Cav's Place

I’ll begin by mentioning that, after starting to eat dinner at 3:05 AM, but still finishing at 3:40 AM, in that day’s early hours, on the evening of April 24 I shaved my head… And then I ended up going to bed at 5:20 AM. Then, in the early hours of April 26, I ate dinner between 3:15 AM and 3:50 AM, putting peanut butter on most of the slices of bread. And I had bad dreams that caused me to wake up multiple times, but I could always get back to sleep quickly and got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, though I had been once again awake for a few minutes at that point, that time the cause being that Liza had started meowing. Then I had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing consisting of some more of those nicer but recently expired biscuits, with added honey. I left a little after 4:15 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was about 17°C, and about 18°C when I finished.
The time was 1:18:09, with sector times of 4:22.20, 5:06.13, 5:59 (5:58.84), 4:35.60, 5:10.12, 5:56 (5:55.84), 4:30.07, 5:07.15, 5:54 (5:53.85), 4:35.12, 5:12 (5:11.63), 6:04, 4:36, 5:08 and 5:55, making for lap times of 15:27.17, 15:41.56, 15:31.07, 15:51 and 15:39. I memorized the exact times as long as they were displayed, clearly aimed to at least get under 1:18, and wanted to be fast on the first laps, aiming to get under 15:20 at least at first, and that first sector wasn’t promising, but I had also kept my pace in check, and sector two, when I pushed more, was better. But I still needed a very good sector three and I was far from that, so I realized that even staying under 1:19 was going to be hard. And, after a sector one of lap two that made me think that I’ll barely even squeeze under 16 minutes on that lap, I even wondered about staying under 1:20. But at least the average time of the first two laps was below that 15:36 that’s the target for 1:18, and then lap three was better, so staying under 1:19 seemed more or less certain, if no problems would appear, and I wondered whether I’ll manage to stay under 16 minutes on each lap and squeeze under 1:18:30. And, after lap four, staying under 16 minutes on lap five as well was all I needed for that, but I had already gone over six minutes on sector three of lap four and sector one of lap five was a little concerning, so I pushed harder on the last two sectors and actually ended up closer to 1:18, and less slow than the previous two times. But it’s still a poor time, and even more so at a point when I should be a couple of minutes faster… On the other hand, it was a good enough time to make me consider continuing to a half marathon distance, since I might have managed to squeeze under 1:45, but I was far from certain of that and had the next two runs to think of, so I stuck to the plan.
It got cloudy after the first two laps, only being sunny again on sector one of lap four and sector three of lap five, and despite feeling a little chilly on the way to the park, while I ran it felt better when it was cloudy. On the other hand, it was a little windy at first, but I no longer felt it after a while. But there were a fair number of people, and probably the worst problem was on the first sector, when I had to briefly stop and go off the path when the two cyclists who had been pretty much riding alongside me squeezed through on the path and the woman who had her dog on it before that moment pulled it to the other side just when I was about to go around her on that side. Then I slowed in order to squeeze through a roadblock on sector one of lap two, and on sector one of lap three I briefly stopped when a little kid in a stroller threw a toy in front of me just as I was about to squeeze between the stroller and the two runners that I was about to pass. And I hesitated twice because of cyclists on sector two of what I believe was lap four, and there might have been another hesitation on sector two of lap three, while on sector two of what I’m pretty sure was lap five, in that area where there’s no lane, I had to go around a garbage can in order to get around a roadblock, and then, only a few steps later, I also had to weave through children chasing some huge soap bubbles. Otherwise, a certain pressing need appeared on sector three of lap four and got worse from the start of lap five, even causing some cramps at that point, though it faded to some extent after that. And there were still damaged parts of the lane, and much of it was wet, parts of it even soggy, so I avoided what I could.

After getting back, I ate a banana and lunch, with an entire large bag of corn puffs instead of bread, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 7:55 PM, taking the cat food that I was going to give away. I was thinking to check the farmers’ market, to see whether it was still open at that hour and, if so, whether I’ll find any more cheap but usable apples, but I thought that I didn’t have time and went straight to Tei. Going in a pharmacy without a mask definitely didn’t seem wise, but I quickly got what I wanted, though I then stopped in the entrance area, in front of the cabinets, to put those supplements in my jacket, and noticed a blank sticker on one of them, so I took the time to peel it off, seeing that it covered the part where it said that the box contained 33% extra. I hadn’t noticed that before buying it, but I had looked inside and everything seemed to be in order, and I checked again at that point, so I eventually shrugged it off. Then I went to the metro, having dad’s metro card, and got to that cat cafe at 8:45 PM, just dropping off the cat food. Seeing as it closed at 9 PM, I actually took it easy, and I’d have quite certainly found someone to give the cat food to a little after closing time as well, I would have had time to also make a quick dash to the farmers’ market, but things probably turned out better that way in the end.
Either way, I then decided to check Carrefour Unirii, picking up a bottle with the deposit paid on the way and putting it in the recycling machine from there. Since that location closes at 11 PM and it does make evening discounts for bakery products, I was expecting that to happen at 10 PM, and entering only a couple of minutes after 9 PM made me think that I’ll have a lot of time to waste… Only to reach the bakery area after a few minutes and see that the discounts had already been made, much of it was already cleared, and the employee was cleaning, having moved what was left, so I couldn’t find the price label for the one sweet pastry that I could be interested in, ending up asking her. Then I got the two pieces that were left and, after wandering around a little longer, waiting for 9:30 PM, I used a self-checkout… Only for the machine to say that the voucher received for that bottle had already been used! The employee from the computer just cleared the message remotely, I tried again, when the same error appeared she said, without getting up, that it was already used, and when I went to her to show her that it had only been received half an hour earlier she just repeated that the system said that it was used, telling me to try another day when I asked what to do in that case. But if I did that and the error persisted, I’d have had no real way to make my case, so I paid in full, put the pastries in a bag and then in the backpack, and then asked at the information desk, the employee saying that she didn’t know what was going on but just giving me the 0.50 RON.
After getting back on the metro, I decided to check whether Kaufland had extended the schedule, to close at 11 PM, as they tend to do before holidays, so I meant to get off at Mihai Bravu, but when I saw that the exit that I should have used was closed off, I got right back on the metro, which hadn’t left yet, and got off at Dristor, since that Kaufland is more or less in between. But when I got there I saw that it had still closed at 10 PM, so I then decided to go to Auchan, though I first made a detour to a Mega Image, not bothering to use a cabinet and not getting anything, so it was a waste of time. Then I also checked the one that’s close to Auchan, still not using a cabinet and getting an expiring bread for dad, giving the cashier 0.05 RON less, but he said that it was fine, though he didn’t give me the receipt. The thing is that the closing time for that location is midnight, so it might have been better to leave that bread there and check again after leaving Auchan, to see whether the discount would have increased to 90%, though someone else might have taken all of them by then.
Either way, I entered Auchan with everything, getting more cat food, a bread for dad from there as well, and a piece of a nice sweet pastry, getting to what would have been a self-checkout a few minutes before closing time but having a cashier come to help just as I was about to start scanning, so I just wanted to get away from there and didn’t use the small amount that was on the store card and didn’t even check whether the amount that should have been added to it for that bread was actually added… But there was a 20% discount for that sweet pastry, which I hadn’t taken into consideration when calculating the total. And, after walking away, I did check the receipt and confirmed that 20% of the price of the bread was added on the store card as well.
Even though the store hadn’t closed quite yet and I rushed to the exit with the purchases in my hands, I still had to leave through the emergency exit. Then I took my time to arrange everything once I got outside, and on the way back I picked up three more recyclables with the deposit paid. However, the can was apparently filled with cigarettes and ash, and they were wet, so while none of that came out when I turned it over and poured out what I thought was the little liquid that was left in it, after it fell from my hands when I dug out the key, as I approached the building, and I picked it back up, I felt something falling on my pants and when I saw a wet cigarette I thought that somebody had thrown it from above. However, when I entered the building I shook the can a little more and more came out, so I went to the garbage room and tried to empty it as well as possible.
I got back at 11:45 PM, washed those recyclables which I had picked up, paying particular attention to that can, cleaned the litter box, and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute. Then I tried to get the ash stains off my pants, and also wiped my slippers a little with wet hands, since I found them one over the other on the hallway and thought that dad, who had gone to bed by then, might have pushed his shoes into or over them and then just moved the shoes, so I won’t yell at him again. Either way, after that I ate the sweet pastry that I already had and put the few other purchases in their place, leaving the bread out for the time being. I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, just before 1 AM, being done at 1:55 AM, and then I also put the bread in the freezer and washed what was in the kitchen, so I ate dinner between 3:50 AM and 4:25 AM. And there were no visits recorded that day.

After eating dinner between 3:25 AM and 4 AM, without any peanut butter that time, on April 28 I had set the alarm to ring at 1:30 PM, but I dreamed that it was 1:55 PM and, even though the “image” clearly couldn’t be “real”, I woke up with a start, and when I checked the time, after what was probably a couple of minutes, I saw 1:20 PM, so I decided to turn off the alarm and get up. Then I had the usual stuff, with the last of those particular nicer but expired biscuits, with added honey, as the sweet thing, but I also started taking all of the supplements, so I took one of each before leaving, a little after 3:45 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 22-23°C, holding steady.
The time was 50:46.86, with sector times of 4:26.73, 5:18 (5:17.41), 6:12.13, 4:44.65, 5:24 (5:23.60), 6:16.00, 4:48.15, 5:29 (5:28.35), 6:15.03 and 1:54.81, making for lap times of 15:56.27, 16:24.25 and 16:32 (16:31.53). It was the third slowest time over this distance since being hospitalized, in September of 2021, and the two slower ones were obtained under entirely special circumstances, since those are the first run after having COVID-19 and the second run in one day before last year’s Dream Trek, so when I didn’t just run ten kilometers not long after running 16, but also after wandering around in between, so without any rest. And the only other time when I went over 50 minutes after the hospitalization was after getting Micky back from the vet for the last time, so not just on very little sleep and without following my usual routine, but also after that sort of morning. And I did expect the time to be bad, in good part because it was so crowded, but I was initially thinking that I’ll struggle to stay under 50 minutes and yet hoping to surprise myself and do at least somewhat better, and the first sector wasn’t exactly bad, considering the circumstances. However, the second one made it clear that I’ll struggle to even cover that first lap in less than 16 minutes, and to stay under 51 minutes in the end. And that’s exactly how things went, so there’s little else to say other than the fact that it’s a terribly disheartening result. Yes, I most likely lost at least a minute because of how crowded it was, but that’s hardly an excuse for being some three minutes away from a normal time.
So it was terribly crowded… And that’s pretty much all I can say about it. I mean, what stood out was that the lane seemed mostly clear on sector three of lap one and sector one of lap two, but you couldn’t tell it from my times, and otherwise there were so many problems caused by people, so many times when I had to briefly stop, slow a lot, even to a walk, go off the path, react quickly in order to avoid a crash, or carefully pick my way through a group, that trying to memorize any details quickly became pretty much impossible, so I didn’t even try. It was one of those times when there were moments when I could barely move at all, much less run. But, again, while that did cause me to lose a lot of time, it’s far from enough to cover how slow I was. And, while I did sweat a fair bit, which once again makes me dread the next several months, I can’t say that I noticed any particular physical issues either, so the problem was that I just couldn’t go any faster even when I did have some space. Then again, seeing how slow I was made me so disheartened that I’m not sure that I really tried to push, at least after the first lap. But that’s most likely just another poor excuse.

