Cav's Place

I was saying that I may replace what should have been my usual post about Eurovision with one about FalastinVision this year, as part of my boycott of Eurovision over the fact that they didn’t ban Israel alongside Russia and Belarus, so I’m doing this now, though I must begin by stating that I did make an attempt to watch at least parts of the recording of the event, but it was simply painful, so I eventually skipped to the results… Which were surprising. But I guess it depends on what the voters actually looked for, and what languages they understood, because the winner makes it clear that the international audience didn’t have the biggest impact. In fact, it doesn’t seem to have had the biggest impact even among the public votes. So I won’t comment about the results, just listing the actual position between parentheses for each song, with those that were tied on points being listed in the order they were presented in the stream, assuming it’s correct, since I don’t know what the tiebreaker was.

For such a “protest” event, I expected a lot of rap and some folk, and my expectations were largely proven true, but there were a few other entries as well, and those tended to stand out, be it in a good or a bad way. But the folk songs also did, at least for me, two of them in a very good way. On the other hand, I had problems ranking the rap songs, so ask me again and I may order them differently, but they’ll stay in the same section of the classification, behind the four that I consider to actually be good songs, or relatively good in case of the fourth, and before those that bother me, or bother me more, because of the sound but usually not only that. Either way, since there were just 15 songs in the final, I’ll write a brief comment about each, listing them according to my classification.

1. (8.) Duo Pepe och Mary – Túnicas Blancas is just a lovely song that grabbed my attention right away and I couldn’t really consider any other one for the top spot. That’s pretty much all I can say; it’s way above the sort of thing you’d expect at such an event.
2. (6.) Ellen Upstairs – The Mothers Pray is folk, and in this case even quite obviously recorded at home and in a rather poor quality, but it still shines in spite of that. And the lyrics are also powerful. It’s the other entry that stood out for me and in plenty of ways it may be more deserving than the lullaby above, but I’ll leave it second.
3. (10.) Johanna Kroon – Visa till Palestina is another folk song, but it’s just a lovely piece. And an English translation of the lyrics is available, and if it’s accurate then it strikes me as even more remarkable that such a clear and, if I may use the term, extensive message was weaved into such a lovely song. But it could do with more of a structure, a chorus, which would have also added to the length, since it’s all too short. It’s clearly one of the best entries even so and I’m tempted to say that it should have been second and could have even challenged for the top position, but as it is, I just can’t place it higher.
4. (11.) General Knas – Calling Out for Peace actually doesn’t sound bad, the problem being that the lyrics are written in this “reggae” style that may be difficult to understand. Still, it’s an interesting, professional entry that also stands on its own as a song, regardless of the message. And that change of voice definitely catches your attention.
5. (14.) JC Bigfoot ft. EMA – They Are Human would have been an unremarkable rap song, performed by a guy who doesn’t even seem capable of rapping properly, without those female vocals, but those do add to the value. And the lyrics, which are by far the primary focus in such songs, are quite accurate and meaningful. So it’s not exactly something to listen to, but it deserves its place.
6. (5.) Lil Moe – F Is Real is another rap song, but I must frown at the pretty much completely digitized vocals. Then again, I guess there were no rules against it, and it probably makes the song much more listenable. But what’s relevant is the message, which makes me wonder why the English translation appears in the video, but isn’t also listed on the page. Either way, while entirely understandable, I do find myself hesitating a little before the harshness of the message and wondering about the precise meaning of certain parts. Plus that it’s another song that’s too short, even if it manages to squeeze a proper structure into that short duration.
7. (2.) Vendetta – Leve Palestina is another rap song with completely digitized vocals, which may perhaps make it somewhat more listenable, but the problem is that no English translation of the lyrics is available. Seriously, the lyrics are pretty much the whole point of rap and this event was meant for an international audience, so this is baffling.
8. (1.) Nour Badra – F.T.R.T.T.S. is a rap song with a reasonably listenable sound, but the point of such songs is the message and I’ll just assume that it’s the reason why it won, but no English translation is provided and I’m not going to bother to look for one elsewhere. And it’s not like I’d have boosted it that much because of the lyrics, in fact I might have even penalized it, depending on the details, so I’ll just leave it here.
9. (4.) The Accidental Rapper, Leen, Aziz Abushark, Abood Aladham – Press Vest is another rap song, but in this case the chorus detracts from instead of adding to its value. I guess that sort of sound makes sense in this context, but I really don’t like it, and the fact that it starts that way almost made me pretty much shut it out before the rapping started and I realized that the lyrics definitely deserve attention, and that’s what should matter in such songs. But I can’t not penalize it for that chorus, even if I recognize that it’s not just an entirely subjective matter, but probably goes against what one should favor at such an event.
10. (9.) Frida och Mariam – Folket i Gaza is another entry that relies on the lyrics but has the serious problem of not even having an English translation posted, so the message is completely lost for an international audience. Otherwise, it doesn’t sound bad, but it’s not something I’d care to listen to either. So it’s just sort of there; doesn’t bother me, doesn’t catch my attention.
11. (13.) N I T E F I S H & Ellen Flowerhill – BDS – Baby Yes isn’t something I’d care to listen to, and a certain part of the lyrics also makes me frown. That said, there also good points, and that beat can rattle your teeth, so it’s not exactly a forgettable song.
12. (3.) Mohamad Walid – Alt Er Dekket av Blod is just too weak, the vocals simply don’t have the strength for such a song, and the fact that they’re digitized makes that even stranger. Plus that it relies too much on just repeating that slogan, which is debatable in itself. And that’s a pity, because the rest of the lyrics would deserve more attention… Which makes me wonder why the English translation is once again only available in the video and not also on the page.
13. (7.) ASAT – GAZA is another folk song, and the voice is passable at best, so nothing notable in any way. But the message, while entirely understandable, does make me raise an eyebrow, seeming to go a little too far, even if it may not explicitly spell it out in full, so I’d rather discard it.
14. (15.) Refractory Period – Claws simply doesn’t belong at this event. An explanation that’s supposed to make a connection is provided, but I don’t buy it, and I take issue with the original idea behind the song… Which isn’t that good in itself, in terms of sound, either, so I have no qualms about throwing it almost all the way down to the bottom.
15. (12.) AfterpartyAngel – Angels Can’t Be Killed is an atmospheric but also, if I’m not misusing the term, psychedelic song, which makes me pretty much ignore it. It’s the sort of thing that I forget I’m listening to even while listening to it, and I definitely can’t pay attention to any lyrics or message, so all of that is completely lost… Not that I can find much meaning there even if I simply read the lyrics.

