Cav's Place

Since I already wrote about November 18, I’ll start this post about the last part of Carrefour’s campaign, when it moved to Vulcan, with November 19, when I did the day’s squats, had lunch, and left just before 6:40 PM, with 33 recyclables, including the three cans left from the previous day, the seven straightened bottles left from earlier, including that one that wouldn’t be accepted, and ten bottles that granted two products. I also meant to take some fish parts that dad said that he won’t eat and two pieces of shrimp which he had brought from work, apparently after someone had celebrated their birthday, and then left in the living room, in a napkin, wanting to leave all of those for some cats, but I forgot. Either way, I had dad’s metro card, so I went to Dristor, picking up some more bottles that granted two products on the way to and from the metro station.
Even if I hadn’t taken the used ones with me, I once again asked about rechargeable batteries, and was once again told that they didn’t have any, though they had supposedly made the order and were waiting to receive some. So I moved along, using eight of the bottles that granted two products, but the machine stopped after seven, so I waited for the guy to empty it, then put in ten more bottles, including that eighth one, and then used the other machine for the three cans. However, I then noticed that the first receipt only listed six bottles, so I guess the machine hadn’t counted the one it had stopped at, and I said that I’ll put in one more, so the total will be correct on the receipts, but since there were other people in line I also said that I’ll wait and do so after they’ll be done. Then I wrote my name and number on those receipts and said what I wanted, but after four product categories I moved and also had a look on the other side, ending up asking for potatoes from there even though those were quite small while those from the side that I had picked the other products from were quite large. Either way, I then returned to that first side and asked for apples as well, after which the girl said that those should have been the last products and I agreed… Only to realize that it wasn’t right after she gave me the bag, so I started counting the categories and the guy in charge noticed and asked whether I wasn’t given the right amount, telling her to unseal the bag after I said that I was trying to remember. I wasn’t sure how to react, not wanting to cause a fuss, but she unsealed the bag, counted the categories, and saw that I was, in fact, missing one, so I also asked for cucumbers and she put in seven, though they were small. And she had also put in five red onions, though those were also small.
I received four Bianca peppers, weighing 399 grams, four Kapia peppers, weighing 450 grams, four tomatoes, also weighing 450 grams, four potatoes, weighing 503 grams, four apples, maybe Idared, weighing 666 grams, five red onions, weighing 286 grams, and seven cucumbers, also weighing 286 grams. And, after arranging in the backpack, I found a moment to put in that extra bottle, after which I filled in my name and number on that receipt as well. Then I had a look in the store, but on top of not finding anything to buy, I somehow forgot to check the prices for what I received. Between what I later saw at Carrefour Unirii, what was listed for Vulcan when I looked on-line, after getting back, and checking the day before and the next, there’s next to no chance of not having the correct prices, the only remaining problem having to do with the apples that I couldn’t correctly identify, but the fact remains that I didn’t actually check that day, in that store.
Either way, I then also wanted to go to that Kaufland, getting there close to 8:15 PM… Only to find the doors closed, and the listed closing time was 8 PM, which was strange, Kaufland normally closing at 9 PM on Sunday. So I turned around and, after hesitating a little, I decided to get back to that same metro station, getting there after also having a quick look in a Profi, entering with everything. However, when I switched lines at the next stop, I tripped on the escalator and it hurt a fair bit. There were some small scrapes, mainly on my right leg, but what was concerning was that the bone was also hurting a little.
Still, I meant to also check Carrefour Unirii, so I got off there, found another one of those bottles, and first went to the bathroom from that shopping center, also peeing while I was there and then washing the scrapes a little. Then I entered Carrefour with everything, grabbed an expiring cake, and then got back to the fruits and vegetables, checking the prices of the ones that I could find there as well and putting some disinfectant on the scrapes, since they still have those dispensers in that location. When I did that, I placed that cake and my phone on some tomatoes and my foot on the edge of that area, so not on any product or even any crate, but another customer stopped and asked how did I dare put my foot there and touch my wounds next to things that people will take to eat. I got defensive, trying to say that my foot hadn’t been on any product and that I had fallen on the escalator and wanted to use some disinfectant, but he was adamant. After staring at us for a few seconds, an employee also got involved, but he wasn’t sure what was going on and therefore didn’t really know what to say or do, so it was that guy who pretty much chased me away, saying that we should leave that area because it really was not all right and coming after me as I initially took a few steps towards the exit, though when I turned around and hurried in the direction of the checkouts he left me be. So I checked the expiring products from that area as well, then bought that cake… And after I calmed down a little I realized that the guy was right. After all, I was touching blood, which doesn’t look right even though I wasn’t touching any product while doing so and meant to disinfect my hands again after that. On the other hand, by chasing me away he stopped me from doing just that, so I did end up touching some products after touching blood, without disinfecting my hands first.
After returning to the metro station and adding the cake in the backpack while waiting for the train, I took the metro back to Dristor, and then I checked the Mega Image that closes at 11 PM, once again entering with everything. There were no bakery discounts, but I did find eggs with code one and bought five, adding them in the backpack after walking out. I considered checking the non-stop Mega Image as well, but after having a look from the door and not seeing any bakery discounts there either, I didn’t actually enter.
When I got back, at 11:20 PM, I saw that dad had taken that fish out, but not to where I’d have taken it, so I was thinking to go back out and move it if I could, but I then decided to leave it for the next day. However, the real problem hit me a moment later, when I found out that the hot water had turned off while I was out, and not just in the sense that it was cold, but that nothing was coming from that pipe. Dad hadn’t bothered to check the site until then, but he did when I asked him to and saw that the reported problem was that the heating station had no water to work with, the water company having a problem, even though we did have cold water and the heating station’s just behind the building. Either way, it was estimated that the problem should be fixed at 11:30 PM, so I gave up on the idea of heating water again and decided to wait. Then, before midnight, I added another paragraph to what little I had written before leaving and posted what was basically a placeholder for the post about the previous day… By which point that estimated time had changed to 3 AM. So I decided to wait and see, meaning to wash before going to bed if it actually will return then or, if not, perhaps not sleep at all and leave again very early, which would have also allowed me to use the metro card once again. Then I weighed what I received and tried to clean a little in the kitchen, though I couldn’t wash many things with cold water. The fact that I kept checking the hot water probably made me even slower than I usually am, so I only ate dinner between 4:20 AM and 5:20 AM… By which point the estimated time had changed to 7 AM.

