Cav's Place

In my first blog post, as in the first one written after actually deciding to have a blog, at the time in both English and Romanian and on three different platforms, so not including the old posts that were originally posted on Kiwibox, I was saying that real life is lived at night. And I wasn’t, and am not, referring to an active nightlife, but to inner life, deep thoughts and discussions, creativity, moments that matter, whether in solitude or alongside those one is close to. And I found myself thinking about that again recently, and maybe going further, since that post was just a personal one.
I think that people who regularly stay awake at home during weeknights are far more likely to be more interesting, more worth knowing, more worth paying attention to. Obviously not all of them, and there are often very mundane or, worse, infuriating and harmful reasons for such behavior, but the chances seem far better on average. After all, they’re already different from most in one obvious way, they’re far less likely to be engaged in the daily grind, or at least in the part that has to do with regular work hours, or school hours for the young ones, and they’re more likely to avoid the rush and cacophony of the world. While once again stressing that this can’t be taken as a general rule, and that even quite a number of those who do fit this description do so in negative ways, I do believe that far more of them have rich inner lives, minds capable of deep thought and creativity, and seek close, intimate relationships, though some may also actually desire solitude. Sure, I’m likely also biased, but I do believe that these people should be more valued and listened to, though care must also be taken to avoid pulling them into the daily grind, out of their chosen environment and the mindset and behavior patterns that allow them to be as they are.

After starting it on January 10 and finishing it on January 12, in the early hours of January 13 I wrote and posted the quick review for Grim Work. Then I made a salad that contained just baked beets, a little green onion and a bit of lemon, since I didn’t have anything else that I’d want to put in a salad on the night before a run, and I also slept rather poorly and had bad dreams. But I got up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, had all of the usual stuff and a slice of cozonac from my mother, with added honey, as the sweet thing, and left at 3:50 PM, wearing the full running gear and that thinner old training shirt that I used to wear inside, plus the gloves and that thing that goes on my neck, and the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. It was overcast and the reported temperature was 4-5°C, holding steady.
The time was 47:35.00, with sector times of 4:14.84, 5:05.10, 5:57 (5:56.72), 4:31 (4:30.84), 5:03.09, 5:47 (5:46.94), 4:22 (4:21.88), 4:56 (4:55.97), 5:50 (5:49.96) and 1:50 (1:49.66), making for lap times of 15:16.66, 15:21 (15:20.87) and 15:08 (15:07.81). I wanted to get back under 48 minutes and the first lap didn’t look good, mainly because I hoped for a faster sector three, and sector one of lap two made me quite sure that I won’t make it, but I pushed and the next sector was better, and the one after it even more so. I felt like I was slowing and tiring when I was approaching the end of the lap, but that lap time nevertheless allowed me to think that I had a chance, so I just gave it everything on lap three and sector two was particularly good, and in the end I was close enough to 47:30 to think that I might have managed even that without slowing and stopping to check the time, and also without that small loss of time likely caused by taking the glove off to press the interval button and putting it back on.
I actually briefly stopped to see the hundredths even on sectors one and two of lap two, before doing it again on sector three of lap three, and I slowed a few other times, since the overcast sky made it quite dark. And the lane was mostly soggy, so I tried to avoid it most of the time, and the other runners that I saw seemed to be doing the same. Also, while from lap two I was thinking that I could have been just wearing the t-shirt, there were a couple of gusts that made it feel chilly again, and it’d have definitely been too cold to start and run the first lap like that. But at least that meant that there were pretty few people, the one problem caused by them being on sector two of lap three, when a large group formed a roadblock that I had to slow in order to squeeze past. Otherwise, I felt a certain pressing need from sector two of lap two, but it wasn’t bad, and there were some warnings from my right hip that also started at some point on lap two, though I tried to be careful with how I moved that leg and it got better in time.

I quickly checked the nearby Mega Image on the way back, pulling that thing up to also cover my mouth and nose, since I didn’t have a mask. Then I ate a banana and lunch, with a part of a large bag of corn puffs instead of bread, changed my pants and left again at 7:55 PM… But a talk with dad had pretty much caused my brain to disconnect and I forgot the voucher for Penny that I meant to use if I’d find enough of the cat food that was on sale, realizing it as I was about to exit the park, so I had no reason to go to that larger Penny and also didn’t want to go to that Auchan anymore, since the reason would have been to look for bread for dad. So I went to Carrefour instead, but I just couldn’t think. I was looking for a “shopping backpack” from their catalog, but I couldn’t find it and couldn’t get myself to ask, and I also forgot that I also wanted some tomato sauce, remembering when I had already left that mall, after changing my mind about which exit to use. So I went back in and grabbed what I thought was that tomato sauce… Only to realize that I had accidentally grabbed something else when I passed by a second spot where it was placed, so I could at least get the correct product from there, and I also used the voucher that I had, from previous purchases, and the cashier didn’t take the receipt away. I still didn’t find that backpack, however.
