Cav's Place

Oh, how “lovely”, the “new” MobyGames just hit, and took away what was literally the only site out of those that I frequently use, or used, that I still felt comfortable using, still being sufficiently “old school”, not plagued by “modern” design, crap meant for mobiles or touch on the desktop site, “streamlining”, feature removals… Well, there had been a few feature removals, but not like this. Now, much of what I cared about is gone or, maybe in more fortunate cases, made more tedious to access, much less information is displayed on one screen, there’s a lot of empty space… And what I’d have been interested in having added or changed obviously wasn’t. Too disheartened to add anything else at the moment…

On December 23, I got up at 1 PM, when the alarm rang, after sleeping unusually well. Then I had the usual stuff, again with two of those nicer biscuits, with added honey, as the sweet thing, and left at 3:25 PM. I had considered running in what I was wearing inside those days, but when I saw 5°C at 3 PM I decided to put on the running gear after all, with just the old, thick training shirt that I was wearing inside on top, plus the gloves, and obviously the jacket on the way, tied around my waist while I ran. The temperature might have still been 5°C when I left, but probably 4°C when I actually started running, and it stayed like that until I finished.
The time was 48:06.42, with sector times of 4:19.45, 5:14.38, 6:01 (6:00.59), 4:30.56, 5:05 (5:04.29), 5:47.18, 4:27 (4:26.63), 5:03.81, 5:49.06 and 1:51 (1:50.47), making for lap times of 15:34.42, 15:22.03 and 15:19.50. I obviously aimed to get back under 48 minutes and pushed harder than that first sector time showed, so I didn’t like it, and the second sector was clearly bad, and going over six minutes on the third and that lap time made me question even staying under 49 minutes, so I pushed on lap two and it started showing from sector two, but at the end of the lap I could barely think of staying under 48:30 and being less slow than the previous time seemed highly unlikely. Still, I pushed harder on lap three and at the end of the lap I realized that I could actually beat that previous time, which I did, though I was still over 48 minutes.
That large shirt was unbalancing me, the main problem being the left sleeve that was moving around and felt oddly heavy, since I had caught the right one under the glove but couldn’t do that with the left one, since I was removing the glove to press the button on the stopwatch, only pressing it with it still on after the first sector. Not that I can blame being so slow on that, but between it and maybe slowing a little whenever I took the glove off and put it back on, it might have made the difference between that time and just squeezing under 48 minutes, since there were no notable problems otherwise. I avoided a few wet areas of the lane, the few people meant just some occasional weaving and going the long way around, the single gust of wind that I felt was on sector two of lap one, coming over the lake and chilling me, and a certain pressing need that seemed to appear at the start of lap two quickly went away and didn’t return. But I just couldn’t push harder, though at the end I found myself thinking that I should have had those seconds in me if I’d have believed that it was possible all along.

On the way back, as I was putting the jacket back on, I was thinking that I didn’t really need it, so maybe I could have done without it altogether, even if it’d have meant shivering on the way to the park. Either way, I also had a look in the nearby Mega Image, despite not having a mask, and noticed some expiring roes and spoiling lemons, so I got back, ate a banana, took what I needed, changed the jacket and the shoes, and left again a couple of minutes after 5:30 PM, going right back to this Mega Image and buying those products, which were still there. The cashier asked whether more of those expiring roes were left and when I said no she said that she had wanted some as well but kept delaying until they were gone, and when I handed her dad’s store card, since those roes also had a 10% discount if it was used, she said that it didn’t matter, the discount being the 50% applied because they were expiring, but I asked her to scan it anyway and that 10% discount did apply first.
The next destination was Penny and I entered with those purchases, got what I wanted and also wanted to grab something to munch on, so I spent quite some time trying to decide and eventually got some baked peanuts with pepper. Then I arranged the purchases in the bags and struggled to fit them in a cabinet after entering that Mega Image, on the way back. At one point the guard asked whether I wanted her to help, because the door kept opening, the cabinets being in front of it, but then she realized that I was putting things in, not taking them out, I said that those cabinets are so small that you can’t even put in a two liter bottle, in either direction, and she said that hypermarkets have larger ones, but stores like Mega Image or Penny have small ones. But I saw much larger cabinets at Penny and said so, and she said that it’s a small store and those are the conditions, though I actually saw somewhat larger cabinets in even smaller Mega Image locations. Either way, after finally finding a way to make my things fit, I found two bags of spoiling oranges and one of them didn’t look too bad, and oranges had a 40% discount if you used the store card, at least according to the sign from the nearby store, though the price listed at that location included a smaller discount. So I should have checked that Mega Image before going to Penny and getting a 2 kg bag from there. Still, after getting the Pepsi for dad, I also grabbed that bag and asked the cashier whether those were the ones that the discount applied to. She asked whether they were oranges, I said that they seemed to be, but that was exactly what I was asking, so she entered oranges, scanned the card and confirmed the 40% discount, so the price that was listed in that location was actually higher than the real one. And then that discounted price was halved, since they were spoiling.
I got back around 7:15 PM, carrying a little over 15 kg. Then I ate those peanuts, put a few of the purchases in their place and washed a little of what was in the kitchen, since dad had cooked and a good question was what didn’t need cleaning. Then, as planned, he removed the stove top and I went to the bathroom to clean it, though I started with the dish drying rack, then moved on to the stove top. And there was so much grease and it was so tiring, but I still managed it, and when he said that it was just 10:05 PM when I called him to take it back, I told him to also bring those supports that the pots actually sit on and I scrubbed those as well, albeit not too thoroughly, before washing. Then I ate a sweet pastry and cleaned a little more of what was in the kitchen, eventually even did the day’s squats, then got back to the kitchen and spent quite some time washing and cleaning what he had left before making a pizza and the salad. I used the electric oven and split the pizza in two, starting to eat the first part at 3:40 AM and then going back to the kitchen to get the second, larger part out of the oven, finishing at 4:45 AM. I got in bed at 5:20 AM… But after waking up around 9 AM and peeing, I was unable to get back to sleep, and after tossing and turning for over an hour, around 10:15 AM I got up and on the computer. On the other hand, I had told dad to ask mother whether she wanted the 2 kg bag of oranges and she said that she did, so it wasn’t a problem that I also bought that one after all.

