33:21, and in fact there was no other point where I had 13 seconds anyway. That leaves the first two sectors, and I know that I checked and calculated the times, but when I try to remember them, I just can’t. A likely explanation is that my mind eliminated what seemed like duplicate entries because the times matched some of those from laps four or six, but while 4:58 and 5:34 would really fit that, and another, less likely, option would be 4:55 and 5:37, I’ll just go with 4:52 and 5:40. With big question marks, but I have the impression that sector one of lap five was less slow than that of lap four and actually keep finding myself thinking that I had a 4:52, while on sector two I lost some time, and then there’s something that my mind did on the following run. Not that it matters, this being the worst time since 2021, before the hospitalization…
And to think that I meant to start at an unsustainable pace and then see if I’ll have any chance to get under 1:45. Considering how I felt, managing that was pretty much out of the question, but I did initially hope for a time that was similar to that from a month and a half earlier, or at least under 1:48… But after the first sector it was already pretty clear that I had to aim to just stay under 1:50, and after just squeezing under 16 minutes on that first lap, with a sector three that was already bad, it was hard to see how I was going to even manage that… And when I calculated the target lap times, I once again made a mistake, so I was yet again off by one minute. So, after resigning myself to just stay under 1:50, it seemed that laps two and three were fine, and while lap four was a concern, at first it seemed that it shouldn’t be that much of a problem… But it was around that time when I realized that mistake and tried to correct it, yet I failed to actually do so, maybe also because there was no way to gain that minute before the end and I wanted to at least avoid embarrassing myself in such a manner badly enough to fool myself into thinking that the realistic target times were still enough. So, under those circumstances, I was actually rather content with lap five, and on lap six I tried to push in order to give myself a chance to squeeze under what I thought would be 1:49:30, thinking that I might just have a chance to do so after the end of the lap. But the first condition was to cover the first sector of the final portion in less than two minutes, failing to do so being a really bad sign even if I did lose a little time on it. Yet I just kept pushing after that, and really gave everything on the final sector, thinking that I had made it… But then I also looked at the minutes…
Sure, past the typical weaving and going the long way around, because of both people and the lane, the people did cause me to lose some time, starting with hesitating on sector two of lap one, then on sector three of lap two briefly stopping once, hesitating two more times, and then also needing to go on the grass for quite a few meters, then slowing or hesitating a little once or twice on pretty much every sector after that, more notable being sectors two and three of laps five and six, when I probably briefly stopped or otherwise clearly lost a bit of time. I’ll leave the details aside otherwise, especially since I couldn’t match the events to the sectors anymore, but the biggest loss of time in a single spot was when a kid on a wheeled vehicle cut in front of me just as I was about to use the one available bit of space to pass another runner in a spot that was otherwise blocked by other people, causing me to have to slow to a walk for quite a few seconds, and while I’m not entirely certain, I believe that this was on sector two of lap five. But, considering how short sector one of the final portion is, needing to go both long and wide, and around a small tree, instead of turning right away to go down the bridge also had a particularly notable impact on that sector’s time.
Otherwise, I was already sweating after two sectors, so it was a good thing that from lap two it got cloudy… But bad that it also got windy on sectors two and three, and in some places I felt that I was fighting against the wind. And the dark cloud that came right at the end, as I was on sector two of the final portion, brought some pretty bad gusts. But the worst problems were physical, starting from the fact that I wasn’t feeling well in general, and as I started running there was pain from my back, which was certainly also responsible for part, but probably not all, of the pain that I also felt in my diaphragm and abdomen, which obviously affected my breathing. And then there were my leg muscles, which felt rather stiff from the beginning and started to hurt if I tried to push through it. All of that did eventually lessen, maybe from lap three, but I was obviously not in a good shape for such a run and couldn’t go any faster. And I guess I should also mention the lesser issues, such as the pressing need that started to appear from sector two of lap two, but which came and went and wasn’t particularly notable until the start of lap six, when it actually seemed like it was going to become a problem for a while before lessening again. As for the usual warnings from the right knee, I think those appeared from sector two of lap three, and later on they did turn into somewhat more notable pain, though it didn’t actually reach a concerning level. And I also stepped in a hole that was under the lane at one point, on sector three of what I believe was lap three, though there is a chance that it was actually lap two or lap four, and either way it was just jarring.

From now on I won’t mention that the recyclables that I grab have the deposit symbol anymore, since it should go without saying, so I’ll just say that I grabbed two of them on the way back… And then, after taking off the t-shirt and tights and opening the door again to shake the remaining bugs off them outside of the apartment, since I had been just covered in those annoying little bugs after the run, I weighed myself and found that I only had 45 kg… So I changed, drank the remaining tea and made another, and ate what was still good of a spoiling banana and a bag of peanuts, getting 950 calories just from those peanuts, before leaving again, at 9 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I picked up two more of those small oddly-shaped bottles on the way to Kaufland… And once again had the machine from there just “eat” them, since after it happened with the first I decided to try the second as well, just to make sure that this is what happens. So I decided to recover that amount from Kaufland soon enough, but I didn’t do so that evening, using the room for disabled people to wash my hands, since a cleaner was in the men’s, entering the store at 9:30 PM, and getting two lettuces with a good evening discount, some onions, the price being significantly lower than the regular price had been in quite some time even though the label didn’t list it as being discounted, and one of those cheap yogurts, then rushing to the self-checkouts after the closing announcement and cashing in the voucher received for the recyclables after paying for the purchases. And then, since I had dad’s metro card, I took the metro to that non-stop Mega Image where expiring products discounted by 90% appear around 10:30 PM, but I got there some ten minutes too late, so I just put my things in a cabinet and then retrieved them, but at least I then looked more carefully and got back here with a bag that was almost full of recyclables.
