Cav's Place

After all of the effort made this week and with a tree planting event today, my plan for yesterday was to cook something, eat, and then get back in bed. But I also had to at least put my whites in the washing machine, since I had already skipped changing my undershirt and t-shirt, so I risked it, despite the obvious problems and even if dad wasn’t home… And the washing machine finally stopped, reporting that the drain was clogged, so I had to try to get the water out through that other drain, and the lack of something small enough to fit under it meant that I had to mop up a lot of water from the floor, since it was flowing around the tray that I was using. And while dad did eventually get back that evening, he worked last night, so he only helped a little before leaving again, and I had to take my clothes out and at least rinse them in the sink before hanging them to dry, while his were left soaked and in a pile, where they remain even now. And, before all of that, when dad called to let me know that he was coming back after all, my phone reported that it couldn’t register the SIM card again, probably just the second time since being replaced, the first being over two years ago, working again after I turned it off and then back on. Either way, the situation with the washing machine meant that I only started cooking after dad left again and I had no chance to get back in bed in the evening. But at least I did stick to the dinner schedule, putting peanut butter on all of the slices of bread, also got ready for the morning, and did get in bed at 4:45 AM. On another note, there were no visits recorded that day either.

I’m not sure whether I was awake when the alarm rang, at 5:45 AM, or I had just fallen asleep again, but I know that I did catch a brief nap shortly after getting in bed, before waking up at least for a while. Either way, I then even did the day’s squats, ate an apple and the yogurt and cereals which I had mixed during the day, even if the yogurt had expired five days earlier, changed, and left at 6:50 AM, without a mask but with the new camera, which was in the cover which I had been able to pick up two days earlier. And dad had gotten back minutes earlier and he gave me the metro card, so I didn’t need to rush to the metro station and also took the time to pee and wash my hands at Victory Square station, still reaching that parking lot a little before 7:25 AM. Admittedly, we had been told that the buses were going to leave at 7:30 AM and we should be there ten minutes before that, but I was never worried… And what ended up happening showed that I should have slept, or at least stayed in bed, half an hour longer.
Many people were waiting around the single bus that was there at that point and I didn’t see anyone that I know as being from the NGO that organized the event, and one of those who were holding the sheets that needed to be filled with the names and signatures of those who were present did say that they were also just volunteers, but they had been assigned that task. And that NGO did make a call for volunteers recently, so if they had decided to use new people during such a major event, it was to be expected to have rough edges like that sheet of paper only circulating among those sitting in the front half of the bus, who seemed to mostly be children who were going with their teacher and some parents, then those children moving to another bus without passing on the paper, a volunteer coming to ask whether everyone had signed and saying that we should all sign after being told that the paper never got past the front of the bus, and yet the sheet somehow still not making its way to the rest of us. However, the real problem had to do with the buses, since somebody seemed to have messed up the scheduling, so I hopped on that bus after somebody said that only a few seats were left, took one of those seats… And was far from the only one to look on in confusion when it was past 7:40 AM when the other buses arrived, those children, with their teacher and their parents, moved to one of them, and those who had been waiting in the parking lot also queued to get on those buses, leaving a good part of ours suddenly empty. However, that volunteer who came to ask whether everyone had signed didn’t say anything else, so we kept waiting even when, a little after 7:50 AM, two of those other buses drove away. I mean, we were muttering that it wasn’t right that we had been the first ones in and others were leaving before us, but otherwise we just kept waiting.
That suddenly changed when the driver climbed on and asked whether about half of us would move to another bus… And said that he was going to be the last one to leave, apparently at 9:30 AM! That spurred us into motion, and obviously also led to some demanding to know why hadn’t he said that earlier. He said that he had, but it was clear that none of us who had been waiting on that bus had known about it until then, with the exception of that group, who had quite clearly followed the teacher’s instructions. But at least we quickly moved to another bus and finally left a little after 8 AM, and those sheets of paper were also passed around during the trip and everybody could fill them. A woman sat next to me, but she didn’t say as much as one word to me, so I was spared of that kind of awkwardness, and I didn’t feel carsick at all as I read two more chapters of The Bands of Mourning on the way.

Just like in November, this post ended up being little more than a placeholder at first, in order to have something as the week’s first post before midnight, and seeing as tomorrow I need to write another post, editing this one in order to actually write about the tree planting and the rest of the day is something to do over the following week. I did make a first edit Monday evening, but only to add the next two paragraphs, to at least also include the link to the pictures, plus a sentence that I added above. And Tuesday evening I added two more paragraphs, plus the link to the group picture. I finally added the rest of the part about the planting Thursday evening, but I only finished the post, adding the part about the rest of that day, Saturday evening.