Under those circumstances, I didn’t go to bed, and a little before 7 AM I did the squats that counted for November 20 and then checked again, seeing that the estimated time had changed yet again, to noon. So I just got ready and went out again at 8:15 AM, with 21 bottles, though those included that one that wasn’t accepted, so there were exactly 20 which should have been good, since it was the last day and taking more was pointless, and those included the eight remaining ones that granted two products and a straightened one that I had found on the balcony. And I first went behind the building, finding where dad had left that fish and that it was gone, so I picked up the plastic thing that it had been in and added it to the recyclables, which I had also taken, dropping them off in a recycling bin on the way to Dristor.
The starting hour for the campaign was 9 AM and people had obviously arrived right away, seeing as there was quite a line when I got there, so I first went to pee, getting in line just after 9:20 AM… And only two or three more people joined behind me until 10 AM or so, a few more coming after that, until my turn finally came, at 10:10 AM or so. Since dad had said that he had to leave at 11 AM, that was already late, and then the machine also caused problems, stopping after the first two bottles, allowing me to continue after the guy in charge worked on it a little, but repeatedly refusing the bottles that granted two products, so that guy helped me put them in until it worked, even if one or two required multiple tries, and when it also refused that bottle which had been refused before and I wanted to discard it, he managed to make it accept it as well, so I was left with one bottle. Then I wrote my name and number on the receipts and said what I wanted, receiving four tomatoes, weighing 470 grams, four potatoes, weighing 793 grams, four Bianca peppers, weighing 369 grams, four Kapia peppers, weighing 581 grams, four red onions, weighing 196 grams, four Red Delicious apples, weighing 994 grams, and four apples of another kind, possibly Idared, weighing 890 grams.
By the time I put the bags in the backpack, it was past 10:15 AM, so I didn’t enter the store at all, not even to check the prices of those products. That meant that I only actually checked in that location on the first day, for what I had received then, but I had to hurry, and at times I even jogged on the way back to the metro station. All of that effort would have been for nothing if the conductor wouldn’t have been so nice, since I rushed as much as I could down the escalator only for the doors of the metro to close right in front of me, but then they opened again and I could get on. Not that I really needed to hurry so much, seeing as dad called and said that he’ll actually leave around 11:15 AM, but since I told him that we’ll meet at this metro station, I found myself with a little time to spare and decided to rush to the bigger Mega Image, also having a quick look in a confectionery on the way.
Since I was in a hurry, I entered with the backpack, and my gloves were also in my pockets, having taken them since the temperature had been around or even just under 0°C in the morning… And that ended up making me lose a fair amount of time. I grabbed a nice expiring bar and another egg with code one, telling dad that I’ll be at the metro station in about five minutes when he called again while I was there, but the cashier reprimanded me for bringing things into the store, and while when she pointed to my pockets I just pulled out the gloves, she also asked the guard to check my backpack… And he was acting as if he didn’t understand what she meant, giving me the impression that he was trying to make it clear that he disagreed with her request, since he asked another customer about his bag, made her repeat herself, and continued with that behavior even after I told him a couple of times that she was referring to me. And after he finally asked whether he could check my backpack and I told him to go ahead and took it off, he just put his hand in it without even opening the strap and gave her a nasty look while fumbling around a little. But that just made the whole thing take even longer, and putting the backpack back on took me some more time that I didn’t have, so I then ran back to the metro station, continuing to run even after dad called again while I was on my way and told me to stop running, since he was just going past the church. In the end, I got back to the metro station before he did, then gave him the metro card.
I then continued to Obor, though I decided to use the route that’s shorter if you start from here, but obviously longer from where I was at that point. And on the way I pulled my mask down a little and ate that bar. Then I checked that bookstore, then stuffed the backpack and the egg in a cabinet and went to Carrefour, finding discounted bread and some discounted sweet pastries and putting them in the bag that hangs from my neck before retrieving what I had in the cabinet and continuing to Kaufland, where I once again meant to put the backpack in a cabinet. However, when I wanted to lift it, I grabbed it by the strap that holds it closed and it came loose, getting pulled out of the clamp. I later figured out that it had probably been sewed there as well and that seam tore, so it’s a good thing that it was that one and not the one from the other end, but at that time I couldn’t quite figure out what happened, though I eventually managed to put it back through the clamp in a way that held it closed as it was, and it’s still like that even now, since I didn’t sew that again. Either way, I then put the backpack and the egg in that cabinet, went to pee again, and entered with the bag, getting a cleaning product that I found among the discounted ones, some yogurt, and a box of two meringue tarts with ingredients that seemed fine and which had a deep discount, so the price was really nice. They expired the next day, but I didn’t mind that. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged everything and continued to Penny, where I left my things on the cabinets and just bought some soy, adding it in the bag that hangs from my neck after retrieving my things, since I didn’t want to open the backpack again.
I got back a few minutes before 3:30 PM, ate one of the tarts, and then used the toilet and washed, the hot water having returned. After that, I also ate a small apple, made the tea for the day, and then got some four hours of sleep, or maybe a little more than that. I think that I also took a pill, just in case, but I’m not entirely certain, and if I did, I definitely don’t know whether it was before or after the nap. Either way, at night I ate another apple, washed and cleaned as much as I could in the kitchen, dealt with my bread, and ended up rearranging things in the freezer a little after noticing that the things that were at the front were thawing again. Dad had searched for something in there earlier, taking things out in order to do so, but when I told him about the problem he just said that it must be too full, since he obviously did nothing wrong. Admittedly, I had checked after he put everything back and the door had seemed to close properly, but something was obviously wrong. Either way, despite only putting what I received that day on the balcony, leaving weighing those products for the next day, I only started taking occasional bites from lunch at 2 AM and it was past 3:35 AM when I finished, and I ate dinner between 4:30 AM and 5:25 AM, and finally got in bed at 6:35 AM. And the following night I ate dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:30 AM, and got in bed at 5:25 AM.