At least I jogged back, so I was back in time for the handball match, which was why I had gotten up and left earlier in the first place. Either way, I ate an old banana and a small bag of bagels, did the day’s squats, timing them and seeing a shocking 1:55, changed, and left a little after 6:40 PM, with the recyclables, which I dropped off in a bin on the way, and also those with the deposit paid, the large majority being those used by dad which he hadn’t taken anywhere, but I also had the ones which I had picked up and was yet to put in a recycling machine, and I picked up one more on the way.
Well, when I got to the recycling machine from the nearest Penny, I started with that last one… And the machine “ate” it without counting it and displayed a message that told me to try again. All of the others worked, but I made a mental note that I had another 0.50 RON to recover from Penny, though I didn’t do so that day, when I just got a few things, thinking that I probably had to limit myself to the little money that I actually had, so I put back one of the bags of corn puffs… Only to realize, while I was waiting in line, that I had included some roes for dad when I had calculated the total, yet I had forgotten to take them, so I dashed back and grabbed those as well, getting back in line by the time my turn came. And I was indeed told once again that I had to pay first, after which I was given the money for the voucher, which was more than what I had to pay. And that time I actually told the cashier that it’d be the same thing if he just entered that I had paid, then scanned the voucher and only gave me the difference, but he said that he wasn’t allowed to do that anymore, and in fact even asked me to write my name on the voucher and sign it, which never happened before, anywhere.
After putting the purchases in the backpack, I continued to the farmers’ market, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit paid on the way. However, even though I checked and saw that I did indeed remember correctly, the listed schedule stating that it should be open until 9 PM every day, it was closed, so I then continued to Kaufland, discarding the next plastic bottle with the deposit paid which I spotted on the way, since it had cigarettes, tissues and a questionable liquid inside, but making some effort to grab another one that was difficult to reach… Only for it to cause problems at that recycling machine, which kept refusing it. But the guy who was using the next machine noticed and handed me one of his, which worked on the first try despite being one of those that usually tend to cause problems, so I thanked him and gave him that one in exchange, but I didn’t stay to see whether he managed to get it to work, washing my hands and entering the store, with the backpack, when it was almost 8:10 PM.
While other bakery products were discounted by 50%, bread was only discounted by 30%, so I just got some buns, then kept looking for a while, in part because I meant to penalize myself for the bad times by buying something and then giving it to a homeless person, but I had a set, and at that point very small, amount in mind, determined according to the exact times, and I also had very little money with me, so I kept trying to calculate and decide until the employee asked whether she could help me with anything, at which point I moved a few steps away and eventually gave up on the idea for the moment. So I just continued with the original plan, which was to spend most of what I had on a pack of beer for dad, since beer was discounted by 30% those days, and then check for deep evening discounts for vegetables. And at first I was just considering a bundle of red scallions, but at 8:30 PM several discounts increased sharply, and that included going from 50% to 90% for both the red scallions and the radishes, so I took four bundles of each, after taking some time to select and decide, and then also added a handful of the red scallion tops that were scattered in the crate… Only to see the discount for lettuce also going from 50% to 90% at 8:45 PM. I also saw peppers becoming very cheap at that point, and an employee was placing 90% discount stickers on mushrooms and people were just grabbing them out of his hands, but I had very little money. Or, well, I did have 10 RON more, but they had been set aside by dad and I had grabbed them before leaving but didn’t mean to use them unless I absolutely had to, so I tried to recalculate and decide, but having to rush meant that I was a little off. Either way, I ended up putting one of each of those bundles back and taking a lettuce before grabbing dad’s beer on my way to the self-checkouts.
I took my place in line before the closing announcement, but it was a long line, and that gave me time to try to arrange what I meant to buy to some extent… And to keep thinking that I should have also grabbed a few peppers for dad, if I could have found a way to afford them without using those 10 RON. But at that point I actually thought that the total already exceeded what I had left, not counting those 10 RON, by a tiny amount, so if I wasn’t going to find some coins, I meant to leave one of the buns behind, and I had an empty paper bag to leave it in, having taken it when I was considering getting something to give away. But it was so crowded and that time several employees actually were there and they were rushing the customers through, often scanning the products for them, and that happened to me as well, an employee asking what I had, logging on and entering the products, starting with the lettuce, which I had placed in a bag and with those red scallion tops underneath it, so at first he asked whether I had two in there and I told him what was underneath it, pointing out that I had three of those bundles as well. And when he got to the buns, I told him that I had four but may end up only buying three, explaining that I might not afford the last one, since I had found one coin but my mind definitely wasn’t working anymore, so I didn’t even try to calculate whether it was enough. He pointed out how cheap they were, but I said that I knew how much I had on me, yet he still entered all four, and then asked whether I wasn’t buying the last thing, meaning that he had assumed that I had something in the other paper bag as well, so I said that it was empty and tossed it aside.
That guy being there, needing to talk to him and being rushed in that manner obviously messed me up, but if he’d have at least stepped aside at that point, after also clearing the sale of beer, which he must have done before logging off, I’d have probably managed to push through. However, he then pointed to the prompt about the store card and when I couldn’t immediately react he said that I didn’t have one, wording it as a question but acting on that assumption and skipping the prompt before I could speak again and say that I did actually have one, but since I saw that the discount for the beer had applied and the total was actually slightly lower than what I had calculated, so I could afford everything, I was just relieved that I didn’t have to ask him to take out a bun and said that it didn’t matter, at which point he finally stepped aside to let me pay. But that only meant stepping to my other side and asking whether I had cash or vouchers, so I told him that I had both, also mentioning that I got confused, and at least I managed to use that voucher received for the recyclables and then finish the payment without him doing anything else, though it still felt like he was watching me like a hawk, and he quickly took away the used voucher when I was done. And I was a complete mess at that point, so I awkwardly gathered my purchases and didn’t realize that I had thrown the cleaner bag where I had meant to put the paper bag with the buns under everything else, so I started looking for it, which made the next customer who was starting to use that machine ask whether I was looking for the receipt, at which point I thought that I had lost that bag and dragged myself out of the checkout area.
That was all I could do at that point, however, so I ended up squatting a few steps away, covering my eyes and trying to recollect myself, focusing on just breathing and trying to stop myself from crying, and hoping that nobody would stop to ask whether I was all right, or interact with me in any other way. And nobody did, so I somehow managed to recover just enough to start rearranging the purchases to some extent, also finding that bag in the process… And when I also checked the receipt I saw that, by not scanning the store card, I had missed out on another discount. It was a tiny amount, but that employee had cheated me out of it, and did it when I had already told him that I might not have enough money, so it might have made the difference between being able to afford everything and needing to leave something behind, so I set my mind on recovering that amount at a later time, especially since I was starting to turn the panic into anger. But at that point I just had to get out of there, so I finally walked out when it was almost 9:15 PM.
I got back at 9:45 PM, put some of the purchases in their place and spread out the rest, showered, set the water for mamaliga to boil, ate a sweet pastry that I already had and finished writing what I posted that evening, then made the mamaliga, dealing with the vegetables while doing so and then finally putting them in their place as well.

In the early hours of April 30, I ate dinner between 3:15 AM and 4:10 AM, putting peanut butter on most of the slices of bread, and I got in bed at 5:20 AM. Then I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, but I really couldn’t say how much I actually slept during the last two hours or so; it might have been closer to half an hour or to an hour and a half, I have absolutely no idea. Either way, I then had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing consisting of another kind of somewhat nicer biscuits, with added honey, took the supplements, and left at 4:50 PM, wearing the full running gear, an undershirt and one armband, and deciding to use the old running shoes again, because the new ones were clearly fine, I didn’t still need to break them in or get used to them, and I didn’t want to “soak” them when it had only stopped raining after 4 PM, and in fact it still drizzled a little when I walked out, and one site listed a chance of some rain returning around 6 PM, plus that I didn’t mean to get right back after the run either, so I also had some things in the pocket of my tights. Either way, the reported temperature was 16-17°C, but it likely increased a little while I ran, especially when the clouds were clearing for a while, since I couldn’t check what it was during that time, but it was still 16-17°C at 7 PM.
The time was 1:18:48, with sector times of 4:24.88, 5:14 (5:13.75), 6:05.22, 4:37 (4:36.28), 5:11.60, 6:05 (6:04.62), 4:40 (4:39.72), 5:07.75, 5:59.03, 4:35.00, 5:07 (5:06.25), 5:59, 4:34, 5:11 and 6:00, making for lap times of 15:43.85, 15:53 (15:52.50), 15:46.50, 15:41 and 15:45. I was thinking that I’ll go over 1:20 and didn’t mean to memorize the exact times at first, but since I noticed them, I decided to do so after all, and then continued until I went past one hour and the hundredths were no longer displayed. But those times, and going over six minutes on sector three of lap one in particular, made me worry that it’ll be the only lap that I’ll cover in less than 16 minutes, and sector one of lap two wasn’t promising. But I did stay under 16 minutes on lap two as well, so I then pushed more, starting to think that I might at least stay under 1:20 after all. The first sector’s time was quite a reason for concern on lap three as well, but the next two sectors were actually more or less decent, and the lap was less slow than the previous one, which didn’t just make me quite certain that I’ll stay under 1:20, but I also wondered whether I’ll manage to keep staying under 16 minutes per lap. So I pushed even more on lap four, even if I thought that I’ll exhaust myself and end up slowing on lap five, and lap four actually ended up being the least slow lap of the day, which made me go from just hoping to ensure that I’ll stay under 1:20 even if I’ll get a fair bit slower to wondering whether I’ll somehow manage to squeeze under 1:19, and on the last sector the target became to stay under that 1:18:57 which at the time I misremembered as the time from four days earlier, though it was actually the one from just over a month before. Either way, I managed that, but it’s still a poor time, and it’s even worse when I’m also taking the supplements and it’s the last longer run before the race.
There were very few people at first, and while the number later increased and I had to weave or go the long way around a number of times, and maybe slow a little on a couple of occasions, I wouldn’t say that people caused any notable problems, except perhaps on sector two of what I’m pretty sure was lap two, when I had to slow a little more because I was off the lane and had to allow the cyclist who was just passing me to do so before I reached some people who were standing still and blocking my way ahead. On the other hand, there were some puddles, at one point I stepped in a hole that was under the lane, though I can’t recall when or where and it was just with my left heel, and much of the lane was soggy, so I mostly avoided it on the first two laps, though after that I started using it more, which allowed me to better optimize my route. Otherwise, on sector two of lap two the clouds started clearing to some extent, and I felt like I had to snap my back and a certain pressing need also started to appear. The back problem seemed to go away on its own pretty quickly, but by the end of the lap I was starting to regret wearing that undershirt. However, around the end of lap three it became overcast again, so that was no longer a problem. As for that pressing need, it seemed to go away on the first two sectors of lap three, but on sector three of lap three it returned, giving the impression that I’ll need to manage it all the way to the end… Yet I wouldn’t say that I really noticed it over the course of the last two laps, and while the fact that I was pushing had plenty to do with that, it also means that it faded at least to some extent. What I did notice towards the end was that my arms started to go numb from the start of sector three of lap four.