After changing my mind a few more times, walking back and forth inside that mall, I eventually decided to go to that other Auchan, entering with that tomato sauce. However, even though that location closes at 11 PM and I got there at 9:40 PM, it was already too late to find any of that bread for dad, since they clear the bakery area earlier and it was already cleared… And I also forgot to look for some more water for him, just getting myself some tea. And then I just wasted time by trying to also go to that Kaufland, since the site still listed that location as open until 11 PM, but it was closed when I got there, and the signs listed the closing time as 10 PM. But on the way back I entered a Mega Image, putting the bag in a cabinet and finding one of those apple pastries with the evening discount. So I bought it, then I retrieved the bag and once again put it in a cabinet when I also checked the Mega Image that’s next to Tei, but I didn’t find anything there, so I just walked out and retrieved it again.
I got back a little before 11:15 PM, ate that apple pastry, cleaned up a little in the kitchen, and it was past 12:10 AM when I went to the toilet and to wash. I got back to the kitchen at 1:25 AM and I might have just managed to stick to the dinner schedule despite still having to put the purchases in their place and wash a few more things, but I decided to put something else on some of the slices of bread and microwave them separately, so I ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:25 AM. And I only finished an hour later, in part because I searched for some things that were related to that talk while eating, and I got in bed at 5:20 AM. And my mind was still pretty much broken the next day. I was a mess and just couldn’t think, or at least not about anything other than that topic… And in the evening I tried to find those vouchers for Penny, and when I finally did I saw that they had expired, so the fact that I had forgotten them shouldn’t have mattered.

Despite wandering around the previous evening, on January 17 I got up when the alarm rang, at 1:30 PM, had all of the usual stuff, with the sweet thing again being a slice of cozonac from my mother, with added honey, and left at 4:05 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 15°C, dropping to about 13°C when I finished. After waiting for the site to update with the values from 4 PM, to see what the temperature was just before I left, I was in a rush and forgot to turn off the monitor.
The time was 47:38.51, with sector times of 4:15:01, 5:03.50, 5:55.47, 4:32 (4:31.65), 5:03.09, 5:52.07, 4:23 (4:22.84), 5:00.32, 5:45 (5:44.74) and 1:50 (1:49.82), making for lap times of 15:13.98, 15:27 (15:26.81) and 15:08 (15:07.90). While running, I was sure that the time for sector three of lap two was 5:55.07, but when I calculated I realized that I had remembered the seconds after sector one, the time there being 19:45, instead of calculating from 24:48, which was the time after sector two… Or at least I’m quite sure that’s what happened. There is a small chance that the difference is from somewhere else, maybe from the next sector, but it’s unlikely, so I’m leaving it like that, without question marks. Either way, the plan was to stay under 48 minutes, but I thought that I’ll struggle to do so and on sector three of lap one I was thinking that if I’ll go over six minutes I’ll have to push to even stay under 48:30. And staying under 48 minutes still didn’t seem likely even if I didn’t go over six minutes on that sector, and that continued to be the case even after pushing harder from lap two, especially after the first sector. But I just went for it on lap three, hoping to somehow make it, and after sector two I felt reasonably safe, and continuing to push resulted in a time that was better than expected. And this seems to have been my 250th ten-kilometer run, if you include those from the lockdown, on the street, and the one that was a couple hundred meters shorter, but obviously don’t include the one that was several hundred meters longer, with pauses and a significantly modified route.
Most of the lane was once again soggy and I avoided what I could. On the other hand, there weren’t many people, so I still had to weave and go the long way around occasionally, but they didn’t cause notable problems except on sector three of lap one, when I had to slow a couple of times. But keeping my eyes on people and forgetting to move to the right side meant that I also slowed right at the end, since I had to make that move on the last steps and obviously couldn’t maintain my speed, though that might have just affected the exact time, since it might not have cost me more than half a second. However, I felt abdominal pain from the beginning, and while a part of it might have been reflected from my back and it lessened to some extent after I partially managed to snap my back, on sector one of lap two, another part was likely a result of eating a large bag of bagels and drinking all of the tea in a hurry the previous night, after getting back, so it remained something to manage… As was a certain pressing need that I felt all along, though it was never bad. And wandering around the previous evening also left me feeling rather tired.

