Cav's Place

There was a moment when I feared that this book would be as dominated by what I call typical human filth as the previous one, but that is not the case, the occasional moments when it rears its ugly head quickly giving way to action. And action is what Child of the Knight is all about, the characters, and the reader, hardly being allowed a moment’s rest, with the antagonists having every advantage and victory tending to take the form of an escape and a brief respite, usually at a great cost. And it should also be noted that the combat is presented well, the author displaying his familiarity with the techniques and equipment.
However, this is also the book’s problem, stringing together action scenes being pretty much all there is to it. There’s hardly any room for depth and very little worldbuilding or character development, the possible exception, if you’re feeling generous, being Kael and Maret. No bits of wisdom, no brilliant plans, no complex and possibly relatable characters; if something’s not an action scene, it’s only there because it’s required for one that will quickly follow. In addition, despite the hardships and all of the advantages held by the antagonists, or perhaps just because of that, all too often hero’s luck is the plot device that allows wrenching that questionable victory from the jaws of defeat. And while this does make for thrilling reading and a reasonably pleasant way to pass some time, after a while it gets to be too much and, despite being so fast-paced and much shorter than a proper fantasy book should be, the feeling that it’s overstaying its welcome may appear before reaching the end. Plus that I was obviously very bothered by the fact that it’s centered around babies and motherhood.

Rating: 3/5

While not standing out in any way, the first five chapters are nice enough, catching my attention and keeping me reading and interested in the characters and events. But what truly matters is the last quarter or so of the book, when things change dramatically multiple times, the mess that I tend to call the typical human filth gives way to thrilling action, the fact that it’s hard to know who or what to believe can actually be a positive aspect as well, considering the valid points made by the various sides and the genuine intentions of the antagonists, and characters develop in ways that are largely positive. And, while it opens the way for the rest of the series, Eternal Knight also has an entirely serviceable conclusion on its own.
The problem, however, is pretty much everything between those first five chapters and that final quarter, which is dominated by that typical human filth, making for rather painful reading. And that’s not just because I’m all too aware of that filth in “reality” and would want to escape from it while reading fantasy, but because it’s also poor in concept. I learned that the book was edited down to less than half of the size of the original draft, forgetting that fantasy should carefully craft and present new worlds in detail, so it’s possible that there was more to it at first, but what’s left is a court, and a society, that’s little more than a caricature, roughly pushing something like the trope of the noble savage and savage nobles and some themes of privilege and discrimination without having any impact, without giving them meaning. And opportunities for action and explanations are either skipped entirely or so forced and amateurish that it’s hard to believe that they were written by the same person who wrote that last quarter of the book. And I’ll also note that, while I was initially surprised by the use of creatures from Romanian myths, I then realized that the author just liked to use the words for some creatures he imagined.

Rating: 3/5

I just noticed that the previous post was the 1000th filed under “Personal” and at first I found myself thinking that it’d have been better for this post to mark that milestone. But after a moment I realized that it’s probably better as it is, since both are quick posts, but that previous one was notable, marking such an achievement, completing a marathon with an official time below four hours, while this one is just something that I’ll throw here to mention that this ball of rock and metal that we keep trashing as if we and all other species that we share, or should be sharing, it with had plenty more to spare returned to pretty much the same spot on its orbit as it was when I was unfortunately thrown onto it through no choice of my own for the 40th time since then.
At least it won’t be quite as rushed of a post as it was last year, and the contrast between the results at the marathon makes my mood definitely different, but I now wonder just how much I’ll be paying for that, since my throat is really sore and I’ve also been feeling rather like I have a fever, or at least like I had one before crawling out of bed this afternoon. And some work that’s once again being done means that we don’t have hot water, and the site states that it won’t return until at least Thursday night, so it’s a very good thing that this happened after the marathon, and also after yesterday, when I went out again and then could take a bath at night, since after the marathon the water wasn’t warm enough for more than a shower.
To get back to turning 40, I glanced at the previous posts written to mark such milestones, and while at 35 I only mentioned it in passing in what was mainly a post about a run and at 30 it was just a regular, or in fact even hasty, personal update, at 25 I did write quite a post, about my close relationships until then, and if I’d be to make another “proper” milestone birthday post it’d probably update that one… Not that there’s much to say about it.