I was back a couple of minutes before 11:30 PM, then put the yogurt and onions in their place, ate a small mini cake and lunch, did the day’s squats, and it was past 1:10 AM when I went to the bathroom, mostly wasting time on the toilet and then washing, and almost 2:10 AM when I finished. Then I washed what was in the kitchen, selected some of the worse lettuce leaves in order to also use them for the salad before putting the lettuces in the fridge, and ate dinner between 4:25 AM and 5 AM. I got in bed at 6:15 AM.

After getting up I finally washed that thing I had bought for my chair to some extent, by hand, while at night I ended up eating dinner between 3:15 AM and 4:05 AM, after washing what was in the kitchen, which included a large pot, also cleaning a little, and moving the remaining mamaliga into a smaller bowl. And I got in bed at 5:20 AM. Then, after getting up, I decided that I had time to go out before the handball match, so I rushed out a little after 3:05 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up a few more on the way.
Despite going on the other side, I decided to go to Carrefour first, entering through that mall’s parking lot… And seeing that I should have at least kept going to Kaufland’s recycling machine, since the one from Carrefour wasn’t working, so I entered the store with the recyclables and just grabbed one of those mini breads from the discounted products, being surprised to see that they still had the regular discount as well. Then I continued to Kaufland, putting the recyclables in the machine and entering the store with that mini bread in the backpack. Since there was a 30% discount on all spices and sauces, I first looked for some black pepper of their store brand, finding three 100g ones left and taking all of them, and then also grabbing some discounted products, plus some mozzarella, which had a regular discount those days, and another one of those cheap yogurts. And then I also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid, took some time to arrange the purchases, and then jogged back.
I got back at 4:55 PM, getting annoyed that dad had again cleaned the litter box and took away a lot more of the “sand” than he should have… But then I just took that little bag of trash and dumped it down the chute, watched the handball match, ate a sweet thing and lunch, with a small bag of bagels instead of bread, did 200 squats, since I had forgotten to do them the previous day, started taking all of the supplements that I usually take before races, and then shaved my head… And the following morning I was woken up at 9:45 AM by the sound of mowing from behind the building, though when I looked outside I saw that they had almost finished clearing the plants from that fenced area, so I had slept through most of it, but I guess that at one point it was just too much. Either way, I did get back in bed some two hours later and slept some more.

Moving on to the early hours of April 29, I wasn’t feeling well. There had actually been some irregular heartbeats over the previous few days, and more notably that evening, when I curled up in bed to read some more, but when I went to the kitchen, after taking a late nap, my stomach, or digestive system in general, didn’t seem happy either, and while making the salad my heart seemed to be beating really erratically. But at least things seemed to more or less get back to normal after eating dinner, with peanut butter on all of the bread.
Then again, it definitely didn’t help that I then slept poorly again, waking up several minutes after 9 AM to pee and then being mostly awake until a little after 11 AM, initially having a hard time getting back to sleep and then sort of drifting in and out after dad got up, a little after 10 AM, got ready to leave and left. And after that point I kept switching between being asleep and awake every few minutes, and from the second time I woke up I was thinking that the alarm had to be about to ring, yet it was only a few more such brief naps later when I actually checked the time, finding that it was only 1:05 PM. Interestingly, it’s possible that I then slept for most of the remaining time until 2 PM, when the alarm rang and I got up. Then I had the usual stuff, but what I was noticing was that my vision kept sort of clouding over, or more exactly making it seem that I was looking through tears, but mainly while wearing my glasses, seeming better if I took them off. Either way, after basically wasting time on the toilet, which didn’t seem like much of a problem after having crapped before going to bed, taking the supplements, and eating the sweet thing, which consisted of a slice of cozonac, with added honey, I once again decided to wait to see the reported temperature at 5 PM, which was 19°C, holding steady or maybe dropping just marginally by the time I finished. And I left at 5:05 PM, wearing the full running gear and also putting the slip of paper with the emergency information in the pocket of my tights, just in case.
The time was 1:19:33, with sector times of 4:19, 5:14, 6:12, 4:38, 5:12, 6:01, I think 4:37, I think 5:22, 6:07, 4:44, 5:24, 6:06, 4:34, 5:11 and 5:52, making for lap times of 15:45, 15:51, 16:06, 16:14 and 15:37. After sector two of lap three, I realized that I remembered 13 seconds at the end of the previous sector but had calculated 4:40 as its time, which was obviously wrong, since I had 31:36 after two laps, and since I was pretty sure about the 13 seconds, I recalculated the time for sector one of lap three accordingly, though I will still leave question marks there. But this also made me decide to actually list some probable times for sectors one and two of lap five of the previous run, since I had been thinking about that and the fact that my mind came up with 40 seconds when seeing 13 made me decide that those times that I ended up listing there, and which already matched the other, less specific, impressions that I had, were actually the most probable ones.
Getting back to this run’s times, I pushed hard on the first sector, so that time was worse than I expected, and when sector three of lap one was already over the target for a 16-minute lap, and matched sector three of lap one from the previous run, I wondered whether I’ll even stay under 1:22, the first two sectors of lap two at least allowing me to hope to manage that. But when sector three of lap two was almost decent, just over six minutes, and the lap as a whole was well under 16 minutes, the thought of squeezing under 1:21 entered my mind, while over the course of lap four I started thinking of 1:20:30… But that was frustratingly close to 1:20, so on sector three of lap four I decided that I could try to squeeze under that time after all. That hadn’t seemed at all possible until then, but at that point I just went for it, and at the end of the lap I saw that I needed 16:03 on lap five in order to make it. So I kept pushing, and when, at the start of the last sector, it was quite certain that I’ll manage it, I was frustrated that I was actually going to end up closer to 1:19:30, but unable to squeeze under that time as well, so I thought that I was settling for just staying under 1:19:45 and, judging by the previous times, that I had to push hard to make sure of that… But giving everything on that last sector resulted in being even more frustratingly close to 1:19:30 than I thought.
