Cav's Place

With sizable protests making it clear that the issue is of great importance and may even prove decisive in the election, I was wondering what was going to be said about Palestine in Biden’s and Harris’ speeches. And some lip service was paid to the issue, Biden saying “we’re working around the clock — my secretary of state — to prevent a wider war and reunite hostages with their families and surge humanitarian health and food assistance into Gaza now, to end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people and finally, finally, finally deliver a ceasefire and end this war” and then actually adding “those protesters out in the street, they have a point“, while Harris said “what has happened in Gaza over the past ten months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination“.
However, the double standard continued to be strikingly obvious even when it came to who was allowed to speak, the parents of one of the hostages being among the speakers, but all requests for a Palestinian American to be allowed to do the same being firmly denied. And even the briefest look at the actual actions makes it perfectly clear that those few sentences were little more than an attempt to fool people into thinking that they may actually care in any way, the level of support offered to Israel remaining the same in practice and empowering them to continue to act with impunity.
Seriously, if you want to foster hate, radicalize a nation, a people, turn them all into fighters, one way or another, and also turn an entire part of the world against you and offer your enemies arguments on a silver platter in any discussions about justification, morality or “being on the right side of history”, then do what Israel’s been doing and react to it the way “the West” has been reacting to it, pushing tirelessly for a complete defeat not of Hamas, without whose existence it’d be even harder to even try to find justifications, but of Palestinians as a whole and of the very idea of a Palestinian state. But, to once again quote Babylon 5: “No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by the force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power governments, and tyrants, and armies cannot stand.” So, unless all of that changes completely, with Israel being put back in its place and the security of the entire area likely being maintained by an international peacekeeping force until a fair and proper two-state solution will be implemented and proven to work in the long term, that endless powder keg will just keep exploding, causing untold suffering locally and casting negative effects globally.

Since I still have some personal “slots” available and I’m still a month behind with the runs, I decided to make this week’s second post about two more, the first being the one that marks the practical start of my preparations for this year’s marathon. But after pushing myself to finish the previous post today, I really couldn’t write more than what’s more or less another placeholder at first, scheduling it to be posted at 11:59 PM. And at least that’s probably the most relevant part, covering that first run, though I added one more sentence right at the end of that part in the early hours of Thursday, when I edited the post in order to also add the part about the rest of July 19 and the paragraph that follows it. As for the part about July 22, I finished writing it Friday afternoon, but only edited the post again in order to add it Saturday morning, before going to bed, when I got on-line.

In the early hours of July 19, I once again ended up being too slow in the kitchen, and when it was clear that I won’t be able to start eating before 3 AM anyway, I decided to also move the peanut butter from the jar that I was going to open that night, which had a pretty soft plastic lid, into two smaller ones with proper lids, ending up eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:10 AM, with peanut butter on all of the bread, though I did try to get most of what was left on the inside of that jar while I was still in the kitchen. And I got in bed at 5:25 AM. But at least I slept well, only getting up when it was close to 1 PM and going to pee, and while dad got up soon after that and I didn’t sleep that well anymore, I still caught some naps, both before and after he left, only getting out of bed when it was just past 4 PM. And I still had plenty of time, wanting to leave after 7 PM, so I even washed two pots before having the usual stuff, and the sweet thing consisted of two nicer but expired biscuits, with added honey. And the storm that was supposed to come around 6 PM did come, actually a little earlier, so the plan worked just fine, seeing as I could leave after it, when it was so much cooler. So, after also drinking most of the tea, which resulted in being drenched in sweat even before stepping out, I left at 7:25 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband, with some things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was about 25°C, though the weather stations outside the city reported as little as 22°C, but I couldn’t check what it was when I finished, though I’m thinking that it probably increased while I ran, seeing as it had dropped by some 10°C because of that storm and the last few drops fell after I left.
The time was 1:20:39, with sector times of 4:36, 5:19, 6:05, 4:37, 5:18, 6:07, 4:43, 5:14, 6:09, 4:46, 5:21, 6:14, 4:42, 5:21 and 6:07, making for lap times of 16:00, 16:02, 16:06, 16:21 and 16:10. After a long walk in bad heat two days earlier, which included carrying a fair amount of weight on the way back, I was definitely tired and thinking that staying under 1:20 was just a dream, and anything better than that definitely impossible, and at first my target times added up to something much worse, so it was quite surprising to see that I ended up two seconds less slow than the previous time I had covered this distance. But that was under quite special circumstances, at a time when I was obviously even more exhausted, so this remains a bad time, even if it was minutes better than I thought it was going to be during the first part of the run.
I mean, when even the first sector went over the target for a 16-minute lap, albeit by just one second, I wondered whether I’ll even manage to stay under 16 minutes on one lap, and despite pushing more on sector three I failed even that, albeit by the slimmest margin, as I recall the exact time for lap one being 16:00.10, and I had gone a little wide at the end, to avoid another person. And I was sure that it was going to get much worse after that, so I was worried that a realistic target was 1:23, though after two sectors of lap two I wondered whether I might just manage to squeeze under 16 minutes on that lap, once again pushing more on sector three, but once again failing. Still, it was enough to make me aim to stay under 1:22, though sector one of lap three was concerning, so I once again pushed more after that, managing the one sector two that was just under the target for a 16-minute lap and a lap that made me wonder about squeezing under 1:21. It seemed unlikely, but my chance was to not go over 16:21 on lap four, to afford 16:30 on lap five, and that was exactly what I managed, so I thought that I was at the very limit and just gave everything from the start of lap five, pushing with whatever I had left and being worried that I’ll miss out just by the time that I ended up losing on that lap. And since it was too dark to properly see the time before the last sector and I didn’t want to stop again for that, I didn’t know what I needed and what my chances were, so I just kept pushing to the end and hoping that it’ll be enough.
As I already mentioned, I was tired when I started and expected things to only get worse, and I was also thinking that the temperature was going to increase, but I wouldn’t say that I really noticed that, and I didn’t exactly feel that much more tired either, the only notable physical issues being some warnings from my right leg, possibly more from the ankle than from the knee, starting towards the end of sector two of lap three but not getting worse and possibly even fading as I continued, and maybe a certain pressing need that appeared later, maybe on sector two of lap four, though I’m not certain, and it wasn’t a problem anyway. On the other hand, there were quite a number of damaged spots on the lane, including some that created a risk of tripping, and several tiny patches which had just been repaired, but a single fence was still in place, on sector one, next to the boat dock, while on sector three, at the ship’s dock, there was a spot with bands on it, the other fences and bands having been moved aside, but I wasn’t sure whether they hadn’t been moved by the storm or by random people, so at first I tried to avoid all of those places, though later on I stopped caring. But there were plenty of other places that I was doing my best to avoid, and in fact entire areas where I wanted to pretty much avoid the line altogether, since it was wet. And on sector three of lap one I stepped into a hole that was under the lane, with my right heel, and while it was only jarring, it did make me be more careful after that. And I’d say that the lane caused me to lose some time on sector three of lap four and sector one of lap five, since I couldn’t avoid all the spots that I wanted to avoid, so I stepped carefully in some areas.
Otherwise, it was cooler, but so humid that I basically couldn’t sweat, had no way to cool down, and at the start of sector three those new fountains from the lake created a mist that even made me think of drowning. And the fading light made me slow to a walk for a couple of seconds at the start of sector two of lap three, in order to have a better look at the stopwatch, but then I tried to focus my eyes better and only had to slow down again at the start of sectors one and two of lap five. As for the people, I actually feared that there would be more of them, since it was cooler, but at first there weren’t that many, maybe because it was soon after the storm, and while the number increased later, it wasn’t quite that bad, so the lane likely caused me to weave and go the long way around more than the people, who caused relatively few notable issues. One was on sector three of lap three, just after that spot where there were bands on a repaired patch of the lane, and I was obviously off the lane, a guy was coming from the opposite direction, and I meant to go between the umbrella and the stall that are there, but as I reached that spot I realized that I wasn’t going to fit, and that guy was just reaching that umbrella at the same time, so I sort of jumped to his other side, probably stopping for just an instant as I did so. Another issue was on sector one of lap five, when a domino effect that I believe was started by two people doing the silly dance led to another stepping towards the lane and the runner who came from the opposite direction having to suddenly move to the inside, so I had to step on the grass, cutting the turn a little in the process but clearly slowing. And probably the most notable issue caused by people was on sector two of lap five, where a clear roadblock caused me to briefly stop.
Well, there was something on sector two of lap two as well, but despite sitting down just after the end of the run and jotting down some notes, I couldn’t remember what had happened then, though I seem to recall another moment when I had to step on the grass and I’m quite sure that it didn’t take place later, so that was most likely it. Then again, there might have been something else on sector three of lap four as well, but I can’t understand what I scribbled on that slip of paper, after the note about the lane, and by the time I got back I couldn’t remember it either. I might have meant that I had to quickly avoid someone again, and possibly that it was something similar to something that happened on sector one of lap five, but that’s little more than a guess.