I did also listen to the entries that didn’t make it into the final, but only quickly and some time ago, so while there definitely were some that I’d have wanted to see in the final instead of some that did make it, I couldn’t actually make a proper list at this point and this post is a week late as it is, so I’ll just end it here. I guess I could do what I do with my personal posts, editing it later in order to add that part, but I have no idea how long it’ll be before I’ll manage to do so and, either way, this is probably enough as it is. And I hope that next year something like this will no longer be necessary…

While this new post from this series is once again very rushed, it does at least deserve the title, since I only recently stumbled into all three bands, and in fact only the first one, Birds of a Feather, isn’t a new band in itself. The genre may also not be quite what I normally include in these posts, but the fact that I like the sound shouldn’t come as a surprise either. So I’ll start by pointing you to Fragments, which is their most recent song, while the second pick will be Fly Away. That’s not that old of a song either, and I could and probably should have selected something significantly older as the second pick, plus that a song that features only male vocals is highly unusual for them, at least based on what I listened to, but that one stuck with me, and it took me a while to realize that the reason is that it reminds me of Antichrisis, or perhaps more specifically of the songs released by Sid after the band split up. But this paragraph should be about Birds of a Feather, and despite, or perhaps just because, this second pick isn’t exactly a good example of how they sound in general, I do encourage you to listen to their other songs, because they really deserve more attention. And I’ll also take this opportunity to wish Ryan a speedy and complete recovery, since he seems to be quite ill at the moment.

The second band, Glyph, only recently released their first album, so both of my picks, Honor, Power, Glory and When the World Was Young are from it. This is power metal and all the vocals are male, so that comment about the genre not being what I mostly focus on in these posts but the fact that I like the sound not being a surprise either applies to them as well. And, while there are moments when the vocals could be better, I can say the same, if not worse, about plenty of established bands, and their overall sound is surprisingly good and polished. Or maybe it’s not so surprising, seeing as the band may be new, but its members are experienced, and I guess that it could even be called a supergroup. Either way, they’re an easy recommendation if you have any interest in the genre.

The other new band, who also only recently released their first album, is Tierra Vacia. If the fact that they’re a Christian band and that’s very obvious in the lyrics bothers you too much, you’ll probably want to move along, but the sound is quite nice, at least on some of the songs, my picks being Rumble and Weeping. Since that theme does make me frown a little as well, I won’t comment on their potential and don’t expect to look them up again in the future, but at this moment and just referring to their sound, they caught my attention enough for me to want to include them here. However, I’m editing this in the early hours of Monday to add the fact that rushing this post meant not paying that much attention to the lyrics and, while I can ignore anything else that might bother me, if I’d have noticed the line against abortion from Weeping, which I take particular issue with, I’d have at the very least picked a different song to link to. But now I’m leaving things as they are, just adding this notice, which should also serve as a warning.