It was rather windy during the first half of the run, and a couple of places remained gusty after that as well, but that was pretty much the only external problem, not counting a pretty normal amount of weaving and going the long way around. As for physical issues, the right knee started to give warnings from sector two of lap two, but much more concerning was the sharp jab that I felt at the back of my left thigh, possibly originating from the back of that hip, on sector three of lap three, which repeated itself at the start of sector two of lap four and again, albeit with less intensity, on sector one of lap five, while on sector three of lap four I felt a similar jab from the left ankle, so I tried to put a little less pressure on those joints and it seems to have been enough to avoid any worse issues. Other than that, my arms were starting to go numb from the long straight of sector one of lap five, as I was pushing harder, and a pressing need also seemed to appear around the start of lap five, though that soon passed.

On the way back, I grabbed a recyclable and held on to it as I quickly checked the nearby Mega Image. Then I had lunch, changed, and left again at 8:50 PM, with the few recyclables with the deposit symbol that were here, but after jogging to Penny Basarabia I just held on to them as I quickly checked the store, then kept jogging to Kaufland Basarabia, finally putting them in the machine from there, along with three that I picked up from there and which were accepted, so I ended up with a second voucher. But I had also picked up three others which had been discarded there and which weren’t accepted, so I put those in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered the store a couple of minutes before 9:30 PM, making use of good discounts to get some expiring germinated wheat and some spoiling lemons, and then digging through the bananas, which had a good evening discount but were clearly bad, and grabbing two that didn’t look that bad. Then I used one of the vouchers received for the recyclables when I paid and cashed in the other, rushed out before the closing announcement, and used one of the tables that are outside to put the few purchases in the backpack before making my way to that Mega Image, grabbing just one recyclable on the way, entering the store with everything… And wasting over half an hour, waiting for some products with the 90% discount to be placed, because I had seen an employee with a cart full of products discounted by 50% when I entered, but seeing that all that was eventually being placed back in those areas still had that 50% discount, so just before 10:50 PM I gave up and walked out… And I didn’t even find any more recyclables on the way back.
I got back a little after 11:20 PM, then talked to dad for a while, ate one of the bananas and left the few other purchases in the kitchen, washed a few things that were there, also ate a bag of snacks and a really thick slice of cozonac, did the day’s squats, and a few minutes before 1 AM I went to the bathroom, reading a newspaper while only leaving a little in the toilet, and then washing. I was out a little after 2 AM, then took care of a few other things, also put the lemons in their place and washed the few remaining things from the kitchen, and finally ate dinner between 4:15 AM and 5 AM. I got in bed at 6:40 AM… But after a while, just as I was drifting off, my heart started beating really irregularly again, and eventually, at 7:55 AM, I got back up and on the computer, things being fine while I was there, but I only dared to get back in bed at 8:45 AM, after peeing one more time… And shortly after that Liza went to the litter box, so after she was done I got up to clean it, so dad won’t get on my case again, getting back in bed at 9:10 AM. And at least I was able to sleep after that, waking up frequently but getting back to sleep almost right away until around 2 PM, when I couldn’t get back to sleep quickly and eventually decided to get up, the problem being that the irregular heartbeats also returned then, though they eventually went away again, without returning again so far.

Otherwise, yesterday I also finally put that thing on my chair, the problem being that, while it initially seemed to fit the chair just fine, now it’s slightly less wide than the seat, and it’s just the sides that I mainly wanted to protect with it, so I wonder if it shrunk when I washed it or it gets pulled together like that when it’s tied to the chair, the latter option possibly allowing me to find some way to make it cover the seat better… But after sitting on it for a while I found myself wet, so it wasn’t at all dry inside and I then put it back on the balcony, though the fact that I also hung a load of laundry there means that it’s unlikely to get any drier anytime soon, so I’ll have to leave actually using it for later.
At least I recovered some lost sleep today, and stayed in bed for much longer. Admittedly, I woke up as dad was getting ready to leave, and while I didn’t go out of my room before he left, close to 10:20 AM I got on the computer for a while, getting back in bed around 10:50 AM and falling asleep again pretty quickly. And when I woke up at one point I told myself that if it was before 3 PM I’ll get back in bed, and it was around 2:30 PM, so I peed one more time, just in case, and did just that, catching another nap, though I don’t know how long that was, since I only looked at the time again when I finally got up, seeing 5:23 PM at that point, but I had been awake for quite a while by then. And I definitely needed this, seeing as the plan for tomorrow is to walk the route of the half marathon.

If you also include the 2019-2020 edition, which was canceled at that stage, CSM Bucharest‘s run in the EHF Women’s Champions’ League ends in the quarter-finals for the seventh time in a row… And this comes at the hands of Team Esbjerg for the third time in four seasons, last week’s first leg actually being CSM’s only victory in the eight matches played against them during this period. But this time around it was special, the elimination resulting from today’s match marking the end of Cristina Neagu‘s international career, only a maximum of six domestic matches being left before her retirement, five if they’ll somehow fail to reach the Cup final, and that’s assuming that she’ll play in all of them.
At least she scored just the four goals needed to get to 101 today, extending her streak of scoring over 100 goals per season in the Champions’ League to five seasons in a row, and obviously also extending her lead as the top goalscorer in the history of the competition, but that’s a pale consolation for being unable to end her career by playing at least for a podium place, which last happened in 2018, if not for the trophy, which she only won back in 2015, while playing for Buducnost. And in fact 2015 was her best year from this point of view, since that was also when she won the bronze medal with the national team at the World Championship.
