Cav's Place

While one page also mentioned that the Syrian community from Romania invited Romanians to join them on March 18, from 6:30 PM, in commemorating the more than 200000 who were killed in the three years since the start of the Syrian civil war and expressing opposition to the Assad regime, the event that was actually embraced by the movement that day was a protest that took place in front of the Bucharest National Theater, starting at 5:30 PM. This was triggered by the fact that a convoy carrying most of the parts required to build the fracking well had arrived in Pungesti under the cover of night, protected by large numbers of gendarmes who ensured that the few locals who tried to stand in the way of the trucks had no chance to hamper the operations, so it was obviously announced on very short notice.
Only about 70 people were present at the peak, but I’m sure that well over 100 showed up at one point of another, so the reason why, after slowly increasing at first, the numbers held relatively steady, between 60 and 65, for most of the time we spent there was the fact that plenty got bored and left before others arrived. After all, we were largely just sitting around, nobody seeming to dare to make a speech or even start some chants until, close to 7 PM, Alex finally showed up as well, which also seemed to embolden a few others to briefly chant before the loudspeakers were used for a conversation with someone from Pungesti, who described the current situation and the previous night’s events, stating that unfortunately most of those people who fought bitterly for months have since become too frightened to continue and largely resigned themselves to their fate, despite being convinced that the well will spell disaster for their community.
Following a brief discussion, it was then decided to line up at the very edge of the sidewalk, holding the banners and chanting while cars passed and leaving Alex to repeat a brief speech describing the situation and the precedent it sets while they were waiting for the light to turn green again. Unfortunately, only perhaps half of those present did so, the rest seeming to decide that even that was too much trouble and largely sitting down on the stairs to chat until, as even those of us who had initially stepped forward were starting to give up, a vote was called. The choices were to march either to a minor television station that supported the protests, to the Ministry of Economy, or to the Government, the first option winning because a handful of others took after one guy who always wants to do that and shouted in favor of it while most can be said to have abstained, saying nothing.
As such, at 8 PM we were in the underground passage, where Maria suggested to stop for a moment, to inform those passing through there as well. Five minutes later, however, the rest continued on their way and I left the group, seeing no point in that march, but I later learned that, after arriving there and protesting on the sidewalk for a while, apparently some 40 people were left when it was decided to block Victoriei Way, perhaps some 25 actually sitting on the road in order to do so. From what I saw, this apparently lasted 15 to 20 minutes, during which the gendarmes attempted to negotiate and then, after dealing with some technical difficulties, followed the proper procedure, the protesters clearing away peacefully after receiving the final warning. Since all of this took place in front of the window that makes up most of one wall of the studio the television station in question broadcasts from, two were invited inside, to take part in the talk show that was on air at the time.

Moving on to March 19, two conferences about fracking took place that day. The first one, starting at 2 PM, was organized by the Romanian Geological Institute and largely aimed at promoting this method, so after some rather conflicting messages it seemed to have been decided to ask those who have something to say on the matter to attend in order to ensure that those favorable opinions will be challenged and the arguments against this technology will be presented as well. The second, on the other hand, started at 6 PM and dealt with the legal framework for exploiting unconventional fossil fuels, being organized by a few NGOs involved in the fight against fracking, so at least everyone could agree on promoting it. No idea what actually happened during either of them, however.

An important event for the movement, albeit more so for those who also participated in the protests that started in January 2012, took place on March 21, as part of the One World Romania festival. I’m referring to the screening of Where Are You Bucharest?, which was followed by a discussion with the team. According to the initial announcement, this was to be the only screening in Romania before the film will end up in theaters, at some point during the summer, though a message posted later stated that it’ll also be shown on May 30, during a festival taking place in Cluj.
Under these circumstances, large crowds were expected and those expectations were definitely met, as people started arriving very early and moved inside 30 minutes before the scheduled time, waiting in a tight group and struggling to make way when those who had things to do were looking for a way through, in order to manage to get a seat. After all, the theater had some 300 seats and, even though the viewing wasn’t free, there were far more people there, so once all seats were filled the rest stood all around, leaning against the walls or against the curtains at the back, as well as on every step of the stairs. Once no more could fit in even like that, those who were still outside had to be turned away.
Seats had proved insufficient the day before as well, for the first viewing of “Romanian Autumn”, which was part of the same festival and was also followed by a discussion with the team. This was somewhat interesting, because we’re talking about nothing more than a 15-minute short about these protests that started last September, and which could also be viewed on-line for a certain period of time, before the start of the festival. Plenty didn’t seem aware of that, however, even though the duration was on the poster as well, so I noticed some disappointed comments after the fact, though I wasn’t there myself to know whether anyone complained directly. Naturally, far fewer showed up for the second viewing, on March 23, and the discussion that followed then was apparently far shorter as well.

