Cav's Place

In the early hours of May 23, I ate dinner between 3:15 AM and 4:10 AM, and then I also shaved, getting in bed at 5:20 AM. But I wanted to run in the evening, so there was no reason to set the alarm, and while I woke up when dad left, which was probably only a few minutes after 2 PM, since after a little while I checked the time and saw 2:14 PM, I decided to try to sleep a little longer, only getting up when it was almost 3:25 PM, though I probably only caught a short nap during that time. Then I had the usual stuff, the yogurt being a bio (organic) “Greek” one with 10% fat and 5.5% protein, and the sweet thing consisted of some nice biscuits, with added honey. And then dad got back and brought some things and we talked a little, so I left at 6:25 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 22°C, and about 21°C when I finished.
The time was 47:22.26, with sector times of 4:26.54, 5:01 (5:00.84), 5:49 (5:48.85), 4:33.03, 4:57.41, 5:47.31, 4:31 (4:30.06), 4:50.87, 5:42 (5:41.47) and 1:46 (1:45.88), making for lap times of 15:16.23, 15:17.75 and 15:03 (15:02.40). I aimed to stay under 48 minutes, but when I found that work was being done at the start of the long straight of sector one and I had to make a detour, I pretty much gave up on that thought. However, the first sector’s time wasn’t as bad as I feared, so I then meant to at least stay under 15:20 on that first lap, pushed harder and made it. And then I kept pushing, just giving everything despite being sure that I was going to get slower, doing my best to make up for the loss of time caused by that detour and actually managing it, so after lap two I knew that I had a chance to stay under 48 minutes after all. It was far from certain, however, so from sector two of lap three I pushed even harder, and those great times definitely showed it, so after the end of the lap the target became to get under 47:30 as well, which I managed by quite a margin. I have no idea exactly how much time I lost because of that detour, but I’d have quite clearly beaten the time from the morning run without it, and even squeezing under 47 minutes wouldn’t have been out of the question. Then again, I wouldn’t have pushed that hard if I wouldn’t have been trying to make up for that loss of time, so it’s all purely theoretical.
Obviously, the big problem was just what I feared after the previous run, which was that work was being done right at the start of the long straight of sector one, so that area was completely closed off and I had to go well off the path, behind that small building that’s there, which also means a bit of a climb, and a part of that area was also muddy, making it even more of a problem. On the other hand, while some event was once again taking place at the stage, it seemed to have to do with some ethnic minority and not many people attended, so it hardly affected me at all, and in fact I wouldn’t say that there were any other notable problems at all, except perhaps on sector one of lap three, when I hesitated once or twice, the first time being because of a misunderstanding with some kids who were on bicycles. And, of course, there were the damaged parts of the lane, plus a few areas that were rather wet, and a pretty normal amount of weaving and going the long way around because of other people, but that was it, and physically I felt just fine, the only issue being that I felt the need to snap my back at some point, but I just pushed through it and after a little while I no longer noticed it. And the weather didn’t cause any problems either.

I got back just after 7:35 PM, ate something to count as lunch, did the day’s squats, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 8:45 PM, but I first went to pay the previous month’s maintenance bill, after also giving dad the money to pay for the internet and his phone, since he had apparently suddenly realized that those were due… And he came back with some food that he had just felt like getting, once again saying that he won’t just eat what’s on sale and that it’d be crazy to not eat what he wants in order to pay “who knows what”, referring to the bills… But at least one of us has to be a responsible adult when it comes to such matters… Either way, after paying that bill, I came back to drop off the receipt and grab the recyclables with the deposit symbol, except those two that I knew weren’t going to be accepted, and actually left a little after 8:50 PM.
After grabbing two more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way to Kaufland, I used the recycling machine, then washed my hands and entered the store a little after 9:20 PM, going straight to the bakery area and just grabbing two regular buns, since no other cheap ones were left. Then, when the employee asked whether she could help me with anything while I was looking, I asked about the sweet pastries and she pointed me to what was left, which didn’t include anything that I was interested in, and then I also asked about the bread that didn’t have a discount label, and she said that it wasn’t discounted. However, after going to a price checker to check the ingredients of some other buns, I took that price label and scanned it, seeing that the 50% discount applied to that bread as well, so I took one, letting the employee know as well, and then I decided to also take one bun of another kind. Then I took quite a lot of oranges, which had a good evening discount, and at the self-checkout the paper roll finished as my receipt was being printed, so I had to call an employee to put in a new one, but the closing announcement still came just after I had walked out of the checkout area.
After putting the oranges in the backpack and grabbing another plastic bottle with the deposit symbol from the parking lot, I went to the Mega Image that closes at 11 PM and meant to put that bottle and the bag that hangs from my neck in a cabinet, but it wouldn’t lock, and all the others seemed to be in use, so I eventually entered with everything, put on a glove and took the two apple pastries that were left. I meant to use the recycling machine for that bottle before getting in line, but it was out of order, so I just bought the pastries, confirming that the 50% discount applied, then picked up a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way back.
I got back a little after 10:50 PM, ate the remaining banana, cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, washed what was in the kitchen, put the oranges and one of the apple pastries in the fridge, ate the other apple pastry and a bag of peanut snacks, and it was 12:25 AM when I went to wash. I was done at 1:15 AM, but then I arranged a few things in my room, washed a few more things which had appeared in the kitchen, got the grease out of the grill that dad had used and cleaned it to some extent, which took a while, put the buns in the fridge as well, and finally ate dinner between 4:30 AM and 5:30 AM, getting in bed at 6:20 AM. And the following two nights I ended up eating dinner between 3:25 AM and 4:05 AM and getting in bed at 5:20 AM, the first time after also dealing with my bread and the second after finally washing the second part of the glass baking tray, which had been sitting in the sink for an awfully long time.