After the run, before even walking out of the park, I stopped on a bench to write down the times and some quick notes about the problems, finding that I had already forgotten what had happened on sector two of lap two, and in fact I wasn’t even absolutely certain that the problem that I knew was missing had been on that sector, so I kept the slip of paper and the pencil in my hand as I walked away and eventually stopped on another bench to make a few corrections, but I still didn’t know what to replace that question mark with.
Either way, I then went to Carrefour, grabbing two recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way and putting them in the recycling machine, where I found quite a lot of those with the small bar codes, plus a few others that also weren’t accepted, so after putting mine in, I grabbed some, but another guy had started doing the same by then and he rushed to grab more than I did, and I let him, seeing as I didn’t have large bags with me anyway. Then I bought a few things, and at the checkout, since there’s still no self-checkout that accepts cash in that location anymore, the cashier pulled on the packaging of one of the bags of bagels, since it was partially covered, so I told her to try to avoid tearing it and she said that she was trying, but they had placed that bar code badly, which was definitely true, and it’s one of their store brands…
After I also used the voucher received for the recyclables, the cashier glanced at the bag where I had those bottles and realized that I just had empty bottles there, saying so out loud, at which point I told her that they weren’t accepted by the machine and she said that she knew about one other brand of water, which in fact has the bar code printed in the same way, but those should be accepted, at least if I rotate them a little after starting to slide them in, and I have since then learned that she was right, but at the time I hadn’t yet managed it and was convinced that those bottles had to be taken elsewhere, so I just walked away and arranged the purchases. And Kaufland’s recycling machine, since I went there next, had no problems with any of those bottles, though it refused one that I picked up from that area, so I put it back, since it seemed somewhat unusual and I thought that it might not be accepted anywhere, plus that I knew that I was going to have problems carrying everything back.
After putting the purchases in a cabinet and washing my hands, I entered the store a few minutes before 10:30 PM, noticing great evening discounts for various vegetables but rushing straight to the bakery area and grabbing two buns, then taking the label for one of them and scanning it, since there was no discount label, but I confirmed that it was also discounted. And then someone else asked what a certain bread was and the employee said that it contained walnuts and it was there for the first time, so I said that I had bought some before, but when the employee repeated that it was there for the first time I said that it might have been from another location, yet it had actually been from the same one, on July 8, and I had even asked that same employee what it was that evening. Either way, since that other customer didn’t take any and the discount was of 70%, though the usual 50% discount seemed to apply to everything else, I took both that were left, after scanning that label to confirm that higher discount. Then, after also taking a pack of deeply discounted tomatoes, since most were just fine, I rushed to get as many things as I could from the vegetables that were discounted by 90%, choosing to believe the labels that stated that they were from Romania. I’d have taken more, at the very least some more onions, but the store was closing, so even though the other customer who was in that area stayed there and there actually was no closing announcement, when closing time came I rushed to the self-checkouts, grabbing an expiring box of those caramelized walnuts on the way, even if the discount was just under 50%. Then I also used the voucher received for the recyclables, retrieved what I had in the cabinet and took my time arranging the purchases, both on the cabinets and in the spot that’s supposedly for that purpose, walking out just before 11:15 PM. And the closing announcement actually came at 11:08 PM, the employee having probably forgotten.
After picking up another bottle with the deposit symbol just after walking out of Kaufland, I struggled to carry everything in the flimsy and rather small bags which I had taken with me, getting back a little after 11:50 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, basically just spread out the purchases, only putting a couple of things in their place, ate watermelon, the caramelized walnuts and boiled corn, also spending some time on the computer while eating those walnuts, and it was past 1:05 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done just after 2 AM, but putting all of the purchases in their place and arranging them in order to fit took quite a while, and I also used the two tomatoes from that pack that were getting moldy and a pepper which had obviously had a worm in it for a long time for the salad, so getting what was still usable from those and cleaning them thoroughly took even more time, and I also moved and mixed something, licking what was left on the cup that I emptied while I was still in the kitchen but otherwise eating a combined lunch and dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:25 AM. And, after dad also got back and I talked to him a little as well, I got in bed at 6:20 AM.

Well, by 9:15 AM I was awake again, maybe because of my dermatitis, since I woke up scratching the left side of my balls, so I went to pee and clean that spot a little more, but I still couldn’t get back to sleep, so instead of wasting even more time in bed, at 9:40 AM I got on computer, only finally getting back in bed at 11:15 AM, after peeing one more time, just in case. And at least I did get some more sleep before getting up for good, several minutes after 2:30 PM. And that night, after dealing with the radish leaves, I started eating dinner at 3:20 AM, but still managed to finish at 3:40 AM, though I then got in bed at 5:20 AM. And there were no visits on July 20, nor on July 21 for that matter.

In the early hours of July 22, after peeling and boiling carrots for a salad that turned out too big as a result, rearranging some things in the fridge, also dealing with one of the breads bought after the previous run, since I had kept them in the fridge and one was still there even after that, having no room in the freezer, and also deciding to take another piece of the bread which I had made four months earlier out of the freezer and use it, which meant spending quite a lot of time slicing it, considering that awfully hard crust, I ended up eating dinner between 3:40 AM and 4:20 AM, though the last several minutes were spent getting what was stuck on the plate. And my dermatitis acted up after I went to bed, the itching between my legs being too bad to be able to sleep, so for the first few hours I was only getting brief and agitated naps, though things eventually settled down and I could get some better sleep before the alarm rang, at 2:30 PM, and I got up. Then I had the usual stuff, with two more of those nicer but expired biscuits, with added honey, as the sweet thing, drank most of the tea, and left at 5:20 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband. The reported temperature was 32°C, and while the various sources averaged about 30°C when I finished, there were differences of quite a few degrees, and the temperature, the effective one in particular, quite certainly varied a fair bit while I ran.
The sector times were 4:29.92, 5:10 (5:09.13), 6:08.00, 4:33.37, 5:07.03, 6:01.47, 4:34 (4:33.88), 5:12 (5:11.69), 5:57.49 and almost certainly 1:51, making for lap times of 15:47.05, 15:41.87 and 15:43.06 and a total time that was almost certainly 49:02. The problem is that I didn’t really know whether I pressed the button right when I crossed what I consider to be the finish line, probably because I had pushed so hard and was quite out of it by then, so I ended up trying to press it a few more times, definitely restarting the timer and stopping it again at least once more, so the 49:03.74 that was listed the last time I pressed the button is irrelevant and I definitely saw 49:02 when I looked at the stopwatch, after crossing what I consider to be the finish line, but I don’t know whether that was before pressing the button the first time or after I had accidentally restarted the timer, so it’s not impossible for the total time to have actually been 49:01, with 1:50 for the last sector. It seems unlikely, but I’ll leave those times listed with a question mark, because I don’t really know. Either way, it means that I was frustratingly close to squeezing under 49 minutes, and those couple of seconds would have made the time seem a fair bit less bad. But it’d have still been a bad time even so, and this way it’s even worse.
Then again, I didn’t exactly expect anything else either, initially thinking that I was just going to stay under 50 minutes, even beating that 49:22 from two weeks earlier seeming unlikely. So I was thinking that staying under 4:30 on the first sector would be an acceptable start, but I was struggling from the beginning and when I saw that I had just squeezed under that target by mere hundredths, I was worried that I’ll only stay under 16 minutes on the first lap, and that time on its third sector was truly concerning. But I knew that I had to stay under 16 minutes on lap two as well if I wanted to stay under 50 minutes at the end, so I tried to push more from the start of it, and after being relatively content with the first sector and quite pleased with the second, I wondered whether that lap could end up being less slow than the first, so I pushed even more on sector three and managed that, which led to only needing to avoid going over 16 minutes on lap three in order to be certain to stay under 49:30. I wasn’t sure whether I could still manage it, but I just gave everything from the start of the lap, not caring about what I’ll have left by the end, and after the first two sectors it seemed that I was going to beat that 49:22 after all, the target becoming to stay under 49:15… And the thought of squeezing under 49 minutes also entered my mind at that point, but it seemed far too late for such a target, yet I wondered whether I could at least cover one sector three in less than six minutes, once again digging even deeper and actually managing it, which led to a time after three laps that might have given me a chance to stay under 49 minutes if I still had any reserves… But I didn’t, failing by a couple of seconds despite pushing all the way to the end.
It was quite cloudy when I started, which helped, and on sector two of lap two and the early part of sector three of lap two it got cloudier, pretty much overcast, but the wind also picked up. However, after some serious gusts at the start of sector three of lap two, the wind died down, the clouds started clearing and by the end of the lap it was pretty much sunny, staying that way over the course of sector one of lap three before getting quite cloudy again on sector two of lap three, then being sunny again on sector three of lap three and the final sector, which is why I said that the effective temperature must have varied a fair bit. Otherwise, the people didn’t cause any notable problems, though I obviously still had to occasionally weave and go the long way around, but the lane was a mess, with so many damaged spots, including quite a few that created a risk of tripping, and the long straight of sector two was the worst, and I again stepped in a hole that was under the lane, on sector three, I believe on lap three, though there is a chance that it was on lap two. And a pressing need appeared on sector three of lap one, but then it went away, and the right knee started giving warnings on sector one of lap two, but they gradually died down as time passed, the more important physical problem being that I was just too tired from the beginning and couldn’t push any harder.

After getting back, I ate watermelon and lunch, changed and left again a little after 8:20 PM, with a lot of recyclables with the deposit symbol, all of them dad’s, though I picked up two more on the way to Carrefour, then actually managed to get the recycling machine to accept all of them, including those with the small bar code, splitting them and receiving two vouchers. Then I bought what I wanted, using the voucher with the smaller value and cashing in the other, once again needing to use a regular checkout and once again having the cashier, who was a different one, pull on the packaging of those bagels, since I had bought some more of them, so I also told her to try to not tear it. And when I stepped away I saw a small pink bag hanging from a cart, probably belonging to the little girl from the family who had been ahead of me, and as I hovered around it another woman came to ask whether someone had forgotten it, and after I said that it seemed like it she took the cart, along with the bag, to a guard.
Then I continued to Penny, entering with the purchases when it was close to 9:25 PM and finding something to get, after which I continued to that Kaufland, wondering whether it’d still be open after all, since the site still listed that location as closing at 10 PM. But the closing time listed at the entrance was 10:30 PM, so I was relieved to still have time, put my things in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, dashing to the toilets for disabled people for soap, and entered the store at or just after 9:55 PM… Only to find no evening discounts for fruits and vegetables and a bakery area that was almost empty, and what little was left wasn’t interesting. But I was looking for cornmeal, which was discounted by 30% those days, and in case of their store brand the discount increased to 40%, since there’s that 10% discount that stacks with anything else if you use the store card, and I was surprised to see that the base price for the better kind had dropped as well, so I just took an entire pack of ten, plus a pack of tomatoes that was deeply discounted even though just one tomato was starting to get moldy, and some expiring walnuts with pepper, which seemed to have that discount applied to a price that was already discounted. Then I struggled to arrange everything, putting the cornmeal in the large backpack, and walked out just after 10:25 PM.
That large backpack meant that I could also get water for dad, and I had seen on-line that it was listed as being back in stock at that Auchan, which still closed at 11 PM at the time, though when I got there I saw signs announcing that starting from August 1 the closing time was going to change to 10 PM. Either way, I entered, with everything, when it was close to 10:40 PM… And going there proved to be a complete waste of time, since I still couldn’t find that water, only the plain one of their store brand seeming available, with the large price label for the carbonated one that dad wants being placed on those packs of plain water as well. So, after having a good look through that entire area, I walked out as closing time approached, telling the guard who stood in front of me when I got to the gate that I’ll show her what I have if I’ll be allowed to walk out, so she told the other employee to open the gate, which she did, and I showed her the tomatoes from one bag, pointing out Kaufland’s discount label, then said that the other products were also store brands, at first saying that they were from Carrefour and gesturing to the corn puffs and the bagels that were on top of the other things, and she seemed satisfied, saying that I shouldn’t pull things out and that it was fine, waving me away. And, on top of the time wasted there and also in that Mega Image from there that closes at midnight, where I put the bags in a cabinet and had a quick look before retrieving them, I had to walk all the way back in the rain, which had started while I was in Auchan.
I got back when it was almost 11:40 PM, with just over 14 kg, but after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute. And I saw that dad had placed his shoes over my running shoes… Either way, I then hung the bags to dry, ate the last piece of boiled corn and something sweet and drank one of the shakes taken after the Dream Trek, did the day’s squats, and put the purchases in their place, with the cornmeal in the cabinet from the balcony. However, one of the bags of cornmeal had gotten a little wet, and those are paper bags, and when I realized that I had initially placed the pack with that side pressed against the side of the cabinet I pulled it back out, to turn it around and give that side a chance to dry, which led to that wet area tearing, so I asked dad to bring me some sticky tape while I pressed that spot with my hand, but he initially brought some thin one that I had no use for and rushed to also turn on the light, though I had told him before, when I was putting that pack in there, that I didn’t need it, and while doing so he hit his toe badly, so I meant to turn the pack so the torn side will be on top and go to grab the sticky tape that I had actually asked for, but dad insisted on limping back to the kitchen to bring it, so I could then fix that bag and turn the pack around. Then I went to shower at 1:10 AM, being done a little after 1:40 AM, after which I washed and cleaned a little in the kitchen, also dealt with my remaining bread bought after the previous run, eating a part of it at dinner, and sliced a small bread for dad as well, eating dinner between 4 AM and 4:40 AM, though the last several minutes were once again spent just getting what was stuck on the plate. I got in bed at 6:10 AM.

