Cav's Place

If last year it was pretty much the only reason why I went to bed at all before the marathon, the clock going back is proving quite useful for me for the second year in a row, this time because it provides me both the topic for this week’s second post and the time to write it, rushed as it is, while also still letting me get ready for the morning, since I mean to get up pretty early and hope to manage to leave before noon. But that doesn’t mean that the practice doesn’t still need to go away, though I hope that when it finally will go away, the decision will be to stay on the summer time and not follow in the footsteps of Mexico and stay on the winter time, even though this is actually the standard one, since winter time means that sunset comes too early when the days are short and that sunrise would come too early when they’re long.
Of course, the European Parliament already voted to end the practice, the vote taking place in 2019 and the decision being supposed to come into effect in 2021, but it was left to each country to decide whether they’ll stay on the summer or the winter time, and countries also had to agree on how to coordinate the change, which never happened. In fact, with crisis after crisis hitting since then, the matter wasn’t even brought up again since 2019, and there seem to be no plans to do so in the foreseeable future… Which also seems to be the case in the United States, even though the Senate approved the proposal in March, so at a time when all of the current crises were already being felt, and that proposal actually did refer to sticking to the summer time, though it was apparently left to the House to actually decide which to pick, and that’s yet to happen because the matter was set aside there as well.
Sure, while things should be simpler after such a decision, it will create quite a mess if not implemented all over the world at once, so it requires planning and negotiations and it’s not hard to agree that there are much more important matters to deal with at the moment. But maybe someday the decision makers will get around to sorting this matter out as well. And, as I said, when that time will come, I certainly hope that they’ll decide to stick to the summer time, at least in this part of the world.

After The Steel Remains, I expected to struggle through The Cold Commands, but I’m glad to say that it’s so much better. It’s still harsh, uncompromising, pulling no punches, but the author is no longer trying too hard, neither to shock nor to go through some third grade creative writing checklist. The characters are much more developed and no longer striving to be crass, unlikable and hard to support. The world is more fleshed out, making more sense, little by little, if you snatch the pieces when they appear. The thrilling combat scenes remain, but the graphic brutality is used more sparingly and skillfully. And that may be even more true for the sex scenes, which this time around are meaningful and convey emotion. As for the walks through the Grey Places, while the following ones make much more sense, something like that disjointed plague fever dream that is chapter 19 definitely takes skill to pull off.
There is still plenty of room for improvement, however. The fact that many names remain too strange or complicated for me to be able to properly keep track of who’s who is probably my problem more than the author’s, but I wouldn’t say that the same holds true for still feeling like I’m grasping at smoke too often for this point in the story, that in certain cases no, or at least no better, explanations will be provided. On the other hand, while this takes the story to what I gather is much more familiar territory for the author, and I must admit that the much greater magnitude and impact of the fantasy elements compensates for it, I’m still not keen on the increased amount of science fiction elements that are introduced. And, albeit as a far less important aspect, there are still moments, and probably one in particular, when that overuse of f-words remains grating.