I once again had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image on the way back, despite not having a mask. Then I ended up only eating a banana before changing and leaving again a little after 7:10 PM, finally taking those things that I take to Kaufland, including the used masks, and five more cooking oil bottles and one small vinegar bottle, in case the machine would reject the cooking oil bottle that was clearly dirty. So I went around Mega Mall and straight to the machine that’s at that Kaufland, and it accepted that dirty bottle just as well, so I kept the vinegar one for another time. And then I dropped off the masks right in front of the door where the sign was still displayed, even though the bin had been taken away for a long time. When I got back later, I saw that a cleaner was working in the area and the masks were in a bag of garbage, but I had checked a site and that location was still listed as a place where masks could be dropped off, so I did what I could. Either way, I then thoroughly washed my hands and on my way out I also dropped the other things in what may be the appropriate bin.
I then went to Mega Mall, checking a bookstore and a sports store, even trying on some boots, before entering Carrefour and wandering around, checking some boxers and socks and looking for that “shopping backpack”. However, I couldn’t find it there either, so I just grabbed an expiring product and waited until after 9 PM, just in case the bakery discounts would return. But that sign didn’t appear and I didn’t ask again, so I just used the self-checkout for that product, put it in a pocket and went back to Kaufland, using the toilet and entering the store when it was past 9:15 PM. However, there were no evening discounts for bread, and I confirmed it by scanning the label of the one that I get from there, and the other bakery products that were still available weren’t interesting. So I got another pack of those snacks for Liza, to use the discount received for the bottles, plus a handful of small beets and one of those large packs of toilet paper. I was using the self-checkout when it was announced that the store had closed, then I put everything in a bag and decided to also check that Mega Image, managing to stuff the bag in a cabinet and finding a discounted bread that I could get. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet and decided to just put the bread in the same bag.
I got back a little before 11 PM, but after cleaning the litter box I went back out to throw a small bag of trash down the chute. Then I ate that expiring sweet thing from Carrefour, put the other purchases in their place, and it was 12:30 AM when I finally started eating lunch. I went to the bathroom at 12:55 AM… And ended up wasting time on the toilet even though something seemed to be right there. Then I washed and at 1:50 AM I got back in the kitchen. However, I still decided to slice three of dad’s breads before dealing with mine, and I also washed what I had left in the sink, so I only started eating dinner at 3:50 AM, finishing at 4:45 AM.

This is how far I got before midnight, but I had one more run from January to add and I edited the post in order to do so, though I actually only added the part about the actual run before going to bed in the morning, the rest, about the rest of that day, being added Tuesday evening. Either way, I definitely couldn’t leave the post with just what I initially included in it, because this last run from January was the 250th of ten kilometers if you don’t count that shorter one, so it needs to be here to make the post’s title accurate in either scenario.

In the early hours of January 25, I ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:20 AM and finished at 4:05 AM, the salad once again just containing baked beets, some lemon and the green onion tops “stolen” several days earlier from a crate of vegetable parts that were quite clearly going to be thrown away in Kaufland. Then I got in bed at 5:20 AM and got up when the alarm rang, at 1:45 PM, but my mother came by, unannounced, the noise woke me at 1:10 PM and if I fell asleep at all after that it was just for a moment, at one point, before waking up with a start once more, and I actually jumped a couple more times even when I wasn’t asleep because of the noises. Either way, she was in a hurry and left soon after I got up, then I had all of the usual stuff, with the last slice of that cozonac from her, with added honey, as the sweet thing. And it was past 4:15 PM when I left, wearing the full running gear but also an undershirt and that thick training shirt that I was wearing inside those days, that thing that goes on my neck, two pairs of socks and the gloves, plus the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. The reported temperature was 1-2°C, most likely 1°C by the time I started running, and holding there until I finished.
The time was 48:23.27, with sector times of 4:13.45, 5:14.22, 6:03.03, 4:31 (4:30.38), 5:09.41, 5:54.49, 4:28 (4:27.75), most likely 5:07, most likely 5:54, and 1:50.03, making for lap times of 15:30.70, 15:34.28 and 15:29 (15:28.26), since the exact time for sectors two and three of lap three was 11:00.51. I didn’t take off the glove and missed pressing the button at the end of sector two of lap three, so I don’t have that exact time and, while I was quite certain of the seconds, after thinking about it I realized that, while low, the risk of having looked a little later isn’t exactly negligible, so there’s enough of a chance that those sector times were actually 5:06 and 5:55 to call for listing them with a question mark. But the bad thing was that I went over 48 minutes again, and that it was the slowest time since the end of August. At least it wasn’t also the first one over 48:30 since then as well, but it was close, and until the end of lap three I was quite sure that it would be. And I was worried from the beginning, and after a first sector that seemed good, the rest of the first lap was bad and it made me worry that I won’t even stay under 49 minutes. To some extent sector two and, more clearly, sector three of lap two at least made it quite certain that I’ll manage that, but it definitely looked like I’ll go over 48:30, and even at the end of lap three, when it did seem like I’ll avoid that as well, I wasn’t exactly certain, since there was a chance that I was too tired to manage even a passable final sector. I pushed and that sector wasn’t bad… But, again, the rest of the run was.