When you think of it like that, ten years since her best season and not much of anything for the past seven, 2018 also being the last year when she was selected World and European Player of the Year, it’s quite sad, or at the very least particularly disappointing for a player of her level. Maybe she’d have achieved more if she wouldn’t have returned to Romania, despite the apparent strength of our championship, but that’s far from certain, and at least it’s a good thing, for her as well as for the fans, that she’s ending her career here. And, either way, I for one consider her, along with Simona Halep, who has also retired this year, to be the Romanian athletes who are pretty much impossible to criticize. At the moment, David Popovici may have a chance to follow them from that point of view, but he’d need to keep himself at least at this level for several more years before that will truly be the case.

Ten years ago, I was wondering if the Hubble Space Telescope would still be operational in five more years, for its 30th anniversary, so it’s a pleasant surprise to see it still “alive” even today, on its 35th. And at least it seems that even the current dreadful budget proposals would maintain normal operations for it and Webb… But they’d bafflingly pull the plug on Roman, which would be the next one in the “family”. And let’s not even get to the planned Habitable Worlds Observatory, which would be supposed to follow in a future that’s ever less likely to predict, probably in the early 2040s, and rely on the technology and findings of Roman.
Not that such dismantling of any state operations, or more exactly of the useful ones in particular, isn’t exactly in line with that terrible and terrifying administration’s general policies, or with those dealing with science or even space exploration in particular, but when Roman is basically already built and ready to launch, ahead of schedule and, if so, apparently for less than the planned cost, scrapping it would mean throwing away something you just built and poured billions into just before it’d actually be put to use, just before all of that effort and all of those expenses would yield results. I’m not going to ask whether they’re really that malicious or stupid, because the answer at least for the first part is very obviously yes, but it just beggars belief.
But, just like ten years ago, this is basically just a brief post, a very small way to honor Hubble and all those who imagined, designed, constructed, maintained and made, and continue to make, proper use of it, to celebrate and give thanks to these efforts that inspired and popularized science and space exploration, added so much to our knowledge and understanding of the universe while at the same time revealing just how much more we still have to learn, reminded us how small and fragile the only home we’ve ever known is and how important it is to treasure and care for it, and also inspired us to keep looking up, no matter how much we keep stumbling…

I’ll start by saying that I did stick to the plan mentioned in the previous personal post in terms of what I took for the cold, but also found that dad had likely brought it from my mother, since she was here and when, as soon as she walked in, I said that I wanted to stay away from her and maybe wear a mask, to avoid passing it to her, she said that I shouldn’t worry about that, because she’s been fighting a worse one, probably caught from the hospital, for over two weeks, and her other ailments leave few treatment options. On the other hand, I’ll also mention that I couldn’t follow the dinner schedule at all those days, washing some pots and then eating dinner between 3:20 AM and 3:50 AM in the early hours of April 13, and between 3:40 AM and 4:15 AM the following night, after some time spent having a look with dad at his new laptop, and that morning I also got in bed at 5:25 AM, after checking a dish that dad had left in the fridge for too long and taking out what seemed to be going bad at the top. And I only caught five hours of sleep that morning, before the upstairs neighbor started drilling and I decided to get up and get some things done even if the drilling soon stopped, meaning to get more sleep in the evening… But I only napped for just about one hour then, staying up to watch a match after waking up, munching on some nicer bagels during the last half an hour or so of it, and then wasting over one hour and a half by getting back in bed late in the evening but being unable to get back to sleep. And after getting up that numbness and weakness returned, albeit more normally, mainly in the right leg, and there was also a strange feeling at the back of my head. And I ate dinner between 3:50 AM and 4:35 AM, with peanut butter on all of the bread, and got in bed at 5:20 AM.
I got up after the alarm rang, at 2 PM, though I had been mostly awake for roughly an hour or so at that point, after my parents got up and started getting ready to leave. Either way, I had decided to take some better pills that day, starting to do that after having the usual stuff, with the sweet thing consisting of a slice of cozonac, with added honey. And I eventually left a couple of minutes after 5 PM, wearing the full running gear, sticking to that t-shirt from the half marathon of 2016 but returning to the old running shoes and also having some things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was about 14°C and it should have held steady, though I couldn’t actually check after the run.
The time was 1:19:21, with sector times of 4:29, 5:11, 6:07, 4:39, 5:13, 6:02, 4:38, 5:17, 6:10, 4:45, 5:22, 6:05, 4:27, 5:10 and 5:46, making for lap times of 15:47, 15:54, 16:05, 16:12 and 15:23. So, yes, I changed what has for so long been the usual running plan before a race, deciding that it’s pointless to still run only ten kilometers and going for 16, but the first sector was a serious reason for concern and sector three of lap one and the lap as a whole made me think that I was looking at 1:22, and I was even more convinced of that when merely staying under 16 minutes on lap two as well meant pushing on its third sector. Since I still had something of a cold, that wouldn’t have necessarily been terrible in itself, but it was definitely disappointing, so when lap three made it seem that I might actually have a chance to squeeze under 1:21, I clung on to that, pushing on sector three of lap four in order to make sure that I’ll manage that even if I’ll end up approaching 17 minutes on lap five. However, when I saw that, with no more than 16:01 on that fifth lap, I could even squeeze under 1:20, I wondered whether I had that in me and really went for it, possibly realizing that I had done so too early and letting myself regain my breath a little on sector two but then really giving everything on the last sector, which actually led to that lap being my least slow lap in two months. Of course, that means that I haven’t had as much as a single normal lap in that long, the target lap time for ten-kilometer runs being no more than 15:20, but managing that on lap five, and also getting even under 1:19:30 as a result, did offer me some hope.