I managed to finish the part about these two days and post it before midnight, but before being able to say that I finally finished writing about this campaign I also have to put together everything that I received and estimate the total value, even if this time around the fact that I didn’t properly identify some of the apples means that it won’t be that accurate. And it was only Wednesday evening when I made the first edit to this post, to add the number and weight of what I clearly know I received, so including the Golden apples but none of the other kinds. And I finally added the rest in the early hours of Saturday. I just hope that I did everything correctly, because I really don’t see myself going through it all again and checking.

At the end of it all, assuming that I calculated correctly, I received a total of 38 potatoes, weighing 6.058 kg, 34 Golden apples, weighing 5.438 kg, 32 tomatoes, weighing 4.815 kg, 30 Kapia peppers, weighing 3.302 kg, 29 Bianca peppers, weighing 3.426 kg, 28 cucumbers, or 29 if you count that double one as two, weighing 1.39 kg, 24 onions, weighing 3.84 kg, 21 red onions, weighing 1.141 kg, 20 beets, weighing 5.578 kg, 14 red potatoes, weighing 1.811 kg, 13 carrots, weighing 1.452 kg, 12 squashes, weighing 4.036 kg, 12 eggplants, weighing 3.208 kg, nine heads of garlic, weighing 584 grams, seven parsnip roots, weighing 1.087 kg, four celery roots, weighing 2.167 kg, four kohlrabies, weighing 792 grams, four parsley roots, weighing 270 grams, four long red onions, weighing 244 grams, as well as four chili peppers, weighing 176 grams. Out of those, ten cucumbers, seven potatoes, six red potatoes, four tomatoes, two Kapia peppers, one Bianca pepper, one red onion and one head of garlic were added on top of what I should have actually received.
And then there are those other apples, which are the problem. The totals are simple: 53 of them, including one that was added on top of what I should have received, weighing a total of 8.908 kg. Out of those, I also know that eight, weighing 1.558 kg, were Red Delicious. Two or three others were probably Red Delicious as well, but I was never certain about that third one and I didn’t weigh them separately, since they were mixed with at least one that was probably Gala or Jonaprince. And, past that, I’m guessing more and more. 16, weighing 2.767 kg, were probably Idared. Four more, weighing 702 grams, seemed more likely to also be Idared, but I was wondering whether they might have been Jonaprince or Jonathan instead. On the other hand, five, weighing 586 grams, were probably Jonathan, and there were three more that were quite certainly Jonathan, but one that seemed to be Gala was mixed with them and I didn’t weigh them separately. And four, weighing 491 grams, might have been Gala or even Fuji, but I was uncertain about that. Four others, weighing 651 grams, seemed more likely to be Jonaprince. And I didn’t make any notes about four more, weighing 681 grams, so whether those were Idared, Jonathan, Jonaprince or Gala, I have absolutely no idea.
Considering those uncertainties, the total value can’t be perfectly accurate either. Still, assuming that I didn’t make mistakes, it comes to the surprisingly high amount of about 335 RON, with a small margin for error, no more than a few RON. Of course, that value is calculated according to Carrefour’s prices for each product on the day that I received it and plenty were certainly cheaper in other places on those same days, but this is how I’ve been calculating this and it’s the fair way to do it, since it’s their campaign and they gave away those products.

Since Alterium is the new band that I was referring to in October, in the 54th post from this series, and they’re scheduled to release their first album in less than a month, I’ll start directly and say that my two picks are Drag Me to Hell and Siren’s Call. The fact that the songs are so polished should come as no surprise, seeing as the band may be new, but its members are experienced, and some of them even worked together before, in Kalidia, so it may be a matter of picking up from where they just left off. I’ll be glad of it if that is the case, but I’m expecting more good things from Alterium either way.

The next band is Roses Unread and they’re much older, but they did release one song half a year ago, Down and Out, so that will be my first pick, while the second one is The Ugly Truth. Years earlier, I see that they released full albums that at this point they seem to try to bury, but this counts as something older than the most recent releases, so it’s good enough, and the sound is also good enough. It is harsher, and quite clearly rock, so not what I’d normally go for, but it caught my attention anyway, and I’m tempted to say that fans of the genre will enjoy it more.

As for the last band, Project Arcadia, this is an actual new find, and the one I picked to include in this post out of several bands that for some reason YouTube decided to recommend to me lately and which had more in common than the fact that they have male vocals, and that’s the fact that they recently returned after a long hiatus. In Project Arcadia’s case, we’re talking about some ten years, and they also don’t seem to care about posting most of their old material, so I’ll just go with Shadows of the Night for one of my picks, while Rusty Cage is the one I picked out of the new songs. Once again, it’s not what I’d immediately go for, but there is enough here that I can appreciate, and such stories, of once again becoming active after such a long time, are nice in themselves.