The total time for the three runs was 3:27:43, which means that I really have to go back to 2021, before the hospitalization, for a worse series, with 3:31:27. With a time on the second run that wouldn’t have been so awfully embarrassing, I’d have squeezed under last year’s 3:26:36, but even that was a sign of bad things to come, and I didn’t obtain that less embarrassing time anyway, so it’s safe to say that my hopes and my morale are around rock bottom as a result… And I also decided to “penalize” myself for it by setting aside a small amount, determined according to those times, which I’ll eventually spend on deeply discounted things that I’ll then give away to homeless people.

Either way, after the run I continued to the farmers’ market, meaning to see whether the woman whom I had bought those from some three weeks earlier had more of those cheap but tasty apples. And she did have a pile at that price, 1 RON / kg, but as I passed by her stall she called after me, saying that she’ll give me more of those apples at that low price, and then adding that she’ll even offer me that price for the “yellow” ones, referring to the pile of smaller and wrinkled but otherwise still good Golden apples, which were listed at 2 RON / kg. And when I turned around and said that in that case I’ll get some, she showed that she even remembered me, saying that she had given me that kind of apples before, and she even asked whether I still had my own bag… Only to say that the first one that I pulled out wasn’t good, since it didn’t have handles. But I had more, so I gave her one with handles, which she was satisfied with. She also asked whether I liked sports after I said that I was coming from a run, and when I said that I was training for the half marathon the man who was sitting behind her asked when “the marathon” was, so I told him the dates for both the half marathon and the marathon. Either way, the woman said that I could pick the apples myself if I wanted to, but I said that she could put them in the bag, and that if I could get five kilograms for 5 RON, that’s how much I wanted. And she ended up giving me all but one of the apples from that pile, so I should have just asked for all of them, especially since I weighed them after getting back and one scale listed 4.9 kg. But that’s for people and may not be that accurate, especially at such low weights, and the kitchen scale listed 5.05 kg, so she probably gave me the right amount.
After stopping to split the apples into two bags, I eventually made my way out of the farmers’ market and also went to Penny on the way back, seeing that guy that I kept bumping into around this area during a certain period enter the store as I was approaching, so we nodded at each other, then I put the apples in a cabinet and got some pasta and another bag of corn puffs, using the price checker to confirm that they were both still discounted, since it was the last day of that sale and the prices had already been changed back to the regular ones. What was concerning was that a guy who coughed and had sores on his legs was in line and I spent quite some time there, and after the second checkout reopened and the two women whom I had allowed ahead of me moved to it and I followed them, in good part in order to once again avoid being right behind him, I ended up right next to him, so it was pretty much the same thing. On the other hand, the cashier was laughing her butt off at what the old woman who had been helped by the guard, and allowed ahead by me and that other woman, and in fact for whom that second checkout had even been reopened at that time, had said just before hobbling away, and she forgot to give me the receipt, and I was also snorting and didn’t press for it, just retrieving the apples and adding the new purchases into a bag.
I got back at a little after 7:40 PM, initially meaning to leave again, but after eating something sweet and one of the older apples, putting the pasta and corn puffs in their place, and making a couple of attempts to weigh the new apples, though it was only later that I managed to do so properly, on the kitchen scale, I checked and saw that Kaufland Basarabia, which I was considering going to, as well as the one from Pantelimon, which would have been the other option, had switched to closing at 11 PM, and I didn’t exactly care to get back at midnight, plus that I was uncertain whether the bakery discounts would be made at 10 PM or still at 9 PM, and the main reason to go out again was to get bread, so I gave up on the idea, did the day’s squats and went to wash, my left ear feeling clogged while I did so, and the feeling persisting after I was done. Either way, I then had lunch, but taking things way too slowly meant that I only ended up eating dinner between 3:40 AM and 4:25 AM, and I got in bed at 5:30 AM…

Well, at some point after 8 AM I was awake again. I’m not sure exactly when, since some time passed before I got up and went to pee, but while I didn’t hear the computer do the daily backup, it couldn’t have been long after that. And then I kept trying to figure out when to go and buy bread, and also more cat food of the other kind, and when to walk the route of the half marathon, so getting back to sleep was pretty much out of the question and a little after 9:20 AM I got back on the computer, only returning to bed when it was almost 10:30 AM. And, while I eventually got back to sleep, I really have no idea how much I slept before waking up again, since I then spent quite a long time in bed before finally getting up, so the fact that it was around 2:20 PM or so at that point doesn’t mean anything.
Soon after that, as I was eating a piece of cake which had been brought by dad from his sister, things got worse, since that filling that I kept thinking was loose for a long time fell out, picking a really bad time to do so, especially since the dentists that I was going to are on vacation until after Easter, so I still have a hole there. And that ear remained clogged, which made me feel weird, and as the day continued I started feeling worse in general, even worrying that I might start to have a fever, and while I did take a nap late in the evening, at night I was feeling quite out of it and there seemed to be some crap in my chest as well. But I did feel somewhat better after dinner, which I ate between 3:20 AM and 4:05 AM. And I got in bed at 5:25 AM, and by the time I got up I had pretty much recovered, so I was probably just exhausted… But now I’m starting to have the digestive problems that may be associated with the supplements that I’m taking, so I’ll have to see how that will turn out.

I managed to write everything except the part about the rest of April 28, after the run, before going to bed this morning, since that part’s longer and I wanted to finish as many sections as possible before posting. But, with the plan for today being to walk the route, I obviously couldn’t add anything else by the end of the day, and this has to be the week’s first post, so I scheduled it to be posted in that form at 11:59 PM, to mark the fact that it wasn’t finished at that point. But I managed to finish that part as well and add it the next afternoon, before really thinking about the week’s second post.

In the early hours of April 5, making the salad from lettuce, wild garlic, green onions and a few tiny beets and slicing some of that bread that I made meant eating dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:35 AM. And I also cut myself just as I finished cutting that bread. Actually, the knife had slipped a few more times, but it didn’t go all the way through the skin and there was no blood, but I probably relaxed too much just at the last slice and cut my left thumb. It wasn’t quite bad enough to need a bandage, but it was something to manage. And I got in bed at 5:25 AM.
After waking up just before 12:10 PM, going to pee, just in case, and exchanging a few words with dad, who was about to leave, it was hard to get back to sleep, but I eventually managed it, getting up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM. Then I had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing once again consisting of those nicer biscuits of a different kind, which had just expired by then, with added honey. I left just before 4:40 PM, wearing the full running gear, and actually returning to the old running t-shirt and the new running shoes. The reported temperature was 22°C, holding steady.
The time was 47:53.79, with sector times of 4:23.14, 5:02.75, 5:52 (5:51.65), 4:30.22, 5:02.00, 5:54 (5:53.44), 4:27.56, 5:00.00, 5:55 (5:54.66) and 1:48.37, making for lap times of 15:17.54, 15:26 (15:25.66) and 15:22.22. I was thinking to just keep pushing and see what will happen, hoping to at least get close to 47 minutes, if not even under, but after that first sector that was much slower than it should have been, I thought that even staying under 49 minutes was going to be a problem. But I just pushed, sector two’s time was much better, and I hoped to at least squeeze under that 15:20 that’s the lap target for 48 minutes on the first lap, which I did. But at that point I was thinking that I was looking at 48:30 at best, and that was still the case after the first two sectors of lap two, the only change being that at that point it actually seemed likely, not just the best that I could hope for. However, after the end of the lap I wondered whether I could just squeeze under 48 minutes after all, so I pushed even harder from the start of lap three. It hardly seemed possible, and that was still the case after sector one of lap three, but at least I still seemed to have a shred of a chance, and that good sector two of lap three actually made me believe that it might just happen. And at the end of the lap it was actually possible, so I kept pushing on the final sector, managing a pretty good time and getting under 48 minutes by several seconds. So at least I managed to obtain a normal time again, even if it took everything…
There were a fair number of people, so I was weaving and going the long way around, but the only notable problems were on the long straight of sector one, albeit on each lap. On lap one, I had to squeeze through a roadblock and then slow and briefly step off the path because of a kid who was unsteadily riding something and got in my way as I was about to pass him. On lap two, a family was blocking the lane and the girl, on roller skates, blocked the small space that was next to the lane as well just as I was about to try to squeeze through, so I had to briefly stop. And on lap three I hesitated when a guy stepped off the lane, making room and actually gesturing to the girl who was with him to stay where she was… Only for her to follow him and cut me off. Otherwise, my thigh muscles and hips felt tired at first, but the feeling soon went away, only some faint warnings from my right knee and hip appearing on sector three of lap three. The cut was quite a problem, however, since it was at the tip of my left thumb and made it tricky to press the button on the stopwatch. And, as usual, there were some damaged parts of the lane, which I avoided. But a more serious reason for concern was that, even at that temperature, it actually started feeling a little hot, so I really dread what the summer will bring.