Dressed like that, the temperature wasn’t a problem once I started. And there were few people, so I probably went the long way around in order to avoid the soggy lane more than because of people. Still, I did give a wide berth to a couple of people with dogs on long leashes, or in one case no leashes at all, and right at the end of sector two of lap one I actually stopped for what were probably a couple of seconds, after a silly dance with a girl on a scooter. Otherwise, I had felt like I hadn’t left everything in the toilet before leaving, but that only had effects on sector three of lap three, and they were manageable. But my nostrils were constricting because of the cold, and plenty of times I found that I couldn’t quite focus, mentally. And I probably slowed a little in order to see the time pretty much after each sector, and on sectors two and three of lap three I briefly stopped for that same reason, since it was getting too dark… And when I noticed that I hadn’t actually pressed the button at the right time after sector two of lap three, I wanted to check whether I hadn’t accidentally pressed it a little earlier, while trying to get my finger into position, since that might have allowed for a better estimate of that sector time.

I again had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image on the way back, pulling that thing up to also cover my nose, and in fact I rushed back there seconds after walking away, to check a price one more time. Then I cleaned up to some extent in the kitchen and had lunch, but I was panicking because dad was cooking and wanted to be able to finish before leaving for work and he had quite a cold and I didn’t want to be in the same room with him, but trying to rush obviously only caused me to mess up and be even slower, and I was starting to shake and couldn’t really think anymore…
It was just after 8:10 PM when I finally left again, rushing to Tei but not jogging, so I was there a little after 8:25 PM and got what I had on the list, but I couldn’t find that cheap vitamin C and zinc supplement despite looking all over the area where supplements are twice over, so when I heard the announcement that they’ll close in five minutes I asked an employee and she took me to the one spot that I had somehow skipped over both times, one end of the last shelf of that area, before the cosmetics. So I could finally get those as well, and then I grabbed one more thing for dad and rushed to the checkout just after it was announced that they had closed. Then I threw the purchases in a bag and walked out, being directed to the emergency exit.
After taking a little time to arrange the purchases once I was outside, I also went to Carrefour, once again rushing but not jogging. I put the purchases in a cabinet when I got there, then checked out some plates that were discounted, but those of the size that I was most interested in were gone and I didn’t quite like those of the next size either, so that was just a waste of time. But I got some red onions and beets, then I retrieved my things from the cabinet, arranged a little and continued on my way.
The initial plan had been to also get to that newer Kaufland, since bread tends to also get evening discounts in that location, which doesn’t usually happen at the other one, but it was already too late, so I just rushed to that other location, once again without jogging, and again put my things in a cabinet. Oddly, the announcement that the store will close in 15 minutes came at that point, but it was 9:40 PM, so I also quickly washed my hands before walking in, seeing that the discount for bakery products was 74%. And it actually seemed set at 74%, not a result of rounding for some of them. Either way, I grabbed some things from there, including some that I was going to use instead of bread, and also some green onions that had an evening discount, and I was waiting in the long line formed at the self-checkouts when it was announced that the store had closed… And an old woman who was ahead of me asked me to help her with her products, but that was after the machine said that the grapes that she had placed on the scales weren’t the correct product and she removed them, so it obviously wasn’t going to allow anything else to be scanned and I told her that she had to call an employee, at which point she wanted to walk away, but others also told her to wait and she eventually did, and when another machine was freed and I walked to it, I also told the one employee who had to deal with everyone to go to her as well. And I had no problems with the machine, then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and took my time to move the purchases to the backpack, just leaving the bakery products in that bag that hangs from my neck and walking away from there a little after 10:10 PM.
On the way back, I also checked a Mega Image, walking in with everything, and I was quite concerned when the back of my left knee acted up when I stood up again after checking the expiring products, but it got better the next day. Either way, a bread that I could get was left, but no bakery products were placed in discount bags even though that place closes at 11 PM and I waited until 10:30 PM, so I don’t know whether they didn’t make any discounts that evening or the discounts would have applied for everything at the checkout, since I didn’t ask. So I just got a bag of those raisins in dark chocolate, the correct, lower, price being listed in that location.