And what’s above is how far I got before midnight, so I initially posted just that and then kept writing, adding the rest almost an hour later and deciding to make that quick update to the situation listed in that post after all, starting with the obvious fact that the blog is no longer hosted by Jen, after she stopped talking to me and then the site vanished, so I ended up getting my own site. Otherwise, I did find Elena P., but what I saw definitely made it seem that nothing was real back then, and the fact that she never replied when I sent something likely confirms that. And things went sour with Andreea too, and at this point I wouldn’t say that she’s someone really worth mentioning if I’m to talk about people I was or at least hoped to be really close to. Alina, later Ami, was such a person, but that went really badly after a certain point. Then I probably should mention Susana, though that was always awkward and difficult and she kept being convinced that I hated her, or at least that’s what she said, and then she cut contact as well and even blocked me. And then there are Alma, Sonya and maybe, at a stretch, Alexandra, but after the initial period I can’t say that I talked that much to Alexandra, so she’d just be someone who didn’t actually cut contact. As for Alma and Sonya, we’ve been in contact for over a decade and did talk a lot at times, but those times ended years ago it’s been a long time since I’ve really talked to anyone. Then again, for quite a while I learned to stop expecting a reply if I send something to Sonya, but I can’t blame her for it when it can be several months between messages and when I send something it tends to be a quick comment or a link. And, while Alma will reply if I send something, the differences between us mean that she never was someone that I could actually be close to. And then there is the fact that I don’t really have a reliable and comfortable method of exchanging messages anymore.

I should probably write something about running as well, starting with the fact that I don’t intend to sign up for next year’s marathon, and at this point I wonder if this one wasn’t my last one. On the one hand, seeing those people in their 60s and 70s, and even one who was 80, get past me, easily pull ahead and finish well ahead of me was both humbling and inspiring, and did make me think that I want to be able to do that at their age, but on the other hand the dedication required for that is something that I have no interest in, the current general level being pretty much as far as I care to go, and when it comes to preparing for the major runs, I don’t exactly want to even put as much into it as I have for this one again, so if I’d try again, the results will almost certainly only be worse, possibly much worse, and it’s probably better to just keep this achievement and limit myself to half marathons, though I might more or less still stick to the schedule that I have in order to prepare for the marathon and “honor” the date either with that 35.2 km run or at least with a half marathon run through the park.
On the other hand, I do think of ultra marathons, and it seems only normal to advance to them as you get older, since I was reading that the best results at such distances are obtained by men in their late 40s, and it’s common for those in their 50s to also do well, since when it comes to such distances speed matters far less and experience and the mental strength to just force yourself to keep going are far more important. But, on top of the prospect being daunting in itself, the big problem is that I don’t want to travel and there are no longer runs organized in or around Bucharest, and in fact the few ultra marathons I’m aware of in Romania are not city runs, but trail and even mountain competitions, which is something that I definitely won’t do. So maybe I won’t move to that level at all… But, as an alternative, I was thinking of a long walk, at least once, crossing much of the country. But, of course, that will take a lot of preparation and, if I will go for it at all, it’s something that’s years down the line… And it will mean traveling, which is a major problem in itself.

Otherwise, I kept thinking that if I will manage to finish the marathon with an official time below four hours, I’ll buy myself a certain cake, and maybe also a bottle of white wine, just to see how it is. But I have no interest in alcohol, not even as a curiosity anymore, so there’s little point in wasting money on that. And the problem with the cake is that such cakes can’t be small, the smallest have about one kilogram, and eating it before it’ll go bad will be a problem, since I obviously don’t have anyone to share it with, and now there are serious reasons why I couldn’t possibly send any of it to my mother either, and dad likely won’t want any, or at least no more than a taste. But I may not even find that cake anymore, and I worry that if I’ll buy it I may find that I don’t like it, which would make it even more of a problem. At least before last night it didn’t matter because I didn’t have the money for it, and finances are pretty much impossibly tight at this point, but apparently my mother sent me some money and while I initially tried to refuse, pointing out that they’re in such a difficult spot and can’t afford anything right now, I was told that those money are available and they’re her gift to me since she knows that I don’t want anyone buying me things, so now I have enough to get myself quite a number of things, not just that cake, if I’d care to, while at the same time the amount will hardly make any difference when it comes to the plans for a new computer, so there’s little point in saving them for that. And those plans will almost certainly get delayed yet again anyway, considering how things stand. Not that I mind the excuse, since changing the computer is such a frightening prospect, but I was 30 when I got this one and, on top of the performance problems, there’s always the question of how long it’ll even continue to function.