Then I had lunch, did the day’s squats, changed, and left again, I think at 7:45 PM, with a few more recyclables with the deposit paid. Since I was looking for that drilling machine for dad, I went straight to Kaufland, going around Mega Mall instead of through it, using the recycling machine, and spotting three deeply discounted bags of oranges among the spoiling products. The bags were torn and some of the oranges were scattered in the crate, but all but one looked fine, so I ended up weighing all of the others, seeing that they weighed just under two kilograms, splitting them in two and ending up with two deeply discounted bags of pretty good oranges that had very close to one kilogram each. So I did my best to tie those bags, so the oranges won’t keep scattering, and bought them, along with the drilling machine. And I used the voucher received for the recyclables, but I didn’t call an employee to take off the alarm from the drilling machine, so the gate beeped when I walked out, and while the guard didn’t react, at that point I did ask the employee from the information desk to remove the alarm… Only for her to ask the guard to do that, and he took it to one of the regular checkouts and did so. Then I also asked the information desk employee whether anything else had to be done in order to have the warranty, if needed, and she told me to just keep the receipt.
After putting the oranges in a bag, I went to Carrefour, entering with the purchases and grabbing a discounted sweet pastry before looking through the “salty snacks” that were one of the categories that those vouchers were offered for those days, and on top of what I planned to get, I saw great discounts which I hadn’t seen on-line on popcorn and one other thing, so I got two of each, which also meant replacing the popcorn which I had to throw away. And, on top of what was left in the change tray, 0.11 RON seem to have already been in the self-checkout machine that I used. Then I checked the receipt and calculated, to make sure that everything except that sweet pastry had counted towards that voucher, arranged the purchases into bags, and returned to Kaufland.
After putting the bags in a cabinet and washing my hands, I entered the store a second time, at 9:35 PM, rushed to the bakery area, and saw discounts of 50%, but no sweet pastries left, so I just got two buns and one of those breads that had a 33% regular discount those days, which that time did have the evening discount applied as well. Then I checked the expiring products and decided to finally try a skyr, even if it was imported, after which I saw a good evening discount for bananas, dug through and got some, and then I also dug through the grapes, which also had a good evening discount, managing to select a handful before the closing announcement. When that came, I rushed to weigh the grapes and quickly grabbed more cornmeal on my way to the self-checkout. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and took a little time to arrange everything into bags, leaving them in front of the cabinets that are in front of the toilets as I washed my hands again, then picking them back up and walking out just after 10:10 PM.
I also checked that Mega Image, putting everything except the drilling machine into two cabinets, but only locking one, since I only had one 0.50 RON coin. And I regretted picking up that expiring skyr when I found bio (organic) “Greek” yogurt discounted by 90%. It expired the next day, but at that price I just had to get some, and I actually bought two. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinets and tried to arrange everything a little better, but I was getting in the way of others, so after a little while I walked out, went to a bench, and rearranged properly.
I got back at 11:10 PM, with 13.5 kg, and all of the recent effort showed, since when I weighed myself with only the slippers and underwear on, I saw 46.0 kg. Either way, after cleaning the litter box and dropping a bag of trash down the chute, I took all of the munchies from Carrefour to my room, put most of the other purchases in their place, also rearranging some things in order to make the cornmeal fit, ate a banana, the sweet pastry, and an entire large bag of corn puffs, and it was 12:40 AM when I went to wash. I was done just after 1:20 AM, but then I arranged the munchies in my room, also exchanged a few words with dad, put the oranges in their place, moved something into a jar, dealt with my bread, and also saw some cream on one of the buns and wiped it off with some water and then microwaved the bun in order to dry it, though that also hardened it a lot.
On the other hand, just before he went to bed dad said that he was going to have the discussion about his retirement at work and I said that it does seem like a good year for major changes, assuming that the trade offer for the apartment from that neighbor, which he had shocked me with almost a month earlier, was still valid, but he said that things didn’t add up, since his plan was to also get a one-room place for himself that also had to be basically next to that one, and that can’t work out. And when I pointed out that I had said that it couldn’t add up but he had been very sure at that point, he said that he was at first, but then he actually calculated, and it can’t work. And when I said that I was processing it and starting to make plans and he was dashing them, and we won’t get another chance like that, he said that’s how it is, things don’t work out. Either way, I ate dinner between 3:55 AM and 4:40 AM, and got in bed at 5:25 AM.

I had meant to just record it, but when I found myself awake at 8:45 AM, I decided to watch the qualifying for the race after all, getting back in bed after that. On the other hand, the monitor was definitely reacting to the higher temperatures, once again being increasingly hard to turn on and off, which is another reason to dread how things will be during the summer. Either way, that night I started eating dinner at 3:15 AM, but still managed to finish at 3:40 AM. However, I then got in bed at 5:20 AM.

In the early hours of April 8, I ended up eating dinner between 3:20 AM and 4 AM, putting peanut butter on all of the slices of bread. Then I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and had the usual stuff, but the yogurt was one of those bio (organic) “Greek” ones, with 10% fat and 4.5% protein, even if by then it was expired, and I also added raisins in milk chocolate into it, along with the baked almonds with Himalayan salt and the cereals. And, as another sweet thing, I added honey on, or more exactly between, some of those wheat things. I also drank most of the tea, and left at 4:30 PM, wearing the full running gear, obviously with the new shoes and the old t-shirt, plus one armband and some things in the pocket of my tights, adding the Kaufland card in there just before leaving, since dad got back just then and gave it to me, saying that he hadn’t managed to get there, so I decided to go after the run, to get what he wanted, even if my initial plan had been to at most check Carrefour and maybe the farmers’ market. Either way, the reported temperature was about 23°C, and while I couldn’t check after the run, I’ll just assume that it basically held steady.
The time was 1:46:16, with sector times of 4:28, 5:07, 5:56, 4:35, 5:07, 6:02, 4:34, 5:13, 6:08, 4:43, 5:21, 6:14, 4:46, 5:20, 6:13, 4:48, 5:22, 6:16, 1:55, 6:12 and 1:56, making for lap times of 15:31, 15:44, 15:55, 16:18, 16:19 and 16:26, plus 10:03 for that final portion. Sure, I hoped to get under 1:45 again, but it seemed that the realistic goal was just to be less slow than the previous time, and maybe get under 1:48. And I felt slow at first, and also lost time on the first sector, so covering it in less than 4:30 was fine, and after a second sector that was good enough, I just wanted to stay under six minutes on the third, which I managed. The target for lap two was just to stay under 16 minutes, but sector two was good enough to make me slightly disappointed to go over six minutes on sector three. Then I wondered whether I could stay under 16 minutes on lap three as well, managing not only that, but also to just squeeze under the targets for a 16-minute lap on each sector. But that was the easy part, so from then on I just meant to compare the lap times to those from that previous time, thinking that lap four might well be the last one that will be faster than then, so I assumed that I’d otherwise get noticeably slower on lap five and pushed a little more, being a little surprised at how close the times ended up being. That made me realize that I might just be able to squeeze under 1:47 and, despite my body starting to give signs that it was nearing the limit, each sector of lap six made it clearer that I was going to manage that, so after sector two I started wondering about 1:46:30, and after the first sector of that final portion I was pretty confident that I’ll manage that as well, which proved to be the case, by quite some margin. But a year ago I had 1:42:54 and then ended up with an official time that was even over 1:50…
My right knee gave some warnings from the start, which soon went away but returned later, when I started feeling more warnings from other parts of that leg as well, though I can’t recall whether that was as early as sector three of lap four or later. A certain pressing need appeared from the start of lap two, and while I think that it went away after a while, it soon returned and, while it was never bad, it was something to manage from then on. And my hands started going numb from sector three of lap four and I started feeling a little out of it from the start of lap six, and while I otherwise recovered quickly, my feet started to burn on the long straight of sector two of lap six, though things didn’t get worse after that. Otherwise, there were the damaged parts of the lane that I did my best to avoid, and a portion of the long straight of sector two was surprisingly uneven, so trying to sprint on it was pretty much out of the question. And on sector three of lap one I stepped in a hole that was under the lane and almost tripped, and then I actually stepped in it one more time, probably on lap six, if not actually on lap five, but it was much less of a problem then. And on sector one of lap two I stepped in another hole that was under the lane, my ankle twisting a fair bit. And some sprinklers were spraying the path on a small portion of sector three, so on lap two I went very wide, all the way on the outside of a turn, while on the other laps I went through the spray. And it was windy in some areas, and I actually felt like I did have to fight at least a few gusts. And, while I thought that the little dirt which I had removed before leaving was what was bothering me at the back of the right shoe, something continued to bother me in that spot throughout the run.
And there were plenty of people, causing me to weave pretty tightly and squeeze through right from the start, and just before the first sector’s long straight I had to briefly stop because two women with strollers were on either side of the lane and one moved to hand something to the other right in front of me. Then, on sector three of lap one, I had to slow and go off the path in order to make it past another woman with a stroller. Two other moments were pretty much in the same spot of sector two, I believe the one when I had to briefly stop because I was trying to squeeze around a large roadblock but a dog came out of it and got right in my way being on lap two and the one when I had to quickly avoid a little girl who appeared from behind other people, riding something straight towards me, being on lap four, but I’m not completely certain. But more issues that caused me to briefly stop continued to appear on sector one, as on lap six a cyclist came right towards me, though she didn’t really have anywhere else to go, and on lap five a kid was walking on the lane and suddenly decided to run to the right just as I was about to pass on that side. I actually turned to shout about what’d have happened if we’d have crashed, and then muttered at the kid’s father when, in the same spot, on lap six, that same kid was just about to once again dash right in front of me, the father just barely holding on that time. And another moment was when I briefly stopped because of a silly dance with a guy, on sector one of what I believe was lap four, while the one when I was almost blocked and just had to weave hard was probably on lap three. Other issues, in other places, weren’t that bad, but they existed, though by lap four I was noticing that they were slipping my mind, so I didn’t even really try to memorize them anymore.

