After going to the kitchen a few minutes late, slicing two of dad’s breads, finishing cleaning and washing after him in the kitchen, with cold water, since we had no hot water those days, and then making too much salad and using parts of a cabbage that made it take even longer, in the early hours of October 17 I ended up eating dinner between 4:05 AM and 4:55 AM and getting in bed at 5:45 AM. Then, after getting up, I had lunch and left at 4:25 PM. I thought that it was the first day when Carrefour’s campaign was taking place in a location from Bucharest, at Baneasa, and I had 32 plastic bottles split between the large backpack and a bag, having taken 20 that should be easily accepted, eight of those granting two products, two that I wanted to check whether they’ll be accepted, and two more that I just threw in there after the rest. And I had the metro card and also realized that it was much better to get off at Aurel Vlaicu, so I only had to walk half the distance, but still picked up one more of those bottles that granted two products on the way to the metro station and another one after getting off.
I know that I was in that mall’s parking lot when I checked the time and saw 5:53 PM, but I was wondering whether the place where I had to give the bottles was outside, so I looked around and at least a couple more minutes, if not a little more than that, passed before I entered. Then I found that place, inside the store, just next to the entrance, had a look and decided that I was going to give eight of those bottles, thinking that each two products that I’ll get in exchange for one of those will count as a single product, as it was before, so I could get eight products from two of the categories. However, after giving the 20 bottles that I was allowed to give in one day, including those eight and not including either of those that I wanted to try, since the machine didn’t accept them, the girl who was there being surprised in case of the beer bottle, I was told that I could get 28 products, but from at least seven categories, so the limit of four of one kind still applied, only the total increasing. But that wasn’t a problem, and I got four Golden apples, weighing 727 grams, four apples of some other kind, possibly Jonaprince, weighing 651 grams, four Kapia peppers, weighing 518 grams, four eggplants, weighing 1.162 kg, four tomatoes, weighing 859 grams, four red onions, weighing 248 grams, and four kohlrabies, weighing 792 grams, and I also entered the raffle… But then I was told that the following day was the last one at that location, the first having been the previous one, and also that the next location will be Colentina, which should have been the last one, in late November. And on top of checking the regulations the previous evening, so after the campaign had already started at Baneasa, and seeing no change, I had also sent a message to Carrefour’s Facebook page to ask whether there were any changes and was pointed to the regulations and told that there was no indication that there were going to be any!
I was quite confused at that point, and if what I had just been told was true, it meant that I had lost one day, but there was nothing that I could do about it then, so I put my things in a cabinet and entered the store again, having a look, taking pictures in order to get the prices for what I received and try to identify the apples, and just getting an expiring mix of fruits. Then I washed my hands, took my mask partially off, washed my face a little as well, went to sit at one of the tables that are outside of that mall and ate that mix. Then I put my mask back on, returned inside and peed, the janitor opening the door while I was in the stall, though she then waited outside of the bathroom even while I washed my hands. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet and arranged everything, walking out just after 7:35 PM and grabbing two more of those bottles after getting off the metro at this station.
I got back at almost 9:15 PM and set the water to boil, but when I saw that it seemed to start boiling sooner than I expected, I turned off the stove and went to the toilet, then turned it back on and also warmed the tea. One pot took longer to start boiling, but after I poured the other two in the bathtub, I refilled them and, while I was waiting for them to start boiling again, I ate a part of the cake sent by my mother. Then, after washing, I ate a bag of snacks while spending a little time on the computer, then I got the plastic bottles that I was going to take the next day ready. I initially planned to also take the glass bottles that weren’t going to be accepted in this campaign to a recycling center that I was going to pass by, since I thought that I was going to have to walk all the way, but after gathering all of them, I changed my mind. Then I weighed what I received and put those products in their place, struggling to find room, did the day’s squats, sliced three more of dad’s breads and struggled to make them fit in the freezer, also took another Paracetamol, just in case, and decided to start taking the plain vitamin C that I still had, and finally ate dinner between 4 AM and 4:45 AM. I got in bed at 5:35 AM, after dad got back and we exchanged a few words.
