On the evening of December 28, I left just after 8:30 PM, once again wearing a mask and taking the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up a few more on the way to Auchan and putting them in the machine when I got there. And then I was surprised to find the kind of cat food that I was looking for, and several boxes of it, though I only noticed the only unopened one after taking what would have been two boxes of cans, so I kept those, and then I added a cabbage, and while looking through the spoiling products I saw Pinova apples, listed as being Romanian, and clementines, the discount being 45%, so I took a bag of each. On the other hand, I’m quite sure it’s the first time when a self-checkout from Auchan told me to make sure that I had correctly scanned the product, after scanning the cabbage, but I could just continue, also using the voucher received for the recyclables.
After taking my time to arrange the purchases, putting that cat food in the backpack but holding on to the cardboard boxes because I was looking for a recycling bin, it was a few minutes before 10 PM when I walked out, deciding to risk going to that Kaufland next, assuming that the closing time had also changed to 11 PM even though the site still listed the normal one for Sunday, 8:30 PM, for that location. And when I got there I saw that I was right, so I put the few recyclables picked up on the way in the machine, after which I put the purchases in a cabinet and those cardboard boxes in the proper recycling bin from there, since I hadn’t seen another one until then. And then I peed and washed my hands, entering the store when it was past 10:20 PM and barely seeing a couple of other customers, so I guess that few had risked it. On the other hand, there were few evening discounts and none of them interested me. But there was a 25% discount on beer and I wanted to get some for dad, but first I tried one that also had a regular discount those days, needing to call the employee to authorize the sale and then telling him to cancel it when I saw that only the regular discount applied. So I took those beers back and got another kind, also added cornmeal, an imported bio (organic) sweet thing that wasn’t expiring but was among those products and discounted because the wrapping was a little torn, and two of those cheap yogurts, having to call over the employee once again for the beer and then also using the voucher received for the recyclables. And then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and arranged everything, walking out a couple of minutes before 11 PM.
On the way back, I also checked the non-stop Mega Image, picking up a few recyclables, taking the labels off a few others that were crushed, and putting my bags into two cabinets that didn’t lock, no free ones having keys, before entering with the backpack and getting some sweet pastries that had the 50% evening discount. The guard asked whether I had entered with what I had in the backpack after I paid, taking my word for it when I confirmed it and said that I had already filled two cabinets and couldn’t fit the backpack in there as well. So I then retrieved those bags, added the new purchases, and grabbed several more recyclables on the way back.
I was back at 12:10 AM, with a little over 20 kg. Then I cleaned the litter box, but dad was visiting a neighbor, so I left the bag for him to take out when he’ll get back. And, after putting the yogurt and the sweet pastries in the fridge, I also left the beer on the table and the cat food for him to split between what he’ll take to mother and what he wanted to keep here. And, after eating one of the Pinova apples, it was a little after 1:15 AM when I went to wash, noticing another bite while I did that, on my lower left leg that time. Either way, I was done just before 2 AM, but only went back to the kitchen 15 minutes later. And then I took an immunity supplement again, being unable to find any expiration date, ate a small bag of chips which had expired at the start of the month, put jam on a large doughnut and ate that as well, and finally ate dinner between 5:05 AM and 6 AM. During that time, I once again noticed those SSL errors from BOINC which had first appeared a week earlier and it took me quite a while to figure out what I had done to fix them that first time, finally doing so again once I did, the problem apparently being that the system can’t check that the certificates are still valid if the firewall blocks connections, so I had to temporarily unblock them and open those certificates, doing so under both computer and user certificates, which seemed to do the trick that day. Either way, I got in bed at 7:10 AM.
Since dad had yet again said that the workers were supposed to come and install those things in the holes drilled in the walls and that he was going to wake up at 7:45 AM and wait for them, waking me if and when they’ll come, I was wondering whether I’ll even get to fall asleep. But, just like a week before, they didn’t come, and dad apparently also got back to bed and got up again at 10:30 AM, so just after that, when he went to the bathroom, I woke up and had to pee, using the other bathroom, since he said that he was going to take a while. But, while it was some time before I got back to sleep after that, I then basically slept until almost 3:50 PM, waking up a couple of times but getting right back to sleep, I’d say without even moving. And it was almost 4:45 PM when I actually got out of bed.