After doing just a little stretching, I stopped on a bench and took off the right shoe, but I didn’t find anything in there, and both feet hurt quite badly in that spot as I continued walking, so it was obvious that the problem was caused by the shoes themselves, which was a serious reason for concern, even if I mainly felt it just as I started walking, or after a pause, the pain lessening as I continued. So I made my way to Carrefour and just got an expiring product, and at the one self-checkout that accepted cash there was a foreign woman who was being helped by an employee, but then the employee, struggling with the English, told her that they’ll have to start over if she continued, maybe because she had too many products for those checkouts, if I understood correctly, and then just walked away, so that woman asked whether I could help her pay and I did, then told her that she had to scan her receipt to exit. That confused her, so I told her that there was a scanner at the exit and she thanked me and walked away, but then I saw her show the receipt to the employee and I’m not quite sure what happened next because I then focused on what I was doing and by the time I paid for my product she had walked out of the checkout area.
Then I went to the farmers’ market and bought all of the cheap apples that one person had, since they seemed noticeably better than what the others had at that low price, and on top of only a few having problems that went past the surface, they actually turned out to be particularly tasty as well. Either way, I then put the purchases in a cabinet, without locking, while I quickly checked that Mega Image, and then, even if I was weary of going to a pharmacy without a mask, I went to Tei, putting the purchases in a cabinet and just getting one thing. I should have just left the purchases there while I also checked that Mega Image, but instead I moved them to one of the cabinets from there and then retrieved them once again.
On my way to Kaufland, I picked up a plastic bottle with the deposit paid… Only to see that the recycling machine from Kaufland didn’t work… And neither did the toilets! So I put my things in a cabinet, then remembered that I wanted to check the weight of the apples, so I took them out and used the scales that are next to the recycling bins, then put them back in the cabinet and entered the store. I obviously hadn’t been able to wash my hands, but at least that allowed me to have a look through the fruits and vegetables, including the spoiling ones, right away, finding a few pretty nice things to get that had deep discounts despite only a little of the quantity being bad. And that included some garlic, which we were out of and which otherwise got really expensive. It was, however, unpleasant that dirt fell on these running shoes when I had a look through the potatoes, which already had an evening discount, and poured those from one crate into another.
After the evening discounts of 50% for bakery products were announced, after 9 PM, I went to the bakery area, put on a glove, and waited for the employee to place the discount labels, getting two regular breads for dad and then basically hovering around the sweet pastries that I wanted, finally asking the employee about them after I heard her asking about the similar ones, probably talking to herself, and telling her that I didn’t think that any of those were left. And she said that she was actually looking for those as well, among the discount labels, but after she finished placing them she said that there didn’t seem to be one for them, actually telling me to do so after I said that I’ll scan the label. However, that only confirmed that those weren’t discounted, so I told her that when she asked, when I put back that label, at which point she said that in that case she’ll discount them after 9:30 PM and I took another sweet pastry, to at least have something… And then I took a second piece when I returned to the bakery area, some time after 9:30 PM, since there were no new discount labels and when I once again scanned the label of what I’d have actually wanted, along with two others, I saw that there had been no changes.
In between, I got what dad wanted, which meant carefully looking through the refrigerated processed meat products twice over when I just had the t-shirt on, since he had told me how much was in a pack and a rough price, not knowing something more specific. And I also took a lettuce, and since they had been moved from where they had been placed earlier but the price label had been left there I also took it and threw it on them. On the other hand, while the discount for the potatoes had increased further and I had meant to have another look through them, I forgot to do so… Not that I could have carried more than a few, considering the bags which I had taken with me. Even so, struggling to carry everything after being done with the self-checkout meant that scanning the receipt in order to open the gate was proving to be a problem, so another customer asked whether I needed help and then scanned her receipt and told me to follow her out. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and took my time to arrange everything, being about to finish when the closing announcement came.
On the way back, I also quickly checked the Mega Image from Dristor, the guard telling me to put my things on the bench when I was looking at the cabinets and wondering how to fit everything in. So I did that, then picked everything back up on my way out. The recycling machine didn’t seem to work in that location either, and while it did work at the nearby Mega Image, which I also quickly checked, putting my things into two cabinets, without locking, I didn’t bother to use it just for that bottle when I didn’t find anything to buy either.
I got back around 10:40 PM, but I didn’t check the time just then, so that’s an estimate. Either way, after eating a banana and putting most of the purchases in their place, I went to wash, then I did something else that I had to do, after which I also put the garlic in its place, ate one of the sweet pastries, took a pill, just in case, and started eating lunch a few minutes after 1 AM, in my room, while checking some things on-line. I also started eating a bag of peanuts while waiting for lunch to cool a little, and I continued eating from it while washing what was in the kitchen, dealing with dad’s breads and working on dinner, putting the last ones in the salad, so I once again got 950 calories just from those. I also put the remaining sweet pastry in the fridge, but I left dealing with the apples for later, just putting them on the balcony for the time being, even so only managing to eat dinner between 4:05 AM and 5 AM, and getting in bed at 5:55 AM.
Well, I had a hard time falling asleep, which tends to be the rule after making that kind of effort, and while I eventually managed it, a little before 8 AM I was awake again, and after I heard the computer doing the daily backup I got up and got back on it, spending an hour writing proper notes about the day, before peeing and getting back in bed. But I still couldn’t sleep, a few minutes before 10 AM dad also received a delivery, and after wasting some more time in bed I gave up, went to the toilet for the other thing, and then got back on the computer, getting back in bed one more time a few minutes before noon, after peeing one more time. And I eventually did get some more sleep, but just a couple of hours or so, and while I also took a nap in the evening, that only meant another hour and a half at most.

In the early hours of April 16, I ended up eating dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:20 AM, and got in bed at 5:20 AM. But, after what I’d say was just under three hours of sleep, I kept waking up, there were weird dreams, and I also had a pretty bad taste in my mouth. And when I woke up yet again just after 1:40 PM, I really had to pee one more time, and deciding to just get back in bed without doing so meant that I pretty much had no chance to fall asleep again… But I was in that state that’s in between being asleep and awake when, at 1:55 PM, dad opened the balcony door fully, after having left it tilted overnight, and it wasn’t just my door that rattled, but even my bed, so I turned off the alarm and got up at that point. Then I had the usual stuff, but replaced the yogurt with skyr, since I still had some and it still seemed all right, even if it had expired eight days earlier. And the sweet thing consisted of two of those nicer, but also recently expired, biscuits, with added honey. I left at 4:15 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was about 28°C at that point, and about 1°C more when I finished.
The time was 47:41.10, with sector times of 4:20.16, 5:00.41, 5:53 (5:52.44), 4:27.40, 5:00.19, 5:54 (5:53.41), 4:24.21, 4:58 (4:57.91), 5:54.69 and 1:51 (1:50.28), making for lap times of 15:13.01, 15:21.00 and 15:16.81. The heat made me fear that I’ll end up going towards 50 minutes, and staying under 48 minutes seemed pretty much impossible, but after the first sector I wondered whether I couldn’t somehow at least stay under that 15:20 that’s the lap target for 48 minutes on the first lap, and pushing on sector two resulted in a surprisingly good time on that sector. And then it got cloudy, which made all the difference, though I still thought that I was going to get significantly slower on the next two laps and therefore only stay under 49 minutes at best. But sector one of lap two wasn’t bad either, and sector two was once again surprisingly fast, so the target became to still be on the pace for 48 minutes after two laps. And I didn’t just manage that, but only missed actually staying on that pace on lap two as well by one second. So I then decided to actually aim to stay under 48 minutes, pushing from the start of lap three despite thinking that I won’t be able to keep that up. But I was, sector two being even faster than on the previous two laps, and while I still worried that I was exhausting myself and might yet miss that target, at the end of the lap I was clearly safe, so I then aimed to also get under 47:45, which I managed. It was still just a normal time that I gave everything for, and it definitely wouldn’t have been possible if it’d have stayed sunny, but being able to maintain that pace when I was so sure that I won’t might help my confidence a little.
It was sunny and hot at first, but from sector three of lap one it became cloudy, as I already mentioned, and that helped a lot, because those first two sectors were enough to make me struggle with the heat. The wind remained an issue, however, and there were moments when I had to fight it, though I noticed it less on lap three. But I wasn’t noticing that much on that lap anymore, since I was pushing so hard, my arms actually starting to go numb on its first sector. And on the next sector something got in both of my eyes, but I dealt with the situation pretty quickly. Otherwise, there was some weaving and going the long way around, but probably more because of the damaged parts of the lane than because of people, who caused no notable problems. A group did cause me to go off the path right in the last turn of lap three, but that meant cutting that turn. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure that before that run I figured out what was really making the new shoes bother me at the back, having to do with how I was putting them on, since they’ve been pretty much perfectly comfortable since then.