It was a little after 9:15 AM when we arrived, and after taking the first of the pictures taken that day, I had a look at the “registration” table, but since it was placed separately from the others, the lines that formed were also separate, and at other such events only those who hadn’t filled in their names and signed while on the bus had to sign there, I asked whether that was still the case but didn’t really pay attention to the answer, just assuming that it was and standing around a little longer… Until the coordinator asked the volunteers who handled the registrations to try to speed things up in order to allow the participants to move on and be available for the speech, which made it pretty clear that everyone had to register at that table and I finally took my place in line. And the papers only had the names of the employees of the participating companies, so when my turn came I asked what should those who weren’t there with a company do and I was told to write my name and sign on one of the lists that didn’t have anything filled in, which I did.
The aprons were also at that table, but maybe they were just for the employees of those companies, since I wasn’t offered one. Not that I didn’t see other regular volunteers with aprons, so maybe I should have asked, or simply taken one directly, but I didn’t, moving on to the table with the kits and receiving the reusable bottle, filled with water, and a pair of gloves… But those gloves didn’t seem to protect from much of anything, not having that layer of latex or whatever it is, and I said so, especially since there were piles of better gloves on that table, at which point I was told to take one of those and I did, just grabbing a pair that was already taken out of the packaging. Then I also took a cup of tea and one of apple juice, using the same cup, a banana and two packs of biscuits, putting one of the packs of biscuits away and drinking and eating the rest. And it was past 9:45 AM when the speech started and almost 10:10 AM when, after the group picture was also taken, I reached the corner of the assigned area, which this time around was the nearest one, where the guy who seemed to be the coordinator for those who were going to work there gave the instructions.
Since the spades that were in easy reach had already been picked up, some of them even before the speeches, it took me a little while to find one that seemed available, the woman who was next to it already having one, so I asked whether it belonged to anyone and took it after she said that it wasn’t hers. However, that lost time meant that all of the rows seemed occupied by the time I could start working, so I searched for a little while and it was past 10:20 AM when I decided to go to a row that a woman seemed to be working on her own, just starting to dig the next hole, without saying anything… But she did, almost immediately asking whether we should alternate, with one planting one tree and the other one the next, and I readily agreed, since it meant that I could pretty much still work on my own. Then she introduced herself, though I pretty much immediately forgot the name, and we continued working. However, we didn’t actually do it on our own, since an older woman also joined, bringing the saplings and holding them as we filled the holes back in, so there were only a few trees that I actually planted on my own, when the two of them took a break and went to drink some water.
A slightly embarrassing moment was when, a little after I started working, that woman pointed out that my gloves were on backwards… And I was somehow certain that they weren’t, even trying to persuade her of it, but another volunteer glanced towards me and confirmed what she said, also telling me to look around and see how everyone else was wearing them, so I took them off and put them back on correctly, which took a little while, since I once again had a pair of latex gloves underneath them as well. And at a later point I had to take them off once more, when that woman asked me to take a picture of her and her phone’s touchscreen didn’t react if I tried to do so with the gloves on. And, since my gloves were already off, the older woman asked me to take a picture of her as well, which I did. On the other hand, a nicer moment was when the guy who was working on the next row found a lizard and I also managed to take a picture before he released it. And, later, I also spotted one, but it’s hard to see in the one picture that I have of it, since when I tried to zoom in I just couldn’t figure out whether I was aiming the camera towards it even if that woman tried to give me a little shade, so I ended up with a few nice, detailed shots of dirt and grass, containing just a part of the little lizard’s back and tail in a corner.
That happened on the second row that we worked, however, and that woman said that she counted 42 trees planted on the first one, but I’m quite sure that I dug fewer holes than she did, even if there were no rocks or thick roots and the ground was soft and had been turned over, so the only occasional problem was the grass that was underneath the top layer. Either way, we then started looking for a second row and at first glance it seemed that there were none left that others weren’t already working on, but she seemed to know the coordinator for that area and he took her to one which hadn’t been touched, the reason becoming immediately obvious, since it was just where the speaker was placed, so we quickly dug a few smaller holes at first, in order to move away from it a little. And then we stopped to wait for the older woman, who had said that she was going to bring saplings, but had stopped next to the pile and was still on her phone, so that woman eventually went to get her. She kept bringing saplings with no visible roots from then on, however, and if we discarded the first one, which she might have brought while we were still working the first row, after that the two of them agreed to plant one that was like that along with one that did have a visible root in the same hole, saying that at least one of them should take. It didn’t seem like a good idea to me, but after a few comments I went along with it, mostly just digging and filling in around whatever saplings were brought.
The first announcement about lunch was made a couple of minutes before noon and it said that it will start, with those from the red area, so with us, between 12:30 PM and 12:45 PM. However, with more and more volunteers making their way to their tents and some of them lingering around, it wasn’t even 12:10 PM when it was announced that lunch was starting to be served. But we were close to finishing that row, so we did that, and when I saw that nothing was planted right at the end of the next two rows and mentioned that we could probably do that as well, the women did it, being done with one and moving to the other by the time I planted the last tree on “our” row. I still didn’t even try to count how much had been planted and if they did they didn’t tell me again, and it would have still just been a total, without saying much about what I actually did. But I know that it wasn’t even 12:25 PM when I stopped working, so we were actually done before the “deadline” which had initially been announced, but there were obviously long lines already, and if the two of them went to join them right away, I took a few more pictures and then went to pee and wash my hands, taking the spade with me and then leaving it next to the toilets, since I’d have gotten my hands dirty again otherwise. But I made up for that at the end.
I finally turned my cap around before taking my place at the back of the line, to also offer some protection to the back of my neck, but the damage was already done and I got pretty badly sunburned. Either way, I spent some time in that line, then received lunch, each part of it being placed on the plate separately, starting with the salad, followed by the potatoes and the meat or the dish for vegans or those who were fasting. That was somewhat confusing, since I just moved along and took what was given, being surprised when the last volunteer ignored me, before she noticed that I was waiting there and explained that she had that vegetarian dish and I had already taken meat. Sure, those who specifically wanted to avoid meat would have skipped it and ended up there, but I had been sort of wondering which dish to choose and didn’t realize that I had to look ahead and decide before getting to the meat. And I was also somewhat bothered to be given what was quite literally a handful of salad, even if the volunteer was wearing gloves, and the quantity also struck me as being too little, but I guess that it was all right in the end. And then, since there were no tables, but blankets laid on the grass, plus a few benches, after looking around for a moment I sat down on a corner of a blanket that was completely empty at the time. With pretty much all other spaces being occupied, that struck me as strange and I ignored it at first, but the woman whom I had worked with noticed me and gestured towards it, so I went there after all, and as I was eating a few other people took up the rest of it. But they didn’t say as much as a word to me, so I could eat in peace, the only problem being that I bit the plastic fork at one point, a piece of it came off, and it took me a little while to find it in my mouth and spit it out.
After I was done eating, I just managed to catch the last of the hot water, to have another tea, and then I refilled the cup from the carton of coconut milk that was there. It might have been meant for those who just wanted to add a little to their coffee or tea, but at that point it was pretty much the only thing left, since the regular water had run out even earlier, and there had actually been announcements about it, stating that people had drank more than the organizers had expected, obviously because of the pretty hot day, it was the second time the water ran out, and the next refill was going to be the last one. On the other hand, on top of all of the bins being filled with all kinds of trash despite the clear signs placed by the organizers that even listed what was recyclable and what wasn’t, and also of the requests made to only take what you were going to eat, so food won’t be wasted, when I went to throw away what I had used, I saw two people dump lunches that were barely touched into the bins, and more food already there, which was depressing and infuriating.
It was around that time, just after 1:05 PM, when it was announced that the event had ended, but an earlier announcement had asked for a few volunteers who were going to cut the acacia saplings down to just a few centimeters, apparently just because the roots were so small and the trunk should be left at a similar size in order to encourage growth. And I sort of considered helping out, and one of the tools was left even after I took and ate another one of those small breads, since nothing else was available and I wanted to keep the second pack of biscuits taken in the morning, but I couldn’t quite get myself to do that, despite the explanation, so I gathered a handful of spades and saplings which had been left in the field, and then also one of the strings used to mark the rows, though I only went to the end of that first area. The call for volunteers to help with those strings had been the last one, and the obvious lack of any enthusiasm made the organizer, who initially said that they’re offering a refill of water for each string gathered, quickly seem to give up on the idea and say that they’ll take care of them, but when I saw two others start gathering strings after all, I started gathering one as well… And all three of us stopped when we reached the end of that first area, since even that had taken a fair amount of time, and going all the way to the end, even for one string, seemed pretty much impossible, especially for those who had to get back by bus.
Even so, it was almost 1:35 PM when I stopped, then I drank the water from the reusable bottle and saw that a couple of water bottles had appeared on the tables, so I asked a guy who was pouring himself some from one of them whether that was plain water, refilled that bottle when he confirmed it, and drank part of that as well before returning the gloves and realizing that drinking so much before leaving might become a problem on the way back, especially since I felt that I had to hurry to the buses and the toilets were on the other side, so I didn’t go again… And I also didn’t use the bushes on the side of the road, even if I would have had time, since the driver of what was apparently the last bus going towards Bucharest that was left walked past us as we were heading towards it and told us to go to the brown bus and wait for him to get back… The problem being that, since he wasn’t there, the doors of that bus, which actually only had the lightest tint of brown, were closed, and even though others gathered around it and waited, since another bus was there and its doors were open, I decided to get on that one instead, getting increasingly anxious as a guy started asking who had taken over seats, since there seemed to be too few free ones left. And when someone else asked whether I sat alone and I confirmed it, he contradicted me, saying that I was there with a kid, which finally made me ask whether that bus went to Bucharest, at which point I was told that it didn’t! So I hurried off it… And at least I didn’t forget the camera yet again, since I was about to start looking through the pictures, set it down while paying attention to what was being said, and was so surprised when I learned that I was on the wrong bus that I dropped it on the seat when I got up, noticing it when I turned to look before stepping away.
I was actually just about to cross the road and make use of those bushes when the driver got back, and it seemed that I still had time even then, since he said that we were going to leave at 2 PM, but I hesitated, and when he got on the bus and started the engine I gave up on the idea and got on, taking a seat that was closer to the front, since I meant to get off earlier, at a metro station, if possible. And nobody sat next to me and the driver did ask whether anybody wanted to get off earlier, suggesting Cora Lujerului as the spot, and since a few others eventually said that they’ll get off there, I said that I’ll do the same. And we left just after 2 PM and I managed to read another chapter, once again without feeling carsick at all, until we approached that spot. I would have had time to read a fair bit more until we actually reached it, since we ended up barely moving because of traffic and the driver didn’t stop earlier, so it was almost 2:45 PM when I finally got off, after some ten minutes, if not more like 15 minutes, during which we covered a distance that was quite clearly shorter than what I could have covered by walking.

Since two days earlier I had checked what used to be Cora Pantelimon and saw that, after having recently been purchased, at the moment those stores are sort of a mix between Cora and Carrefour, I considered checking the one from there, but decided against it and went to the metro station, getting off at Mihai Bravu and having a quick look in the Profi that I saw across the road, entering with everything, and then stopping at the Mega Image that’s on the way to Kaufland, once again without bothering to use a cabinet. I was looking for cat food for my mother again, since it was on sale and she had asked for a box of each of the three kinds, but at Mega Image they don’t leave them in the boxes on the shelves, so I asked the employee who was in that area whether they had any whole boxes that she could bring, and when she said that they just had what was on the shelf, I started gathering them and counting, ending up three short of one of the kinds, so I asked again whether they didn’t somehow have just three more of that kind somewhere, but I was again told that they didn’t. Then I added some bio (organic) pasta that had a good discount those days, even if it was imported, and the cashier was quite surprised when she saw all of that cat food, and she took a while to scan it, doing it in groups of three, since the deal was three for the price of two, instead of just counting and entering the number. A coworker even told her to do that, but she said that she didn’t want to get confused.
I put the bag with the cat food in a cabinet when I got to Kaufland, but I entered with everything else, after peeing and washing my hands and face, and just bought some deeply discounted germinated wheat, some coins having apparently already been in the self-checkout machine that I used. Then, after retrieving that bag from the cabinet, I took my time to spread everything out and arrange. But I still wanted those last three cans of cat food, so on the way back I checked a Shop & Go and the Mega Image from Dristor, putting the bags in a cabinet, one that didn’t lock in case of the Shop & Go, and entering with the backpack, but then just retrieving the bags and walking out, since I didn’t find that kind at all. But I finally found it at the non-stop Mega Image, where I once again put the bags in a cabinet and entered with the backpack. And I also found some bio (organic) eggs among those sold by piece, so I got some of those as well, then retrieved the bags and added the new purchases in them. And then I decided to also check the farmers’ market and got some cheap spoiling apples, asking for two kilograms without picking, even saying “however they are”, and being given a little more. And, after having a quick look in that Mega Image as well, once again putting the bags in a cabinet without locking it and then just retrieving them and walking out, I wanted to also check Supeco… But the entrance was cordoned off, and when I later checked the news I found that a part of the ceiling had collapsed, injuring someone!
After grabbing a bottle with the deposit paid as I walked past the graveyard, I found three more just as I was about to reach the new Penny, and one more in a bag that was just next to the bin that’s in front of the recycling machine. But the machine reported that it was full just before my turn came, and the guy who was behind me, having two bags with recyclables and looking dirty and rough enough to probably be homeless, went in to ask someone to sort it out. And, while we were waiting, seeing that he was looking for more recyclables with the deposit paid in that bin, I told him to also check that bag… And he drank what was left in one of the bottles that he pulled out! But what was relevant for me was that, when the machine could be used again and I stepped towards it, he stopped me and said that he was there first, getting angry and pointing out that he had let them know that they had to sort it out when I said that I was already at the machine when he got there. So I let him go ahead… Only for him to not put everything in and even throw some beer cans on the floor before walking out when another person got there and saying, in what was probably meant to be a passive-aggresive tone, that I was next and he was letting me through. But those cans which he had thrown on the floor also had the deposit paid, so I put the four of them in as well, then once again put the bags in a cabinet and entered with the backpack, ending up only cashing in that voucher before retrieving my things. And, when I got back here, I also quickly checked the nearby Mega Image, putting the bags into two cabinets, without locking, and then just retrieving them and walking out.
I got back at 6:55 PM, with a little over 14 kg. Then I put the purchases, with the exception of the apples, in their place, washed, ate a bag of peanuts, which meant 950 calories on its own, and something sweet, even if I rather burned part of it in the microwave, wrote and posted the “placeholder” for this post, and went back to the kitchen a little earlier than usual. However, there was a lot to wash and clean after dad, and I also washed two pots which had been in the sink for a while, so I was still working away at that after more than an hour, and then I also finally dealt with the last bread which I had purchased for myself… And then the hour also changed, so I ended up eating dinner between 4:35 AM and 5:25 AM, according to the new hour, and I got in bed at 6:25 AM.