I noticed what was going to be the main problem right after the first turn, some sprinklers leaking quite a lot of water which had formed a large puddle, the only way around it being to go off the path in a spot where that could be a little tricky if I wasn’t careful, so on the first lap I lost up to a few seconds to find a spot where the puddle was very shallow and jump over most of it, with just one foot placed in that spot, and on lap four I ended up hopping in that same manner because a few other people were going around the path in that spot when I got there, though at least at that point I knew just where to step, so I lost a little less time. But on lap two I worked out how to go off the path while losing as little time as possible and on laps three and five I managed to do that even better. But that was pretty much it in terms of notable issues, the amount of weaving and going the long way around being pretty normal otherwise, and while I hesitated a number of times, mostly because of kids on various wheeled vehicles, I wouldn’t call any of those moments significant. And the wind which I did feel early on mostly made it feel a little chilly, especially since the sky was also overcast, without really making me feel that I had to fight it, and later it died down anyway. As for physical issues, on sector two of lap three I started getting some warnings, the right knee being the most notable, as usual, but other parts of that leg and my left calf joined in as well, yet those warnings never got any worse. And while at the start of lap four I felt like I hadn’t left everything in the toilet, that feeling faded in time, though I had some gas that I occasionally released, and it is possible that other people heard that once or twice, one of them possibly even making a comment behind me.

After the run, I went to Penny Titan, but I didn’t find what I was looking for there either, so I just bought some expiring meat for dad. And then, since I had dad’s metro card, I went to the metro station and took the metro for two stops, though that probably didn’t really make any difference in terms of time and very little in terms of how much I had to walk to the Penny that’s next to Auchan, where I put that meat in a cabinet and then just retrieved it, since I still didn’t find what I was looking for or even a price label showing where it should have been, and that’s a location where it doesn’t say that they have a reduced number of products, so it seemed ever more likely that it had just been listed in the catalog but was never actually available in stores. Either way, I then continued to Auchan, entering with that meat and buying a few things before checking yet another Penny location on the way back to Titan, once again putting my things in a cabinet and then just retrieving them. And after walking out of there I started jogging, because it was getting late but also because it was chilly and I was just wearing the running clothes. And the fact that I ended up walking back to Titan after taking the metro from there just proved that I shouldn’t have bothered with the metro the first time around either. Then again, seeing as there’s an Auchan at Obor as well, everything after checking Penny Titan was a waste of time and I should have instead rushed back to change, or at least grab my jacket, and then go straight to Obor… But I couldn’t have known that at the time, of course.
Either way, I took the metro to Obor, the fact that I just missed one when I switched at Dristor and then had to wait some seven or eight minutes making me quite anxious, but after jogging to that mall and putting my things in a cabinet, I entered Carrefour a few minutes after 9:30 PM and found that they hadn’t even finished making the bakery discounts… But I also saw that only the pastries and a few baguettes were still being bagged and discounted by 50%, the bread that was left not having any discount, so I fear that the days of being able to buy bread with a good discount are completely over and I expect that to soon be the case for other bakery products as well. But that evening I found two apple pastries and took them, and as I was looking through what was available a guy noticed how I was dressed and asked how much I run a marathon in and we had a brief chat about running. Either way, I then also grabbed an expiring high-protein pudding that was actually discounted by 75%, and when I went back to the bakery area to put back the pumpkin pies which I had also grabbed at first, I spotted Remus Cernea there and greeted him, ending up having a brief chat with him as well.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet, I decided to risk jogging to that Kaufland, even though it had no Easter schedule listed when I had checked the site before leaving, unlike other locations that were listed as closing at 11 PM, and if it did close at 10 PM it’d have been hard to get to another location in time. But it was just about 10 PM when I got there and saw with relief that it did close at 11 PM as well, so I put my things in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, dashing to the women’s for soap, and just got some expiring germinated wheat, even if the price was still higher than what I’d have normally wanted to pay, a handful of onions, at full price, and some kashkaval for mother that was among the expiring products. Then I wandered around until it was past 10:45 PM, but there were no new or increased discounts, and that wasted time led to needing to use a regular checkout, since all of the self-checkouts accepting cash were closed when I got there, and that also meant that I used the physical store card, since I couldn’t get myself to ask the cashier to enter the code for dad’s digital one from that slip of paper. But at least I did take the time to dig out that voucher received for recyclables which I had been left with, so I could also use that when I paid. And then I retrieved my things, arranged everything, and walked out just before the announcement stating that the store was going to close in five minutes, taking the metro back. And I kept jogging, so I just grabbed a recyclable with the deposit symbol after entering the building, stepping back outside to empty it.
I got back at 11:20 PM, then talked to dad for a while, put the purchases in their place, ate what was still good out of a spoiling banana and one of the apple pastries, did the day’s squats, and it was a few minutes before 1 AM when I went to wash, being done just before 1:50 AM. Then I washed what was in the kitchen, ate lunch, on and off, between 2:55 AM and 4:05 AM and dinner between 4:20 AM and 5 AM, and got in bed at 6:20 AM. And, despite thinking that I was going to pay for wandering around all that time, right after a run, wearing just the running clothes, the following day I decided to take a break from any medicine, only still taking the regular vitamin C and zinc. On the other hand, that afternoon I finished The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav.

On April 17, neighbors once again woke me up with drilling, but I did want to go out pretty early anyway, so I left at about 2:45 or 2:50 PM, after doing the day’s squats and taking vitamin C and zinc and one other supplement, though it’s possible that some of the powder part of that one spilled when the top fell out when I tried to push it in, as it should be done in order to mix the components. Either way, I had filled two bags with dad’s recyclables with the deposit symbol and if the third only held the few I had gotten back with two days earlier when I walked out, I ended up filling that one as well, picking up quite a number on the way, and a woman also handed me one when I passed by her.