Moving on to the early hours of December 30, after waiting for dad to get back before deciding whether to add one more thing to what I had for lunch and not brushing my teeth until then, I ended up starting to eat dinner after midnight, finishing after 1 AM, and then getting back to the kitchen still without brushing my teeth, so it was for the first time in a very long time when I only brushed my teeth once in a day. And, after taking another vitamin D3 supplement, this one expired for over a year, I ate dinner between 3:50 AM and 4:30 AM. And then I also went to the toilet before going to bed, so I only did so at 5:40 AM.
At least it was still quiet and I slept well, getting up to pee twice and waking up a couple more times, but only needing some time to get back to sleep on one of the occasions, when dad also woke up soon after and Liza went to the litter box as well. But the plan was to run, so I got up after the alarm rang, at 1 PM, and ate one of the Pinova apples, mixed the cereals and expired baked and salted almonds into a bio (organic) yogurt that was expired for a week and moved into a jar for most of that time and ate that as well, and then had a slice of cozonac, with added honey, as the sweet thing. I left a little after 3:45 PM, when the reported temperature was 3-4°C, dropping to 2°C when I finished, so I wore the running tights and t-shirt, but also the undershirt and t-shirt that I had worn inside those days, that thinner and pretty torn training shirt, that thing that goes on my neck, and the older gloves, plus the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran.
The time was 50:17.49, with sector times of 4:18.93, 5:14 (5:13.90), 6:04.03, 4:37 (4:36.91), 5:47.09, 5:59 (5:58.84), 5:18 (5:17.72), 5:10.31, 5:58 (5:57.79) and 1:52 (1:51.97), making for lap times of 15:36.86, 16:23 (16:22.84) and 16:26 (16:25.82). I was hoping to get under 49 minutes and the first sector was decent, but the second and third were rather poor, so while I covered the first lap in less than the 15:40 that’d be the lap time target for 49 minutes, it seemed like staying under 50 minutes was the reasonable target… Only for that to also become questionable after having to retie a shoelace on sector two of lap two, my fingers being stiff because of the cold meaning that I clearly lost more than the usual 25 seconds or so, though I didn’t actually look at the stopwatch at that point. So I really went for it after that, which led to just needing 16 minutes on lap three to stay under 50… Only to need to retie that shoelace yet again, on sector one of lap three! And the fact that it was about to get itself into a knot made it even more difficult, and that time I did check, so I know that I lost at least 45 seconds with it and it seemed like I was looking at getting close to 51 minutes, the target becoming to squeeze under 50:45, to know that I would have gotten under 50 without that second problem. But I pushed even more, wondering whether I could get under 50:30. That became questionable after stopping for a few seconds on sector three of lap three, to get a better look at the time, but I was actually already safe at the end of the lap. So the time’s awful in itself and even the actual running time was pretty bad, but I’d have probably achieved my initial target of squeezing under 49 minutes without those problems.
There were relatively few people, but I did have to go the long way around quite a number of times, and on sector one of lap three I hesitated when a kid couldn’t decide whether to walk across the lane or wait for me to pass. Otherwise, as soon as I started running I felt something that I thought meant that the nail was digging into my left big toe, which was unusual and it bothered me a fair bit for a while, before the feeling went away, probably also because my toes were getting rather numb, though it didn’t return on lap three, when I started sweating a little and my toes didn’t feel numb anymore. A bigger issue, however, was that throughout the run I felt like I wasn’t quite getting enough oxygen, and it wasn’t because my nostrils were tightening, since that only started happening towards the end of lap three. And it was around that same time, on sector three of lap three, when I felt a few warnings from my lower right leg. On the other hand, a certain pressing need first appeared on sector two of lap one, though it then faded until sector three of lap two, when it returned, getting worse after I restarted running after retying that shoelace the second time, on sector one of lap three, so it was a relief when it faded again after a little while. But, of course, the major loss of time was because of that left shoelace, which got loose on sector two of lap two and it didn’t look like I could just tighten it again, so I had to untie and retie it with stiff fingers, which I’m quite sure took over 30 seconds, only for it to not only get untied yet again on sector one of lap three, but also be about to get itself into a knot at that point, costing me at least 45 seconds. And then, also as I already mentioned, on sector three of lap three I stopped for a few seconds in order to get a better look at the time.