The plan for December 27 was to go out and get bread for dad, and maybe a few other things in the evening, and when I had asked him the previous day he said that he was going to need the metro card in the evening, so I checked closing times and planned a route that I was going to walk… But I woke up to pee when he was eating after getting back from work in the morning and he said that he probably won’t manage to get back from mother and then leave again, so he’ll drive to that other guy as well and not need the metro card after all, and he left it even though I told him to take it anyway. I actually woke up when he left, but that was when he locked the door, not when he unlocked it to leave, so when I jumped out of bed to once again tell him to take the card, it was too late. And he hadn’t just left it, but left it on a note telling me to not leave without it, which made me angry, feeling pressured to change that planned route, to actually use it.
Well, even though the initial plan had been to run on December 30, all of that and the fact that I had gotten up a couple of minutes after 1:30 PM made me think about running that day after all. I had stuffed myself with mamaliga at night and had just made the usual cabbage and onion salad, which I don’t eat before running, so I was really unprepared, but it was a warm day and the forecasts had changed when it came to the wind, one site even listing acceptable speeds by the time I went to bed in the morning, so after a little while, at about 1:45 PM, I decided to get up and have a look outside, seeing next to no wind. Then I checked the weather on-line and one more source was listing much less wind as well, which made me start to get ready, not changing my mind when I saw some pretty bad gusts while I was in the kitchen. So I had the usual stuff, with the yogurt being that bio (organic) “Greek” one bought when dad angered me by throwing away that goat milk with oats, and the sweet thing a slice of cozonac from mother, with added honey, and I left at 3:45 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 13°C, dropping by just 1°C by the time I finished.
The time was 46:43.11, with sector times of 4:09.33, 5:01 (5:00.93), 5:43 (5:42.97), 4:22.13, 4:59 (4:58.65), 5:44.85, 4:20 (4:19.53), 4:57 (4:56.69), 5:39.46 and 1:49 (1:48.57), making for lap times of 14:53.23, 15:05.63 and 14:56 (14:55.68). I had no real target time, just pushing to work off the anger, but I did hope to get back under 48 minutes, though I doubted it. However, that first sector gave me reasons to hope for an even better time, and the second sector made me wonder about covering the first lap in less than 15 minutes, so I pushed and made it. Then I was calculating the target times that’d have allowed me to just stay under 48 minutes, but I kept being faster and after sector two of lap two I wondered about getting under 47 minutes, really doubting it at first but after the end of the lap thinking that I might just have a small chance, so I really gave it everything from the start of lap three and after the first two sectors it seemed that I might just make it, though being already safe at the end of the lap was definitely a surprise, especially since I slowed on sector three of lap three in order to see the time.
It felt like I still had something of a stone in my abdomen after that mamaliga, and I had a little gas as well. It wasn’t too bad and it lessened as time passed, but it wasn’t exactly comfortable. As for the only other physical issue, that was a warning from my right calf, starting on sector three of lap two, but that also lessened towards the end. And the wind wasn’t a problem at all, not even those gusts that I had seen before leaving returning while I ran. On the other hand, it was getting dark on lap three, and since a kid on something with wheels, probably a scooter or a skateboard, had stopped on the lane right in the spot that I consider the end of sector two and other people were coming towards me, I kept my eyes forward after pressing the button on the stopwatch, so I didn’t even see the seconds while they were large, which made me first slow to a jog at the start of sector three and then, when my eyes still wouldn’t focus on those small digits well enough, I ended up slowing to a walk for a couple of seconds in order to see the time for sector two.
But the people were a serious problem in general, so there was a lot of weaving and going the long way around, sometimes I had to squeeze through, several times I slowed a little, but the notable problems were first on sector two of lap one, when I slowed a lot in order to wait for an opening in a roadblock and also briefly stopped because of a dog with a long leash that went across the path in front of me, going almost to the lake, so there was no way through until the guy who held the leash pulled it back a little. This second problem might have actually been on the long straight, though I’m not quite sure of that. Either way, the next notable problem was on sector three of lap one, when I had to go off the path, around a bench and a garbage can, albeit cutting a turn to some extent in the process. And then, after a lap two with only lesser problems, on lap three I had to slow a lot and take just a step off the path on sector one and almost stop in order to squeeze through a roadblock on the long straight of sector two.

On the way back, I had a quick look in this Mega Image, though I didn’t have a mask and an older woman was coughing badly, so I didn’t stick around… But I found some coins in front of the door, seeing one on my way in and three more, including a 0.50 RON one, on my way out, these latter ones having fallen into that mat, so it took me a moment to pull them out. Then I got back, ate a banana and lunch… And I had just finished lunch when dad got back. If I’d have known that he was going to get back so early, it’d have been clear that he could have given me the metro card either way, but he had made it sound like it’ll be late when he’ll get back. And my key was in the door at that point, so when I heard him I rushed to unlock… And my key got stuck in the second lock, so not in the one that it had been in, to say that the problem might have been caused by him trying to push his key in from the other side. At least the lock still worked, so I could unlock, but there was no way to get the key out, and when dad tried to take the whole thing out we found that the head of one of the screws was damaged, probably ever since the previous time when it was replaced, many years ago, so he couldn’t take it out on his own and we had to make do with it like that for a few days, until someone came to help him.
Either way, I went back out at 7:35 PM and took the metro to Basarab. I meant to also take those things that I take to Kaufland, and while I forgot to do so, I still checked that Kaufland first, just getting some walnuts with Himalayan salt, which were discounted by 75% even though they were a week away from expiring, and a little more food for Liza. The employee who pointed me to a self-checkout that had just freed, even though I was already stepping towards it, grabbed the change left by the previous customer, but I found plenty of coins that day anyway. However, it was only when I was walking away from the machine that I realized that I had forgotten about the flour and the deodorant for dad which I had actually gone there to get, so I put the purchases in a cabinet and went back in to get those, once again using a self-checkout… And just as I was going to retrieve what I had in the cabinet, I heard the announcement about bakery products being discounted by 50%, though it was just 8:45 PM. I didn’t go back one more time, however.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet, I walked to that Carrefour, taking a little time after entering that shopping center to stuff the purchases in the backpack and then entering with them. I found just one of those cheaper breads for dad, but that was enough to not need to also go to Auchan that evening, so I wasn’t rushing anymore and I also grabbed a few expiring products before using a self-checkout. Then, after hesitating for a moment but deciding against returning to that Kaufland, I took the metro again, to Unirii.
After putting my things in a cabinet at that Carrefour, I grabbed the two sweeties that were supposedly spoiling and an expiring carrot cake, or “carrot bread”, but both of those new self-checkouts that also accept cash were out of order. An employee was working on one, and another customer was there, but I didn’t wait to see whether it’ll be fixed, taking out the exact amount and going to a regular checkout… Only for the cashier to charge for the bag that those sweeties were in, so she’d have wanted 0.10 RON more, but I had left the music on, since I was sure that there was no need to talk, so I didn’t even hear what she was saying at first, and by the time I realized that she required something from me and took one of the headphones off, she was saying to forget it, so I shrugged it off and walked away, only actually realizing what she wanted when I looked at the receipt. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet… And, as I walked away, I tripped in a spot where the pavement is a little uneven and fell, with my hand on the box with that cake, squashing it a little, though the fact that it’s flat meant that it wasn’t really damaged.
After again taking the metro, I got off at Dristor and rushed to that Kaufland as well, jogging part of the way, putting my things in a cabinet, using the toilet and entering the store just before 10:45 PM, since that location closed at 11 PM those days. And I just got a few cucumbers and tomatoes, just in case dad wanted some for New Year’s as well, after he had insisted on buying some when he went to grandmother’s for Christmas, and those had been imported and much more expensive, and at least the cucumbers that I got that evening were also listed as being Romanian. A guard told me to head to the checkouts while I was still looking around and I did so, even though it was still a few minutes before 11 PM, so the time on the receipt was seconds before 11 PM… And what was strange was that I heard no announcement stating that the store had closed, even though I took some time to arrange my things after retrieving what I had in the cabinet.
I got back a little after 11:30 PM, put the purchases in their place, washed some of what dad had left in the kitchen and ate those walnuts and that cake, finally going to wash when it was past 12:50 AM. I got back in the kitchen at 1:35 AM, then sliced that bread for dad and also washed some more of what was there, so I started eating dinner at 3:20 AM and it was past 4:10 AM when I finished, after which I also finished washing what was in the kitchen.