It was a little before 9 AM when I was woken up by noise from outside, the work on the building having apparently really started, the roof getting scraped and everything sliding down a chute that hung all the way down and ending up right under my window. I tried to curl in a ball and cover my ears and did manage to get some more sleep, but in the form of brief and agitated naps, with messed up dreams. And I was startled once again when I heard dad put his key in the door, so I checked the time, saw 12:54 PM, and rushed to ask him something, at which point he also said that he planned to be back by 5 PM, in which case he could leave me the metro card again. I had to know ahead of time, however, seeing as, if he was going to be late and I’ll have to walk, I was going to have to leave before 4 PM. But either scenario allowed me to stay in bed a little longer, so I moved the alarm, which was set to ring at 1 PM, to 1:30 PM. There was no way to get back to sleep, however, and when I checked the time again and saw 1:19 PM, I turned off the alarm, got up, opened the window… And had to close it again after a little while, since my room was filling with dust. I opened it again after they seemed to have finished with that mess.
I had asked Carrefour for the correct, updated schedule for Bucharest by e-mail as well, specifying what had happened and the conflicting information I had received and asking for the answer to actually be written in the reply, not sent as a link, but the reply just pointed me to the regulations, not even mentioning the other file which had appeared, which stated that the campaign had indeed started at Baneasa on October 16, but would still remain there until October 19, and that everything else remained unchanged. And when I asked again, I was asked where had I found that additional file and for a phone number, so I pointed them to that file, but said that I wanted an answer that I could show to those who are there and I couldn’t do that with a phone conversation. On the other hand, on Facebook, where I had also explained what had happened, the guy at least admitted that the campaign had started earlier at Baneasa, but seemed to know nothing more than what was written in that new file, asking who had told me about any other changes. And, of course, dad also forgot to call, so I beeped him off the landline when I was about to leave and he called back and said that he was on his way back, so I had time to also have lunch after all, and then left, with the metro card, at 4:40 PM. I once again had 32 bottles, which included eight that granted two products, including the four found the previous day, and the ten other good ones which I had also brought back the previous day, obviously leaving behind those two that weren’t going to be accepted.
Despite taking the metro and therefore once again only walking half the distance, I found four more of those bottles, and all of them towards the end, the first when I was approaching that mall, the second in its parking lot, and two more right at the top of a garbage can that I passed by just before entering, so somebody hadn’t bothered to take a few steps and exchange them for four fruits or vegetables. I entered Carrefour at 6:10 PM and asked for clarification, also showing what was listed in that new file, and a guy who was there asked me to show him where I had found it, handing me his phone, and they were quite baffled when they saw it with their own eyes, saying that somebody would have told them if it was true. So, while that guy seemed to be discussing it with someone else, I gave the 20 bottles, but only including the four that granted two products which I had found, since there weren’t more categories that I was interested in, and I got four Golden apples, weighing 745 grams, four apples of another kind, I’m not really sure what, maybe Idared, but other possibilities are Jonaprince or even Jonathan, weighing 702 grams, four Kapia peppers, weighing 366 grams, four Bianca peppers, weighing 360 grams, four squashes, weighing 1.332 kg, and four tomatoes, weighing 911 grams. Then I wandered around the store for a while, once again taking pictures of prices and apples, actually having the new camera with me that day, but I didn’t find anything to buy. And that guy was there when I was about to leave, but by the time I worked up the courage to go and ask whether they had learned anything new, he had left, so I wasted a little more time, but when he still hadn’t returned, I asked one of the girls and she said that their information was correct, not what it said in that file, so that was the last day in that location, while between October 20 and 22 it’ll be at Colentina and Colosseum, in parallel.
I walked out just after 7:05 PM, but got off the metro at Obor and went to Auchan, since 25% of the price of canned products and spices was returned on the store card those days, up to a maximum of 12 products per card. And I entered with the backpack, where I had everything, since all of the cabinets either were locked or couldn’t be. However, after buying 12 products, I found that only 5% was returned for the cinnamon, which is what’s normally returned for products of their own brand, the additional 25% only being returned for the other products, so I asked about it and the employee, who was the same one who had previously insisted that 2.51 was lower than 2.26, at first kept pointing to the other products and telling me that I had received the 25%, and when I kept insisting that I was asking about the cinnamon, she said that the deal doesn’t have to apply to all of the products. So I went back and took pictures of the announcements that were placed all over that part of the store, and during this time the deal was once again announced through the speakers as well, so I rushed back to her and asked whether she had heard that announcement, and she finally used her headset to tell someone that a customer kept pestering her and won’t go away without an answer, and then told me that the cinnamon in question is listed as a “mirodenie”, not a “condiment”, and I’m using the Romanian terms because both translate to “spice”, the difference being that “mirodenie” refers specifically to plants that add flavor while “condiment” is generic, but may be said to mainly refer to “spicy” things. Either way, it was very cheap, much cheaper than another brand would have been even after deducting the 25%, so I left it as it was at that point and went back to the metro. And I also quickly checked the nearby Mega Image when I got here, putting the bag with the purchases from Auchan in a cabinet that didn’t lock and then retrieving it.