This must have been my most tactical and calculated run ever, and changing my intake strategy made for two particularly difficult periods earlier, one starting as early as 12 km and which might be said to have lasted all the way to 23 km, though after 17-18 km I reached something of a plateau, and another being between 31 km and 37 km, though once again things got less bad later during that period, after 35 km. During that first period, I wondered whether I was even going to finish, while during the second it seemed highly unlikely that I’ll manage to stay under four hours, even a new personal best, beating the time from 2022, being in doubt. And then, until 41 km, I thought that it was going to be really tight, a matter of a few seconds either way. But in the end I made it with over one minute to spare, the official time being 3:58:47, with a net time of 3:57:49. So I achieved what I had set as my target probably after getting an official time below two hours for a half marathon, in 2017, getting under four hours as official time at a marathon before turning 40, at the last possible moment, a mere two days before that date. I know I’ll be paying for what I put my body through, but it’s worth it.
But now, after eating watermelon and a sweet pastry, taking a shower with water that started at a temperature that was barely all right for a shower and then got colder before eventually heating up to something much more comfortable but probably still not enough for a bath, then also eating a bag of peanuts, which meant some 950 calories on its own, and drinking the protein shake which had been in the race kit, I’ll be making a pizza and stuffing myself. And this post is not a placeholder, because I don’t see myself writing the detailed one about this day too soon, and definitely not before Tuesday, when I’ll probably just throw something here to mark turning 40, especially since I’m planning to go out again tomorrow evening. So this is pretty much all I’ll say now… And what makes this even more of a problem is that I don’t see myself writing many notes about the run right away either, so plenty of details about what’s definitely my most important run ever will slip my mind. But I’ll see what I’ll do, the one last thing that I’ll add now being a picture taken after I finished, once I finally convinced myself to ask someone to take it.

Later edit: Oh, I just noticed that this is post number 1000 filed under “Personal“. Maybe it’d have been more fitting for the next one to mark this milestone, but this is probably better, to mark it with an achievement.

After spending most of the evening of October 7 in the kitchen, washing some pots and eating some walnuts before starting to work on the salad, which included lettuce, I also made the tea for the morning and ate dinner, with peanut butter on all of the bread, between 12:45 AM and 1:30 AM, with the last several minutes spent gathering what was stuck on the plate. And I also used the aromatherapy lamp again. But then I spent too much time on-line before finally putting the cereals, raisins in dark chocolate and baked almonds with Himalayan salt into a bowl, so I’ll just have the yogurt to add in the morning, and going to the toilet, so I got in bed at 3:35 AM… And a little later I heard a noise that didn’t seem to have been caused by Liza and went to investigate, though when I didn’t immediately identify the cause I just got back in bed. But I slept poorly, needing some time to fall asleep and then getting up to pee just before 5:40 AM, at which point my right hip bothered me a fair bit, which was not surprising after standing for so long in the kitchen, especially while struggling to wash those pots. And I woke up again at 7:40 AM and went to pee one more time, managing to get back to sleep faster but waking up yet again when the computer did the daily backup, at 8 AM, and then getting another brief nap before the alarm rang, at 8:15 AM, and I got up.
