Cav's Place

I’m not at all keen on reading in Romanian in general, and fantasy that’s actually written in Romanian in particular is something that just doesn’t seem to work, or at least my, admittedly very few, past experiences showed that I just can’t deal with it. So my expectations of this book were low, but it seemed promising enough to eventually make me decide to give it a chance, and I must say that the fact that it’s in Romanian actually didn’t bother me, and I’m tempted to think that the tenses used probably had plenty to do with that. And the story does develop in an interesting manner, starting slowly and tamely, the fantasy elements barely even being hinted at for a long time, but eventually picking up and then pretty much exploding and spreading out, encompassing more and more and repeatedly going in unexpected directions.
That said, it clearly feels amateurish. I also don’t know how can something with so many typos be published by an actual publisher, and a particular problem is so weirdly recurring that I kept thinking that it must be intentional, yet I could find no justification for it. And the author also has problems finding names for places but just rolls ahead. But more important than that is that she seems to have a good imagination and plenty of ideas, but not the ability to put much of it into words, the result lacking the depth and complexity required for epic fantasy, with so much that’s left unsaid and unexplained, many events just being thrown at the reader while the occasional explanations are information dumps, so the more the story develops, the more it turns into a fairy tale instead of proper fantasy. And I’m not even sure what to comment when it comes to hero’s luck, because most events, good and bad, simply happen to the characters, Tan probably being the one notable exception, actually acting in a hero’s role. Well, Tan and Lemongreen, of course, but that falls fully under what’s simply thrown at the reader, with no explanations whatsoever.

Rating: 3/5

Since I still can’t make myself write about the half marathon, as in the actual run, but Thursday I went to Bookfest, I guess I’ll write about that now, to have a second post for the week, and I’ll start from that day’s early hours, when I went to the kitchen very late, several minutes after 1:30 AM, and there were some things to wash as well, and I didn’t rush, ending up eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:20 AM, and getting in bed at 5:20 AM. Then I got up when the alarm rang, at 12:30 PM, and left at 2:45 PM. That’d have been rather late otherwise, since the plan had been to leave by 2:30 PM and walk, but while I was getting ready dad said that he wasn’t going to mother anymore and could give me the metro card if I’ll be back by the time he’ll leave for work, so I tried to figure out whether I could get back by then and eventually took the card, the idea being that we’ll most likely meet at the metro station or on the way.
I didn’t take the recyclables with the deposit symbol, but when I spotted one I picked it up, meaning to cash it in at the Shop & Go that’s close to the metro station, but when I got there I saw a message asking people to use the Mega Image from Decebal to return recyclables. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, but I couldn’t do anything about it at that point, so I turned around, grabbed one more plastic bottle with the deposit symbol that I spotted in that area, and took the metro, meaning to go straight to Bookfest but ending up also checking that independent bookstore after all. That had been part of the original plan, when I thought that I was going to walk, and I actually considered getting off at Victoriei and going there after all, especially after just missing the metro when I switched, but I decided against changing the plan yet again, so I just waited for the next one, which came only a few minutes later, and took it for one more stop, but then I got rather confused and, even though I was only wondering whether I was going straight or would end up a little way off and would need to look for some landmarks in the distance and make a correction, I found that I had somehow turned around, only realizing it when I spotted the name of the street where that bookstore is. So I decided to extend that detour a little more and have a look there after all, leaving those recyclables outside and picking them back up after just looking around a little and only asking about the price of Dawnshard, since there was no additional discount and I couldn’t get myself to also ask if they really weren’t offering any special discounts during Bookfest anymore, since they had done that in other years, after they decided to stop attending.
I had been just about whimpering even as I walked without really knowing where I was, and checking that store had messed me up even more, but at least I finally knew just where I was, so I then made my way to the book fair, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way and leaving a third, a beer bottle which was still at least half full. And I wanted to see whether I could hand them in at the Shop & Go from that area, which seems to be pretty much the only such store from that area, so I lost quite some time to get to it, initially trying to find how to cross that intersection and get straight to it and then still going around those buildings, to confirm that no larger store was there after all. But once I did go in I found that it did have a recycling machine, so I used it, had a quick look in the store and then cashed in the voucher.