Well, the machine from Carrefour said that it had no container available when I tried to use it, and the only empty cabinets were locked, probably stuck like that, so I went back out of that mall and put everything in at Kaufland, splitting on two vouchers, though several of the plastic bottles required a lot of tries. Then I washed my hands and got some expiring products from there, after beeping dad and asking him about them when he called back. The QR code on one of the discount labels was too faded, but I had taken two of those products, so I just scanned the other one twice at the self-checkout, using the voucher with the lower value when I paid and then cashing in the other one. And then I went back to Carrefour, entering with the purchases in the backpack and just getting a mini bread from the discounted products, though the price was half of the already discounted price that it had those days and I should have probably bought all three that were there, especially if there really won’t be evening discounts for actual bread anywhere anymore. Either way, a young woman left a few coins next to me as I was adding it in the backpack and, after staring after her for a moment and wondering whether I had forgotten my change, I realized that I hadn’t, but took them anyway, meaning to add half of the value, along with half of what I received for the recyclable handed to me by that other woman, to what I meant to give away… Eventually…
Either way, I then continued to Obor, just grabbing two more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, putting them in the machine from that Kaufland, entering with the backpack and just buying a deeply discounted spoiling carambola, which I’m pretty sure I had never eaten before, also using the voucher received for those recyclables, then adding it in the backpack and continuing to Carrefour. But I spotted a new pet store in that mall and right at the entrance they had the cat food that was discounted at Auchan for marginally less, so I bought a bag from there, then put my things in a cabinet and wasted a fair amount of time in Carrefour, searching a fair bit without even being able to find where what I was looking for should have been, only finally finding the spot after asking an employee and searching the general area that she vaguely pointed me to more thoroughly. But only the price label was there, the spot being empty, and I didn’t find anything else to get either, so I retrieved my things and went back to Kaufland, picking up another recyclable with the deposit symbol but putting it along with everything else in a cabinet, washing my hands and getting that product from there instead, since they had actually matched Carrefour’s great discount for it, though it was listed with a lower one in their catalog, and they still had some. And I also got two expiring breads for my parents, then retrieved and arranged my things and continued to Auchan, entering with everything… And being unable to find the high-protein yogurt that was on sale there, and when I asked an employee she basically told me to look through the entire dairy area, which I had thoroughly searched already, so I just put that recyclable in the machine, bought some paper towels for dad, also using that voucher, arranged my things once again, walked out of that shopping center at 8:15 PM, and grabbed plenty of other recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way back.
I was here at 9 PM, quickly dropped everything off, grabbed the money and rushed to pay the maintenance bill, then put the purchases in their place, drank some tea, peed, changed the jacket, and left again a little after 9:35 PM, with those gathered recyclables with the deposit symbol, and I picked up one more on the way to the other Kaufland, where I found a cart with the coin in it and connected it to others and took the coin. There was another one there, but it was smaller and couldn’t be connected to the regular ones, and I had no idea where others like it would be, so I left that one there and put the recyclables in the machine, also taking two from there which weren’t accepted and putting them in a cabinet before washing my hands, entering the store when it was close to 10:15 PM, and taking two lettuces that had a great evening discount. And after dad texted me at one point I beeped him and when he called back I asked whether he wanted some cucumbers that were at half price, even if they were from Turkey, getting as many as he told me to, and then taking a few other things that also had evening discounts, including a handful of onions that had a lower one but which nevertheless meant that I shouldn’t have gotten those at full price two days earlier, not that I could have known that at the time. Either way, I then grabbed one more expiring product and measured something for my chair, having taken measuring tape with me, and was just getting in line at the self-checkouts when the closing announcement came.
Well, things got somewhat uncomfortable shortly after that, since the people who were using one machine had a whole lot of products and the man was angry that he wasn’t being helped. It was only moments later, just when the next machine had freed and I could start using it, that he loudly cursed the employees, claiming that he had been waiting for half an hour and kept being ignored and also complaining that he had to do their job because the regular checkouts were closed, so I muttered that they definitely won’t be helping him if he talked like that and that, yes, at that hour you do have to use the self-checkouts, which led to him making a comment about me as well… And it’s also possible that he sent his kid to pick my pocket, since I felt something and saw that kid rushing away from me when I looked, but all I had there was that measuring tape, which was definitely still there, so I shrugged it off. On the other hand, I’d say that the employees did notice that I had taken their side, so while the one who was normally working in that area went to help that angry family, two others who seemed to just be there to make some purchases borrowed her card and logged on to clear the errors that I had, the machine first stating that I had removed a product from the scales even though I hadn’t and then that the onions were not the correct product, even though I even rushed to weigh them again at the scales from that area and the listed weight was exactly the same. Either way, I then also used the voucher received for the recyclables… And when I was done that family was once again arguing with the employee, that time because they had put away their receipt and couldn’t open the gate, so I casually smiled at them and held up mine, handing it to that employee when she offered to help, so she scanned it and then handed it back to me and I rushed to leave after those people.
I was actually a little worried, since the man was still angrily badmouthing the employees while walking away and then they stopped after walking out, right in front of the doors, and I felt that it was already too late and couldn’t stay inside and take the time to arrange everything after retrieving what I had in the cabinet, waiting to see whether they’ll leave. So I just walked right past them, set my things on a table a short distance away and took the time to arrange everything there, being all too aware of them but making an effort to not even spare them another glance. And they stayed where they were, so if I’d have tried to wait for them to leave it’d have just made things worse, and that way I could walk away without any other problem when I was done, picking up some more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way back.
I got back close to 11:50 PM, then cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, talked to dad a little, put most of the purchases in their place and spread out the rest, ate an orange, and it was almost 1:10 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done just after 2:10 AM, then put the remaining purchases in their place, peeled and boiled carrots and also used the worse lettuce leaves for the salad, took some more of that medicine expired for a year, and ate lunch, with some salty sticks instead of bread, on and off, between 3:40 AM and 4:25 AM, and dinner between 5:15 AM and 5:55 AM. I got in bed at 6:55 AM.