After using the last Kapia pepper obtained from Carrefour’s campaign in the salad made in the early hours of January 2, the alarm was set to ring at 1:30 PM, but since Kaufland stores closed at 4 PM that day and dad was supposed to leave by 12:30 PM, I meant to get up earlier if the noise made by him would wake me around noon, to be able to also go to Kaufland after running. And it was just before 11:45 AM when I woke up, when he went to the bathroom, but I fell asleep again while trying to decide whether I really should get up. However, I woke up again minutes later, and a couple of minutes after noon I did get up. Then I had the usual stuff, though I accidentally put a double dose of one kind of tea, and the sweet thing was a slice of cozonac from mother, with added honey. I left at 2:20 PM, wearing the full running gear, with some things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was 16°C, holding steady.
The time was 49:33.76, with sector times of 4:32.14, 5:33.62, 5:59.00, 4:38, 5:15, 6:01, 4:37, 5:08, 5:59 and 1:51.00, making for lap times of 16:04.76, 15:54 and 15:44. Considering the sector times on laps two and three, I guess it wouldn’t have been entirely pointless to remember the exact times, but after the first two sectors I did consider it pointless to do so, only happening to also recall the exact time for sector three of lap one because I happened to also glance at the hundredths and saw the same number that I had seen after sector two. And, while at first I was still hoping to stay under 48 minutes, the park being so crowded made it seem just about impossible, which impression was confirmed after the first sector, and after the second I even had doubts about staying under 50 minutes, which doubts remained after the end of the first lap, even though sector three wasn’t, in itself, bad. But the times did improve to some extent after that, by ten seconds per lap, pretty much as a result of learning how to deal with the crowd and which paths to take in order to lose less time, these gains mainly happening on sector two. I finally knew that I was going to stay under 50 minutes after sector two of lap three, though actually ending up close to 49:30 was a bit of a surprise. It was the worst time in four and a half months, since the second run after getting rid of COVID-19, and also the first time I went over 49 minutes since then, but I’ll take it, under those circumstances.
It was so terribly crowded, with places where I could barely walk, much less run. The worst moment was at the end of sector two of lap one, under the bridge, when I could barely advance at all, at a slow walk, for several seconds, but I had various kinds of major problems on all sectors and couldn’t possibly remember all of them, so I didn’t even try and decided that there was no point in making notes about those that I did happen to remember. I wouldn’t be surprised if the total time lost, directly, because of slowing, stopping and going off the path because of people added up to about two minutes. As for physical issues, a certain pressing need appeared from the start of lap two, but I was too focused on just finding a way through the crowd to pay much attention to it. On the other hand, I did also feel that I couldn’t push as hard as I’d have liked when I found some space, actually feeling that from the first sector, even though I had little room to run over the course of it. I felt somewhat better later, but on sector three of lap three and on the final sector I really felt that I couldn’t push when I found some space and should have done so.

After the run, I jogged to Kaufland, washed my hands and face, only put on the mask after doing so, and entered the store at 3:40 PM, seeing an employee who seemed to be finishing cleaning the bread area, so there was no more bread. But I did grab a number of other bakery products, discounted by 50%, and also just two beets, getting in line a few minutes before 4 PM and being done with the self-checkout ten minutes later, which was faster than I initially thought, considering how long the line was. Then I hurried, without jogging, and also checked Carrefour, putting the purchases in a cabinet and then retrieving them and hurrying back, without getting anything.
I weighed myself after getting back, before eating, and saw the effect of the pizza that I made and ate on New Year’s, plus everything else eaten those days, since I had 49 kg, which hadn’t happened in a long time. Then, after eating a banana and lunch and even doing the day’s squats, I kept changing my mind about going out again, but I eventually decided to have another look at Unirii, for the sweets which I hadn’t managed to get before New Year’s. So I changed and went back out when it was close to 7:25 PM, walking there and, after once again finding that confectionery closed, going to Carrefour. But all of the boxes of those mini cakes had just been produced, there were no discounted, expiring ones, so I just grabbed a bag of oranges that were supposedly spoiling but actually seemed just fine, even though it was actually the only bag that had a 50% discount, the other ones having lower ones. And that time I could use a self-checkout without problems. Then I got back at 9:20 PM, and at night I took a pill, just in case. That spot on my back was not happy, and my feet were burning again, the feeling starting to climb on my legs as well, making it quite clear that the problems with my back are also causing that.

The plan for this post was to also include the next run, to have the last two from 2022 and the first two from 2023, and also cover the first half of January, and it’s strange to just have the last two runs from one year and the first one from the next in a post, but this is how far I got before midnight and I guess that this first run from 2023 doesn’t exactly count, at least in terms of the time, so I’ll leave it like this.

This art style doesn’t get old and works well for such games that don’t take themselves too seriously, but the animations are too slow and George should be able to run, to speed things up a little. However, the audio quality is poor in a few places, some lines seem recorded at different times or even by different people, some dialogues or events don’t quite follow what happened earlier, and you may miss some dialogue options if you don’t select them in a specific order. And the cutscenes that don’t have subtitles may be a problem, though at least the long one does have them.
But the most important aspect of an adventure game are the puzzles, and those tend to work well enough, though I could have used a journal. There were a few places where I tried pretty much everything until I accidentally stumbled into the solution and it’s a good thing that you can’t leave the Baphomet site in Paris, because I’d have never figured out what to do there and would have looked for a solution elsewhere otherwise, but I’d have managed to get through the game without a walkthrough if not for the infamous Goat Puzzle. And what’s frustrating is that I had just about figured it out, but only tried it the other way, and that was after having tried pretty much everything else, so I was thinking that I had hit a bug and checked. The toilet chain is probably a bug though, since it’s not used anywhere and then vanishes from inventory.
Otherwise, the return to Paris from Ireland is rather jarring, the first part from Spain and that from the train seem rushed, and the latter also struck me as unnecessary, and I definitely wondered how did George and Nico reach their destination after that. Plus that the romance is forced, and Nico’s too much of an unknown quantity. In fact, I was thinking early on that I’d have liked to at least be able to actually look around her apartment, to at least get some background information in that manner.