Rating: 4/5

I’ll start this post with October 6, when I left just before 4:15 PM, taking the metro to Izvor and getting the race kit and t-shirt quickly and without problems. However, if back in spring I was particularly pleased with the contents of the kit, now I was rather disappointed, even wondering whether everything had actually been included, and about the lack of any magazines. But I just tried on the t-shirt, then went to the tent of that NGO that encourages blood donations and exchanged a few words with them, actually saying that I couldn’t recall whether I had selected to support them back when I registered, but that I still had their t-shirt from last year and might just wear it, since I don’t like the official one, being black. And they also had apples and something else, maybe biscuits, but I can’t quite recall anymore, since I just took an apple.
The plan had been to check how long it took me to reach Constitution Square from Izvor, and then to go from there to Unirii, to see where to get off on the day of the marathon, but I forgot to check the time both when I got to Izvor and when I left Constitution Square, so I gave up on that idea and had a quick look in the Mega Image that’s on the way to Unirii, then checked the one from Unirii as well, wanting to get two of those apple pastries, since those days there was a 60% discount for the second identical product from that category, but at that time I hadn’t yet noticed that the store card was required, so when I got to the checkout I was asked for the full price, and when I pointed to the sign the cashier just tried again and showed me that the discount didn’t apply, so I left them there and walked away, also deciding to give up on the idea of returning for one of the nicer yogurts which I had seen among the expiring products if I won’t find something better at that Carrefour. And I didn’t find anything better, just getting five eggs, four of them being the uncracked bio (organic) ones which I had found, and an expiring cake that still had the 50% discount, even though the other expiring products had returned to the low discounts that they used to have at that location, and I later noticed those lower discounts in other locations as well. Then I arranged everything in the backpack and, on the way to the metro station, I saw that the place which I had purchased some sweets from back in November had returned, in a better location, albeit with higher prices and, at least for the moment, no more meringues.
After having worked earlier, when I meant to use the metro card again, at that station, the machines kept saying that they couldn’t read it, and I tried a few different ones, so I eventually showed it to the cashier and she opened the gate for me, and then I went to Dristor, having a quick look through the farmers’ market, which was close to being deserted at that hour, before going to Park Lake and asking about charging with just 1 EUR, to activate my existing phone credit for a few days, at that store as well. I had tried it the day before, at another location, and had been told that it couldn’t be done, so when I was told the same thing again I mentioned that I had been doing it before, at which point the guy explained that things had changed a month earlier and, at least in stores, the minimum value was 5 EUR, so I gave up on that idea. Then I checked that Carrefour as well, but didn’t get anything.
I got back just before 7:45 PM… And the headphones fell out of my hands as I was taking them off, though that doesn’t seem to have caused any problems, at least so far. Then I ate a small apple and that cake, showered, did my best to clean and wash what dad had left and started working on the pasta. I hadn’t yet finished when the previous day’s problems suddenly returned, but I even did the day’s squats before rushing to the toilet when I found a somewhat suitable moment and being relieved that, after seeing a few drops the previous evening, at least there was no more blood. But otherwise it was once again quite bad, and if I initially returned to the kitchen when it didn’t seem like anything else was going to come out at that moment, even though more seemed to be there, I almost immediately had to rush back, the total time spent there ending up being close to one hour. And I also made too much pasta, so I had to use two pots. But I was eventually done, also made a tea that should have helped with the stomach problems, had some of the pasta as lunch while making dinner, eventually just managed to stuff all of the remaining pasta into one pot, and finally started eating dinner 3:50 AM, albeit after mixing what I meant to put on the bread and licking a fair bit of it in the kitchen. I finished at 4:25 AM.