It seems that, if environmentalists block roads with their own bodies, crash sport or business events, or throw food or paint on well-protected artworks, in order to demand changes that might just still offer a chance to have a livable future on this planet, they’re vandals and criminals that lose the support of the rest of the population and need to be sentenced even to prison terms. However, if farmers block roads with their machines, derail a crucial EU summit that should have been about Ukraine, or throw or dump manure or food or even set fires at national or even European institutions, in order to demand to be allowed to continue harmful practices and destroy the future for questionable immediate gains, they’re justified in their protests, gain the support of the general public as well as that of the decision makers, and obtain concessions with days… Which concessions are, of course, at the expense of the environment.
The hypocrisy is all too obvious… But not in the least surprising, of course. After all, humans are excellent at making others pay for their choices, and all, including those with little wealth, power or social standing, who otherwise pay for the choices of those who are in much better positions, tend to throw that burden on the environment the first chance they get, seeing as other species and the ecosystem can’t pay, vote, sue or even speak out, and if they happen to block, crash, throw or burn anything, it’s not on purpose or for a demand. What may seem absurd, but is mostly just ironic, is that the effects of climate change and even soil degradation are used to justify these concessions that weaken environmental regulations that may attempt to at least slow the progress of those very problems, and which are already unbearably inadequate anyway. That would be so funny if it wouldn’t be so sad… But, again, it’s hardly unexpected, humans as a whole being far from the intelligent, rational creatures that most like to think they are.
So, with things as they are, the question is what should environmentalists block, crash, throw or burn in order to be heard? Or, better yet, how should they speak out in order to give the other species and the ecosystem a voice that these irrational, irresponsible, greedy, shortsighted, shallow creatures that make up the overwhelming majority of humanity will listen to? Is this just another straw added to the humongous pile of evidence that shows how completely hopeless the situation is or may there be some lessons to be learned, hidden somewhere behind the hypocrisy, irony and utter stupidity?

In the early hours of January 15, after only starting to shave at 1:15 AM and then still having things to wash and clean in the kitchen, and also one of my breads to deal with, I ate dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:05 AM, and then I got in bed at 5:25 AM. I got up after the alarm rang, at 1:30 PM, but there was noise from that neighbor after 10:25 AM, though I did manage to get some more sleep, in fact getting back to sleep even after the drilling began and woke me again, at 11:30 AM. Either way, with state bonds continuing to offer interest rates that are below the expected inflation rate and investment funds having had an outstanding year in 2023, I had decided to take a chance and place something in one, even if 2024 is certain to be nowhere near the level of 2023 and may even bring losses, the idea being to see how it’ll do in the long term. So I left at 4:05 PM, with the recyclables, which I dropped off in a bin on the way to a branch of my bank that closes at 5 PM, so I couldn’t take too long.
I first had to deposit the money, and the ATM was rejecting some of the bills, but that number was dropping with each attempt and it eventually accepted all of them. Then I got in and said why I was there when my turn came… Only to be told that it’s required to set it up so a certain amount will be withdrawn from the account and invested each month. But I had read the information and that’s not the case, so I said so, and the employee asked and eventually confirmed that I was right. However, she then printed the general form, not the one for the specific fund which I had selected, and that doesn’t have a field for an initial investment, but only for a monthly one. And it also still listed me as an employee of my dad’s firm, so I told her that it wasn’t the case anymore and she said that she had made the change, though she didn’t print a new form. And when I received the SMS with the code needed to confirm that contract, it specified that it was also for monthly direct debit, and I again said that there won’t be any direct debit, and I won’t have any other money in the account anyway, and while she once again confirmed it, I was still uncertain and asked her to uncheck that box, but she said that she couldn’t and told me to leave it like that for two or three months and see that it’ll be fine. I wasn’t at all convinced, but I was out of the bank a little before 4:50 PM, after which I had a quick look through that Mega Image and this nearby store.
After getting back, I ate a cake brought by dad and lunch, and left again at 7:55 PM. I hadn’t taken a mask that first time, thinking that it might be strange to enter a bank with it, so that made me feel even more awkward while I was there, but I wore one this second time, when I went to Mega Mall and to the branch of my bank from there, and the employee that I talked to said that he was just the one dealing with investment funds, and with the one that I had picked and the other similar one in particular, and after I explained what the problem seemed to be he tried to check but said that the system didn’t let him, it just kept loading, so he just checked who had made the contract and said that she was a smart girl, the smartest one from that branch, and that the document was the correct one and that if she told me that it was like that, with that initial investment and no monthly withdrawals, that’s how it’ll be, but to check after two days to be sure, since that’s how long it takes to process. And then he told me a few things about the fund and printed two reports, to show me a comparison between it and that other one, saying that they were mostly the same, in truth. And he had taken my ID card in order to get my information from the system and hadn’t handed it back, and I only realized it after walking away, turning back to ask whether I had taken it, and he gave it back then, saying jokingly that it’s how he works, taking them and not handing them back. And after walking away again, I turned back one more time and withdrew the additional amount I had deposited, over what was necessary and the amount listed in one document as a fee, in case it would be added, though I was assured that it won’t be.
After that, I checked Carrefour and took pictures of some products and prices for dad, then washed my hands and entered Kaufland a little before 9:20 PM, just getting a few small things but taking more pictures of those products there as well, so he could pick and compare. I was putting the few purchases in the backpack when the closing announcement came, then I just checked that Mega Image and the nearby one, entering with the backpack both times and not finding anything to get.
I got back a little after 10:45 PM, sent dad the pictures, ate some walnuts, and went to the toilet and to shower just before 12:20 AM. I was done just before 1:10 AM, then I washed what was in the kitchen and ate a large bag of corn puffs while working on the salad. I started to eat dinner at 3:15 AM, but I still finished at 3:40 AM. On the other hand, the scroll wheel of my mouse was causing more and more problems, and the situation continued to worsen since then, though at times it feels sticky and blowing hard in that area changes the feeling, and may also affect the problems with the left button, so it is possible that something ended up in there, but I don’t dare to open it in order to try to clean it. And it is six years old, so I can’t really complain about reliability anymore… I definitely can and do complain about the fact that it started double clicking long ago, but that problem came and went all these years, remaining manageable until now, with a few brief exceptions.