Eight years ago, I was writing about Noriaki Kasai and Peter Prevc at the end of the Ski Jumping World Cup season… And now I’m doing it again, even if Kasai’s position didn’t allow him to compete today and Peter Prevc only finished sixth, so it could be said that Friday’s competition was more relevant, since Peter Prevc won and Kasai didn’t just compete, but even squeezed into the second round once again, albeit only thanks to the disqualification of Fettner. And yesterday’s team competition should also be mentioned, at least in Kasai’s case, since it marked his last appearance this season.
Of course, every time Kasai competes, he takes the records for oldest competitor, now at 51 years and 292 days, and most appearances, now at 578, which doesn’t seem to include team competitions, one step further, and while I only expected to see him again in Sapporo, that was actually only the, admittedly very late, start of his season and this month he was a full member of Japan’s team. True, at first that might have been in good part because Japan didn’t exactly have a fourth competitor this year, not to mention a fifth, the results of those who were placed in those spots being disappointing, and if he wanted to keep competing, they had little to lose. But then his results proved that he actually deserved that place on the team. Sure, that’s by comparison with the others’ poor results, but the fact remains that, at this moment, as he approaches the age of 52, Noriaki Kasai is the fourth best Japanese ski jumper, so his participation in the team competitions is also obtained on merit. And that is nothing short of amazing.
As for Peter Prevc, unless he’ll change his mind, today’s competition marked the end of his career and, as I already mentioned, he obtained another victory on this final weekend, at least if you stretch the definition of “weekend” a little. It wasn’t today, and Slovenia also failed to win yesterday’s team competition, but winning on Friday still counts as doing so right at the end of his career, and obtaining that result on home soil makes it even better. Plus that he was the best Slovenian at the end of the season, both overall and in the Ski Flying classification, this latter result probably being even more remarkable, considering how good the Slovenian team is on flying hills in particular. So I’m quite sure that he could have continued to compete at a high level, and the sport, not to mention the Slovenian team, will sorely miss him, but if this is his decision and he wants to move on to another stage of his life, there were few better ways to do it. And let’s not forget that the family has much more to celebrate, Nika Prevc being, I’d say, the surprise winner of the women’s Ski Jumping World Cup this season!

In the salad made in the early hours of March 4, I once again used a regular onion, this time not even one that was starting to sprout, since I yet again didn’t have green onions. And I started eating dinner at 3:15 AM, but still managed to finish at 3:40 AM. Then I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, but it was at least half an hour before I could actually start getting ready to run, because dad had also just woken up and was in a hurry to leave, so he asked me to help him with what he wanted to take. But I eventually had the usual stuff, the yogurt being another “creamy” one with 4.6% protein and 5% fat, the almonds being those baked ones with Himalayan salt, and the apple quite certainly the last one from Carrefour’s campaign. I mean, it was a smaller Red Delicious one, which was actually still good, only then starting to spoil in a few spots on the surface, unlike those large ones which had spoiled so badly and so quickly, and it quite clearly couldn’t have been from anywhere else, and I’m also certain that there were no others that remained since then. Either way, for the sweet thing I had some nicer biscuits, with added honey, and I left at 4:35 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was about 16°C, holding steady. There was some wind, however, which made it feel surprisingly chilly on the way to the park.
The time was 48:40.26, with sector times of 4:00.44, 5:24.07, 6:04 (6:03.87), 4:40.48, 5:12 (5:11.36), 6:01.48, 4:32.22, 5:06 (5:05.91), 5:50 (5:49.18) and 1:51.25, making for lap times of 15:28.38, 15:53.32 and 15:28 (15:27.31). I might have pressed the button just after passing what I consider to be the start line, but the seconds are certainly correct, whether for the first sector, the first lap, or the total time. And I didn’t actually mean to push that hard on the first sector right away, but decided to do so seconds later. It was rather crowded and I also almost collided with another runner, so I feared that I was losing time and would just exhaust myself for no reason, but I just kept it up, and on the long straight there were two moments when I felt that I had to dig one more level deeper, and when I saw that time I was just blown away. So I didn’t just finally knock all of those with 4:08 out of the top ten, but managed the second fastest first sector! But, of course, it utterly exhausted me and I immediately dropped to what I thought was closer to a marathon pace, and that time on sector two proved it, and my back wasn’t at all happy either, so the remaining distance was a daunting prospect and I was thinking that it’ll be acceptable to just stay under 50 minutes, and I’ll be quite content with 49:30. At the end of the lap, I was hoping to stay under 16 minutes on the next two laps as well and sector one of lap two didn’t look good, but I started to recover after that and at the end of the lap I wondered whether I could actually get under 49 minutes and started pushing again, putting more into it on each sector, and the times showed that I had more left than I thought, and lap three was even a second faster than lap one, looking at the exact time. So, yes, the total time was pretty bad, but far better than expected after exhausting myself for that stunning first sector.
While the number of people dropped after that and the only other notable problem was on sector three of lap three, when some women walked onto the lane just as I was getting there and I had to react quickly and squeeze around them, the first sector was quite crowded, as I already said, so I had to keep weaving and going the long way around, and there was also that moment, in that blind turn that’s just before the long straight, when I found myself face to face with another runner and we just managed to avoid running into each other, the moment probably costing me a second or so, which makes that sector’s time even more amazing. But I actually made a note of how many runners there were, and some of them also helped, becoming targets for a little while. Otherwise, just as I had slowed down after that first sector and was trying to figure out how to recover enough to be able to cover the remaining nine or so kilometers, I stepped in a hole that was under the lane, with my right foot, and the ankle did need to take quite a lot, but it was fortunately fine. And there were still damaged spots on the lane, of course, including that one that created a risk of tripping. But a big problem was the pain radiating from my back after that first sector, at least from my teeth to my bladder, or throughout everything between my nose and, shall we say, the other “nose”. After a while, I was even considering stopping for a moment, to try to snap, straighten or stretch my back a little better, but I didn’t, just pushing through it and trying to make things a little better in any way I could while running, and the pain did gradually lessen, which eventually also allowed me to push more.
On the way back, I had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image, without a mask, and that was it, since I wasn’t going to go out again, so I then had lunch, did the day’s squats, and went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. And later that evening dad called to tell me to open for him, since he had lost his keys, so he’d have been waiting at the door if I would have gone out again. Then I ate another apple and some biscuits, and at night I ended up eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:10 AM. I might have actually been able to stick to the dinner schedule if I’d have eaten in the kitchen, since I microwaved the slices again, in four batches, three with more of that kashkaval and one with something else, but I decided to take everything to my room and eat here.

For the salad made in the early hours of March 15, I once again used a regular onion that wasn’t even sprouted, and I ended up eating dinner between 3:20 AM and 3:50 AM, opening a new jar of peanut butter and putting that on all of the slices of bread. Then I got up when the alarm rang, at 1:30 PM, and had the usual stuff, but the apple was a particularly nice and large one that I believe was also bio (organic), and I mixed both almonds with Himalayan salt and raisins in milk chocolate with the cereals and another “creamy” yogurt with 4.6% protein and 5% fat, and as another sweet thing I had the last of those things taken after last year’s Dream Trek, with added honey. Actually, I might have taken that one at Timpuri Noi Square, not after the end, since I took one then and another one of the same kind at the end, but it doesn’t matter, and the fact that it had expired last month shouldn’t really matter either. So I put on the full running gear and left a little after 4:10 PM, when the reported temperature was 8-9°C, basically holding steady, since it was 8°C when I finished.
The time was 1:48:26, with sector times of 4:20, 5:17, 6:08, 4:36, a total of 11:18 for sectors two and three of lap two, then 4:42, 5:20, 6:12, 4:44, 5:26, 6:19, 4:46, 5:32, 6:13, 4:55, 5:32, 6:31, 2:04, 6:35 and 1:56, making for lap times of 15:45, 15:54, 16:14, 16:29, 16:31 and 16:58, plus 10:35 for that final portion. I have no idea whether I checked the time after sector two of lap two and forgot it by the end of the lap or forgot to even check, because I realized right at the end of the lap that I didn’t know it, and I do remember my mind being elsewhere for the first part of sector three of lap two and suddenly realizing that I didn’t know what happened for the past few hundred meters. And what’s frustrating is that sectors two and three of lap two were the least poor ones. If I did check, it’s possible that sector two was 5:16, making sector three 6:02, because in that case the numbers might have easily gotten mixed up in my mind, but I really have no idea. What really matters is the actual time, however, and that was bad. Interestingly, I have another 1:48:26, and back then it was my personal best by far, but that was almost six years ago and I’ve had few worse times since then, so now it’s my worst time obtained while covering this distance through the park since the summer of 2021, before the hospitalization. Admittedly, while the 16 km run from the end of February gave me reasons to hope for 1:46, if not even 1:45, and I considered pushing early on and seeing what will happen, that day I was thinking that it’d be more realistic to think that I’ll end up closer to 1:50, and that proved true, unfortunately.
While the first sector’s time was better than I thought it’d be and I did mean to slow down a little, sector two’s time was worse than I thought it’d be and that was the rule from then on. I was actually hoping to stay under six minutes on sector three of lap one and I was far from that, and ending up fractions of a second over the 15:45 that’d be the target lap time for 1:45 even on the first lap made it quite clear that I really was looking at about 1:50. I still meant to stay under 16 minutes on as many laps as possible, wondering whether I’ll manage it on all of them and still have a time that won’t be too bad after all, but I had to push to even manage that on lap two, and sector one of lap three made it clear that I won’t manage it again. And after just barely managing to keep the average lap time under 16 minutes for the first three laps, after that it was just about limiting the loss of time, since I was worried that I might not even stay under 1:50. But after lap four the goal became to cover five laps in less than 1:21 and then stay under 1:49, so I pushed more on sector three of lap five, and that was the only time, after most probably sector three of lap two, when a sector was less slow than on the previous lap. But I paid for that on lap six, where the target was to at least stay under 17 minutes and I only barely managed it. Still, it was enough to allow me to hope to stay under 1:48:30, so that became my goal, and while going over two minutes on the first sector of that final portion was a bad sign, at least I managed that, even if it took quite a push on the final straight, though I might have lost a second at the end, since my hands were frozen and I wanted to make sure that I’ll press the button properly.
It wasn’t just chilly, but also wet, after a few rainy days, and it had rained that morning as well. And the lane was quite badly damaged, including multiple spots that created a serious risk of tripping, so I had to avoid it a good part of the time, including on the long straight of sector two. And that was probably the main reason why I weaved and went the long way around, since the number of people was low, the only notable problem caused by them being a roadblock that made me slow a little at the end of sector two of lap five, under the bridge. And I high fived a guy, probably a teen, who held out his hand when he saw me approach, on sector two of lap six. Otherwise, I did feel almost from the beginning that I hadn’t left everything in the toilet and worried that it’ll become a problem later, but a certain pressing need only actually appeared on what I think was sector two of lap four, if not even on lap five, and while it got worse on lap six, it never actually became a real problem. And my right knee started complaining at one point, I think from the start of lap six, and it definitely did on that final portion, but that wasn’t a serious problem either. And, in truth, neither was the fact that I felt like I was going to hit the wall at the end of lap six, so after 19 kilometers, because the feeling didn’t worsen after that. So the real problem was that I simply couldn’t go any faster, I kept being surprised by how slow I was and there didn’t seem to be much that I could do about it, though at the same time I was making a mental note of how calm and even my breathing was, even towards the end and when I was overtaking other runners, so I should have had much more to give, but I just couldn’t give it. The temperature and humidity definitely had something to do with it, but that can’t be an excuse.