I got to the book fair a couple of minutes before 4:30 PM, but after just grabbing a plan from one of the information desks I went to wash my hands, in case I’ll see anything to munch on being offered. Then I looked all around, pretty much ignoring the major publishers, quickly glancing at many of the small ones, paying more attention to the Romanian fantasy publishers and to a couple of others that publish certain nonfiction books, and really taking my time to look carefully whenever I saw books in English. I also made a bit of a point of showing some interest in the area where several Arab countries, including Palestine, were presenting themselves, and they also offered some dates and I meant to take some, but I couldn’t work up the courage to do so at first. And at least there is an Arab bookstore, and that’s what used to be in that area in previous years, so it wasn’t exactly out of place, but what was out of place was that, separately from those other Arab countries, Saudi Arabia’s embassy also had its own area, and it was so formal and intimidating, with some staff members in suits and basically presenting the country, plus that there were obviously other reasons why I didn’t want to show interest in them, yet they were also offering dates as well as some things to munch on and, after also just walking away at first, without daring to take anything, when I returned to that area and saw another guy just walk by and grab something, I also reached over, took a bagel and ate it… After which one of those staff members covered the bowls and even moved the one with the munchies under the table, only taking it out when he was offering something to those who were actually engaging with them.
Well, it just so happened that the small area of a publisher of Romanian fantasy which I had also noticed last year was just in front of the Saudi Arabia area, and while I initially only had a look from a distance, rushing away when one of the people from there engaged with me as soon as I approached, after going all around I returned to the Arab countries’ area and grabbed a date after all, and then I wanted to see whether I could get something else from the Saudi Arabia area as well. So I went back there and, since several people had gathered and I couldn’t work up the courage to just reach over right away, I tried to see whether I’ll be allowed to have a better look at that publisher’s books on my own, and that time around they did let me do so without interacting with me. And I spotted the one which had attracted my attention last year, so I considered buying it, but as I was thinking it over I had another look at Saudi Arabia’s area and saw that those bowls were on the table and uncovered again, so I reached over to take a date from there as well, and since that made my hands sticky I then reached past the people who were engaging with the staff in order to also grab a napkin to wipe with. And then I went back to that publisher and bought the book, even if it is in Romanian and therefore my expectations are low, since reading in Romanian just feels wrong in general and in case of fantasy in particular I really can’t see how it can work in Romanian at all, my admittedly few past experiences saying that I just can’t deal with it. Either way, I wasn’t given a receipt, but I then just put the book in the backpack and made my way out, returning the plan to the information desk, washing my hands again, since they still were a little sticky, and leaving a little after 6:20 PM.

Since the metro cards kept getting messed up after I used them at Aviatorilor in the past, when I got off at Victoriei to switch trains, I stepped out through the gate and checked the card, confirming that it still worked. Then I went back in, got off at Obor and first went to Auchan, finding a deep discount for that bio (organic) “Greek” yogurt, albeit only the kind with 10% fat, since they had piles of it expiring the next day. The discount sticker only listed a 30% discount from the full price, but the sign and the announcement that kept being repeated stated that the real price was 30% of the discounted one, or a little over 20% of the full one, though the announcement also stated that the discount will be applied at checkout. Either way, I took two of those and also meant to get some eggs, but after selecting those that didn’t have code three from those that were sold by piece, I decided to check Carrefour first, so I left them there, but decided to get some tea, since I had checked on-line and hadn’t seen any discount for it at Carrefour, the full price was marginally cheaper at Auchan, and I didn’t want to risk forgetting about it if I’ll get back for the eggs or needing to get back just for it if I’ll find cheaper eggs at Carrefour.
I had that voucher received for a few recyclables which I had put in the machine from that location on May 15, after scanning the store card because the sign stated that a small additional amount was offered in that case, and which I was then unable to use because, while the machine will also scan the physical card, the app is apparently required to use a voucher received after you do so, the printed voucher not being usable otherwise, not even at the normal value, and that day I had been told that the employee who could turn such vouchers into regular ones was busy. However, I only meant to mention it if I’ll see the guy who had told me to come back another day, and he wasn’t at those checkouts, so I’d have normally picked an unmanned one to use, but it was the manned one that was free, so I went there after all, and it proved to be a good thing, because the full discount for that yogurt apparently had to be entered manually.