Since I went out again the following day, I checked whether the amount had been taken from my account and saw that it still hadn’t been, which should have made it clear that things were very wrong, but I didn’t know that at the time. And while I did receive some documents by e-mail exactly 48 hours after things were apparently done at the bank, the first time, the contents and what I saw when I checked a little more should have confirmed that something was really messed up. But I was going to run the following day, on January 18, so I decided to wait a little longer and ask again after that, if nothing will change.

I didn’t have green onions for the salad made in the early hours of January 18, but I had one long red onion left, so I used that. Then, after waking up to pee just after 9 AM, I couldn’t get back to sleep even though only some faint hammering was coming from that neighbor, so things obviously got even harder when some drilling also started after a while, even if it wasn’t that loud and there were pauses. Still, I eventually did manage to get back to sleep, most likely after 10 AM, but I never looked at the time after getting back in bed. And it seemed that I managed to sleep until the alarm rang, at 1 PM. Then I had the usual stuff, but the apple was another Red Delicious one that was mostly spoiled, so what I could use from it was only about the size of a very small one. And, after just wasting time on the toilet, I also had a slice of cozonac from my mother, with added honey, as the sweet thing, and left at 3:40 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was about 10°C, holding steady or maybe dropping by just 1°C by the time I finished, but it was cloudy and humid, after having rained earlier, and a woman who was handing out some fliers asked if I wasn’t cold as I tried to pointedly avoid her before waiting for the stoplight to turn green, but I told her that I was going to run.
The time was 47:41.61, with sector times of 4:22.85, 5:08.03, 5:55 (5:54.63), 4:29 (4:28.78), 5:01 (5:00.78), 5:50.59, 4:24.00, 5:01.32, 5:44 (5:43.78) and 1:47 (1:46.85), making for lap times of 15:25.51, 15:20.15 and 15:09.10. Since I wasn’t carrying additional clothing, I hoped to get back under 48 minutes, but the first sector was slightly slower than I thought it’d be, and that was also the case for the second, so it was clear that I won’t even stay on that pace over the course of the first lap, which was proven true at the end of it. And the physical problems I had over the course of lap two made me worry about even finishing the run, but all of the sector times were actually good, and the lap was just about on the pace that would normally be required in order to stay under 48 minutes, so I wondered whether I could do it after all and pushed hard from the start of lap three, and even more on sector three of lap three. I didn’t even think that I might be safe at the end of the lap, just wanting to give myself a chance, so it was surprising when I actually was safe at the end of the lap, managing a particularly good time on sector three, but I still pushed on the final sector and managed a good time on that one as well. It’s still not anything to brag about, but at least it was the first time that wasn’t poor since November.
It was quite wet, but the lane used to be soggier in the past, so maybe they did improve the drainage over time. And there were relatively few people and they didn’t cause notable problems, so there was just some weaving and going the long way around. There were a few moments when I might have slowed just a little when I was approaching a roadblock, but a way through always opened before I got there. On the other hand, lap two was unpleasant because of some physical issues, the first starting either right at the start of lap two or at the end of lap one, I couldn’t really remember even moments later, when I felt something around my left kidney, possibly even like something tearing, and a dull pain gradually appeared in that area and lasted for the first two sectors of lap two, while on sector three of lap two I had some rather serious abdominal cramps, likely the result of only wasting time on the toilet. But it all passed by the end of the lap and I could then push all the way to the end.

After getting back, I just changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and went back to that branch of my bank from Mega Mall, again without a mask, hoping to find that same guy whom I had talked to three days earlier, since he seemed to know what he was doing when it came to investment funds. So, after checking one more time and seeing that the money were still in my account, I went in, but that guy wasn’t there, so I talked to someone else and she first told me that I should go to the same branch that I had gone to the first time, then asked for help and then talked on the phone, maybe with the person who had made that initial contract, and eventually told me that the payment order wasn’t made that day and that the money were going to be taken on February 15, supposedly because that’s how the fund works, which was definitely incorrect. And when I asked, both before and after, if I couldn’t just invest that amount then, leaving nothing else to be taken later, she said that it couldn’t be done, and at first that it’d supposedly freeze the system. So it was a complete waste of time and after I got back I sent an e-mail, describing the entire situation… Which I should have done from the beginning. Either way, I’ll also mention here that there were no visits recorded that day, nor on January 21… When I once again forgot to change the date of that scheduled post, so it showed up, albeit only for a couple of minutes.

The matter was finally solved on January 19, after being called by the bank and told that I could indeed go back to an agency and sort things out, and I had planned to go out anyway, to buy some things for dad, so I told them that I’ll get to their branch from Mega Mall again and was told to call them when I get there, and when I said that I couldn’t call, not having active credit, I was told to ask the employee to call them, and send an e-mail if they’ll refuse, though I don’t see how they thought that I could send an e-mail if I couldn’t even call. Either way, I did the day’s squats and left at 2:15 PM, taking a mask with me, but not wearing it when I went to the bank.
I ended up talking to yet another different employee, but that was a good thing, because she didn’t see why what I asked would be a problem and saw no reason to call, sorting everything out and also updating my information in the system, first because she said that my signature was different and then because I saw that my employment status hadn’t been changed either. She also had a look at what had been done that first time and at first muttered something about not even having been signed up, and when I said that I had been and received the e-mail she said that I had been entered somewhere, but not in the correct place, and then she confirmed my initial impression about the payments, saying that I had indeed been set up to have 5000 RON taken from my account on the 15th of each month. So I was there for a while, but at least everything was finally done correctly, and after taking a little time to look through the documents after walking out I also withdrew the little money left in my account.
After having a look in two other stores, I entered Carrefour and finally put on the mask, though I pulled it down while smelling some deodorants, since dad wanted one to give as a gift, and I also got the last three of the cheapest ones for him, finding them hidden behind others, those vouchers also being granted for deodorants those days. So I got what I meant to get, plus two expiring sweet pastries, and at the self-checkout I used one of the 5 RON gift cards received when I handed over coins. The system worked just like before, however, so when I tried to use the gift card first, there was a message stating that an assistant will come, and when one did she told me to pay the rest and leave the exact amount that was on the gift card, so it’s a good thing that I had expected that and calculated the total in order to be able to do so, considering the bills and coins I had on me.
Then I continued to Kaufland, putting the purchases in a cabinet and getting some things from there as well. When I saw that I had time and there were unannounced discounts for various products, I wandered around for a while, but I didn’t get any of those products. And the self-checkout accepted one of the packs of wet wipes which I had gotten for dad but not the other, so I had to call an employee to override the error, and after I was done I used the scales from that area to weigh the packs and saw a noticeable difference in weight, but neither seemed to have been opened and I don’t know whether the one that wasn’t accepted was the lighter or the heavier one. Either way, I then arranged the purchases in the two bags, since I hadn’t taken the backpack, and got back just before 6 PM.