I got back right at 11 PM, but dad hadn’t taken the bag of trash and hadn’t even dumped everything that was left after his cooking in it, so I took off some of the clothes, cleaned the litter box and then went to drop all of that down the chute. Then I ate an orange and one of the sweet pastries, washed just a couple of things, put just the bakery products in the fridge, and at 12:20 AM I went to the toilet and to wash. I was back out at 1:15 AM, but I had the other purchases to put in their place and a lot to clean after dad’s cooking, starting to eat dinner at 3:15 AM and also taking a pill, just in case… Not that it helped… Either way, I finished dinner at 4:05 AM.

It seems that it’s been ten years since I last wrote a post specifically for Earth Hour, and back then I was turning everything off during that hour, while last year I didn’t even actually observe it. But last year I’d say that I did something better, or at least made up for it, since I got back during Earth Hour after having planted trees that day. So the fact that this evening I’ll turn the lights and the monitor off during that hour and earlier today I attended a protest calling yet again for the part of this nearby park that is supposedly privately owned to be recovered and restored should also be quite enough.
Of course, as I was also saying ten years ago, the part about the lights is just a publicity stunt, and a way for many, including authorities, to claim that they’re doing something for the environment when more often than not the opposite is true and they’re actively fighting against those who demand real and lasting changes. And using electricity isn’t, in itself, a problem, the problem being how it is generated and used, so the goals should be switching to green energy and improving energy efficiency.
This makes the changes to the event’s goals and suggested actions quite a pleasant surprise, since the scope becomes broader, demanding efforts aimed towards the recovery of Nature, and so does the list of actions, which now largely focus on actually doing something with the aim of generating a positive impact instead of just “turning off”. The burden does seem to be left on the shoulders of regular individuals, without specific demands from authorities and companies, and the suggested actions include very little in the way of putting pressure on them even though few things of the necessary magnitude can happen without political decisions and an overhaul of the economic system, but it does remain an improvement. Now let’s see if more will follow…

The fact that yesterday’s tree planting event seemed at the time to be the only one that I’ll attend this spring made how it actually went even more disappointing, but I was there and did, in fact, plant quite a lot of trees, so I’ll write about it now, starting with the early hours of the day, when I ate dinner earlier, in the kitchen, and got in bed at 3:15 AM. As expected, it was hard to fall asleep at that hour, and I doubt that I had even gotten the briefest nap before deciding to pee again, just in case, just after 4:10 AM. But I did fall asleep at some point after that and slept for more than an hour, and possibly even for more than an hour and a half, before the alarm rang, at 6:15 AM. Then I got up, ate an apple, a pretzel and yogurt with cereals, got dressed, took a Smecta Go, since there had been some reasons for concern from that point of view before going to bed and something still didn’t feel quite right, and left at 7:30 AM, taking some trash, which I dropped off in a bin before jogging to the metro station, having dad’s card. However, I didn’t put on a mask, and it was only when the metro was reaching the next stop that I even pulled up that thing that goes on my neck, to at least cover my nose and mouth with it. And I somehow used the wrong exit at Victory Square, and the time lost to get back to the right one also meant that I had to wait one more “turn” at the stoplights, reaching that parking lot a couple of minutes after 7:50 AM, and we had been told to be there at least ten minutes before the scheduled departure time of 8 AM. But it wasn’t a problem, and it didn’t seem like I had to give my name to anyone, so when a driver asked whether we were there for Manastirea and told us to get in if so, I climbed into his bus and took a seat.
We got moving a little after 8:05 AM and the bus was full, the woman who sat next to me even having her kid on her lap. But at least he was quiet while he was there, and after a little while those who sat behind us offered to let him sit between them and he went there. And, other than confirming that the seat wasn’t taken when she asked, I ignored her completely… Though I found myself unable to ignore the fact that nobody seemed to be wearing a mask, so I still didn’t put mine on either, just pulling that thing up again five or so minutes after we got moving. And I spent most of the time with my eyes closed, trying to rest, though I did notice that we passed through this area at 8:20 AM. The very presence of so many people was making me increasingly anxious, however, and I struggled to keep it under control even while I could still listen to the radio, the feeling returning after we got far enough from Bucharest for the radio frequencies to change and someone else put on some foreign radio, loudly, so my attempt to switch to music just resulted in a cacophony in my ears and I ended up taking off my headphones, making the presence of all of those people even harder to block out. At least looking around after that point meant that I spotted one guy who was wearing a mask, but it seemed too late for me to also put mine on. And I also noticed the colored wristband that was in front of me, on the back of the other seat, making me wonder whether I had missed it until then or somebody had assumed that I was sleeping and quietly placed it there, so I put it on, then wrote my name and signed when the form got to me, and at some later point that woman asked whether I was “still upset” and introduced herself, so I also told her my name and shook her hand, but didn’t say anything else.