After getting the jacket back on, which I didn’t really need to do in that case, I pretty much ran the rest of the way back, though I also picked up a recyclable. And after taking my socks off I noticed that the problem with that toe was some inflammation, if not a little infection as well, possibly from a hangnail. Either way, I then cleaned the litter box, found that I really had to go to the toilet again, ate lunch, did the day’s squats, and left again a little after 8:40 PM, once again wearing a mask and taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
After picking up a few more recyclables on the way, I reached the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM a little before 9 PM and started putting them in the machine, stopping when the cart with the products that are discounted by 90% was brought, so I still missed some things, but I did get a couple, and then I added an apple circle as well, even if the 50% discount makes it cost about the same as the full price of some other sweet pastries that are also good. Either way, after putting the rest of the recyclables in the machine, I cashed in one of the vouchers, used the other when I paid for the purchases, and then arranged them.
After checking Carrefour, entering through the parking lot, putting my things, including a few recyclables picked up on the way, in a cabinet and then just retrieving them, I grabbed one more recyclable and put them in the machine from Kaufland, spotting a crushed one in that parking lot and taking its label after that. But then I continued to that Mega Image, getting there a little before 10 PM, putting my things in a cabinet that didn’t lock, since none did, waiting for the products with the 90% discount to be brought, and despite considering several things, I eventually just got two nice yogurts, plus some more bakery products that had the 50% discount, and the cashier rounded down the total a little. Then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet, arranged everything, and put the stuff back in a cabinet when I reached Kaufland, entering the store a little before 10:30 PM and seeing germinated wheat that was listed as being discounted by 90% but was actually discounted by 95%, the listed base price being half of what it should be, so I took all of it, plus another bag of cornmeal, to be able to use the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid. And, after retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging once again, I still walked out just before 11 PM, and on the way back I grabbed some more recyclables.
I was back a few minutes after 11:30 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to somehow shove a small bag into the overflowing chute, ate an orange and the new apple circle, though I had an older one as well, put the purchases in their place, cleaned up a little in the kitchen and in a part of the hallway, since dad had gotten breadcrumbs just everywhere, and it was 1:50 AM when I went to shower, the water not being good enough for more than that. I was done at 2:20 AM, but then I took care of a couple of other things, and also took another one of those supplements for immunity, or at least most of one, since the pill looked rather suspicious to me and I couldn’t see an expiration date, so I eventually broke off the corner that had a strange color. And I finally ate dinner between 5:15 AM and 6 AM. And, after putting some cream on my hands, since the back of them was a little red, maybe just because of the gloves, I got in bed at 7:15 AM.
I woke up at 11 AM, after dad did, and while I got back in bed after exchanging a few words with him and going to pee, when I heard Liza in the litter box I went to clean it, and then getting back to sleep proved impossible, though I only gave up and got on the computer at 1:10 PM… So I might as well have gone out, since I had considered rushing to Penny Titan in the first part of the day, to give another 30 RON in coins, since it was the last day of the campaign, unless it’ll get extended again. Not that I don’t still have one voucher, and it’s valid until January 29, and any other received by the end of the year would have had to be used by then as well. But at least not going out allowed me to install and play the Gothic 1 Remake Demo (Nyras Prologue), finishing it after managing to nap for an hour or so in the evening and posting a quick review the next day. So I have one more item on the list of games for 2025… Not that it really counts, but No Response would count even less, so they’re both just something to add there, getting the total to five if you do count them.