After only managing to, finally, finish the last post in what became the series about this summer’s Dream Trek this afternoon and then going out again in the evening, this post was initially just another placeholder, only including the part about the first run, which may be the 300th over this distance if I also exclude the one that I cut short after three laps, because my stopwatch no longer worked, along with the longer one that I always exclude, when I had to go over the bridge and cross the street. Either way, the plan for this post was to include the three regular runs between the Dream Trek and the real start of the preparations for this year’s marathon, the last one of them marking the theoretical start, and I actually managed to edit it and add everything else, starting from the part about the rest of June 27, Sunday evening.

The salad made in the early hours of June 27 only consisted of kohlrabies and a piece of a regular onion, and then I got in bed at 5:20 AM… And I’ll also mention here that I saw several of those grain weevils in the kitchen again that night, and I have been seeing them ever since, but just here and there, and I can’t pinpoint a source, but at least I know that they’re not coming from the popcorn again, since I keep checking it. Either way, I then got up when the alarm rang, at 2:30 PM, and had the usual stuff, while the sweet thing consisted of two somewhat nicer, albeit recently expired, biscuits, with added honey. But it’s a good thing that I meant to go out after 5 PM anyway, since I opened a new bag of baked almonds with Himalayan salt and put all of the expired nicer biscuits of the other kind in the fridge, which required rearranging things, so that took a while, and I also went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, seeing that my chair was still there even then, picking up a glass bottle with the deposit symbol, getting back to drop it off and wash my hands, and ending up actually leaving at 5:45 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband. The reported temperature was about 32°C, and 31°C when I finished. And dad was just entering the building when I was about to exit, so we met at the entrance.
The time was 48:53.51, with sector times of 4:33.23, 5:10.69, 6:04 (6:03.21), 4:34.38, 5:11 (5:10.90), 6:01.22, 4:34 (4:33.60), 5:06.68, 5:56 (5:55.29) and 1:44.31, making for lap times of 15:47.13, 15:46.50 and 15:36 (15:35.57). The heat and the fact that it was just a few days after the Dream Trek made me just aim to stay under 50 minutes at first, but that poor time on the first sector made me push harder, wanting to at least stay under 16 minutes on the first lap and being worried that I’ll even go over 51 minutes in the end, my target lap times after the end of the lap adding up to 51 minutes. But when sector one of lap two was only a second slower than sector one of lap one, I wondered whether I could stay under 16 minutes on lap two as well, in which case I could hope to stay under 50 minutes after all. And at the end of the lap I hoped to stay under 16 minutes on lap three as well and actually get under 49:30, so I pushed harder on lap three, even more so from sector two, and after that sector I found myself wondering whether I could even get under 49 minutes. It seemed like just a passing thought, hardly possible, but I really gave everything on sector three of lap three and at the end of the lap I thought that I might just have a shred of a chance. It required a good final sector when I was already tired, and the heat definitely made it even harder, but I just pushed every step of the way and that surprisingly great time on the final sector meant that I even ended up with several seconds to spare. And each lap was faster than the one before, and so were most sectors, sectors two and three of lap three actually being the only decent ones, so I was quite content, considering the circumstances, though the time is poor in itself.
I was tired when I started, and I also felt the need to snap my back, having felt something wrong there ever since I had gotten in bed in the morning, and the heat was obviously a problem, so I knew that it was going to be hard. But the fatigue became less of a problem after a while, and so did my back, the only physical problems that appeared later being some warnings from my knees, those from the right one eventually being somewhat more notable. On the other hand, I’m not sure what to say about the wind. It might have had a slight cooling effect, but there were spots where I clearly had to push against it, and the humidity created by those new fountains is a problem that the wind only worsens. But at least there weren’t notable problems caused by people except on sector two of lap two, though that sector was frustrating from that point of view, since I had to briefly stop once, when a girl blocked my way by moving to shake the hand of another, calling her “president”, as they were passing each other and I was just about to pass between them, and I also had to slow twice, when I approached roadblocks and had to wait for an opening, and I might have actually slowed a third time, albeit briefly, when I approached a third roadblock, before going very wide in order to go around it. Other than that, I stepped in a hole that was under the lane, possibly on sector two of lap three, but it might have been on that same sector two of lap two, or even sector three of either of those laps, I couldn’t remember by the time I got back, but I know that my ankle really had to take a lot, I was thinking that it had twisted at least to 70°, so it’s a very good thing that it held.

After jogging back, I finished the tea and made another, ate a sweet pastry, and left again a little after 8:15 PM, with the shoes that dad wanted to throw away, those other things that I take to Kaufland, also some of those things that are to be put in their “turtle” for those other vouchers, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, minus those that dad had emptied not long before. And, after picking up a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, the one recycling machine that worked when I got in line also stopped moments later, so I went up, along with another guy, and he asked at the information desk for someone to come and fix the machine, so I then just asked for those other vouchers, which I was going to leave for dad after getting back, receiving them and then dropping off those other things in the “turtle” before going back down, dropping those other things in what should be the appropriate bin, then also the shoes in the one for clothes and shoes and other such things, then getting back in line at the recycling machine and eventually using it, being left just with the two bottles that were least likely to be accepted. So I put those in a cabinet, washed my hands, and finally entered Kaufland exactly one hour after walking out the door.
When I saw two pieces of that bread with cereals that were clearly in the wrong place, the label from that spot being for something else, I took the label that I thought was for that bread and scanned it, seeing that the 50% discount did apply, so I took one of those breads. Then I got some fruits and vegetables that had evening discounts, plus some spoiling white cherries, and I was looking through some non-refrigerated expiring products when I heard an announcement that the checkouts were going to close in ten minutes. It didn’t say that the store had closed, and it should have still been a little before 10 PM, but I didn’t check, just rushing to the self-checkouts, cashing in the voucher received for the recyclables… And then seeing that the bread showed up as having the full price, though that was slightly lower than the full price listed on the label which I had scanned, so I had probably scanned the wrong label after all. Either way, I set that bread aside and left it there, then had to call over an employee when the machine didn’t recognize the green onions as the correct product, so she logged on to override the error… And at the end she had to come again because the machine asked for an employee to complete the transaction, maybe because some old label from a bag had accidentally scanned earlier, the machine telling me at that point to continue with the other products, probably leaving the error to be sorted out at the end.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet, arranging everything and washing my hands one more time, I continued to that Mega Image, put everything back in a cabinet, saw discounts of 90% and got bread for dad and some buns, then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything yet again. I was thinking to perhaps give the buns, if not one of the breads as well, to a homeless person, if I was going to see one on the way back, but I didn’t, so the buns ended up being for myself. And I also grabbed another plastic bottle with the deposit symbol on the way back.
I got back a couple of minutes after 11 PM, ate a banana, left the bread and the buns on the table but put the other purchases in their place, and it was 11:45 PM when I went to wash. After I was done, a few minutes before 12:30 AM, I put the buns in the fridge, and the bread as well for the time being, ate lunch, taking occasional bites between 1:30 AM and 2:25 AM, and then still managed to stick to the dinner schedule, albeit by “cheating” a little in order to be able to say that I started eating before 3 AM. However, I then got in bed at 5:20 AM. And some time after getting up I decided to install and start Phoning Home. And there were no visits recorded on either of those days.