After only managing to get in bed at 5:20 AM the previous morning, on the morning of October 29 I managed to get in bed at the usual 5:15 AM despite shaving and then even losing a quarter of an hour with a mess I discovered in the desk drawer. And I actually slept unusually well, waking up a couple of times but getting back to sleep almost right away and never even needing to get up to pee. Then, after having lunch, I left a couple of minutes before 5:30 PM, taking the recyclables, some trash and 20 bottles. Since this time around, despite leaving the name of the campaign unchanged, they were also accepting glass bottles and aluminum cans but used machines, three of those were glass bottles and the plastic ones weren’t squashed, so I had to use a bag on top of dad’s large backpack. And I left the trash and the recyclables in bins and picked up six more plastic bottles on the way to Carrefour Vulcan, which was once again the second location where that campaign was taking place in Bucharest, though this time around it was the only one where I went, since it had been at Orhideea between September 22 and 26, so just when I did that series of three runs in five days. Of course, I saw way, way more plastic bottles, plus cans and glass bottles, but I considered six to be enough for that day.
I wasn’t worried when I realized that I had turned one street too early, since there’s a way through, and I entered that shopping center just before 7 PM and put 20 plastic bottles in the machine, keeping the three glass ones and three of the smaller plastic ones that I had brought. I asked the guy who was there whether I could bring squashed bottles in any way and he said that I couldn’t, because the machines won’t recognize them and they can’t just take them anymore, like it was done in previous years, which was awfully frustrating. But I also entered the raffle, and only had six products to choose from, so I left the green tomatoes out and got four Kapia peppers, weighing 398 grams, four Bianca peppers, weighing 408 grams, four onions, weighing 555 grams, four potatoes, weighing 575 grams, and since the cucumbers were small I was given six of those, weighing 285 grams. I asked about apples, but I was told that they had finished earlier.
After putting that bag and the backpack in a cabinet, I went to pee and wash my hands, only putting on the mask after that. Then I entered the store, wandered around and stocked up on snacks for dad and also got some corn puffs for myself, those vouchers being offered for chips and salty snacks those days. The self-checkout behaved oddly at first, a message that an employee will come soon appearing when I scanned the first product, but after I called one over and she logged on and cleared that message, there were no other problems. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, put the bag with the vegetables in the backpack, arranged the snacks better in another bag and walked out at 8:05 PM.
I walked in the nearby Auchan with everything, but I was just looking for that cheap bread for dad and didn’t see any, so I went right back out, having no time to lose. And dad called and asked me to get some more of those treats for Liza before the moment when I had to decide whether to also go to Kaufland on the way back or straight to Auchan Vitan, so I went to Kaufland, after having a very quick look in the large Mega Image from Vitan without actually entering the store, since I just wanted to see whether they had any expiring bread and they didn’t.
I reached Kaufland a little before 9:40 PM, but I couldn’t find working cabinets, eventually waiting after a guy and using the one he emptied. Then I entered the store and noticed very cheap grapes, but I first went to the bakery area, taking a glove, since I hadn’t washed my hands, and just getting two regular buns, since nothing better was left. Then I grabbed those treats and returned for the grapes, but it was almost 9:55 PM and an employee was taking the crates away. When she knocked over a crate of pomegranates, I meant to help her gather them, but she said that she’ll take care of it, so I asked if I had time to dig through the grapes but she said no, because she was taking them away, so I gave up on that idea and ended up standing in line at the self-checkouts a little before the announcement that the store had closed. The line was very slow, with a single employee being available to help and almost everyone needing her, but at least I had no problems when my turn came.
After retrieving what I had in the cabinet, I walked out a little after 10:10 PM and continued to Auchan, asking the guard whether I could leave the bag next to him while I went inside. He said that I could, but not for long, so I did so and just grabbed two breads for dad, having no problems with the self-checkout and then getting back there to recover my bag. Then I stopped to put the bread in that bag that hangs from my neck and I was walking out of there just after 10:35 PM.
I got back at 11:15 PM, weighed what I had received, put some of the things in their place, ate some baked pumpkin, and just over an hour after walking through the door I went to the bathroom, showering after ending up just finishing a newspaper while sitting on the toilet despite feeling like I had to go. I was out a couple of minutes before 1 AM and managed to stick to the dinner schedule without problems despite still having to put the peppers and cucumbers in their place, washing what dad had left in the kitchen, also eating the nicer bag of corn puffs and making the tea for the next day. And, since the hour went back, I also wrote that week’s second post that night, and then took the remaining larger bottles that weren’t squashed and tried to straighten a soft one that was, leaving the smaller ones, since I was planning to grab the rest on the way.

On October 30, I got up when the alarm rang, at 10 AM, but before that point I had gotten up to pee three times and woken up at least three more times, and I was actually once again awake for a couple of minutes when the alarm rang. But at least I had lunch before leaving, and also saw that I could take it easy, since the event commemorating the Colectiv club fire had its hours changed, from 4 PM to 10 PM, to 6 PM to 11 PM. So it was a little after 1:10 PM when I left, with just 14 bottles, including the partially straightened one and the three glass ones, though I had 17 by the time I left the building, since I checked the garbage room on this floor and grabbed three bottles, including another glass one, that were there. And I picked up ten more bottles, including one of those that they offered two products for, over the first part of the route, after which I stopped to make sure that I had counted correctly and arrange them a little better. Otherwise, at Unirii I entered that shopping center to pee and wash my hands, albeit without a mask.
I reached Vulcan a little after 3 PM and there was a line at the machines, but when my turn came I had no problems, and I saw the machines take bottles from other people that were quite squashed, which was something of a relief. On the other hand, after writing my name for the raffle while waiting in the second line, just when my turn came the girl who was there said that we should go to the other side, and while she said that the same kind of apples were available on both sides, those on the side that she moved away from looked like Gala to me, while those on the other side were quite clearly another kind, probably Jonaprince. Either way, getting four of each meant 432 grams of Kapia peppers, 393 grams of Bianca peppers, 574 grams of those apples, 623 grams of white potatoes and 637 grams of red potatoes.
After putting that bag and the backpack in a cabinet and going to the toilet, I went back and asked the guy who had also been there the previous day about the apples as well, but he didn’t just say that he didn’t know what kind they were, but did so in a way that made me feel that he was either mocking me or thought that the question had been unreasonable. So, after finally putting on the mask, I took pictures of the apples that were available in the store at that time, to try to identify what I had received, but while I actually did have the camera with me, for some reason I used my phone, so the image quality was poor. And I didn’t buy anything, and when I walked back out the guard asked to see the bag, in which I just had other bags, and also the contents of the jacket’s pockets. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet, put the bag in the backpack and walked out right at 4 PM.
After once again checking that Auchan for some of that bread for dad, again walking in with everything and walking back out almost right away, since I still didn’t see any, I remembered that I also wanted to get some of those bagels for my mother from a new Carrefour Express which had opened in that area, since they seem to be among the products that are always discounted when they open another one of those stores, so I went there, even though it meant walking in the opposite direction for a while, and bought the last two bags that I found, though I wasn’t given a receipt. Then I took some time to put them in the backpack after walking out, took off the mask and went to that commemoration. I might have had enough time for a quick detour to the Carrefour from Unirii, at least to leave the backpack in a cabinet if not to actually check the store as well, but I was sleepy, so I chose to take it easy instead.
I reached Bucur Square just before 5:50 PM, lit the candle which I had brought, took some pictures… Otherwise, I just wandered around, seeing a number of faces that I knew from protests, but only three from the “old guard”, and I just exchanged a few words with one of them. The crowd seemed to be thinning after a while, so I was thinking that the moment will be lost if the planned march won’t start at 7 PM, but it started at 7:15 PM and took just over half an hour. And the participants remained silent after reaching the Prosecutors’ Office, just arranging the pictures of the victims once again and placing candles in front of them before people started to walk away.
I left at 8:20 PM and checked the Mega Image from Unirii, which was open once again, walking in with everything after trying but failing to make the backpack fit in a cabinet. I only put the mask back on when I saw some expiring bread that I could get for dad, since I had to stand in line, and the cashier rounded down the total, but didn’t give me a receipt. And then I went to that Carrefour as well, putting my things in a cabinet… And needing quite some time to untie the small bag that I had those bags of bagels in, since I had tied it with a knot but realized that I was going to need it if I found eggs sold by piece… Which I didn’t, but among the expiring products I found a cake and some mozzarella that I grabbed, also using that voucher received for the snacks and even getting to keep the receipt it was on, that cashier not taking it away. Then I took more time to arrange everything after retrieving what I had in the cabinet and finally left a couple of minutes before 9:30 PM… Which gave me just enough time to get back here before the start of the race if I’ll run, so that was exactly what I did, only slowing to a jog, and for a couple of moments even walking without it being required because I was crossing a street or the pavement was too damaged, after reaching this area and realizing that I still had some time.
I was back at 9:55 PM and looked for a stream, but it took me a while, so I missed the start… And those streams that I was finding were quickly getting blocked, so I could only actually watch a little of the race, ending up only listening to most of it, since a stream of the English commentary was left. While listening, I ate that cake and did 200 squats, also ate one of the apples and some peanuts, and then I weighed what I had received. At 12:10 AM I went to the toilet and to wash… And after washing I realized that I had forgotten the towel, so I rushed to my room, naked and wet, stepping on my heels, to get it. And, after getting back in the kitchen when it was almost 1:25 AM, I had quite a lot to wash, some of the things left by dad also being really greasy and not even with water in them. And I still had to put some of the things that I had brought in their place, and I also found myself slicing the ends of two of dad’s breads, since those parts were not sliced and it just seemed wrong to me. So I only started eating dinner at 3:40 AM, finishing at 4:30 AM.