Skipping to the early hours of January 2, I took another one of those vitamin D3 supplements expired for over a year, the plan being to take one per day this month, at least on days when I won’t take something else. But the plan for that day was to run again, in case the weather would be as unsuitable the following week as the forecast indicated, so I set the alarm to ring at 1 PM and managed to get right back to sleep after waking up to pee the first time and then even after waking up again after dad did, but that was no longer the case after being startled awake again when he made some louder noise in the kitchen, at 9:35 AM, so I peed again and then tossed and turned for what must have been about an hour, since it was around 10:15 AM when he left, Liza had two “concerts” after that, and it was some time after the second when I finally fell asleep again. And I happened to wake up one more time even after that, but at least I yet again got right back to sleep at that point, getting up after the alarm rang, feeling something in the right side of my abdomen that might have been from my liver or reflected from my back, which was going to be a problem. Still, I ate another Pinova apple, mixing the cereals and baked and salted almonds into a recently expired “Greek” yogurt with 8% protein and 2% fat and eating that as well, and having another slice of cozonac, with added honey, as the sweet thing. I only left a little in the toilet, but I had gone before going to bed, so that didn’t seem like an issue. And I went out just after 3:30 PM, wearing the full running gear, that thinner shirt, that thing that goes on my neck, and the older gloves, plus the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. The reported temperature was 6°C, maybe dropping to 5°C by the time I finished.
The time was 49:08.79, with sector times of 4:28.17, 5:19.37, 6:05.10, 4:39 (4:38.37), 5:10.63, 5:54 (5:53.40), 4:34.50, 5:07.13, 5:55 (5:54.34) and 1:57.78, making for lap times of 15:52.64, 15:43 (15:42.40) and 15:36 (15:35.97). I started by hoping to stay under 49 minutes, but the first sector was already rather slow, and the second was just awful, making me wonder whether I’ll even squeeze under 50 minutes. Since that meant 16 minutes per lap, on sector one of lap two I already lost more than I could afford to lose over the whole lap compared to the first one, so from then on I tried to take advantage of any clearer area to push more, the next two sector times being quite a relief and making me aim to stay under 49:30. After sector one of lap three I even had a moment when I wondered whether I had any sort of chance to squeeze under 49 minutes after all, if I really gave everything, and after the following sector it still didn’t seem entirely impossible. But at the end of the lap I knew that I didn’t have enough left to obtain the required time on the final sector, and ending up pretty much walking in two spots as I went up the stairs did away with any trace of even a theoretical chance. So it was a less bad time than I feared for most of the run, but worse than what I aimed for at first and definitely a bad time in itself.
Admittedly, it was really crowded, so while I only made a particular mental note of briefly stopping on sector two of lap one, when a kid on a bicycle was on the lane, looking down, and seemed to suddenly realize that I was coming and swerved away just when I turned in the same direction, and of a group coming down the stairs at the start of the final sector and making me slow to a walk to let them pass so I won’t need to go all around them, that was because there was no way to remember all the other moments when I slowed, struggled to squeeze through, stepped off the path or was otherwise noticeably hindered. That said, while I don’t know whether that was really the case or I had just gotten more used to the situation and better at making my way through, things seemed better on lap three. On the other hand, it was on that lap when it felt like my right nostril was tightening a little, though it remained a pretty minor issue. And so was that feeling from the right side of my abdomen, which seemed to drop lower soon after I started running and remained pretty much at the level of a warning after that. And while that toe once again bothered me at first, and a slight pressing need also appeared very early on, both problems faded away after a while, the fact that my toes were feeling rather frozen by the end of the first lap probably helping with the first issue, though it didn’t return even when, towards the end of the run, my toes didn’t feel frozen anymore. That pressing need did return, however, after the start of lap two, becoming pretty notable for a little while, but then it went away again. But the main problem was how crowded it was, and while there have been times when I had to deal with worse crowds, there were quite a number of spots where it was more a matter of making it through than really running.
After putting the jacket back on, which once again meant just losing time under the circumstances, I jogged back, and after writing some quick notes about the run I changed, albeit leaving on the running t-shirt and the shirt, and left again at 5:25 PM, once again wearing the mask and jogging to Kaufland, since it closed at 6 PM that day and even so it was almost 5:40 PM when I entered. But I saw a good evening discount on a different kind of cheese and bought a piece, along with another deeply discounted small piece of a processed meat product that I got for dad, and was back out before closing time.