I’ll start what’s basically just another placeholder for a post, initially limited to just this first section, the rest only being added Friday afternoon, from the early hours of May 6, when I ate dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:20 AM. However, in the early hours of May 7, after shaving, selecting the apple, putting the cereals in a bowl, thinking that I’ll just have the yogurt to add, and making the tea for the morning, I ate dinner between 1:30 AM and 2:30 AM. Liza was going to the litter box pretty much constantly, which was also going to make sleeping quite a problem, and I was starting to worry that she might be struggling to pee as well, but those “trips” have once again started to be “productive” since then and dad’s yet to take her to the vet, so I’ll leave that for a time when I’ll have more to say and get back to that night, when I got in bed at 3:30 AM and, despite a concerning e-mail sent by dad, I managed to fall asleep pretty quickly, and I also got back to sleep particularly quickly after each of the three times when I woke up, also going to pee on two of those occasions.
I got up when the alarm rang, at 8 AM, rather worried that I was drenched in sweat, which had also been the case the other times when I woke up that night, and my left foot was burning as well… And minutes later the UPS kicked in, and the fact that it actually beeped and an alarm started outside made it pretty clear that the reason was an actual outage, but it just logged “electrical noise”, which happened again a few minutes later, though by then I was in the kitchen and didn’t hear whether it beeped again or not. But there was an obvious outage, lasting almost a minute, at 8:30 AM, just after I got back to my room, and at that point I went back and unplugged the fridge, to be on the safe side. Then I had the usual stuff, also adding the baked almonds with Himalayan salt into the yogurt and cereals, having realized that I had forgotten to put them into the bowl at night, and the sweet thing consisted of two more of those somewhat nicer biscuits, with added honey. I also took the supplements, wasted some time on the toilet, which was rather surprising despite the early hour, since it felt like I shouldn’t have that problem, plugged the fridge back in, and left at 9:45 AM, wearing the full running gear, which obviously included the new shoes once again. The reported temperature varied between 17°C and 21°C, depending on the source, and it was about 22°C when I was done. And on the way to the park I realized that I had forgotten to pee one more time before leaving, and I might have had time to use the toilet from the park, seeing as I took it easy and still waited for about one minute in order to start right at 10 AM, but just as I turned towards it another guy was about to enter, so I gave up on the idea, and it didn’t matter anyway.
The time was 47:12.79, with sector times of 4:20.42, 5:00.56, 5:46 (5:45.72), 4:22.09, 4:56.07, 5:43 (5:42.81), 4:28.19, 4:59 (4:58.37), 5:49.00 and 1:49.56, making for lap times of 15:06.70, 15:01 (15:00.97) and 15:16 (15:15.56). On the tenth day of taking those supplements, I definitely aimed to stay well under 48 minutes, but the first sector’s time didn’t look good, making me worry that I won’t even stay on that pace on the first lap, which led to wondering whether I should try to switch to 16 km. But I pushed more from sector two and that sector’s time was better than expected, and so was sector three’s, leading to a pretty good lap time. However, I assumed that I’ll get slower after that first lap, so I pushed even more on lap two, on sector two I was running like I had the finish in sight, and while that resulted in a particularly good time, halfway through sector three I was just about done, so I thought that from then on it was a matter of just getting to the end and wondered whether I’ll manage to limit the losses well enough to stay under 48 minutes after all, continuing to 16 km obviously being out of the question. But the time for sector three of lap two was a pleasant surprise, leading to a lap two time that was also really nice. Then, after losing less than I thought I would on sector one of lap three, the target became to get under 47:30, which seemed pretty certain after the next sector, which I once again surprised myself by covering in less than five minutes. And the next sector was also a few seconds faster than I thought it’d be, considering how tired I was, which led to aiming to get under 47:15 at the end, which I managed despite thinking that I really didn’t still have that in me. So I guess that those supplements were having an effect, this being the best time in exactly six months, but I wouldn’t call it good enough for a last run before a race…
I felt tired at first, my joints and muscles seeming to have a hard time to get going, but that kind of fatigue seemed to become less noticeable as time passed. Otherwise, my right knee gave some warnings at one point, but they quickly went away. But a certain pressing need was already making itself known on sector three of lap one, and after the start of lap two it got worse. It gradually lessened after that, but it definitely remained noticeable all the way to the end, even temporarily increasing in intensity at some points over the course of lap three. And, even at that temperature, I felt the heat and sweated a fair bit. On the other hand, on sector two of lap two I hesitated and might have stopped for just an instant when I had to avoid a woman who was pointing to something on or across the lake and then didn’t know which way to move when she noticed me, and on sector one of lap three I slowed and had to go very wide until I passed a little kid on what I believe was a tricycle who was moving towards me.