Moving on to July 4, I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing consisting of the last two of those somewhat nicer biscuits which had expired not long before, with added honey, and I left at 4:30 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband. The reported temperature was 26-27°C, and it pretty much held steady. And, after calling while I was on the toilet to say that he won’t be back before I’ll leave after all, since he had said the previous day that he planned to be back around 4 PM, dad was actually in front of the building when I got there, calling the guy who had blocked his parking spot, so I waited for him to be able to park his car and then we exchanged a few words.
The time was 47:32.95, with sector times of 4:26.02, 5:03.93, 5:55 (5:54.38), 4:25.34, 5:04 (5:03.60), 5:45.00, 4:24.34, 4:56 (4:55.56), 5:47.53 and 1:47.25, making for lap times of 15:24.33, 15:14 (15:13.94) and 15:07.43. It is possible that I pressed the button a little early at the end of sector two of lap one, in which case the seconds were also off by one on that sector and the next, but I’ll leave things as they are, without question marks. Either way, this should have just been the second of the two more leisurely runs that I could afford between the Dream Trek and starting to prepare for the marathon, but with the forecast listing temperatures above 35°C pretty much every day at least for the following two weeks, and possibly until the end of the month or even longer, it was my last chance to have a good run, so I clearly aimed to get back under 48 minutes.
Well, that time on the first sector didn’t look good, so I pushed a little more and the next two sectors were somewhat better, but far from good enough for that 15:20 that’s the target lap time for 48 minutes. And that was on the first lap, so I was wondering whether I’ll even stay under 49 minutes and pushed harder on lap two, but after two sectors that were marginally faster than on the first lap I felt myself tiring, so I dug even deeper on sector three, thinking that I had to in order to at least maintain the pace… Only to be pleasantly surprised by that really good time on that sector, and by the fact that I actually had a chance to stay under 48 minutes after all. But that required maintaining that pace, which didn’t seem likely, yet I just kept pushing, and from sector two of lap three I pretty much gave everything, not worrying about what I’ll have left for the end. And, if after sector two of lap three I was more or less certain that, if there won’t be notable problems, I was going to stay under 48 minutes, at the end of the lap I was frustrated that it didn’t seem likely that I’ll manage to also get under 47:30, which did prove to be the case despite continuing to push on that final sector as well.
I felt the need to snap my back before the run, but it went away once I was actually running, the only physical issues being some warnings from the right knee on lap three, maybe from sector two, if not actually from sector one, and also a faint feeling that I hadn’t left everything in the toilet, which definitely started from sector two of lap three, but it wasn’t a problem. As for the problems caused by people, other than requiring some weaving and going the long way around, on lap one I hesitated next to that stand that’s on sector three, when I was about to pass a few other people, who had left the lane clear, but a man who was coming from the opposite direction and had been hidden from sight by them meant to use the lane to get around them. And on sector three of lap two there were two moments when I hesitated, first when I passed by a group of girls and one rushed at the one that I was passing closest to and pushed her into me, obviously on purpose, so I ended up elbowing that one who got pushed, though I’m pretty sure that I mainly hit her handbag, and then when a cyclist who was coming from the opposite direction had to use the lane, the rest of the path being quite crowded in that area, and while I saw him from a fair distance, he was fast and it startled me. Otherwise, there were the damaged or particularly uneven parts of the lane that I did my best to avoid, and while it had been cloudy just before I left, it was mostly sunny while I ran, only being cloudy again on sector three of lap three.

After getting back, I rearranged some things in the freezer, to make room for what dad had brought, and ate watermelon, that being the year’s first one, brought by dad on June 29, from the trip he had taken. Then I also ate lunch, did 200 squats, since I had kept putting them off the previous day until I forgot to do them at all, changed, took dad’s recyclables with the deposit symbol, leaving those which I had picked up and brought back the previous time, and left again at 8:45 PM, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way to Mega Mall, where I first dropped the can which I had also taken with me in a recycling bin, then went to use the recycling machine, surprised that it took all of those many recyclables, just the two that had a small bar code requiring multiple tries but even those eventually working. Then I found a sweet pastry that I was interested in among the discounted products, under some packaged leafy greens and fruits, and it was the only bakery product that was there, so it had probably been either hidden by someone or forgotten when those fruits and vegetables had been placed there, but it was wrapped in plastic, so I took it, then I cashed in the voucher received for the recyclables before paying for it… And then it fell from my hands as I walked out of the checkout area. But it was still wrapped in plastic, so I picked it up and then put it in a small bag and in the backpack.
After continuing to Kaufland, I washed my hands and entered the store, with the backpack, when it was past 9:35 PM, maybe even closer to 9:40 PM. I was interested in two buns from the bakery area, and while they didn’t have a discount label, I took them after scanning the regular one and finding that the 50% discount did apply. And I also took a sweet pastry. Then I rushed back to the fruits and vegetables, grabbing one more product on the way and then getting a number of things from there that had evening discounts before starting to walk to the self-checkout area at 10 PM, grabbing some cornmeal on the way… And then being surprised that there had been no closing announcement, or in fact even one stating that closing time was approaching, even though I had checked the site before leaving and the closing time for that location was still listed as 10 PM. But a few other locations had switched to 10:30 PM or 11 PM, and nobody was telling me to hurry up either, so I also had a look at the expiring products before actually getting to the self-checkout… Which didn’t accept the green onions as the correct product, and no employees were around, so it took a while before I could call over the one from the information desk… Who left again right after overriding the error, so when the lettuce with root was not accepted either, I once again had to wait for quite a while, and nobody was at the information desk either, but three other employees were chatting next to the recycling bins, so I eventually waved at them and one finally came over… Only to simply pick up the lettuce and set it back down, the machine accepting it at that point even though I had done the same thing multiple times while waiting and it hadn’t worked. Either way, I then arranged the purchases just a little and, after walking out, I saw that the closing time listed at the entrance had indeed changed to 10:30 PM, just that I hadn’t looked there on my way in.
After picking up another bottle with the deposit symbol on the way, I also checked that Mega Image, struggling to put that bottle and at least the large bag in a cabinet but being unable to make them fit. But the guard told me to just leave them next to the cabinets, because he was there and will watch them, so I did so, leaving the other bag there as well, though I still entered with the backpack and the bag that hangs from my neck. Then, after getting some expiring products that were discounted by 90%, including another one of those packs of buns, retrieving my things and walking out, I stopped at a bench and rearranged everything properly. And I once again considered giving those buns to a homeless person, but I still didn’t see any on the way back.
I got back a little after 11:05 PM, but after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute. Then I put most of the purchases in their place, which took quite a while, and during that time I also noticed that the buns from that pack seemed to have a strange smell. But I shrugged it off, and in the end they didn’t seem to cause any problems. Either way, I then ate that sweet pastry from Carrefour, going to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, at 12:45 AM. It was almost 1:50 AM when I was done, then I cleaned the grill, which dad had once again used, then washed the other things that were in the kitchen, selected the remaining purchases, setting aside what I was going to use for the salad and putting the rest in their place as well, and finally ate dinner between 4:20 AM and 5 AM. I got in bed at 6 AM… And after some two hours of sleep I woke up, deciding to go to pee, just in case, and then I got on the computer for a while, getting back in bed a few minutes before 9:30 AM, and needing a while to get back to sleep, though I eventually did… And after getting up I noticed more key combinations that can’t be used on the new keyboard…

On the morning of July 6, dad got back very early again, so I talked to him a little and ended up going to bed at 5:25 AM. And after getting up that day I finished If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal, also managing to write the quick review in the evening, though I just put the English version on Goodreads at the time, leaving the translation for later, since I had tried to have The StoryGraph add the edition automatically several days earlier but it wasn’t just that it still hadn’t been added, but there was no notification that it couldn’t be added either, that message only appearing two days later, at which point I added the edition manually and also added that same English review there as well, editing both of those reviews one more day later, so on July 9, in order to also add the translation. But, to get back to July 6, I’ll also mention here that no visits were recorded that day.

In the early moments of July 7, I apparently reached a spot in Phoning Home that my computer can’t deal with, since it constantly crashed with an “out of memory” error in the logs, and since I saw textures being mentioned, I assume that it refers to video memory, though when I’m using integrated graphics, it’s probably still a matter of total system memory. Either way, that kept happening even at absolutely minimum settings, with the resolution at 320×240, and when I also tried installing the game on dad’s computer, since it has a dedicated video card, even if it’s very weak, and also a 64-bit OS, even if it also has only 4 GB of RAM, it wouldn’t even start. Since the errors from the logs were different, the first problem on dad’s computer might have had to do with the old drivers or some missing dependencies, but I didn’t try to troubleshoot it and I wouldn’t have installed or changed other things on it anyway. So it was clear that I couldn’t advance in that game anymore and had to give up, though I still poked around a little over the next few days, making the final save in the early hours of July 10 and uninstalling it after getting up.

Getting back to July 7, I went out at 2:50 PM, after doing the day’s squats. I went to Kaufland and got what I wanted, checking at the self-checkout that the discounts applied properly, then I took some time to arrange everything in my backpack, realizing pretty quickly that it wasn’t a good idea but wanting to at least keep everything there and avoid bothering to use a cabinet when I’ll also go to Tei, intending to move the purchases back in a bag after that. Either way, I then found a bottle with the deposit symbol in the parking lot and turned back to use the recycling machine, keeping the voucher for another time, then went to Tei, entering with the purchases and getting what I wanted… And then I just threw those purchases in a bag and still kept the others in the backpack. Then I grabbed a couple of fruits from a tree on the way to the farmers’ market, spotting many more that looked nice and ripe in another but moving on because some people were there at the time. And checking the farmers’ market turned out to be a waste of time, and that was a problem, since after picking up some more fruits on the way back, mostly off the ground, I realized that I was out of time, so I took off the backpack and jogged the rest of the way, with the backpack in one hand and the bag in the other.
I made it back just in time, a couple of minutes after 5 PM, managing to turn on the TV seconds before the start of the race. And I was relieved to see that nothing had cracked or been cut in my backpack. But one of the fruits which I had picked up off the ground had been crushed, so I discarded the skin but, despite thinking that at that point the pulp would have likely also been dirty or contaminated by something, I still ate some of it, after trying to wash it a little.