I got back a little after 6:20 PM, had lunch, changed, and left again at 8:10 PM, with some more recyclables with the deposit paid. I went to what used to be the nearer Penny, but the recycling machine wasn’t working, so I entered with those recyclables and got what I wanted, then raised the bag with the recyclables when I was about to pay and the cashier immediately told me to not leave them with her. I said that I was hoping that she could deduct what I should receive from what I had to pay, but she said that she couldn’t do that, I had to get the voucher from the machine, and when I said that it didn’t work she said that there were plenty of other stores… So I quickly put the purchases in a bag and continued on my way.
I again entered Mega Mall through the parking lot, meaning to search for the recycling machine before going to Carrefour, but after looking on two levels of that parking lot I couldn’t find it, so I put the purchases in a cabinet and asked the guard from the entrance to Carrefour, and she told me where it was. She then called after me to explain how to get the money in exchange for the voucher, but I told her that I knew how it worked and was going to use the voucher when I’ll pay, then went where she had told me and used the recycling machine before entering the store. There were products that I was interested in that had good discounts while also being included in the categories that those vouchers were offered for, so I started by getting a large pot, to move that yucca after all, though I’m yet to actually do so. Then I took ten bottles of tomato puree, plus a few other things, and struggled to carry them as I wandered around the store until closing time approached. Then I split the purchases at the self-checkout, leaving the tomato puree aside at first and also using that voucher received for the recyclables when I paid for the other purchases… And when I then also entered the tomato puree, I saw an additional discount, so there were three kinds of discounts that stacked, but while I did figure out that this last one was most likely that 10% discount that applies if you buy three pieces of certain products, I wasn’t absolutely certain, didn’t want to call an employee to remove one, and simply didn’t think to dash back and get two more, so the tenth bottle didn’t have that 10% discount and it was my fault, so I decided to count that difference as being from “my” money. And when I accidentally tried to scan the voucher’s bar code instead of the receipt’s in order to leave the checkout area while struggling to carry everything, an employee just took the receipt from me and scanned it correctly before handing it back.
Since the closing announcement came while I arranged the purchases, Kaufland was obviously also closed by then, so I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and went straight to that Mega Image, putting everything except the pot and the backpack in a cabinet and getting some bread for dad that was discounted by 90%. However, at the checkout I was told a total that was slightly higher than what it should have been, so I mentioned that it should have been lower but paid it, then checked the receipt and pointed out that one of the breads had been entered as something else. The cashier said that she hadn’t entered anything, had just scanned the labels, and even though I placed the four identical breads back on the counter in order to show her that they were the same while one of them was different on the receipt, she didn’t offer to remove that one that had a wrong label and scan one of the other identical ones again, nor even to do so if I returned that one and grabbed another one with the correct label, since more of those were left. And I said that the difference was too low to matter, and picked up a coin from the floor that covered more than half of it, actually saying so when I did it, so I counted that difference as being from “my” money as well. But I still wonder how come I didn’t notice that wrong label despite looking over those breads a couple of times… And also whether it was the one which had been placed separately, among the bread that wasn’t expiring, next to the basket with the expiring bread, and which I also took, but I have absolutely no idea. Either way, I then retrieved what I had in the cabinet and took my time to arrange everything.
It was close to 11:15 PM when I got back, with 21.5 kg, but after cleaning the litter box I went to throw a bag of trash down the chute. Then I ate half of a large sweet pastry made by that friend of my mother’s, put most of the purchases in their place, except what I had to put on the balcony, and went to wash at 12:30 AM. I was done just before 1:20 AM, after which I also dealt with what I had to put on the balcony, needing to rearrange most of what’s in that cabinet in order to do so. So it was already late when I started working on dinner, and I also ate some peanuts while doing that, putting the last few in the salad, so there were 950 calories just from that. And I ate dinner between 3:25 AM and 4:05 AM, and got in bed at 5:20 AM, though I was still awake when dad got back, and probably only managed to fall asleep after he went to bed. I’m not entirely certain, but it must have been after 6 AM. And I’ll also mention here that no visits were recorded on March 15… Nor on March 16, March 21, or today.

Since I mentioned March 16, I was awake again a little after 8 AM, went to pee, and then couldn’t get back to sleep, finally giving up just before 9:15 AM and getting on the computer until 10:35 AM. At least I did manage to get back to sleep after that, but still not immediately, and just after 1 PM I was awake again and didn’t get any more sleep until I got up, just over an hour later, so I only slept some four hours, and only added about one more later that afternoon, when I took a nap. And in the evening the inevitable happened, since the washing machine had been squeaking for some time and dad pretty much brushed it off, then there was one loud bang and he turned it over, had a look and said that everything seemed to be in order, and the previous time I used it, while it squeaked loudly at first, after a while it stopped doing so and seemed to work normally, but that evening, while it seemed to work normally until the end of the drying cycle, at that point there were multiple loud bangs, something had obviously broken off and was getting thrown around, and when I opened it after it was done I saw a lot of dirt and what were clearly some bits of something that had been torn apart. So I rinsed the few clothes I had in it, though dad said that he didn’t want me to do the same for his, and doing that and also washing and cleaning what was in the kitchen meant that I ended up eating dinner between 3:35 AM and 4:10 AM, and I got in bed at 5:35 AM.

On the morning of March 19, I got in bed at 5:20 AM, after having to clean up a little more after dad. And after getting up I made the first part of the dough for another attempt at making bread, leaving it in the fridge and meaning to continue the next day. However, on March 20 I ended up going out, and while that falls under odds and ends and I therefore won’t cover that day here, I will mention that I left making the bread for March 21… And I still ended up with something that had a very hard crust but was uncooked inside, even if it wasn’t nearly as bad as the previous time, back in August, and cutting it in pieces and putting it in the electric oven for just ten minutes made it a fair bit better inside… But it obviously also made the crust even harder. Either way, that day I also finally ordered a cover for the new camera, though it might have been too late, since on the site it was listed as taking up to seven days, but they called me and said that it’ll be seven to ten working days before I’ll be able to pick it up, and I signed up to plant trees once again on March 30 and I’m obviously wary of taking the new camera, so I clearly won’t if I won’t at least have a proper cover for it…