Also on March 23, people were asked to gather around the University Square fountain from 4 PM, to show solidarity with the father of the child who was found dead in Aricestii Rahtivani, after inhaling gas from a conventional oil well owned by OMV Petrom and not protected by as much as a fence despite being very close to houses. This was because, according to the information coming from the activists working with the child’s family, after taking pictures of Petrom workers erecting a fence around the well without obtaining any permits, to be able to say that it had been there all along, the father had found himself the victim of repeated intimidation attempts, culminating with being taken from home, beaten by gendarmes and told that they’ll “take care of him” if he keeps talking or posting about the matter. He ended up in hospital after this, the doctors admitting that he had “minor” internal injuries, but refusing to issue a certificate detailing their findings.
As usual, unfortunately, few people were there on time and nothing seemed to be happening until somebody had the idea to simply place the signs and banners on the sidewalk and wait for simple curiosity to attract people, while a few activists were there to hand out fliers and answer questions. This actually resulted in a few even deciding to stick around and we were around 55, maybe up to 60, at the peak, and this time I even took a few pictures once again.
After a while, some speeches started being made, at first explaining the situation. Sadly, despite initially seeming somewhat capable of restraining themselves, the activists eventually launched once again into accusations aimed at those who don’t join us, who don’t act to show that they care about what’s happening, Maria’s lengthy outburst being the most notable such moment. This will obviously never attract anyone, in fact being quite likely to make even some of those who are interested walk away, and those present did scatter after it, around 6:30 PM, but many of those who have managed to remain involved after all these months are tired, angry, extremely frustrated with the situation and, at least in some cases, rather radicalized, and they unfortunately keep proving that they simply can’t help themselves when it comes to this.

During the event described above, a member of one of the associations representing those who have participated in the Revolution approached us and said that they had an approved protest the next day, starting at 9:30 AM, and were willing to allow us to join them and state our grievances as well. However, while two activists said they’ll post an announcement and discuss exactly what to do with others, I haven’t seen anything about it on their profiles, nor have I heard anything about that protest that was mentioned, so the next event I do know about is an exhibition called “The Street Is Ours“, which opened on March 27, at 6 PM. Scheduled to only close on April 17, it aims to be a retrospective of the protests that started last September and will include debates, workshops, concerts and viewings of documentaries and other related films. Alongside pictures, drawings and artistic installations, actual signs, banners and other materials used by the protesters are on display, people having been asked to donate them for this purpose.

Finally moving on to March 29, a protest for Romania’s forests took place, starting at 2 PM and including a march that ended in University Square. The reasons were the complete lack of funding allocated for forest conservation and protecting biodiversity in the 2014-2020 National Rural Development Program, the lack of action against illegal logging and the fact that an Austrian corporation is obtaining the rights to exploit increasing areas in ways that appear less than legal, and definitely are unethical.
While supported by WWF Romania and also mentioned by the movement’s “official” page, the protest was organized by the Federation of Forest and Pasture Owners’ Associations and this showed in the signs and banners that were displayed, some actually dealing with the environment or at least being witty, but others being obviously political or promoting a nationalist or even religious agenda. As such, some of the few who meant to join the march because they expected it to focus on the environmental aspect were sorely disappointed and even quickly left, but I for one wasn’t surprised and spent most of the time walking around to take a lot of pictures, only actually joining the protesters a few times, when I heard chants that I agreed with and which were also frequently used during other recent protests.
Then again, the signs and banners that actually were on topic were likely the best and most relevant aspect, as otherwise, after allowing them to use the street to gather and march the short distance to Unirii Square, the gendarmes told the protesters to move to the sidewalk, where they had to stay all the way to University Square, which was reached around 3 PM. Since I actually counted a few times, I can say that around 200 people gathered there at the end of the march, but after a few speeches that held them together for a while longer, things quickly died down and, though the protest had been approved and announced to last until 5 PM, by 3:30 PM everything had ended, people merely waiting for the buses to take them back to the parts of the country each of them were from, and a couple of groups were already leaving to head to said buses on foot instead.
Before I can end this post as well, however, I also need to mention another event that took place that day, starting at 5 PM and including a screening of the first film in the Exposing the Invisible series and a debate about citizen journalism. In addition, the movement’s “official” page also mentioned the Earth Hour event organized by WWF Romania in Carol Park, which was to start at 8 PM and feature unplugged music and juggling.