On the morning of May 27, I got in bed at 5:30 AM, after waiting for dad to get back. And after getting up I kept wondering whether to run the following day or not, since the plan was to cover a half marathon distance, the weather forecast wasn’t looking good and I really didn’t want to find that area still fenced off, but there didn’t seem to be any day with good conditions that week, and there were other reasons to not want to leave it for later as well. So, after checking the forecast one more time in the early moments of May 28, I decided to go for it, so I put peanut butter on all of the slices of bread when I ate dinner, between 3:25 AM and 4 AM. I got in bed at 5:25 AM… And, after somehow sleeping through dad leaving in the morning, at 10:40 AM I was woken up by a call, for a poll about the local elections. But I did manage to get back to sleep, and got up when the alarm rang, at 2:30 PM. Then I had the usual stuff, the yogurt being another bio (organic) “Greek” one with 10% fat and 5.5% protein, which still seemed fine even if it had expired six days earlier, but I also mixed raisins in milk chocolate in it, along with the cereals and baked almonds with Himalayan salt, and another sweet thing consisted of two nice biscuits, with added honey. It had rained, but the clouds were clearing when I left, a little after 5:15 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband, and the reported temperature was about 21°C, more or less holding steady, since it was 21-22°C at 7 PM, though it might have been a little warmer at some point, since it had been pretty sunny for a while before getting cloudy again towards the end of the run.
The time was 1:43:49, with sector times of 4:25, 5:04, 5:56, 4:30, 5:04, 5:51, 4:32, 5:04, 5:57, 4:35, 5:11, 6:00, 4:35, 5:13, 6:10, 4:39, 5:15, 6:08, 1:51, 5:55 and 1:54, making for lap times of 15:25, 15:25, 15:33, 15:46, 15:58 and 16:02, plus 9:40 for that final portion. I didn’t even think about getting under 1:45 at first, but I ended up doing so for the first time in almost exactly one year, and obtaining the best time over this distance since a month and a half before that. But I just went for it, and I thought that my pace had been more controlled on the first sector, so the time seemed better than expected, which was also the case for sector two, and after the end of the lap I wondered how long I’ll manage to keep that up. And I did keep it up on lap two as well, and lap three wasn’t that far either. But over the course of those laps I kept thinking that they didn’t matter, what was important being having a sustainable pace on the next two and then pushing through the sixth and that final portion, so I only started calculating after lap four, at which point I realized that I had a good chance to stay under 1:45 after all, and even wondered whether I’ll stay under 16 minutes on each lap. When I managed that on lap five as well, even if by such a slim margin, I realized that also managing it on lap six even gave me a chance to stay under 1:44, though losing a little time because of people on sector one of lap six made me think that I might just miss that target by those few seconds. But those seconds only caused me to miss staying under 16 minutes on that lap as well, and while getting under 1:44 required an outstanding final portion, I really gave everything on it, being surprised by each sector time, obtaining a new personal best on it, and managing to stay under 1:44 by a safe margin.
There was some wind to fight against on sector three of lap six and on sector two of the final portion, and when it was sunny it was feeling too hot already, so I was relieved when it got cloudy again, which happened no later than on lap six, possibly even starting at some point on lap five. But what was probably even more of a relief was that the work from that small area was over, though it was still scraped, so I had to step carefully, and there were of course other damaged parts of the lane, and much of it was rather wet, albeit not badly, the rain having been light. And bugs kept getting in my eyes… In my ears as well, but that wasn’t that much of a problem, while the first time I really noticed them getting in my eyes, on sector two of lap three, I struggled for a while to get them out, though the few other times it happened after that I tried to more or less just deal with it. And I also just dealt with the signs of a pressing need that appeared on sector one of lap two and sectors one and three of lap three. I guess that it returned later as well, but I didn’t really pay attention anymore and it wasn’t bad enough to force me to. On the other hand, my right knee gave some warnings at some point on lap three, which faded for a while before returning on lap five, when the ankle joined the knee, and what I felt on lap six went past what I consider to be mere warnings, and I definitely also felt a little pain in the spot where I hurt myself when I tripped on that escalator, back in November. So my right leg wasn’t doing well, but it held. And I knew before the run that I was likely to have a problem with that toenail that tends to jab the toe that’s next to it, and I did feel it as I ran, and after I got back I saw the blood.
As for the problems caused by people, for quite some time it was just a matter of sometimes weaving or going the long way around, but then it did get somewhat more crowded, starting when I hesitated and slowed quite a lot in order to squeeze through a roadblock, on sector three of lap four. Or at least I think that it was on lap four, but it might have been on lap five, in which case the time when I briefly stopped because of another roadblock was definitely on sector three of lap six, since I’m certain that one of those problems was on sector three of lap five. Either way, it was certainly on sector one of lap six when I briefly stopped twice because of kids that got in my way, the first one riding a tricycle and with his father holding on to him, but right on the lane and when all of the space around the lane was blocked by other people, and the second being a little girl who just wandered off right in front of me.