After eating the Gala apple and adding the bio (organic) yogurt in that bowl and eating that as well, I realized that I hadn’t checked before going to bed and saw that no visits had been reported on October 7. Either way, I then took the supplements as well, obviously with the exception of the second pill of the iron and the one for joints, and then I heard the sound of mowing from behind the building again, so I took a few “before” pictures. The fact that I then just wasted some time on the toilet was less of a concern when I had gone before going to bed. And then, just because I was going to do so before the marathon, I decided to have another sweet thing after all, in the form of the last two of those nicer but expired biscuits, with added honey. And I left at 9:45 AM, wearing the full running gear, returning to the new shoes and deciding to take the t-shirt from last year’s marathon once again, but without the running belt or even anything in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was 14°C at 10 AM, when I started running, and 17°C at 11 AM, so it couldn’t have been less than 16°C when I finished running. And I’ll also mention that the right shoe bothered me a little at the back at first, so I stopped on a bench after entering the park to take it off and put it back on, which took a little longer than I thought it would, because the shoelace tied itself in a knot when I tried to untie it.
The time was 47:14.23, with sector times of 4:13.70, 5:09.22, 5:55.00, 4:22 (4:21.69), 4:56.09, 5:50.09, 4:28 (4:27.94), 4:55 (4:54.28), 5:39.38 and 1:47 (1:46.84), making for lap times of 15:17.92, 15:08 (15:07.87) and 15:02 (15:01.60). I hoped to at least get under 48 minutes and pushed to some extent from the start, and while I paid attention to avoid exhausting myself, I was a little disappointed by that time on the first sector… And then even more so by the one on the next sector, even if I knew that I had slowed down somewhat. So I pushed a little more on sector three, but when that resulted in a lap that was only a little under that 15:20 that’s the target lap time for 48 minutes, things didn’t look good and I once again thought of continuing to 16 km, which I had in fact considered to do for this run. But then I was surprised by that very good time on sector two of lap two, when my mind had been elsewhere as I covered that long straight and I thought that I was going to once again be quite slow. And sector three of lap two was faster than that of lap one as well, as was the lap as a whole, which didn’t just make me quite certain that I’ll stay under 48 minutes, but I even started thinking about squeezing under 47:30, even considering continuing to 16 km if I won’t. So I really pushed on lap three, still keeping something in reserve on the first sector, but going for it on sector two and really giving everything on sector three, hoping to at least give myself a chance… Only to be surprised when I was already safe at the end of the lap, at which point the goal became to squeeze under 47:20 as well, so I was once again pleasantly surprised when I saw that I had even squeezed under 47:15. Sure, seeing as I’ve been taking all of those supplements for so long, I’d have felt much better if I’d have gotten under 47 minutes, but I’m nevertheless content with this time.
My right thigh muscle gave warnings pretty much from the start, and they were pretty serious warnings, but things didn’t get worse, and on lap three I noticed them less, though that was probably just because I was so focused on pushing. And I did feel somewhat lightheaded on sector one of lap three and at the start of sector two of lap three, but then the feeling went away, and while towards the end of the lap, after having pushed so hard, my chest was starting to burn, that time on sector three of lap three pretty much justifies the feeling. And those were pretty much the only notable problems, otherwise the damaged and wet lane clearly remaining the main reason to weave or go the long way around. But I was noticing on the first lap that it was almost as if I was in a race, considering the number of runners, though that number dropped later.