Well, just as I was about to pay, that guy walked over, so I decided to ask him about that voucher, and then the two of them had something of a back and forth, with the woman manning that checkout saying that she could just turn it into a regular voucher and the guy saying that it’ll confuse him and he wanted to do it some other way. She said that he was embarrassing her in front of the customers and even reached over and canceled my attempt to pay, but I didn’t really get what she wanted to do, so after initially saying that I’ll come back after checking Carrefour, I said that I’ll just wait there and let them decide what to do and paid in full… At which point she seemed frustrated with me as well and said that she had wanted to deduct the amount from the total. But she eventually wrote down the code from my store card and walked off, and I took some time to stuff the purchases in the backpack, until she came back and gave me the money, albeit only the regular amount that was actually printed on the voucher, of course, so I still felt tricked out of that small additional amount and mean to recover it at a later time. Either way, she asked whether I had given my information when I got the store card, because she couldn’t find any name associated with that card number. Of course, dad got the card, long ago, but if there’s no name associated with it, it’s even better, though I told her that I thought that I had given it. She still said that I should register for a card again, but I just shrugged it off and left.
Since I picked up another plastic bottle with the deposit symbol on the way to Carrefour, I searched for the recycling machine in that parking lot and put it in when I eventually found it. Then I washed my hands again, entered the store with everything and, when I didn’t find any interesting expiring products, I meant to just cash in that voucher and leave… Only to happen to pass by the teas on the way to the self-checkout and see that the one which I had just bought from Auchan did have a discount there, and I even checked again after getting back and confirmed that it wasn’t listed on-line, so I’d have had no way to know that. Either way, I bought one more, frustrated that I had lost some money, and used that voucher when I paid for it, though that didn’t exactly go smoothly. But, of course, having problems with those vouchers is pretty much the rule at Carrefour, and at least that time I was able to use it on my own, albeit after moving to another machine, since when I first tried to scan it and the machine asked me to enter it instead, I tried to cancel that prompt and the message that an assistant will soon come was displayed… Yet the assistant seemed busy, so after waiting for a little while I just walked over to another machine that was free, and when I was once again asked to enter the voucher I typed the code, actually being surprised that I got it right on the first try even though it’s long and hard to see.
After also adding that tea in the backpack, I returned to Auchan and bought those eggs, but I had to wait a long time at the self-checkout in order to do so. The machine from the information desk, which should be manned, wasn’t, and it was therefore off until the employee who had handled my voucher eventually got there, but I thought that my turn was about to come at another machine at that point and didn’t want to face her again anyway, so I stayed where I was. And, until that point, there were two machines that accepted cash in that area, and one of them was manned by the employee who had caused problems multiple times before, and she was really slow anyway, so I initially took my place in line at the other one, which was unmanned… Only for another employee to come and start feeding money into it, at which point I moved back to the manned one, losing one place compared to where I’d have been if I’d have picked that line from the beginning. However, since the employee who manned that checkout was so slow, the other one was done feeding the other machine well before my turn came, so at that point I went back to that other line, losing what I thought was still just one spot in the process. Yet the foreign couple who got to use the machine after that employee was done needed some help, and then the two guys who were next, and just ahead of me, split their purchases and paid separately even if they seemed to be buying the same products, the second also remembered to get bags after the first one scanned his products, and the first one’s money were awfully crumpled up and he struggled to get the machine to accept them.
At least there were no problems when my turn did finally come, but I actually checked and saw that, even though only a few people had, in fact, been ahead of me, 17 minutes passed between the moment when I first took my place in line and the one when I actually got to use a machine. And time was a problem at that point, dad calling while I was waiting and asking where I was. But in the end it was fine, since he said that he’ll call again when he’ll walk out of the building and that happened just as I reached this station, so we met on the way, and in fact much closer to here than to the metro station, and I gave him back the card.