After getting back, I ate an apple pastry, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 8:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol. My initial plan was different, but dad insisted that I must not buy anything else for him because we had so little money, since he had received only about half of his normal salary in May, even if the day to day purchases make up only a small part of the expenses and when I make them we both gain, because I can also feel justified to get some “rewards” for myself and the total amount is still less than what he’d spend if he’d buy those or similar products himself from other stores, and it also means that he’s less likely to make more unplanned purchases, so doing things his way means that we both lose and only the stores gain. But that was that, so I gave up on the idea of going to Auchan or Penny and therefore ended up going in the other direction.
I first checked Carrefour, but I didn’t want to use the recycling machine from there, so I put the recyclables in a cabinet and then just retrieved them, grabbed two more as I left that mall, and used the recycling machine from Kaufland… Which stopped after the first six, and no employee was around, so I then washed my hands, dashing to the women’s for soap, and entered the store with the remaining recyclables, not bothering to look for a cabinet to put them in once again. It was almost 9:10 PM at that point, and what was strange was that I couldn’t see any paper bags in the bakery area, but at least plastic bags were available and I put a few buns and a sweet pastry in one. Then I grabbed a pack of deeply discounted, spoiling, bio (organic) tomatoes, deciding that most of them were usable, but there was plenty of foul liquid in that pack and it was leaking, so after sort of letting it drip on the floor for a while I opened the pack and poured as much of it as I could into a flowerpot that had some sapling in it, then grabbed another one of those plastic bags from the bakery area, which are sturdier and which they don’t charge for, and put the pack in it… At which point I also noticed a few paper bags, placed on top of some boxes that were in front of that area. Either way, the green onions were deeply discounted and I spotted one last bundle behind the crates, taking that as well, and near the self-checkouts I found some deeply discounted germinated wheat that I guess someone had discarded, so I took one box and returned the rest to their proper place. Then I had to call an employee to override the error when the self-checkout machine didn’t accept those tomatoes as the correct product, but the fact that I couldn’t put in all of the recyclables meant that I could use that voucher when I paid, and I was arranging everything in the backpack when the closing announcement came.
That still left me with that bag of recyclables, which I meant to put in the machine from that Mega Image, but when I got there I saw that it wasn’t working either, and a note posted on it stated that, in order to respect the regulations regarding the quiet hours, the recycling machines are turned off between 10 PM and 8 AM. So I entered the store with everything and then just left again, not finding anything to get… Or more exactly deciding against getting anything, since two of those apple pastries were left and the evening discount should have applied, but I wasn’t going to count something like that as being purchased with “my” money, had already gotten a sweet pastry from Kaufland, and didn’t feel that I had any right to “reward” myself in that manner if I hadn’t gotten anything for dad. So I just made my way back, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol and passing on a third, since it seemed to have some napkins or tissues in it and there were also some guys nearby and looking in that direction. And I ended up coming back with all of those recyclables, despite also checking the nearby Mega Image, since the recycling machine was off there as well, with the same note posted on it, even though this store doesn’t have apartments around it, unlike that other one, which is at the ground floor of what’s otherwise an apartment building.
I got back around 10:50 PM, though I didn’t check the time just then. Either way, after selecting the good tomatoes from that pack and cleaning the litter box, I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute… And found a bag with other bags and plenty of plastic bottles in it, and after looking through them I found five that did have the deposit symbol, so I took them. Then I ate an orange and lunch, with an entire large bag of corn puffs instead of bread, put the few other purchases, except the tomatoes, in their place, washed some of what was in the kitchen, and went to the bathroom, to use the toilet, even do the day’s squats, and then wash, when it was almost 1:10 AM. I got back in the kitchen at 2:20 AM, washed the remaining things and cleaned a little, and finally ate dinner between 4:10 AM and 5:15 AM, taking it easy. I got in bed at 6:10 AM. And there were no visits recorded that day.

Actually, there were no visits recorded on June 5 either, so if I’m to start with the early hours of June 6, I could start with the fact that I saw that. Then I watered the flowers and dealt with the last bread which I had purchased a few days earlier, which took quite a while because of its shape and size, and then I took all of my bread out of the freezer in order to find a way to fit all three of them in there, since I had dealt with the other two the night before and had placed them in bags but had left them out. So I only ate dinner between 3:35 AM and 4:20 AM… And I noticed that I once again had a blister under my tongue, still on the left side, though it went away by the time I got up. Either way, I got in bed at 5:20 AM and got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM. Then I had the usual stuff, the yogurt being exactly like the one eaten before the previous run, a bio (organic) “Greek” one with 10% fat and 5.5% protein which still seemed good despite having expired six days earlier, and for the sweet thing I added honey on two somewhat nicer biscuits which had also expired, so I decided to finish those before the ones which I had been using the previous two times. And I left a little after 4:40 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband. The reported temperature varied between 29°C and 33°C, depending on the source, so let’s say that it was about 31°C, pretty much settling at that value by the time I finished, so let’s say that it held steady.
The time was 47:27.92, with sector times of 4:20.51, 4:53.28, 5:41 (5:40.32), 4:24 (4:23.94), 4:57.31, 5:50 (5:49.81), 4:32.19, 5:03.50, 5:57 (5:56.96) and 1:50.10, making for lap times of 14:54.11, 15:11.06 and 15:32.65. Considering the heat, I was thinking that I was just aiming to stay under 50 minutes and didn’t want to push too hard from the beginning, so I was thinking that if I won’t go over 4:30 on the first sector it will be a good sign and that 4:20 was a nice surprise, making me wonder whether I might just manage to squeeze under that 15:20 that’s the target lap time for staying under 48 minutes on the first lap. So, yes, I pushed more on sector two, but that time was so shocking that I checked multiple times, to make sure that I had seen it properly… And then I obviously maintained that pace even though I wasn’t feeling like I was giving everything, so I was once again very pleasantly surprised at the end of the lap, which ended up being the fastest one since November, and in fact it was also in November, on the next run after that one with the faster lap, when I last covered a lap in less than 15 minutes. So it looked like I might stay under 48 minutes after all, but the heat made it far from certain, so I took it sector by sector, continuing to be pleased with the times and, after lap two, thinking that I might squeeze under 47:30 as well. It wasn’t going to be easy and after sector one of lap three I was starting to doubt it, and beating that 47:22 from the previous run over this distance was quite clearly out of the question, but I pushed and made it, despite losing time right at the end of lap three, that crowd also causing me to accidentally press the button earlier, so I pressed it again some two seconds later, possibly just after stepping over that line that I consider to be the end of a lap, but the seconds are definitely correct.
It was hot, but it wasn’t as much of a problem as I feared, though the larger cloud that offered shade while I covered a part of sector three of lap three was pretty nice. Then again, I guess I felt particularly well that day, and the only physical problem was that the fact that I hadn’t left everything in the toilet made itself known from sector two of lap three, and that was late enough to be pretty much all right. Otherwise, there were the damaged parts of the lane to avoid, some of them creating quite a risk of tripping, and that small scraped area, which was still like that. And, other than having to occasionally weave and go the long way around, the only notable problems caused by people were a roadblock on sector one of lap two, causing me to slow and take a step on the grass, and that more serious one that was right at the end of lap three, created by a pretty large group of people wearing a party’s t-shirts. Picking my way through them cost me at least a couple of seconds, and I already mentioned that it also caused me to initially press the button on the stopwatch too soon, though I then pressed it again, more or less at the right time, the time that I listed for sector three of lap three obviously taking into account what was displayed this second time.