What was strange was that the buses stopped on the road for a while, before a driver stopped after turning off that road and seemed to have a rather heated exchange with someone. I heard some comments that the driver was actually the mayor, and now that I looked him up I’m tempted to say that it might have been, but at least after he drove away, at 9:55 AM, the doors opened and we stepped out… And into a really cold wind. And work was being done on the road that led to the planting location, so the dust was also a problem as we walked the rest of the way, which took some ten minutes or so.
Well, when we got there we were surprised to see that many others had been working for quite some time, judging by how many trees were already planted, though at least their speed was soon explained, since we noticed that some workers were doing the digging, with machines, so the volunteers just had to place the saplings in the holes and cover them again. I’m pretty sure that the only time when the holes were already dug was the first time I planted trees, back in 2016, and that is quite a relief when it comes to the actual work… But at the same time it meant that we weren’t exactly warming up, so if I had decided to wear two shirts because I thought that I was going to first take off the jacket and then also one of the shirts, I kept shivering with everything on, and with the apron offered by the organizers on top of it.
Speaking of that, we quickly went to the table where the equipment was handed out, but when the first guy handed me gloves and another one of those things that go on the neck, I just kept the gloves, which I again wore over some rubber ones that I had taken with me, returning that thing and pointing out the one that I was already wearing. And then, after initially taking it, I put back the bottle as well, since I have several of those. I was still hoping to get another hat, but they weren’t offering those anymore, the only other things available being vests and aprons, and we were told that we could take either one, but could only keep the vest, having to return the apron at the end. And the apron is useful, unlike the vest, so I took one and put it on. And then I moved to the next table, where they had bananas, biscuits and drinks, having a banana, a pack of four biscuits and a tea, and also taking a second pack of biscuits and saving it for later.
Then the coordinator called everyone to gather for a quick speech, asking those from that table to stop handing anything out, so people will walk away from there, and he also said that we were the third group to arrive that day, which explained all of the work that had already been done even more. On the other hand, while he did ask who was there for the first time and some hands shot up before he mentioned that he spotted quite a number of hats that indicate people who had attended their previous events, he didn’t really bother to offer instructions anymore, and there certainly was no demonstration of the correct planting technique. But we were planting black locust trees and the saplings were quite large, so maybe they relied on the fact that they could take it if they won’t be planted as well as they should be. And the holes that were dug were also much deeper than what would have been dug with shovels, though he also said that we should plant the trees a little deeper than we normally would, because of the soil from that location. Either way, he also pointed out the fact that we won’t need shovels and told us to form groups of two, four or six and get bundles of saplings, saying that a bundle contained 50 and was supposed to be enough for four people. And he also told those who were from a company that they worked with for that event to go to one side, leaving the rest of us with the other side and asking the stronger men and those who are used to hiking to start from the top of the hill.
Since I grabbed and ate another banana, seeing that they were about to run out, and also took a couple more pictures, by the time I went to the saplings, the coordinator was saying that too many had already been taken and the rest of us should just take some from those, so I climbed the hill and did just that, obviously not caring to find teammates and starting to work at 10:35 AM or so… Only for the holes from that area to be filled really quickly, so even if I searched for any that had been missed or not filled well enough, by 11 AM or so it didn’t seem like there was anything left to do and, after wondering what to do for a few moments and listening to others who were doing the same, I wandered away to look on the other side as well, going the long way around in order to avoid having to climb down the steep hill that was even more treacherous because of the dusty soil and burned vegetation. But at least I used that opportunity to take some more pictures of the area… And being on the top of the other hill allowed me to finally notice that workers were continuing to dig holes on another side of the hill that I had been working on, and other volunteers were gathering there and planting in them, so I went there as well and got back to work… For mere minutes, because at or just after 11:30 AM we were called to gather for a picture, so I finished what I had been doing and returned to the starting location.