I got back a few minutes before 9 PM and decided to not go out again, so I just went to dump what I gathered from the litter box down the chute and grabbed another plastic bottle with the deposit symbol from the garbage room, then put the purchases in their place, arranged a few things in my room, ate some salty snacks, spent some time on the computer, and scraped what I could from what was still stuck on the cast iron pot, which had been in the fridge ever since I had last made mamaliga, four days earlier. Then I went to the toilet, did the day’s squats, in the bathroom, and washed, being done at 12:10 AM. But I had decided to make mamaliga again that night, and even though I still had to wash that cast iron pot and the other things that were in the sink, I even managed to stick to the dinner schedule, somehow, though eating that so quickly led to needing to rush to the toilet again before going to bed.
On the other hand, the light bulb from the kitchen was flickering badly, and while that had happened a couple of times before and taking it out and screwing it back in had sorted it out, leading me to believe that the contact might get a little loose after a while, that night it didn’t help, and when I replaced that light bulb with another for a few minutes, that other one didn’t flicker, so the problem clearly seems to be with the light bulb, even if I only bought it less than a year ago. Still, rubbing it a little, putting it back once more and screwing it in really tightly made things much better that night… Only for it to start flickering badly yet again last night, so I’m expecting it to fail… We have more, and I guess this explains why they were so cheap, but it’s still annoying.

I’ll also mention here that, in the early hours of June 1, I once again took it too easy in the kitchen and ended up eating dinner between 3:20 AM and 4 AM. Then, after getting up, I redeemed Lost Words: Beyond the Page, after having requested it in The Community Giveaway on the GOG.com forums, and it was a relief that the donor was not once again that user who donates so much. Either way, this morning I got in bed at 5:35 AM, after dad got back and we exchanged a few words.

Even if this trial was far less important than the others he currently faces, the fact that Donald Trump was found guilty of all charges in the hush-money trial should be good news, not just for his opponents or the USA, but for the world. But, on top of the fact that a convicted felon may still be president of the USA, and that will remain the case even if he’ll end up in prison, the sad state of affairs is that this may actually improve his chances. And he and his team are definitely masters at spinning pretty much any story in their favor and fooling those who can be fooled in such a manner, so now every effort must be made to prevent that from happening. For one, I’d really like to see him sentenced to community service, but that may offer him an even better campaign platform, so any sentence will need to be weighed very carefully against that possibility.
Now, when I’m talking about his chances, I’m obviously not referring to how his actual supporters see him, as those don’t respond to reason and will most likely only strengthen their resolve as a result of this outcome, but mainly to the people who are looking for a way to show their opposition towards either Biden and/or the Democrats, or “the system” or “the establishment”. And there are many, many very good reasons to hold such a stance, most of which can’t be explained away, and Trump paints himself as the most powerful figure who embodies that opposition, leading to what may not even be a “lesser evil” scenario, but an “enemy of my enemy” one, which is even harder to fight against.
Of course, it wouldn’t be that hard to fight against such a stance if the system would change and actually work for the people and the planet, if the Democrats wouldn’t share a significant part of the blame for why it doesn’t, and to some extent even if they’d have a presidential candidate that people wouldn’t have such very good reasons to be concerned about. However, since that’s not happening and the world remains in that desperate state of having to put every effort into just struggling to prevent the mountain from collapsing and burying everyone, as a writer from here put it once, what must be done is to show that Trump is very much part of the system, that he has made and will continue to make full use of it for his own benefit and at the expense of everyone else, and that he’s actually the bigger enemy, regardless of how one looks at things. But the even harder part is that this must be done in a manner which won’t make it look like it’s the system that pulls out all the stops in order to fight him, but instead show that it’s the reasonable people who do so, along with those who care for values that they share with those whom they try to persuade.
All of that is much easier said than done, and it doesn’t even address those who either just want to see the world burn or have given up hope and ended up deciding that making things as bad as possible will at least mean that there might be a chance for them to get better after that. But something must be done, and it must be done right and right away, because Trump and his staff are definitely wasting no time. And, regardless of how bad things are in the world right now, how much the current leadership of the USA is to blame for that, and how much worse they’re likely to get without a drastic change over there, this particular change must be prevented at all costs… Not that it’ll really be a change, seeing as Trump held that office before and we have seen the damage that he was capable of, and that was when he was much less vindictive, determined, brash and willing to go to any lengths to achieve his goals than he is now.