Something was obviously still wrong the following day, and I was weak and shaking and even lightheaded, and weighed less than 46 kg. And, after having felt my legs burning the previous day as well, the feeling got worse that day, mainly in case of the left one. As for the rear end, just a few pieces came out after lunch, floating and seeming hard, so I actually picked one up and found that it was brittle, which seemed even stranger. Even so, later I finally took a Smecta, even though it was expired.
Nevertheless, I went out again, at 7:45 PM, and after quickly checking a Shop & Go I went to Mega Image, grabbed some bread and zacusca for dad… And again received no discount on the second bread, so I pointed to the sign, the cashier called someone else, that other employee said that the discount was for another kind of bread, I said that it should be for the entire category, she asked whether I wanted her to bring me some of the kind that was discounted, I said that I didn’t want any of it anymore, and she took back the bread. However, the cashier had been suggesting that the discount required the store card and then actually tried it with one, showing that it did indeed apply in that case, so she asked her coworker to bring that bread back and they used one of their cards in order to give me the discount even though I didn’t have dad’s card with me while I kept apologizing for the trouble.
Then I went to Carrefour, walking in with those purchases, not finding anything to get and showing the bag to the guard when I walked out again. Then, after buying some Smecta Go from that large location of that pharmacy, in order to also be able to take one with me during the marathon, I also went to Kaufland, put my things in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, and got a number of things, even though I forgot that I also wanted a banana. After having seen expiring protein yogurt, and much of it, two days earlier and deciding that the discount was too low to buy it then, I was hoping that some would still be left and have a higher discount, but that was not the case and the nicer yogurts that had by then appeared among the expiring products had an even lower discount, of only 15%, so I just got a slightly nicer but otherwise regular one, paying too much for it, since it was at full price. And, since I also bought some olives, I confirmed that they do also charge for what they put them in.
At the self-checkout, the machine told me to scan the product first after placing the sweet pastries on the scales, removing them didn’t allow me to continue and no employees were around, so I had wait for a while until one finally came and cleared the error… But then another one decided to stand right next to me, seeming to want to use the machine to purchase something, and it was moments before closing time and that made me unable to focus anymore, so I ended up forgetting to retrieve the coins received as change, and we’re talking about 0.80 RON. So I retrieved my things from the cabinet, arranged the purchases in the bags and backpack, went to pee one more time, again had my brain pretty much disconnect when another man walked in while I was buttoning my pants back up, resulting in forgetting to even wash my hands… But somehow remembering the change, so I hesitantly returned to the gate of the self-checkout area, but then just turned around again, without saying anything, since it’d have been pointless anyway. But at that point I was yet to realize that I hadn’t washed my hands, only doing so after going down the escalator, so I then went back up and did that before finally walking out. And I felt utterly crushed on the way back, walking slowly and with my mind definitely elsewhere, and I also wasted some time by checking that Mega Image, putting the bags in a cabinet but not locking it, since I had no 0.50 RON coin, not finding anything to get, retrieving everything and walking back out.
It was just before 11:05 PM when I was finally back, eventually had a small apple and a sweet pastry, just wasted some time on the toilet, washed… And as I finished washing, when I leaned over in the bathtub, I again felt something in that spot from the bottom of the back of the left thigh muscle, a burning sensation remaining there after that… Even though, when I later tried to feel around that area, I seemed to feel some pain at the top of the back of the calf muscle instead. Either way, I was done a little before 1:15 AM, but still had things to do, purchases to put in their place, also sliced the one unsliced bread purchased for dad and dealt with one of mine which I hadn’t dealt with yet, so I had a few bites in the kitchen, but only finally started eating dinner in my room at 3:45 AM, finishing a little after 4:35 AM, and then also washing the marathon t-shirt a little, by hand.
Well, the big problem came after that, when I meant to take the jar with what I had mixed the previous night back to the fridge and ended up shattering it! It was on a small plate, I hit that plate against the wall or doorjamb and the jar fell off, so that food which I had saved for months, just in order to have it available right before the marathon, was gone! Admittedly, the plan was to put peanut butter on most of the slices of bread the following night, but I still wanted to have some of that as well, and plenty of it had been left, for the following week, and I had planned and saved it for all that time… And the noise also woke dad, and there was broken glass everywhere, so I vacuumed a little despite the hour, and then swept and washed the floor to some extent, though some tiny pieces were quite certainly still left. I might have hit myself a little as well, when that jar fell, or maybe even cut myself a little, since I felt something in my left foot, though I didn’t see anything and there were no problems later. Either way, I finally got in bed at 5:55 AM, without even flossing.