On July 8, I was going to run in the evening, when the temperature was at least going to start dropping a little, so I didn’t set an alarm, getting up when it was close to 3:20 PM. Then I ate some watermelon, later followed by a doughnut, with added honey, the yogurt with cereals and baked almonds with Himalayan salt, the yogurt having expired three days earlier but being a “creamy” bio (organic) one with 4.5% fat and 5.5% protein, and a banana. I also drank most of the tea before leaving, at 7:50 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband, and with some things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was about 34°C, with the forecast listing about 31°C when I was going to finish, though I couldn’t check to know for sure.
The time was 49:22.89, with sector times of 4:27.86, 5:17 (5:16.22), 6:05.84, 4:24.03, 5:16 (5:15.81), 5:56.13, 4:40 (4:39.84), 5:24 (5:23.97), 6:03 (6:02.56) and 1:50.63, making for lap times of 15:49.92, 15:36 (15:35.97) and 16:07 (16:06.37). Considering the heat, and also the fact that I had been out the day before, I was just aiming to stay under 50 minutes and controlled my pace on the first sector, so I was content with that time… And then I saw that work was once again being done in that area that’s on sector two, which at first glance seemed completely closed off. However, after wondering for a moment whether I’ll have to give up, I saw how others were getting through, using a spot where the fence was slightly pushed aside and then picking their way through a muddy patch, between the lake and the path. And everyone had to use that small space, so running through was pretty much out of the question and that loss of time made me seriously question staying under 50 minutes. And going well over six minutes on sector three of lap one and needing just over ten seconds less than 16 minutes to cover the lap made me doubt it even more. So it was clear that I had to stay under 16 minutes on lap two as well, and the first sector’s time was surprisingly good, giving me hope, and after being able to deal slightly better with that area of sector two, getting under six minutes on sector three and being a fair bit faster on the lap as a whole compared to the first one, I even started wondering about getting under 49:30, and about staying under 16 minutes on each lap. Sector one of lap three put that second goal in doubt, and losing even more time than before on sector two made it pretty much impossible, but I could still get under 49:30, which I managed after pushing on sector three and on the final sector. Of course, that’s a bad time in itself, but I was content with it under those circumstances.
There were plenty of people and there were a couple of spots where I hesitated even on lap one, and I remember one, on the long straight of sector two, where a couple were walking next to the lane and the dog that was behind them, without a leash, seemed to mean to come in my direction as I was about to pass between it and them, startling me, so I almost slammed into the guy, though I actually only touched him a little. But on the long straight of sector two of lap two I stopped for an instant when a woman and a boy were cycling on either side of the lane, coming from the opposite direction, and the boy lost balance and tipped towards me just as I was about to run past him. And cyclists coming from the opposite direction made me hesitate twice on sector three of lap two. And on sector one of lap three I was catching up to a guy who was running on the lane and the boy who was on a scooter, next to the lane, on the inside, and they suddenly stopped right in front of me, next to the drinking fountain, so I almost slammed into the boy, having to stop for a moment and touching him probably somewhat roughly as I pushed past. And I seem to remember a brief stop on the long straight of sector two of lap three as well, but not the details, and I’m not entirely certain that I’m not mixing it with the earlier moment involving the boy on the bicycle. But it probably is different, because I seem to remember a roadblock. And there might have also been something on sector three of lap three, but I was pushing and I guess that my mind wasn’t exactly recording anymore, so I couldn’t really say. However, I do remember the little boy who started running in front of me on the final sector’s straight, and I probably gained a little time by having that target, until he had to give up and stopped, after probably about a hundred meters or so.
Otherwise, the heat was just draining me on the way to the park and I definitely felt it on the first lap, but it lessened after that. And there were also the usual uneven or damaged portions of the lane, but the major problem was the one that I already mentioned, the work that was once again being done in that same spot from sector two, and the fact that everybody had to get through that small space where the fence had been partially moved aside and then pick their way through a pretty muddy area that was off the path, next to the lake, so it was always crowded as well. I mostly walked through there on lap one, did better on lap two, but on lap three there really was no room, so I walked for an even longer time than on lap one, and trying to also have a better look at the stopwatch at that point caused me to lose even more time. And that was after slowing to a walk for a couple of seconds while trying to have a better look at the stopwatch on sector two of lap two, realizing moments later that I could have waited until that area where I was going to be slow anyway, but then doing the exact same thing on sector two of lap three, and then looking one more time when I was in that area as well, as I already mentioned. And another moment when I briefly slowed to a walk in order to have a better look at the time was on sector one of lap three.

After the run, I went straight to Carrefour, finding a 1 RON bill on the way, buying a few things, and needing to use a regular checkout, because that single self-checkout from that location that used to accept cash had been replaced with another one that didn’t. Then I continued to Kaufland, that location closing at 11 PM, so I washed my hands, entered with the purchases, and spotted a new kind of bread in the bakery area, where the evening discounts were once again of 51%. And that new bread looked like it might be good, so I asked the employee what it was and she said that it was written on the discount label that was in front of it, which I had ignored because it mentioned a “baguette” and that looked like a regular bread. And that discount label didn’t list the ingredients, and I couldn’t find the regular label, so I initially only got two regular breads for dad. Some of that bread with sunflower seeds was also left, but it didn’t have a discount label, and when the employee left I took the regular label and scanned it, confirming that there was no discount, at which point I also tried to check the ingredients for that new bread, ending up struggling with that obviously malfunctioning touchscreen for a while, before finally moving to another price checker and finding those ingredients, which were listed in English but actually did look quite good. And when I got back to the bakery area I did spot the regular label for that bread as well, and it also listed the ingredients, still in English. So I grabbed that bread as well, then I also got a watermelon and wandered around for a while before eventually making my way to the self-checkout and also using that voucher received for that recyclable the day before. Then I arranged the purchases and walked away just before 10:55 PM, and I found two recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way back.
I got back a little before 11:30 PM, but after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute. Then I put the few other purchases in their place, leaving the bread on the table, washed just a couple of the things that were in the kitchen, did the day’s squats and ate lunch. And, after putting the t-shirt which I had been wearing inside those days in the laundry basked, I realized that the others were in there as well, so I ended up taking an undershirt and going to shower when it was past 1:05 AM. I was done just before 1:40 AM, and then I washed the other things that were in the kitchen, including a large pot that dad wanted to use after getting up, also dealt with my bread, though I just put dad’s in the drawer for the time being, drank the lemonade taken during the Dream Trek, which had just expired, and only finally ate dinner between 4:15 AM and 5 AM, with a part of that new bread, which contains walnuts and which at the time I thought was more like something that I’d want to eat before runs, but which I have since decided to keep in order to eat just like that, after runs, or at least after some of them. Either way, I got in bed at 6:15 AM… And at 10:45 AM I got up to pee and it was hard to sleep after that, if I was falling asleep it was only briefly and then I was waking up again, so I stayed in bed until around 1:15 PM, but likely slept less than half of that remaining time, possibly much less, and that sleep consisted only of brief naps.

I’ll also mention here that on the morning of July 10 I got in bed at 5:25 AM, after cleaning up after Liza vomited and exchanging a few more words with dad, who got back very early once again. And after I got up there were two brief power failures, and then I installed and started Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition, being surprised that it worked even though it’s listed as not supporting Intel graphics. And on July 11 I started The Bone Season, which I finished on July 17, when I also wrote the quick review.

