Cav's Place

Though I did get up and spent some time on the computer while dad was getting ready to leave, on August 31 I could otherwise sleep, since it was Sunday. But that sleep was agitated, and I also had one of those dreams where I had woken up, everything seemed normal at first, but then odd things started appearing and it quickly turned into a nightmare that I couldn’t escape, even when I did realize that I was dreaming, so I had to force my mind to reject that false “reality” by making it too terrible, making the people who had entered the apartment torture me. I was rather proud of the solution when it worked, though I was unsurprisingly quite a mess when I woke up. But then I managed to get back to sleep, getting up when the alarm rang, at 4 PM, to watch the race. And later I actually managed to finish the review for Lost Words: Beyond the Page, even if not before midnight, so I initially posted a version that lacked the conclusion and had a single paragraph instead of what later became the section that’s before the conclusion, expanding it to two paragraphs a little later. But before going to bed in the morning I did finish, rewriting those paragraphs, making them a separate section, adding the conclusion as well, and then also submitting it on HonestGamers. As for the pills, I stopped taking anything for the throat and took the last plain Paracetamol that we still had as the cold pill, and that one actually had August 2025 as the expiration date.

On September 1, after eating lunch, taking one pill and doing the day’s squats, I left at 8:40 PM, with the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol… But without the backpack, so also without any bags except the dirty ones that I had the recyclables in, which I didn’t want to use for the purchases. And it actually took me a while to realize it and I was rushing to that Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, so I had no time to get back if I wanted to catch the 90% discounts. And, while I had the headphones on, I didn’t listen to anything that evening.
At least I did reach that Mega Image just in time to see 90% discount labels being placed on the bakery products and took a few things before the two carts of other products that had that same discount were brought and I rushed there, grabbed one thing… And by the time I checked to make sure that I was actually interested in that product, other people had taken all but a couple of others, which I wasn’t interested in, and which were also taken within the next few seconds anyway. And I couldn’t put the recyclables in the machine either, since it reported that one container was full and nobody was dealing with it, so that made carrying the purchases even more of a problem. But that other product which I had bought came in a bag, with handles, and I managed to stuff all but one of the bakery products in there and was then able to hold that bag and that remaining product in one hand, so while I had a moment when I considered getting right back, I decided to stick to the original plan after all.
After putting the recyclables in the machine from Kaufland, I rushed to Carrefour, put the purchases in a cabinet, bought a bug repellent for mother, and grabbed a discarded plastic bag and two of those large bags for bakery products. Then I retrieved the purchases and went back to Kaufland, putting the recyclable grabbed on the way in the machine and the purchases from Mega Image in a cabinet, peeing and washing my hands, and entering the store a little before 10 PM, with those bags which I had grabbed from Carrefour… And with that bug repellent, which I had forgotten in my back pocket. Either way, I took a bundle of green onions, with a good evening discount, then also got some olives, being charged for the plastic box, and asked about the cheese that was on sale, being told that what was left was crushed and they had put it in boxes, and if when the employee showed me those boxes I initially said that I didn’t want any, I then decided to take one after all, at full price, just without being charged for the box, since I asked and was told that they won’t discount it, though it was quite clear that this was why they had placed it in boxes. And I did check, after also grabbing two of those cheap yogurts and a bunch of Moldovan plums, which were discounted by 90%, but they probably expected that and the rest didn’t appear among the discounted products. So I was just about to reach the self-checkouts when the closing announcement came, then also used the vouchers received for the recyclables, retrieved what I had in the cabinet… And once again forgot about that repellent when I put the purchases in a cabinet from that Mega Image, the guard asking about it when I went to retrieve what I had there, after finding nothing to get, and initially seeming doubtful when I showed him the receipt. But he eventually accepted that I had purchased it from Carrefour. And then I went to a bench and arranged everything, and picked up two recyclables on the way back.
I got back at 11:25 PM, put some watermelon on a plate, cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, ate the watermelon, put the purchases with the exception of the bakery products in their place, talked to dad a little, washed what was in the kitchen except the grill that he had used, and went to wash at 1:10 AM, being done just before 2 AM. Then I washed that grill as well… And when I put that supplement with vitamin C and zinc into the tea, a little of the tea splashed into the tube, and since that supplement dissolves in liquid, I had to take out a few of the pills, initially putting them in a cup. Either way, I then used a small flatbread purchased from Mega Image to make myself something sweet, some of the honey ending up stuck on the plate after I microwaved it, so it took me a while to get all of it. And I also took another cold pill, put the bakery products in their place as well, and took a first bite of dinner in my room at 4:25 AM, though I then moved those supplement pills into a jar, so I actually started eating when it was past 4:30 AM, being done at 5:20 AM. And I got in bed at 6:20 AM.

I’m not sure what time it was when the noise woke me because I was just paralyzed in bed for a while, but it wasn’t yet 9:45 AM when I managed to crawl up and go to pee. The noise was just terrible, terrifying, I had a hard time holding back panic attacks. And there was more noise coming from upstairs even after the workers took their break, at noon, so it was only a few minutes before 12:30 PM when I got back in bed, and I was still awake just before 1:10 PM, when the noise from upstairs started yet again. But I stayed in bed and caught some brief and agitated naps before finally crawling back up, just before 2:45 PM. And then I stayed at the computer, feeling quite out of it, until the noise stopped, around 4:30 PM… At which point, instead of going back to bed, I did some other things, since until then I had felt that I pretty much couldn’t move, also because of the workers walking past the windows. So I only added about an hour and a half of sleep later in the evening, and I might have just dozed off again when dad got back, just after 10 PM, and I got up. Otherwise, I stopped taking any other pills, just continuing with those supplements that I definitely had to finish, after getting them wet. And, after it was past 1:30 AM when I went back to the kitchen, I tried to “cheat” and take a first bite of dinner in my room just before 3 AM, but it was a couple of minutes before 3:30 AM when I actually started eating and, despite trying to hurry as much as possible, I finished at 3:45 AM.

The noise from upstairs woke me at 8:15 AM, before the workers also started outside, and since I had woken up to pee once by then, I almost certainly didn’t even get two and a half hours of sleep. And then I decided to set The Witcher 2 aside, since I had reached the big decision two days earlier, and actually got back to Lords of Xulima, which I had last set aside at the end of March of 2021. But I eventually noticed that things had gotten quiet, so at 11:25 AM I got back in bed and it was past 6:40 PM when I got up, though various noises did return and I obviously kept waking up, and I also went to pee a few times. But, including those from the morning, I’d say that I got some seven hours of sleep in total, however interrupted it was. And then I ate lunch, did 200 squats, since the previous day I had once again kept putting them off until I forgot to do them at all, and went out a little before 9:20 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I picked up some more on the way to Kaufland, putting the rest in the machine from there and being left with two which I had picked up from that area and a rather crushed one, which weren’t accepted, plus a discarded label which I had also picked up from there. So I put those in a cabinet, washed my hands, dashing to the room for disabled people to do so properly, since there was no soap in the men’s, and entered the store at 9:55 PM. But there were few evening discounts and none for anything that I cared to get, and while a few more appeared after 10 PM, they were too low. On the other hand, there were a whole lot of large bio (organic) cucumbers that were discounted by 75%, taking their price down to that of regular cucumbers, so I took two that were just fine, plus two small packs of expiring gum for dad and a cheap yogurt, so the total allowed me to use the voucher received for the recyclables at the self-checkout. Then I put the purchases in the backpack and walked out a few minutes before 10:30 PM.
On the way back, I picked up more recyclables and checked three Mega Image locations, entering the first one with everything and getting some bakery products that were discounted by 90%, the cashier just throwing away the receipt without even looking at me after taking the money, then putting the bags in a cabinet when I reached the second one, entering with the backpack, and just wasting time by waiting until after 11 PM without seeing anything new getting the 90% discount, then retrieving what I had in the cabinet and leaving the bags next to the door after entering this nearby one, walking in with the backpack, and then retrieving the bags on my way out… But the interesting thing was that I noticed a couple of bakery products with the 90% discount, and while I wasn’t interested in them, it marked the first time I saw that discount in this location.
I got back at 11:35 PM and cleaned the litter box, but I had seen something in the nearby Mega Image that dad might have been interested in, so I asked him when he finished his bath and, since he said that it’d have been nice and it was still before midnight, I dashed back there and bought it. Then I put watermelon on a plate, went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, ate that watermelon, put the few purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, moved that crushed cheese into a bowl and a jar, since dad wanted some, and made something sweet once again. But I didn’t eat it right away, going to wash first, since it was already 1:55 AM, and being done a little after 2:30 AM, after which I ate that sweet thing while working on dinner. And I once again moved the slices to another plate and got what was stuck on the one used to microwave them, took that supplement, and ate dinner between 4:30 AM and 5:25 AM. I got in bed at 6:25 AM.

Once again, at 8:15 AM I was woken up by noise, so I got back on the computer for a while, playing more Lords of Xulima, finally getting back in bed right at noon. And I actually got some sleep, waking up once while it was still quiet and getting right back to sleep, then waking up again around 2:30 PM, I guess, because I thought that it was only a few minutes later when I checked the time and saw 2:38 PM… And then I thought that I had just been awake for about half an hour, without falling asleep again, before getting up… Only to see 5:23 PM, so I obviously did fall asleep again, and while I don’t know when or for how long, I’d say that I probably slept for some two more hours. And I tried to catch another nap in the evening, but dad got back right after I had fallen asleep and I got up, only getting back in bed about an hour later, and while I spent about another hour lying there, I couldn’t fall asleep again. And I once again only took that supplement.