On October 8, I first got up at 2:45 PM, made tea, washed a few things from the kitchen and vacuumed better. Felt something of a burning sensation at the top of the back of my left calf muscle and pain in my hips, but I couldn’t exactly do much about that anymore. So I ate a small apple, a sweet pastry and yogurt mixed with oats, and just after 5 PM I got back in bed… Not that I could also get back to sleep. I might have just napped for a mere moment once or twice, but even that is unlikely, and I got up again just after 6:25 PM, when dad got back.
I was back in the kitchen at 7 PM, but after putting the beets in the oven and the carrots on the stove I went to the toilet and what came out wasn’t soft, though there actually wasn’t much of it at all and it felt like there was more to come. Then I talked to dad a little as well and made the entire large salad at once, but I had lunch separately, starting to eat it at 11 PM and finishing around 11:40 PM, after which I had something else to do, also did the day’s squats… And cut myself while washing the knife. But I had to keep going, so I sliced bread, moved some sour cream in a jar, had dinner between 1 AM and 1:30 AM, obviously putting only peanut butter on the bread, and also took one of those pills against gas that dad takes. Then, after putting the water for the tea on the stove, I went to the toilet one more time, still not feeling like I had gotten everything out but knowing that anything was going to help, and being relieved that it still wasn’t soft again. And after that I got ready for the morning, also writing the number on a slip of paper and using safety pins to put it on the bag, since they hadn’t given us those stickers anymore, then struggling for 30 minutes with the number, the first five because I wanted to write the emergency information on the back of it, as you should do, and none of the pens seemed to work, and the following 25 in order to properly pin it on the t-shirt, also pricking my fingers three times with the safety pins while doing that. And yes, I did choose to wear the official t-shirt after all, since it had a much better structure than the one from that NGO. So it was 3:15 AM when I went to floss, brush my teeth and shave, but managed to do that unusually quickly, so I got in bed at 3:45 AM.

I woke up at one point, saw that it was 5:05 AM and went to pee, just in case, then managed to get back to sleep, but when I woke up again my right shoulder was hurting quite badly. But it was also 6:29 AM and the alarm was set to ring at 6:30 AM, so I turned it off, got up, had an apple, yogurt with muesli, raisins in dark chocolate and almonds mixed in, also took the supplements… And, as expected, just wasted time on the toilet, even though it felt like I had quite a lot to pass out. But I just had to hope that it won’t prove to be too much of a problem, also ate the last three of those smaller wheat things, with honey and jam between them, as a “sandwich”, and before leaving took the last Smecta that we had, even though it was also expired and actually looked worse than the first one, drinking most of the tea. I was pretty much in “headless chicken” mode at that point, panicking more and more and thinking less and less, so it was a good thing that I had bandaged my heels, to protect them, before reaching that level, and I also remembered to bandage that cut finger before we left. It was only then, just as we were about to walk out the door, a couple of minutes before 8:30 AM, that I realized that I had forgotten to take garlic, but there was no time for it anymore, so I just left without any, wearing the running gear and one of those armbands and taking the running belt, with what I had placed in it, but not putting or even trying it on before leaving.
Since I told dad to just drive me to the metro, he did so, I again had to show the card to the cashier in order to be allowed through the gate, and it was only when I was on the metro that I finally tried to put on the belt… And realized that I couldn’t, since it would end up over the number if placed in any reasonable position, above it would be too high and, either way, it slipped and messed up the number, and below it would be too low, since it’d mean wearing it around my hips. Still, even though I also tried to put it under the t-shirt, before getting off at Izvor I had placed it above the number again. Then, after exiting the metro station, I took off the mask.
I reached Constitution Square right at 9 AM… And realized that I had forgotten the camera! Yes, I had the phone, but its poor camera was going to be quite a problem. Still, it meant that I still had a way to get some sort of picture taken at the end, and it wasn’t like there was anything I could still do about it at that point… And I also thought that I won’t manage to fix the fact that the bandage on my right heel didn’t feel right in one spot, so I left it as it was despite knowing that it was going to cause some discomfort, trying to change anything being likely to make it worse. However, I could do something about the fact that something seemed to be in the left shoe, so I sat down in front of the Zuzu Fit stand, took off that shoe and solved that problem. Then I wandered around a little, albeit without entering the Sport Expo area, not seeing anyone handing anything out to the participants, before making just a few simple moves on my own, at the edge of the crowd doing the warmup. And when I put the jacket in the bag and took the bag to the wardrobe I saw that the lack of those stickers had been intentional, quite clearly as a result of them not sticking to the material that those bags have been made of more recently, and the volunteers were just using markers to write the numbers on the bags.
I had kept the belt above the number while I was in Constitution Square, but it was clear that I won’t be able to run with it in that position, and it had already messed up the top part of the number, so on the way to the start area I resorted to the only remaining option, which was to put it under the t-shirt, even if that was going to make taking things out of it somewhat trickier. Otherwise, I decided to use one of the toilets that are close to the start area, thinking that the lines would be shorter than at those from Constitution Square, but it seemed that plenty of others had the same idea, so they were probably a little shorter, but not by much. Still, I was done with enough time to spare, but since the start area wasn’t separated into sectors this time around either and I had to enter from the back, advancing through the increasingly packed crowd was difficult. But I just reached the 4:00 pacemakers and stopped there, also eating the protein bar which I had taken. The temperature at the start should have been 14-15°C, probably reaching 22-23°C when I finished, at least according to the forecast, since I obviously couldn’t check what was actually reported.