Since the plan for today is to catch up on lost sleep and finish reading Heiress of Healing, all you’re getting are updated results for this test. Stumbled into the previous time I posted this, during the summer of 2010, while checking things after my hosting provider announced completing a server upgrade, so thought it was as good a time as any to take it again.

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	3
Mind:	2
Body:	6.1
Spirit:	3.3
Friends/Family:	0.9
Love:	0
Finance:	3
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Body and spirit scores slightly higher, and at least in case of the spirit one I have no idea why that is, but everything else is, and is going, about as you’d expect…

My previous personal post was supposed to be a quick update but ended up long enough to make anyone reading the title wonder about my definition of the term, so this one will be different. After all, it’s once again Friday and this is the first thing I post here this week, so I just want to get it out of the way and then see what I’ll manage to write over the weekend. That should normally be the next “protest update”, but I’m not sure I’ll manage that.
Actually, since I mentioned the blog, I should probably let you know that a recent comment reminded me that I had removed Comic Sans from the list of fonts used by the rest of the site years ago, but apparently it was still the second one here, so fixed that now since it still seems to be such a fad to hate that font and what I see is the blog’s main one, Segoe Print, so don’t exactly care what the second choice is. And I definitely don’t care about the complaints about the background, while the fact that my blog looks like a site from the ’90s minus animated GIFs I’ll take as a compliment, so don’t expect that to change.

Moving on to the backlogs mentioned in that previous personal post, I can say that reply was submitted, so I hope there will be nothing else to do until the end of May, when the court date is set. In addition, at one point I was up to date with proofreading the new edition of Darkness Rising and I don’t plan to fall so far behind again, so I hope I’ll manage to go over this latest chapter I received later today as well. I also started reading Heiress of Healing and I should finish it by the end of the week, especially since it’s definitely better than I expected, although I’m beginning to have some concerns now that I moved past what I guess should be considered the first part.
On the other hand, I’m falling behind even more when it comes to my own story, as I’m adding less and less to it and that final section of part three is still waiting for me to go over it again, as are the three others finished since then, though these are at least short. And the second “death” scenario in Age of Wonders II is making me feel stupid, since the AI keeps pushing me back and, after over 100 turns, I’m far less concerned about finding a winning strategy as I am about somehow avoiding defeat. At least I won the scenario I was mentioning in that previous post, so I’m one step closer to finishing the game, but there’s a very real possibility of losing this one and needing to start it again, which hasn’t happened so late so far, my defeats only coming very early, when my wizard was either wandering the map or standing alone, or with very few defenders, in the only city with a tower.

It’s rather odd to start this update with an ending, but an announcement posted that very morning stated that the anti-fracking “resistance camp” maintained by the series of hunger strikers in front of the Bucharest National Theater since December 21 will close on March 4, people being asked to gather there to mark the event at 7 PM, before once again commemorating the child who was found dead in Aricestii Rahtivani, after inhaling gas from a conventional oil well owned by OMV Petrom and not protected by as much as a fence despite being very close to houses, an hour later.
You may recall that I found this hunger strike idea pointless at best, and likely detrimental, not to mention that it rather devalued the entire concept after dozens of people began taking turns being on strike, most of them for a single day. You may also recall that, for that reason, I largely ignored the hunger strikers all this time, but said several times that I will attend an event meant to mark the closure of the “camp”, if only as a way to express my relief and the hope that it will be replaced by actions that will actually have a point. Unfortunately, I only noticed the announcement during the afternoon and it caught me at a time when it would have been difficult to simply change clothes and walk out the door on such short notice, so all I know comes from a very brief report I read, which mentioned that about 25 people attended and little else.