On September 5, despite obviously waking up multiple times, including two when it was quiet but I had to pee, once before the workers got here and once during their break, and my dermatitis also acting up badly again, so at one point I put some cream on those areas, I could always get back to sleep quickly and, while it was made up of brief and agitated naps, I got a fair amount of sleep, getting up a few minutes after 2 PM, though I hadn’t set an alarm… But then I cut my right thumb, probably in the can of cat food that dad had almost emptied, getting some blood on my towel before realizing it. Either way, I once again ate a banana instead of an apple, a worker being right in front of the kitchen window at that point, though I kept my back towards him, and mixed some more of those baked almonds with Himalayan salt with the yogurt and cereals. And I also shaved, then just finished reading a newspaper on the toilet, which wasn’t that much of a concern when I had gone before going to bed in the morning, ate two of those nicer biscuits, with added honey, and left at 5:20 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband and with some things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was about 31°C, likely holding steady, though I couldn’t check what it was after the run… But I was feeling so out of it… Exhausted, lightheaded, barely moving, with a mind fog…
The time was 49:25.83, with sector times of 4:24.26, 5:09.16, 6:00 (5:59.94), 4:35.53, 5:20 (5:19.66), 6:06.34, 4:39 (4:38.12), 5:21.19, 6:01.25 and 1:50.38, making for lap times of 15:33.36, 16:01.53 and 16:01 (16:00.56). Between the awful lack of sleep, the heat, and the fact that I was just recovering from the cold, I was thinking that getting under 50 minutes would be great and I pushed a fair bit from the start, being relatively pleased with that first sector. But the second seemed somewhat concerning and I wondered whether I’ll even stick to the 6:10 that’s the target for a 16-minute lap on the third and therefore at least squeeze under 15:45 on the first lap. And, despite doing better than that, I thought that I needed to cover lap three in 16 minutes to even have a chance to stay under 50 and didn’t see that happening, so I was thinking that I might even have to settle for staying under 52 in the end. But sector one of lap two gave me some hope, and while sector two pretty much took it away, I pushed on sector three and ended up covering the lap in just over 16 minutes. That made me once again hope to stay under 50 minutes, so I kept pushing, and after sector one of lap three I wondered whether I might even squeeze under 49:30. It seemed unlikely, but I went for it, continuing to push even when sector two of lap three made me think that I needed an extremely unlikely fastest sector three of the day in order to still have a chance, since I didn’t think that I’ll be able to recover much of anything on the final sector. But I was just about there at the end of the lap, and digging as deep as I still could on the final sector resulted in being quite safely under 49:30 after all. Not that this isn’t a bad time in itself, ending that series of six below 48 minutes started a month and a half ago and the slowest since June, but I’m content with it under those circumstances.
I needed to snap my back from the beginning and couldn’t quite do it, so it got worse as I approached the end of the first lap, and while the feeling lessened after that, it didn’t go away. And there was some pain from the right hip, also from the beginning, and the feeling spread along that leg as time passed, and while it eventually also lessened, that was probably because I was sparing that leg, which led to my left leg starting to give some little warnings by the end of lap two. But the main problem was that I was so out of it, it was hard to just keep going, so the run felt awfully hard, and my reactions were particularly slow as well, so it’s a good thing that it wasn’t that crowded. Still, I hesitated and slowed on sector two of lap one because a kid on a scooter turned in front of me, while on the following sector I hesitated, albeit just a little, when I saw a cyclist coming from the opposite direction, even if he was still quite far. And another moment when I hesitated a little was on sector two of lap three, when a girl was about to run across the path and cut me off, and while she stopped just in time, I couldn’t have known that she would. On the other hand, at the start of sector two of lap two I stopped for an instant, but that was because I couldn’t get a good enough look at the time at first and then my eyes wouldn’t focus well enough to see the small digits once that interval time moved above the current one. And there was a fair bit of wind in some areas. And my nose and throat were getting irritated, but that feeling actually went away not long after the run, what was left being that my lips felt very dry.

After the run, I went to Carrefour, grabbing a recyclable on the way and putting it in the machine, the guy who was waiting for the employee to finish servicing one offering to allow me ahead when he saw that I just had one. Then I entered the store and looked for the TV that dad had asked me to get, finding it and thinking that several were left, so I initially moved on and grabbed some cheap biscuits for dad, just to check whether the vouchers with 30% of the value of certain categories of products actually were once again offered even if you didn’t use their app, confirming that and also using the voucher received for that recyclable when I paid for them. And then I remembered to check whether the earlier hour gave me a chance to find any of that bread still unsliced, and I did, so I bought one of those as well before walking out of the checkout area and then back in through the entrance, the electronics area being in that part of the store… At which point I saw that a single one of those TVs was still available, not counting the one on display, the others which I had initially assumed to be the same model actually being the “smart” version, so it’s a good thing that it hadn’t been taken by someone else by then. Either way, since the cashier from that area asked, I also had it quickly tested, though another guy who was there asked about it at that point and had a look at the accessories, removing the remote from the bag, which I wasn’t comfortable with. And when I walked out the guard stopped me and asked for the receipt, saying that she had to put her own stamp on it as well if I wanted the warranty to be valid. And on the way back I picked up a few recyclables, along with a small bag to carry them in.
I was back a little after 8 PM, then I dropped off the purchases, cleaned the litter box, ate a lot of watermelon, grabbed the backpack, and left again at 8:40 PM, rushing to the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, so I didn’t make use of the fact that there was a match to look for any recyclables, just picking up one on the way. But I got there at 8:55 PM and waited for the 90% discount labels to be placed on the bakery products, grabbing the two apple pastries once the employee got to them. And then, after putting that recyclable in the machine, I noticed that the cart with the other products that had the 90% discount had already been brought and people weren’t gathered around it, so I don’t know if it had been brought earlier or nobody else noticed either, since a woman got there seconds after I did and grabbed the third bread, since I had just picked up two, for my parents. And then I also used the voucher received for that recyclable when I paid, once again not receiving a receipt. Either way, I didn’t want to lose even more of the match, so after putting the purchases in the backpack, I jogged back, though I stopped at one point to make sure that the little bag with the money was also in the backpack.
I got back at 9:25 PM, just in time to catch that silly second goal. Then I put the few purchases in their place, did the day’s squats, ate one of the apple pastries, and after the match, at 11:05 PM, I went out again, to check whether there were going to be 90% discounts at the nearby Mega Image once again, though I was quite sure that, if there were going to be any, they’ll appear at 11:30 PM. But none of the remaining bakery products had any evening discount, and while I saw that machine that prints them left on a shelf and a 90% discount label was printed, it was for a product that was no longer available, and while I wandered around the guard took away the bags used for bakery products, so it seemed like they weren’t going to make more discounts that evening. Still, I wandered around a little longer, then walked out and wandered around a little outside as well, checking from the door a couple more times before finally giving up and coming back.
Then I cleaned the litter box one more time, went to drop that bag of trash down the chute, and picked up two bottles with the deposit symbol from the garbage room, though one looked interesting, so I asked dad whether he wanted to keep it and he said that he did. And I talked to him a little more, including about the new TV, which he placed in the living room and tested, and it was past 1 AM when I finally went to my room to eat lunch while writing some notes about the day, finishing that lunch at 1:40 AM and going to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, when it was almost 2 AM. I was done a little after 2:50 AM, then also did a proper search for the digital channels on the new TV, moved something into a jar, took another one of those supplements and also another expired cold pill, and ate dinner between 4:35 AM and 5:05 AM. And I got in bed at 6:35 AM…

Well, the workers had today off as well, same as last week, but whoever the upstairs neighbor hired to work on her apartment didn’t, so at 9:05 AM I was once again woken up by that extremely loud drilling that seems to be right above me and which makes me panic, and it was so loud that it still drowned out the music when I went to the computer, put on the headphones and turned the volume to maximum! But it did become less loud after a while, and eventually it seemed to stop, so at 11:50 AM I got back in bed… Though by then I had some serious gas, which I guess was part of the reason why it took me quite a long time to fall asleep again. And I didn’t get back to sleep right away after getting up at 3:40 PM to pee either, plus that I woke up yet again before 5 PM, when I had set the alarm to ring, to watch handball, and I really don’t know whether I had just fallen asleep again or not by the time that alarm did ring and I got up. Either way, while I was in the kitchen I bumped my head against the corner of the table… And just when I had gotten back in bed in the evening, dad got back, and even if I did get back in bed once more about half an hour later, he was making little noises and if I slept at all before going to pee again, some 45 minutes later, it couldn’t have been for more than mere moments. At least I did get a little sleep after that, but less than an hour… And when I got up I saw that he had gathered what had been hung to dry in his bedroom, since the balcony is unusable now, leaving my running t-shirt but not realizing that one other thing was mine and then being unable to find it when I asked for it, so I don’t even know where it is now, and I’m quite sure that I’ll have to wash it again anyway.

The first words that came to mind when I was trying to characterize Lost Words: Beyond the Page were nice and sweet. But I can’t really use those. In part because they’re too simple, too plain, but mainly because they’re inaccurate, potentially leading to wrong expectations about what will happen and how it’s likely to make you feel if you play it. So I’ll go with wholesome instead, which is far more appropriate. Plus that it does sound more like the sort of term that one should use while reviewing a game that’s ostensibly about writing, doesn’t it?