Then I continued to that Mega Image, which closed at 7 PM that day, entering it just after 6 PM, with those purchases in one of the jacket’s inside pockets, and getting bread for dad and a small baguette for myself, these having the 90% discount, plus two buns, a sweet pastry, and some leek that had the 50% discount… Only to get in line and find that the money weren’t in the pocket where I usually keep them! And after quickly checking the other places where I thought I might have put them in a hurry, I threw the purchases from Kaufland in the bag, along with what I wanted to buy from Mega Image, and with the boldness created by desperation I just walked past the guard and put that bag in a cabinet, which I didn’t lock, rushing out and hoping to still find someone at Kaufland, as unlikely as it was to be able to recover lost money. However, after crossing half of the street, while waiting to be able to cross the other half I checked a pocket of my pants that I hadn’t checked in Mega Image and found the money there. I don’t know why I had put them there, and definitely didn’t remember doing so, but there they were, so I went back, retrieved what I had in the cabinet, paid for the purchases, not being charged for the bag that the leek was in, and then went back out, spread things out on a bench, and arranged everything.
Since Carrefour had returned to the normal schedule, closing at 10 PM, I went there next, ending up entering with everything when I saw that all of the cabinets were in use, and in fact some other people were also waiting there and hoping for someone to come and empty one. But I didn’t find anything to get, so I then walked back out and picked up a couple of recyclables on the way back, plus two plastic bottles that I thought might be suitable for some of the labels that I had, though I wasn’t sure. Either way, I got back a little after 7:30 PM, later doing the day’s squats as well, and otherwise having a pretty normal evening. My right nostril was a little irritated, however, and at night I skipped the vitamin D3 because those supplements for immunity contain that as well and I took another one of those, and since that one looked just fine it made it clear that something had been wrong with the one taken after the previous run.
Skipping to the early hours of January 5, I forgot to take that vitamin D3 supplement, and then I saw those SSL errors again, and opening those certificates while temporarily allowing connections didn’t fix them anymore. So, after getting up, I gave in and allowed connections for good again, also finally installing those Windows updates from November that were still offered even to those not using a Microsoft account to enroll for extended updates, and at some point during that process the SSL errors went away as well. I was offered the “upgrade” to Windows 11 23H2 after that, but I set the target to stay at Windows 10 22H2 through group policy and that went away.
After a late nap, waking up after midnight, spending a little more time in bed after that, going to the toilet, reading the water meters, cleaning and washing what was in the kitchen after dad cooked, and baking beets for the salad that also included an orange and leek instead of green onions, I ended up eating dinner between 3:50 AM and 4:20 AM… And I’m not sure whether it was mainly because I was paying attention, but the spot at the back of the left side of my head, which I had noticed a couple of days earlier was definitely painful when pressed, far more so than what I had been worried about at the top of my head, seemed to feel weird even without being touched. Either way, I also shaved, after I can’t even remember how long, mainly because dad was bringing mother over again, ending up getting in bed at 5:35 AM.
I got up after the alarm rang, at 1 PM, and had the usual stuff, including some more of those expired baked and salted almonds, though the yogurt was a drinkable one, nice but expired on December 31, and the apple a smaller one which was probably bio (organic), though there’s also a chance that it was just a regular Gala apple, I’m not entirely certain. The problem was that, after a major malfunction leading to the hot water having a lower temperature in much of the city had been announced two days earlier and yet it had remained good enough at least for showers, and occasionally even actually hot, and it had been decent even when I shaved in the morning, at that point it was well below body temperature. Still, I had decided to run again, leaving the previous week’s second run as another extra one, so I also had a slice of cozonac, with added honey, and left just after 3:40 PM, wearing the full running gear, that thinner shirt, that thing that goes on my neck, and the older gloves. The reported temperature was 4-5°C, holding steady… And on the way to the park I realized that I had once again forgotten to take more than a couple of little sips of tea.