On October 31, I again slept quite well in the morning, only getting up to pee once and not even hearing when dad got back or got himself something to eat, though what I found in the sink meant that he probably made some noise. And after getting up I straightened seven more bottles, had lunch, did the day’s squats and, a little after 6 PM, I left with 22 bottles, including the three glass ones and six of those granting two products, one of them straightened and one which I had picked up the day before.
I used the metro that day, having dad’s card, and I picked up three more bottles on the way to the station and five more after getting off at Unirii. It was a little before 7:20 PM when I reached Vulcan and there was no line, but I only saw plenty of Bianca peppers, some onions, some apples, and a handful of small potatoes. And I wondered about using some of those bottles that grant two products for more apples, but I was still undecided when the girl who was there came to me while I was digging the bottles out of the bag and my mind pretty much disconnected, so I ended up deciding to use four of those bottles and showed them to her, but instead of getting rid of the large bottles first, I forgot three of them in the backpack but at the same time revealed that I had more bottles in there while struggling to dig those four out, so she told me to leave those as well, but I said that I’ll also come the next day. And then, with my mind still in that state, I couldn’t manage to put the bags back inside each other, so I initially left them in front of the machine and then moved them next to the sign when another person came, so they were out of the way but also away from me. At least I managed to write my name and enter the raffle, but I couldn’t remember whether I also wrote my phone number, so it might have been an invalid entry anyway.
Either way, I was told that I could get 24 products but only out of what they had left, so I asked about the apples and, while they obviously weren’t all of the same kind, she said that they’re considered as being the same, and they’re all the apples that they had left for that day. So I asked for eight apples, but I was actually given ten, five obviously being Idared and weighing 1.139 kg and five being Red Delicious and weighing 808 grams. Then I thought that I was given eight Bianca peppers but there were actually nine of them, and I also asked for four onions, weighing 550 grams. At that point, she said that she had given me the 24 products while I thought that she had only given me 22 and said so, both of us having obviously miscounted, but she didn’t argue and, just as I was about to also ask for two potatoes, added two more peppers and I accepted that, ending up with 11 of them, weighing 1.118 kg.
Even though I then said that I’ll put the bag in a cabinet, she said that she’ll staple it anyway, but since she was still struggling to do so after I retrieved the empty bags from where I had left them, I just took it from her, unstapled, then put it in the backpack, took some time to arrange what was in it, and then put the backpack in a cabinet. Then I went to the toilet and returned to the store, finding some interesting expiring products, and they’re discounted by 65% in that location, and while I was looking a woman walked by and put back another expiring product that I was interested in, so I grabbed that as well, and then added a few other things, having no problems with the self-checkout. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and walked out at 8:10 PM.
Since I had found a Penny that was sort of in that area, that was my next destination, and the cabinets were deep, so I could easily put everything in one. Then I got what I wanted, retrieved my things from the cabinet, took my time to arrange what I put in a bag, and eventually made my way to another metro station, having no problems to find the planned route. However, since I missed the metro by one minute when I got there and then just failed to catch it when I switched at Unirii despite running, it ended up taking me 20 minutes to get from the station where I had entered to the other one that I had considered walking to, the route in that case only being about one kilometer longer, so it’d have been faster to walk.
Either way, I got off at Dristor and went to that non-stop Mega Image, which was also open once again, looking for the rice that was on sale. And I spotted a guy from the “old guard” and nodded at him, and he nodded back, but I didn’t feel like I could handle talking to him, so I wandered around the store a little more, since he seemed about to get in line… Only for him to apparently also wander around for just about the same amount of time, since he got in line right behind me and said that he didn’t know who had greeted him, hidden behind a mask. I said that it helps, especially considering my social anxiety, but he asked me to remove it just a little, since he still didn’t know who I was, only recognizing me once I did. And then we exchanged a few words and I started sweating and my mind pretty much disconnected once again, so I almost gave the cashier 2 RON more, realized that it was too much but still gave her 1 RON more, being confused when she handed it back, and then I put the rest of the money in another pocket without realizing it, so when I went to retrieve what I had in the cabinet and couldn’t find the money where they should have been, I thought that I had left them at the checkout and rushed back while that guy was still being checked out, so he asked whether I had lost something and I said that it seemed like it, but I then found the money in another pocket and said that it was fine. Then I went back to actually retrieve what I had in the cabinet and arranged what I put in a bag, during which time that guy also came there to arrange his purchases and said a few more things until I walked out.
I got back a little after 10:30 PM and exactly one hour later I was back in the kitchen, after having thrown what should be kept refrigerated in the fridge, spreading what I had received on the kitchen table, going to the toilet and washing. Then, after weighing what I had received, I did something else that I had to do that night, after which I ate an apple and dug out all the bottles, setting aside the smaller ones and enough of the soft large ones to have more than what I still needed for the remaining two days, seeing as this time around the campaign only ran for five days in each location. That obviously took a while, and I had a lot to wash as well, and also put the apples and peppers in the fridge, after which I had a little chocolate, so even if I made the salad only from Bianca peppers and an onion, I started eating dinner seconds before 3:40 AM, finishing just before 4:30 AM.