I took off my t-shirt after entering the building, before getting to the door, trying to shake those little bugs off it… And a woman came down the stairs. When I heard her getting out of the apartment and taking the stairs, I wondered whether I had enough time to put the t-shirt back on or get in, deciding to try to get in, but there was no way I could unlock the door before she got here, so I just ignored her and that was that. Then I ate a banana and lunch, drank the tea and made another, changed, and left again a little after 7:40 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, except those two that weren’t accepted by the machines. And I found one more recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way to Carrefour and two more next to the recycling machine from there, and while one of them wasn’t accepted, the other eventually was, even if it was one of those with the small bar code that the recycling machines from Carrefour don’t usually accept. However, I couldn’t get it to accept the identical bottle that I already had, and it also firmly refused a can. So I entered the store with the remaining recyclables and got some garlic and potatoes, Romanian vegetables being among the product categories that they were offering vouchers with 30% of the value for those days. And at the self-checkout I used the voucher received for the previous purchases and the one received for the recyclables, then I arranged the purchases in the backpack.
Since I was going to pass by the farmers’ market on the way to Kaufland anyway, the closing time is listed as 9 PM and I got there about ten minutes earlier, I once again wanted to see whether I could get more cheap apples from that woman… But the gate was closed, so I just continued to Kaufland, grabbing a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, including a crushed one that I picked up from Kaufland’s parking lot and then tried to straighten a little before getting to the recycling machines. But two of the four machines were off and a third seemed to be having problems accepting the recyclables, and a guy who had many decided against using it when it was freed, waiting behind the person who was using the other one instead and telling me why when I asked whether he was going to it. So I tried to use it… And just ended up confirming what he had said, since it only accepted one of my recyclables. So I then waited to use the other one, after that guy was done, and it accepted most of the rest, the only ones left being the can which hadn’t been accepted at Carrefour either and, unsurprisingly, that crushed one.
After putting those remaining recyclables in a cabinet, I washed my hands, once again dashing to the women’s for soap, and entered the store at 9:15 PM. And the bakery discounts were, interestingly, 51%, but there were just a few buns that I could get, plus two regular breads for dad, after which I grabbed some deeply discounted, spoiling, mushrooms, made use of the evening discounts for radishes, carrots, and a few peppers for dad, and on the way to the self-checkouts I also grabbed a pack of cornmeal. The machine didn’t accept the radishes as the correct product, but an employee was there and immediately logged on to override the error, yet when it also didn’t accept the buns I had to hold my hand up for quite a while before another employee came to override that error as well. And then, while the voucher printed by the second recycling machine was scanned, I had to enter the one from that first one manually. Then I arranged the purchases, checking the time when I started and seeing 10:01 PM, but the closing announcement only came when I was just about done. However, I forgot about those recyclables from the cabinet, only realizing it when I walked out of the parking lot, so I ran back and retrieved them, fortunately finding that other customers were still walking out, so I could use the doors that opened for them in order to get back in, since after closing time they normally only open for those who want to exit. Either way, it was almost 10:10 PM when I walked out the second time.
I got back at 10:35 PM, with 11 kg. Then I tried to straighten that plastic bottle a little better, put most of the purchases in their place, and went to the toilet and to wash, only eating a slice of the already quite old cozonac from my mother after getting back to the kitchen, putting the remaining purchases in their place and starting to work on dinner, which I ate between 4 AM and 4:55 AM. And I got in bed at 5:45 AM.

I’ll also mention here that the following evening I meant to time my squats during the national team’s embarrassing friendly match, but there was a replay just when I was done, so the timer was not on the screen and I therefore may be a second off when I say that I probably did them in 2:04. And then I made mamaliga and ate in the kitchen, to manage to stick to the dinner schedule. And the following day, which was another one with no recorded visits, I pushed to read 300 pages and finish the book which I had purchased from Bookfest, also posting the quick review, though after eating at night I made a few changes and also translated it, posting the versions on Goodreads and The StoryGraph at that point, in both languages.

In December of 2010 and January of 2011, I had a series of posts with this title, so I’m using it again now, after the plea deal that led to Julian Assange’s release seems to end the saga, suddenly and with a whimper. Of course, it remains to be seen what will happen to him from now on, not because I’d think that taking him out is still something that’s formally taken into consideration at high levels, but to some extent because there may be some individuals who’d still be sufficiently determined to retaliate on their own and mainly because his health, both physical and mental, has been deteriorating and readjusting to a “normal” life, and to family life, will certainly prove difficult in itself.
On the other hand, the sad truth is that the deal has bad consequences for press freedom, since pleading guilty of espionage for acts of journalism, and doing so in the United States, sends a chilling message throughout the world. So it might be a typical compromise when it comes to the two parties involved, an outcome that neither is happy with but both find less revolting than the alternatives, but it can be seen as Assange betraying the cause that he was supposed to stand for. After many increasingly difficult years and at a point when not doing so would have likely meant actually risking his life, but nevertheless doing it for his own benefit in the end.
Then again, there always was every indication that Assange, as a person, was a problem, and after he got in real trouble, whether directly related to the releases or not, he tried to use every trick to obtain some relative safety for himself all along, which puts him closer to Edward Snowden, who didn’t just end up fleeing to Russia but by now went as far as to pledge allegiance and obtain Russian citizenship, which can easily be said to be a betrayal of everything he claimed to stand for. On the other hand, you have Chelsea Manning, formerly Bradley Manning, who may be considered the most notable whistleblower, especially when it comes to this entire saga, and who owned up to it, did the time in terrible conditions that clearly amounted to torture, even attempted suicide, and after being released even ended up back in prison for refusing to testify against Assange, despite having a poor opinion of him, of his leadership and influence.
Since I got to Chelsea, I just have to say that, if anyone would have been awarded the position of being the public face, the flagbearer, of whistleblowing, of free access to information, of holding authorities to account on the basis of such information, it should have been her. She acted on the basis of her principles and stood by them, showed courage and determination… And also strikes me as a much better person in general, after reading something like an interview from The Guardian that went deeper. And the fact that she has now moved past all of that doesn’t change things, quite the contrary, those who deserve such positions generally being those who don’t want them…
But the fact remains that this is another situation where that position wasn’t awarded, but taken, so Julian Assange has it, which was once again proved by the amount of media attention that this development has received. So, even if pleading guilty is different from being found guilty in the sense that it doesn’t actually set a legal precedent, the consequences of his plea deal will have a far greater impact than the sentences received by Chelsea Manning or anyone else, and the same is likely to be true for what he’ll do and what will happen to him from now on. If he will somehow leave it all behind, maybe someone else, and most preferably someone more deserving, will eventually pick up that banner and a new set of consequences will emerge from that, but until and unless that happens, this may be the end of this particular saga, but the ripples left in its wake may well turn into dangerous waves.