But this should mainly be about runs, and I’ll once again say that I had no green onions for the salad made in the early hours of March 22, but at least I used those parts from two regular onions which had sprouted a little. And I ate in the kitchen, having some of the bread made that day, and finally finishing that kashkaval, microwaving the slices, in two batches, which actually also made that bread almost normal, if you don’t count the crust that was almost as a rock. But I’m not sure what I did just before going to bed, when I cleaned the litter box, started to wash my hands, then noticed something else that I wanted to put in that small bag of trash that I left for dad to take out when he’ll get back from work… And then I just found myself flossing, with no idea whether I had even washed my hands properly, and I definitely hadn’t washed above the wrists or my face, as I do after cleaning the litter box. So I hope that I at least washed my hands while my brain was obviously elsewhere…
Either way, I wanted to get back in time to watch ski jumping that day, and that was supposed to start at 4:30 PM, so I set the alarm to ring at 1 PM and got up at that point, then I had the usual stuff, the almonds obviously still being those with Himalayan salt, since that’s what I have now, and the sweet thing consisting of some nicer biscuits, with added honey. I left at 3:15 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 12-13°C, basically holding steady, since it was 13°C when I finished.
The time was 48:36.45, with sector times of 4:18.63, 5:09 (5:08.91), 6:00 (5:59.69), 4:38.65, 5:09 (5:08.88), 6:01.03, 4:35 (4:34.31), 5:01.07, 5:55.25 and 1:50.03, making for lap times of 15:27.23, 15:48.56 and 15:31 (15:30.63). Considering the effort I felt that I had made, the first sector was some five seconds slower than it should have been, and that was a sign of things to come, sector two being similar and ending up far from even managing to cover the first lap in less than the 15:20 that’d be the target lap time if I’m to stay under 48 minutes, sector three only squeezing under six minutes if you take the exact time into account. That made it clear that I had to push if I wanted to even stay under 49 minutes and sector one of lap two made me doubt that I’ll even manage that, though I had lost some time at the start of it. The following two sectors gave me some hope again, but I did end up going over six minutes on sector three of lap two and lap three needed to have pretty much the same time as lap two, so I pushed more, and really went for it from sector two of lap three, that sector and the next showing that I did have a little more in me. But at the end of the lap I couldn’t hope for anything more than to get under 48:40, so to at least avoid being slower than two weeks earlier, when I had exhausted myself so badly from the start, and I did manage that, but while back then I had been quite content with that time, under those circumstances, only being a few seconds less slow this time around is definitely concerning.
I had to stop right at the start of lap two, when a kid on something with wheels came straight towards me, after having been on the lane, albeit no longer being on it just at that moment because there is no lane in that spot. And on sector two of lap two I hesitated when a cyclist was coming in hot, having ended up on the lane because the rest of the path was blocked by people, and I didn’t know what he’ll do next, but he did get off the lane before we’d have met. And there were a couple of other moments when I hesitated because of dogs, but not something notable. Otherwise, it was somewhat windy, at least on the first two laps, but while I felt it, I wouldn’t say that I had to fight against it. And the Sun also bothered me, making me feel that I had to squint at times, though on lap three it got quite cloudy, so that problem also went away. And the damaged parts of the lane had been repaired, though it remains uneven in many places. As for physical issues, my thighs seemed tired at first, I had to try to push through it, and the feeling did go away by the end of the first lap, but on lap three my calves started complaining a little. But I guess that the main problem was that, yet again, I simply couldn’t go any faster.

After getting back, I noticed that the ski jumping had been brought forward, starting at 4 PM, so I missed the first 25 jumpers, but at least Kasai just made it into the second round, thanks to Fettner getting disqualified, so I could see his second jump, and I could also watch Peter Prevc win on the last weekend before his announced retirement. Then I did the day’s squats, had lunch, in the form of some old slices of pizza, brought by dad almost a week before, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 6:10 PM, with some more recyclables with the deposit paid, which I put in the “shopping backpack”.
After just wasting some time by checking Carrefour and not finding anything to get, I went to Auchan, without entering the two Penny locations that are on the way, the plan being to do so on the way back if I still had time, since I didn’t want to lose too much of the match. I was mainly going to Auchan for liquid soap, and since I was going to be there I also meant to get water for dad, and maybe also a protein bar for myself, but after using the recycling machine and entering, I saw that one of those good breads was left and picked it up, and then I also took a bundle of green onions, seeing that they were discounted if you used the store card. When I picked the bread back up after placing it on a shelf while looking through those bars, I noticed that the bag was badly torn, which might have happened when I held it under my arm, if it hadn’t somehow been like that all along, so the bread might have been in contact with my jacket and that shelf, but I still held on to it, putting it in a paper bag and placing the label on it. Then I took an expiring product that was on the shelf, since it seemed that the entire stock was expiring and the discount was actually a little over 50%, not the low ones that expiring products usually have at Auchan. I also got some tea and snacks that had nice discounts if you used the store card, even though I hadn’t seen them when I had checked on-line, added some cheap tarragon, for dad, and tried to scan some other products that didn’t have price labels, but those price checkers seemed unable to scan some of them at all and I wasn’t going to have much left anyway, so I eventually put all of them back, grabbed the water and the liquid soap, and used the voucher received for the recyclables and the small amount that was on the store card at the self-checkout.
After taking my time to arrange the purchases, I started on my way back, and the weight meant that I might not have returned in time for the start of the match even if I wouldn’t have stopped anywhere else, but I still wanted to at least get a little garlic from Penny, since it seems to be the only place that still claims to sell Romanian garlic, and the price is similar to that of Chinese garlic in Kaufland and significantly lower than elsewhere. So I stopped at the Penny from Titan, put the bags in a cabinet, left the backpack on the cabinets, and just got a little garlic… And stole one head, to finally make up for most of what they cheated me out of on January 16, when I was charged for a cabbage as if it weighed significantly more than it actually did, since the weighing that matters is done at checkout in Penny. I just pocketed that head of garlic when I walked away from that area, after repeatedly checking the weight, calculating the price, and putting the rest in a bag, so what I did might have been visible, and the cashier seemed to mean to say something, but he didn’t actually do so, and maybe it wasn’t about that anyway. Either way, the weight that showed up was once again slightly higher than what the control scales from the store had listed, albeit only by a few grams, but I paid what I had prepared, then asked whether 0.10 RON more was needed and started digging through my pocket after seeing that higher amount, but since the cashier put what I had given him in the till and closed it, I left it at that and he just gave me the receipt. And I actually took that head of garlic out of my pocket and placed it along with the others right after I retrieved my things, before walking out. And then I also checked that Mega Image, just putting the bags in a cabinet, entering with the backpack, and then retrieving the bags and leaving.
I was back a little after 10:05 PM, with over 19 kg, but at half time I cleaned the litter box and went to throw a bag of trash down the chute. Then I ate an orange, a sweet pastry that I already had and one of those bags of snacks, put the purchases in their place, and after the match I went to shower, going to the bathroom a little before 11:50 PM and being out around 12:15 AM. I didn’t deal with my bread, and it’s still in the drawer, but I did manage to stick to the dinner schedule.

As for the washing machine, dad still didn’t call anyone to look at it, just removing the side panels, once again saying that everything seemed fine, and telling me to just use it again when he’ll be around if I was worried about it. And he has hardly been home these days, but I actually did manage to use it today, before he left, and what was strange was that there were no more loud bangs. It’s obviously badly unbalanced, however, and I didn’t dare to put my clothes in it, with the exception of three old boxers, so I’ll still need to use it again soon, since I already ran out of some things, and I obviously don’t trust it in any way, but I doubt he’ll admit that something’s actually wrong unless it’ll either actually stop working or fail in some pretty spectacular way…

I couldn’t manage to write the part about yesterday before midnight, so I edited the post in order to add the part about the actual run after eating at night, and then I edited it again Sunday afternoon, in order to add the part about the rest of the day as well.

While this may well be one of the most rushed posts from this series, it’s one that really deserves the title, because the first band, Mystfall, is the only one that I didn’t stumble into this evening, but a couple of weeks ago, when the video for Silence was posted. So that’s my first pick and, while the vocals could definitely be better, it made me want to include them in such a post quickly. The problem is that most of their other songs include growls, and they tend to be particularly harsh and jarring, the real pity being that a couple of those other songs are otherwise better that Silence. The one that would have otherwise been my clear second pick is also completely destroyed, in my view, by what’s actually a single and brief moment of growls, so instead of sticking just to those that they already have videos for, I ended up listening to the others from their album as well, and that led to my second pick being Centuries. It could have been another song that doesn’t have growls, but instead of picking those two that are otherwise so different from the others in that way, I decided to go with one where the growls can be more or less acceptable, because they worked them into the song instead of making them blast it to pieces. So those who have a good tolerance for growls, not to mention those who actually like that sort of thing, may have an even better opinion, but I found things, and songs, to like even so.

Moving on, Symphonia is one of the bands that I stumbled into today, and it seems to be another one that just released some new material after a long hiatus… And after apparently changing most members. That new song is Legolas Song, and I’ll leave the spelling as it is, even if the lack of the apostrophe really bothers me. Even the female vocals are not something to write home about, and they should just do without the male ones, but I nevertheless found enough there to want to include them here… Even though I might be inclined to say that in some ways the older song that’s my second pick, Lamia, is better. That one does stand out among those older songs, however, the others “screaming” of being an early effort and insecurity, and the vocals are still weak. But it is interesting to see bands getting what seems to be a new start, so let’s see where they’ll go from here.

As for the third band, that’s Waldkauz and I didn’t just stumble into them this evening, but actually while writing this post, and it made me set aside the other new find that I initially wanted to include, but which had no new material. Admittedly, Pagans of Our Time isn’t true new material in their case either, but the English version of what seems to have been one of their first songs, but if it wouldn’t have been in English, it’d have never caught my attention, so it counts and it is my first pick. The problem is that few of their songs are in English in general, but out of the few that are and have also been posted officially, I’ll go with the lovely He Missed the Stars as the second pick. It seems to me that Pagan folk in English is rare in general, and if you also want to avoid both those who are all too traditional and/or ethnic and growls, the options are even more limited, so stumbling into them felt like a breath of fresh air and I just had to include them right away, even if I just quickly listened to the few English songs that are posted officially while writing the rest of this post. I had plenty of misgivings and caveats about the other two bands included here, but I can easily recommend Waldkauz.