On the morning of November 1, I again woke up to pee multiple times, and one more time because Liza kept digging in the litter box, and after getting up I straightened some more bottles as well as I could and also did the day’s squats. However, I didn’t have lunch before leaving, since I wanted to make pizza in the evening. Either way, I left at 4 PM, with 26 bottles, including those three glass ones that I kept carrying around.
I once again had dad’s metro card, so I took the metro from Dristor and got off at the station that dad had said was closer to Vulcan than the one that I had wanted to get off at, though the difference is actually that the route is straight, even though the actual distance seems to be a little longer, and either way it’s still quite a walk and I’m not sure that either option actually saves time compared to getting off at Unirii, considering the additional time needed to get there by metro. But after getting off at that station I spotted one of those bottles that grant two products and grabbed it, that being the only bottle that I grabbed on the way that day.
I reached Vulcan at 5:05 PM and saw a handful of Kapia peppers and cucumbers left, but a guy with a full cart was ahead and, while the others moved to the other machine, I thought that he couldn’t possibly put everything in, so I waited there… Only for him to actually put everything in, 80 items, and when he was told that he could only take 20 products per person he explained that he had arrived too late the previous day, so he brought his whole family that day in order to make up for it, so he was actually there for four people, and he called them to gather around in order to prove it. But I waited until he was done, by which point just Bianca peppers, apples and some onions were left, so I kept the three bottles that would have granted two products that I had. And the machine reported that the bin was full after I put 14 bottles in, and then did so again after five more, so I needed a third ticket for the last one, one of the guys who was there just opening it and shaking the bin whenever that message appeared, the other one, who had been there each day, telling him to only empty the bin when it’s really full and that doesn’t work anymore. And he also told me that I could fill my information for the raffle on each receipt when I asked, but since 20 bottles are needed in order to enter, I also asked the girl who was there whether I should fill it on one of them and then she’ll staple all three together and she said yes, so that was what happened.
Since I again had to pick from what was left, being unable to follow the rule of no more than four products of the same kind, I got four Bianca peppers, weighing 339 grams, four onions, weighing 572 grams, and 12 apples, weighing 1.57 kg. Some of the apples were definitely Idared, but I was uncertain about others, at least a few probably being Jonathan, though I couldn’t really be sure of it just by looking. But the price was the same, so it makes no difference when it comes to calculating the total value of what I received.
I didn’t put the bag in a cabinet after that girl stapled it, carrying it while having a look in the store, without getting anything, and going to the toilet. I only put it in the backpack before leaving, at 5:40 PM, and didn’t bother to put the backpack in a cabinet after walking to Carrefour Unirii either. And, while they weren’t discounted, I found 14 bio (organic) eggs that weren’t cracked among those sold by piece in that location, so I got all of them, and while I was carefully checking them dad called and said that I should get a bag of cat food for mother from Penny after all, which made me decide to get back here first, not wanting to go to Obor, so I won’t get pissed off if I’ll happen to find discounted eggs sold by piece at that Carrefour after buying those at the full price from there.
Taking the metro, I got back here just after 7:45 PM and left again 35 minutes later, after peeing, putting the eggs in the fridge, leaving the large backpack and taking mine, putting the bags in it, and also taking 30 RON in coins, realizing that I could make use of that campaign again, the cat food being just over that value. But that made me not want to go to the nearby Penny, to avoid any weird looks or comments, in case somebody would have remembered that I had made use of that campaign in that location in June, so I decided to go to the one that’s next to Auchan Titan… And soon realized that I had forgotten to leave the metro card, and since I didn’t turn around, I had to get back before dad left, not wanting to leave him without it even though he had said that he probably won’t need it.
Since I was there, I first went to that Auchan and found that bread that I get for dad, so I got four, though what was frustrating was that an employee came and said that she could help as soon as I went to a self-checkout, entering the quantity and asking me to scan one of the breads, and then she asked for the store card and I realized that I had forgotten to take it. That wasn’t a problem, since scanning it wouldn’t have offered any benefits at that point and I said so, but she said that you never know, pulled out a card, scanned it and then wanted to give it to me, pressing and telling me to give it to a family member or something when I said that I have one but just didn’t take it with me, so I just frowned and left it on the machine.
Then I put the bread in that bag that hangs from my neck and went to Penny, walking in with everything and grabbing a bag of cat food, but asking an employee about that campaign before going to the checkout… Only for her to just ask the cashier, who then used the headset to ask someone else, whose reply apparently wasn’t coming through, so she sent the guard to ask and he came back to say that they had a lot of coins that day, and I heard someone shout something about having just received money from the bank, so they told me to try again the next day… Which wasn’t going to happen. So I just wasted about an hour by coming back here and then leaving again, since I could have just used the metro to go straight there from Unirii. But at least I bought that cat food, put it and the coins in the backpack and then rushed back, since it was already a couple of minutes past 9:30 PM when I left.
Well, I rushed but also stopped a few times, since one reason for rushing was that I also wanted one of those apple pastries, so I wanted to be able to look for them on the way… But I didn’t find any, despite checking all of the four Mega Image locations that are on the way, including that new one that I had never checked before. I put the backpack in a cabinet when I got there, but I didn’t lock the door, just having a quick look and then retrieving it, while in the second location I just had a look from behind the checkouts, in the third I rushed in with everything a few minutes before 10 PM, when it closed, and in this nearby one I only had a look from the door.
I got back just before 10:15 PM, catching dad before he left. Then I weighed what I had received, ate an apple and some baked pumpkin, spent some more time trying to determine exactly how many apples of each kind I had received but was still unable to, checked a few more things, and went to the bathroom at 11:40 PM, just wasting time on the toilet but taking it easy while washing. I was done just before 12:35 PM, but I had to put what I had received in the fridge and some things to wash, also sliced two of dad’s breads, and then made pizza, using the electric oven again. And I can say that I split the pizza into lunch and dinner, taking a first bite out of the first part just before 3 AM, before managing to take a picture, after trying but failing to put everything on the second part and get it in the oven by then as well. Then I finished that part before starting to eat the second one and the salad in my room, as dinner, from 3:45 AM. That first part was rather overcooked, the second a little undercooked, probably because I had once again piled on too many ingredients, but in the end it was fine, and I finished eating at 4:35 AM.