It took some time and many calls for everyone to gather, and in the end a few stayed at the top of the hill and kept working, though I’m not exactly sure what they were doing there at that point, but the rest of us were finally brought together at 11:40 AM and the coordinator said that they really wanted to have everyone in the picture because it was their only tree planting event this spring. And the sandwiches had also been brought out, those being the only lunch that was served this time around, so after the picture I took and ate two, and also drank two cups of tea, after waiting a little for more water to be heated. Then I went to pee and got back to work, trying to plant as much as possible in the time that was left, since we had been told that the buses were going to leave at 1 PM, or 1:30 PM at the latest, even though the schedule that had been sent had stated that the work would end at 4 PM.
The problem was that the workers couldn’t dig enough holes for all of the volunteers. The coordinator also complained that they were slacking off, but there were far too many volunteers for them anyway, and in fact some did start digging with shovels, around that starting area, and I planted in a few of those holes at first, before returning to the other area and getting among the crowd of volunteers who were rushing to plant as soon as another hole was dug. So I did plant a lot of trees, but I had stopped counting even before I was done with the first area at the top of the hill and couldn’t even give an estimate with any confidence. 40 seems like a good number, 35 probably a minimum one, but there might have been more. Then again, I might have also overestimated, but that seems unlikely. Either way, it makes the fact that the coordinator said that a bundle of 50 saplings should be enough for a team of four quite laughable, considering how easy it was when we didn’t have to dig and the soil also didn’t need to be broken up before being put back into the hole.
I was still following the diggers and planting when I suddenly noticed that the diggers were pretty much the only ones who were still around me, the noise from their equipment having probably covered any discussions between the volunteers. That was rather startling, and when I checked the time and saw that it was exactly 1 PM I even got a little worried, but a few others were still making their way to the starting location, so I rushed back there as well, and since quite a number of sandwiches were left I grabbed one more and stuffed it in a pocket before going to pee one more time. Then, after taking the last of the pictures, I made my way back to the buses while eating that sandwich, passing a few others on the way but still being anxious, because so few seemed left. And the fact that I didn’t see the buses when I got back to the road even made me start to panic, feeling quite relieved when I turned around and saw that they had moved to another road, so I had just passed by them without noticing.
Two of the drivers were talking when I got there, and I climbed into the bus of the one who was saying that he was just waiting for four stragglers and then he’ll leave. However, after taking a seat I realized that the other one seemed to be the one that I had arrived on, and I also thought that I recognized the driver, so I got off and tried to get on that one… Only to return after that driver told me to do so, saying that it was that bus that was leaving then. That did make me wonder whether I was, in fact, leaving with a first group and other volunteers were staying a little longer, but I hadn’t seen any that were still working when I left and, either way, it was too late to go back at that point. And on that bus I had also seen a girl who was wearing a mask, and it’s possible that the one who sat next to her also did, though I’m not certain, so while that girl had something to eat and drink and took hers off after a little while, I ate that second pack of biscuits and then finally put mine on, no longer feeling that it’d make me stand out so badly. And that bus and another one left at 1:20 PM, nobody sat next to me and I wasn’t prevented from listening to my music either, so that anxiety didn’t return, not even while I was thinking that I should ask the driver to let me off before getting back to Victory Square and trying to figure out where and to work up the courage to do so. But I had heard others ask whether he’ll let them off in a certain place when I got back on that bus and he said that others had asked for the same thing, so I eventually decided to get off there as well if I’ll see a metro station in the area… Which I did, so I rushed to follow those who got up at that point and got off the bus at 2:45 PM.

While more than that would have been hard, I should have been able to write one or two more paragraphs before midnight, but it probably wouldn’t have made that much of a difference when I still had to add the rest later, plus the whole part about the rest of the day, so I ended up only getting as far as the moment when we were called to gather for the picture in what I initially posted, editing in order to add the next three paragraphs before finally going to the kitchen at night, while the rest of what’s above was added right after I ate, since I wrote while eating. That still left the part about the rest of the day, which I finally added before going to bed Wednesday morning.

Since we were dropped off at Sun Plaza and I’ve been meaning to have a look in Cora for a while, I went in and checked out the one from there, but it proved a waste of time… As did searching for the Bebe Tei from there, after seeing signs indicating that one existed, because it’s just a small pharmacy and I couldn’t spot any of the things that I had been looking for while having a look inside and couldn’t get myself to ask. And then some more time passed until I found the way down to the metro station, the total time lost being over an hour in that place, to which I ended up adding the fact that, instead of just switching lines, I went out at Unirii and checked out that Carrefour before returning to the metro station, without getting anything, since there was nothing interesting among the expiring or spoiling products, there were no eggs sold by piece, I still had to go to the one from Orhideea for that bread for myself, and I was quite sure that I was going to find everything else there as well.