It was close to 9:40 PM when I got back, with 12.5 kg, but quite a few of those were just from Auchan. Then I set the first set of pots to boil, ate a piece of cake from my mother, put a few of the purchases in their place, and got on the toilet after I poured those pots in the bathtub, since dad was here and he brought the second set while I was washing my head over the side of the tub, with cold water. Then, after bathing, I weighed what I had received and put those products in their place, ate some grapes, and had dinner between 3:25 AM and 4:15 AM, during which time I also sent Carrefour another message on Facebook, to explain the situation and once again ask for exact information, and wrote some quick notes about the day. After also doing the day’s squats, I got in bed at 5:25 AM. And I’ll also add here that I checked Auchan’s site and saw that they had four brands of ground cinnamon and, oddly enough, the deal applied to the two that were more expensive, but not to the two cheaper ones, so I also sent a message about it, also complaining about that employee’s attitude and mentioning that it wasn’t the first time I had been on the receiving end of it, and it was weeks later when I received a reply, saying that their deals are always listed in the store, which clearly wasn’t the case then, since we were talking about the same kind of product and the same area of the store where all of those signs were, but also letting me know that the employee in question had been required to repeat her customer service training.
On October 19, when I woke up a little before noon, when dad was in the kitchen, I checked for replies from Carrefour and the e-mail stated that the correct dates were those from the new file, but on Facebook I was told that they’ll check and get back to me, and hadn’t until then, so I sent another message, saying that by then they could just ask someone from Baneasa to have a look and see what’s happening, and after that I did get a reply, saying that what those from Baneasa had told me was indeed correct, so the campaign wasn’t at Baneasa anymore and will move to those two other locations between October 20 and 22, and I was also given all of the other dates, which remained unchanged, along with apologies for the situation. And that update was removed from the site, but while I was told that they’ll upload the correct one soon, some time later the same file was uploaded once again! Either way, after another nap and some more time spent in bed after waking up, I eventually decided to go to Auchan Titan, leaving at 6:55 PM and looking for what I hadn’t found at Obor, since it was the last day when I could get that 25% and I had two products left, since the deal hadn’t applied to the cinnamon.
I initially meant to just walk there and then see whether I’ll have time for anything else and still get back in time to pay the maintenance bill, but once I was out I decided to run to Carrefour first, pulling down the mask after a little while. But that proved to just be a waste of time, so I rushed out and ran to Auchan, taking off the jacket after a while and holding it in my hand until I got there and put it back on. Then, after a quick look at a place that sells socks, I entered Auchan and saw some sweet pastries that were two for the price of one if you used the store card, and the ingredients seemed fine, so I got two of those, and also two whole wheat breads with seeds, since the price was even lower than that of their regular whole wheat bread after it got reduced. Since I recently saw that bread at twice that price, it was probably 50% off that day, though I didn’t see that listed anywhere. Either way, I accidentally dropped one of those breads while looking through them, and the tip was out of the bag and it hit the floor, and I just wiped it and put it back, feeling rather embarrassed. Then I looked for those larger bags of pepper, the site stating that they were in stock at that location, but I couldn’t find any and when I asked an employee he also said that there were none left. So I just got some tarragon for dad, used a self-checkout and ran back, which gave me enough time to check both Penny locations that are on the way, each time throwing the bag in a cabinet but not locking it. I got an expiring hummus from the second location, put it in the jacket’s inside pocket, then removed the jacket before walking out, once again holding it in my hand while I jogged back.