On the way back, I briefly poked my head in a small bakery that seems to have replaced a burger place and then also had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image. And when I entered the building an old woman asked me to check whether the elevator was stuck somewhere, since it apparently wasn’t coming, but when I called it to the first floor it came from below, so it had been at ground floor already, and I shouted to tell her that it was working and she called it again, but I didn’t wait to see whether she could open the door, since that seemed to have been the actual problem the first time around.
A slight reason for concern was that, after taking off the shoes and socks, I noticed that the right shoe had still rubbed the back of my foot a little, though I hadn’t felt it while running… But since then I’ve been occasionally feeling that the back of my left foot had been rubbed a little, though I don’t see any mark there. Either way, I then had a very early lunch, took the “after” pictures of the area behind the building, arranged the munchies that I have in my room, ate some watermelon as well, and cleaned my room a little, also changing the sheets and taking the blanket again. And cleaning less than two months after the previous time was quite an improvement… And when I put the backpacks back in their place that clove which had fallen three weeks earlier fell off, so it had almost certainly been in or on the torn backpack, even though I had turned it over and shaken it back then without anything falling. Either way, a few minutes after 7 PM I went out again, with the plastic and metal, the bottle caps, which I finally remembered to take again, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I put the recyclables in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, being left with one that wasn’t accepted, and just cashed in the voucher and grabbed a few smaller coins off the floor, at which point I spotted what I’m pretty were two 0.50 RON coins there as well, but I didn’t take a closer look, so if they really were there, I left them. Then I dropped off the plastic and metal in a recycling bin on the way, went down to the lake when I cut through the park and washed my hands at a drinking fountain, then dropped off the bottle caps when I reached Penny Titan, and while that recyclable wasn’t accepted by that recycling machine either, one that I found next to it was, so I entered the store with that remaining one and got an expiring product for dad, also using the voucher received for that recyclable when paying.
Since I had dad’s metro card, I then took the metro to Carrefour Pantelimon, put my things in a cabinet and just got an expiring chocolate, even if it was imported, so the trip wouldn’t be a complete waste of time, since I had wanted to go to Carrefour for pumpkins, which were on sale, but a single one of that kind was left and it was cracked, so I didn’t take it. Either way, I still had to use a regular checkout, and then I retrieved my things, put the chocolate in the jacket’s inside pocket, and instead of walking to Kaufland Basarabia, I got back on the metro and went to what I guess I could call the usual one.
While the recycling machine from there also rejected that recyclable, I found three with the deposit symbol at the top of one of the garbage cans that are in front of the entrance, so I went back and put those in the machine, ending up with two vouchers because the machine timed out while I emptied the last one. Then I put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered the store at 9:30 PM, seeing that only some bakery products had labels listing the discounts of 50% and taking a cheap bun and a sweet pastry, after scanning the labels and finding that the 50% discount applied to both even though neither had a discount label. And then I saw that a huge evening discount had appeared for green onions and I was trying to pick a bundle that was less bad than the rest when a woman came and commented that they were from Germany, which I hadn’t noticed, so I walked away with one bundle but then went back and put it back. But I took a bundle of dill, which also had a huge evening discount, mainly just in order to get one more thing and be able to use the voucher received for two recyclables at the self-checkout, after which I cashed in the one for the third. I believe that I was still at the machine when the closing announcement came, but it’s also possible that it came just after I was done. Either way, I then retrieved my things and arranged everything, figuring out where to put that dill taking me a little while.
I then decided to take the metro again, one option being to go to Carrefour Unirii, but while I now see that it’s once again open non-stop, I hadn’t checked before leaving, since going there wasn’t part of the original plan, so I thought that it still closed at 11 PM, and it was past 10:15 PM when I got to the metro station and I didn’t jump into the train that went in that direction, which was just there at the time, so I thought that it was no longer an option and decided to go back to Titan, to check that Mega Image that I recalled also had discounts of 90% for expiring products just before closing time. But, after putting my things in a cabinet, I only saw discounts of 50% and nothing that was particularly interesting anyway, so I just retrieved my things, though that time around I did pick up a 0.50 RON that I spotted on the floor. So I wandered around a lot and had little to show for it, and on the way back I just grabbed a couple more recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I got back a few minutes after 11 PM, and after cleaning the litter box and going to drop a bag of trash down the chute I put the few purchases in their place, ate some koliva which had been brought by dad, washed what was in the kitchen, did the day’s squats, and at 12:15 AM I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done a little before 1:20 AM, but then I talked to dad for a while, also took something again, and ate dinner between 3:25 AM and 4:10 AM, at which point I also noticed that at least one of the computer’s fans was making a worrying, uneven noise. And there were no visits recorded that day either. On the other hand, while I did recover some sleep, only waking up the last time when it was past 3 PM, during that last part of the sleep I had a particularly elaborate dream that included multiple fears but centered on my worst one, so I was just crushed when I got up, physically as well, but mentally even more so. And when dad got back I was in the kitchen and the door to my room was wide open, so when he went to the bathroom he could clearly see the picture that’s my desktop background. Since he doesn’t pay attention to anything, it’s quite likely that he didn’t notice, but it made me feel even worse.