To once again continue from where I left off, what followed after we got moving again was another period of straightforward running, following the route that was originally planned. So we reached Cismigiu Park but went around it, without entering, then there was another group picture, taken on the bridge, when we crossed the river before entering Izvor Park, and after crossing that park we just kept going until we turned on Progresului, where the sidewalk’s narrow and damaged and the tram tracks may seem like a better option but the grass planted on them hides the hazards, which include quite a number of deep pits, so it’s not surprising that there was another fall and we stopped for a while. Or at least I’m almost certain that this is where that fall took place, and I really don’t see where else it could have been. Either way, I was near the head of the group at the time and the person who fell was some distance behind, so I didn’t actually see what happened, but that did act as a warning for the other participants, and when Radu returned to the head of the group he also stressed that we should be careful, and I clearly recall that, as we mostly kept running on the tram tracks on that street, almost every time I passed by one of those notable hazards, another participant was standing over or in front of it, to keep others away.
After the next turn, we continued along the originally planned route, to Drumul Taberei Park, but the group was getting more and more stretched, with some pushing ahead and others tiring and falling behind. I tried to stay in what might have been considered a second group, those who maintained more or less the pace mentioned in the e-mail, but staying around the head of it did mean that I occasionally found myself pushing forward and ending up sort of between groups, especially when that group was also getting scattered and it was less clear whose pace I should try to match. But there were a few from that group who kept complaining about those who were pushing ahead and shouting at them to slow down or wait, and if I was more than a few steps ahead of them when that happened, I let them catch up. And we did make use of red lights to let more of those who were falling behind catch up as well, but as time passed that was no longer enough, so a longer pause was eventually called for, and I thought that it was at Favorit metro station, since a non-stop Mega Image is there and I recall some trying to buy something from it but finding that it was closed, which actually does happen between 2 AM and 3 AM even for the non-stop ones, but now that I had a better look through the “official” pictures, I actually believe that it was at the metro station that’s just before Drumul Taberei Park, and that Mega Image may also be non-stop, though the information differs depending on where I look. Either way, the point is that the store was closed, and if that actually was the place where we stopped, it wasn’t just to let the rest catch up, but because we had to reach that park together and decide what to do next.
Either way, we eventually reached Drumul Taberei Park, the problem being that we were running late and going past the park and running along that entire loop that surrounds that part of the city already seemed unlikely if we were going to also reach the second planned stop and then get back to University Square, even on the shortest possible route and at least not long after sunrise. So it’s a good thing that we didn’t even try, the matter being settled when many stopped to drink and fill bottles from the drinking fountain and use the toilet from that entrance of the park, the pause stretching an unusually long time, so a few of those who had energy to burn started dancing or otherwise fooling around and eventually the decision was made to give up on that loop and find a spot for the picture marking the westernmost point of the route in that park. And, on someone’s suggestion, that spot ended up being on the bridge, which I must admit is quite spectacular, though I otherwise don’t like what was done with that park.
After leaving the park through the southern side, it might be said that we were once again on the route which had been originally planned, but we were going in the wrong direction and only kept running for a little while, stopping once again when we reached that gas station that’s across the road from the eastern side of the park. And that was a refreshment stop, even if it hadn’t been listed on the schedule or, as far as I know, even mentioned during the run. The route, as shown on the map, did include a tiny detour that would indicate going to that gas station, but I for one missed it completely when I checked before the run, only noticing it afterwards, when I was trying to determine and measure the actual route we had covered, and seeing as it had been clearly stated that we were just going to have those two refreshment stops, I’d say that anyone who had noticed it would have been likely to just assume that it was planned as a toilet break for those who needed it, which was probably the reason for that long break for water, since I doubt that so many would have stopped to stand in line and fill bottles at that drinking fountain if they’d have known that better things would be available to drink a little while later.
Either way, t-shirts were also available there, offered by one of the sponsors, even if they were presented as just an option for those who wanted to change out of their sweaty t-shirt at that point, but since they were black I didn’t even care to take a closer look. Not that I’d have been likely to get one anyway, since the expectation would have obviously been for those t-shirts to be worn for the rest of the night and I wouldn’t care to wear something, especially something that was going to be in direct contact with my skin, without washing it first. But the other things that were offered were much more useful, and I drank a shake and a shot and took a lemonade and a second shot of the same kind as the one I drank, the other kind being likely to be very spicy. So, while I easily found where to put the shot, the lemonade ended up being the second bottle that I carried in my hands, and my reusable one was still full of water at that point, since I had expected to have nothing else to drink until that second planned refreshment stop. And, with the pause once again stretching on while others used the toilet while I was quite surprised to find that I didn’t need to do so at all, I also took a little time to jot down a few more things and otherwise just stood around and watched those who once again had too much energy to burn and danced or otherwise fooled around.
After we got going once again, we did fully return to the originally planned route once we passed the park, following it to that other new park which had been added on the route last year, where another group picture was taken. But we were running really late and had to keep going, so instead of getting back to the road and going around that area, the decision was made to keep going straight, through that park and then continuing along that road that extends behind it, even if it wasn’t exactly the best surface to run on and the area gave me the impression of being somewhat questionable in other ways as well. And, of course, the group kept getting stretched and broken up, but I was still feeling very well and could stay close to the front.
That continued to be the case after we got back to a main road and, a couple hundred meters later, returned on the route that was originally planned, since what followed was another period of straightforward running. I guess that those who were falling behind were staying much closer together, but I was still feeling surprisingly well, stayed close to the front, and any larger group tended to be well out of sight behind me, yet the pace difference between the others who were more or less at the front and the lighter traffic that sometimes allowed many to just keep going when having to cross roads meant that there were even moments when the very first ones were also out of sight, ahead of me. And it was at such a time, I believe while we were in the area of the Cotroceni Palace, possibly even while we ran along the wall that surrounds it, when I heard one guy who was behind me tell another who questioned leaving the others behind that he was doing it on purpose, his belief being that those who are struggling and feeling that they are already giving 100% can be encouraged to dig deeper and find that they can push past what they currently believe are their limits if others who are at, for example, 60%, like he felt he was at the moment, offer a target to chase. At that point I meant to comment that something like that may only be true if that target remains in sight, the effect of others easily getting so far ahead as to even get out of sight being the opposite, getting disappointed and disheartened, and the feeling may persist past that night, but I didn’t say it out loud. On the other hand, I was also thinking that I was at about 90% at that point, and that I was going to struggle to maintain anything like that pace all the way to that second planned refreshment stop, and if I will do that then it’ll be really hard to keep running back to University Square from there.
I drank part of the water when we were once again at the river, though I’m not sure whether that was just when we reached it or when we crossed it, since we reached it at one bridge, those of us who were ahead crossing the road and then waiting for the others to catch up, but then we ran along it until the next bridge, most of the others staying on the other side of the road and only crossing at that point, another long stretch of straightforward running along the originally planned route following after that, as we made our way back to Victory Square.
Next came another group picture, in front of the Natural History Museum, so we did wait to regroup completely, but there was still a long way to go to that second planned stop and once we got going again, still following the route that was originally planned, I was thinking that I was nearing my limit and will start to struggle… However, as we ran along Paris Street, mostly on the street, since the sidewalk was too dark, and I initially found myself some distance behind the first ones, who kept pushing ahead, I gradually realized that I could not only keep up, but even reduce that distance, the fact that I kept having targets to catch obviously having just the effect mentioned earlier. So I kept doing that, setting my sight on the person who was ahead of me and pushing to catch up and overtake them, then finding the next target and continuing, finding that I could just keep pushing for far longer than I thought I would and gaining confidence, so by the time we reached the end of that street, and perhaps even more so a few hundred meters later, when we reached Floreasca Park, I no longer thought that I was going to struggle to reach that second planned refreshment stop, even if it was still some distance away, so that was far from certain.
Either way, after we regrouped I guess that some were suggesting to cut through that park, since I heard Radu say that it was too dark, but there wasn’t much of a discussion and we just continued along the originally planned route, going around that park. It was after we got past it, at the intersection of Mircea Eliade with Floreasca, when I drank the rest of my water, but otherwise the straightforward running just continued and I was increasingly surprised by how well I continued to feel and, maybe even more so, by the fact that I wasn’t troubled by any pressing need. And that didn’t just continue to be the case all the way to the building where we were going to make that second refreshment stop, which I remember reaching after just one more brief pause during which Radu reminded us of the route, but I was in fact feeling so well that, when I knew that we were approaching that building, I could push even harder and once again overtake many of those who had been ahead of me before that point, being among the first to get there, at 4:35 AM.
Since the group was so stretched, it took a while before everyone got there, so we waited on those stairs, and after being somewhat surprised when I saw that one of the organizers, who had been waiting for us there, had been wearing a jacket, I realized that it did actually feel a little chilly if you didn’t move. Considering how hot the day had been, and the fact that the heat had continued to be something of a problem during the night, that was unexpected, but it was early in the morning, I was sweaty and had made all that effort. Either way, that was just something that I noticed, not a problem in any way, so I just rested and tried to make sure that I didn’t miss anything that was being said, since we were supposed to reach that building’s rooftop, which featured a running track, and the organizers were telling us how, and also stressing that it was an apartment building and we obviously had to keep very quiet, since people were sleeping.
We were given a choice between using the stairs or the elevators, so I was among those taking the stairs, and I did try to sort of jog, however lightly, and turned the stopwatch back on until I reached that rooftop, so that time was counted at the end and the distance should also count, but it’s pretty much impossible to measure it with any sort of accuracy, since we went up to what I seem to remember was the second floor, walked through the building’s hallways for a little while, then took some other stairs that led to that rooftop, which wasn’t actually the roof of that building complex, since the other parts had more floors, so we weren’t just above some apartments, but also next to others, so the need to keep quiet remained… But it was obviously quite impossible to make sure of that while we ate, drank, relaxed, chatted and ran some laps on that short track built around the playground that’s also on that rooftop. And piles of fruits were available, so even though I couldn’t wash or otherwise clean my hands, and many other hands were probably also touching everything, I dug in, eating a total of one banana, two apples, one nectarine and quite a bunch of grapes, the last few grapes being those left scattered on the trays just before starting to make my way back down, and the second apple being eaten on the stairs. And, while I’m quite certain that I didn’t drink anything, I did take a bottle of water, without opening it. Otherwise, initially I ran just one lap on that track, though after the group picture taken on that rooftop, as the others were starting to leave, I ran two more, that and the fact that I picked up what was left on those trays meaning that I was among the last ones to start getting back down, once again turning on the stopwatch during that time, and obviously also while I ran those three laps.
With sunrise approaching, we obviously had to give up on the route that was originally planned and take the shortest possible one back to University Square. Not that we were going to get there in time even so, especially considering all of those who were struggling, but we couldn’t do anything more at that point, so Radu tried to make sure that this new route was clear, for those who were likely to push ahead in particular, and then we got going again, at 5:05 AM… Or at least the others got going at that time, since I obviously couldn’t exactly overtake many people on the stairs and while eating that apple, so I was still among the last ones when I exited the building and then I struggled to take a bag out, put the three bottles that I had at that point in it and arrange them in a way that allowed me to carry them in one hand while running, since it didn’t exactly seem feasible to run with one in one hand and two in the other, without anything keeping them together, even if one was empty. So I ended up being the last one left in front of that building, and since a few had announced that they weren’t going to continue to the end, the cyclist who was supposed to stay behind the group asked whether I was still coming, but my answer probably made no difference, since after I confirmed that I was he went ahead, leaving me completely behind the group until I finally got going again.
Before moving on to this last part of the run, I want to add that the second person who fell, most likely on Progresului, did continue after that, despite the scrapes and bruises, which I remember noticing very clearly when we stopped at that gas station, after Drumul Taberei Park, when I also noticed that they were dirty as well, without any sign of having been cleaned in any way, but when I said that she should probably wash them, she said that she had been advised against it. That seemed like really bad advice, but she seemed to believe that it was for the best, so I shrugged it off. And, despite complaining that it was hurting and stinging badly and she couldn’t keep going, she did, and I saw her at least one more time, I believe around Cotroceni Palace, once again complaining that it hurt and stung and she couldn’t keep going but then adding, with a forced laugh, that she had to, so of course she will. I’m not quite sure what happened after that, however, since I seemed to remember that while I was on that rooftop I was thinking that she must have eventually given up, but now that I took a better look at the pictures, I seem to see her both there and later, so I’m either misremembering what she did then or confusing her with someone else now, which seems odd, since it was something that I actually found myself paying attention to.
Either way, once I started running again, I really went for it. The bag with those bottles was something of a problem, and I kept trying to find the best way to hold it, making slight adjustments while running to the position of the bottles, to how it was wrapped around them and to how I was holding it, but other than that, I was too far behind afford to keep anything in reserve anymore, sunrise was approaching, and those who could go fast had been “released” to do so until Romana Square. So it was once again a matter of fixing on a target, catching up, overtaking them, then finding my next target and repeating. For a while, those targets tended to be groups rather than individual runners, but I was eventually once again ahead of the larger groups and starting to chase the scattered runners who were pushing ahead, and those were obviously much harder to catch, so I was digging deep and hoping to get lucky with the stoplights, or simply with the traffic.
In the end, I followed a few others after the end of Dorobanti and crossed Dacia diagonally and in a place without crossings, since there was no traffic just then, and we reached Romana Square more or less together, though a few others got there ahead of us. And then we waited for the rest, some of the others trying to use the drinking fountain that’s in that spot but complaining that the water was too warm, and I seem to remember one even saying that it was hot. And, even if that pause did stretch on for a while, we didn’t actually wait for the last ones to get there, Radu saying that they were too far behind and it was already too late, so those weren’t in the group picture that was quickly taken on the street, while the light was green. But that picture doesn’t seem to have been posted, so I guess that it didn’t matter anyway. On the other hand, while we were there I took the empty reusable bottle out of that bag and tried one more time to put it through that loop that I make in order to tighten the running belt more than it’d normally allow me to, and it just happened to settle in a position that seemed much better, so I left it there, which made it easier to carry the other two as well. However, while I could move my arm better with it in that position, it kept hitting my side, around the bottom rib, as I ran, and by the time I finished that spot hurt a fair bit, and when I looked I saw quite a bruise. But at that point I was less interested in that, focusing on the fact that I had once again taken longer than others to start running again, so I had to catch up once more, and I had much less time to do it.
So I once again gave everything, gritting my teeth and going for it, cutting through the pack surprisingly quickly, the somewhat frustrating moment coming just when I should have ended up in clearer air, since I found myself behind a larger guy who had a pretty good pace, especially considering his size, and in an area where the width of the sidewalk and the obstacles that were on it made it hard to get around him, so he slowed me down for a little while. But once I did get past him, I only saw three more runners ahead of me, two of them running together and a third, whom I had learned over the course of the night regularly participated in ultramarathons, being a little behind them, so at first I thought that I wasn’t going to catch anyone else. However, on top of not feeling any pressing need, the fact that it hadn’t happened all night being shocking in itself, I still felt so well and so strong that I decided to try, just pushing like crazy every step of the way and finding that I could somehow dig even deeper when I realized that I was slowly catching this third runner. And I eventually passed her, at which point she cheered me on. But the first two had been pulling ever so slightly ahead of her and, despite using every last shred of energy to get as close to sprinting as I could possibly get at that point, I’d have had no chance to catch them… But they got confused when they reached the stairs leading to the underground passage, hesitating, disagreeing which way to go and going around them at first, so I found myself going down ahead of them, and I stayed ahead of them until the end… But a few others were already there when I reached the statues, and one other guy came out of nowhere and passed me just a few steps before the end, apparently after having crossed the street instead of going through the passage, since the others were joking that he had cheated and cut the route.