What I managed to post before midnight ended with the first paragraph of the section above, the rest of it being added before going to bed in the morning, to get to the actual start of the race. At that point, I was planning to at least add what I did after the actual race as well, the question being whether to also add the part about the race itself, as I had initially intended, or leave this as a “before and after” post, with that part probably ending up in a later one that will also include the next couple of runs. But I eventually decided to end this post here and leave everything else for a later one, even though the problem caused by the fact that I have no notes about the run, but only a recording made on the way back, which mostly focused on times, remains. I mean, I wrote some of the notes about this part which I added at night about a week later and noticed that my memory was quite unreliable when it came to some details, so it’s obvious that I’ll be forgetting or misremembering more and more if I keep putting off writing about the actual race… And that’s important, unlike the large majority of the personal things that I otherwise write about.

Our National Consumer Protection Authority (ANPC) has been complaining about Nutri-Score labels for the past couple of years, but now they went one step, or more exactly one leap, further and actually banned them! A law that would have made such labels mandatory was submitted earlier this year, but in June it was rejected by the Senate, so the labels remained optional, yet an increasing number of products were displaying them, starting with the store brands of chains such as Carrefour, Mega Image or Auchan and continuing with various others, some local producers stating that the retail chains had demanded it, so they had only recently paid for the required testing and ordered labels or packaging that included the score, only to now be banned from using them. And this happened on short notice too, the deadline by which all such products must be removed from sale being November 1!
True, the ANPC had apparently communicated the decision through official channels around the middle of September, but that is still short notice, especially when you take into account the fact that decisions requiring additional information tend to come into effect after much longer “transition” periods, even though adding information is both beneficial to customers and easier to do without destroying products or changing packaging, since it can temporarily be done by sticking a piece of paper on the existing packaging. Plus that for the general public the news only actually broke this Monday, since as of Tuesday some retailers were going to refuse to sell such products unless those labels were removed or at least covered, one producer saying that they resorted to using markers to cover that part of the labels, one by one.
The president of the ANPC seems particularly determined to block this sort of labeling, having once again responded to the requests for comments with criticisms that were, shall we say, unprofessionally angry. If we are to take the general ideas, his complaints refer to the fact that the system can lead to discrimination at the shelf, average consumers, in his words, not being sufficiently knowledgeable to make the correct decisions based on food labeling, that it’s incomplete and generic, not taking all of a product’s nutritional details or local or individual dietary requirements or preferences into account, but at the same time that it’s not standardized, which seems to contradict his previous point. But he has repeatedly mentioned specific issues, such as certain traditional foods, which are particularly greasy, being rated D or E, or that the same happens for meat in general but that adding some vegetables improves the rating, or that cheese made by Romanian producers is rated D or E and placed at the shelf alongside imported cheese without this label, which makes it seem that he’s speaking for certain interest groups.
But I’m writing this now because those replies weren’t only sent to the press, but apparently even to regular people, because I also sent an e-mail to the ANPC to complain about the decision and he apparently replied personally. So I mentioned that more and easier to see information is always desirable, that the fact that average consumers aren’t sufficiently knowledgeable to decide means that there’s a need for campaigns to educate them, not that information must be hidden even from those who would know how to use it, that the Reference Intake that’s also on many labels is also completely generic, and sometimes also includes values for “one serving” alongside those for 100 grams or milliliters, and the serving sizes that are used are too small to be realistic, which doesn’t happen with Nutri-Score, which always uses 100 grams or milliliters, that the system is meant to be used to compare between similar products that use it, not between different categories of products or between products that use it and those that don’t, that there are many labels which can be said to create discrimination between those who can afford to go through the process required in order to display them and those who don’t and the solution would be to aid Romanian producers in obtaining those labels, and that producers who put their products through independent tests that respect certain standards that anyone can look up should be encouraged instead of banned.
Well, he did reply again, but only to this last part, asking what standards and saying that the very problem is that the system’s not standardized. So I sent him a link to the latest recommendations, which show that a Scientific Committee exists and proposes specific guidelines, so let’s see if he’ll reply again. Maybe I should have sent him a link to a summary as well, not only that entire document, but it’s not like someone in his position could actually be unaware of it… And I’d even expect him to welcome the existence of that Committee, since some fear that it offers a way for the system to be weakened under the influence of lobby groups.