Actually, it really is about writing. Not so much about the character’s, the Estoria sections being pretty much as childish as it’d be expected, even in the later parts, at least in my opinion, but about the game’s, the “real” story and the way it’s presented in the Diary sections, the narration also playing an important role. And, from this point of view, the fact that the character’s writing remains believably suitable for her age should be seen as quite an achievement. The far bigger one, however, is the emotional response it generates, the punch it packs even when you, the player, are likely to know what’s coming.
The largely relaxing, risk-free gameplay, with light platforming and puzzle elements that you just get to try again right away if you fail and choices that allow you to shape certain moments without actually carrying real consequences, only complements and emphasizes the focus on the story and its emotional impact. It serves to keep players engaged and feeling that they’re actually taking part without needing to think or worry about playing the game in itself. So I won’t dwell any more on the gameplay either, Lost Words: Beyond the Page being a great example of using the medium to deliver a story, and in some ways a message, and being just enough of a “game” to perhaps appeal not only to some who might not have the patience or the attention span for simply reading, but even to some who’d reject the “walking simulators” that tend to be seen as the genre that’s typically used for this purpose.

It does still require the willingness to take it easy, or better yet to see it as something that’s to be experienced rather than “played”, the fact that the logo videos can’t be skipped whenever you launch it perhaps being one more indication of that… And one that I could have done without. But that’s just a tiny niggle, a far more serious complaint being that there’s no manual saving. There are three slots, so the game can be played more than once or by multiple people at the same time, the checkpoints are particularly frequent and, as I already mentioned, if you fail something you just get to try again right away and there are no real choices that you should save before. But sometimes it may feel like there are, so you may want to, just for your peace of mind. Admittedly, the player’s peace of mind isn’t necessarily what the developers were aiming at, but it doesn’t mean I have to like the approach. Plus that, no matter how generous the checkpoint system is, manual saving is a matter of respecting the player’s time, of allowing quitting whenever you want or need to without the risk of losing anything.
And then there are some bugs as well. Some are minor, like words that vanish after a certain point reappearing after reloading during that chapter, but there are even places where you can get stuck, in which case the checkpoint system shows its ugliest face, possibly even meaning that you’re forced to restart the game. While I obviously had no intention of testing it myself, I saw a post stating that such a moment may exist in the lava cave, after you get Burn. And I for one “managed” to get quite literally stuck at those falling rocks, ending up on the edge of one when the next one fell and being unable to move, so I had to quit, fortunately being able to continue from the last checkpoint after that.
Moving on to the collectibles, I’m not sure about the asterisks, but there is at least one firefly, in the desert, that can become unreachable, though I realized it quickly, went back to the menu, then resumed and was able to get it at that point… Only to see at the end of the chapter that I had missed others as well, probably because, being the first chapter where they appear, I didn’t quite know what I had to look for and collect. And the game seemed to be rather confused about the number, since I remembered seeing 17/20 at the end of the chapter and, without missing any others after that point, I was still missing three from the total at the end, but the counter shown next to the save slot only listed a single missing firefly all the way, and when the Chapter Select option became available, after finishing the game, it listed 19/20 in that chapter. Then again, while I didn’t actually check, I got the impression that it doesn’t really matter in terms of the game itself, not counting achievements, for those who care about that sort of thing.

But I said that the game is mainly about delivering a story and a message and then wrote three paragraphs complaining about technical matters, and minor ones at that, with the exception of the few that may result in being unable to continue. So let me now get to what bothered me about the message. Not the story, which I’m definitely leaving under positive aspects, but the message behind it, which has to do with the “proper” stages of grief and coming to terms with facts or events that are beyond one’s control and can’t be changed, in ways that the modern mental health field would support or at least accept. I will emphasize that the point isn’t driven home that much and the conclusion is bleaker and more negative than what most mental health professionals would typically advocate and definitely very far from what would come from this toxic cult of positivity that keeps being so terribly popular, so my reaction is also far less negative, but I was nevertheless bothered by this. And yes, I’m quite aware that this basically amounts to complaining that the developers have achieved what they set out to do, which hardly sounds fair when you put it like that, but it is what bothered me the most and I must say it.
And, while it’s less important because it was just mentioned in passing, there was one more moment that I reacted negatively to, and this time there are no caveats. I’m referring to the character writing “when I get my first job” despite correctly stating “if”, and even “unlikely”, when it came to getting married. So she didn’t have what are considered to be the typical stages of life drilled into her mind to the point that she sees them as mandatory and unavoidable, or at least managed to resist that process in case of some of them, but that apparently doesn’t apply to the hamster wheel of wage slavery. And I’d have quite a few comments to make about “when I go to university” as well.

Leaving a few technical matters aside, Lost Words: Beyond the Page’s light, largely relaxing and risk-free puzzle platforming gameplay strikes the balance between being sufficiently engaging to keep one’s attention and not taking any of the focus away from the compelling and believable narrative that is the game’s primary purpose, and which is likely to generate quite an emotional response even when, unlike the character, you can see what’s coming. The exact nature of that response and the “taste” it’ll leave you with will be in part influenced by your attitude towards what are considered the “proper” stages of grief, and perhaps also of life, but even I will say that it could have been much worse… And I actually expected it to be, so while I can’t say that I enjoyed it, I wasn’t exactly displeased either, and I’ll readily admit that the developers have definitely achieved what they set out to do.

After only starting the washing machine after dad got back, it was past 1 AM on August 19 when I hung the clothes to dry. And I only finished cooking when I went to do that, so I ate lunch after I was done, while working on dinner. And I also moved something into a jar, but since I licked what was left on the plastic box and that seemed quite enough, I decided that I won’t put anything on the bread, so for dinner I just ate the bread with the salad, in the kitchen, starting around 3:25 AM, though I didn’t check the time at that point, and finishing at 3:50 AM. And then Liza woke me twice, first by meowing for a while and then by going to the litter box, and I went to pee both times and the second time I also cleaned the litter box again… And then dad got up, waking me yet again, and as he got ready to leave I kept drifting off and waking back up… Only for the noise he was making to pale in comparison to what started coming from outside just before he left, so after trying to wait it out a while longer I eventually got up for some 20 to 25 minutes, also checking the weather and the status of the hot water before noticing that the noise had stopped and getting back in bed at 11:05 AM. And, while it took me a while to get back to sleep, I could then stay asleep until 1:40 PM, when I woke up to pee one more time, managing to catch another brief nap before 2 PM, when the alarm rang and I got up. Then I once again replaced the apple with a banana, but otherwise had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing consisting of two nicer biscuits, with added honey. But, despite feeling that I had to go, I just wasted time on the toilet. Either way, I left at 4:35 PM, wearing the full running gear. It was overcast and drizzling, with a reported temperature of 23-24°C, and 23°C when I finished.
The time was 47:09.89, with sector times of 4:16.32, 4:56.66, 5:57 (5:56.03), 4:26.84, 5:03 (5:02.47), 5:45.04, 4:20.40, 4:58 (4:57.44), 5:43.16 and 1:45.53, making for lap times of 15:09.01, 15:14.35 and 15:01.00. This was the first time during this series of good runs when I actually aimed to stay under 48 minutes, and while sector two of lap one was particularly good, the other two sectors and the lap as a whole only gave me a small buffer, so I had to keep pushing, and when things weren’t looking that good after sector two of lap two, I pushed even more, continuing to do so when the time at the end of lap two made me wonder whether I might just squeeze under 47:30. It didn’t exactly seem likely, but I didn’t want to fail for lack of trying, so I kept it up, and after sector two of lap three it suddenly became likely. But then I wondered whether I might just manage the year’s best time as well, beating the one from two weeks earlier, and the good sector three of lap three meant that at the end of the lap I actually had a chance. So I went for it, and made it by a clear margin, this being not only the best run of the year over this distance, but the best one since the last time I got under 47 minutes, in November.
After a while, the drizzling lessened and eventually pretty much stopped, but it was apparently enough to keep many away, so the park was quite clear and there were no notable issues caused by people. But I needed to snap my back from the beginning and couldn’t quite do it, which led to having to deal with reflected pain spreading in my abdomen from sector two of lap one, though it eventually started to fade. On the other hand, the fact that I had only lost time on the toilet wasn’t much of a problem, the slight feeling that there was something there being easy to shrug off. But there were a couple of moments on sector two of lap two when I got quite dizzy, and the same thing happened on the next sector, so I had to pay attention to that and apparently did it well enough, because despite pushing harder on lap three, it didn’t really happen again. I still felt off and there were a couple of moments when it seemed that I was about to actually get dizzy again, but it didn’t quite get there.