Before midnight, I got to the point when I was about to start running again, after the last refreshment stop, so I was at least pretty close to finishing the part about the actual run, and thinking, or at least hoping, that what happened after that and the other things that I meant to include in this post should be less of a problem, but the first notable edits and additions made to this third post of what became a series were actually made to that part that was initially posted, before going to bed in the morning. And then I edited it again Wednesday evening, in order to add the rest of what’s above, starting with that paragraph about the second person who fell. And the next edit, to add the following section, covering what happened until I walked away from University Square, was made Thursday evening. And Saturday afternoon I edited this once again, finally adding the rest.

Sunrise was at 5:30 AM, but I reached the finish at 5:39 AM and the only way for anyone to have had any chance of getting there at 5:30 AM would have been to have been among the first to reach Romana Square and then just keep going, without waiting for the others and for the group picture… Which isn’t impossible, I guess, but it probably doesn’t really matter anyway. So, to get back to my run, the total time, as shown on my stopwatch, was 5:06:43, but that is, of course, a somewhat rough approximation… And the total distance is probably even more of one. Based on what I had heard on the way from those who were tracking, I was quite certain that we had at least reached a marathon distance and said so after sitting down, but the guy who was next to me said that he had more than that, over 43 km, and I’m used to the distance recorded and announced by Radu over the course of the night falling behind those mentioned by others and being about two kilometers less by the end, so I wasn’t surprised when, after getting back, I tried to measure the distance that I covered and ended up with 43.6 km. However, that first measurement was somewhat rushed and likely included a poor estimate of the distance covered while I sort of jogged through that building and then ran on that rooftop track. And a second measurement led to a total of 43.8 km, assuming about 300 meters covered in and on that building, which I believe is a reasonable approximation, but while I tried to do it as properly as possible and I’m pretty sure that I eventually managed to remember everything quite well, that was a couple of days later and the live tracking link, showing the actual route, was no longer valid by then, so there might have been a few little mistakes. But the fact that the two measurements are so close should also confirm their validity, and since they’re both over 43.5 km, I’ll consider the total distance to be about 44 km.
Getting back to what happened right after I finished, we cheered, high fived and congratulated each other, and when only the last few were still to arrive, Radu asked us to make the finish a little more special for them, since they had struggled so much, going so far past their limits, so we split in two, standing on either side of what became sort of a final straight, and cheered them on as they trickled in… Only for the very last person to be forgotten, the one who had arrived ahead of her, those who should have been at the rear at the group and Radu all thinking that nobody was left, so we had gathered for the speech and the draw by the time she arrived, at 5:51 AM. And at least two people, probably the last two, though I’m not completely certain anymore, looked beyond exhausted and in pain, and what made the fact that they had pushed through and somehow managed to go all the way even more admirable was that Radu said that they had only started running quite recently and hadn’t covered long distances at all before that night!
That was a part of the speech, and there was the draw as well, for the prize given to one of those who was there at the end, and the final group picture, and then quite a number of things were set out and we were, as usual, told to take them, so they won’t end up transporting them back. Radu did also say that he was going to lead at least some quick stretching exercises at that point, but he didn’t seem convinced that the rest would join and didn’t stress the need for it, so some did join him right away, some others did so later and some not at all. I for one just did a few moves as they were about to finish, after eating a slice of chec, which was the interesting thing that was available, and we were told that it had been made and brought by someone, not bought, and looking through what else was available and taking some things. And after those few moves I went back there and took a couple more things, and at some point I also dug through the fruits and set the oranges aside, since they were quite bad and mixed with the two kinds of apples, so I wanted people to be more likely to take them, and we were also repeatedly asked to take the fruits… But they were still left with plenty of them, including most of those oranges that were starting to spoil, which the others avoided almost completely.
In the end, I took two oranges, three apples, two shakes, two bars, one of each kind, and another shot. In case of the shots, I dug through them, since there were many left but mainly with ginger, since everyone was avoiding those, and I seem to remember finding just two of the other kind and someone asked whether I wanted both, so I took one and left the other. As for the bars, I grabbed those quickly, since there weren’t many and people were taking them, and those from the box were of a single kind, but I saw a few others of a different kind next to it and didn’t wonder why, so I only noticed after getting back that the one of that kind had expired months before, at least according to the date printed on it, though I ate it since then and it was fine. Either way, when the organizers were gathering the trash, I spotted a shake bottle which had been missed, took it to the garbage bin that the other trash had been taken to, and grabbed a plastic bottle with the deposit symbol from there. And then, at 6:20 AM, I finally walked away.

After a while, I sat on a bench to jot down the last few notes about the morning, though I obviously didn’t think to go back and clarify the earlier ones… Not that I know that I still remembered what I should have written there even then. Either way, I then went to Carrefour Unirii, picking up a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way. But the recycling machines weren’t working yet, so I put everything in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands and face, bought some expiring products, then retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything. The recycling machines had been turned on by then, but people with large bags were waiting in line, so I moved on, taking the metro to Obor, since I had dad’s metro card.
I was thinking of checking Auchan as well, but it was still a couple of minutes before 8 AM when I reached that shopping center and it wasn’t open yet, and I didn’t wait, continuing to that Carrefour, putting everything in a cabinet and, after getting a carton of expiring eggs, replacing a cracked one with one from another similar carton from there, I took my time to check the piles of expiring bread and bakery products, getting one bread for myself, two for dad and a sweet pastry. And it would appear that a 0.10 RON coin was already in the self-checkout machine, since that amount was deducted as soon as I meant to pay.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging everything, I continued to Kaufland and put everything except the recyclables back in a cabinet, but there was a long line at the recycling machines, so I continued to Penny, picked up another recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way, and used the recycling machine from there. Then I just cashed in the voucher, the cashier muttering that I hadn’t signed it, which is that odd requirement that only they seem to have, but she didn’t actually require me to. And then I returned to Kaufland, peed and washed my hands one more time, bought a few things, retrieved what I had in the cabinet and struggled to arrange everything in the bags that I had taken with me. Then I took the metro again and got back here, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol as I approached the building.
I got back at 10:45 AM, but after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, at which point I saw that my old chair was still in the garbage room, after dad had insisted on leaving it there for the janitor instead of putting it at the building entrance, with a note stating that anyone was free to take it but warning that it was a little broken, as I had wanted to do ever since I had replaced it, and even forbidding me from writing that note and getting unusually angry when I tried to insist. Either way, I then put the purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, even did the day’s squats, ate something sweet and some yogurt with cereals, then went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. After that, I watched the rerun of Romania’s match, eating a bag of peanuts during that time, so I once again got some 950 calories just from that. And then I ate lunch as well, and after finally finishing writing the part about this year’s half marathon and editing that post in order to add it, I got in bed at 7:35 PM, so that nap should probably count as the sleep that I had skipped until then and therefore mark the end of the day.

After waking up, I also wrote that week’s second post, but then I went to the kitchen later than usual, also had to feed Liza, dealt with my bread as well, also mixed something, and ended up eating dinner between 3:35 AM and 4:15 AM. And I had just managed to make the new bread fit in the freezer when dad got back, really early, and after he took out a bag of trash he came back with the wheeled travel bag which I had also seen in the garbage room earlier, and I had to stress that he should at least wash it a little until he finally did… And then, even though I had told him to pay attention because the lack of space had made me place some of the things which I had taken after the run in the fridge in a way that made it easy to knock them over, basically the first time he opened the fridge he did just that, by which I obviously mean knocking them over, not paying attention… And then he made a joke of it, of course. Either way, I then put some cream on my feet, which were also swollen, but I opened a new one at that point and the oil seeped out first and ended up dripping on my pajama pants, so I then tried to wash that spot off a little, and finally went to bed at 6 AM. And the following night, after cooking something and only eating lunch around 1 AM, finishing after that hour, I ended up eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:15 AM and getting in bed at 5:30 AM. And the next morning, so in the early hours of June 26, I got in bed at the same time, after beating what I thought was the final boss in Vampires Dawn… Only to discover that it wasn’t. But I did finish that game in the afternoon.

This is definitely an “odds and ends” post, and the last period covered by something like this was June of 2023, but I’m obviously still not going to finish writing about this year’s Dream Trek, can’t move on to the following runs until I do that, and really can’t get myself to write about something non-personal, at least not in a way that it’d do the issue even the slightest sort of justice, since I have a number of things that I meant to comment on but discarded all of them because it’d be just wrong to write a post that’d be only a quick and largely irrelevant comment about an important matter. So, seeing as I absolutely need to write this week’s first post today, I’ll waste a personal “slot” on yesterday, using the fact that I purchased some state bonds again, and also got some new pajamas and slippers, as an excuse for it, seeing as that makes it slightly more than just a regular day when I went to some stores.

Actually, let me add something else, so it won’t just be about one day. And that other thing is that on Wednesday I finally moved the yucca into the larger pot. I quickly vacuumed that area after that, since a little soil had spilled, and also the most obvious dirt that was around the chair and the door, but that couldn’t possibly count as even the lightest form of cleaning my room, so the last time I did that remains back in February, unless I’m missing something, which I doubt. And I’m not sure that I moved that yucca properly either, since I’m quite sure that I didn’t compact the soil properly and the plant isn’t quite straight either. And at night, after once again selecting cucumbers, to use the worst of those remaining from the ones which I had purchased with a really deep evening discount, and struggling to get that sticky crap that seems to be on them off my hands, I ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:20 AM, but really rushed and still finished at 3:40 AM.