When I decided to switch to HonestGamers for my reviews, I was thinking that I’ll copy all of them, with the probable exception of the one for Forsaken World, over there over the course of three months or so. However, I only finally managed to do so after one year and one month, though at least the last one added was that one for Forsaken World, after asking the site’s founder about it and being told that it is acceptable to submit such a review that is basically there for historical reference, describing how a game was at certain a point in time. And the two new reviews written during this period, those for King of Dragon Pass and Hero of the Kingdom II, are just posted here and there, not also on MobyGames. And this also means not only that the problem that I mentioned when I activated the new version of the Games Played list no longer exists, but that a problem will appear if I’ll finally add those games there without making the switch from MobyGames to HonestGamers there as well, so I really should do that… But I haven’t made any changes there ever since activating that new version, and updating the ratings would be the important part, but that’s a truly daunting prospect and I have no idea when or even if I’ll get around to it.
On the other hand, speaking of things that I don’t know when I’ll get around to doing, after failing to copy all of my old reviews there even within one year after switching to that site, I was hoping to also write the review for Diggles during this additional month, since I finished it back in March, and that was why I delayed adding that Forsaken World review there, meaning to push myself to write that one first and then still copy that other one by the time 13 months passed since switching to using that site. But that didn’t work, so I eventually just put that one there as well, making some changes at the beginning, and it remains to be seen when I’ll finally write that one for Diggles. And I’d say that at the moment I’m probably pretty close to finishing the first Vampires Dawn game, so I’ll have one more review to add at some point. But don’t expect the fact that my rule was to write reviews for the games that I finish if they don’t have enough on MobyGames to mean that I’ll go back and write proper reviews for previously finished games that don’t have enough on HonestGamers.

On the other hand, I managed to improve the computer’s uptime record by another day, to 111 days. Or, all right, a little under one more full day, since the current record is 111 days, four hours and what should be a little over 34.5 minutes, or close to 35 minutes, if that sounds better, since I timed how long it took between taking the screenshot and the computer actually rebooting and that time was 1:39, give or take a second, depending on my reaction time. Either way, the reason for rebooting was once again Emsisoft Anti-Malware (EAM), which had started giving that update error that forced me to reboot when the previous uptime record was set earlier but hadn’t asked for a reboot right away, nor after the problem worsened and I had to keep trying several dozen times until it finally did update, but eventually the update wasn’t applied for one file, even if there didn’t seem to be any reason for that to happen, so it did ask for a reboot at a moment when the uptime was 107 days, so this seems to happen a pretty fixed amount of time, or perhaps a pretty fixed number of updates, after reboot. But, when I was so close to a new record, I obviously wasn’t going to reboot unless I absolutely had to, so even if EAM started causing more problems after that, some notifications not being displayed and even on-demand scanning seeming to no longer work, I waited and only rebooted in the early moments of Friday, to set that new record. And, other than that error stating that EAM hadn’t shut down properly, which also happened that previous time, I was quite surprised that there didn’t seem to be any issues. That still leaves me needing to shut down the computer one of these days, since I have some things to do, and also want to clean it while I’m at it, but I won’t get into that now.

After Romania won the arbitration case, allowing RMGC’s exploitation license for Rosia Montana to expire and not extending it seemed quite certain, nothing more than a mere formality, and that was what happened on Thursday, the announcement being made with little fanfare. So, even though the company keeps lashing out, announcing that it will “vigorously pursue all legal avenues” against the decision, while also maintaining its intent to challenge the decision in the arbitration case, the matter would seem to pretty much be put to rest, at long last.
Well, that may not be the case, because yesterday, so only a day later, our Government approved what they claim to be the implementation of the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, with the public statements taking care to underline an amendment that was pushed forward by Romanian MEPs that refers to exploiting the materials left in tailings dumps and decantation ponds. And that implementation does stress the requirement to adhere to environmental standards and also obtain the approval of the local community, which is an improvement, though obviously far from sufficient, since the existing environmental standards are little more than a joke compared to what they should be and people can easily be persuaded to agree to harmful things. However, the decision also includes an article that states that mines or other exploitation activities of non-energy mineral resources may be reopened if they were previously closed or if the license expired. When the Minister of Economy was directly asked whether that changes anything about Rosia Montana, he said that it didn’t, but one pretty obvious interpretation of that article is that the mine could be reopened simply because a license for it used to exist.
Of course, while it’s clearly the best known one, the one that generates the strongest reactions and emotions, that’s just one specific case and many other places could, and at least some of them very likely will, be affected by such regulations, and that’s on top of the major problems that the Critical Raw Materials Act has, in itself, which is why its current form was, and still is, fought against at every level. So the truth is that what the future will hold still remains to be seen… And, considering the changes brought by the recent European Parliament elections, and the fact that environmental regulations kept being pushed back even before, there’s every reason to remain alert.

Since I really had to find a way to force myself to write about this year’s half marathon and the attempt to put it all in one post resulted in one that left out the actual run, I’m now making use of the fact that all of the posts that include runs are in order, so I first posted the part about the following run, to have something here by midnight and make it absolutely mandatory to somehow make myself edit this post in order to add the part about the half marathon, as in the actual run, before it. And I finally managed to make that edit Sunday evening, so a week later.