After eating lunch, drinking the second protein shake taken after the Dream Trek, which had expired four days earlier, doing 200 squats, since I had kept putting them off the previous day until I forgot to do them at all, and changing, I left again at 8:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol. And I picked up one more before leaving the building and then checked the Carrefour Express which had recently opened nearby, putting those recyclables in the machine from there and cashing in the voucher before continuing to that Mega Image that closes at 10 PM.
I got there at 8:55 PM, but the employee was already placing the 90% discount labels on the bakery products, so I had a look and just took one. But then two carts of other products that were also discounted by 90% were brought, so I rushed there and took quite a number of things, including a bag of oranges that I had doubts about, because it was badly torn and the oranges were scattered, so I checked to make sure that none were left in or around the cart but couldn’t really know that I actually had all of them… Or, in fact, that the cashier won’t lose one when scanning that label and I may not pay attention. Either way, the woman who was ahead of me wanted to hand over the store card from Auchan and I pointed it out to her but she ignored me until the cashier told her the same thing and, as she was struggling to find the one from Mega Image, I handed over mine, so it was used for both of us. But the cashier was the same one who had given me more change the previous week and I’m not sure whether she remembered that or not, but that evening she was particularly strict, initially feeling the bags of radishes and saying that one contained three bundles even though the labels stated that each contained two, and after looking for one that was supposed to contain only one in order to scan it again and seeing that there was none, she charged me for seven bags, even though there had been six of them and it had been a while since I had been charged for the bags that they put such discounted fruits or vegetables in at Mega Image. And, considering the huge discounts, the bags added 25% to the cost of those fruits and vegetables. And, after taking some time to try to put most of the purchases in the backpack, I realized that not enough of them would fit for that to have much of a point and just put them back in the bag.
I picked up another recyclable on the way to Kaufland and put it in the machine from there. Then, after weighing the oranges and noticing that I was actually missing one, I put the bag with the purchases in a cabinet, entered the store just after 9:40 PM, and made use of evening discounts for some potatoes, a few onions that I found among them, the place where they should have been being empty, and two “green” tomatoes that were actually almost ripe, which was just why I grabbed them. Then I added two of those cheap yogurts, another pack of cat food and a cat snack that was at half price, used the voucher received for the recyclables at the self-checkout, retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged the purchases a little, walking out just after 10:25 PM. And then I rushed to that Mega Image as well, putting the bag in a cabinet, entering with the backpack, and getting two breads for myself, four for dad, and a bagel, all of them with the 90% discount. Then I retrieved that bag and arranged the purchases a little, but a little later I stopped twice more, to arrange things better. And I also picked up a few more recyclables on the way back.
I got back just after 11:25 PM, and after putting some of the purchases in their place, spreading out the rest, and eating an orange, just before 12:20 AM I went to take a shower, ending up using actual cold water, since what came out of the hot water pipe, on top of having low pressure and only being marginally less cold, was brownish and smelled of sewers. I was done at 12:40 AM, and then I cut that bagel in half and put some jam in it, seeing that one which dad had said he wanted long ago and then pretty much never touched was starting to get moldy, so I cleared away the mold and moved what was left in a tiny jar. And, after eating that, I selected the radishes, seeing that at least three of the four bags actually contained three bundles, though I ended up with 12 rubber bands and don’t know whether one bundle had two bands or the last bag also contained three bundles, but they were particularly small. Either way, while there were quite a number of bad radishes, most were good, and I could initially even set aside a small handful of leaves that still seemed usable at that point, though I didn’t do anything with them that night and by the following one only a few were still usable, so it was almost a complete loss from that point of view. But, to return to that night, I had some things to wash as well, took a supplement with vitamin C and zinc which had recently expired, put the remaining purchases in their place, and ate dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:40 AM, during which time I also wrote some notes about the day and spent time on-line. And I got in bed at 6:50 AM.

The following morning I got in bed at 5:20 AM. And after waking up to pee just after 8:30 AM, I was drifting in and out of sleep, especially after dad got up, so I only got another hour or so before some workers came to remove the outer unit of the AC, to clear the way for the work that will be done on the building, and dad pulled it in but left it in the kitchen, since he had to leave. And it’s not like we could put it anywhere else either, seeing as everyone is apparently required to completely empty their balconies now, and I really wonder where everything we have there will go. Either way, I only got back in bed at 2 PM and needed some time to fall asleep, then got up to pee at 3:55 PM and woke up again just after 4:50 PM, at which point I got back up.

The following morning I was woken up before 7:45 AM, when dad left, and after managing to get back to sleep I was woken up again at 9:45 AM by the sound of drilling coming from the upstairs neighbor, and when dad got back he said that he talked to her and she said that she had gotten someone to start working on the electrical part of the apartment. So I only got back in bed just after 12:40 PM, when the particularly loud drilling had stopped and the other noises seemed fainter and less frequent, but even so I only caught moments of agitated sleep until, just before 3 PM, some loud hammering initially made me decide to get back up. But I was just so sleepy, so I stayed there a little longer and that sound seemed to stop after a while, and I guess I caught a few more moments of agitated sleep before finally getting up, a little before 4:10 PM, when there was some more loud drilling. The noise lessened greatly after that, and around 5 PM it seemed to pretty much stop, but it was too late to get back in bed yet again just then, plus that I was trying to actually start writing that review for Lost Words: Beyond the Page, even if I stopped after a single paragraph. And I did get some two more hours of sleep in the evening.

Unfortunately, that late nap led to having a particularly hard time getting back to sleep in the morning, and what made it far worse was that I had noticed at night that I was going to keep needing to pee and that definitely proved true, so I kept waking up again for that reason at intervals of less than one hour. At least I did get back to sleep right away after the first time, but Liza also started meowing at one point, eventually dad got up and left, and by the time the hammering started upstairs once again, around 10:30 AM, I had only gotten some three hours of sleep. I tried to stay in bed a while longer and probably managed to catch another brief and agitated nap, but when the loud drilling also appeared again, just after 11:10 AM, I got up, getting back in bed at 2:15 PM, when things seemed to quiet down. Not that there didn’t continue to be various noises and I didn’t still wake up a few times, but at least there was no more drilling and hammering, so I got some three more hours of sleep by the time I got up again, a little after 6:30 PM. And at night I made mamaliga, mixing some things in it and once again “cheating” in order to be able to say that I started eating in my room before 3 AM, though it was just after 3:15 AM when I actually started, so I yet again had to wolf everything down in order to finish at 3:40 AM, feeling that my stomach was just about to burst. And then it was a long time before I could fall asleep, and I obviously once again kept waking up to pee, though at least there was no notable noise, being Sunday.

After getting up, I decided to help dad some more with clearing the balcony, since he had planned to do it that day but couldn’t, since he hadn’t found something for mother and was going to check stores again and then go back there, so I started clearing the cabinet where we keep the canned things but decided to also take the three large jars that dad sometimes uses to take some food to mother. And I took all three of them at once, realizing that one might fall but thinking that I could hold them while I walked to the kitchen… And I did, but when I placed one on the table I no longer held the second one at all, and it fell off the third, and while it might have been fine if it’d have just fallen on the table, my reflex was to try to catch it… And I ended up knocking it away, so it bounced off some other jars, flew into the outer unit of the AC and then slammed on the floor and shattered. So I then had to gather the larger shards and vacuum the kitchen to get rid of the rest before continuing to bring the other canned products and finding ways to place them in the kitchen, that accident making me decide against stacking them on top of each other, so they took up way more space and I couldn’t also bring in the flowers, as I had originally meant to. But it was getting late by then anyway, and any idea of cooking something as well that day also went out the window.
Otherwise, the hot water still hadn’t returned, I can’t recall the last time I went so long without washing, and my dermatitis was really acting up even if I had tried to occasionally wash that area in the sink a little, so in the evening I washed below the waist with cold water, which I should have done a couple of days earlier if I’d have known that I was going to have to do it anyway. And then I tried to write that review for Lost Words: Beyond the Page, but only managed to add two more paragraphs before having to put it aside again and quickly look for something else to add as the week’s second post, and not wanting to use another personal “slot” for a single run yet again made me end up with the one about the rest of October. And I’ll also mention here that, while it had been occasionally happening for quite some time, the middle button of my mouse is double clicking way more often… And I think that I even noticed a few moments when it failed to scroll.

Moving on to the early hours of August 25, after having quite a lot to wash and gather after dad and also peeling and boiling carrots for the salad, I ended up eating dinner between 3:55 AM and 4:20 AM. Then I woke up once to pee and a second time, at 8:30 AM, because Liza went to the litter box, and dad woke up then too and I was mostly awake while he got ready and until he left, and then the workers started their day and apparently later even started taking down elements, the noise being less than I feared but still waking me repeatedly, so I was catching naps, but did get some sleep until 2 PM, when the alarm rang and I got up. Then, after once again eating a banana instead of an apple, I also washed the cast iron pot and shaved, still with cold water. And since they started taking things down and our balcony isn’t emptied I was worried that they’ll come and say something. But that didn’t happen, and I had the yogurt with cereals and raw almonds and two of those nicer biscuits, with added honey, and left at 4:40 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was about 25°C, holding steady. And dad was just getting back when I walked out, so we met outside the building and exchanged a few words.
The time was 47:40.54, with sector times of 4:07.51, 4:59.43, 6:09 (6:08.35), 4:25.53, 5:00 (4:59.47), 5:48.50, 4:23 (4:22.84), 5:03 (5:02.63), 5:51 and 1:55, making for lap times of 15:15.29, 15:13.50 and 15:17. I’m missing those three exact times because I accidentally pressed the interval button at the end and hadn’t memorized the exact time at the end of lap three, relying on the fact that it’ll still be listed after I’ll finish, so it’s a good thing that I at least looked and memorized the seconds. Either way, I once again aimed to stay under 48 minutes and pushed hard from the beginning, but that first sector was shockingly fast even so, and I actually thought that I could have been a couple of seconds faster if I’d have really pushed every step of the way. And when I managed a good time on sector two as well, I was definitely aiming to complete the lap in less than 15 minutes… Only to lose 20 seconds on sector three because of a shoelace, which made even staying under 48 minutes at the end questionable. So I had to keep pushing, but at the same time I didn’t want to get under 47:30, because it’d have meant that I’d have managed the year’s best time yet again without that loss, which would have been frustrating. But, after initially feeling quite confident of staying under 48 minutes at the end of lap two, I was concerned that I may end up losing some more time over the course of lap three and still miss out, so I kept pushing on the first two sectors, and while I didn’t give everything, I wouldn’t necessarily say that I took it noticeably easier on sector three either, only doing so on the final sector, to make sure that I won’t end up within 20 or so seconds of the previous week’s time… Not that it’s not still frustrating to know that I might have just managed to squeeze under it without that problem and if I’d have really given everything all the way to the end.
As I already mentioned, the major loss of time was on sector three of lap one, when the right shoelace got untied and I lost 20 seconds to retie it. Other than that, there was a moment when I slowed and broke my sprint on the long straight of sector two, I think because of a little girl, but by the end of the run I couldn’t recall whether that was on lap one or two. On the other hand, I obviously did remember the lap when, on sector three, I slowed behind a group of cyclists, since another cyclist was passing them on one side and two kids on scooters came down from another path and cut them off, forcing them to stop to avoid a crash and then going around them on the other side, but when I wrote some quick notes after getting back, I seem to have accidentally listed this as having happened on lap one, which is definitely wrong, and by the time I realized it I couldn’t remember whether it was actually on lap two or three anymore. Either way, a kid who stopped in front of me meant that I had to move to the other side while climbing the stairs at the start of the final sector, and then I also had to squeeze through a group of people while climbing the curved part of those stairs. As for physical issues, I once again felt rather lightheaded quite a number of times, but at least I didn’t actually get dizzy. And a feeling that I hadn’t quite left everything in the toilet appeared at some point, probably being somewhat more noticeable on lap two, but then it lessened. However, on lap three I had some wind to deal with, in two areas in particular, but while I know that one was on the long straight of sector one, I’m not sure whether the second was on sector two or in the usual area from the early part of sector three, my mind being elsewhere at that point.