The time was 49:27.29, with sector times of 4:18.60, 5:16 (5:15.69), 6:07.09, 4:42.28, 5:15 (5:14.47), 6:01.19, 4:40 (4:39.72), 5:20.06, 5:54.50 and 1:54 (1:53.69), making for lap times of 15:41.38, 15:58 (15:57.94) and 15:54.28. After feeling myself slowing a few times on the first sector, that time was better than I thought, but then the next two sectors were really bad, especially for a first lap, so if at the start I was hoping to stay under 49 minutes, after the end of it I was wondering whether I’ll even stay under 50, knowing that I needed to cover lap two in less than 16 minutes for that… And sector one of lap two made that unlikely, so I then pushed harder, which didn’t seem to help on sector two but was just enough on sector three for the lap to stay under 16 minutes after all. That made me wonder whether I might just squeeze under 49:30, even if that required a less slow lap three, and while its first sector was at least a little less slow than the previous lap’s, any chance of that seemed gone after the second sector. But then I really went for it on sector three of lap three, resulting in only the second decent sector of the day, after the very first one, and a time after three laps that should have allowed me to squeeze under 49:30 after all. And I did, but that’s obviously a bad time just as well.
What makes it worse is that there were relatively few people and probably less than a usual amount of weaving and going the long way around, though there was one moment, at the end of sector three of lap two, when a woman stopped and turned in front of me, right on the lane, probably looking at the child who was close to the lake, and when I stepped off the path in order to avoid her I slipped on the mud, though at least I didn’t fall. On the other hand, it was wet, and while the few puddles weren’t notable problems on their own, I wonder whether wanting to make sure that I didn’t slip didn’t make me slightly slower in general. I also felt some drops by the end of sector one of lap two, and on sector three of lap two it was clearly drizzling, though after that it stopped. And it was also on lap two, but on sector two, when a certain pressing need appeared, but that didn’t last long either. And neither did the feeling that I had to snap my back and the pain in my abdomen which was probably reflected from there, which appeared as early as sector two of lap one but went away not long after that.
Since there was a voucher in the Penny catalog and I hadn’t grabbed one yet, on the way back I made a detour to the nearest Penny to do so, and then I also glanced at the expiring products even though I didn’t have any money on me. If I wouldn’t have done that, I’d have probably grabbed some recyclables left in the bins in front of the machine, which wasn’t working, but just when I walked out and saw them, a woman came to use the machine, and after I told her that it wasn’t working she asked whether I worked there and then whether anyone who did was around, so I had a look and saw that someone was indeed in the back of that container, telling her so and then walking away when she decided to stick around and wait for the machine to be started again.
After getting back and having lunch, I added some more clothes on top of what I already had on me, and obviously changed the jacket and the shoes, and left again at 8:45 PM, once again wearing a mask and taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol, grabbing one more before reaching the Mega Image that closes at 10 PM just before 9 PM. And that time I did wait for the cart with the products that are discounted by 90% to be brought, grabbing some things and then putting the recyclables in the machine, though those two on which I had placed found labels weren’t accepted right away and a guy with a whole lot of recyclables was waiting behind me, so I didn’t keep trying. And then I took some products that were discounted by 50% as well, calculating the total so I’ll be able to use the voucher received for the recyclables directly… Only for the cashier to sigh and say that there was a difference of 0.08 RON and the voucher will get locked for half an hour if he’ll try to use it, telling me to grab something really cheap to add and seeming to be stuck in his idea even though I was telling him that the problem would appear if the voucher’s value would be greater than the total, not the other way around. Still, after moving some rubber bands that were where the value was displayed and seeming to want to point towards what was listed, he probably realized that he had been wrong and reluctantly said that he’ll try it, which worked just fine. On the other hand, the discount label for the sweet pastry which I had bought wouldn’t scan while placed on the bag and he had torn the bag while peeling it off to scan it directly, so after arranging the other purchases I grabbed another bag and put that one in it.