For a long time, I tried to avoid such Sunday updates. Then I was no longer able to avoid them. Then I stopped even being able to finish them by midnight, editing the posts days later in order to add what was left. And, more recently, the rule seems to be to post what are basically just placeholders, only the beginning of the posts. And this is another such situation, so I’ll start what’s basically yet another placeholder, limited just to this first section, from the early hours of May 11, when I ended up eating dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:30 AM, and got in bed at 5:35 AM… And then I had to get up to pee several times, so my body seemed to want to get rid of all fluids instead of accumulating some before the run… But the last time I woke up was at 3:45 PM, and then I had a relatively early lunch and just after 8:30 PM I was back in the kitchen, and even though dad had also cooked, which left me with some things to wash and clean, and he also kept coming there to get things to make himself a salad that he didn’t even mean to eat that night and stressing me out as a result, I managed to eat dinner between 12:50 AM and 1:30 AM, putting peanut butter on all of the slices of bread. And I also made the tea for the morning while working on dinner, and after dinner I took one of those pills against gas. On the other hand, I started feeling some crap in my chest as I was working on dinner and occasionally had to cough, and something didn’t feel right in my abdomen either.
Either way, after dinner I shaved and got ready for the morning, putting the cereals, baked almonds with Himalayan salt and raisins in milk chocolate into a bowl, so I’ll just have that bio (organic) “Greek” yogurt to add, selecting the two apples that I meant to eat, since they were small, also setting aside the protein bar, gel and liquid magnesium that I meant to take with me, putting the number on the t-shirt and splitting the other things that I was taking between the bag and the jacket. I again chose to not go to the toilet one more time, since even so I got in bed at 3:40 AM, but my mind and heart were racing and I was still awake a few minutes before 4:30 AM, when I went to pee again, just in case, so it’d have been better to use part of that time to leave some more in the toilet.
I did fall asleep eventually, but I got an hour at best, probably less, before the alarm rang, at 6 AM. Then I ate what I had prepared, unsurprisingly only wasted time on the toilet despite feeling like I had plenty to leave in it, and took all of the supplements, one pill of each in case of the iron and that one for joints, but I took the last iron pill with me. I also ate three of those wheat things, with bio (organic) honey between them, took one more pill against gas, and drank most of the tea. After forgetting to set it aside before going to bed, I did remember to take a Smecta Go with me as well, and eventually stuck to the plan and also took that gel, despite thinking that I shouldn’t while I was getting ready. And I left at 8 AM, wearing the full running gear and one armband, and dad drove me to that spot that’s close to the metro station. The forecast for the period that interested me, between 9 AM and 11 AM, listed a steady 16-17°C, but it was cloudy and windy.
I reached Constitution Square just before 8:30 AM and wandered around a little, checking whether there was anything to take and only seeing some apples offered by an energy company, so I took one and put it in the bag. Then, without even the slightest attempt at a warmup or any stretching exercises, I entered the Sport Expo area, took the second iron pill, took off the jacket and put it in the bag, and a little after 8:40 AM I was in line to leave the bag at the wardrobe. However, there seemed to be two lines for the half marathon runners and I placed myself in the shorter one… Only to hear a little later that it was supposedly the line for those who didn’t have the sticker with the number placed on the bag, but there was no sign to state that, the only way to know being to hear the guy who was occasionally telling that to the first few who were in that line, and as I advanced and he got to me as well he took off that sticker, which I had placed on the bag, and put it on the straps, saying that it was likely to come off if placed directly on the bag. That was indeed a problem in previous years, when I used safety pins to make sure that it stayed on, but this time around it seemed fine, what he did likely causing the bigger problem, since the way he wrapped it around the straps made the number very hard to see, and I told him that, but he said that it was fine. So I left it like that and moved to the other line, hesitating for a moment but eventually cutting in and handing over the bag.