After getting back, I ate a banana, some salty pretzels and three small slices of pizza that dad had brought some days before, to count as lunch, changed, and left again at 7:25 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit paid which I had picked up on the way and hadn’t been able to put in any machine two days earlier. And the recycling machine from Penny Titan, which was my first stop, was getting serviced when I got there, so I initially put those recyclables in a cabinet, but then I found one expiring product that I wanted and eggs with a good and unannounced discount even though they weren’t expiring, so I took two cartons, replaced a few eggs that I had doubts about, then hid them and that other product, retrieved the recyclables and used the machine, needing to try several times until it accepted three of the bottles. Then I went back, retrieved what I had hidden and added some other things, all of the prices being correct at the checkout even though the price label for something that was discounted until that day, so including that day, had apparently already been changed, and the price checker didn’t work. And a woman was trying to get the recycling machine to accept one of those bottles that I had also struggled with just when I walked out, so I mentioned in passing that it’s hard to get those to work, but they eventually will.
Seeing as I also wanted to go to Supeco, which closes at 9 PM, I had spent too much time at Penny, so I was rushing, but after initially throwing the purchases into the bag where the recyclables had been, which I consider dirty and which also has holes that are large enough for some things to fall out, I eventually stopped at a bench and moved everything into another bag, which I put in a cabinet when I got to Supeco, even though it didn’t lock. It was 8:35 PM at that point, and less than 20 minutes later I was walking away, after just buying the tofu that I had gone there for and then adding it into that bag, after retrieving it from the cabinet.
On the way to Kaufland, I grabbed two more plastic bottles with the deposit paid, but the recycling machine stopped when the couple who was using it when I got there walked away, so I just grabbed some more of the discount vouchers for soap that were scattered around there, realizing that I had forgotten the ones which I had grabbed two days earlier, when I had forgotten to get soap and therefore hadn’t used them. Then I put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered the store a couple of minutes after 9:30 PM, when nothing interesting and discounted was left in the bakery area, the bread that I could have taken not being discounted, which I confirmed after scanning the label. But I grabbed a few other things, then made my way to the self-checkout after the closing announcement… Only to realize, after scanning those other products and even confirming that the discounts applied properly, that I had once again forgotten about the soap! And it was the last day when those vouchers were valid, so I left those other products on the machine and the transaction open and I dashed back and grabbed some cheap soap as fast as I possibly could, a guard spotting me and telling me to hurry up because they had closed. Then I returned and scanned the soap as well, but the machine obviously didn’t register the fact that I had placed those vouchers on the scales after scanning them, and placing coins on the scales didn’t work either, so I had to call an employee and wait a little before one came over and entered them. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, quickly arranged the new purchases in a way that allowed me to carry them out, needing to use the emergency exit, and then I took my time to arrange everything properly, on one of those tables, before finally walking away at 10:15 PM.
I then continued to Auchan, which I reached at 10:30 PM, entering with everything, without even looking for the recycling machine, and just getting a couple of things for dad, then looking around for a while, a guard telling me to hurry up when there were ten minutes left before closing time. And, when I got to the checkouts, just two that accepted cash were still open, and both were manned, so I had to use one of those, then walked out quickly, once again needing to use the emergency exit even though the store hadn’t actually closed quite yet, and stopped to arrange the new purchases into a bag once I was outside.
I also checked the non-stop Mega Image on the way back, but that recycling machine seemed to have just stopped as well, so I couldn’t use it for those two bottles either, adding them along with the other bags in a cabinet, entering with the backpack, and just getting the one bio (organic) egg that I found among those sold by piece. Or, more exactly, the one that I knew was bio (organic), since there were a total of three and I couldn’t make out what was written on the other two. Either way, I then retrieved my things and walked away.
I got back at 11:55 PM, with about 12.5 kg, but after cleaning the litter box I went to throw a bag of trash down the chute and picked up two more bottles with the deposit paid from the garbage room, which I then washed a little, along with the two which I hadn’t been able to put in a machine. Then I put the purchases in their place and ate the caramelized walnuts that I already had, so I got almost 700 calories and over 50 grams of sugar just from those. I also gathered my clothes from the balcony, and it was past 1:15 AM when I went to wash, and almost 1:55 AM when I was done. Then I washed what was in the kitchen, also dealt with the one bread that I still hadn’t dealt with, moved something into a jar, and finally ate dinner between 4:15 AM and 5 AM, getting in bed at 5:35 AM.
At 7:40 AM, dad woke me by cleaning the litter box as well, before he went to bed, because it was supposedly stinking, so he needlessly threw away sand, or more exactly bentonite, because that smell, even at levels that I’d barely notice, is apparently the only one that bothers him and he reacts immediately, but he doesn’t give a fuck about any of the stenches that he creates and would tend to tell me to just deal with it if I complain. And then it was clear that I won’t be getting back to sleep quickly, also because I was angry, so just after 8 AM I got back on the computer, only getting back in bed an hour and a half later and eventually getting a couple more hours of sleep, though even that was broken up. And at night I started eating dinner at 3:10 AM, but still managed to finish at 3:40 AM, though I then got in bed at 5:20 AM.

The announcement that Voyager 1 is once again returning usable data is a piece of good news that comes from pretty much as far as any news could possibly come from. It took some tricky reprogramming, but after the cause of the problem was identified, the team worked things out and, while more work is needed before science data will also be returned once again and I wonder whether anything will need to be sacrificed because of the corrupted part of the memory, the chances of humanity’s most distant functional spacecraft making more discoveries are now looking much better. And the fact that Voyager 1 is now 22.5 light hours away makes me think of the moment when it’ll reach a distance of one light day, which should happen in 2027… Which is also when it’ll turn 50, so that year will mark huge milestones, and I’m sure that the team will make every effort to give it every chance to still be operational at that point, even if power constraints will most probably require at least one more science instrument to be turned off by then.
Of course, this doesn’t change anything about the fact that there are no replacements and what that says about humanity’s focus and ambitions… But I keep mentioning this whenever I write about space exploration, and sometimes not only then, so I’ll leave it at that for now, so this post will just be about the good news, and about something to look forward to.

I’ll start from the early hours of March 24, when I ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:25 AM, though I licked a couple of things in the kitchen first, and it was past 4:20 AM when I finished, taking it easy, since I was going to stay up to watch the race anyway, so I only went to bed at 7:35 AM. And I’ll also add here that there were no visits that day either… And that, in the early hours of March 25, right after dinner, I had to rush to the toilet even though I had just been there before going to the kitchen, and what came out was increasingly fluid and made it clear that my body wanted to get rid of everything.
The fact that something still didn’t feel quite right was at least part of the reason why I couldn’t get back to sleep after waking up to pee, but I’m quite sure that I had slept for over five hours by then, and after tossing and turning for a while, I decided to start reading The Bands of Mourning, which I only finished on April 7, when I also wrote the quick review. Either way, after reading for a while, I could get some more sleep, and then I also took a nap, late in the evening… And that day was also when I accidentally found the source of the weevil infestation which I had been noticing for a while, and it was what I least expected, the popcorn bought from Penny on October 21 and supposedly valid until February of 2025, but which was almost turned to dust and utterly full of them, so it obviously had to be thrown away. I wanted to take pictures of it first, possibly in order to send a complaint, but when dad asked whether I’ll go to throw it down the chute or he should, I said that if he wanted to go, he should, and he did go right away, so I didn’t stop him in order to do that. Interestingly, the opened bag that expired back in August and which was right on top of those two still looks just fine. But I ended up throwing away food, and mine, since I had bought that popcorn from “my” money, which made me feel really bad, plus that I had been relying on that popcorn for the Euro… At least I did spot a good discount that allowed me to replace it since then, but it was so unexpected, I was sure that some of the flour that was there and expired for years was the source, even though I had tried to look up those little bugs and they seemed to be grain weevils, which didn’t seem to fit. But I guess that it did fit…

Moving on, I did finally have green onions for the salad made in the early hours of March 26, and I once again put peanut butter on some of the slices of bread, but on the others I put something sweet brought by dad, and I think that there were more of those than those with peanut butter. Either way, while something still didn’t feel quite right after eating, at least I didn’t need to rush to the toilet again, but then I kept waking up, and the first couple of times it seemed that it might be a good idea to go to the toilet after all. But I didn’t, except to pee at one point, and I did manage to get back to sleep quickly each time, until the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and I got up. Then I had the usual stuff, and this is the last time I’ll mention that this now includes those baked almonds with Himalayan salt, and the sweet thing consisted of another kind of nicer biscuits, with added honey. Things weren’t exactly solid when I went to the toilet, but it wasn’t that bad either. Just in case, I put that slip of paper with the emergency information in the pocket of my tights before leaving, a little before 4:15 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 15-16°C, dropping to about 14°C when I finished.
The time was 1:18:57, with sector times of 4:20, 5:09, 5:59, 4:37, 5:04, 5:57, 4:35, 5:13, 6:07, 4:40, 5:17, 6:11, 4:43, 5:12 and 5:53, making for lap times of 15:28, 15:38, 15:55, 16:08 and 15:48. After a previous time over this distance that was better than expected, I aimed to get under 1:18, but sector two of lap one already seemed a little slower than it should have been, and only barely squeezing under six minutes on sector three of lap one was a bad sign. And sector one of lap two was definitely concerning, so I pushed more after that, despite the problems that I was having, and the next two sectors were somewhat better, though still not even enough to cover a second lap in less than the 15:36 that’s the pace for 1:18. And then things just got worse, so on lap three I just tried to stay under 16 minutes, managing that but being even more worried by that poor time on sector three, while on lap four it was only a matter of limiting the losses, managing to stay under 16 minutes on each lap being out of the question. But I was close enough to wonder, at the start of lap five, whether I had enough left to at least still somehow squeeze under 1:19. That meant 15:50 on that lap, which hardly seemed likely, but I tried to see what I could do, and while the first sector wasn’t promising, I pushed harder from sector two and that sector’s time seemed to just give me a shred of a chance. It required sector three of lap five to be the best sector three of the day, by two seconds, which didn’t seem possible, but I just gave it everything, pushing every step of the way, and somehow made it in the end. But it’s a bad sign to just barely squeeze under 1:19 after giving absolutely everything, and the unpleasant surprise was that I was over 30 seconds slower than the previous time despite quite clearly expecting things to be the other way around.
I felt tired from the beginning and it was also rather windy, especially right after the bridge on sector one on the first two laps, so I had to fight the wind instead of taking advantage of that downward slope. And it was also on sector one, I think of lap two, but it might have even been on lap one, when I stepped in a hole that I didn’t know was under the lane in that spot, though my left foot came right from above, so it was just surprising, not a problem. But I know that it was on sector one of lap two when things got rather unpleasant, starting with a pebble getting in my right shoe and hurting my heel a little for a while, then having a roadblock to squeeze through and my left calf muscle starting to give some warnings, while right from the start of the next sector I suddenly felt quite a lot of gas and it caused a fair amount of pain, radiating up to my heart, then I had to briefly stop when I went off the lane in order to avoid running right past a large dog and found myself facing a cyclist who was coming from the opposite direction and had chosen the same side to go around the women who had that dog, and on the long straight I had to slow and squeeze past a little kid. And I seem to recall another problem caused by people on lap three, probably on sector one or two, but I can’t remember more than that, and at least the number of people, which had been pretty high until then, dropped after that, and I was actually noticing that the last lap was quite clear, which is probably why I managed to at least squeeze under 1:19. And those initial physical issues also went away after a while, in fact I can say that I was starting to feel quite fine by the end of lap two… But the times tell another story.