Even though my position, at least in relation to the pacemakers, was better on previous occasions, this time around I had a great start time, 47 seconds, the only better one having been in 2021. Then I tried to keep advancing as much as possible without pushing too hard or weaving too much, so I won’t tire myself more than I had to so soon, and covering the first kilometer in 4:49 was better than expected under those circumstances. And the second kilometer included that climb, so I was once again pleased when I saw that I covered it in 4:55. That made the fact that I covered the third kilometer in 4:52 a little bit concerning, since it should have normally been faster than the first one, but I’m pretty sure that I overtook the 1:45 pacemakers on that kilometer, which also meant getting through the pack of runners that were staying around them and therefore losing a little time because of that. So it was the fourth kilometer that was the first one when I could see what my pace really was at that point, and I covered it in 4:42… Which was also the time for the fifth kilometer, which included the point where the route turns and ended just before the first refreshment point.
Speaking of the regular refreshment points, I had decided to take one cup of that other drink at each one, ignoring the water, and that was what I did every time, and I also took a piece of banana each time, eating it right away the first two times and still soon after I resumed running after the last one, but I kept the one taken at the third regular refreshment point in my hand for some time before finally eating it, since I was worried about it worsening the problem that I was already dealing with at that point. On the other hand, the nutrition sponsor also had a refreshment point, on the 13th kilometer, and if I’d have known that I really wouldn’t have taken that gel with me, but they hadn’t actually announced it, so I was somewhat surprised when I saw it and just quickly grabbed a jelly bar and a salt bar, only having an actual look at them after I resumed running, at which point I saw that I had taken the jelly bar that I actually wanted, with the fast absorbtion carbs, so I kept that in my hand for a while, putting the salt bar in the pocket of my tights. I might have preferred a different salt bar, but so be it, and I’m keeping it for the marathon anyway. But what I feel bad about is that I didn’t take a better look at what was available, so I only saw when the pictures were posted that they also had liquid magnesium, which would have been the first thing to take and keep for the marathon…
To get back to the actual run, I don’t know what my fastest kilometer actually was. According to the signs, it was the sixth one, since I passed that sign 4:35 after passing the one for five kilometers, but that was in an area where a street food festival was taking place those days, so the sign was placed in an available spot, and it’s not just that the corresponding mark on the road wasn’t right next to it, but I didn’t see it anywhere in that area, and a time that was seven seconds faster than the previous best despite having had a refreshment point on that kilometer makes it absolutely clear that the sign was placed quite some distance earlier than it should have been and I have no way of knowing what my actual time was, since I didn’t spot that mark at all. And that also means that the 4:50 that passed until I reached the sign for seven kilometers wasn’t correct either, and when the sixth kilometer was almost certainly not my best, it means that I should deduct more than seven seconds from that time for the seventh kilometer, which would make this one my best, so it’s even more frustrating that I don’t have the actual time for it. On the other hand, I covered the eighth kilometer in 4:41, which makes it my fastest kilometer that I know the actual time for, and that makes sense, seeing as it also includes the start of that detour that avoids Revolution Square, so the part where the road goes down.
With the ninth kilometer including that short but particularly steep climb, when the route returns to Victoriei, and seeing as I also made use of the fact that I slowed down to eat that gel at that point, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I still managed to stay under five minutes, covering that kilometer in 4:58. And covering the tenth kilometer in 4:49 was once again surprising, since the second regular refreshment point was on it, and there’s absolutely no doubt about the exact spot marking ten kilometers, since an official timing spot also exists there, and it’s right next to the finish line, when the route passes by that spot the first time. And what this means is that I covered those first ten kilometers, from the start line to that point, in 47:53, which is a time that I’d be content with while running that distance through the park.
That pace wasn’t one that I could maintain, however, especially since the route turned towards the wind, so the 11th kilometer, covered in 5:03, was the first one where I went over five minutes. But what was far more concerning was that the pressing need that’s so often my problem during such runs was starting to become noticeable, though the first faint signs of it had actually appeared shortly after eating that gel, so I really, really shouldn’t have taken it. So, under those circumstances, I started to calculate what I needed in order to at least stay under 1:50, seeing that an official time of 1:49 required the average time per kilometer to stay a little under 5:30 from then on and thinking that the longer I’ll stay below that time, the more I’ll afford to lose towards the end. And the wind, which was quite a problem, and which was going to remain one until the route turned, at about 15.5 km, was going to be behind me after that point, making that last part of the route a fair bit easier from that point of view.
Speaking of that headwind, I wanted to stay behind others, but at that point I was in an area where the other runners were relatively few and scattered, being a fair distance ahead of the 1:45 pacemakers, and obviously far behind the 1:40 ones… And the guy who was just ahead of me for a good part of Unirii Boulevard kept spitting to the side, so I didn’t want to be right behind him, and getting ahead was difficult as well, since his pace was similar and ending up more or less alongside him for quite some time while I slowly edged ahead was something that I wanted to avoid even more… And once I did finally get ahead, after a brief push, I ended up in completely clear air at a point when I definitely didn’t want that, since the next runners were quite some distance ahead and I was really feeling that headwind.
Either way, I covered the 12th kilometer in 5:04, but my time on the 13th is once again uncertain, since what I saw when I reached the sign was 4:59, but the corresponding mark wasn’t there, I didn’t spot it elsewhere in that area either, and the real spot was once again probably farther ahead, since I really doubt that I was faster on that kilometer that included that “special” refreshment point and, even if I just grabbed those two bars so quickly and put only one of them in the pocket of my tights, I still lost at least a little time. Yes, I’m quite certain that I was ahead of that guy who kept spitting by then, and in case that brief push had been on that kilometer, it might have made a difference, but even so, I doubt that it was enough.
Speaking of being behind others, I did end up behind a pretty large guy just as I reached Decebal, which means a light but long climb, but any hopes of staying behind him for a while were immediately dashed because he just about stopped as soon as he felt the first signs of the slope. So I was in clear air again, and I made use of the fact that I was going to be a little slower anyway to eat that jelly bar… But I’m not sure of my time on that 14th kilometer. By the time I finished, I seemed to recall thinking that it had been 5:07, but I was only absolutely certain of the fact that the total time was between 1:08:51 and 1:08:59 at that point, so the time for that kilometer was between 5:05 and 5:13, and likely in the lower part of that range. And, of course, considering the fact that the sign for 13 km had probably been placed earlier than it should have been, the real time for the 14th kilometer was probably a little lower than that. Either way, the third regular refreshment point was at the start of the 15th kilometer, and I believe that the total time was 1:14:12 when I reached the 15 km sign, which would make the time for that kilometer 5:19 if I assume that 5:07 as correct, and therefore that I reached the 14 km sign in 1:08:53.
The time definitely was 1:19:46 when I reached the 16 km sign, so the time for that kilometer should have been 5:34, and that was the only time when I went over 5:30… And that was because I walked for a little while, probably around 30 seconds, since after the route turned I really thought that I was going to shit myself, the sensation coming with such force that I just couldn’t see myself managing to fight it for much longer. The 1:45 pacemakers also overtook me just then, while I was walking, which I guess felt somewhat less bad than being overtaken and falling behind while I was actually running. But I really wasn’t thinking about that at the time, being completely focused on holding it in a little while longer and desperately looking around for a toilet, other than the one from that restaurant that I used for this purpose during last year’s marathon, since I was just in that area again. And, while the immediate crisis soon passed, the feeling lessening significantly moments after I was almost certain that I won’t even manage to get off the road before shitting myself, I didn’t think that the relief was going to last, especially if I was going to resume pushing, so I was wondering about dashing in the park and hoping that the better toilet from there would be free. That’d have meant adding about a minute of running each way on top of the time actually spent on the toilet, but if I went and it would have been free, I was calculating that I was still going to at least finish in less than two hours, while if I decided against it and the feeling returned, I was going to lose even more time and then still need to go anyway, somewhere else, and as a result end up even going over two hours… And possibly soil myself as well. But, in spite of that, I decided to risk it and just keep going.
I covered the 17th kilometer in 5:14 and the 18th in 5:13, even though I think that it was on that 18th kilometer when I spotted a coin and grabbed it, falling on my hands as I did so but getting back up right away… And then noticing that the coin was a foreign one, so it ended up in dad’s little collection. Either way, since I had been very concerned about consuming anything else, I only finally dared to risk drinking a vial of liquid magnesium at the start of the 19th kilometer, which was way too late, since the effects were only going to kick in right at the end, most of the duration ending up wasted. But at least it did provide that boost at the end, and knowing that pretty soon I was going to feel far less tired probably had an effect on my confidence and overall state of mind before that moment as well… As did the fact that I could still see the 1:45 pacemakers ahead of me after the last refreshment point, and even just after reaching 20 kilometers, albeit only barely in this latter case.
I’m pretty sure that, unlike the previous “regular” ones, which started right after such a sign, that last refreshment point ended just before the sign marking 19 kilometers, and I seem to recall hitting the button on my stopwatch while still walking, before I finished drinking and resumed running. However, I don’t remember the time for that kilometer, nor for the next one, and I didn’t see any sign or mark indicating 21 kilometers. There was a spot that I thought might mark that distance, but I covered the distance between it and the finish line in 21 seconds, and even though I did give everything that I had left and put in quite a burst of speed at that point, that seems too fast, so the real spot was probably a little earlier and therefore the only thing I actually know for sure is that I covered the distance between 18 kilometers and the finish line in 16:15. And, seeing as I’m absolutely certain that I only went over 5:30 on that 16th kilometer and the average time for those three kilometers approaches 5:20, it means that the times didn’t vary too much, and the 19th, which must have easily been the slowest of the three, was definitely over 5:20, if not even closer to 5:30.
The time on my stopwatch was 1:46:28 when I crossed the finish line, so I must have pressed the button just at the right time, both at the start and at the finish, since the official time was 1:46:29 and those times tend to be rounded up while my stopwatch rounds down. As for the real time, considering that start time of 47 seconds, that was obviously 1:45:42, so not even this one was below 1:45… So it was disappointing, far from good enough, but at the same time not as bad as I was expecting and maybe not quite close enough to the target to be frustrating. Yet it was definitely bad enough to make me struggle to even write about it for a month and a half…