I woke up around 10:10 AM, when dad was getting ready to leave and Liza was in the litter box, and then I thought I hadn’t even gotten back to sleep by the time the drilling started again, though after a few minutes I looked and saw 11:18 AM, so I probably napped a little more. But at that point I got up and thought about going out again, yet I had already given up on that idea by the time the drilling stopped, around 1 PM, and after eating that carambola and the high-protein pudding bought two days earlier and taking the regular vitamin C and zinc, which was all that I still took that day, I got back in bed for a good three and a half hours, managing to sleep for about two of them, before finally reading some more of the book, just over a week after the previous time I had picked it back up. And it was also only that afternoon when I noticed that no visits had been recorded on April 17. And then, after napping for just about one more hour late in the evening, I ate dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:15 AM, with the last several minutes spent gathering what was stuck on the plate.

At least the neighbors let me sleep, so yesterday I went out at 3:45 PM, once again with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and after taking both vitamin C and zinc for the last time, deciding today to just keep taking vitamin C, and even that mainly because I had found some that was expired since 2022 and wanted to get through it. But, to return to yesterday, I decided to try handing in those recyclables at the Profi from Basarabia, where they should take them manually, thinking that those two which hadn’t been accepted should also be taken there, but I was told that their system wasn’t working, so I continued to Carrefour, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way. One of those was a can that was quite crushed, but the machine from there accepted it without problems, along with one of the two which hadn’t been accepted at Kaufland and all of the rest, so I was only left with one and I entered the store with it, taking a sweet pastry and one of those mini breads from the discounted products and beeping dad to ask whether I should also get some expiring bio (organic) kefir for mother and taking two after he called back and told me to. And the self-checkout machine asked me to make sure that I had scanned the correct product after scanning the pastry, but the employee from that area immediately told me to just hit OK before I had even noticed the message. And then I also cashed in that voucher, since the value was higher than the total price of the purchases.
Since Kaufland stores were closing at 6 PM and Carrefour at 7 PM that day, I then continued to Obor, along the way picking up a 0.50 RON coin that I spotted on the street and some more recyclables with the deposit symbol. And when I got to that Kaufland I found two carts with the coins in them, so I connected them to others and retrieved those coins as well before putting the recyclables, with the exception of that one that still wasn’t accepted, into the machine. Then I washed my hands, entered the store, with everything, a little after 5:15 PM, and bought a number of things, including that thing for my chair that I decided to get after all, after spotting a few that were a shade of green in that location. I also beeped dad twice more while I was there, but he didn’t call back, so I went ahead and decided which discounted things to get on my own. And I was waiting in line at the self-checkouts when the closing announcement came, only noticing as I started scanning that one of the breads which I had picked up for my parents from the place where the expiring ones are placed wasn’t actually discounted, so I set it aside and left it there, and then the machine didn’t accept the bundle of patience dock as the correct product and I had to call the employee to override the error. Then I also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid and took my time to arrange the purchases before continuing to that Carrefour.
I picked up one more recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way but just put it along with my other things in a cabinet before entering the store, a little before 6:20 PM… And finding the bakery area pretty much completely cleared, with just a few nice breads left on a table, plus a single one of that same kind on one of the shelves, none being discounted. But I saw some interesting expiring kashkaval and bought a piece, then retrieved my things and made my way back, picking up some more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, plus one label that also had the symbol, and getting here a little after 7:30 PM, and later doing 200 squats, since I was a day behind.
I’ll also mention that I had sort of considered buying a ticket for today’s handball match, and the site that sells them also sells through some machines, but when I tried to use one from that mall from Obor, after walking out of Carrefour, I couldn’t find the match there, and while searching I found myself looking at a BSOD and then it rebooted but seemed stuck while trying to boot back up, so I walked away and tried another one on the way back, but the match really didn’t seem to be listed, so it’s possible that it’s excluded from what can be purchased from machines for some reason, the only option being to purchase the ticket on-line. And, as I said, I was only sort of considering it, so I readily gave up on the idea.

And now I guess I’ll get around to writing about March 18 as well, starting with the day’s early hours, when I ate dinner between 3:20 AM and 3:50 AM. Then, after getting up, it was 1:30 PM when I left, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol and those other things that I take to Kaufland, grabbing another recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way, putting them in the machine from there, splitting on two vouchers, ending up with a third after finding one more and putting that in as well, and then with a fourth after finding three more before walking in the store and going back to also put those in. Then, after putting those other things in what may be the proper bin, I got a lot of toilet paper… And then, as I was looking for other things, I realized that one of my gloves had fallen out of my pocket, so I retraced my steps and fortunately found it placed on something, so somebody must have noticed it and lifted it off the floor. Either way, I then also took two expiring products that had great discounts and one frozen one, and since there was a general discount for frozen products of that kind but that product also had a regular discount those days, at the self-checkout I first checked whether the discounts stacked, continuing with the other products after seeing that they did, and using all of the vouchers received for the recyclables along with the 10 RON one received on March 7. And then I took quite some time to arrange the purchases, eventually settling on having four packs of toilet paper in the large backpack.
The next destination was Carrefour, but I had meant to check a pharmacy on the way and only realized that I should have used another route in order to do so after reaching the place where the routes meet, so I went back from there… And only wasted time by doing so, since neither of the products that I asked about were available in that location. Either way, after putting the other things in a cabinet that didn’t lock when I reached Carrefour but entering with the large backpack, I got the cat food that I had gone there to get and some expiring beer for dad, beeping him but just deciding to get some when he didn’t call back. Since that cat food generated those vouchers on the receipt, I split it in three at the self-checkout, also adding the beer on the last transaction and needing an employee to clear the sale as a result, though she just did it from the computer. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything, dad only calling back after I had already walked out, and on the way back I decided to make a small detour to another location of that pharmacy, finding that the nose spray was available there and buying one.