After getting back, I ate a banana, a large doughnut, with added jam, and an “egg salad”, with an entire bag of salted snacks instead of bread. Then, at 3:15 PM, I left again, but I wasn’t sure that I had closed the door to my room, so after locking I unlocked again and checked, then spent some time trying to put both backpacks on properly, since I had some old clothes and shoes that dad wanted to throw away in the large one, so it was past 3:20 PM when I actually walked out of the building… And quite some time later, when I was well on my way to Obor, when I realized that I had forgotten to take those other things that I take to Kaufland, and also that their campaign that was supposed to double the amount received for recyclables with the deposit symbol, under certain terms, ran on an actual calendar week, not a “Kaufland week”, Wednesday to Tuesday, so it had already started and I should have taken those as well, along with the unused voucher that I still had. I even stopped for a moment and considered turning back, but eventually decided against it. And I just picked up three plastic bottles with the deposit symbol on the way, shortly before reaching Obor. There were more recyclables in that area, and at least some of them probably also had the deposit symbol, but those were the ones that I could reach, through a fence and over a stream of particularly large ants, some of which ended up on me, so I did my best to brush them off and walked away, hoping that the small brown spot that I then saw on my sleeve was just regular dirt and not something worse.
Either way, I went straight to Kaufland, put those three bottles in the recycling machine, then washed my hands and tried to wash that spot from that sleeve a little as well, though it didn’t really work. The plan was to look for more of that food that dad likes to give Liza, since all pet food was discounted by 30%, which made it slightly cheaper than it had been at Auchan for the whole of April, so I was wondering whether I should put the difference as from “my” money, since I had bought a lot of it from there but I’ve been keeping it in my room until dad gives her more of the other kind, only giving her one when it was obvious that she was having problems, to see whether it made a difference. But I just found 31 of that kind left and took all of them, so I couldn’t have gotten the others then as well, meaning that I still bought the entire quantity at the best possible price. And then I saw that the discounted price for the food for my mother’s cats wasn’t actually listed as a discount, even if the labels were red, maybe because it had been discounted to the same price not long before, so I thought that the 30% discount should apply to those as well and took a box of the one kind of the three that my mother asks for that was still available. And then I also grabbed two expiring products, after taking some time to look through what was available, and at the self-checkout the discounts did apply for all of the cat food and I also used the voucher received for those three bottles, after which I arranged the purchases in a bag… And grabbed a bottle with the deposit symbol from a trash can, but there were lines at the recycling machines, so I walked away with it.
I put the purchases and that bottle in a cabinet at Carrefour, then just got some expiring yogurt, beeping dad and asking him when he called back whether he wanted another expiring product, but he said that he didn’t. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet, gathered some recyclables with the deposit symbol that were at the top of some trash cans from that mall, wanting to make full use of that campaign, washed my hands again, had a quick look through the farmers’ market, few sellers being there, and continued to Auchan, needing to leave the purchases and the recyclables in a cabinet that didn’t lock, none of those that did being free. But the fact that green onions had a 75% discount was a nice surprise, and it seemed highly unusual for Auchan, so I got two bundles, then the water for dad and, after stumbling into the new location of the non-refrigerated expiring products, some walnuts with pepper, an employee finishing with the customer whom she had been helping, walking over and entering the products even if I had been specifically standing in line at what had been the unmanned checkout. She did let me pay, so I also used the small amount that was on the store card, but I had pulled out all of the store cards and then couldn’t remember what I had done with them, seeing a stack of cards with one for Auchan at the top on the checkout but assuming that it was a stack of Auchan cards, as they tend to have there, so I dug through my pockets for a few moments, until that cashier handed me those cards and told me to take them when the next customer came. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, put all of the purchases in the large backpack, and struggled to put it on. And on the way back I grabbed some more recyclables with the deposit symbol, and also checked a Mega Image, leaving the large backpack and the recyclables next to the cabinets and then struggling once again to put that backpack back on.
I got back a little after 7:50 PM, with 22 kg, and it definitely looked like Liza’s problem was advancing and affecting peeing as well, since she barely seemed to squeeze out a few drops, so I was counting the days, but when I later pressed dad again he repeated that we are the only priority for the moment, and we’re all waiting, since that came after I had told him that I could wait to replace that lost filling until next week, when he’ll get paid, pointed to Liza and said that something else’s more urgent. But I did tell him that I still had some money and the next day he said that he had talked to the vet and asked for them, to cover some initial tests… But then she started leaving both things in the litter box again and, even though she’s struggling and something’s obviously wrong, dad changed his mind again, telling me to take back those money, and he’s yet to take her anywhere.
To return to that evening, I put the purchases in their place, did the same for what dad had brought, drank the last drink taken after last year’s Dream Trek that I had left, even if it had supposedly expired back in March, did the day’s squats, washed, and ate the pizza which had been brought by dad in the morning, which was actually some three quarters of an entire pizza, not just some slices. And since I ate that late in the evening, finishing somewhere around 12:30 AM, I was stuffed, so I really should have just made the salad and eaten the pizza as dinner, with the egg salad counting as lunch, but as it was, I eventually managed to also have dinner, between 3:20 AM and 4:05 AM, even if it felt like too much. And I got in bed at 5:20 AM.