Thursday morning, I got in bed at 5:20 AM, and after getting up, having lunch and doing 200 squats, since the previous day I kept putting them off until I forgot to do them at all, I went to pick up the race kit for the marathon, leaving at 6:40 PM, with the two recyclables with the deposit symbol that I came back with two days earlier and two fish cans, which I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way. And I was in a hurry, so I just picked up one more recyclable with the deposit symbol before Unirii Square, where I made a little detour to Carrefour in order to put those three recyclables in the machine, so I won’t have them with me when I’ll pick up the race kit. But I couldn’t lose time, so it was somewhat worrying when both recycling machines were in use when I got there, and when the first person was done and I tried to put the first plastic bottle in, the other person said that only the other machine accepted those, the one that I was trying to use being only for glass bottles, and I didn’t even check whether that was correct, since the other machine was quickly freed as well and I could use it. And then I had a look through the recyclables which were discarded around the machines, found two of those with small bar codes and managed to get the machine to accept those as well, after a few attempts, ending up with a second voucher. And then I continued on my way, also walking the last part of the route in the process, and washing my hands at a drinking fountain.
I reached Constitution Square just before 7:45 PM, had a quick look at the nutrition sponsor’s stand, then picked up the race kit and checked the bag after walking back out of the Sport Expo area, but I did that so quickly that I didn’t even realize that the usual magazine wasn’t included, so when I went back in and bought a jelly bar from that stand, I didn’t also check to see whether the magazines were somehow placed somewhere else, so those who wanted one could take it. But I had checked the number and noticed that it was 1038 while that of the timing chip was 10038, and while in previous years the two numbers had nothing in common, the fact that they were so close this time around made me wonder whether something might have been wrong, so I asked someone about it, being told that they’re unrelated and it’s fine. So I then went to a table and arranged everything somewhat better, though I didn’t also try on the t-shirt, as I usually do.
On the way back, I entered that Carrefour Express with everything and grabbed two expiring products, then wanted to put everything in a cabinet when I returned to Carrefour Unirii, but there were no free cabinets, and the guard confirmed it when I asked, so I asked her to put stickers on those two products, which were of one of their store brands and which I had carried in my hand, pointing out that everything else was obviously the race kit and then entering with everything, putting those two products in my regular backpack and taking the empty bags out of it once I was inside the store. And, after having a quick look at the expiring products, I went up to the bakery area and saw that some products were already discounted by 50% even though it was still well before 9 PM. But none of those products were interesting, and the large apple pie that also had that 50% discount wasn’t something that I wanted to buy that day, so I went to pee and wash my hands and then just got some beans, since I finally saw Romanian beans on sale again. And at the self-checkout I also used the vouchers received for those recyclables, and then I added the beans in the backpack.
Since I had seen on-line that Kaufland Popa Nan was supposed to close at 10:30 PM and it only meant a small detour on the way back, that was the next destination, so after grabbing a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, I got there when it was almost 9:45 PM… And saw that the listed closing time was 10 PM! But I still took a moment to put those recyclables in the recycling machine, along with one that I found there and which was accepted on first try even though I was quite sure that it won’t be, since I recalled having one of those among those that weren’t accepted before. Then I rushed to wash my hands and two bottle caps that are used in a contest and which I had remembered to keep that time around, but the men’s was closed, and after dashing to the women’s to wash those caps, I noticed that there was no soap there, so I went to the toilets for disabled people and was finally able to wash my hands as well.
That left me with very little time, so I entered with everything and hurried as much as possible, the good thing being that the bakery area is right next to the fruits and vegetables in that location, close to the entrance, so I quickly scanned the price labels for two kinds of bread that had no listed discount, finding that one did have one, but it was small, so I didn’t take any, just getting a sweet pastry that did have the 50% evening discount. And then I rushed to grab some vegetables and a quince, all of which had evening discounts, and during that time I also mentioned to the employee from that area that the site listed the closing time as 10:30 PM, but he said that it wasn’t the case anymore. But I just made it in time, the closing announcement coming just as I was also weighing a few onions, which only had the regular discount that they had those days. That meant that I had no more time to see whether they still had any of the olives that were on sale, but I’ll only need those if I’ll make pizza after the marathon, so I then went to the self-checkouts, also using the voucher received for those recyclables, and then took my time to arrange everything. And on the way back I checked a Mega Image, putting just the bag in a cabinet, entering with the backpacks, and then just retrieving the bag and walking out, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol from there and a couple more on the way back. On the other hand, at some point I realized that, since I hadn’t checked the rest of that Kaufland, I had forgotten to get a small yogurt, and I’d have liked to have one the following day, before making pasta… But I made do without it.
To return to Thursday evening, I got back a little before 10:50 PM and within a quarter of an hour I was in the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, being done a little before 11:55 PM. Then, after spending some time in my room, I eventually put the purchases in their place, showed dad what was in the race kit, ate that quince and a sweet pastry that I already had, took another pill, because my throat felt a little sore once again, and used some of the lettuce which I had bought from Kaufland for the salad, finally eating dinner between 4:10 AM and 4:55 AM and getting in bed at 6:10 AM.

Well, after waking up to pee at 10:45 AM, I couldn’t get back to sleep, one reason being that I started feeling the other pressing need as well, plus that my nose was a little stuffy. So I eventually went back to the toilet a little after 11:10 AM, but after the first piece the rest didn’t seem to want to come out even though my guts felt just stuffed. At least I eventually managed to get some more sleep, but the dreams were once again quite troubling and by the time I got up I had only slept for a total of about five and a half hours, and then I only added a short nap, about half an hour, late in the evening, and this morning I only got in bed at 5:30 AM, after dad got back. But at least I only got up when it was close to 4 PM, and while I woke up several times before then, including one time when I was woken up by the noise made by dad when he got something out of the freezer before leaving, I’m quite sure that I got a total of over eight hours of sleep. And now let’s see how I’ll manage to eat dinner earlier, get everything ready for the morning and maybe manage to get a little sleep tonight as well.