That my nose was irritated after the run was not, in itself, a concern, but the similar feeling that I noticed in my throat on the way back was a sign of things to come, not that it was in any way surprising, considering how dad had been coughing and sneezing and that he keeps saying that he just had a cold caused by having felt cold and finds the fact that colds are caused by viruses and can be passed to others ludicrous and nothing can convince him otherwise… Plus that it’s obviously at least a flu, but he flatly rejects the possibility of having caught a virus, no matter what. Either way, I then ate watermelon, helped dad move some things, washed what he had used in the kitchen, arranged all of the recyclables with the deposit symbol that he had brought from grandmother, cleaned the litter box, changed, and left again at 8:20 PM, with a bag of trash that I dropped down the chute and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, which I took to the nearby Mega Image, where the machine had probably just been emptied, since it didn’t stop at all even though I had so many, so I just allowed it to time out before putting in the few that weren’t dad’s, ending up with a second voucher for those and only being left with the recyclable that I pretty much expected to not be accepted.
After cashing in those vouchers, I went to that Mega Image that closes at 10 PM, putting the recyclable picked up just before entering in the machine, though that other one wasn’t accepted there either. Then I waited for the 90% discount labels to be placed on the bakery products, along with a number of other people, one of them being a guy who asked what the time was and when I said that it was almost 9 PM he said that it would soon be 26 hours since he last ate, proudly stating that it must be some world record and that he was on a diet, and when I snorted he asked what was the most number of hours I had gone without eating. I shrugged, said that it’s not something that I keep track of, and turned my attention back to the products, though I was thinking of all the people in the world who’d be glad to at least get something to eat every 26 hours, and later I also wondered how would he have looked if I’d have mentioned not eating for at least three days, and more than once, after Andra left. Either way, wanting to make it clear that the conversation was over meant that I was actually the first one to dare to grab something, so I got the two apple pastries that were there, and when the cart with the other products that were discounted by 90% was brought I added some roes that were normally so expensive that it took that huge discount to get them to a price that was similar to the cheap ones from other store brands, also using the voucher received for that recyclable when I paid. And then I put the purchases in the backpack and bought another PaysafeCard code from the machine from there.
After continuing to Carrefour and entering through the parking lot, I grabbed a few recyclables from a bin from that mall and decided to use the machine from there as well… Only for it to display that no container was available for plastic or metal, and it didn’t accept that glass bottle that hadn’t been accepted at Mega Image either, so I put the recyclables in a cabinet, entered with the backpack, and bought some toothpaste for dad, also noticing that, while there were a lot of expiring products, all but a few were only discounted by 30%. And, since I scanned the products before grabbing the coins which had been left in the change tray and noticed that an employee had rather abruptly stopped right next to me, I positioned my leg in a way that blocked her from reaching over and taking those coins and things might have gotten rather awkward when she continued to stand there and look in that direction, but as I was about to pay I noticed that somebody had left a credit or debit card on the machine and handed it to her, saying that it definitely wasn’t mine, and she loudly announced that a card had been lost and then went to hand it to a guard, so I could take my change and those coins without her staring at me. And then I added the toothpaste in the backpack, retrieved the recyclables from the cabinet, picked up one more on the way to Kaufland, and could actually put all of them in that machine, which even accepted that one which hadn’t been accepted anywhere else right away.
After washing my hands, I entered the store, with everything, at 9:55 PM, getting good bananas that nevertheless also had a good evening discount and some large cucumbers, knowing that dad would want some like that, even if the evening discount was only 30%. Potatoes and onions had good evening discounts as well, but I decided to leave looking through them for later, if I’ll still have time, and I didn’t, getting the cheese that I had mainly gone there for and then looking at the canned sardines of their store brand, since canned products were three for the price of two if you activated the deal in the app, which I had done on-line. There were several full boxes of the kind that wasn’t also on sale those days, but I could only find one, fallen behind those boxes, of the kind that was listed as being on sale and a few of another kind that I could find no price label for, but which I saw was also on sale when I used a price checker. So I took three of those that weren’t on sale, that one that was the last one left of its kind, and two of the other discounted kind, wanting to see whether the offer would also apply to products that were already discounted… And finding at the self-checkout that it didn’t, and when the employee didn’t come over right away when I raised my hand, I scanned the other three as well and confirmed that the deal did apply to them, so when she did come I asked her to remove the first three and she eventually did it, though at first she didn’t quite seem to get what I wanted and also pointed out that I had received a discount, though it was lower than what it should have been if the two cheapest products would have been free and getting those three other cans for the price of two was the better deal. That led to still being at the machine when the closing announcement came, but I could eventually pay, also using the voucher received for the recyclables.
Since I then meant to continue to that Mega Image, I was about to use the stairs on my way out, but a guard called after me and pointed me to the escalators, so I used the regular exit instead. Then I put the bag in a cabinet from that Mega Image, though I entered with the backpack that contained the products from that other location. Either way, I got some bakery products that had the 90% discount from there as well, and when I pointed out to the cashier, when she came to have a look at what was left while I was there, that two others had wrong labels, she just took them, and she was eating one when I got to the checkout, after having also taken some gnocchi, even if it expired that day but still only had the 50% discount. And when I was trying to pick everything back up and turned away to set the change aside for a moment, she threw the receipt straight into the bin and I didn’t bother to ask for it, just retrieving what I had in the cabinet before walking out and going to a bench to arrange everything properly. And I picked up a few more recyclables on the way back.
It was close to 11:25 PM when I got back. Then I put what had to be refrigerated in the fridge and spread out most of the other purchases, including the apple pastries but leaving the other bakery products in the bag, and a little before midnight I went to shower, once again with actual cold water, and the fact that the temperature was lower outside meant that it was the coldest water yet. I was done just before 12:25 AM, then heated the tea, ate an apple pastry, took a cold pill which had expired just under a year before and another one of those supplements with vitamin C and zinc which had expired more recently, also did the day’s squats, using them as another way to warm up, washed what was in the kitchen and cleaned a little after dad, put the rest of the purchases in their place, noticing that one of the small baguettes was in pieces and wondering how it had ended up like that, and cooked a part of those gnocchi, eating them, as lunch, between 3:15 AM and 3:50 AM, also having a bun along with them, initially forgetting that the gnocchi are pasta. Either way, I also moved the roes into a jar, licking what was left, and put the slices of the small baguette that I used as bread, which wasn’t that one that was in pieces, on another plate and got what was stuck on the one used when I microwaved them before going to my room, taking a first bite of dinner there at 4:40 AM but actually starting to eat at 4:45 AM, since I had once again forgotten to put seasonings in the salad and that time I did go back to do so. And then I also wrote some notes about the day, which led to finishing dinner at 5:40 AM. And I got in bed at 6:50 AM. But, if that slightly sore throat felt after running had already been a sign, by that point I felt rather off in general and, worse, the feeling that there was something in my chest had appeared.

Well, work continued that day at the upstairs neighbor too, but I couldn’t say when it started because I just drifted in and out of sleep, perceiving the noise, from there and from outside, as if in dreams, and only got up just after noon… And the workers take their break at noon and apparently the guy working upstairs also stopped for a while a little later, but I spent some time on the computer and only got back in bed a little after 12:45 PM. But I definitely had something, my throat was sore, I felt rather like I had a fever as well, and when I didn’t get back to sleep right away I took a pill for the throat before getting back in bed… Only for the noise to start again soon after. But I still managed to catch a few agitated naps before finally getting up again, at 3:35 PM, though I had been awake for a while by then. And I also felt better at that point, though clearly not fine, and the most worrying part was that I still felt something in my chest. On the other hand, the “hot” water finally flowed normally again and was at least a few degrees less cold than the cold one, but that was it, the estimate for when the problems will finally be solved being pushed forward by yet another day. But, while it obviously didn’t help, it wasn’t the cold shower that brought the cold, or whatever it is, since I quite clearly caught it from dad and, while an irritated nose doesn’t mean much, my throat also feeling sore right after the run was a pretty clear sign that I already had something then. Either way, I caught another nap in the evening and then I made mamaliga again, also taking one more of those cold pills before starting to eat it. And, if I felt achy and feverish while I was in the kitchen, it was better after taking that pill and eating.

I only got about an hour and a half of sleep before waking up when dad got up, and after he went out for a little while I cleaned the litter box and peed, but while I then got back in bed, I was still awake when the workers arrived outside, around 8 AM, and before 8:30 AM the noise had started, so I got up, cleaned the litter box yet again, since Liza had left something else there and dad hadn’t yet left again, so I could add the crap in the same little bag of trash, and then stayed up, taking a different kind of pill for the throat, even if it had expired over two years before, and only getting back in bed a few minutes after noon, when things seemed quiet, all of the workers taking a break… But I was still awake when the one working upstairs started making noise again, around 12:45 PM, and while I stayed in bed until well after 2 PM, I couldn’t get back to sleep, only catching about another hour or so in the early evening. And my attempt to get back in bed one more time late in the evening just resulted in more wasted time. And I also felt worse, with a heaviness in my chest, aches and pains, and the feeling that I had quite a fever, though the thermometer only showed 37.2°C. Either way, I spent almost the entire day in my pajamas, only changing when I went back to the kitchen at night, and I took another one of those supplements with vitamin C and zinc and another one of those cold pills before eating dinner.