After seeing that no visits were recorded the previous day, in the early hours of May 9 I started eating dinner at 3:05 AM, but still finished at 3:40 AM, though I then got in bed at 5:25 AM. And in the afternoon I went to pick up the race kit, I believe leaving at 5:15 PM, though it might have been a little earlier. Either way, I had dad’s metro card, but also took the recyclables with the deposit symbol, as well as those other things that I take to Kaufland and that voucher that I had forgotten two days earlier, since I was going to Kaufland first.
I picked up four more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, then used the recycling machine, splitting what I had, so the vouchers will be easier to use. One bottle wasn’t working and, when I asked, the employee who was there said that 99% of the time those aren’t accepted, so I kept that one for another time… And as I was walking away I glanced in a large crate where some other recyclables were dumped and saw two full paper bags that actually had recyclables with the deposit symbol in them, so I took one and told another man who was also looking there at the time to take the other, but for some reason he just dug through it a little and then left it there, so I took both, as well as some more recyclables from another crate, and put those in as well, once again splitting them. And I have no idea why all of those recyclables had been discarded, since only two didn’t work, the employee telling me that one of them had been left there for that reason and then telling someone else that the brand of the other one wasn’t in the system and won’t be accepted, which proved true. However, I had arrived there with 47 recyclables, including the four picked up on the way, ended up putting in 80, and was left with three which weren’t accepted, and the rules state that the maximum amount that can be gained in that campaign is 50 RON, which means 100 recyclables. But it remains to be seen whether that will actually happen, since that employee told someone else that the additional voucher only worked with the digital card, in which case I won’t be able to make use of it. Either way, I then went to put those other things in the bin as well and washed my hands.
After taking the metro to Izvor and walking to Constitution Square, I got the race kit, and this time around I wasn’t asked anything when I gave the QR code to be scanned, the only question being about the size of the t-shirt, when I moved on to the place where those were handed out, even if you need to select it when you register. However, since the signs for the kits for the half marathon and 10 km races were next to each other, I wasn’t sure that I had received the correct bag, so after having a quick look in it I was standing around and kept glancing in that direction, hoping to see which box was used for which runners and what was written on the boxes, but I couldn’t see what was written on the box that my bag had been taken from and otherwise there didn’t seem to be a rule, and others were putting bags into those boxes that those who were handing them out were taking them from, so in the end I shrugged it off and walked away. And the kit did contain liquid magnesium, which was great, and should probably be enough to confirm that it was the correct one. Either way, I then placed the bag on some planks that were stacked outside of the “Sport Expo” area as I took the large backpack off in order to put that one on underneath it… The problem being that it had been raining and the water had pooled on those planks, so when I picked the bag back up, it was soaked. At least the material doesn’t easily allow water to seep through, but I had to wear it with that side away from me, and some water still dripped from it.
After that, I went to Carrefour Unirii, putting the large backpack in a cabinet, even if I had just those few recyclables in it, and entering with the one with the race kit, but then just walking out and retrieving that backpack. Then I took the metro to Obor and first checked Auchan, entering with everything and then needing to ask an employee to open the gate. And then I went straight to Kaufland, also meaning to put the few other recyclables with the deposit symbol which I had picked up on the way in that machine, and make another attempt for those which hadn’t been accepted at the other location, but none of the machines worked, and an employee came but nothing changed, people who had asked said that they had been told that it’ll take an hour, and when that employee was asked he said that they’re waiting for a technician, so I gave up, went to the toilet, and entered the store 8:35 PM, getting some things. Those didn’t include any bakery products, since it does seem that the evening discount is limited to 30% in that specific location, but included just a handful of the olives that were on sale that were already in a box, so I didn’t have to pay for that as well, though I was wondering whether the self-checkout would scan that, since the QR code on that label was different from that of the others that contained much larger quantities and the scanners from the store couldn’t seem to scan it. But at least they scanned a lettuce with root that didn’t seem to have a price label, so I saw that it had a pretty good evening discount and took that as well, then calculated which vouchers to use and used them at the self-checkout, having no problems with those olives either.
After arranging the purchases in a bag, I glanced at the recycling machines when I stepped out, but they still didn’t work, so I just continued to Carrefour, putting the bag with the purchases and another plastic bottle with the deposit symbol which I had picked up on the way in a cabinet and entering the store at 9:35 PM, getting the bio (organic) “Greek” yogurt that I wanted and a few other things, including two beets, after asking an employee where they were and finding just a handful left after he pointed me to them. I also wanted some tea that I meant to drink for a couple of days before the half marathon and which doesn’t seem to be available in any other hypermarket or supermarket that I go to except Carrefour, but I once again forgot to look for it. Either way, I was fast enough that the closing announcement only came as I was arranging my things, after retrieving what I had in the cabinet, despite needing to ask the guard to open it, since it acted as if the code was incorrect, and having to wait for her to finish talking to someone before she came to do so, though she then opened that cabinet without even asking what I had in there.
When I got to the metro station, I initially kept going, meaning to check the Mega Image that’s across that road, but it closed at 10 PM, so I just wasted a little time. Then I took the metro back… Only to once again forget to walk this last remaining part of the route, so I never actually walked it these days. And the bottle with the deposit symbol that I picked up after making that turn, on top of being dirty, had the same shape as that one that I had been told isn’t accepted 99% of the time. But I got back with ten recyclables with the deposit symbol, at least six of which should be accepted, and I only needed eight more in order to get to the 100 that’s supposed to be the maximum for the campaign, if it will work with the physical store card as well. Or eight if that older voucher, which had been received for nine recyclables, also counted, so if what matters is when you use it, not when you receive it. But, even if it didn’t, it meant still needing at most 11, so the plan to start gathering discarded bottles after the race wasn’t necessary anymore.
Either way, I got back a few minutes after 10:30 PM, washed that bottle a little, put most of the purchases in their place, ate an orange, a piece of cake and lunch, did the day’s squats, and went to wash at 1:15 AM. I was done at 2 AM, then I dealt with the bread which I had purchased for myself from Carrefour, used the worse leaves of the lettuce, also took another pill once again, just in case, and started eating dinner at 4:50 AM, being done a few minutes before 6 AM and getting in bed at 6:35 AM. However, it seemed that another tooth got a little chipped as I was eating, and I apparently forgot to take the second pill of the supplement for joints, so I took three the following day.