After getting back out of the Sport Expo area, I initially meant to have another look around while making my way to the toilets, but I spotted a few more toilets in front of the press and staff tents, with just a few other runners around them, so I only had seconds to wait before being able to use one. Admittedly, there were none of those portable sinks in that area, but I washed my hands when I passed by the other toilets on my way out of Constitution Square. However, even if that saved me what would have otherwise been quite a few minutes of waiting in line and I started to make my way to the start area a little after 8:50 AM, I still found it packed when I got there, the chances to advance appearing frustratingly low at first. But others were obviously trying to do that as well, and some of them were bolder and had more success, so I eventually found some “trains” to follow, eating that protein bar while doing so. And, after it initially looked like I was going to have to settle for stopping in the group which had gathered around the 2:00 pacemakers, since the start time was approaching and nobody seemed to manage to push farther ahead, some did eventually find a way and I ended up passing the 1:50 pacemakers as well, the start catching me between them and those for 1:45, and possibly even closer to these latter ones.

The plan for this post obviously included writing about the actual race as well, but when it was clear that I won’t manage to make myself do that, I decided to leave it for another time and at least add the rest of the day, since even so it was only in the early hours of Saturday when I added this section, starting right after crossing the finish line, when the final sprint caused that pressing need which had put me in a desperate situation at an earlier point but which had since subsided to a more manageable level to return with a vengeance, to the point that, after struggling to hold it in until I received the medal, I really feared that I was going to shit myself right then and there, getting quite desperate and needing to put everything into fighting it, so at first I couldn’t even keep walking to the finishers’ area, and when I did manage to get there I meant to just rush right out and to the toilets. But that meant one of those nasty portable toilets, where everything gathers and you’ll most likely get splashed by some of it if you use them for that purpose, so I wanted to avoid that if at all possible, plus that leaving the finishers’ area would have probably meant being unable to get back in and take anything. So I tried to give myself some time, just carefully walking around for a while, and the feeling eventually subsided once again, to some extent, and after taking three apples I even dared to eat a piece of orange and drink a large cup of water and two of the other drink, asking for a refill in case of the second, so I won’t waste yet another cup, and then I took two bottles of water and ate another piece of orange before walking out of that area.
I obviously feared that the problem would return each time I put something in, but when I saw that it didn’t, I felt more at ease and started to look for what else was being offered, noticing biscuits at the Mega Image area. But I wanted to wash my hands before taking some, so I initially moved along, going to retrieve my bag from the wardrobe… And having to wait a long time for it, since the volunteers were unable to find it, most probably just because of how that other guy had placed that sticker. The thing is that I knew where it had been placed and when I looked there I thought that I could see one with the sticker placed in that manner, and even that I could make out at least part of the number, so I was pretty sure that I had spotted it and wasn’t concerned… Until, after a long wait, I was given someone else’s bag, the number being one digit off, which I noticed after taking a couple of steps. So I returned it and they continued to look, and while I still thought that I could see mine and when I said that I hoped that it hadn’t been handed off to someone else as well I was assured that it hadn’t happened, it was taking a really long time and I had the new camera in there, so I was getting stressed out and started trying to work up the courage to ask to be allowed to have a look myself.
After they eventually found it, I took out the camera, went to that area that’s next to the final straight and saw that over half an hour had passed since I had finished, which made me push myself to just ask someone to take a picture almost right away. The guy was apparently foreign, since he replied in English, but I just repeated the question in English and he took a few pictures, and while I wasn’t exactly content with any of them I just moved on, and the one that I decided to keep will be the only one that I’ll keep from that day, since I don’t care about any of the official ones that can be found automatically.
I then washed my hands and went to take what was being offered to the finishers, starting with two croissants. I don’t want those, but I knew that dad would, so I went to that tent and, after being given two identical ones, I asked whether they had different kinds and the guy replaced one of those with one of the other kind. Then, at the next tent, I was offered a choice between some new high-protein products, vanilla or cocoa pudding or plain yogurt, and I obviously picked yogurt, which I could also keep for later, which I did, while in case of the pudding they were just pouring into cups, so it had to be eaten there. Either way, there was a contest there as well and I hovered around there after taking the yogurt, showing that I was interested but without butting in and specifically asking to participate, and they just ignored me, so I eventually walked away. And, while those biscuits which I had spotted were the main reason why I had wanted to wash my hands before taking anything, I’m pretty sure that it was only after that when I walked past the other tents to get back to the Mega Image area and take and eat two of them. Then I returned to one of the tents that I had walked past, where they were offering sandwiches, taking one and then sitting down and eating it… And more clouds gathered and it suddenly felt cold as I sat there, so I put on the jacket and rearranged everything in the backpack before finally walking out of Constitution Square a couple of minutes before noon.