Slightly later edit: As I was writing this post I noticed that a file that calculates a product’s Nutri-Score exists, so I had a look at it a little later, at night, and then sent another reply, to include that link as well. Again, not that he wouldn’t know about it, but just to do my part.

Yes, I turned 38 yesterday, but that doesn’t really matter. What’s more relevant for this post is that I wandered around both yesterday and today, so while it should include the remaining odds and ends up to and including September 3, what I managed to post before midnight stopped with August 27. I should have been able to also include August 28 if I would have left everything else for later and gotten back to writing as soon as possible after getting back this evening, but I don’t see how I could have done more than that, so I once again edited this later, in order to add the rest, which ended up being twice as long as what I initially posted, the parts about August 28 and 31 being added Tuesday morning, just before I went to bed, and the rest only Friday morning, again just before going to bed.

With no chance to sleep after the previous day’s run, on the morning of August 24 I got back up and on the computer a little before 6:50 AM, also read one more chapter, after not touching the book since the previous time when I couldn’t sleep, and then went to the toilet again, only getting a little more out even though it felt like there was much more to come. I got back in bed at 8:15 AM and eventually did fall asleep, but it was very light and poor sleep, I kept waking up and it seemed like I wasn’t quite fully asleep even when I guess I was sleeping. And the alarm was set to ring at 11:45 AM, for the rescheduled delivery of the new tuner, but when dad got up a few minutes before 11:30 AM it was clear that I won’t be getting any more sleep, so I turned off the alarm and then took it easy, getting up around 11:40 AM.
The delivery guy called at 12:07 PM and arrived a few minutes later, and he did wait while I hastily checked the package, after I had asked on the phone whether I could indeed do that and he confirmed it. And I also asked whether that’s how they’re organized, only reaching certain areas at certain hours, and he said yes, so I asked about people who work and can only be at home in the evening, he said there was no way to deliver in my area after 4 PM, I asked if they didn’t have cases when someone just couldn’t be available, he said they did, so I asked what then, and when he didn’t immediately reply I also asked whether the parcels can be picked up from anywhere, and he said that their warehouse is in Chiajna, so outside of Bucharest!
Either way, after backing up the system once again, I put in the new tuner, installed the software and let it search for channels, including radio. Since it was taking a long time, I meant to get myself some yogurt and cereals, but ended up dropping the idea and starting to try to arrange the channels, and after a long time I heard some noise, so I thought that dad was back, but I was busy, so I continued what I was doing for a while longer… And when I turned around I saw that the door to my room was open. There was no indication that anyone had entered the apartment and when dad did actually get back he also said that nothing seemed out of place, so I guess I had left it open, but I definitely didn’t remember that, so it was quite a shock at that moment.
Back to the new tuner, its software is slow and uses several times more system resources than the old one’s, and while this old software sees it as well, switching channels still takes a couple of seconds, so I guess that’s because of the tuner itself, and there’s no sound, so I can’t actually use it with the old software anyway. And, on its own software, it can’t seem to find one channel and another one doesn’t work, occasionally the video is garbled when you turn on the software, until you change the channel, and it occasionally also freezes. But I don’t exactly have any choice for the future, since this old tuner quite clearly won’t work on any new computer and it doesn’t seem like there are any other options on the market, so I’ll just keep it there and figure out how to deal with it when the time will come. Until then, however, I moved the cable back to the old tuner… And, possibly because one or both of them moved in their slots when I did so, that caused the computer to freeze completely, the sound from the TV still playing, since it goes straight through, but otherwise being completely unresponsive. Even the reset button didn’t seem to work, though it finally did reboot just when I was about to unplug it, and it worked normally after restarting, though I initially restarted in safe mode and checked the system partition, albeit without also having it perform the physical check.