When I entered the building, I wanted to put the jacket back on, thinking that it might make me look a little less disheveled when I went to pay that bill, but as I unwrapped it from my arm, that hummus fell on the floor. But at least it didn’t break and splatter, so I put it in another pocket, paid the bill and got back a few minutes after 9 PM. And the hot water had returned, so I meant to do 200 squats before washing and did them in the bathroom, but I lost count and probably did 210. Either way, I then made mamaliga, with many things in it, including that protein yogurt taken before the marathon, since I wouldn’t have dared to eat it otherwise, after it had been in the heat all day.
On October 20, I got up after the alarm rang, at noon, and left at 2:50 PM, with 28 bottles, as in 20 regular ones, including three small glass ones, and the eight granting two products that I had just carried around two days earlier. Most were small, so they all fit in the large backpack. And I also took the paper, dropping it off in a recycling bin on the way to Mega Mall, since I went there first, putting the backpack in a cabinet, taking a cart and getting the seven bags of cat litter that I meant to get. I could have gotten less, since I had to use the voucher received for the new kitchen TV and seven would have been required for the total to exceed its value if I wouldn’t have gotten anything else, and I grabbed a number of expiring and spoiling products, but I stuck to that original plan, since that cat litter was discounted and those vouchers with 20% of the value were also offered for all pet products those days, so it was the perfect moment to stock up. Then, after retrieving my backpack, I somehow managed to stuff all of the purchases in that cabinet and continued to Colentina, grabbing more of those bottles on the way.
I got there just before 5:25 PM and the same people who had been at Baneasa were there as well, and the girl who gave me the products was particularly nice, so I gave eight of those bottles that granted two products and got four Golden apples, weighing 547 grams, four eggplants, weighing 1.181 kg, four squashes, weighing 1.674 kg, five Bianca peppers, weighing 807 grams, since that girl dropped the fifth one into the bag with a smile, four beets, weighing 2.168 kg, since she picked large ones and actually dug for a particular one and said that she was giving me that one that she particularly liked because she knew me by then, four celery roots, weighing 2.167 kg, and four apples of other kinds, which weighed 825 grams but seemed different, two or three likely being Red Delicious and one or two probably being either Gala or Jonaprince, and I didn’t weigh them separately. And the guy who had asked me to point him to that file had also arrived by the time I was done, and he thanked me for sorting things out and when I told him that they had uploaded the same file instead of a corrected one, he checked the site and saw that they had finally uploaded the correct file by then.
After putting what I had received in a cabinet, which was a little tricky, since the location for this campaign was just in front of the cabinets, some of them being completely blocked and others only accessible by reaching over a table, I entered the store and meant to buy some underwear, since those vouchers were also offered for “men’s textiles” those days and the kind of boxers that I’ve been wearing since shortly after I started running were actually available in that location, which isn’t the case pretty much anywhere else. However, I first bought two of the four, wanting to make sure, and when the receipt came out I saw that it didn’t contain any voucher, so I called over an employee and she told me that “textiles” meant “things like t-shirts” and didn’t include underwear, and when I said that in that case I wanted to return them, she said that they don’t normally accept returns for underwear. But I hadn’t even walked out of the store, and obviously hadn’t tried them on, so I insisted and she told me to go to the information desk and see what will happen. So I set the underwear aside and tried to scan the expiring bread which I had also meant to get… Only for the full price to scan as well, the sticker with the discounted price only partially covering the regular bar code, and I couldn’t get myself to call that employee over yet again, so I just walked away from that self-checkout, leaving the bread but taking all four of those boxers with me even though I had just paid for two. And that obviously caused some confusion at the information desk, when I tried to explain what had happened and handed all of them over along with the receipt that was just for two, but they eventually refunded me for the two that I had paid for and took all four back. Then I retrieved my things, put everything except the bag with the remaining bottles that granted two products in the backpack, used the toilet, and walked out at or just after 6:45 PM.
On the way back to Mega Mall, I quickly checked a Profi and also that Mega Image from Pantelimon, which had reopened by then, just putting the bag with those bottles in a cabinet each time, without locking, and then retrieving it. Then I retrieved the other purchases and two of the bags of cat litter from the cabinet that I had left them in and made my way back, grabbing another one of those bottles on the way and arriving here when it was almost 8:50 PM, with 25.5 kg, though 12.5 of them were only from Mega Mall. Then I dropped everything off, put the expiring mozzarella and pastries in the fridge, took what I had received out of the backpack, since I needed it as well, and went out again just after 9:05 PM, with a wheeled bag that I had asked dad to leave for me. And I managed to stuff four of the remaining five bags of cat litter into that wheeled bag, then I put it in another cabinet, leaving the last bag in the first one, and grabbed a few more expiring products, one of them even adding a small voucher on the receipt. Then I retrieved everything and made my way back once again.