The cold made sleeping even more of a problem than it already was, because I woke up coughing pretty much as soon as I fell asleep, and then my nose was too stuffy and I couldn’t get back to sleep until some time after 8 AM, when the workers had already arrived again, though they only actually started making serious noise at 8:50 AM, so I managed to catch a little nap. However, I once again got back in bed a few minutes after noon, when they had their break, and while the noise from upstairs started again soon after that, I guess I was so exhausted that I stayed mostly asleep until 4:50 PM, even if that sleep was obviously agitated and the noise kept entering my dreams. And the workers seemed to leave around 5 PM, which was surprisingly early, so after initially meaning to get up at that point, I then got back to sleep and caught two more naps, with a brief period of being awake between them, until 6:50 PM, when dad got back and I got up. And he had also found some other pill that I had asked him to look for, so at night I took one of those as well, on top of all of the others which I had also taken the previous day.

When the noise made by the workers woke me at 8:50 AM, I noticed that the hot water was warm enough to allow for a shower, but I didn’t take one then, just getting on the computer until a little after noon, when I went to ask dad what did he know about the chances of them getting to take down our balcony that day and he said that they had told him that they won’t get to it then and will take the following day off, since they were ahead of schedule, so it was going to happen on Monday, and he thought that they were actually pretty much done for that day. So I got back in bed and, while there was some noise from upstairs, I could get some sleep… Until the workers did continue after all, and they were getting close, so the noise was particularly loud and the metal cutters just frightened me, I had to get back on the computer and put headphones on until they stopped… At which point I saw that the temperature of the water had dropped, being only lukewarm, and by night it was basically cold again, though after taking a late nap I washed between my legs at the sink, since my dermatitis was really acting up again. As for the pills, I still took that other one taken the previous day and the supplement, but replaced the cold pill with another one and went back to the one for the throat taken before the previous two days.

It took me a while to fall asleep again in the morning, but with the workers supposed to be taking a break, I was hoping to be able to sleep late today… But just before 10 AM I was woken up yet again by noise from above, though at that point it was in the form of loud voices and what seemed like a child running around… Only for the drilling to start minutes later, just after I had gotten back in bed, after peeing. And it was terribly loud and apparently right above me, so I got back up, only getting back in bed around 1:20 PM, when it finally seemed to have stopped, though it wasn’t that easy to tell, since it had eventually switched from almost continuous drilling to alternating between drilling, hammering and scraping and also taking some occasional short breaks. And, indeed, there were a few more moments of drilling or hammering after that as well, and a loud alarm also started ringing at one point, so it took a while to fall asleep again and I was woken up a couple more times even after that. But I probably got about an hour and a half or so of sleep, if you add together all of the little naps, before the alarm rang, at 4 PM, when I got up to watch the qualifying for the Formula 1 race. And then I also did 200 squats, since the previous day I had once again kept putting them off until I forgot to do them at all, and went out at 8:10 PM.
I rushed to Carrefour, but didn’t jog, and since a match was played here this evening, I had to go around the area that’s around the stadium as well, so I neither made up any time nor made use of the moment to gather recyclables. But at least I found the products for my mother that I had mainly gone there for, and then I also took a cabbage, arranging the purchases in the backpack before walking out through the parking lot… The problem being that I couldn’t jog with those things in the backpack and it was too late to get to that Mega Image that closes at 9 PM in time for the products that are discounted by 90%, so I really should have jogged on the way to Carrefour, to gain some time then. As it was, I reached that Mega Image at 9:07 PM and just one bakery product with the 90% discount was left, and I wasn’t interested in it, so I just bought a yogurt expiring two days from now, which was discounted by 50%, without being given a receipt. Then I added that yogurt in the backpack and actually made a point of looking for recyclables on the way back, though I only had five by the time I reached this new Carrefour Express, put them in the machine and cashed in the voucher… Only to find two more after that, so I used the machine from the nearby Mega Image as well, and as I was doing so a man handed me one more, and when I asked if he didn’t want to put it in himself he said that he didn’t, because it was just 0.50 RON, and for some reason actually thanked me for taking it. So I decided to add half of that amount to what I mean to give away at some point and cashed in that voucher as well.
I got back a few minutes before 10 PM, and after putting the few purchases in their place I rushed to wash, the hot water having finally returned. After I was done, I took some separate vitamin C and zinc supplements instead of that combined one, noticing that we still had some vitamin C that expired back in 2022, and I have no idea about the zinc, dad having cut away parts, as he usually does, so the expiration date can’t be found anymore. But I plan to keep taking the other pills taken yesterday tonight as well, though at that point I just started eating dinner and then rushed to add what I could to this post before midnight, getting as far as buying that expiring yogurt and not being given the receipt, initially posting it like that, and then editing it in order to add the rest before going back to the kitchen.

I meant to add all of these days to the post that was going to start right after I crossed the finish line of last year’s marathon, but I guess I’ll just add them now, as this week’s second post, since they are already written while the part about the rest of that day isn’t and I wonder when or even if I’ll get to it, especially since the post about this year’s half marathon remains basically a placeholder and the one about the Dream Trek that followed still misses most of the part about the actual run. At this point I’m thinking that the parts about the rest of October 13 and May 11 will be put together in a single post, so the number of personal posts won’t actually increase because of this, but that’s a matter for when and, as I said, if I’ll get there and now I’ll just get right to it and say that, after running the marathon, I thought that I won’t be able to sleep on the morning of October 14. However, I actually fell asleep quite quickly, though when I woke up just after 10:20 AM I decided to get back on the computer and start reading Eternal Knight, and when I eventually got back in bed for a little while, I didn’t fall asleep again. So I got back up and ate some watermelon, then got back in bed once more, right at noon, only getting back up just before 4:55 PM. And then I went out again, leaving at 7:30 PM, after doing the day’s squats and taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol, including the one which hadn’t been accepted before but which seemed to be like the one that was accepted after I picked up the race kit.
I left some that didn’t seem to have the symbol, but I still picked up some more on the way to Penny Basarabia, mainly from a trash can that was in front of the store and which was almost full of recyclables with the deposit symbol. I knew that many of them won’t be accepted and I left those there, just taking those which would be accepted, and from another trash can from there I took one with no label, since I also had a label with the deposit symbol which I had found at some point and, while it wasn’t exactly that kind, that bottle was quite similar to the one that the label in question belonged to. And the machine accepted everything except that one bottle which hadn’t been accepted before and a rather crushed can. Then I found what I wanted, though I had to dig for the biscuits, the last box being hidden behind others of another kind and in a spot that was behind a large pile of boxes that were stacked before the shelves. But since I took the time to dig that box out of there, I also checked several packs of biscuits and found one that seemed larger, and when I weighed it I confirmed that, so I then went through the rest as well, one by one, until I found one more like it and took both. Then I also used the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid and carefully put the purchases in the backpack.
I picked up one more recyclable on the way to Carrefour, entering through the parking lot and using the machine, which accepted that one and even the crushed can, but that other bottle still wasn’t accepted. Either way, I then put my things in a cabinet that didn’t lock, retrieving them after just cashing in the voucher and then continuing to Kaufland, trying to put that bottle in the machine from there as well but finding that it didn’t work there either. Then I put everything in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered when it was close to 9:20 PM, still not finding any of the kind of pumpkin that was supposed to be on sale, which had been the case when it had been at that price at Penny or Carrefour as well. But, after checking the ingredients for a bakery product, I grabbed it, along with a few others, all having the 50% evening discount, since Kaufland still had evening discounts for bakery products then. And then I also got carrots, potatoes and grapes, which had huge evening discounts, digging through the grapes until the closing announcement. I also grabbed three bananas at that point, but on the way to the self-checkouts I changed my mind and rushed to put them back. And I used the QR code for dad’s digital card again when I paid. Then I retrieved my things and arranged everything, and while a cleaner told the guard while I was doing so that nobody was allowed to go to the toilets anymore, since she had cleaned there already, I nevertheless dashed in there to wash my hands again before leaving, after digging through those grapes.
I then also checked that Mega Image, putting everything except the bag that hangs from my neck, with the bakery products, in cabinet, and taking the last copy of their magazine that was there… But I didn’t open the cabinet again to put it there and apparently ended up leaving it somewhere inside the store while I was looking around, so after getting an expiring product with the 90% discount and the biscuits that I had actually gone there for, I realized that I no longer had it, but I didn’t try to go back in to look for it, just retrieving my things and arranging everything once again. And I picked up some more recyclables on the way back, mainly from the spot which I had checked on my way to Penny as well, since I realized that the reason why they hadn’t seemed to have the symbol was that it had been scraped off, obviously on purpose, but the bar code remained. Either way, I also noticed on the way back that my throat was hurting, but I wasn’t certain that the pain had only started then.
I got back at 11:30 PM, with over 12 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place, ate the sweet pastry from Kaufland, went to take a bath a few minutes before 1 AM, and was done at 1:50 AM. Then I selected, peeled and boiled carrots for the salad, and there were other things to deal with as well, so I ate lunch between 3:10 AM and 3:25 AM, then I also mixed something and ended up moving it from one jar to another, and ate dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:25 AM, albeit with the last several minutes spent gathering what was stuck on the plate. And, while I got in bed at 6:20 AM, I didn’t get on-line.