On June 10, Liza woke me by meowing at 8:20 AM, and since dad had said that he won’t be able to go to Penny and get the second 150 RON voucher that I had won, from the same store, until at least three days later, so on the last day of the sale that included that special large pack of food for Liza, when the chances of still finding any would be low, I had decided to try to go in the morning, hoping to find different employees and not be recognized as a previous winner. Not that the regulations mentioned anything about not being allowed to win more than once, and I still had to give my name, so they could easily see that I was already on the list of winners from that store, but I’d feel less awkward about it… So I actually ate lunch, despite the fact that it was so early, and left just after 10:20 AM, taking the mask and the headphones but not wearing either. On the other hand, despite thinking about taking that large “shopping backpack”, since I had finally sewed that strap, or at least some sturdy bags, I decided against it… Which was an awful call.
After reaching the store, I grabbed a catalog and checked the machine, but the latest winning receipt number wasn’t listed, so I knew that I’ll have to point out that I had seen it on-line. Then I looked for those packs of cat food, but I didn’t see them, and when I checked the catalog I saw that it specified that they weren’t available in that location, nor in any of the others that I’d normally go to, except the one that’s next to that Kaufland. But I still had to get the voucher from there, so I looked for an employee and told her that I had seen on-line that I had won, and she took the receipt and said that she’ll get back to me, doing so after a little while and telling me to wait, which I did until the guy who I guess was the manager on that shift came, so I had managed to avoid talking to the same person. And he just told me to write my name on one of the forms and sign it, saying that I could just take the other one, unfilled, if I wanted to. So I did, and then he handed me the voucher and I said that I had seen that the validity had gotten extended, which he confirmed, and it obviously had to be done, since the date written on it was still June 1 but I had only received it then. And I walked out without buying anything, though I did check the expiring products, noticing that they had changed the discount from 30% to 40%. That didn’t last long, but it was in effect that day and I also noticed some roes among those expiring products, so I hid them, meaning to return if I won’t find something better elsewhere.
After putting on the headphones, I continued to the Penny that’s next to Auchan, finding plenty of those packs of cat food and taking five, which were too heavy for my flimsy bags even on their own, so I had to give in and use one of those large baskets with wheels. And then I found one last box of those caramelized walnuts, on top of the piles of walnuts with chili or Himalayan salt. I couldn’t find the price label at that point, however, so I went to a price checker, then saw the price label as well when I got back there, looking for more caramelized walnuts but not finding any. So I moved on, getting the other things I meant to get and taking my time to select some garlic, calculating how much to get in order to get to a total that was just over the required 160 RON, allowing for a small difference between the weight I saw when I checked and the one I’ll be charged for, since they weigh those products at checkout in Penny.
The problems started when I got to the checkout, since those walnuts didn’t scan, and the code wasn’t recognized when the cashier entered it manually either. So I said that they were recognized when I used the price checker and the cashier asked a coworker to bring her the price label, which she did after I told here where to find it, since at first she said that she didn’t know where to look. But that didn’t work either, so the cashier said that I couldn’t buy them, which meant that I was under the required total. But then the cashier saw the date listed on the voucher and said that she wasn’t sure that it was still valid anyway, so I told her that the period got extended but a total of 160 RON was required. However, she said that it said 150 RON on it, so it should work. But 150 RON was the value of the voucher, not the required amount, and it obviously didn’t work when she tried to use it, yet she said that it was because it had expired, so I again said that a total of 160 RON was required and she told me to find something costing 5 RON to add, since the listed total was just over 155 RON. But that wasn’t actually correct, since a discount only applied at the end, and it should have been obvious that more was needed, since those walnuts cost more than that, but my mind wasn’t really working anymore and I ended up rushing to grab another product that I had considered getting but had given up on. But, while that was more than 5 RON, it was less than those walnuts had been, so the voucher obviously still didn’t work, yet neither of us realized that the total was in fact still below 160 RON, so the cashier just repeated that the voucher was expired and I said that I needed to talk to someone about it.
What I meant was that I was going to send a message on-line, so I left the products there and stepped away, but the cashier called after me and asked if I didn’t want my bags back, and when I turned back and grabbed them, another employee came, and a guard was also called to do something to the canceled receipt, at which point I assumed that the employee who had just arrived was a manager and I asked him about the situation, he checked, then asked for the canceled receipt, and then stated the obvious, that the problem was that the total was under 160 RON, pointing that out to the cashier as well, who said that she hadn’t noticed. So he opened another checkout and tried again, and I said that I had calculated the total with those walnuts, but when he took them the cashier told him that they won’t scan, and they still didn’t, and I still didn’t think to ask whether they could just enter that amount manually, or scan some other product with the same or a very close price, and I later realized that something like that could have been achieved even with some of the other products that I was buying, but I obviously couldn’t think of that then. So he told me how much was still needed and I dashed back in to grab something else and finally get over that required amount, though I misunderstood the total, thinking that it was 0.10 RON less, and I even asked whether what I had given was right and he confirmed, so I only later noticed that I had paid that little bit less. But it was disappointing that, after using both of those vouchers that I had won almost entirely for purchases that weren’t for myself, I couldn’t get just the one thing that I had wanted to get as a “reward” for myself.
I tried to put some of the purchases in the backpack before walking away from that checkout, since it didn’t stay open, so I wasn’t holding anyone up, but I realized that I had no chance, so I dragged everything to the cabinets, arranged a little more in front of them, then moved aside to allow people to use the cabinets and continued until everything seemed sort of arranged. However, with one box of cat food in a really flimsy bag and two more of those boxes and a bottle of vinegar in one that was only somewhat sturdier, and with the corners of those boxes already tearing the bags, things didn’t look good. And yet, instead of just trying to make my way back with what I had, I decided to go to Auchan as well, since I was there… Only to end up walking away from Penny instead of turning around right away and entering that shopping center through the back entrance. And then I somehow walked right past the entrance to the parking lot as well, without realizing it, and found myself at the intersection. But I still wanted to go there, even if at that point it meant going around, because I was thinking that I might also get bread for dad, and possibly look for some other “reward” for myself, instead of those caramelized walnuts.
When I got there, the guard post from that entrance was unmanned, but there was a guard in that area, so I asked him if I could leave my things somewhere, but he looked at me oddly and told me to go in and talk to someone from the store, so I guess that he wasn’t one of Auchan’s guards. So I just went in with everything… And found that the price of that bread that I was getting for dad had increased slightly, returning to what it had been before they had reduced it slightly, to match what was the price of the similar bread from Carrefour Orhideea at that point. So I didn’t get bread, and didn’t find anything to “reward” myself with either. I ate one of the tiny pie samples that were there, since I still didn’t have the mask on at that point, but even that seemed quite dry. I finally put on the mask some time after that, as I was looking around, and also found a way to squeeze the bottle of vinegar in the backpack, since that was something that could have also been bought from Auchan. Then, since it was clear that I won’t find anything else, I took some of those corn puffs with powdered milk, plus four bottles of water for dad.
After using the self-checkout, I took quite some time to try to figure out how to carry everything, those bottles obviously making the problem much worse. I had nothing to put them in, so I tried to use their own packaging, but I had torn it in order to remove the other two from the pack, so it was difficult, but I figured something out… Or I sort of did, since just as I was at the gate, about to return to the street, I stopped to try to rearrange some things and eventually tied that packaging. But it was slipping and the bags were strained, it was clear that they won’t last, and when I picked them back up after setting them down for a moment when I was almost back at that other Penny, the one bag that was better tore. So I found a way to tie it, struggled to carry everything to the store and put what I could in a cabinet, then bought two of those expiring roes and walked away, without retrieving what I had in the cabinet at that point.
I wondered whether to get back here and then just return there or check Carrefour as well, and if so when, and decided to go to Carrefour first, putting the contents of the backpack and those roes in a cabinet when I got there. But I didn’t find anything to get, so I eventually just made my way back to that Penny, leaving my things in that cabinet and taking a pretty large paper bag from a restaurant that I found in a garbage bin on the way, since it looked undamaged and clean, with the exception of two chewing gums which I picked off with leaves. And when I returned to that Penny and retrieved what I had in the cabinet, the guard and another guy were there and talking, so I felt the need to explain that I had left those things there because two bags had torn, since one flimsy one was also quite torn. Then I put two packs of cat food in that paper bag and the last one and those corn puffs in the two flimsy bags, one inside the other, hoping that they’ll at least hold that much. And, as I was making my way back, at one point I stopped to try to pick some fruit, climbing to stand on a bench, but there were few left that were in easy reach and I didn’t try to get any of the others, so I just put those in a little bag and threw it in the paper bag, on top of the packs… Only to somehow lose it at some later point. And a little later I saw that the boxes were starting to cut through that paper bag, so I was careful to prevent further damage.
When I got back to Carrefour, I retrieved what I had in that cabinet as well and took my time to arrange everything. There would have been better ways to do it, putting more weight in the backpack, but I just did what I could think of at the time, and it was a real struggle to get back like that and I kept needing to stop. And the packaging of the water was also getting strained, so after a while I had to be careful with that as well, and when, at one point, I once again stopped to try to pick some fruit while giving my hands a bit of a rest, the water fell out of that packaging and one or two bottles got a little dirty, falling into fallen fruit. But I managed to get the bottles back in the packaging and continued, giving up on the fruit, also because a man was staring at me.
I was finally back just after 6 PM, with 26.5 kg, but needing to carry everything the way I did made things even worse than the weight itself. Still, I dumped the paper into that paper bag, cleaned the litter box, and went back out to throw what I had gathered from the litter box down the chute and then walk to the recycling bin and drop the paper in it. Then I put the other things in their place, but left the water and the cat food in the kitchen, took a bath, and managed to write that day’s post. I didn’t even munch on anything until after that, after 10 PM, when I ate those few little fruits picked the previous day, and later an entire bag of bagels. I also took a pill before starting to make dinner, just in case. And, after putting the cat food where dad had suggested, since he only took the water, I also looked through some things that he said that mother had asked me to look through, taking out some for him to take there. And I did a few other things as well, ending up eating dinner between 3:25 AM and 3:55 AM.