I used the last of the Kapia peppers received from Carrefour’s campaign in the salad made in the early hours of January 26, and I put some more of the old peanut butter on all of the slices of bread. Then I got up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, but I had been mostly awake for a while at that point, only very briefly drifting off a few times. Either way, I then had the usual stuff, and for the sweet thing I added honey on the last usable slice of my mother’s cozonac, since the thin slice from the end that’s otherwise left even now isn’t something that I’d eat before a run. And then I noticed that a sock was tearing, probably just because of the running shoes, damaged as they are… And it’s one of the new ones, purchased after last year’s half marathon. But I couldn’t exactly do much about that, so I left a little after 3:30 PM, wearing the full running gear, with some things in the pocket of my tights, the gloves, that thing on my neck, and the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. The reported temperature was about 6°C, holding steady or maybe dropping by 1°C by the time I finished.
The time was 48:56.47, with sector times of 4:15.22, 5:17.73, 6:06 (6:05.59), 4:38 (4:37.81), 5:17 (5:16.66), 5:56.28, 4:32 (4:31.78), 5:10.09, 5:53.82 and 1:52 (1:51.49), making for lap times of 15:38.54, 15:51 (15:50.75) and 15:35.69. I felt slow on the first sector, so that time was better than I expected, but on the following sectors there were areas where I had to pretty much walk because of snow and puddles, the time lost because of that meaning that the lap was barely on the pace that’d normally be required to stay under 49 minutes, so at the end of it I was quite sure that I could only aim to stay under 50 minutes. Still, I also aimed to stay under 16 minutes on each lap, which should have also meant staying under 49:30, and while that was questionable after the first two sectors of lap two, I found a good way through the tricky area of sector three and at the end of the lap staying under 49:30 was the obvious goal and I was also wondering about 49:15… Which was frustratingly close to 49 minutes, so I pushed on lap three, though the difference was made by the fact that I was also able to lose much less time on the tricky area of sector two, so at the end of the lap I had a good chance to stay under 49 minutes, and I made it in the end. It’s obviously a pretty bad time, and it’d have been a poor one even without the snow and puddles, since they quite clearly caused me to lose over 30 seconds, but it couldn’t have been a full minute. Still, under those circumstances, I’m not particularly bothered by it.
It seemed that they didn’t try to scrape the lane, probably because the attempt would have likely destroyed it, so in some areas just a narrow part of it, on one side, was cleared of snow and ice, and in others not even that. Admittedly, there were also areas that were pretty much completely clear, most notably the part of sector two that comes after that area where there’s no lane, but that area wasn’t cleared at all, so there was soft, melting snow on the sides, a few centimeters deep, and puddles in the middle, and that caused me to lose a lot of time, especially on the first two laps. On the first, I slipped on ice just before that area, so I was already careful, and then I ended up in the melting snow, and when I tried to hop away I ended up in a puddle, so I then just walked through that area. And on lap two I had sort of figured out a path that avoided most of the puddles, but I caught up to a man who was walking slowly just when I was in that area and ended up having to walk behind him. At least I could follow that path on lap three, so I lost far less time, but still lost a little. And I also lost time on sector three, at the ship’s dock, since the lane was pretty much covered with snow and there were once again puddles everywhere else, so on the first lap I also picked my way through there rather slowly. I had pretty much figured out a path that avoided most of the puddles for laps two and three, but it meant weaving around a lot, so I still lost a little time. And I had to go wide in plenty of other areas as well, since I had to stay away from the unusable lane.
I guess I probably also lost a little bit of time whenever I took off the glove and put it back on, since I only kept it off on the final sector, but that’s negligible. Otherwise, I needed to snap my back from the beginning and it was a problem for a while, since I couldn’t do it, but I pushed through it. I also felt rather stiff at first, but that eventually got better, and about halfway through the temperature wasn’t an issue anymore. And some muscles from my right leg complained at some point, and some time after that problem went away there were some warnings from the left leg as well, but those didn’t last long.