I then continued to Kaufland, finding two recyclables without the deposit symbol that definitely were of the correct sizes for the labels which I had placed on those other ones left in front of the machine from there, moving those labels on them, putting them in the machine, and then dropping those other two in the bin. Then I entered the store, with everything, when it was past 9:35 PM, getting cheese, making use of a few evening discounts, and just selecting a cabbage when an employee started telling the customers who were in that area that the store had closed and pressing them to go to the checkout. But it had just been announced that 15 minutes were left, so I kept ignoring her even when she seemed to have chased everyone else away and was clearly talking to me, seeing that it was 10:21 PM when I got to the grapes, which also had an evening discount, and meaning to spend that remaining time selecting some. But she came right up to me and insisted that the store was closed and I needed to get to the checkout or I’ll be unable to buy the products, and when I said that there were eight minutes left she said that there were two left and I needed that time to pay. So I gave up on the grapes, walked a few meters away and then pretty much shouted that she was kicking me out, to which she replied that the store had closed and demanded respect. The shouting did make the information desk employee notice what was going on and snap at her to stop saying that the store had closed before she makes the announcement, but I didn’t go back, just buying what I already had, also using the voucher received for those recyclables when I paid, though when I passed by the information desk I quite angrily told that employee that I hope she can come to an agreement with her coworker regarding the closing time. And the closing announcement actually came as I was on my way out.
Either way, I then continued to that Mega Image, putting the bag in a cabinet that didn’t lock, since no free ones did, entering with the backpack, and spending some time trying to decide but eventually just buying one bread for dad that had the 90% discount and one thing that was discounted by 50% for mother, since she was also here then. And after retrieving the bag and walking out, I went to a bench and took my time to arrange everything. And on the way back I picked up some more recyclables.
I was at the door at 11:35 PM, and when I checked I found that the water was good. But I had said after getting back from the run that I might decide to stay up and go out again in the morning, to Penny, to get cat food and something else for mother, so I’ll be able to give it to her before she left, and use that voucher from the catalog, so I stuck to that idea, eating the banana and the sweet pastry that I already had, doing 200 squats, to cover both days, washing what was in the kitchen, including a tray, and otherwise taking it easy, only eating dinner between 5:45 AM and 6:40 AM, with the last several minutes spent gathering what was stuck on the plate.
Since I decided to go to Penny Titan instead of the nearest one, the stocks being much better there, and I was therefore going to spend more time outside than inside, I didn’t put the mask back on when I went out again, at 7:15 AM, taking the paper, which I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up two more which were dropped in a bin by a man right in front of me and putting all but one in the machine from that Penny, since it stopped at that point, stating that the glass crusher was stuck. Either way, I then got what I wanted… And found nobody even in the vicinity of the checkout area when I got there, the guard walking in from outside after a while and calling for a cashier. And when one came, she scanned the voucher received for the recyclables before the one from the catalog, which took the remaining total below the value required for that one, and while she realized it right away she still had to cancel the transaction and scan everything again.
After arranging the purchases, I checked that Mega Image, entering with everything and getting some expiring roes for dad, discounted by 50%… And once again not seeing any cashier, though at least the guard was there and she immediately called for one, and I used that time to try to put that remaining recyclable in the machine from there, only to find that it wasn’t accepted. And the same thing happened at the nearby Mega Image, which I also checked, once again walking in with everything and initially walking back out after having a look at the piles of expiring products that were there. But then I decided to get some tofu after all, even if it was imported and the discount was 50%, so I went back and did so, once again having to wait for a cashier, and when one came and got to me, since there was another person waiting even before me, she couldn’t get the discount label to scan, so after several attempts she called the coworker who had the printer for those discount labels to come and print a new one, which actually worked.
I was at the door at 8:35 AM, and after my parents left I put the purchases in their place, ate an apple, put together something sweet and ate that as well, and it was almost 10:15 AM when I went to wash… Only for the water temperature, which had been really good at first, to start dropping quite significantly as I was about to finish washing my head, so I put aside the plan for a leisurely bath and rushed, being done at 10:45 AM. And I finally got in bed at 11:35 AM, after putting some cream on my hands.
I was hoping to sleep until the evening, but after waking up to pee at 2:15 PM, I probably only sort of dozed off a few times, not sure if I can even say that I caught as much as another brief nap, and at one point there was that pain that radiates from my back to my chest and then spreads, and the attempt to just wait it out only allowed it to get worse, as always, before I got into the position that actually does make it go away. Either way, I was definitely wide awake for a while when I got up, saw that it was 5:33 PM, and decided to get back in bed, but while I thought that I only wasted more time before actually getting up, the fact that it was 7:02 PM at that point leads me to believe that I probably did catch a brief nap after all, since it really didn’t feel like I had been lying there for another hour and a half.