To move on to the last section, which I added Saturday afternoon, I’ll say that, even though I didn’t really need more for Kaufland’s campaign and therefore didn’t actually bother to look, I still grabbed two plastic bottles with the deposit symbol on my way out of Constitution Square and one more on the way to Carrefour Unirii, then I put everything in a cabinet when I got there, grabbed an expiring product and wandered around until the employee seemed to have finished placing more products in that area. But I wasn’t interested in anything else, so I then meant to just buy that product… Only to suddenly once again feel that I was just about to shit myself just when I was at the self-checkout. Since I was no longer running and that problem hadn’t returned after eating, drinking, sitting down or getting back up, I had assumed that I was safe and won’t really need to use a toilet for that purpose before getting back, so I hadn’t even taken that Smecta Go, but just after scanning that product, as I was about to pay, it came so suddenly and with such force that it really felt like I won’t be able to hold it in anymore, so I quickly asked for the transaction to be cleared, out loud but without even turning to the employee who was at the computer, and went back, taking the product with me and holding on to a freezer as I made every effort to hold it in, just barely managing to make it past that moment. But I knew that I had only bought myself a few more moments, so I struggled to make it to the upstairs exit, where it was very fortunate that I had just recently realized that the store actually has a toilet, hiding that product on a shelf on the way and dashing in, relieved to find the single stall unoccupied, a guard having just walked out.
Well, this next part will be quite gross, but I’ll write it anyway, because I don’t want to just say that I solved the problem and move along when I just barely managed to pull down the tights and underwear and let it rip before even being able to sit, so I ended up soiling the toilet seat and even the lid and could only hope that I had managed to hold the jacket and t-shirt out of the way of the spray. It was only after the worst of it was out that I managed to take off the jacket, initially hanging it on the door handle while I did my best to clean up the mess with toilet paper, finally sitting down after being satisfied that I had done a good enough job. After that, I noticed that there was something to hang clothes from, so I moved the jacket there and then kept trying to see whether any of the spray had reached any of my clothes, finding a tiny spot on the t-shirt that might or might not have been shit, but fortunately nothing else. So, after I was finally done, I tried to wash that spot a little, then thoroughly washed my hands, retrieved that product and bought it, adding it in the backpack after retrieving my things from the cabinet.
I then took the metro to Obor, and when I got out it was so windy that I was really thankful that the run had been in the morning. Not that the wind hadn’t been a problem then as well, but at that point I could barely walk against it as I made my way to Penny, where I put my things in a cabinet and just bought pizza dough. Then I retrieved my things and went to Kaufland, putting those three bottles in the recycling machine, then spotting two cans with the deposit symbol in the garbage bin that’s just before the store entrance and going back to put those in as well. More recyclables seemed to have appeared in that same bin by the time I walked past it again, moments later, but I just kept going, putting my things in a cabinet, washing my hands, and just buying toilet paper, since a 30% discount on toilet paper and paper towels was in effect that weekend and I could still find some of a kind that I can get, and which I knew should also have the additional 10% discount if the store card is used. So I took five packs, which was what I needed in order to use all of the vouchers received for the recyclables that I still had if both of those discounts applied properly, but I wanted to make sure, so at the self-checkout I initially entered four, adding the fifth after checking the total and confirming that the discount was, in fact, 40%.
After retrieving my things, I continued to Carrefour, needing to take the time to at least make everything fit into two small cabinets, since all of the large ones were locked and the toilet paper obviously took a lot of space. And it was for nothing anyway, since I didn’t get anything from there… And I initially just walked away, only realizing that I hadn’t retrieved my things as I was on my way to that mall’s exit, so I went back for them. And, I’d say as a result of that, I ended up just missing the metro, entering the station when it was there but being blocked on the stairs by the flood of people coming up, so I could only watch as the doors closed and it left, and the next one came over ten minutes later. Either way, I picked up a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way to and from the metro station.