At least it was a few minutes past 4:30 PM when I got up, and I really slept, only waking up to pee once and then sleeping again until it was past 3:45 PM, and possibly even catching another brief nap during those remaining three quarters of an hour. But my throat was really sore and I felt rather like I even had a fever. And the following morning I got in bed at 5:20 AM, and when I couldn’t get back to sleep after waking up to pee the first time, I took a pill for my throat, and after that I decided to keep taking one before going to bed for the next few days, especially since they had expired a long time before, so keeping them for an even later time wouldn’t have been a good idea.

Moving on to October 18, I did the day’s squats, ate lunch, and left at 7:10 PM. I had dad’s metro card, though it was no longer read by the machine and I had to show it to be allowed in. Either way, I took the metro and meant to first check another pharmacy, but I couldn’t spot it despite passing by it twice, since I went a fair bit farther before turning back, all of that being explained after I got back, checked, and saw that it closed at an earlier hour. But at that point I just shrugged it off and went to the large location of that cheaper pharmacy, asking for the kind of tea that was cheaper there than anywhere else and being told that just one was left, so I bought it.
I then went to that location of Tei, entering with that tea in the backpack. I was looking for more teas, but I couldn’t see one kind and when I asked one person she just looked on the shelf and said that if it wasn’t there then they had none left, though it had been listed as available in that location on the site when I had left. However, the listed price for the tea which I had purchased from that other pharmacy was only slightly higher than it had been there, and lower than what was listed on the site, and I asked that employee whether it was correct, but she again just looked at the shelf and confirmed it. However, when I took one of those along with the other tea which I had found to the checkout, I was asked for more than what I had calculated, so the price which was listed on-line was actually the correct one, and I pointed out that the label still listed the old price, but didn’t actually demand that price, and while another employee said that she’ll check and presumably went to do so, she didn’t return by the time I walked away, and I didn’t see her there when I looked back after putting all of the teas in a cabinet either.
The problem was that, while a Carrefour Market is in that same location, some cabinets are in front of the entrance to Tei and others in front of that Carrefour Market, and I put those teas in one of the cabinets that are in front of Tei and didn’t even memorize the number, so after wandering around that Carrefour Market for a while, without buying anything, I ended up trying my code at a few different cabinets and when one that seemed locked at first made a sound when I entered it, didn’t open, but did open after I entered it a second time, I thought that those from Tei had emptied all of their cabinets, and they had closed by then, so I panicked for a moment and even tried to knock on their gate. But I eventually tried more cabinets, found the correct one, retrieved those teas and put them in the backpack, realizing that the empty one had just been stuck at first, so when I had first entered my code it hadn’t accepted it as correct, but as a new one, actually locking with it, and then it obviously unlocked when I entered it again.
I wasn’t going to risk anything again, however, and it’s not like Kaufland had those teas anyway, so when I then went to that Kaufland I entered with everything, a little after 9:10 PM, after peeing and washing my hands. The bakery discounts were of 55% and I got two buns, a sweet pastry and an interesting bread for myself, plus two breads for dad that had a 65% discount. Then I also took the three passable bananas that I still found at that point, with a huge evening discount, along with a lettuce and three bundles of radishes, these also having good evening discounts. The scales printed the full price for the bananas, but I used a price checker to confirm the discounted one, and then I wandered around for a while, the closing announcement coming either while I was in line at the self-checkouts or already using a machine. Either way, I initially thought that the machine gave me less change and I counted it in front of an employee, but when she said that it was impossible I looked around and found the missing bill fallen in my bag. That was strange, since it was on the other side of the machine than where it releases the bills that it gives as change, but at least the matter was sorted out… Yet being so focused on that made me forget the empty bags on the machine, only realizing it after leaving the checkout area, as I was arranging the purchases, at which point I asked another employee about them and she allowed me back in the checkout area, where the one which I had asked about the change promptly handed them back to me, though she might have missed one. Either way, after picking up another recyclable, I decided to explore the Circus’ Park a little, even if some areas were poorly lit, then went back to that metro station after coming out on the other side and, after once again having to show the card, I ended up waiting for over ten minutes for the metro, though at least I found another recyclable in the station.
I got back at 11:10 PM, then cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, and then I quickly went to use the toilet and shower, without even taking the purchases out first. After I was done, I ate the sweet pastry from Kaufland and an apple, put the purchases in their place, sliced dad’s breads and dealt with mine… And I realized that the contest that those bottle caps were for was over and dad hadn’t entered many of them, including those that I had found. Either way, I also washed what was in the kitchen, used the worse leaves of the lettuce for the salad and also selected the radish leaves, and took a pill, my throat seeming quite fine but clearly feeling that something was in my chest and making me occasionally cough. I finally started eating dinner at 3:55 AM and finished a little after 4:30 AM, since I wasn’t done gathering what was stuck on the plate at 4:30 AM and I continued until I was. And I got in bed at 5:30 AM.

On October 21, I did the day’s squats, ate lunch, did a load of laundry, and took the clothes out of the washing machine, but I only hung a few of them on the balcony before leaving, at 7:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol. I also meant to take a fish can and drop it off in a recycling bin on the way, but I forgot it. Either way, I picked up another recyclable on the way to Carrefour, where the machine didn’t accept the glass bottles, saying that there was no container for them, so I put in the others, splitting them on two vouchers, and picked up some small glass bottles that were left there, leaving the large ones, especially since they were also unlikely to be accepted. Then I entered the store with those remaining recyclables, getting beans, some expiring yogurt, and a small piece of kashkaval that was also among the expiring products… Only for the cashier to say that the piece of kashkaval wouldn’t scan, so I couldn’t get it. Either way, I used one of the vouchers received for the recyclables when paying and cashed in the other one.
After putting the purchases in the backpack, I continued to Auchan, but I had delayed too long, and at first I didn’t just not run, but even stopped to pick up some more recyclables, which led to eventually noticing that it was too late and running the rest of the way. And I forgot that the pharmacy that I had ordered something from was just at the entrance to Auchan, so I wasted a little more time that I didn’t have looking around… And they seemed to be about to move a few meters, since I saw an area with their logo that was being set up, so I initially stopped there and wasted maybe two more minutes looking around and wondering how could they deliver packages in a location that’s not open yet. But then I spotted the actual location, and while it was dark and something was placed in front of the door, I got there seconds before the closing time of 9 PM and saw that the door was still ajar and an employee was inside, so I poked my head in and asked whether they were closed, and while she initially said that they were, since it was 9 PM, when I said that I had an order to pick up she asked for my name, so I went in and she eventually found the package and handed it to me, and I paid the exact amount, though I didn’t get a receipt.
After adding that package in the backpack, I went to where I seemed to remember the recycling machine being in that location, but it wasn’t there, the guards asking what I wanted and then telling me that it was outside. So I then went there and put in what I had, including a can that I thought would be too crushed to be accepted, though I ended up with two vouchers because the first machine stopped when I still had a few recyclables left, so I had to move to another that still worked. On the other hand, I saw a crushed bottle on the floor that had a label that I could take off, since it had the deposit symbol, but when I tore it off I didn’t actually look at what I ended up with before walking away, and when I finally did I saw that a part of the label had been left on the bottle, and that part actually included the bar code, so what I had was useless and I dumped it in a trash can.
After washing my hands, I entered with the purchases, getting what I wanted and also that cake that I mentioned wanting to reward myself with. There were two on display and I picked one, but the label stated that they had been defrosted the previous day and the boxes hadn’t even been properly closed, the little piece that should hold them closed having clearly never been pushed in that direction, so I also considered asking whether they had any that were still frozen, so I’ll get one that was as fresh as possible… And I was still considering that when I almost dropped the one which I had picked, so it was fortunate that I had closed the box properly, since the way I managed to catch it would have almost certainly led to it opening and the cake falling on the floor otherwise. It still got a little banged up, however, so at that point I had to take that one, since putting it back and asking for another would have been quite rotten. Either way, I then also grabbed the water for dad and rushed to the checkouts, since closing time was approaching, and the closing announcement came as I was using the machine to pay, since I had gone to one of those manned checkouts first, where an employee scanned the products. I forgot to also use the small amount that was on the store card, but at least I used the vouchers received for the recyclables. But then I took quite some time to arrange the purchases, and eventually two guards came to ask which way I was going to exit, and when I initially said that I didn’t know, wondering whether they were trying to see whether I knew the “proper” way to exit after closing time, one explained that there were the two entrances, they were going to close them and I was the last customer left, so they wanted to know which one to leave open. So I apologized, though they said that it was all right, and then I finished arranging everything and left through the exit which I had indicated.
On the way back, I checked the Mega Image from Titan once again, leaving the large backpack next to the cabinets and putting everything else in one, and while the discounted cat food which I had seen the previous time was still there, when I asked whether that 75% discount which I had received for the tea would apply to it as well, the cashier said no… But she also didn’t seem to believe that the teas which were also listed as having a 50% discount actually had 75%, so I asked her to check and she did, confirming that the cat food just had the listed 50% discount. So I just retrieved my things and made my way back, picking up two more recyclables before crossing the road through the park, going under the bridge, and then using a drinking fountain to wash my hands a little. And then I picked up some more recyclables that were in front of this nearby Mega Image.
I got back a little before 11:20 PM, with a little over 19 kg, and I noticed that running in the regular shoes had once again hurt my right foot. Either way, I then cleaned the litter box and dropped a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases, with the exception of dad’s water, in their place, finished the watermelon, which was obviously the last one of the year, and ate a slice of the cake… But when I opened the box I saw some liquid in a corner, and while it was most likely from the cake, I was worried that I might not have been careful enough when draining some of the recyclables which I had picked up and something might have dripped on the box and then seeped inside, so I just reacted, taking the cake out of the box and discarding the box. I also thought that the cake smelled a little strange, but that was most likely another unfounded concern. Either way, it was 12:45 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, and a little before 1:50 AM when I was done. And then I finally hung the rest of the clothes to dry, after taking down dad’s, since he hadn’t, also took the water to the balcony, meant to take a pill of a different kind but noticed that dad had taken all of those with him, then moved something into a jar, and finally ate dinner between 4:25 AM and 5:05 AM, though I was otherwise done over ten minutes earlier and then spent that time getting what was stuck on the plate. I initially got in bed at 5:45 AM, but dad got back ten minutes later and I poked my head out to exchange a few words with him, so I really got in bed a few minutes before 6 AM. And, somewhat surprisingly, my nose and chest were much better that morning.