Moving on to an entirely different topic, the purpose of the next day’s event was to show solidarity with Ukraine and protest against Russia’s actions. For this reason, people were asked to gather in front of the Ukrainian embassy at 6:30 PM, and from there we marched to the nearby Russian embassy. Since this time I did attend, and took a few pictures as well, I can say the march started too early, as our numbers were likely to have grown further if we’d have waited a while longer, but the person who posted the call didn’t have experience in such matters and none of the most notable activists were there either, so there was nobody to keep the more restless ones in check.
As such, about 60 of us left at 6:55 PM, arrived in the little square across the road from the entrance to the Russian embassy, since we weren’t allowed to gather right in front of it, some ten minutes later, and more or less sat around for about 15 minutes, until the person who can be said to have organized the event suddenly and unexpectedly announced that it was over. This surprised nearly everyone else so much that almost another ten minutes passed before most actually decided to leave, some spending that time wondering whether there was anything else we could do that evening so it won’t be wasted in such a manner.
A message posted the next day mentioned another protest taking place in front of the Russian embassy on March 7, between 2 PM and 4 PM. This protest was organized by an NGO and apparently properly authorized, but that message was the only one I saw about it, so I have absolutely no idea what actually happened. The same can be said about the protests organized here by the Tatar community, in support of the Crimean Tatars. More notable such protests took place in Constanta, where the number of Tatars is more significant, but I also saw announcements mentioning events in Bucharest, also in front of the Russian embassy, on March 14, from 5 PM, and March 16, from 1 PM.

Returning to March 7, a protest that was supported, even if obviously not attended, by the known activists and groups took place inside the National Library of Romania, due to the fact that the Ministry of Culture plans to take over a third of the space, including 65% of the public areas. All employees began wearing white armbands and staged something of a flash mob at noon in the Atrium, where they gathered to read in silence for ten minutes.

March 8 can be said to have started with a protest to save a small park where a gas station is to be built, one activist mentioning that those who live in the area are asking supporters to join them there at 2 PM, but I don’t know what actually happened and the day’s main event was definitely the protest against the fact that, after the law stating that stray dogs captured and not adopted within 14 days are to be killed was passed some time ago, the killings actually started here. Similar events took place in dozens of cities around the world, apparently most of them in Germany, and in Bucharest people were asked to gather in Victoriei Square from 4 PM, though some were expected to be there at 3 PM because that seems to have been the time that was initially announced, before those who were able to come earlier were asked to gather at University Square at that time instead, in order to march to Victoriei Square together.
If it’d have been a protest strictly against killing, I definitely would have attended, but instead I had to keep well away from it for the same reason I avoided all other similar events that were organized here since the talks about this law began, and by this I’m referring to the fact that, as it is pretty much anywhere in the world, the vast majority of those who are part of this movement strongly promote spaying and neutering, most supporting the laws that make it mandatory as well. I see no reason why that makes them in any way better than those who promote killing and oppose that practice just as vehemently as I oppose declawing, devocalizing, ear cropping or tail docking, and for the exact same reasons, so I’ll have nothing whatsoever to do with that crowd. Surgical sterilization is one thing and I’d recommend it for most pets as well as for most humans, but only as long as the same methods will be used, without removing functional body parts when this is not absolutely required for medical reasons.
Still, what I know is that perhaps around 1000 people, according to one estimate I saw, gathered in the square itself and protested for a few hours, before some marched back to University Square and continued the protest there for a while longer. I also know that a group staged a counter-protest, one car and a few tricycles circling the area while pulling large signs with messages describing the threat of stray dogs, supporting this law that led to the killings and asking people to notify the authorities about any dogs that need to be captured, while a similar message “greeted” the protesters from a large billboard. A small group also spread fliers, which were more focused on the child whose death started this whole mess and included a graphic picture of his body. Obviously, there was no mention of the fact that he was killed by dogs that were, at least on paper, adopted, after his grandmother had left him and his older brother out of sight and they wandered onto a private property that the dogs seemed to be guarding, which property wasn’t properly surrounded by a fence.

Moving on to the following week, while an open letter regarding Rosia Montana was sent to the new Minister of Environment on March 10, the first event that actually took place in Bucharest, as far as I’m aware, was a small authorized protest in front of the Ministry of Economy, on March 13, starting at 3 PM. A handful of people, maybe around 20, gathered there due to the fact that the new Minister Delegate for Energy is a former director of OMV Petrom, who resigned from his position within the company just before being appointed in this new position, and a message was also read.