I was back for good at 10:25 PM, with just 8 kg on me but pulling 23 kg, though that was easy. Then I tried to move the cable box to the kitchen TV, to be able to watch the qualifying for the race there, since the station broadcasting it is not available on analog… Only for dad, who was taking a bath, to call me to help, because he had flooded the bathroom once again! It wasn’t nearly as bad as the first time and he claimed that he hadn’t fallen asleep again, but that he was rubbing his legs and hadn’t noticed the water level, even though the water would have had to keep flowing for quite a few minutes after reaching what would clearly be a “danger” level before so much of it would have ended up on the floor. Either way, I rushed to mop up as well as I could, then washed the slippers, once again needing to resort to using the old ones, threw the yogurt in the fridge, and decided to take my shower before qualifying, though I first arranged a little more in the bathroom and finished just when Q1 was ending. Then I put the remaining purchases in their place and just split what I had received into two bags, one for what we were going to keep and one for what should be taken to my mother, leaving weighing for another time. I also prepared the bottles for the next day, cleaned and washed what was in the kitchen, ate some of the supposedly spoiling grapes which I had grabbed from Carrefour the first time, finding that they were pretty much flawless, and also that other thing which I had grabbed on the last trip, and had lunch between 3 AM and 3:35 AM, while working on dinner. I ate dinner between 4:20 AM and 4:45 AM and initially got in bed at 5:40 AM, but then I remembered that I wanted to use some hand cream, especially since my right thumb was once again really cracked, so I got back up to do that.
This is how far I got before midnight, but I clearly had to include this first “series” in a single post, so I edited the post Tuesday evening in order to also add the parts about October 21 and 22.
On October 21, I meant to leave later, but when I woke up at 10:15 AM to pee, I decided to get up and get ready, hoping to even be back in time to watch the handball match. So it was just after 12:30 PM when I left, with 30 bottles, ten of them granting two products, and I went straight to Carrefour Colentina, picking up a few more of those bottles on the way, and also spotting a recycling center that’s right on this slightly shorter route to Obor and offers a little more for glass than the one which I had initially meant to take the glass to.
I got there at 2:05 PM, then went to the toilet and put on the mask, since I had taken it with me without putting it on until then. However, after having a look at the available products, I wasn’t even sure that I was interested in six categories, so I was still trying to decide whether to give all the 20 regular bottles or 16 of those and four of those granting two products, and that caused me to lose count, and the machine displayed the number with quite a delay, so I saw 15 and gave one more to the girl, but that was actually the 17th, so I could just give three more of the others, ending up with just three products from the sixth category, which ended up being potatoes. So I got four Golden apples, weighing 622 grams, four beets, weighing 597 grams, four long red onions, weighing 244 grams, four regular onions, weighing 578 grams, three potatoes, weighing 363 grams, and four apples of another kind, weighing 681 grams, but I have no notes about those, so they could have been any of the kinds that I tend to confuse, meaning Idared, Jonathan, Jonaprince or Gala.
After putting everything in the backpack, I went into the store and bought some things, all of them from categories that those vouchers were also offered for those days. I had the impression that there was a single functional self-checkout that also accepted cash and a couple with a full cart was using it, so I waited behind them, but after a while the man told me to go to another one, and when I said that they only accepted cards he said that wasn’t true, so I had another look and saw that he was right, and also found a 0.50 RON coin when I moved to another machine. And I used the 10 RON voucher which I had received for doing their survey as well. On the other hand, I also meant to buy some peanuts, but despite checking on-line before leaving and seeing them clearly listed among the “salty snacks” that those vouchers were offered for, they were unsalted, so I had some doubts, and the employee who was assisting in that area was the same one who had been there the previous day and I didn’t want to end up calling her over for a similar problem once again, so I left them there. Then I took some time to arrange the purchases in a bag, added it in the backpack, and walked out a little after 3:15 PM.