On October 25, I ate lunch, did the day’s squats, and left a little before 7:25 PM. I spent quite some time in Carrefour, but just got some unsalted baked almonds, which ended up cheaper than those with Himalayan salt which I had bought four days earlier from Auchan if you deduct the 20% received as a voucher from the price that also had a regular discount those days, but I obviously couldn’t have known that at the time. And I had to enter the product code at the self-checkout, since the bar code wouldn’t scan. Then I just put the bag in an inside pocket of my jacket and continued to Kaufland, washing my hands before entering.
There were no bakery discounts at the time and I didn’t see anything interesting among the fruits and vegetables, so I even considered leaving and trying to go somewhere else, but I stayed, looked around, and scanned a couple of labels from the bakery area both before and after the employee placed the discount labels. But those buns weren’t discounted, so I just took two things that were, using a plastic bag from that area instead of a glove, since I couldn’t see new gloves and I had put my hands through vegetables by then, since those discounts had appeared first and I had grabbed a few things. And I also got some mozzarella, but then some evening discounts increased, even sharply, so I also got five kohlrabies, including some extra leaves, plus some plums, even if they were from Moldova, picking until the closing announcement came, when I went to weigh them. And while I was in line at the self-checkout a woman just walked past me and I went after her, saying something, but she muttered something back and set her things on the machine that was about to be freed. And when it actually was freed, she moved to use it and I got her attention again, she just smiled and asked whether I’d allow her to use it, already being about to start. So I snorted and stepped away, to stand in line again, after having missed the next spot as well, someone else having started to use another machine just seconds earlier, and at least that woman was the next to finish. And then the machine didn’t recognize the kohlrabies as the correct product, so I had to call an employee to override the error. Then I took my time to arrange the purchases, washed my hands again, and it was almost 10:20 PM when I walked out.
After finding a can with the deposit symbol and putting it in the machine, I continued to that Mega Image, putting the bag in a cabinet but entering with the backpack, and at first I just took one of those apple pastries, with the 50% evening discount, but as I wandered around I saw that some grilled chicken breast had received a 90% discount after having just had 50% when I had first seen it, so I grabbed that as well… And I also stole a head of garlic, meaning to recover much of what I had felt cheated out of by Mega Image stores before, probably being too obvious about it, and noticing that I had been right under a camera when I had slipped it in a pocket, but I just stuck with it and nobody said anything. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged the purchases again, and then I grabbed some more recyclables, putting them in the machine from Kaufland when I passed by it… And after walking away I found two more, one being a can that I doubted I could even straighten well enough, but I went back and was surprised when the machine accepted both. And I found some more on the way back.
I got back at 11:30 PM, put the purchases in their place, also separated the kohlrabi leaves from the stems and kept the leaves, ate a few plums and the apple pastry, and it was almost 1:25 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, and 2:20 AM when I was done. And I also used some of the lettuce leaves for the salad, ending up eating dinner between 4 AM and 4:35 AM. I got in bed at 5:40 AM… And that morning I had a dream that really messed me up, that I had gone on that trip in 2002 with Rose instead of Andra, and Rose obviously still didn’t give me any chance, so I never had the relationship with Andra or any good memories or reasons to believe, at whatever level, that anything good or worthwhile may exist in life, and had just suffered after Rose all this time instead of “only” until meeting Andra and then after Andra for “only” 19 years… Either way, the following morning I got in bed at what would have been 5:20 AM but was actually 4:20 AM, since the hour changed. And since that’s already something about October 27, I’ll also mention here that no visits were recorded on that date.

On October 28, I shaved, ate lunch, did the day’s squats, and left at 6:30 PM, with the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up one more on the way and then putting all of them in the machine from Carrefour. A guy was cleaning the other one while I used that one, and I meant to split on two vouchers, but just before the last item an error that the sorter was improperly positioned popped up and I asked that guy what that was and he told me to wait a moment, and after initially meaning to just walk away with that last recyclable I did wait and he fixed it quickly and I could put that one in as well, getting a third voucher. Then I got some expiring apple chips with cinnamon and a bag with just two spoiling apples, plus the garlic that I had gone there for, but I still had to use a regular checkout and the cashier didn’t just charge me for the bag that those apples were in, increasing their price a fair bit, but also for the one which I had put the garlic in, which was my own! So I was a bit surprised, but I assumed that they had doubled the price of the bags and paid the difference, along with one voucher, then cashed in the other two, without realizing until after the fact that those bags had made it so I could have used that last voucher as well. And it was also only after I stepped away that I noticed that I had been charged for two bags, but I didn’t say anything anymore, just putting everything in the backpack.
Since I had dad’s metro card, I then went to the metro station, meaning to also check the farmers’ market on the way but finding it already closed. And I went to Carrefour Pantelimon, picking up another recyclable on the way but entering with it, as well as with the purchases, and getting some more expiring products and stealing a tiny head of garlic, to make up for being wrongly charged for that bag. And I had to use a regular checkout there as well and meant to use the voucher received for previous purchases, but the cashier said that I couldn’t, so I read the text that’s on it to her, saying that it could be used in any Carrefour hypermarket, Carrefour Market or Carrefour Express, but she again said that it won’t work there and that she didn’t have the option on the register, so I asked if that’s the case for the stores that used to be Cora and she confirmed it, then asked me to not get upset with her, so I’m thinking that others had gotten upset. But it obviously wasn’t her fault, so I just paid in full, then took my time to arrange everything in the backpack.
I then walked to that Kaufland, picking up another recyclable on the way and putting both in the machine before peeing and washing my hands and entering, with everything, at 9:20 PM. I first grabbed three of those buns that I could use instead of bread and two regular buns, since no other cheap ones were left, and then also a bread for myself which I only noticed at that point, all of these having the 50% evening discount, and scanned the price label for the regular bread but confirmed that it had no evening discount. Then I grabbed some spoiling lemons and mushrooms, made use of evening discounts for a number of vegetables and a few bananas, and made my way to the self-checkouts right at 10 PM, leaving one of the bundles of radishes there when I realized that one of the radishes was rotting and using the voucher received for that day’s recyclables along with the three which I had been left with from three days earlier when I paid. And then I took my time to arrange the purchases, only walking away around 10:15 PM, and there still had been no closing announcement, but I did check at the entrance and the listed closing time was 10 PM, and I had to use the emergency exit, so the store was obviously closed.
I also entered that non-stop Mega Image on the way back, putting the bag, the backpack and the recyclable which I had picked up on the way in a cabinet but entering with the bag that hangs from my neck, with the bread and buns, and just getting two bio (organic) eggs that I found among those sold by piece. And when I got to the checkout the cashier pointed me to the other one, yet when I went there I was pointed back to the first one, that second one checking out a coworker and having closed the gate after her. So I said that I had been pointed to her by the other one and the one who was being checked out said that she’ll log on, so both of those left and that other one checked me out. And a guard was there and asked whether what I had in that bag wasn’t also from there, so I pulled out the bag with the bread and pointed out that it was from Kaufland, yet he still asked whether I had showed it to him and let him know on the way in and then asked why not, though he eventually let me be and I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, adding the eggs in the bag. And I picked up a few more recyclables on the way back, realizing after finding the first one that I had lost the dirty bag that I had meant to put them in, probably in Kaufland. But I had another for that purpose. And when I got here I also checked the nearby Mega Image, leaving the bag with the recyclables in front of the cabinets, putting the other two bags in a cabinet that didn’t lock, entering with the backpack, and then just retrieving everything.
I got back a couple of minutes before 11:30 PM, put most of the purchases in their place, ate one of those spoiling apples and the sweet pastry that I already had, also selected the better radish leaves, and went to wash just after 1 AM, being done 45 minutes later. Then I washed what was in the kitchen, put the remaining purchases in their place, also dealt with those buns that I could use instead of bread, using one and a half that night and just leaving the bread to deal with at another time, and ate dinner between 3:50 AM and 4:30 AM, with the last several minutes spent getting what was stuck on the plate. I didn’t get on-line.

This is one of the other three novellas included with The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep, besides the first three, which are novelizations of the original trilogy, and I didn’t see any official description and didn’t play the game, so I have no idea whether it’s directly connected with the game and someone who has played it may well have a different opinion. But, to me, it does appear to fit. And, even on its own, it’s a decent enough effort if you keep your expectations in check, portraying what is pretty much a single event, taking place over a short amount of time, and doing little more than setting the stage for an adventure, but doing it well enough, including plenty of lore elements, and being very easy to read and properly edited.
Of course, there are even short stories, not to mention novellas, that include strong character development, generate powerful emotions, and in the particularly notable cases even somehow manage to pack more and better worldbuilding, which is not the case here. But the one specific complaint I have is Alain’s inconsistency, being grave and responsible in a few moments but otherwise way too carefree and quick to make light of everything for a paladin. Well, that and the title, which would have deserved at least a minimum amount of effort. And no, the other novellas don’t share the pattern, so it couldn’t have been some sort of requirement.

Rating: 3/5