On June 12, I left at 3:25 PM, with 15 plastic bottles in the large “shopping backpack” and a bag of trash, dropping the bag in a bin after exiting the building. I had dad’s metro card, so I took the metro to Basarab, putting the bottles in the recycling machine from Kaufland, remembering to stop after each five, so I got three raffle tickets, and later I used them to enter under dad’s name. I didn’t think that there was any real chance of winning anything, and the prizes weren’t interesting anyway, but we had piles of bottles and dad kept using and leaving more… And we actually did end up winning something, though having the entry validated took some effort. But that’s a story for another time, so I’ll get back to that day and say that I then checked that confectionery and saw that they once again had that meringue cake, and the price was the same. But I left it for later and entered Kaufland, just getting the smallest package of the olives that were on sale from the area where those products that are already packaged are, though the quantity was still more than I’d have liked.
After throwing those olives in the “shopping backpack”, continuing to Carrefour and washing my hands, I entered the store with that backpack and got bread for myself and for dad, ending up getting too much because I eventually decided to also take a large one of another kind for myself, since it was on sale, on top of the one that I’d normally get from there. And then I stopped at a table from the food area and moved dad’s bread in another bag, leaving mine in the one that hangs from my neck, before making my way back to Kaufland and putting the bags in a cabinet, though I still entered with the backpack, even if those olives were in it.
I was looking for toilet paper, since we were almost out and I hadn’t wanted to carry it around, and I had meant to get back and buy one of those cakes anyway. However, the listed price for the packs of eight had increased, so I scanned one to make sure… And was surprised to see that they were actually discounted, even if that wasn’t listed anywhere! So what I still had allowed me to get two packs, plus an expiring nicer yogurt that I had spotted the first time around and which was still there, and still leave me with enough for the cake. But when I then went to the confectionery, nobody was there. So, after waiting a little, I tried to look, spotting someone through the door that’s on the side. She might have been on the phone, but what I clearly know is that she was leaning forward and definitely not looking in my direction, and I was running late. I should have at least retrieved my things from the cabinet at that point and put the toilet paper in the backpack, but my mind just got stuck on wondering how to get her attention. I eventually sort of tapped on the glass, and while it didn’t work right away, after a while she did look. I’m not sure that it was because she heard the tapping, but at least she finally walked over and I could buy the cake, though she didn’t give me a receipt. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged the purchases, the fact that I should have really done that instead of waiting becoming even more obvious when the metro was in the station when I got there, and in order to actually reach it I had to get to the stairs, go up and then back down on the other side, so I ended up waiting for the next one and losing eight minutes. And, while I had a mask with me, I never put it on, not even while I was on that crowded metro.
I got back just before 6:10 PM, ate the cake, put the few other purchases in their place, and left again at 7:35 PM, still having that mask and still not putting it on. I passed through the farmers’ market, but few sellers were left at that hour, and while I saw a handful of spoiling apples that had a price label, being really cheap, and another pile that was next to them, of apples that were small and didn’t look too good but didn’t seem to actually be spoiling, this second pile had no price label, there was nobody at that stand anymore, and I couldn’t get myself to ask anyone else about it. So I moved on, had a quick look in that Mega Image as well, then went to Supeco and just got three beets. The price had increased a little bit, to match what had happened at Carrefour the week before. but it was still much lower than at Mega Image and I hadn’t seen any in Kaufland or Auchan at all those days. Either way, I threw those beets in the large backpack, entered Carrefour with it, and just got two beers for dad, obviously without being asked for my ID, unlike that one time. And, after adding the beers in the backpack, I continued to that Kaufland that was newer at the time, though I also stopped at that Penny first, entering with the backpack and then just walking out, so I only wasted some time, and it was already late.
After taking the purchases out of the backpack, putting them in a cabinet, and going to the toilet, it was past 9:10 PM, maybe closer to 9:15 PM, when I entered Kaufland, and the bakery area was almost cleared, and a guy took the handful of regular buns that were left while I grabbed a bag, so I just took one of the two regular small baguettes that were left, to at least have something, the discount being 75%. But there was an evening discount for green onions that at least brought the price down to something reasonable, and while most of the bundles were small and had a good part of the tops cut off, there were also a handful of large bundles that were still intact, and I took the biggest one. And all of the bags of lemons were at half price, so I grabbed one of those as well, along with two small yogurts. But the self-checkout didn’t recognize the green onions as the correct product, so I had to call an employee to override the error, then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and rushed out while I could still use the main doors. Then I placed the purchases on one of those tables and arranged them, walking away at 10 PM.
I then continued to Auchan as well, entering with everything and seeing that the 50% discount that applied to those pretty nice sweet things on Mondays if you used the store card still applied, so I took the lightest box out of the three small ones that were left, plus a pack of water for dad. While I was using the self-checkout, an employee closed the next one and when another customer asked for any that also accepted cash she said that there were no more of those there and he’ll have to use the manned ones, so I said that the one that I was using accepted cash, but she said that she was just waiting for me to finish in order to close that one as well. So I also used the amount that was already on the store card, then moved aside, retrieved a few coins that were on and around the other checkout, and meant to stay there and rearrange the purchases, to put the water in the large backpack and possibly use the checkout to get it back on, but that employee stared at me as I took those coins and told me to use that receipt before it expired or I won’t be able to leave. I said that I was trying to figure out how to carry the purchases, she said that there was a cart nearby, and I said that I was going to put them in the backpack after I walked out, so I just put the bag over the pack of water, lifted the whole thing and walked out of the checkout area like that. Then I set everything back down, rearranged the purchases, and walked away at 10:55 PM, though I still had to use the emergency exit, since the guard was just locking the door. And the backpack was digging into my lower back and tailbone on the way back, so at one point I stopped on a bench and tied the straps around my abdomen. That didn’t really help, and actually made one of my ribs hurt as well, but I managed…
It was past 11:40 PM when I got back, with 18.5 kg. And those straps were really hard to untie after I had tied them in a knot, but I eventually managed it, then just ate an orange, put some of the purchases in their place, exchanged a few words with dad, and went to the bathroom at 12:35 AM, just wasting time on the toilet before washing. I was done at 1:25 AM, then I washed and cleaned what was in the kitchen, and started eating lunch when it was past 2:10 AM, taking bites now and then. I also dealt with one of my breads and sliced one of dad’s, only finishing lunch at 3:15 AM, and I once again took a pill, just in case. I ate dinner between 4:10 AM and 4:45 AM, and got in bed at 5:30 AM.

The next day I cleaned my room for the first time since late February, not counting that time from early May when I just partially vacuumed, and at night I also changed the sheets and turned over the mattress… And I also found out why I hadn’t used that sheet that had been unused for a very long time, and which I had washed a while back: It’s too short for this bed, so I still had to resort to the other one that I regularly used, but since I removed the blanket, I kept that one as well, to cover myself with it, and I also used one of the pillowcases from that set. It seemed rather stained on one side, but I put that side on the bottom.