After having posts about Eurovision every year since 2006, so while I was making occasional posts on some platforms, before actually starting this blog, even making two posts in 2020, when the competition didn’t actually take place, and also posting my ratings for all of the songs from the final ever since 2011, this year I won’t be doing that, joining the boycott caused by the fact that Israel wasn’t thrown out. And it seems that their entry was even voted into the final, which makes things even worse… Though it should have been expected, those who support them being likely to make a point of voting while many of those who have a problem with them are unlikely to even watch, much less vote.

Admittedly, it’s particularly easy for me to not watch Eurovision live this year, since Romania isn’t participating, the competition isn’t on TV here, and watching live on-line when I should be getting ready for tomorrow’s half marathon wouldn’t have been feasible either way. But I would have at least watched the complete recording, given the ratings and written the usual post or posts, possibly even watching just the songs tonight in order to be able to quickly post just the ratings before going to bed. So the fact that I won’t be doing that, and that I’m not even including the links that I’d have otherwise included in this post, is what my boycott consists of.

On the other hand, an alternative event, FalastinVision, is taking place at the same time and, while the fact that it’s not feasible to watch something on-line this evening remains true, I’ll probably replace what should have been my usual post about Eurovision with one about that, though I might not be able to write it tomorrow and, seeing as I gather that, while a live event does exist, the “competing” acts won’t actually be part of it, that post most probably won’t include ratings. And most of the songs are more or less what you’d expect from such a “protest” event, but I just gave them a quick listen and a few do stand out, at least to some extent, so you could try to at least listen, if not even watch.

I’ll say from the beginning that this was initially just a placeholder, ending after this first section and the first two paragraphs of the next one, with the rest of the actual post about walking the route of the half marathon coming later, as I edited this in order to add those parts. Not that using a personal “slot” just for one day that’s not the date of a major run or another particularly significant event wouldn’t have been quite a waste even if I would have managed to write it all at once. But, after getting in bed at 6:30 AM, after also talking to dad a little and finding out that he had gotten back around 5:20 AM and I hadn’t heard a thing, despite not even listening to anything, today I woke up as he was getting ready to leave, around 10:50 AM, but I didn’t rush out of my room, so he had just left by the time I did… And I saw Liza once again in the litter box, and she keeps going time and time again and only leaving very little pieces there, or sometimes maybe nothing at all, and I had also noticed that her butt was very dirty and she can’t clean herself, which is nothing new but under these circumstances I had asked dad to catch her a couple of days ago, to allow me to try to clean her a little, but when I asked him to do it again yesterday, before leaving, he refused, so after she was done I put on the kitchen gloves and tried to wipe her butt on my own… Which obviously didn’t work, and she found a spot between the gloves and the shirt’s sleeves and scratched me, after which I clearly couldn’t catch her again to make another attempt.
I couldn’t get back in bed after that, so I stayed on the computer, finishing yesterday’s post but not being able to get myself to also start writing this one. And then I did take a nap, in the evening, but it was obviously far from enough to even add up to a normal number of hours for the day, much less to also help me recover after yesterday’s effort. And when dad got back and I pressed him about Liza, what he said made how little he actually cares shockingly clear, despite what he usually says and how he acts when she’s fine and just stays around him. So I said that in that case I’ll stop bothering, because I was saying that I basically didn’t care about her… Not that I can really do that when something’s obviously wrong with her and she’s a living being that’s in good part under my watch, even if I never actually accepted any responsibility for her and often can’t stand her, or at least that’s what I believe. And that showed even moments later, after she went to the litter box a couple more times and then, after once again struggling to clean herself and being unable to reach, she was sort of dragging her butt on the carpet, and I pointed that out to dad and he did catch her and I could wipe her a little, seeing that things didn’t look as bad as that first time. But she just keeps going to the litter box and leaving just a little piece each time, if even that, and the question is whether the constipation is the problem or a symptom of something else. Maybe we’ll find out next week, if dad actually will at least take her to the vet after these Easter days, like he said, but it remains to be seen…