I think I picked up two more of those bottles by the time I got back here, but “managed” to miss something much bigger, since I meant to also check that Profi and somehow just walked past it without realizing it. But I did check the Penny from Obor, just putting the bag with those bottles which I had picked up in a cabinet, buying some things… And ending up paying the exact amount by accident, even though the cashier would have accepted less. I had taken coins out of my pocket, but when I saw the total I wanted to give her another 1 RON bill, leaving just 0.15 RON in coins, yet when she saw the coins she asked whether I wanted to get rid of them and said that if I had 1 RON in coins she’ll take that and it’ll be enough. Well, I didn’t want to get rid of them, but hadn’t planned to be asked to and pretty much froze, just managing to mumble that I thought I had 0.90 RON when she said that she thought I had 1 RON. And she said that 0.90 RON would also be fine, but despite going through the motions that made it appear that I was counting, I just couldn’t, so it was only later, after calming down to some extent, that I realized that I had somehow, completely by accident, given her exactly the 1.15 RON that I should have paid, even though she’d have been willing to accept 0.25 RON less. Either way, when I went to the cabinets the guard also asked to check my backpack, which made me even more anxious, but even though it was obviously full, he said that he didn’t want me to open it, just patting it, and when I said that I had products from Carrefour in it and had the receipt, obviously referring to the purchases, he said that it was fine and moved away. And at that point I realized that I hadn’t taken the receipt for what I had just purchased, but couldn’t get myself to turn around and ask for it.
Between being asked for something I hadn’t prepared for, not knowing how much I had actually paid, not having the receipt to be able to check in case I’ll forget what the total should have been, and the thought that the guard probably suspected me of something, I was pretty much a complete mess at that point and fitting the new purchases into the backpack was a real struggle, so I’m not really sure what I did or how I walked out of there, being pretty much in a daze that only started to gradually clear after crossing the road. So I eventually stopped on some stairs and took my time to check that I actually had everything in the backpack, probably getting in the way of others and looking pretty weird, both while checking and after that, as I struggled to get the heavy backpack back on without having a high enough surface to place it on first.
Even without all of that, it wasn’t certain that I’d have gotten back by 5 PM, when the match started, but all of that lost time and the weight and the heat, that day’s high being 32°C, that didn’t allow me to recover it meant that I was only about to enter the park at that hour. So I decided that I might as well make the little detour to the nearby Mega Image as well, leaving just that bag next to the cabinets, retrieving it on my way out, and getting two more jars of peanut butter, since the discount for the second one made the price per unit even lower than what it had been when I had purchased the first one. And I’m yet to open any of them even now, so I shouldn’t have bought that first one, but there was no way to know at that time.
It was close to 5:25 PM when I got back, with over 15 kg, so I guess I had 14 kg before Mega Image and just eight before Penny. Either way, after cleaning the litter box and putting watermelon in a plate, I took out a bag of trash, dropping it down the chute. Then I ate the watermelon and most of one of the new bags of corn puffs and did the day’s squats, in the kitchen, before going to the toilet and washing. Then I finished the corn puffs and ate a sweet pastry while weighing and arranging what I had received, including the products from the previous day. After that, I rushed to post the week’s first post, and at night, after straightening some bottles, I made pizza, eating between 4:05 AM and 5:05 AM. I got in bed at 5:40 AM.
If I felt that I was able to do it, I meant to leave early on October 22 as well, so when I woke up just before 10 AM, I took some time to think about it and eventually did get up when it was almost 10:20 AM. Then I had lunch, did the day’s squats, and left when it was almost 12:45 PM, with 30 recyclables, including some straightened plastic bottles, 14 bottles that granted two products, two glass bottles and a can. However, I somehow ended up turning right on Pantelimon instead of crossing and then going left, losing some time before I realized it, at which point I crossed and jogged back to where I should have been. Either way, I picked up a few more of those bottles on the way, the first one actually before leaving the building, since I checked the garbage room that’s on this floor and spotted it there.