As for March 16, while barely worth mentioning in terms of visibility or impact, the day’s most notable event from the point of view of this movement was probably the protest supposed to take place in front of the British embassy, starting at 3 PM. I’m saying it was supposed to take place there because the amount of security made that impossible, and the low number of people who attended made the whole thing rather embarrassing for all concerned. When you mean to show solidarity with the Community Fracking Blockade in Barton Moss and protest against the brutal methods employed by police against those people, yet only have 13 people show up, 15 if you also count the one who only arrived as we were getting ready to leave and the one who can be said to be more of an independent reporter firmly on the protesters’ side than an actual protester, it may be better to get back to the drawing board.
Still, somebody certainly thought we were dangerous, because the road in front of the embassy was blocked, about 20 gendarmes were visibly patrolling the area, many others were waiting in four or five vans and the actual entrance was guarded by a few people in uniforms identifying them as members of an antiterrorist unit, which a rather nervous negotiator informed us were fully armed, right before mentioning that intelligence agents were around as well. In addition, a woman appeared as soon as we started gathering right outside the area that was closed off and never shut up, accusing us of everything and its opposite, seeming to have a retort for everything, talking in Romanian, Russian, English and French, and shouting even more loudly when the manifesto was being read. We were later told she used to be an university professor but now has mental problems and can’t be reasoned with, which is of course possible, but under the circumstances many of us were wondering whether she wasn’t in fact an extremely skilled agent tasked with sabotaging our protest.
Under these circumstances, after the few who tended to react more vehemently to that woman’s behavior managed to calm down as well, we amused ourselves because of it and tried to make the best of the situation. Since we were not allowed to even walk past the embassy, on the opposite sidewalk, while displaying any signs or banners, we had to stay where we were and hold them while some pictures were taken and the manifesto was read, in both Romanian and English. We were not allowed to use a loudspeaker for that, so Erwin Albu’s loud voice had to suffice, but when Maria called someone who was at Barton Moss and asked her to describe what had happened that restriction was ignored, since there’d have been no other way for all of us to hear what was being said.
As we were getting ready to leave, the negotiator kindly informed us that we were to be carded and to consider ourselves warned, but that we will not be fined. To prevent any later surprises, this was filmed by someone, but I still had a moment of panic when the other gendarmes moved in and I suddenly realized that I didn’t have my card with me. Thankfully, I managed to recall my code and if you tell them that and your name and they match when they verify them, you don’t need to show the card, so there was no problem and we were even allowed to walk past the embassy on our way back to the boulevard. The gendarmes were extremely nervous as we did that, however, particularly when someone remarked that we’re being treated like terrorists and a couple of others started chanting against the British Government and Prime Minister. You could see their relief as soon as we left the area that was closed off, and one even wished us a good day and wanted to shake hands.

From the embassy, nearly everyone walked to Carturesti, where a meeting with Erwin Albu, Willy Schuster and Nicusor Dan was scheduled to start at 5 PM, though it was somewhat delayed because, while the first two had also participated in the protest and were obviously there along with the rest of us, the latter was late. There had apparently been a similar meeting, in a different place, the day before as well, but I have no idea how that turned out, so I can only focus on this one and say that more people trickled in as time passed and a total of 31 attended in the end, if you also count the three of them and the one who was largely there to film the meeting. Many were activists or otherwise involved in Erwin’s effort to gather the required number of signatures to run for a seat in the European Parliament at the upcoming elections, but once he stated how many had been gathered until then, making it obvious that there was no way he could meet the requirement before the deadline, I did find it odd that they seemed unable to accept the otherwise entirely expected failure and start discussing how else any structure formed with this occasion may be used, preferably aiming for goals that the other activists would support as well, such as changing the electoral law.
Worse, although Willy and Nicusor were there as strong backers of Erwin and the latter proved that he was aware of it by saying few words and choosing them carefully, attempting to defuse the situation until it became obvious that it was pointless to even try, Willy took center stage and did so in a particularly harmful manner. The fact that he advertised his organic farm was fine, after all it’s a success story, but listening to him tell his life story and talk about his convictions and beliefs, including religious ones, was at the very least boring, and at least for me increasingly annoying. However, when he moved on to attacking the United We Save and Save Rosia Montana movements for firmly refusing to have anything to do with people who want to run for office under the current electoral laws and cutting ties with him and Erwin as a result, I went from being annoyed to becoming increasingly furious and, as the crowd seemed to be starting to drop the misguided focus on still trying to gather as many signatures as possible before the deadline only to help him in piling on the shit, I took it as my cue to get ready to leave and did so shortly afterwards, at 7 PM, along with several others.
While this was going on, two protests against the way in which Antena 3, which is the most watched news television station, attacked Andrei Plesu were scheduled to take place in University Square, one starting at 5 PM and the other at 6:30 PM, this latter one being political. However, while some regular protesters did attend and the “Romania Is Protesting” page expressed support, the movement’s “official” page and the known activists largely ignored the matter, and a few even expressed opposition. Some days later, an announcement posted and shared explained the stance by reminding people that Andrei Plesu had remained silent regarding the Rosia Montana issue all this time, and when he finally decided to mention it, last year, it was in order to criticize the protesters and the “United We Save” movement. As such, the evening’s other event, namely another viewing of Vlad’s “Ich Bin Dubist (Memories from the Van)” film, which was scheduled to start at 8:30 PM, can be said to have been more notable.