To get to what this post should really be about, after eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:20 AM, the digestive problems that may be caused by these supplements that I’m taking led to going to the toilet one more time, even if not much actually came out, and therefore going to bed at 5:40 AM. At least my body seems to be adjusting, so I didn’t have to manage any pressing need over the course of the day, but I only got three hours or so of good sleep, until I got up to pee a little after 9 AM. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t get back to sleep after that, in fact I was probably asleep for a similar or probably slightly longer amount of time after that moment, if you add it all together, but after that point I kept waking up and having weird dreams, and sometimes it took me a while to get back to sleep, so I got those three or so, maybe up to three and a half, hours of sleep over the course of the next five, since I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM. Then I ate an apple, yogurt with cereals and the caramelized walnuts that I still had, so I once again got almost 700 calories and over 50 grams of sugar just from those, and they were also expired, as was the yogurt.
I left at 4:20 PM, and while I initially wanted to go to some stores, seeing as they closed early that day, I wasn’t sure that I’ll come back after that, so in my jacket I had an expired protein bar and in the backpack the opened bag of expired bagels and the candle that I was going to use to get “light” on my way back, after offering to do so, knowing that dad wanted that and that he worked that night. And that candle, being new, might have been a problem if somebody’d have checked the backpack, so when I continued to Penny, after walking this part of the route, until it turns, I put the backpack, as well as the bag with the bottle with the deposit paid which I had picked up on the way, in a cabinet. And I ended up buying a cabbage, seeing a 25% discount, but I really shouldn’t have done that. On the one hand, since the store closed at 6 PM, I bought it a little before 5 PM, and that 25% was listed as an evening discount, even though only certain, specific vegetables normally get those discounts at Penny and cabbage isn’t among them, I was wondering whether the discount would have increased minutes later. On the other, on top of the weight that I was charged for once again being a little higher than the real one, albeit only slightly, the cashier also gave me slightly less change. She probably realized it, since she hesitated for a moment and glanced at the screen, but she then just handed me what she had taken out, so I muttered that she had given me 0.10 RON in coins instead of 0.20 RON, but also said that it didn’t matter, just mentally adding the difference between what I ended up paying and what I should have paid, considering the real weight of the cabbage, to the amount that I had to recover from Penny at a later time. And there was one more reason why I shouldn’t have bought cabbage from Penny at all, but I couldn’t have known that then.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet and putting the cabbage in a bag, I got back on the route, walking to the entrance of the area that’s around the stadium before stepping off it again and making my way to Kaufland. Then I put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered the store a little after 5:20 PM, grabbing two things from the bakery area that I ended up using instead of bread and then making use of other evening discounts and getting germinated wheat, bananas, lemons… And another cabbage, which was better and cheaper than the one from Penny, on top of the fact that I weighed it myself and therefore couldn’t be cheated, like it happened there. So, again, I really shouldn’t have bought that one, but I couldn’t have known. Either way, I also made up for that tiny discount which I had missed out on because of that employee the previous week by stealing one of the bananas, not that they weren’t left with quite a pile of them at closing time anyway. On the other hand, I also wanted to check the price of cat food, knowing that a 30% discount was going to apply to the entire category Monday and Tuesday, but I forgot to do so even if I still had a little time, since I got in line at the self-checkouts before the announcement that the store had closed.
An awkward moment appeared after I arranged the purchases a little, as I was on my way to retrieve what I had in the cabinet, when a man tried to give me some money. I didn’t take a particularly good look at the bill, but at the time I was pretty sure that it was a 20 EUR bill, which was strange in itself and also made me wonder whether it might have been fake. I’m editing this much later to say that I eventually realized that a 20 RON bill also exists, even if it’s very rare, but at the time that didn’t even cross my mind. Either way, when, after my initial refusal, he reached in front of me and tried to shove it right in my pocket, the way I pushed his arm away and said that I didn’t need it might have been rather harsh, which was probably why he apologized, which made things even more awkward, to have someone apologize for trying to give you money. But I asked him to please give them to someone who truly needs them and then scurried away, retrieving what I had in the cabinet and then arranging everything a little more.
Since that Mega Image closed at 7 PM, I then went there as well, putting the other bags in a cabinet, entering with the one that hangs from my neck and the backpack, and waiting for the employee to place the 90% discount sticker on the one expiring bread that I wanted to get for dad, taking it after she did so. That meant being unable to check the other expiring products that were also just getting that 90% discount, since I had seen another employee placing those stickers and by the time the one who was dealing with the bread was done he came and told her that almost everything had been taken right away, only a few products being left, which I confirmed when I eventually had a look as well. But it’s not like we needed anything else, in fact the problem being that we have way too much food these days, considering what dad is also bringing and the fact that in a few days I’ll make my own food and eat that, as I always do before a race. So I just bought that bread, then retrieved what I had in the cabinet and continued to Carrefour, which also closed at 7 PM, once again putting the other bags in a cabinet and mainly looking for more green garlic… And when I didn’t find any left, and also didn’t see any interesting expiring products, I completely forgot that I had also meant to look for a certain tea, so I just walked out and retrieved my things.
After getting back to the spot where I had stepped off the route, I made my way back, picking up another recyclable with the deposit paid and getting back here at 7:10 PM, to pee and drop off the purchases, putting the germinated wheat in the fridge but leaving everything else lying around. The optimistic plan, or more exactly the optimistic version of the one that included getting back here, was to actually leave again around 7 PM, but I knew that I could afford to delay until 7:40 PM or so, and I wasn’t far from that, since I also ate some of those bagels, then put them back in the backpack and left again at 7:30 PM… And, even though I hadn’t taken them off, I wasn’t even out of the building yet when I suddenly felt something in my right shoe, so I stopped on a bench to get it out.