I got back at 3:50 PM, put what had to be refrigerated in the fridge, ate the recently expired walnuts with pepper that I had, getting some 850 calories from those, even did the day’s squats, changed, and left again at 6:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, which I put on the cabinets while I quickly checked the nearest Penny, then retrieved on my way out. The problem was that it was the last day of that campaign, so I had to put them in the recycling machine from Kaufland and also use the voucher that evening, but there was quite a line when I got there and the employee was saying that the machine was going to shut down at 8 PM, along with the store, insisting on that when I corrected him to say that the store closed at 9 PM. And he also said that they were out of crates, especially for glass, so when the remaining space in the last one will fill up, that will be it for the day. That made me worry that I won’t be able to put in what I had and wondered whether I should try to rush to the other location. But that was too much of a risk, so I waited for my turn and was relieved that the machine didn’t stop as I rushed to put in what was accepted, quickly setting aside what wasn’t, and also one last plastic bottle which should have been accepted, and splitting so what I had found was on one voucher, which I needed to use that evening in order to make sure that I reached the maximum amount allowed during the campaign, if it will actually work without the app, and dad’s recyclables were on another, which I didn’t need to use just then.
After putting what I was left with in a cabinet and washing my hands, I entered the store and saw that the bread that I was interested in only had a 30% evening discount, and I scanned the label to confirm that, and that toilet paper was sold out at that location by then, so I couldn’t use those vouchers to get more of it either. But I got two packs of paper towels, a few peppers for dad, which had an evening discount, and some carrots, after spotting a price label that listed a 90% discount in a pile of discarded electronic labels, since the one that was placed there looked damaged and still listed the full price. And, after using a price checker to confirm that discount, I took that correct price label and placed it next to the damaged one, so others will know of the discount as well. Then I wandered around and wasted time, meaning to take a glove when I went back to the bakery area and ending up with two, so I put one on and stuffed the other in a pocket, but that bread’s discount hadn’t increased and I didn’t want anything else, so after eventually checking that bread’s price one more time I finally made my way to the self-checkout. Then I retrieved those leftover recyclables and arranged my things a little, and I think that I managed to walk out before the store closed, obviously at 9 PM. And, after discarding the glove which I had pointlessly used, I ended up coming back here with the other one still in my pocket.
I got back for good at 9:25 PM, put the new purchases in their place, went to the toilet, albeit leaving very little in there, and showered. After that, I wrote the placeholder for that week’s second post and then went to the kitchen, washed what was to wash, and made pizza. Until I was almost done, I thought that I might be able to take a first bite just before 3 AM, to be able to say that I started eating at a normal time, then take it to my room, but as it became obvious that it’ll be impossible I slowed down, did things properly, also moved something, and finally took the last pill of that supplement for joints and once again another pill as well, just in case, before eating, between 3:40 AM and 5:20 AM. I got in bed at 6:10 AM, after dad got back.

The ICJ ordering Israel to halt its attack on Rafah is a good sign, but as long as it’s unenforceable, Israel doesn’t care, the US and UK continue to support them and the EU is too afraid to do anything about, well, anything, it doesn’t matter all that much in practical terms. Even the arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas officials alike that the chief prosecutor of the ICC is requesting may not make that much of a difference even if they will be obtained, which is far from certain. After all, such a warrant exists for Putin and that didn’t make the slightest difference.
Still, these developments do show that some wheels are turning and the international community is, at every level, less and less willing to turn a blind eye to the atrocities committed by Israel, offering some hope that there may come a time when the horrors inflicted upon the Jewish people in the past will no longer be seen as acceptable excuses and justifications for them behaving in a similar manner. And more EU states recognizing Palestine may indicate that the developed world is, finally, starting to care for those who are now, and who have been for several decades, the victims.
Of course, right now it’s all talk, statements of intent at best, and it remains to be seen if and when that will turn into real action, into enforcement, into actually stopping both Israel and Hamas and offering real aid and support for regular Palestinians, who have for so long been suffering and dying under the uncaring eye of “the West”, caught between Israeli oppressors, Hamas terrorists and a corrupt and unelected Palestinian Authority… And, if that day will ever come, how many of them will still be around to see it, and in what condition, both physical and mental.