Otherwise, it is spring, so the “traditional” protests organized by unions have already started, while the fact that elections are approaching means that opposition parties are organizing as many as they can as well. These events usually gather thousands of people, at times the numbers even reaching into the low tens of thousands, but they definitely have nothing to do with this movement and will not be mentioned here unless perhaps clear messages of support will be posted by the known activists or groups and I’ll happen to agree as well.

Since I should be getting ready to leave for the first, and only until June, screening of Where Are You Bucharest? in Romania, hoping I’ll still find a ticket and a seat when I get there, yet I haven’t posted anything on here this week, I’m just going to quickly mention what other things I should be doing, and in many cases should have already done. As always, still can’t figure out how can people actually get things done, or in most cases even manage to get themselves to start trying.

Perhaps most urgently, I have the option of submitting a reply to the Gendarmerie’s reply to my complaint against the fine I received for taking part in the November 7 protest, and I definitely need to write that. This seems to be something added recently, as part of the new regulations, and it is listed as an obligation for the plaintiff, but there are no penalties in case it’s not submitted, so in effect it’s an opportunity to combat any arguments mentioned in the reply to the original complaint before the trial itself, therefore making it a chance I absolutely must make full use of.
Thankfully, I quickly received a generic model from one of the lawyers helping the protesters, so I was able to start thinking of what to add to it very soon and actually wrote a draft after waking up today. I’m unhappy with it at the moment and will definitely need to ask said lawyer about it as well, especially since what I added is several times longer than the main body of the model in question, but considering the fact that I had found it too difficult to even look at the file until today, writing it even in this form definitely counts as a huge step forward, and probably not a moment too soon, considering the deadline.

Moving on, I actually won a giveaway on Goodreads and received the book on Saturday, so I definitely should be reading it in order to be able to write a review once I’m done. However, I’m yet to even start, which is obviously making me feel increasingly worse. Will clearly need to find some way to at least make myself read it next week, even if writing the review may take slightly longer.
And while I’m at books, there’s also the fact that I’m currently proofreading a new edition of another, and at the moment I’m two chapters behind on that as well. Or at least I was two chapters behind last night, since I haven’t checked my e-mail today and therefore it’s not impossible to think that I may have received yet another by now. And seeing as, regardless of my opinion about the first one in the series and the frustration caused by this second one as well, I promised to do this, I definitely have to. Sure, I didn’t promise to stick to any deadlines and none were mentioned, but that doesn’t mean I get to delay indefinitely.

As for my own writing, I recently managed to finish part three of that rough draft, but the last section is the longest one in a long time and I’m yet to even try to go over it again, for the first necessary changes and corrections. Seeing as, for a number of reasons, that particular section has also been even more difficult and embarrassing to write than most others, it’s certain to be at least equally as difficult and embarrassing to read, so I’m still struggling to figure out a way to make myself do that.
And as you can see, the blog is going no better either. Admittedly, the previous post was a lengthy and detailed piece, but what you may not know is that I meant to write that on Wednesday, instead of the shorter one I posted then, yet couldn’t even start until Friday and then it took me three days to write enough to be able to post it and yet another to go over it again and make the necessary corrections and additions, one of them particularly notable. As such, I’m once again a good two and a half weeks behind on the “protest reports” and should definitely find some way to write another by the end of this week. My goal would be to get all the way up to the end of last week, so up to March 16, but at the very worst I’ll at least need to cover March 4 to 8, which should be relatively easy as long as I’ll somehow manage to get myself started.

On a different note, since I did end my boycott of GOG.com as a result of their recent announcement, I also ended up adding Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition to my backlog of games, seeing as it was one of the three remaining on my “main” wishlist that was also in their catalog and it was on sale earlier this week. What I’m actually playing is still Age of Wonders II, however, and a couple of weeks ago I definitely hoped to be able to finish it by the end of the month, but I’m still at the scenario I had started at the time, so I still have a few before the end, and then I’ll have a review to write as well before being able to completely move on to something else.