As for the part about the following run, I’ll start from the early hours of May 18, when I once again found time slipping away and ended up eating dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:20 AM. And, while I had set the alarm to ring at 2 PM, that’d have meant recording the qualifying for the race, and when I couldn’t get back to sleep after waking up just before 9:15 AM to pee, I considered getting up around noon, when dad was supposed to leave. I eventually fell asleep again, but it took a long time, and between that, still waking up as Liza kept going to the litter box, also while dad was getting ready to leave, and when he actually left, I don’t know how much sleep I actually got, but I did unexpectedly get a little more after that, since I meant to get up but obviously drifted off again for a little while, seeing 12:49 PM when I woke up yet again and checked the time. But, after taking a couple more minutes to really make up my mind, I did decide to get up at that point, though I took it slowly and it was 1:10 PM when I actually walked out of my room. Then I had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing being two somewhat nicer, albeit recently expired, biscuits, with added honey. I left just before 3:20 PM, wearing the full running gear, which from then on meant returning to the old running shoes, though I otherwise decided to stick to the t-shirt from this year’s half marathon. The reported temperature was about 19°C, increasing to 21°C when I finished.
The time was 1:18:38, with sector times of 4:34, 5:14, 6:02, 4:33, 5:09, 6:01, 4:33, 5:10, 6:02, 4:36, 5:09, 5:58, 4:33, 5:15 and 5:49, making for lap times of 15:50, 15:43, 15:45, 15:43 and 15:37. I just aimed to stay under 1:20 and that already seemed pretty much impossible after the first sector, so I also saw no point in trying to memorize the exact times, and after the second sector the target was just to cover that first lap in less than 16 minutes and then hope to stay under 1:22, worrying that I won’t even manage that. However, sector one of lap two made me wonder whether I’ll manage to stay under 16 minutes on that lap as well, and after sector two it seemed that lap two might even be faster than lap one, which it was. But I was still quite certain that I’ll go over 16 minutes per lap after that, though I was starting to hope to stay under 1:21, so I pushed more on lap three, and while having the same sector one time on lap three as on lap two wasn’t enough to change my mind about those targets, being just a second slower on sector two was, and at the end of lap three I actually started wondering about staying under 1:20 after all, and even about staying under 16 minutes on each lap. Sector one of lap four was slightly concerning from this second point of view, but sector two put me at ease, and even made me start wondering about staying under 1:19, which became the clear target after the end of the lap. So I pushed even more on lap five and gained those two seconds that I needed from the first sector, so being exactly on pace on sector two was fine, but I still gave everything on sector three, ending up with the best sector three and lap of the day, even if it was still over the pace required for 1:18. So it was still a poor time, but at least my pace improved slightly after the first lap.
There was an Asian food festival in the park, so the area behind the stage, which is a part of the long straight of sector one, was quite crowded, but once I was aware of it, I adapted and, while it meant that I couldn’t try to really sprint on that part of that straight, I wouldn’t say that there were notable problems there. However, there was one on sector two of what I believe was lap two, when I had to slow in order to squeeze through a roadblock, and one of the worst was on sector one of what I believe was lap three, after that straight, when I probably stopped for just an instant in order to find a way through another roadblock. There is a chance that those two problems were a lap earlier than what I stated above, however. Either way, slowing in order to squeeze through roadblocks was a rule after that, once or twice per sector, and on sector three of the lap with the bigger problem mentioned above I also had to go on the grass and around a bench and a drinking fountain, cutting a turn but slowing a fair bit. Sector three of lap four was quite clear, but on sector two of lap five I might have stopped for just an instant again in order to find a way through a multiple roadblock, and just before reaching what I consider to be the finish I again had to stop when I was completely blocked, so after squeezing through I more or less walked across that line.
Otherwise, it was early in the run when I started feeling that I hadn’t left everything in the toilet, but the feeling was more notable on laps three and five, when I pushed harder. And I believe that it was on sector three of lap three when I felt some warnings from the right knee and left thigh, and that knee was joined by the right ankle in giving more warnings on lap five. And some parts of the lane were obviously damaged, including some that created a risk of tripping, and some parts were wet, so I avoided what I could.