In the early hours of June 19, after washing and cleaning in the kitchen after dad had cooked, I started eating dinner at 3:05 AM, but still finished at 3:40 AM. Then, when I flossed, something white and hard came out from the spot where work was done, and I did feel something on the side of that tooth ever since that work was done, and that was gone after that, but it probably wasn’t the actual filling, since that tooth would have been hurting since then in that case. Either way, I got in bed at 5:25 AM… And at some point someone started drilling, but I was so exhausted after the runs and wandering around that I probably continued to sleep for a while, obviously badly, since I remember the noise entering my dreams. It was probably around 12:30 PM, roughly, when I did wake up, though I only checked the time when I finally got up, after I gave up trying to get back to sleep, and it was 12:54 PM at that point.
After realizing that I didn’t have my cap on when I first walked out and returning for it, it was 3:15 PM when I actually left, with ten plastic bottles in the “shopping backpack”, plus a can that I threw in the recycling bin at the metro station, since I had dad’s card and used the metro to go to Obor. I once again just carried a mask around, without putting it on. And at the metro station I realized that I had forgotten the store cards, but only the one from Penny would have been required in order to get a discount on some bagels, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to get a bag anyway, so that made things simpler.
I wanted to look for cat litter at that place from Obor Hall, but the Hall was once again closed for cleaning. Then I had a look at those places that are between the Hall and the farmers’ market and saw cutting boards that seemed to be like what dad had asked me to look for, but I didn’t get one at that point, continuing to the farmers’ market, looking all around, and only finding cabbage that still had the price that it had almost everywhere the previous time I had been there outside, at traders. However, a few of those who were selling inside had no price labels for it, so when I went back in I asked and one did say that it was at that price, so I made a gesture to indicate that I’ll return, finished looking around and then did so, getting two… And being given a bag even though I had mine in hand. I said that I didn’t need it, but the person who was there said that she’s too used to give them, so I then moved the cabbages into my bag and used that one for the apples, since I got more of those spoiling but cheap ones from the same person as the previous time, the others asking at least three times as much even for those that looked bad. And then, while I went back to the place where I had seen those cutting boards, I couldn’t buy any because it had started raining and that place is outside, so the person who was there had gathered everything made of wood and was rushing to also gather the rest, closing up and actually just telling someone that she was rushing to close because of the rain, even if it was only 4:10 PM and the place was supposed to be open until 5 PM.
After continuing to that mall and having a quick look in that bookstore, I put my things in a large cabinet, entered Carrefour, and got a few expiring products and the one bag of cucumbers that was among the spoiling products even though the cucumbers seemed just fine, with the exception of one that was snapped. I obviously didn’t charge myself for the bag at the self-checkout, but I also didn’t use the vouchers that I had, for previous purchases, only realizing that I had pulled them out but didn’t use them after paying with cash. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged everything, and found that it wasn’t raining anymore when I walked back out.
When I put those bottles in the recycling machine from Kaufland, I also explained to an old woman who was there how it worked and what the discount receipt was for, but my attempts to make the machine accept those beer bottles that usually cause problems met with no success, and when I eventually just threw one of them in, I just lost it, since the machine didn’t count it. So I just put in five of the other bottles, then looked around for two more, to have five more that would be accepted, but the area seemed to have been cleaned and the garbage cans emptied, so I put everything in a cabinet but then I walked out again and went to Penny, and while I didn’t find what I wanted for myself, I did find one last piece of something that I got for dad, even if it looked a little strange, plus the coffee for my mother and an expiring piece of cheese, since the price ended up being the same as that kind of cheese should have had at Kaufland starting two days later. And I also picked up two plastic bottles from that area, before returning to Kaufland, retrieving the backpack with the remaining bottles from the cabinet, putting the new purchases in that cabinet, and using the recycling machine again… And, after putting in those two found bottles and my remaining three “good” ones, I tried the remaining beer bottle once again… And it was immediately accepted and counted, though it was basically also wasted, being the sixth. Either way, another woman was there at the time and asking about glass, and I was uncertain about that, so I read what’s written on the machine and saw that glass bottles should be accepted, but she said that she had jars and I didn’t see anything that clearly specified whether those would be accepted or not, so I told her to just try, and while she initially said that she was worried about breaking the machine, she did seem to mean to try when I walked away.
After finally entering Kaufland, there didn’t seem to be anything interesting to get, but I heard an announcement about discounts of 50% for some products from the self-serve glass, and I had no idea what or where that was, so I looked around for a while… And ended up noticing that the cheese that was supposed to be on sale starting two days from then actually had an even lower price just then! So I shouldn’t have bought that expiring one from Penny, and I couldn’t get much more after buying that, but I couldn’t completely ignore that good price either, so I asked for the smallest piece. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged everything, and wondered which other Penny to go to, since I still wanted what I hadn’t found at that location.
The fact that I just missed the metro when I got back to the station helped with the decision, since I had no time to go to one of the farther locations, so I eventually decided to go to the one from Decebal, putting my things in a cabinet when I got there and grabbing what I wanted for myself and another one of those products for dad. But that location’s small, there’s little room to move, and an employee kept cleaning, driving around in that machine, so I had to keep moving aside for him and there were other people there as well, we couldn’t find room to squeeze around each other, and I was starting to panic. So I tried to block out the panic attack and push through by switching to anger, but my brain had pretty much disconnected, so I somehow miscalculated the total and when I went to the checkout I gave an amount of money that I thought would result in an amount of change that would be easier for the cashier to give, but what I gave also happened to be the full price of the products, both of which had a discount at the time, so the cashier probably thought that I meant to pay the full price at first and told me that there was a discount, I thought that the discounted prices were lower than they actually were and said that I knew about the discount and should be paying less, she asked how could the price be what I said when the system listed something else… Maybe she misunderstood, maybe I did, but I only knew anger and panic at that point and was determined to hold off the panic attack, so I got even angrier, said that I’ll show her what was listed at the shelf, grabbed my money back from her, left the products there, and rushed back… Only to see that she was right.
Well, that’s when things got really messed up, because I sheepishly made my way back to the checkout, couldn’t find my products there anymore, and a moment later they were handed to me by the woman who had been ahead in line but had allowed first the person who was ahead of me and then me ahead of her because she had called someone to ask what cigarettes to buy and didn’t seem to get a useful answer. And she said that she “got” those products when she handed them to me, so I assumed that she had picked them up from the counter, snatched them from her hand and meant to get back to the checkout, yet when I saw the line that had formed I rushed back in the store. I couldn’t say why I did that, but I probably looked absolutely furious… And when I got back to where those products were and had another look, I ended up standing right next to that woman, who had also returned in the store by then, and didn’t even acknowledge her… Which made it all the more embarrassing when I finally went back to the checkout, with the same products, told the cashier that she was right, got told that the products were already paid for, reminded her that I had taken my money back… And got told that the woman in question had paid for them, the cashier also pointing out that she had even told me that she “got” them when she handed them back to me. And then she kept repeating that it seemed that I couldn’t understand Romanian, and kept calling me “boy”…
When I finally realized what had happened, I just froze in shock, ending up just standing there while the cashier kept snapping at me. When I might have been able to move again, I wondered whether that woman was still there, to pay her back, and tried to have a look, but the cashier told me to not get back in with those products and I froze again, unable to say or do anything. When she realized that she was talking to nobody, she told the guard to not let me back in, again saying that it seemed that I didn’t understand Romanian, so I had a guard stand in front of me and the other next to me while I was just staring at nothing and choking on tears, until I eventually managed to somehow retrieve my things from the cabinet and shuffle out. One guard came after me, but I just froze again and he didn’t say or do anything, so both of us simply stood there until I somehow managed to shuffle away. I just had to keep telling myself that I had to get back in time to give dad his metro card back, somehow forcing myself to shuffle along, step after step. I was probably moving like a zombie, and still pretty much staring at nothing, and my mouth was probably open as well, and at some point I realized that I was drooling… And it took me 45 minutes to get back from there, though it should normally take 20 minutes. I might have stopped for a couple of minutes at some point, but I don’t really know.
It was a few minutes after 8:30 PM when I got back, with 12 kg and still in shock. Dad was getting ready to leave, so I wordlessly cleaned the litter box, putting what I scooped up in the bag of trash that he should have taken out, and then I noticed that he had moved something in the kitchen and that messed me up even more. He was still here when I sat down to take off my shoes and ended up freezing there and starting to whimper, but he just asked whether I was tired as he walked out, leaving without another word when I just shook my head. And he didn’t even take that bag, so I went to throw it down the chute after I recovered a little. Then I put the things that had to be refrigerated, with the exception of the eggs, in the fridge, tried to rearrange what dad had moved, and went to shower. Then I once again rearranged what he had moved, put more things in their place, and had lunch, with the rest of the bag of bagels opened two days earlier instead of bread. I initially couldn’t get myself to go back to the kitchen at night, eventually managing to do so at or maybe a little after 1:15 AM, at which point I put the remaining things in the fridge and also sliced the ends of dad’s bread and put it in the freezer, washed and cleaned what he had left in the kitchen, and had dinner between 3:15 AM and 3:50 AM. I got in bed at 5:40 AM, after quickly installing Matomo Analytics.

On June 27, I woke up with a start when someone was at the door, apparently to offer a new contract from the power company, and my back started hurting after that. Fortunately, it didn’t last, and I did mean to try to go out, so I even did the day’s squats and left at 4:50 PM, going to Mega Mall, without a mask. I first checked that sports store, but I didn’t ask about anything even though I probably should have. Then I entered Carrefour, finding something to get and also seeing that garlic had a discount if you used their app, so I weighed some and added a little more in the bag after printing the label, calculating the weight so I’ll end up paying very close to what I’d have paid if I’d have used the app. And I finally remembered to use the vouchers that I had at the self-checkout. Then, after having a quick look at something in another store, I continued to Kaufland, put the purchases in a cabinet, and found two expiring breads that I could get for dad, though I only bought one, since I knew that there’d have been no room for more in the freezer. I also took a box of expiring quail eggs, plus a small red cabbage for myself. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, and before getting back I also had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image, putting my things in a cabinet even though it didn’t lock and then just retrieving them and walking away, getting back just after 7:05 PM… Only to leave again about ten minutes later, after dropping off the purchases, putting the eggs in the fridge, and rushing back in for a moment to check what matches were on at the time after initially walking out without having done so.
I went straight to the other Kaufland and saw that the red cabbage looked better there, but I already had that small one and didn’t get more. What I did get was a bag of potatoes, since those already had an evening discount. It’s possible that the discount would have increased later, but I couldn’t wait. And I also took a bag of heavily discounted lemons that were not really moldy, though it’d be more accurate to say that I put together such a bag, since it was torn and lemons were scattered in the crate, so I put those in it and then checked the weight, seeing that it was actually still a little under what it should have been. Then, on the way back, after having a very quick look in another store and then also checking the Mega Image that’s next to the farmers’ market, entering with everything in both cases, I also entered Supeco, once again with everything, and bought some beets and some cornmeal that I happened to see there. I had prepared the exact amount when I got to the checkout, but then I couldn’t hold everything, and when I tried I dropped all but one coin, so I set everything down, probably to the amusement of the cashiers, put the beets in a small bag and recovered the fallen coins, with the probable exception of one, but that was just a 0.01 RON one. And it was a little before 9:20 PM when I got back, though I then cleaned the litter box and went to throw a bag of trash down the chute.

Since I had to post the week’s first post today and wouldn’t have been able to finish this before midnight, I included the part about June 27, since it’s much shorter, in the initial form of the post, but left out the part about June 19, which would be the main reason why I ended up writing these odds and ends posts after all, so I edited the post in order to also add that part Tuesday evening. So at least I finally posted the reason why I ended up wanting to spend a certain amount, a little more than what that woman had paid for my purchases, on products that I then gave to homeless people, only finally completing that “process” at the end of the year, on December 28, since I only looked for certain products when they were deeply discounted, to stretch that amount as much as possible, and also tried to give to different homeless people.