I jogged back, though I took a moment to have a quick look in the nearby Mega Image. Then I had lunch, with an entire large bag of corn puffs instead of bread, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again a little after 7:30 PM, somehow deciding to stay without a mask. And since I haven’t used one since then either, I won’t mention this anymore until I will wear one again. Either way, I finally took those cans that I wanted to donate again. I was wondering about also taking the canned coconut water taken after the Dream Trek, since it had probably already been old at the time, the listed expiration date being back in October, but instead I opened it and poured it in something, seeing that it was yellow, maybe even going towards brown, but the smell seemed fine, and I also carefully tasted just a little and the taste seemed fine as well, so I put it in the fridge, deciding to boil it, just in case, and drink it after I’ll get back.
I went to Obor, but I wanted something from Auchan and the offer ended that day, so what I was going to do next depended on whether I found it in that location… And I didn’t, so I didn’t get anything else from there, needing to ask an employee how to leave without buying anything, so they opened the gate. Then I went to Carrefour, dropping those cans in the box for the food bank, getting one expiring product, and being relieved that they had started making the bakery discounts before 9 PM, so I also took a bread of a new kind and two sweet pastries… Only to later see that they seemed to have missed putting the label with the discounted price on one of those sweet pastries, so I went back and replaced it with another one of the same kind, the total being just enough to let me use the voucher received for previous purchases. So I did that, then walked away with the purchases in my hands, though when I got outside I stopped on a bench and arranged them after all, before continuing to Kaufland.
After washing my hands, I entered the store, with everything, just before 9:15 PM. The bakery discount labels were just being placed at that point, so I asked the employee whether some buns were also discounted and she said that everything was, but when I pointed out that it was just by 30%, she said that they’re no longer allowed to make higher discounts, claiming that one reason was that people were rushing to grab many products when the discounts were high and then leaving them around the store or at the checkout, but saying that what’s left gets donated, isn’t thrown away. Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be Kaufland’s new policy in general, or at least the limit is 50%, possibly 60% for a few products, since it’s been a while since I’ve seen those discounts of 75% or even more that I was used to seeing, shortly before closing time or when many pieces of some products were left. But that evening I had to deal with that situation, so I just got two of those buns, scanning the regular label in order to confirm the discounted price, since the employee had placed the discount label for a different product there. Then I got some more cheese, since there was a 30% discount those days, a lettuce that had an evening discount, and something for dad, scanning it in order to confirm the discounted price, since that offer ended that day and the price label had apparently already been changed. Needing to reach another Auchan location meant that I couldn’t wait for 9:45 PM before going to the self-checkout, but I guess that it didn’t matter.
Arranging the purchases was going to take some time that I didn’t really have, but I had some six kilometers to walk in about an hour, to still have time to get something from that Auchan that closes at 11 PM, so I did arrange the purchases before walking away, a little after 9:45 PM. And I walked as fast as I could while still walking, since what I had bought for dad was in jars and I couldn’t run with those in the backpack. But it was enough, and I was entering that Auchan at 10:40 PM, with everything, and I did find what I was looking for, and then decided to get some more water for dad as well. And when I got to the checkouts I saw that those that accepted cash and were still open were manned, so I dropped the water on the belt and was taking those other things out of my pockets and putting them there as well as the cashier scanned the water… But then she saw a coworker, asked him something, and they both just walked away, so I just took her place and continued. She got back very quickly and seemed to mean to take those other things off the belt, but I told her that they were mine and entered them. Since at that point I wanted to get out of there quickly, I didn’t use the small amount that was already on the store card… Only for the machine to spit back a bill that didn’t fully come out, so I looked at it in confusion and the cashier reached in the slot, pulled out the bill and put it back in, at which point it was accepted. And I managed to arrange the purchases well enough to be able to carry them out before the doors were locked, so I could leave through the regular ones, and after crossing the street I stopped on a bench and arranged more properly. And, for some reason, just as I was done, a guy asked whether I was all right.
I got back a little after 11:40 PM, with 12.5 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box and threw a bag of trash down the chute, put what had to be refrigerated in the fridge, ate some walnuts and a sweet pastry and boiled and drank the coconut water. Boiling it was probably what caused it to taste much worse than it had when I had taken that little sip, since when I looked it up I saw that it should be refrigerated or chilled before drinking if you want a good taste, but at least it didn’t cause any problems. Either way, I went to shower when it was almost 1:15 AM, and the water temperature was uncomfortable… Only to get better just as I was about to be done. But I couldn’t stay any longer, as it was 1:40 AM when I was done even so. Then I bandaged a toe, which had apparently been badly rubbed by the shoe, put the other purchases in their place, dealt with my bread, and also used the worse leaves of the lettuce for the salad, eating dinner between 3:55 AM and 4:40 AM. I got in bed at 5:35 AM.

On March 28, I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, shaved, had lunch, and left a few minutes after 4:30 PM, taking the new camera and the spare battery with me, since I was going to pick up the cover, which did arrive in time to allow me to use it when I went to plant trees, despite what I had been told when I had ordered it, and I wanted to make sure that it was the right size. But that store closes at 6 PM and it’s a long way away, so I jogged part of the way, and actually got there in exactly one hour… And, as I was paying, I noticed a bug on my jacket’s sleeve that looked like a bedbug, which was concerning. But at least the cover was fine, I put the camera and the spare battery in it, then put it like that in the backpack and started on my way back, picking up some plastic bottles with the deposit paid, mostly from that area.
The next stop was at what used to be Cora Pantelimon, which is now a mix between the two, since Carrefour purchased Cora but they didn’t fully switch over yet. Or at least that’s how things stood at that time. Either way, I put the bag with those plastic bottles in a cabinet, washed my hands, then explored the place for quite a while, eventually getting a few things, needing to use a regular checkout, since no self-checkouts accepted cash. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, added the purchases in the backpack, and continued to Kaufland Basarabia. I didn’t really have time for that, but I had never been to that one, so I decided to check it out, finding a cart with a coin in it in the parking lot, connecting it to others that were just a few steps away and retrieving the coin. Then I used the recycling machine, washed my hands again, just with water, since there was no soap, and entered, with the backpack, getting just two things. And the first one scanned before I was ready at the self-checkout, as I was moving it towards the scanner, and I stopped in surprise and then got confused, uncertain which side the scales were on, but an employee who was nearby noticed and placed that product on the scales, and then I continued, also using the voucher received for the recyclables. Then I added those purchases in the backpack and arranged a little.
The next planned stop would have been at Penny, but I definitely had no more time for that, so I continued straight to Mega Mall, at one point picking up a can with the deposit paid and a plastic bottle without it, but I decided to hold on to the bottle as well and threw it in a recycling bin in the mall, after once again entering through the parking lot. Then I put the can in a cabinet but entered Carrefour with the backpack, getting paper towels and a discounted sweet pastry. The paper towels should have had a discount for the second pack and that didn’t show up after selecting that I had finished, so I called an employee over and she said that the app might be needed, but then I realized that the machine was still asking about the number of bags, so the total only showed after entering zero, at which point the discount also applied, and I also used the remaining voucher received for previous purchases. Then I retrieved that can and tried to walk away with the new purchases in my hands, eventually stopping for a moment, to find a better way to hold them, but still struggling on the way to that Kaufland, especially after picking up another plastic bottle with the deposit paid.
After using that recycling machine as well, dad called as I was on my way in. And it was already late, but I nevertheless decided to put all of the purchases in a cabinet, then I washed my hands yet again, and it was almost 9:40 PM when I entered the store. Much to my relief, considering what I had been told two days earlier, at Obor, I saw bakery discounts of 50%, getting two buns and a bread. The bread had no discount label, but I asked the employee and she said that it was discounted as well, so I took one, but also took the label and scanned it, to confirm the discount. Then I got some bundles of wild garlic that had a good evening discount and some deeply discounted bio (organic) lemons, even if most of one would need to be thrown away. And I used the new voucher at the self-checkout as well, then retrieved my things from the cabinet by the time the closing announcement came, but then I took my time to arrange everything before going to check that Mega Image as well, putting the other bags in a cabinet, but entering with the one that hangs from my neck, with the bread and buns, and the backpack, where I just had empty bags and the camera, in the new cover. But I decided against getting anything, so I just retrieved my things and got back.
I was back a couple of minutes after 10:50 PM, after grabbing one more bottle with the deposit paid… And I completely forgot that I had meant to at least take off the jacket and shake it on the hallway, before entering, and the fact that I later saw a bug on the kitchen wall that also looked like a bedbug made me even more concerned. Either way, after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute and picked up another bottle with the deposit paid from the garbage room. Then I put the purchases in their place, with the exception of my bread, ate an orange and a sweet pastry, and went to wash when it was almost 12:40 AM. I was done some 35 minutes later, then I washed and cleaned what was in the kitchen, talked to dad a little more, and also used some of the wild garlic and almost all of the lettuce that was left for the salad, and I moved something into a jar as well, ending up eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:15 AM. I got in bed at 5:25 AM. And, once again, no visits were recorded that day.

In the early hours of April 1, I ate dinner between 3:20 AM and 4:05 AM, and got in bed at 5:25 AM. And the computer’s clock went forward by another hour. It tended to repeat the daylight savings change after a week, or a week and a day, but now it was after just one day, for some reason. But by now I know what to do in order to prevent any problems with BOINC, so I turned it off before synchronizing the time and then turned it back on, and everything was fine.
After having lunch, I left at 7:50 PM, taking some cat food that Liza hadn’t touched, which I left for the cats that are behind the building, the plastic and metal, which I dropped in a recycling bin on the way, and some more recyclables with the deposit paid, which I put in the recycling machine from Penny Basarabia. But I didn’t find what I was looking for, with the exception of one last bag of corn puffs of their own brand, which was on sale. Actually, there were two bags, but one was torn, and I considered mentioning that to the employee who was in that area, arranging and taking pictures of the shelves, but instead I just commented that they don’t have the products that are on sale and she told me to come in the morning if I wanted those, not so late. So I just bought those corn puffs, and since the price was less than what I had on the voucher received for the recyclables, I was given the difference. Then I put the corn puffs in the backpack and continued on my way, picking up another plastic bottle with the deposit paid as I approached Kaufland Pantelimon and putting it in that recycling machine, but then going to Carrefour, entering with the backpack and buying a few things, which I didn’t bother to put in any bag until I reached Kaufland, where I put them in a cabinet.
After going to the toilet, I entered the store, with the backpack, when it was almost 9:15 PM. The bakery discounts were still of 50%, but not much was left, so I took the one sweet pastry that I could be somewhat interested in and two buns. I considered some sweet pastries that should be really nice, and which were actually discounted by 60%, but they were expensive even so and I eventually gave up on the idea. Then I grabbed an expiring bread for dad, but when I later saw that they had placed new discount labels on some of the expiring breads that were left I replaced it with two others. If I wouldn’t have taken it, they’d have quite clearly made that one cheaper as well, but someone else might have also taken it first, so that was that. Either way, out of the vegetables that had good evening discounts, I also took several bundles of wild garlic, also adding what was scattered into one of them, a lettuce with root, and just a handful of potatoes. And, as I was checking the expiring products, a guy asked whether I had 0.50 RON to give him, because he didn’t have enough for the deposit for the beer that he was getting, so I incredulously asked if he was really asking for money for beer and walked away. But closing time was approaching and I still had to make use of the 30% discount on cereals and pasta. That discount also applied to croissants and bars, and I had a look, but decided against getting any of those, so I grabbed some of the other things, the closing announcement coming as I was trying to figure out how to carry everything… And when I reached the self-checkout I realized that I had left the bag with the bakery products in that spot, so I dashed back and retrieved it.
Well, even though there were just two people ahead of me who were waiting to use a machine that also accepted cash, it was just after 10:20 PM when I finally left the checkout area, since a single employee was there and the machines kept causing problems. The people who were using two of those three machines had started using them before I got in line and were only done around the same time I was, one machine seeming to keep requiring the employee to override errors and the person who used the other being stuck because a bakery product simply didn’t seem to exist in the list and a bakery employee was called to sort it out but none seemed to come. At least I spotted a 0.50 RON coin around that second machine and retrieved it while waiting, but I actually ended up using the third one… Which was causing its own problems. After the person who was using it when I got in line was done, the next guy was initially stuck because a product refused to scan, which seemed to be a known issue, since the employee came with a price label that she had placed nearby and scanned it, and when the guy was done scanning he had to call the employee once again, to approve the sale, even though he didn’t have alcohol.
When my turn finally came, at first the machine didn’t recognize the wild garlic as the correct product, so the employee came to override the error, and then it required an employee to approve the transaction in my case as well, even though I also didn’t have any restricted products. And after she did that, when I was about to pay, the choice of payment method was replaced with the message asking to scan the product before placing it on the scales before I could make a selection, even though I hadn’t even gotten to touch anything after the employee had cleared the sale. But that message disappeared on its own, just when she had gotten back there, so I was finally able to pay, after checking that the discounts had applied correctly, and at that point I also used that voucher received for the recyclables.
After I could finally walk out of the checkout area, apparently being the last customer to do so, I took a moment to check the receipt and make really sure that each of the discounts had indeed applied correctly, then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged just a little before rushing out, picking up another plastic bottle with the deposit paid on my way down. Then I stopped at one of those tables that are outside and arranged the purchases better, though I still kept them in the bags, only leaving those corn puffs in the backpack, since I also went to that Mega Image and put the bags into two cabinets. Then I put that bottle in the recycling machine, entered with the backpack, but decided against getting anything, so I just cashed in that voucher, then retrieved what I had in the cabinets and walked away.
I got back just before 11:20 PM, though after cleaning the litter box I took some trash and dropped it down the chute. Then I put most of the purchases in their place, ate an apple and the sweet pastry, and it was 12:55 AM when I went to the bathroom, ending up just wasting time on the toilet before showering. It was 1:45 AM when I was done, and there was a lot to wash and clean in the kitchen, since dad had made himself some soup, and I also put the remaining purchases in their place and used the worse lettuce leaves and a little of the wild garlic for the salad, so I only ate dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:20 AM, and it was 6:10 AM when I got in bed… And just after 10 AM I was woken up by the sound of the plants from the fenced area that’s behind the building being mowed and I went to take the “before” pictures, even though there’s little difference, since there were only some tufts of grass there at that point. And at least I was able to get back to sleep after that.