On August 25, I went out at 3:05 PM, going to Obor, just putting on the mask as I got to that area, being about to enter the Hall just before 3:50 PM… But finding the doors closed. It had actually been on the news that inspectors had again found all sorts of violations and proposed to shut down the whole area, which I guess was what happened, but that was over a month earlier and I had forgotten about it. And I had gone there because dad wanted more of those cheap perfumes, and from there I could get to other locations of that pharmacy that I wanted to get the supplements for joints from, so it seemed to work out. But that changed things, so I wandered around for a while, checking those who sell things outside the Hall and finding those perfumes in one place. The price was significantly higher than it had been, however, I think the same one that dad said they were at some nearby shop that he used, so at first I also checked the other indoor area, but eventually I went back there and got what he told me to, so I at least saved him time.
Then I went to that mall, first having a quick look at running shoes in that sports store, then realizing that I had walked past that pharmacy’s location from there, so I went back to ask about that supplement, having taken a screenshot of the product page on their site on my phone, in case they misspell it when I just say the name, but I was again told that they didn’t have it. Then I entered Carrefour, with the perfumes still in my pockets, and found a discounted bread that I got for myself and eggs sold by piece, so I got the six bio (organic) ones that I found, though the price had increased slightly. I also saw Romanian watermelons for a price that was higher than the highest one I’ve ever paid for watermelon, but still lower than anywhere else at that moment, and much lower than in farmers’ markets, plus that hypermarkets had otherwise pretty much switched to Turkish ones by then, so I had a look, thought about it, and since not many were left eventually took one. It seemed past its best and there was another one that I was quite sure was good, but that one was much larger. I didn’t actually weigh it, but it seemed about twice as large as the one I bought, and that one had 5.3 kg. I could have bought it and left it in a cabinet, picking it up on the way back, but I thought that I won’t have time to make that detour, plus that carrying it from there would have been difficult. So I just got that smaller one, had no problems with the self-checkout, took some time to arrange the purchases before walking away, and a little later moved the perfumes back into my pockets, because I had initially placed them in the bag with the eggs and that didn’t seem safe.
Then I continued to the pharmacies, first checking the location from that area of the one that I had initially meant to go to that day, but that location’s really small and has few products, so I put my things in a cabinet and had a quick look, but the employees were looking at me and asking what I wanted, so I mumbled that I was looking for something that I guess wasn’t there, avoided looking at them and soon retrieved my things and left. Then I checked the nearest location of that other pharmacy, and while I was told that they didn’t have that supplement there either, the cashier told me that it was available at their other location from that area. That was surprising, after being told that they had no way to check the stock of other locations, but it is possible that said other location from that area is their main one, so anything that shows up as being in stock on-line is available there. Or, of course, the other cashiers could have lied to me. Either way, I had meant to check that other location anyway, if needed, so I went there, had a look downstairs, since it’s a much bigger place and there’s an upper floor as well, and was still sort of looking around when an employee came to me and got my attention, to let me know that a cashier was free and telling said cashier that I had headphones on and hadn’t heard her, though I hadn’t gone there because I was still looking around, the headphones actually being unplugged. But at that point I went to her, asked about those supplements and could finally buy them, putting them in the backpack after walking out and then stopping again a little later to arrange things better, because they were digging into my back. And I removed the mask as well, and then made my way back, realizing that I’ll even have time to shower.
I got back just after 7:10 PM, put the watermelon in the fridge and rushed to the bathroom, to use the toilet and shower before the matches, all of them starting at 8 PM. So I only noticed after showering that, while still usable, one egg was quite seriously cracked, almost certainly because of the guy who had hit the bag as he walked past me, when I was already in this area. And I also found that I had accidentally set the wrong date for the recording which I had scheduled, so that show hadn’t been recorded, but there’s a rerun that starts when I go to bed and I set it to record that instead. Otherwise, I had some of that watermelon before eventually having lunch.
As for the new tuner, I had sent a support message before going to bed that morning, to ask some questions about its software, and that day I received a reply containing a link to the manual, which I hadn’t been able to find on my own, but which doesn’t include the information I had asked about. And I was also told that the missing tray icon is usually caused by security software, even though the process is running, which shouldn’t happen if it’d be blocked, and also that Windows 7 is no longer supported and to “update” to 10 or 11. So that night I replied in order to point those things out, and also to say that “updating” in that manner is not going to happen… But that seems to have been the end of it, since I never got another reply.