On the way back, I had a quick look in a store and picked up two more plastic bottles with the deposit symbol, then I did the day’s squats, ate some peanuts, changed, and left again a little after 6:50 PM, taking the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin, the recyclables with the deposit symbol, and the cozonac that dad had brought from his mother and that I wanted to give away. Since I was going to do that, I had also meant to give away a chocolate figurine that dad had brought long ago and neither of us wanted, and which was also quite crushed, but when I took it from the fridge I realized that it was a Santa, not a bunny from last year’s Easter, and the date that’s listed on it is from 2025, so we could wait to give it away at a more appropriate time.
Either way, I went straight to Kaufland, used the recycling machine, and entered the store with what was left, since those recyclables which hadn’t been accepted before weren’t accepted then either. But the main reason for going there was to get deodorant for dad, since he had told me to look for cheap ones and a 30% discount for deodorant and soap applied those days, so I was looking for a particular kind of those of one of their store brands and managed to find an unopened box that was behind the others of that brand, all of which were of the other kinds, so I took all of it, and also two cheap soaps, plus a deeply discounted drink as a “reward”. However, I forgot to add the deposit for that drink when I calculated the total, so at the self-checkout I thought that the discount for the soap hadn’t applied and called over an employee, but she said that I should pay and then check the receipt, since there’s no way to check what that discount applies to before paying, and if there’s a problem they’ll give me the money at the information desk, so I did that, also using the voucher received for the recyclables, and then saw that the mistake had been mine.
Since I had dad’s metro card, after putting the purchases in the backpack I went to the metro station, taking the metro for one stop, to cut the time needed to get to Supeco. I also grabbed two more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, but when I got to that recycling machine I only tried those which hadn’t been accepted at Kaufland, and when they didn’t work there either I didn’t bother to use it for those two, entering with everything and seeing that the cabbage that was discounted, which was listed in the catalog as Romanian and which did have “RO” on the label, nevertheless had Egypt listed in the country of origin field, and while that might have been the result of somebody making a mistake, I gave up on the idea of getting any and just walked out, not finding anything else to get either.
After returning to the metro, I took it for two stops, to get close to Kaufland Basarabia, though at the first stop I dashed out when I saw Penny catalogs, ending up grabbing two and then leaving them in their place at the stop where I got off, after seeing that they were the current ones, not those for the next period. Then, after getting a little confused at first, I reached that Kaufland and used the recycling machine, having also found another recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way and one more after having a quick glance in those crates that were next to the machine. And, after several attempts, that machine actually accepted those two glass bottles with an odd shape which hadn’t been accepted before, though I was still left with that can and that plastic bottle.
After washing my hands, I entered the store, with everything, at 9:20 PM. Then I got one bread that was discounted and, after finding a price checker that worked, scanned the label for two others, seeing that they weren’t. I also used that price checker to check the ingredients of two other bakery products, deciding against getting them and just adding some more buns. I was also considering two kinds of sweet pastries, but someone else grabbed all of them of both kinds by the time I made up my mind. Either way, I then grabbed some vegetables that had great evening discounts and made my way to the self-checkout after the closing announcement, though I still took a moment to glance at the non-refrigerated expiring products on the way. And the machine didn’t recognize the bread and buns as the correct product, so I had to call an employee to override that error, and since I wanted to reduce the risk of needing to do that again, I then decided to separate the vegetables instead of entering them all at once, which took longer but did avoid any other problems. Then I also used the voucher received for the recyclables, arranged the purchases and walked out, needing to use the emergency exit.
On the way back I picked up one more can with the deposit symbol and eventually gave that cozonac to a homeless man that I’m pretty sure I gave something to at some point before as well. He was also eating something else at the time and had four bags full of things around him, so he might have needed it somewhat less than others, but after having decided against giving it to any of the others that I had seen until then because they were drinking or smoking, I just went for it when I saw one who wasn’t doing either. I later saw another one sleeping on a bench and then a man that I’m not even entirely certain was homeless, but he did seem to be, just had one bag with him, and sat on the bench in what struck me as quite a dignified manner, so he’d have probably been the most appropriate recipient, but even if I’d have passed that first man as well, I’d have definitely left the cozonac with the sleeping one, so I wouldn’t have gotten to this last one anyway.
I got back a little after 10:50 PM, but after cleaning the litter box I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute. Then I put just the buns and the peppers which I had bought for dad in the fridge and spread out the other purchases, drank that drink, ate an apple and lunch, and went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, at 12:45 AM, being done exactly an hour later. Then I put the other purchases in their place as well, dealt with my bread, and ate dinner between 3:50 AM and 4:30 AM. I got in bed at 5:35 AM. And I’ll also mention here that on May 20 I timed the squats again, doing them in 2:06.