On April 3, I noticed that, at that same store that’s outside the city, the price of the keyboard that I had been looking at had dropped, and it was in stock, so I could pick it up right after ordering it and left to do just that, just before 4:25 PM, taking a couple of recyclables with the deposit paid. I meant to use the recycling machine from Kaufland Basarabia and then also check the price of the cat food that was on sale in multiple places, but I checked the time when I got there… And then just kept walking, only remembering my plan quite a few minutes later. So I kept going, reaching that store just before 5:30 PM, even though I didn’t jog, so I walked really fast. And, after opening the box and having a look at the keyboard before walking out, I started picking up more recyclables with the deposit paid… And at one point a dog that was digging through trash along the train tracks caught my attention; it didn’t seem to be a stray but also looked too dirty to be a pet and just didn’t seem to belong there… And some time later, just as I was about to turn and make the detour to Auchan Titan, I saw the posters about a lost dog, remembering that I had noticed them the previous week as well, and the dog looked like the one in the picture! But quite some time had passed since I had seen it, I was thinking that it had probably been much closer to the end of that road than to where I was at that point, but I didn’t really know, I couldn’t recall anything specific about exactly where it had been, so I kept going, despite hesitating and feeling that I could have done something.
I actually picked up so many recyclables that at one point I had to stop, spread them out on a bench and rearrange them. Then I put them in the recycling machine from Auchan, and when I was done a woman asked whether only those with the deposit symbol worked or those with the recycling symbol also did, so I told her that just those with the deposit symbol did and picked up the plastic bottle that was in a cart that was next to the machine and showed her that it had been dropped there because it didn’t have it. And then I decided to also search through the large bin that was a couple of steps away, finding two cans with the deposit paid… But also nicking myself in what I assume was a tiny shard from some broken glass bottles. I had seen them there, but in another corner of that bin, yet I guess that some tiny shards had scattered, since I felt a little prick, put those cans in the machine, then looked and noticed a tiny mark. It was very small, but it was there, so I thoroughly washed my hands, then had another look in that bin, to try to see the labels from those broken bottles, but since I didn’t want to reach in yet again and couldn’t flip those shards over by using a plastic bottle, I eventually gave up. And dad called seconds later, so I entered the store, with the keyboard, after talking to him, getting some of that cat food and a couple of other things and also using the amount that was on the store card and the vouchers received for the recyclables. Then I arranged the purchases, which I put in a cabinet when I reached that Penny. And, when I was retrieving what I had in the cabinet, after just getting some bagels, the guard asked to see my backpack, so I told her that she’ll just find a few more bags in there and pulled them out to show her.
On the way back to Kaufland Basarabia, I picked up a plastic bottle, saw that it didn’t have the deposit symbol, decided to look for a recycling bin to put it in, couldn’t find any before reaching the recycling center from that area, which was obviously closed at that hour, and ended up leaving it at the gate. And something got in my shoe as I was approaching Kaufland and it really bothered me, so I limped to a bench and managed to get it out. Then I put my things in a cabinet, used the toilet, and entered the store at 9:05 PM, just as the labels listing bakery discounts of 50% were being placed… And that timing was required in order to get two of the products that I ended up getting, since the moment the employee placed the label, others reached towards them as well, so I got one of each and they got the others. On the other hand, I took a price label for the bread that had a regular discount those days and wanted to scan it, but there didn’t seem to be any working price checkers, so I used a self-checkout to check and saw that there was no additional discount. Then I got some vegetables that had good evening discounts and also just grabbed the scattered green onion tops that were still in the crate, keeping them in the bag as I scanned the other products at the self-checkout, after adding a few other things, so I guess that you can count those tops as stolen if you really want to, even though it’s not like they could make up a bundle. Either way, I forgot to hit that I was done after entering the bread and buns and the machine told me to scan the product first, so I looked in confusion, but the employee came, realized what happened, and sorted it out. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, the closing announcement coming while I was arranging the purchases, and it was a little after 10:05 PM when I walked out, needing to use the emergency exit.
After picking up one more bottle with the deposit paid on the way, I got back at 10:45 PM, but after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, at which point I picked up two more bottles with the deposit paid that were in the garbage room. Then I ate an apple and a sweet pastry, put most of the purchases in their place, moved something into a jar for dad, and also did the day’s squats. It was just before 12:30 AM when I went to the bathroom, but I washed a couple of things before washing myself. I was done at 1:10 AM, but then I cut my toenails, put the remaining purchases in their place, had plenty to wash and clean in the kitchen, also dealt with my bread, and used some of the worse lettuce leaves and some more wild garlic for the salad. I also had lunch, taking occasional bites, between 3:15 AM and 4:05 AM, and when I put what was left of my bread in the freezer I had to move dad’s breads and a bag tore, so I had to move that bread into another bag and then make it properly fit back in there. After all of that, I ate dinner between 4:40 AM and 5:25 AM, though I spent the last several minutes just gathering the seeds and breadcrumbs that were stuck on the plate. I didn’t get on-line, and got in bed at 5:55 AM.

I was woken up a little before 11:55 AM, when the new washing machine was delivered and the old one taken away, my parents having decided that they won’t even try to have it repaired because what broke off might have damaged other things and it might not be worth it. And then I also connected the new keyboard, which is clearly of lower quality than the old one, and the lighting is also just around the keys, not also through them, making it next to useless in the rare moments when I do want it on, though I eventually figured out that I can just about make out the keys if I set it on yellow and go past the lowest brightness level. And the macro keys that are on the left mess up the positioning of my fingers, as I tend to start from there, so I end up pressing those macro keys instead of Ctrl, Shift, Tab or Caps Lock, and in case of Esc it’s either that macro key or I overcompensate and press F1, and I can be a key off when typing as well, especially with my left hand. Things did get a little better since then, but this is still quite an issue, so it remains to be seen when or if I’ll manage to type properly again. And the old keyboard didn’t fit in this box, being wider. Or it would fit in itself, but there’s no more room for the cable to bend, it seemed about to snap if I tried, so I had to leave it out of the box. But what’s more concerning about the new keyboard is that I occasionally get two spaces when I press the key, and this problem is a good part of the reason why I bought it, since it was why I had the old one replaced back then and recently, after several years, the replacement was starting to exhibit the same problem, so it may prove to be a complete waste. Either way, we then also tried the washing machine, and it seemed to do its job.

It would appear that the stark contrast between the reactions to the attacks against Israel and Ukraine, made that much worse by the fact that Israel’s defensive capabilities already are among the very best in the world, far above their opponents’ offensive capabilities, and they’re also aggressors guilty of a long list of atrocities spanning many decades, while none of these applies to Ukraine, just managed to shame enough thick-skinned Republicans into approving the aid package for Ukraine, alongside the one for Israel. And aid for Taiwan and other US allies in the Indo-Pacific region was also approved, as was humanitarian assistance for civilians in war zones… Though, in this latter case, direct funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees was expressly banned, once again highlighting that “the West” doesn’t give a fuck about Palestinians and sides firmly with the aggressor in that conflict, no matter what.
Of course, that aid for Ukraine comes with strings and caveats, about a sixth being in the form of loans, which will become a problem down the road, and much of the rest is actually directed towards the USA and its military-industrial complex, and from what I gather there’s not even a strict requirement for all of the resulting production to then be immediately directed to Ukraine. And that’s on top of the fact that, as always when it comes to countering Russia’s aggression and expansionism, it comes terribly late and may at best make up for some of what was lost just because of the delay and the refusal to take a firmer stance. And, either way, it will almost certainly be weeks, if not months, before this decision will have any real impact on the battlefield, and Russia has been allowed to get in a good position to take advantage of this time, and they’ll certainly go to great lengths to do just that.
So it’s obviously a relief that this finally happened, and it may be enough to ensure that Ukraine won’t lose this war, or at least not in the foreseeable future, but offering them any real chance to win it would have required a firmer commitment, at least on par with what’s displayed for Israel, from the very beginning. And, at this point, it’d most probably require even more than that… And Russia knows all too well, and relies on, the fact that it’s clear that nothing of the sort will happen, no matter what…