The alternating sleep pattern continued on the morning of November 2, so I once again slept quite well, not hearing dad and only waking up to pee once. There was a second time when I woke up, without needing to pee, and I slept more poorly after that, but at that point it wasn’t long until I had to get up anyway. And after I did get up I left the door to my room open for a while, and while Liza doesn’t normally come here, that day I saw her in my bed, sniffing my pillow, and since I didn’t know what she had done or whether she had recently been in the litter box, I quickly changed the pillow case and the sheet that was on the bed, leaving the one that the blanket was in at that moment. Then I had lunch, with some corn puffs instead of bread, straightened some more bottles and left at 5:20 PM, with 24 bottles, including the three glass ones, those three that granted two products, and also some that I wasn’t sure would be accepted, including one of cooking oil.
I had also taken some trash, which I dumped down the chute, to also have a look in the garbage room, but I was only looking for those bottles that’d have granted two products, so I didn’t pick up anything else, neither there nor on the way, since I didn’t happen to spot any of those despite once again walking all the way, getting there just before 6:40 PM and seeing others put in more than 20 recyclables. A guy even put in the bottles, got the products, and then returned to add some more while I was still there, so maybe they had loosened the limits on that last day, but I stuck to the normal limit of 20, including those three that granted two products, though the girl who was there barely glanced my way when I pointed them out, just saying that I should count them, and when I filled in the information for the raffle and asked whether I should add the fact that I had those three, she said no, even though the one who had been there the other time when I had such bottles did write that number down separately.
Either way, only Kapia peppers, cucumbers and apples were left, and the apples were once again clearly of different kinds but I was told that they counted as a single kind. But it wasn’t like I could pick five different things anyway, so I asked if I could just have Kapia peppers and apples, ignoring the cucumbers and not saying how many of each, and she gave me what I counted as 13 apples and eight Kapia peppers. But I should have been given 23 products, and when I pointed out that there should have been two more she just added two more Kapia peppers without commenting… And I later noticed that it was once again a case of both of us miscounting by one, since I received ten Kapia peppers, weighing 1.32 kg, and a total of 14 apples, 11 of them being Red Delicious and weighing 1.821 kg and the three others, weighing 403 grams, probably being Idared, though there was a chance that at least one of them was Jonathan.
I again didn’t put that bag in a cabinet, though I did try to stuff it in the backpack after she stapled it. I couldn’t do that, but while I was struggling with it I heard a manager say that she’ll send some lettuce as well, and lettuce had indeed appeared among the available products by the time I left the store, but it was too late for me. Either way, I only put on the mask after I gave up trying to put that bag in the backpack, and then I just bought a cabbage. After looking through those that were placed in the open, selecting one that didn’t look that bad and peeling off the outer leaves, I saw a pile of sacks elsewhere, looked in one that was torn and used my key to open another and look in it as well, but what I saw didn’t look much better, so I just kept that first one and used the self-checkout. Then I finally did manage to put the bag with what I had received in the backpack, but the cabbage had to stay in another bag… And by that point I really had to pee, and the cleaner’s cart was just about blocking the entrance to the toilets, but there was still a way to squeeze past it and I saw a few other people in there, so I went, noticing that she was in the women’s, and the men’s did seem to still be usable.
The plan was to walk away from that shopping center at 7:30 PM and that was exactly what I did, taking off the mask at that point. I still didn’t check that Kaufland, however, since it’d have been too early for evening discounts, instead walking to the one from Vitan. I somehow took a wrong turn at Carol Park, but I quickly realized it and went back… And some time later I bumped into Andreea. I nodded at her, she nodded back, we took a couple more steps, and then we both stopped and turned, after which we exchanged a few words. Either way, the plan was to just quickly check for green onions with an evening discount at that Kaufland, and if didn’t see any I was going to rush to the newer one instead, but after needing to try a few cabinets before finding one that locked and just putting the cabbage in there and then also washing my hands, I walked in right at 9 PM, with the backpack, and actually saw many green onions, so I could stay there and take it easy.
I didn’t see anything that I’d have cared to get among the products that had evening discounts in the bakery area, and scanning a couple of price labels confirmed that what I was interested in wasn’t discounted, so I went back to look through the green onions. All of the bundles were small and not too good, but I eventually picked one and replaced one of the onions from it with a loose one that was better. Then I started digging through the loose grapes that had a deep discount, and while I was doing so a woman who was picking from those of another kind, which had far lower discount, handed me a 5 RON bill and told me to leave those and get myself some of those other ones. But, on top of the price difference, I really don’t want that kind of grapes, apparently not even if literally paid to get some, so I rather harshly said that I didn’t want to, she insisted, I refused even more firmly and she finally walked away and I continued digging until an employee came and started taking away the crates with the other kinds, walking away after she did so and I assumed that she’ll want to also take those that I was picking from. A 75% discount for bakery products had just been announced anyway, and it seemed to apply to everything that was left, so I rushed back there, put on a glove, since my hands were dirty, and quickly grabbed four regular buns, since little else was left and other customers were also taking those, plus two sweet pastries. Then, after looking around for a little while, I got some potatoes that also had a good evening discount and saw that those really cheap grapes were actually still there, so I picked some more, stopping just before closing time and being just about to reach the self-checkout area when the announcement came. The line was huge, however, so I waited for quite a while, but at least there were no problems with the machine when my turn finally came.
After retrieving the cabbage from the cabinet and arranging the purchases a little, I rushed to that Mega Image, putting the backpack in one cabinet and a bag in another even though they had no keys and entering with the bag hanging from my neck. But I only wanted to see if any of those apple pastries were left and discounted, and that wasn’t the case, so I just retrieved my things and left, wanting to also have time to check another Mega Image on the way back. However, even though that’s supposed to close at 11 PM and I got there just before 10:45 PM, it was apparently already closed. That one that’s next to Tei is non-stop, but I just looked at the bakery area through the window, not entering when I didn’t spot any discounted sweet pastries.
I got back just before 11:10 PM, having carried 15.5 kg, though almost six only from Kaufland. After putting the potatoes in their place, I ate a sweet pastry, weighed what I had received, then also ate an apple, washed some of what was in the kitchen, changed the sheet that the blanket’s in as well, and finally went to wash at 1:05 AM. I got back in the kitchen just before 1:50 AM, but I had more things to wash and the apples, Kapia peppers and cabbage to put in the fridge, and I also ate the rest of the corn puffs, so I only finally started eating dinner at 3:55 AM, finishing at 4:45 AM and getting in bed at 5:20 AM.

I’ll also add here that the alternating sleep pattern no longer applied that morning, since I again slept really well. Dad left early and I did wake up at that point, but I immediately fell back to sleep and didn’t even wake up during the earthquake, which was apparently the biggest one in four years. I did wake up to pee later, but just once. On the other hand, in the afternoon I cut myself badly, or more exactly peeled off a small patch of skin, while removing the bad parts from a quince that dad had brought, and I tore off that tiny flap of skin before putting on a bandage. The scar is still clearly visible.

I managed to post four out of the five days before midnight, which was actually pretty good, and I edited the post in order to add the part about November 2 and the paragraph about November 3 the following evening. It’s a huge post, but at least I finally posted about all of this as well. And I’ll end it with the totals, which I added in the early hours of Tuesday, since I didn’t want to rush: I received 23 Bianca peppers, weighing 2.258 kg, 18 Kapia peppers, weighing 2.15 kg, 16 Red Delicious apples, weighing 2.629 kg, 12 onions, weighing 1.677 kg, eight white potatoes, weighing 1.198 kg, six cucumbers, weighing 285 grams, four red potatoes, weighing 637 grams, and four Jonaprince apples, weighing 574 grams. And then there were those 20 apples that weighed 3.112 kg and were mostly Idared, but a few of the smaller ones were probably Jonathan. I’m quite sure about three of them being Jonathan, but whether that was it or there were one, two or three more, I couldn’t say. And I still have some of the apples, including a few of the larger Red Delicious ones. Either way, the total value, at the prices that were in Carrefour those days, was 91.08 RON. Of course, lower prices could likely be found in other places, but I’m just calculating the same way I did last year.

I’m writing this on four hours of sleep, if even that, and I slept very badly yesterday as well, but today I wanted to get up to watch the Formula E race, so I’ve been up since 11:20 AM, when the alarm rang, and awake pretty much since before 10 AM, since it was a few minutes before 10 AM when I went to pee and checked the time and I had been awake for at least a few minutes at that point, and if I managed to get back to sleep after that at all, it was at most for one or two very brief moments. But I need to write this week’s first post, so I might as well make it about the fact that I’m recovering, or at least I hope that I’m recovering, from a cold, just shy of three years after the last time I had something like this, not counting getting COVID-19 last year. And it does seem to just be a cold, while that one seemed like a pretty bad flu, though I have also been taking things now, no longer trying to just push through it, which likely made quite a difference.