Either way, later that evening I installed Morrowind again, or more exactly installed the GOG.com version for the first time, not the one I have on disk, and then I enabled the official plug-ins, which had also been enabled way back, and loaded my last save, from April of 2012. And I hope that this means that I’m getting back to it, though so far I’ve mainly been wandering around and trying to find something, and there’s much that I don’t remember after all this time. Still, while there was a crash while reloading a save that otherwise worked just fine, since I reloaded it quite a number of times, and the logs list another one that apparently happened when I exited the game, it seems to work, and at the highest available resolution, 1600×1200, the aspect ratio is also maintained, with black bars on the sides.
But, to get back to that evening, or more exactly to that night, after giving up on the idea of making mamaliga and having a late lunch, it was almost 1:30 AM when I went back to the kitchen, also took another one of those immunity supplements instead of just the vitamin D3 one, and while I “cheated” to be able to say that I took a first bite of dinner in my room before 3 AM, it was 3:25 AM when I actually started eating and after 3:40 AM I took it easy, so I only finished at 4:05 AM. And it’s a good thing that I hadn’t yet fallen asleep when some of the cardboard that I still have to use to cover my window fell over, so it didn’t startle me as much as it’d have done if I would have been asleep. But the bigger relief was that it didn’t end up behind the desk, since falling on the cables that are there might have caused quite some problems.
Moving on to the evening of January 9, after eating lunch and doing 200 squats, since the previous day I had kept putting them off until I forgot to do them at all, I left at 9:10 PM, once again wearing a mask and taking the recyclables with the deposit symbol, minus that one which hadn’t been accepted before, and those other things that I take to Kaufland, picking up a few more recyclables on the way and putting them in the machine from there, letting it time out before getting to those from the large backpack, to have a smaller voucher that I could use in order to later receive the doubled deposit for an earlier purchase.
After entering the store just before 9:50 PM, I only saw an evening discount for grapes and it wasn’t good enough, and the chips that were two for the price of one only that day seemed all gone, so I just checked the spices and got some lovage and oregano, plus two of those cheap yogurts, to be able to use that smaller voucher, doing so and only realizing after walking out of the checkout area that I had forgotten to cash in the other one, so I went back when the gate opened for another customer and did that, following yet another customer back out. And then I grabbed one more recyclable on my way to the Mega Image that closes at 11 PM, entering it with everything and getting a sweet pastry and a pretzel, both with the 50% discount, though I did put my things in a cabinet that didn’t lock, since none did, when I reached the non-stop Mega Image, retrieving them after just wasting some time, waiting until after 11 PM but seeing no sign of more discounts being made, and I wasn’t interested in what was available at 50%.
I got back a few minutes before 11:30 PM. Then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a small bag of trash down the chute, ate an apple and the sweet pastry from Mega Image, put the few other purchases in their place, and it was a couple of minutes before 1 AM when I went to shower, the water not being good enough for more than that, so I was done at 1:20 AM, and after washing the few things that were in the kitchen and cleaning up a little after dad, I still just managed to stick to the dinner schedule, albeit “cheating” in order to be able to say that I started eating in my room before 3 AM.
Before finishing this, I’ll add that the reason why I’m trying to get back to Morrowind after all this time is that I decided to play it safe when sending the list of games I applied for as my character’s prize for taking part in the latest “Fight Club” hosted on the GOG.com forums by that same user who gives away so much, selecting Skyrim: Anniversary Edition as the top pick, and now I just received and redeemed it. And I’m not going to even try playing it before finishing both Morrowind and Oblivion, the fact that I received the latter seven years ago from that same user making me feel even more guilty, so I really should get to it at some point. On the other hand, owning Skyrim allowed me to grab Enderal from GOG.com as well, and that’s a separate thing, and playing something that uses the engine before the game itself may be of some help. But, considering the size of my backlog, it’s not only a question of when, but even of if I’ll ever get to play these, regardless of how guilty I feel for asking for them, along with many others over the years.