Considering how badly I needed to pee at that point, the wisest thing would have been to come straight back from there. And then, after deciding to continue to Penny instead, the next wisest thing would have been to use the toilet from the pizza place that’s next to it before entering the store. But I did neither, putting the other purchases and the recyclable with the deposit symbol which I had picked up on the way in a cabinet and entering the store with that large backpack… And then I didn’t even hurry, but quite the opposite, taking the time to look through the spices and the eggs that were on sale, getting some spices and replacing two eggs that seemed cracked in one carton with some from another of the same kind, even if they expired a week sooner, after being unable to find another one with the same expiration date that wasn’t really banged up, getting something else for dad as well, and calculating the total carefully. Admittedly, I had to put so much effort into holding it in that I doubt I could have hurried, and even thinking was difficult, and the outcome was probably pretty much sealed by the time I ducked behind a pillar and loosened my belt, so saying that I had an emergency and asking whether there was a toilet that I could use, since I assume that there must be some for employees, which I did consider doing, would have likely just attracted attention, and just leaving everything there and dashing out, especially when I saw how long the lines were, would have likely meant being unable to get back and make the purchases, but I did neither of those anyway, instead just focusing on my breathing and posture while waiting in that line and then dashing straight to the toilet from that pizza place as soon as I was finally checked out, knowing that there was no way to make it back here.
Well, I made it to the toilet and it was fortunately unoccupied, but the moment I got in front of the urinal I guess that my body got the signal that it could finally relax and, well, it did just that, first with a trickle and then, as I was desperately trying to unbutton my pants, letting go completely, so most of it came out before I managed to get my cock out of my underwear, which left me wondering what the fuck to do, especially since I had also left those other purchases in the cabinet from Penny. One option was to get back here like that, change, and then go back for them, but after taking off the soaked underwear and then having to also pick my phone and some coins off the bathroom floor, since they fell out of the pockets of my pants as I looked over them, I put my pants back on, put the underwear in a bag, and decided to go for a bluff, trying to act as if nothing happened, attempting to hide the wet part of my pants to some extent with a bag but otherwise just walking straight back, retrieving my things from the cabinet, and even taking some time to arrange the purchases, albeit crouching while doing so. And, while I still tried to hold the bags in a way that covered the wet area to some extent, I did my best to act as if nothing was wrong on the way back as well.
It was 6 PM when I got back, with 16.5 kg, and then I washed below the waist, put the purchases that had to be placed in the fridge or freezer in their place, did the day’s squats, and changed my underwear, pants and socks, the problem being that I had just taken those pants that day and the other pair, as well as the socks that I ended up putting on, were in the laundry basket, both having been worn when I planted trees. Either way, I then also washed what was in the kitchen, ate lunch, cleaned the litter box, and left again a few minutes after 8:30 PM, with that remaining recyclable with the deposit symbol and a bag of trash which I dropped down the chute.
I jogged to Kaufland Basarabia, but still picked up two recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, putting them and that other one in the machine from there and picking up two Pepsi bottles that those who had been ahead of me had left there after they were rejected multiple times. And I couldn’t make the machine accept them either, so I put them and the gloves in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered the store at 9:05 PM, seeing that there were no more evening discounts for bakery products in that location either. But I did make use of evening discounts to get a lettuce with root and some germinated wheat, even if those discounts weren’t as high as I’d have liked, and I also got some expiring meat for dad, plus a few onions at full price, also using the voucher received for the recyclables at the self-checkout. And then I arranged the purchases a little, went to the toilet, to avoid taking any more risks, retrieved what I had in the cabinet, and managed to walk out just as the guard was locking the doors, the closing announcement coming just after I stepped outside. And then, after making a few more attempts to get the machine to accept one of those Pepsi bottles but still failing, I picked up a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol and also checked that Mega Image on the way back, putting everything in a cabinet and getting some salad that was discounted by 90%, though there’s no way to really know what’s in those boxes where they mix whatever’s left on the bottom of the trays at that hour. But at least they don’t also charge for the plastic boxes, or at least it didn’t happen the few times I bought such things, and that evening I also gave the cashier the exact amount listed on the label. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and made my way back.
I was back for good a couple of minutes after 11 PM, then put the purchases in their place, ate an orange and a packaged croissant that was expired for a month, washed what was in the kitchen, and went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, a little after 1 AM. I was done a little before 1:50 AM, and then dad cleaned and separated that meat while I started cleaning after him, but after also finding a way to stuff it in the freezer it was almost 3:30 AM when I finished cleaning the mess he had made. And, while that salad from Mega Image would have been enough on its own, after doing my best to wash it a little and microwaving it for a couple of minutes, I also added an onion and some of the worse lettuce leaves, selecting and washing those taking some more time, resulting in too much salad, and leading to eating dinner between 4:50 AM and 5:25 AM. And I got in bed at 6:35 AM.

The fact that the news about possible evidence of life being detected on K2-18 b was taken up by mainstream media may offer a much-needed boost for space exploration in general, at least in terms of public awareness, especially now when NASA’s budget joins those of so many other important US agencies on the chopping block, but I wouldn’t exactly get excited over it on its own. Yes, maybe someday, in that increasingly unlikely distant future scenario where we won’t only still exist as a civilization but also thrive and develop enough to reach other star systems and actually find life on them, and possibly even confirm this particular detection, if life is indeed the source of those compounds, the moment will be marked in the history books. But at the moment I see it as mainly a technical matter, a test of what substances current technology may allow us to detect, if used at its very limits, without inferring much from any such detections, and even without really caring about what may, in theory, be inferred.
The thing is that, if life, at least in its simplest forms, is actually common in the universe, we still have a pretty good chance of finding it elsewhere in our solar system, if only we’d actually look. There is also the possibility of finding traces of past life on worlds that are currently completely lifeless, the obvious first option being Mars, but despite the proximity, the existing missions and the chances of actually sending researchers there in a relatively foreseeable future, that actually seems more difficult than finding actual life on the major moons of Jupiter or Saturn. So I for one will hold off any excitement until that happens. Or, of course, until we’ll find signs of technology, of an actual civilization elsewhere in the galaxy, or in the universe in general… But that may well be reason for fear as well…