It started last Wednesday, on February 1, as these things usually do, with my throat being quite sore. I had eaten quickly the previous night, and I was thinking that having a bag of snacks without really chewing had probably hurt my throat, but even if the soreness diminished over the course of the day, it seemed too bad to really be caused by that, and my nose was also irritated, so I was getting worried. On the other hand, I’ll also mention here that I finished Kindred Straits that day, after having started it on January 23, and three days later I finally managed to write a review, since I received it in a giveaway and wanted to write a little more than I usually do in the quick ones.
To get back to the cold, when the soreness returned the following day, while I was in bed, I was still trying to tell myself that it was something else, that perhaps all of the mamaliga which I had made and eaten the previous night had prevented the damage caused by those snacks from healing, and the soreness did diminish significantly over the course of the day, though the fact that I also took something for it in the afternoon likely had something to do with that. But later it became clear that something was wrong, since I was feeling really tired, just wanted to stay in bed, and I also started to cough a little, so I took another pill in the evening, and while that and a brief nap made me feel noticeably better at night, before going to bed there was a feeling of having something in my chest that was making me cough. On the other hand, I’ll also mention here that, after the enamel from the bottom of the new cast iron pot, on the outside, seemed to have just chipped off on its own while it was in the sink, after what I think were just four uses, when I washed it again that night, after what I think was the fifth use, I saw a few small scratches inside as well, despite being really careful with it…
Moving on to last Friday, I woke up with a stuffy nose, and it felt like I had crap all the way to my left ear, and that area was also hurting, but I wasn’t exhausted anymore, my chest felt better, and that ear also got somewhat better after I managed to get enough crap out of my nose. So I stuck to the plan and ran, and then went back out in the evening, but seeing as I’m yet to even write about the last two runs from December, I’ll leave all of that for another time and just say that the run showed that my body wasn’t otherwise affected, at least not at that point, and I actually felt quite fine until I ate at night, at which point I started coughing and my nose started running, so I took two pills before going to bed. And coughing badly at night has pretty much been the rule since then.
I actually felt quite fine the following day as well, at least until that cough returned, at night, starting to take some cough syrup not seeming to make a difference. And Sunday was just about the same, until late in the evening, when I crawled in bed and ended up falling asleep, which led to only going to the kitchen at 1:15 AM, and then I also talked to dad a little, and there were things to wash as well, and I was occasionally coughing even while making dinner, not only after I started to eat, which made me even slower, so I ended up eating dinner between 3:20 AM and 3:55 AM, and the cough was really bad after that.
I added to the “treatment scheme” the next day, when a new problem also appeared, my right eye being red when I got up. Since dad had also had conjunctivitis, and it’s quite clear that I got this cold from him, it was to be expected, but by night it was getting really bad, with some crap flooding out of my eye, making it hard to keep it open at all and crusting over again within minutes of washing it. Plus that the cough was so bad pretty much as soon as I started eating dinner that it was hard to find moments when I could swallow, and my nose started running then as well.
Tuesday, I woke up with a bit of a headache, but it soon went away, and that eye was also much better, but my throat was a little sore again, though the feeling was different from what it had been during those first two days, making me think of tonsilitis… Which actually made me realize that I hadn’t had the usual reaction from those additional lymph nodes that I have all over that area. And that reaction didn’t come then either, since even that small amount of pain tended to go away later. And I was feeling better in general, compared to the previous day, though that constant cough returned while eating dinner and my left eye also started to sting a little at night, a little of that crap starting to seep out of it as well.
The fact that my left eye was also affected became very obvious while I was in bed, but after I got up the next day it got better. On the other hand, not long after getting up I spat out quite a lot, and while that didn’t continue over the course of the day, I was coughing more, without it being connected to eating or being in bed. So I finally took a bath that evening, in good part simply because I hadn’t washed since last Friday, but also because I hoped that it would help… But, at that moment, it definitely didn’t feel like it did, because I suddenly crashed while washing. I just felt really weak all of a sudden, and then I crashed mentally too, was whimpering and just wanted to curl in a ball and not do anything else. And the fact that the pulse oxymeter wouldn’t “see” my finger when I tried to check the oxygen level only made it worse, since I assumed that it was rather low and got even more worried. And I was already considering not making a salad, trying to see whether I’d cough less, in case the cabbage was irritating on the way down, so that settled it and I just had an onion alongside the slices of bread, eating in the kitchen again. And maybe that helped, because I coughed much less that night.
Less coughing meant sleeping much better and I definitely tried to recover that lost sleep, so Thursday I only finally got out of bed around 4:30 PM, feeling much better, even though I again spat out a lot after getting up. And I wanted to focus on the cough and its causes, so I improved the “treatment scheme” a little more and also made myself some soup. I only ate some of it that day, however, though I now plan to have some more tomorrow, maybe splitting what’s left with dad in order to finish it. Either way, once again having a normal dinner meant coughing a lot at night yet again.
And the original plan for this post was to write about all of yesterday, but between watching various things and making mamaliga again this evening, I didn’t even manage to finish this paragraph by midnight, posting what I had and then making many changes and additions to it, and also adding the last paragraph, while eating at night. So I’ll just say that, even though I didn’t run this week, at least I went out again yesterday, and that was despite only getting in bed at 5:25 AM and hardly getting any sleep, because of the cough. I barely got minutes of sleep before going to pee, just after 8 AM, and it was quite bad after that as well, but I did manage to get some naps and it was somewhat better after the second time I went to pee, around 11:15 AM, though I only noticed some actual relief when I woke up yet again, after dad did, and at that point I had to get up anyway. So I did, once again spat out a lot of crap, and then I went out, and wandered around, wearing an FFP2 mask, and I must say that I felt almost completely fine while I was out, in fact only coughing a total of three times, all of them while I was indoors. Admittedly, I felt like coughing more while I was on the metro, but I was able to hold it back, while on the other hand I coughed six times by the time I went to wash, half an hour or so after getting back, without eating anything or lying down, proving that the poor air quality is a serious problem in here… Not that any more evidence was needed… Nor that dad will care. But that’s another topic, so I’ll get back to last night and say that I replaced the second dose of cough syrup, which I had only taken the previous night, with something which I had just bought that evening, and that, while it continued to be quite a problem, I did cough a fair bit less than before.
As for today, I spat and blew out a whole lot, once again something just seeming to trigger it and then not having a second such moment over the course of the day. But I had to split that one instance into multiple parts, trying to regain enough strength to cough or even blow my nose again, and after a while it felt like I was pulling that crap from the depths of my chest or sinuses. And there was some pain in the roof of my mouth, towards my throat, and now I realize that the feeling might have actually started to appear last evening. In fact, something felt swollen in that spot while I was spitting that crap out, and while that’s no longer the case, it gave me the impression that at least some of those lymph nodes were reacting like they used to, for better or worse. But, with the exception of my left eye still bothering me just a little, after I was done spitting and blowing I felt almost completely fine, and since yesterday I finished a box of what I had started taking on Monday, I decided to stop taking the other two pills as well and just stick to the cough syrup and that other thing that I started taking last night, plus the vitamin C and zinc supplement that I had already been taking before getting this cold. Now let’s see what the night and the coming days will bring.