To move on to yesterday, I got up when the alarm rang, at 10 AM, and left at 12:15 PM, dropping a bag of trash down the chute on my way out. I had dad’s metro card and also took the recyclables with the deposit symbol, except those that I knew weren’t going to be accepted, but I first went to the Sector 3 Treasury, since I wanted to get some state bonds again. And, after picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, it was almost 12:40 PM when I got there, and seeing that the signs about state bonds still listed the information for the previous period when it was the last day of the current one made me wary, though the interest rates were the same, so that might have been the reason. Either way, I said that I wanted to get some state bonds and was told to quickly go to the door that’s on the stairwell, which seemed to only be for receiving money before, so I did, and the person who was there seemed a little bothered, saying that I had left it not just for the last day but for the final minutes, since they end cash operations at 1 PM on Friday. But she seemed in relatively good humor, did her job and then told me to hurry upstairs, and the rest of the procedure was completed soon after I got there, and I decided to get those state bonds for three years, since it was a relatively small amount and the interest rates were likely to only get lower. And I was walking out ten minutes after walking in.
Then I went to that Kaufland and used the recycling machine, at which point I noticed that three of the beer cans left by dad in the living room didn’t have the deposit symbol, so I just held on to those, and then I also grabbed a bag of recyclables left by someone who had been ahead of me, knowing that the recyclables in it weren’t being accepted by the machine, so I didn’t even try to put them in myself but, after a quick look, thought that they all had the deposit symbol, at least. Then I washed my hands, dashing to the women’s for soap, and entered the store at 1:10 PM, with those recyclables. Toilet paper and paper towels are discounted by 30% these days, and the large pack of the kind of toilet paper that I usually get had a regular discount as well, so I wondered whether there was any chance of the discounts stacking, but none of those large packs were left. Yet I saw some of the smaller packs, and those were also listed as discounted, the listed price actually being 30% lower than the regular one, but that price actually showed up when I used a price checker, and that pack also has that additional 10% discount if you use the store card, so I wondered what would happen if I tried to buy one and used a self-checkout… But only that additional 10% applied, so I walked away, put the toilet paper back, and just got some paper towels, cheese and one box of walnuts with Himalayan salt that were discounted by 50% and when I first checked I thought that they expired in a week and a half. But that was either wrong, which I doubt, or some expired then and others a week before that date, so in just a few days, and when I picked one based on how the walnuts looked I didn’t check the date again and ended up with one of those. And I shouldn’t have bought one from there anyway, but I couldn’t have known that at the time.
After putting the purchases in the small backpack, I walked to Carrefour Unirii, grabbing a Kaufland catalog from a stack that was on the handle of a building’s door and checking it on the way. I wanted to try those recyclables at a recycling machine from there before walking in the store, but just one worked and it was in use by two women who had a few bags of recyclables, so after waiting for a little while I gave up and entered the store, with everything, since I couldn’t find any free cabinet. But I found nothing to get, so I then just walked back out, the guard asking me to show him the bags at that point, not saying anything about the backpack and waving me through after I quickly showed him that I just had recyclables in one bag. Then I looked at the recycling machine again and found that it was free, a guy walking away but noticing me and saying that I had been there before and had left, and he stayed close by as I tried one of the plastic bottles a few times, telling me to move it around a little or try something else first when it didn’t work, but when I tried one of the glass bottles and that was also refused he noticed that it didn’t have the deposit symbol, and I also realized that when I looked again, so I threw that one away and then gave up, telling that guy that I was just trying what hadn’t been accepted elsewhere, and he apologized, making me think that he worked there, though he didn’t look like it.
Then I finally took the metro, meaning to go to Auchan Titan, but ending up using the wrong exit at that station and then also going the wrong way, and when I realized it I decided to get back to the metro station and go to Pallady instead, which I had realized was an option while on the metro. But I just missed a metro when I got back there, ending up waiting for a good eight minutes for the next one. But I got there after that, trying all of those recyclables in that recycling machine, but it didn’t accept any of them, so I entered the store with everything.
I was mainly looking for slippers and found some that had a discount listed, and I was surprised to also find a discounted pajama that might just be acceptable. It’s made in Bangladesh and I didn’t really like how it looked, but I eventually decided to get the one that was in size S and was also listed as made of 100% cotton, hoping that the listed price really was for all of it, though it had no single label, the blouse and the pants having their own, but the bar code was the same and they were stapled together. However, the problem appeared when I used a price checker for those slippers, the full price showing up, and that remained the case even when I scanned the price label! And then I also found slippers that were just like my current ones, which are badly torn, but those had no discount, so I didn’t care to get another pair, but I found others that were discounted, and had a lower base price too, and while they were clearly worse, and also black, I decided to get one pair of those in the end, just to have something. And then I found water for dad as well, so I got a pack. And at the self-checkout an employee came right away after I scanned one of the labels for the pajamas, taking them away and saying that they certainly had an alarm, bringing them back, without having removed the hanger, which is a kind that dad actually wanted, when I held my hand up when the water accidentally scanned again when I moved it across the machine, after entering the six bottles the first time. At first she entered five more, then realized that I had entered all six and removed those five. And I think that it was another employee who took the receipt and scanned it for me at the gate as I was struggling to carry that water, at which point I noticed that the guard was standing it front of me, but he eventually stepped aside without a word.
After arranging everything, putting most of the purchases in the large backpack, which I had also taken with me, and just leaving the cheese and those walnuts in the small one, I accidentally still put the small backpack on first, and then put the large one over it. As soon as I stood up, I realized the problem and moved it in front, but the damage was done, since the cheese, which hadn’t leaked at all until then, started leaking after that, as I realized after getting to that Kaufland and putting everything in a cabinet. But at least I found those large packs of toilet paper in that location, taking one to a self-checkout and confirming that the 30% discount did apply to the price that already had a regular discount. There was no additional 10% discount on top of that, as the smaller packs have, but the price was great anyway, so I paid for that one but didn’t walk out, rushing back and getting another pack, making sure to keep the receipt for the first one very visible, though nobody seemed to check when I just paid for the second one and then walked out with both.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging everything, I picked up another recyclable with the deposit symbol just as I reached the metro station and then took the metro again, getting off at Dristor and going to Tei, where I managed to stuff the other things into two cabinets, but the large backpack obviously wouldn’t fit, so I left it next to the guards, then got what I wanted. However, after adding the new purchases in the large backpack, the alarm rang when I walked out, and while those guards didn’t say anything, I remembered the one from Auchan and was pretty certain that the employee hadn’t removed both alarms from the pajamas. But that wasn’t a problem at that point, so I just retrieved what I had in the cabinets and made my way back.
I got back for the first time at 7:10 PM, with about 20 kg, though I only checked the total weight, without also weighing myself without anything, and when I did weigh myself after getting back the second time, the difference was just under 20 kg, but after getting back that first time, putting the purchases in their place and washing a few things, I had eaten watermelon, some salty pretzels and lunch, and had drank some tea as well. I had considered eating those walnuts instead of those pretzels, but I decided to save them for the following run, which was another poor choice. Either way, I left again a few minutes before 10 PM.
I rushed to the Kaufland that I knew closed at 11 PM, and that was still what was listed at the entrance, but after washing my hands, just with water, in the room for disabled people, since I saw cleaning equipment when I opened the door to the men’s and didn’t even poke my head in to check whether the cleaner was actually there, I noticed that multiple cleaners were at work, the gate was wide open and I only saw two employees on the main aisle, so I asked a cleaner if they weren’t still open until 11 PM, entering a little after 10:20 PM, after she confirmed that they were. Then I scanned a few price labels from the bakery area, finding that they were correct, so there were some products with no discounts and one that just had the regular discount, and I just got two sweet pastries that did have the 50% evening discount, and the full price was also lower than it used to be… And then I spotted two boxes of those expiring walnuts with Himalayan salt that were discounted by 80%! And the expiration date was the same as the real one for the ones which I had bought earlier, though at the time I thought that it was a week earlier. But I still got those as well, and then just some parsnip roots for dad that had a deep evening discount, plus a handful of plums, since they were listed as being from Romania, some of them did look like they might really be, and the evening discount made them a little cheaper than those from Moldova which I had bought four days earlier, so I shouldn’t have bought those.
When the gate wouldn’t open when I was trying to scan the receipt, the woman who came behind me asked whether I’d let her try to scan hers, and while at first that didn’t work either, the gate finally did open just when she called an employee to help. So I followed her out, after she waved me through right after she stepped out, so I ended up getting between her and the guy she was with… And they were next to me when I spotted a coin and picked it up, so she probably saw that and it might have been the reason for what happened next, which was quite similar to what happened three months earlier, just that this time around it happened outside, since I walked out right after them, still before closing time, she got to their car, which was parked right in front of the entrance, and then asked me to come over and wait, saying that she wanted to give me something. I just asked why and turned away, walking away rather slowly and awkwardly, because I wasn’t sure how to react, but she once again told me to wait and then came after me, holding a 10 RON bill in her outstretched hand and telling me to get myself something when I once again asked why. But I just said a firm no and hurried away, once again probably rather rudely. Not that I couldn’t use any little bit, but while I pick up anything I can find, and I also picked up another recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way back, it doesn’t feel right to just take money from a stranger when so many more, both people and causes, need it far more.
Either way, I got back at 11:20 PM, put the few purchases in their place, washed some of what was in the kitchen, ate one of the sweet pastries, saw that the alarm from the pajama blouse was indeed not removed and cut it away, which was easy, and went to the bathroom, to waste time on the toilet and then wash, at 12:45 AM. I was done a little after 1:40 AM, then I washed what was left in the kitchen, rearranged a couple of things in the fridge, and finally ate dinner between 4 AM and 4:30 AM. And then I noticed the real expiration date for those walnuts which had been discounted by only 50% and was even more unhappy that I had purchased them, especially since I am pretty certain that when I had first checked I had seen August 20, so ending up with one expiring on August 13 just meant that I hadn’t actually checked the one that I ended up getting. Then again, while I find it unlikely, there is also a chance that those expiring on August 20 were the ones from Pallady, where there were some among the expiring products as well but they were only discounted by 30%, and my mind mixed things up. But the fact remains that I shouldn’t have bought that one. Either way, I got in bed at 5:50 AM… And once again slept too little, but that’s been the rule for quite a while…

I guess that I could have just posted this right away, without scheduling it to show up at 11:59 PM, but it was hastily written and I thought that I’ll have plenty of changes and additions to make and couldn’t do so at the time, wanting to take a nap in the evening, yet after managing to catch up on some sleep and eating dinner, I went through it and only made a relatively normal number of edits, pretty similar to what I tend to do after many posts. So, just to justify the fact that it was scheduled to be posted at 11:59 PM in some way, I’ll also add that I’m still using those torn slippers, at this point the plan being to start using the new ones after I’ll wake up, and I also washed the new pajamas today and, while the blouse seems relatively fine, at least at a glance, the pants are the kind that seems to attract any sort of dirt, so they came out of the washing machine with white areas, I guess from the detergent, since I can rub them off pretty easily if I take the time, and various bits of lint and hair. And the material obviously feels different as well, making me question the label that states that they’re also made of 100% cotton…