Then I put the jacket back on, pulled that thing up, since I had no mask, and walked to Supeco, getting some spoiling black radishes and some expiring meat, and not being charged for the bag the black radishes were in. Then I put the purchases in a bag, left it in a cabinet that didn’t lock at that Mega Image, retrieved it after having a quick look, and also checked the farmers’ market, buying some apples. I asked for one kilogram and the guy apparently put two on the scales, and when I handed him the money he told me that I had to pay more, so I said that I had just asked for one kilogram and he said that he misunderstood and put some of the apples back, then put the remaining ones in a bag even if I told him that I had my own and tried to dig one out. And when I used the control scales to check, I saw that he had given me over 1.2 kg, even though I had only paid for one kilogram.
After also checking the new Penny on the way back, putting the purchases in a cabinet, without locking, and then retrieving them, I got back for the first time just before 5:50 PM. Then I ate an apple, one of the old ones, and what was left of the piece of cake from my father’s sister, initially meaning to just take part of it but eventually ending up eating all of it, even if it was a lot, more than enough for two good servings. I also put the purchases in their place, did the day’s squats, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again when it was close to 8:20 PM, and that time I did wear a mask, as I normally do.
Since those vouchers were also offered for frozen products those days in Carrefour and I found a single small bag of frozen spinach left, I bought it, also using one of the vouchers received for previous purchases at the self-checkout. Then I put that bag in the backpack and, after washing my hands, entered Kaufland with it. It was almost 9:20 PM and nothing interesting and discounted was left in the bakery area. There were two things that I might have been interested in, but I scanned the labels and confirmed that they weren’t discounted, so I just ended up getting some beets. Then I added them in the backpack and entered that Mega Image with it as well, finding one of those breads and one other thing among the discounted bakery products and buying both. Then I put those products in a bag and made my way back, though I had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image as well, once again entering with everything.
I got back at 10:50 PM, put the spinach in the freezer, ate lunch, washed some of what was in the kitchen, and went to the bathroom at 12:35 AM, first washing the sink and then showering. I was done at 1:15 AM, then I washed what was left in the kitchen, peeled and cut the bad parts off some more garlic, and had dinner between 3:25 AM and 4 AM. The kitchen light turned off for a second before I went to shower, and it didn’t seem like there had been a brief power failure, and since the following evening it flickered a few times, I was worried that it might be a sign that the light bulb’s failing, even if I only bought it in July, but at least so far it’s still working.

In the first moments of February 1, I started feeling like something was wrong with my stomach and the feeling worsened while I started working on dinner, but I began to feel better after I opened the kitchen window, as dad was getting ready to go to bed, so it’s more and more clear that the fact that he keeps the stove on all the time doesn’t just make me uncomfortable, but it’s actually making me sick, and that’s without even talking about the long-term consequences. And when I later told him about it, he just said that he has no other way to warm himself and that the only solution is for me to not be in the kitchen when he’s at home. And supposedly having no other way to warm himself in fact means that, since the heating’s metered but the gas isn’t, being paid according to the number of people in each apartment, he wants to mainly heat the apartment with the stove, and this winter he decided to keep all of the heaters off except the one from his bedroom, which he keeps on all the time even if he only goes there to sleep, yet expects to feel warm while he’s in the living room, usually at the computer and generally just wearing a vest over the shirt, and without slippers on his feet.
To return to that dinner, I didn’t have green onions for the salad, so I just used a little garlic… And I only baked the beets at night and obviously turned the oven off too soon, seeing as one of those that I used then wasn’t properly baked, and that’s probably the case for most of those that I left for another time, but so be it. And I put some more of the kashkaval on the slices of bread and microwaved them all, in three batches, and then I also scraped what was stuck on the plate before taking the slices and the salad to my room, so I only started eating dinner at 3:20 AM. I still finished at 3:40 AM, however, and that was despite also taking a couple of minutes to quickly look for LED tubes on-line, since the one from the bathroom burned out again. It’s under warranty, but it remains to be seen whether dad will have it replaced this time around, at least in order to have one in reserve, after refusing to do so back then and buying this one, from the same store, even if the previous one had also failed under warranty.
After I got up, after the alarm rang, at 1 PM, I switched that LED tube with the old one from the small bathroom, to at least reduce the risk of something going wrong while making the switch, since dad wanted to do that even if I was worried that doing so might also cause that other one to burn out, in case the problem is with the fixture. Then I had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing being a slice of panettone, with added honey, and left at 3:30 PM, wearing the full running gear, with that thing on my neck. The reported temperature was 8°C, holding steady.
The time was 48:15.92, with sector times of 4:17.48, 5:08 (5:07.53), 5:58.78, 4:37 (4:36.94), 5:03 (5:02.56), 5:53.00, 4:31.32, 5:03 (5:02.43), 5:52.32 and 1:53.56, making for lap times of 15:23.79, 15:33 (15:32.50) and 15:26.07. I was hoping to get back under 48 minutes, but I felt slow on the first sector, so the time was a little better than I expected. However, if after sector two I was thinking that I should just manage to at least stay on the pace that’d normally be required in order to stay under 48 minutes on the first lap, I failed to do so, and after also having that poor time on sector one on lap two, I was thinking that I might even struggle to stay under the previous week’s time, to avoid embarrassing myself even more. So I pushed from sector two of lap two, setting aside the concerns about running out of energy before the end, and the times improved just enough to at least make me feel quite certain that I will stay under that previous time. However, I also realized that, if I could maintain that pace, I’ll also stay under 48:30, so that became the new target and I kept pushing, and after the end of the lap I thought that I should just manage to squeeze under 48:15 as well. I didn’t quite make it, probably because I had to weave hard right at the end, but at least it was 48:15… Which, of course, is still a poor time.
The fact that my nose was irritated after the run, and it’s yet to fully recover, probably shows that I really pushed and couldn’t have done much more. But, to start from the beginning, something seemed wrong with my hips at first, and also with my stomach, which wasn’t surprising, considering how I had felt the previous night, and the cold air was also hurting my lungs, so I was struggling, but those problems gradually went away. Otherwise, there were still some puddles in that area of sector two, but while it meant that I still couldn’t approach it exactly as I’d normally like to, I doubt that I lost more than a second or so per lap because of that. It’s possible that I lost a little more because of the wind, since a gust hit me on the long straight of sector two of lap two, and then it got windier in general, since there was another gust on sector three of lap two and a few more over the course of lap three. But there were no notable problems caused by people over the course of the three laps, so I just occasionally had to weave or go the long way around. However, as I already mentioned, right at the end I had to weave hard in order to make my way through, going from one side of the path to the other in a small space, which obviously also meant not carrying speed to the finish and therefore not being able to sort of jump, as I usually try to do.