I lost a little more time by using the wrong exit at Crangasi as well, then I used the toilet and got what I wanted from that Carrefour. However, when I decided to use the gift card received when I handed over the second batch of 50 RON in coins, the self-checkout displayed the message that an assistant will soon come. I assumed that it was because the total was not at least 50 RON, but when that message went away after a moment, I tried again… Only for the same thing to happen, and for the employee who was monitoring the self-checkouts to ask what was going on and then call someone else over, who said that if I wanted to use a gift card I had to pay the rest first, leaving the exact amount that’s on the card. Then again, that was what I had been told when I used the first one as well, but since that time I had selected the wrong option and then the employee said that there had been an error, I assumed that it wasn’t the real rule, since it makes no sense. But it apparently is the rule, and I’d have needed the coins that had been left in the machine in order to have the exact amount that I needed to pay, and the employee who came to help me had grabbed those, so I wanted to just pay the full amount and get it over with. But she said that I could give her the money and she’ll make it work… Only for the machine to cross out cash payments after she selected the method, so I gave her just over what was needed and she gave me the change and then used the gift card. And when I said that at least those two machines that are supposed to accept cash should actually do so, she said that she’s not given what she needs to keep them working and then she gets blamed for not doing her job, and she opened that machine and told the next customer to wait until she’ll sort it out.
After arranging the purchases and returning to the metro station, I got off at Dristor… After being about to once again use the wrong exit, though at least that time I realized it when I got off the metro and just had to walk to the other end of the station. Then I quickly passed through the farmers’ market, checking the prices of green onions at the few sellers who were still there at that hour and asking one about it, since there was no label, but finding them too expensive to buy any. And I also had a very quick look at the expiring products from that Mega Image, without bothering to use a cabinet, though I did use one when I got to Supeco, mainly looking for cabbage. Only one was left, however, and it didn’t look good, and when I asked an employee she said that they didn’t have any more. And when I weighed the bag of spoiling black radishes that was there I found that it weighed less than what was listed on the label, so I didn’t get that either, but I did get some other things… And, as I was retrieving my things from the cabinet, the guard, whom I had noticed following me around while I was inside and then standing outside when I left, asked who had made my receipt and wanted to see it, and after initially handing it back he asked for it again, and then asked the employee who was there whether she had checked me out, explaining that he hadn’t seen me at the checkout, so that other employee said that I must have been there, since I had a receipt, while I asked whether he thought that I had written it by hand.
At least that didn’t end up costing me even more time, since I wanted to watch the qualifying for the Formula 1 race and I was cutting it close, so I rushed back, though I was still paying enough attention to notice a 1 RON bill on the way, on the sidewalk, and grab it. And I also saw a tiny protest taking place at the entrance to the park, apparently demanding Romania to leave the EU and NATO and adopt a position of “neutrality”, so I gave them the middle finger as I passed by, on the other side of the road. And, when I found that I had a few minutes to spare, I had a quick look in this nearby Mega Image as well, putting just the bag with the purchases from Supeco in a cabinet, without locking it, and then retrieving it moments later.

I got back just in time, a few minutes before 7 PM… And I didn’t just do the day’s squats while watching the qualifying, but did them in an outstanding 2:01, since I also timed them. And I just ate a bag of snacks, considering those sandwiches as lunch, before eventually taking a quick shower. On the other hand, I was disappointed with the day, feeling that I really hadn’t done enough, and to some extent also that the event hadn’t really been what I had hoped for, plus that I had wasted all that time after getting back to Bucharest without having anything to show for it. But I then saw that the other NGO whose tree planting events I’ve been attending will also organize one, in April, so there should be another chance.

I definitely didn’t expect The International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin before, or without, Russia’s defeat, so this was quite a nice surprise despite not really meaning much when Russia doesn’t recognize the ICC and Putin isn’t likely to travel to any of the states that signed the Rome Statute… With the possible exception of Tajikistan, but even that was quite unlikely in the foreseeable future. Plus that arresting heads of state is a complicated matter and even countries that should be required to enforce such a warrant may find ways to avoid doing so if they wish it.
Then again, maybe the knowledge that it’s quite meaningless in practical terms is just why the warrant was issued. After all, the other options would be either that international institutions finally grew some balls or that they know something about imminent, very positive developments that the rest of the world is yet to learn, and while I’d like to be proven wrong by another pleasant surprise of a far greater magnitude, both of these scenarios seem highly unlikely. So I’ll just take it for what it is at the moment, a largely symbolic gesture, but nevertheless a slight improvement.