After adding all but those first two paragraphs of the above section Monday evening, I only edited this post again in order to add what follows Saturday evening, and this part begins with getting back on the route and continuing all the way to Constitution Square, one problem being the late hour, which made it rather pointless to try to figure out how the sunlit and shaded areas will feel during the race, or sometimes even exactly where they were. And, after reaching Constitution Square and then continuing straight to the start area, without also walking the final straight first, since I was going to walk past that area again later, the second problem caused by the late hour was that it got dark too early. Of course, I’d have been preferable to walk the entire route before it got dark, to see everything better, but the main issue was that I consider the part that starts after the route turns away from Izvor Park and ends when it approaches Victory Square to be a somewhat bad part of the city and I’d have preferred to be done with it by 9 PM or so, yet at that hour I was just reaching the top of that bad climb that’s on Berzei, so I had over a kilometer to go… And I was once again reminded just how much of a problem that climb is, since even walking it is not easy. But at least I was on schedule to reach this church at midnight, so I could continue pretty calmly once I did reach Victory Square, also noticing that the work that’s being done in that area is still ongoing, so it will be something to take into consideration, even if it shouldn’t really affect the run. But being on schedule didn’t mean that I had time to spare, and cleaning crews were also out, unsurprisingly, since it was just before Easter, so even if I should have probably found a large number of recyclables with the deposit symbol while walking such a distance, I only grabbed the few that I happened to spot right away.
On my way back to Victory Square, after turning back where the route does, at the end of Kiseleff, I decided to start looking for a place to wash my hands in order to eat those bagels, and when I passed by what should be some proper public toilets, in the park, and saw light inside, I tried the door, but it was locked, and the automated toilet that’s also in that spot didn’t seem to function. So I continued, and after passing Victory Square once again I started thinking more and more about entering one of the many food places that I was passing by and using the toilet, but I didn’t really want to do that unless I had to, so I only decided to actually go for it after that detour that ends with that short but particularly steep climb, when I passed by two more of those automated toilets and both seemed occupied, or at least that was the message that was displayed. And I was also in that area when, after I had just grabbed another plastic bottle with the deposit symbol, and actually did so from a trash can, a man who had two beer bottles next to him as I was about to pass by him stuffed one in his backpack and then called out to me, asking whether I could help him with something. So I stopped and asked what did he need, but when he asked whether I could help him get some food I frowned and walked stiffly away, thinking that, if he really was hungry, he should have thought of food before beer.
I eventually entered what was pretty much the last place that I could enter on Victoriei, peed and took quite some time to thoroughly wash my hands, and also my face a little and rinse my mouth, then struggled to take the bagels out of the backpack with just my left hand, so the right will remain clean, and started eating… Only to spot a beer can with the deposit symbol just moments later, and picking it up made things difficult, since I definitely didn’t want to put my right hand on anything other than the bagels and I couldn’t untie the bag where I had the few other recyclables that I had picked up and put the can there with just my left, so I was struggling to hold that bag, the can, and the bottom of the bag of bagels with my left hand until I eventually put the can in one of the jacket’s pockets, which at least allowed me to finish eating the bagels that I had meant to eat as I was getting to Constitution Square again. And after being done with them I also ate that protein bar… And I also noticed some work being done on the road at Constitution Square, which once again shouldn’t really be a problem, but should nevertheless be something to keep in mind.
Since there’s no crossing in the spot where the route turns and I didn’t want to just cross that wide road, even if it is possible, especially at that hour, I continued to the next stoplight where there’s a crossing, also finally putting that can in that bag, then returned to the route and rushed, since struggling to eat those bagels like that had caused me to lose time and I had ended up behind schedule. Not that I really had to be even at that church shortly after midnight, seeing as finding someone to light that candle from should have been possible even much later, and dad actually said that they were just locking up when he got back in the morning, but I had told dad that I was going to do it, so I wanted to be sure, and being there later also meant getting back even later, and I was going to get back particularly late even so. Of course, rushing also meant that I paid even less attention to the route, but the way back here from Constitution Square shouldn’t imply anything that I couldn’t have noticed on my way there, except perhaps while going around Alba Iulia Square on the other side, which is an area where you can’t really see the road from the sidewalk anyway.
In the end, I reached this church around 12:10 AM, lighting a candle from someone and, after standing around for a moment, making my way back… And actually forgetting to fully walk this last bit of the route, ending up using the route that I usually take to get back from there and only realizing it after getting back. And, as I stopped to empty another plastic bottle with the deposit symbol which I had picked up and put it in that bag, some women asked another man who had a lit candle to light theirs as well and he couldn’t, all of the candles being shielded in plastic, so I said that I had a small candle, which I had used to light mine, walked up and used it to get the “light” from the man to the women. It did feel a little awkward to do that when I also had a lit candle, but the lid was on mine and there’d have been no way to remove it without burning myself… And then things got even more awkward when one of the women greeted me with the usual Easter greeting, to which I felt forced to mumble the appropriate reply, that scene repeating itself when I entered the building alongside another man.
I got back at 12:25 AM, having picked up only ten recyclables with the deposit symbol, or 12 if you include those from that first trip, when on such a walk, if I’d have had time to look around, and also at another time, not when the cleaning crews were out in force because Easter was coming, I should have found many more, and Kaufland has a campaign the following week. Either way, after getting back I ate a banana and then cleaned the litter box and took a bag of trash to drop down the chute, going to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, several minutes after 1 AM. I was done at 1:55 AM, then I washed what was in the kitchen, finally put the other purchases in their place, and ate lunch, on and off, while doing that and starting to work on the salad, between 3:15 AM and 4:20 AM, with the remaining bagels instead of bread, so I got about 1000 calories just from all of those bagels eaten over the course of the day. I finally ate dinner between 5 AM and 5:45 AM, and also took another pill, just in case. Since I didn’t get on-line, I only saw the next day that no visits were recorded. On the other hand, I saw a strange bug on my desk before going to bed, and there had been another bug which I didn’t recognize on the hallway, in front of the fridge, when I got back the first time.