I didn’t quite manage to finish this post before midnight, but I got this far, just leaving the part about the rest of February 1 for the following evening, when I edited the post in order to add it as well.

After getting back, I ate a banana and made something to eat for lunch, did the day’s squats, then changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 7:30 PM. I had dad’s metro card and, after buying some tea from Tei and putting it in the backpack, I took the metro to Pallady and bought a replacement LED tube, entering that store with the backpack, so getting the old one replaced under warranty wasn’t urgent anymore, but I still hope that dad will do it one of these days, at least so we’ll have a spare. Either way, I should have received 0.10 RON as change and didn’t, but I didn’t comment, deciding to take them out of what I found later, since it was my fault that I didn’t speak up.
After leaving the backpack, with the LED tube sticking out of it, in a cabinet at Kaufland, needing to try several before I found a free one that locked, I went to Auchan… And I found a bag of spoiling apples that should have probably been discounted by 30%, but somebody had made a big mistake with the discount label and the full price was discounted by 98%, with the additional discount applied to that value! The bag did contain a mix of apples of various kinds, and most of them looked pretty bad, but it was next to nothing, so I grabbed it, and I later found that the apples were actually better than they looked, the bad parts being mostly limited to the surface. Either way, I then also got some tea, plus water for dad, finding an older pack, so I wasn’t charged the deposit. The problem was that I hadn’t taken the large backpack, nor even any sturdy bags, only having two regular bags, so I split the water between them, added the other purchases in there as well, and hoped that they’ll hold.
After arranging everything in that cabinet and using the toilet, I entered Kaufland at 9:30 PM and saw that there was just one left for three kinds of buns that I could get, so I grabbed all of those, even if seeing one left of each kind made me a little suspicious that they might have been recovered from somewhere, if not even from the floor. There was one bread that I could get left as well, but that had a regular discount and scanning the label confirmed that it had no additional one that evening, so I didn’t take it. However, both the regular lettuce and those with root were listed as having good evening discounts, so I took one of each, plus a few bananas, which also had an evening discount. Then I wandered around for a while, going to the self-checkout just before closing time… Only for the lettuce with root to scan at the full price. So I called over an employee and told him that it was listed as having a 70% evening discount, and that I didn’t want it otherwise, so he apologized and took it off, not trying to check or honor the listed price, but so be it. And I didn’t hear any closing announcement, but the store had obviously closed by the time I was done, and after retrieving what I had in the cabinet and taking my time to arrange everything in a way that allowed me to carry the purchases, I had to use the emergency door to exit. But I was still somewhat uncertain, so after a few steps I set the bags down and rushed back to actually check the listed closing time, confirming that the store had closed.
The metro came seconds after I got back to the station, and what was strange was that it was once again one of those very old ones, which had also been the case on the way there, and I thought that those were only still being used on line four. Either way, while I was on the metro I put the LED tube back in the backpack, after having carried it to the station in one hand, above a bag. And I changed at Dristor, since I was carrying so much and most of the weight was in my hands, in those two bags, and the number of people who walked past me as I made my way to the other station and the fact that only one train was waiting and 11 minutes were listed on the board when I got there made me think that there will be a pretty long wait, so I slowed… Only to hear the announcement that the doors were closing, so I took those final steps as fast as I could and managed to squeeze in just as the doors closed, so I guess that the train should have already left and the board was listing the departure time for the next one, which hadn’t even arrived yet.
I was back just after 10:40 PM, with almost 19 kg. Then I installed the new LED tube and moved the other one back to the small bathroom, put some of the purchases in their place, ate something sweet and a bag of snacks, went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and shower, just before 12:20 AM, and was done at 1:10 AM. Then I put the remaining purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, and managed to stick to the dinner schedule, but I went to bed at 5:20 AM… And at exactly 11 AM I was woken up by a loud pop or crack. It seemed to come from my room, but my perception was obviously unreliable at that point, and there were some faint noises from that neighbor, so it could have been a loud one from there, or a firecracker thrown outside, or my bookcase, since it does crack sometimes, but I obviously feared for the computer at first, so it’s a relief that it seems to be fine. Otherwise, there were no visits recorded on either February 1 or February 2.

Despite their obvious success, the fact that they use nuclear power even though solar is definitely feasible means that I never cared about Curiosity or Perseverance, but things were somewhat different when it came to the little helicopter, Ingenuity. It still wasn’t something that I regularly followed, but it was an interesting concept and an ongoing demonstration of what could be achieved, and after taking 72 flights over close to three years despite having only been designed for five experimental test flights over 30 days, it really seemed like the little helicopter could just keep going, so the announcement that the mission came to a sudden end came as something of a shock. It may be the week’s saddest piece of science news, and possibly the biggest recent disappointment when it comes to space exploration… Not that there haven’t been plenty of other disappointments when it comes to that field, but those tended to be expected, to follow the pattern, while this was so sudden and unexpected.
What’s clear at this point is that at least one of the rotor blades sustained significant damage at the end of flight 72, most likely as a result of a rough landing caused by the relatively featureless terrain that made it particularly difficult for the helicopter to orient itself. So it wasn’t the conditions that caused the problem, and at this point it doesn’t look like it was an actual failure, but simply an accident, which makes it even more disappointing. And what makes it worse is that, by announcing the end of the mission pretty much as soon as they saw the damage, it’s pretty clear that the team has no plans to make some other use of Ingenuity, maybe as some sort of lander, even if its other systems remain operational. Admittedly, Ingenuity has very limited capabilities and it also acted as a scout for Perseverance, identifying potential hazards or interesting targets, so things will now become far trickier and more hazardous for the rover and adapting that mission to the loss of the helicopter may well require the entire team and all of the available resources, so giving up on it so quickly is understandable, if you think about it logically… But that makes it no less disappointing.