I got there a little after 2:20 PM, washed my hands and put on the mask, since I had once again kept it off on the way, but different people were handling the campaign that day, or at least at that hour. That made me anxious, and when the guy asked whether I was there to recycle while I was still trying to decide what to get, I started giving him the recyclables, trying a glass bottle and a can, at which point he put the can in the other machine and said that plastic bottles go in one and cans in the other, and then also trying some straightened bottles, at which point he said that they should be as straight as possible, but they worked. However, while there were many different products that I’d have been interested in and I could have easily picked nine categories, I ended up giving him six regular plastic bottles, on top of the glass one and the can, so I could only add 12 of those that granted two products and therefore select eight categories, ending up with four Golden apples, weighing 604 grams, four beets, weighing 811 grams, four Bianca peppers, weighing 429 grams, four parsley roots, weighing 270 grams, four carrots, weighing 368 grams, four potatoes, weighing 1.289 kg, four regular onions, weighing 529 grams, and four apples of other kinds, weighing a total of 647 grams, and I once again didn’t weigh them separately even though three were quite clearly Jonathan and one might have been Gala, but I’m not entirely sure about that.
Since the machine stopped after the first three items, so the guy had to sort it out and then continue, and another receipt was just for the can, I ended up with three, and that seemed to confuse the woman who took them and asked what I wanted, since she asked for the first category, put those products in a bag, then used another bag for the second category, and then told me to pick 14 more products. So I pointed out that I should have a total of 32 products, eight categories, and had just told her two categories, so I had 24 products, six categories, left, and after a moment she agreed. I also asked why was she using separate bags and she said that they had plenty, so I said that they may want to avoid wasting paper, especially in a campaign that was intended as an environmental one, and she did put all of the remaining products into the third bag. However, when she finished placing another category of products in the bag and I hesitated a moment before telling her the next one, she asked whether I wanted cucumbers, probably because nobody was asking for those, being so small, and that broke my concentration and after rejecting her suggestion I found myself saying that I wanted carrots instead, since they were next to the cucumbers, and forgot that I had meant to ask for long red onions at that point, ending up skipping over them completely. As for the apples, I pointed to the crate with Golden and that with what seemed to be Gala, but I think she grabbed those last four apples from another crate, and they probably tend to confuse and mix the apples just as well, so I ended up with what I said above. And when it came to the four beets, after grabbing two large ones she paused and searched for two small ones.
Either way, after putting everything, including the remaining bottles, in the backpack, I entered the store with it and bought a few things, all but one of them once again being from categories that those vouchers were offered for those days. And yes, I did get some of those peanuts that day as well. Then I struggled for quite a while to put the new purchases in the backpack with rope straps which I had also taken with me, after which I tried to wear it under the large one, but it wasn’t working, and I had those remaining bottles that granted two products in the large backpack even though it’d have been useful to hold that bag in my hands, to be able to quickly add any others that I might find on the way back in it, so I removed them and put the purchases in the large backpack as well. I’d have saved a fair bit of time if I’d have done that right away, but as it was, I once again walked out a little after 3:15 PM, exactly at the same time as the previous day.
At least I didn’t miss that Profi again, but after throwing the bag with those bottles in a cabinet that didn’t lock, which seemed to be the case for all of them in that location, and entering with the backpack, I didn’t find anything to get, so moments later I retrieved it and walked out. Then I also checked the Penny from Obor, putting both that bag and the backpack on the cabinets but then once again just retrieving them and walking out. And I entered that Carrefour as well, trying to find a large cabinet to put the backpack in but eventually just putting the bag in a small one and entering with the backpack, since the only unlocked large cabinet couldn’t be locked. And, after somehow missing that until then, I noticed that the price of the small bags of frozen spinach was good, much better than that of the large ones, and those vouchers were also offered for all frozen products those days, so I got some of those for dad. Then I retrieved that bag and the fact that I held it separately did end up being useful, since I found a couple more of those bottles on the way back. Otherwise, it was pretty hot that day as well, considering the date, but “only” up to 29°C, so not as bad as the previous day.
I got back just after 5:10 PM, rearranged things in the freezer in order to somehow make the spinach fit in there as well, and then made popcorn and ate some of it and watermelon before going to the toilet and to wash. I almost finished the popcorn while spending some time on-line and trying to get myself to write that week’s second post, but it was late in the evening when I actually finished the last little bits of popcorn, also eating two little sweet things at that point. I also weighed what I had received, washed what was to wash in the kitchen, somehow found a way to make everything fit in the fridge, and had dinner between 3:50 AM and 4:35 AM. I got in bed at 5:25 AM.