Moving on to August 27, I kept having scary dreams, waking up with a start, feeling out of it, then falling asleep again and having the dreams just continue, so the cycle repeated. I was again at my grandparents’, in the smaller house, and dad was the villain, trying to kick me out, take me somewhere, I was going crazy, it was just a complete mess. And those problems with the left thigh muscle that I’ve been mentioning in the posts about the recent runs also started that morning, when I got up to pee at one point, also went to wash what dad had left in the kitchen, bent to pick up Liza’s plate as well and felt a cutting pain at the back of that thigh, just a little above the knee, a dull pain remaining in that spot after that, something also seeming harder when I pressed, though pressing did not cause that sharp pain to reappear. And I continued to have scary dreams when I got back to sleep, though they were somewhat different, so when I eventually got up I was probably more tired than when I had gone to bed. And I was thinking of going out, having asked dad whether I should get some more food for Liza from Carrefour, those vouchers being offered for pet food and accessories those days, but he hadn’t seen the e-mail I had sent at night and came back too late for me to leave after we talked about it, so I left it for the next day.

I continued to have scary dreams on said next day as well, but they were different, fewer and not as bad. And I left a little after 7:20 PM, taking those things that I leave at Kaufland, which no longer included the masks, since they had clearly given up on offering bins for those. But I first went to Carrefour, so I put that trash in a cabinet and grabbed four medium bags of one kind of cat food, since those were discounted and the large ones weren’t, so the price for the same quantity was a little lower that way. Then I used the self-checkout and got the voucher for them.
After retrieving that trash and going to Kaufland, I went straight up and put the cat food in a cabinet before looking for those bins and realizing that I had passed by them at the entrance, so I ended up adding those things in the cabinet as well, not wanting to go back down at that moment. Then I washed my hands and entered the store at 8:20 PM, going straight to the bakery area, closing time being 9 PM on Sunday. And I still grabbed a pastry, though none of the things that I’d usually get were left. On the other hand, also tried to check prices as I had seen the previous week, but my phone couldn’t take a good enough picture for the price checker, though the picture was of the red discount label and I’m yet to try it with the regular one, which should be much clearer, being white. Either way, I then noticed an evening discount for potatoes and got some, and also saw a handful of small watermelons, listed as being Romanian and at a price that was slightly lower than it had been for the one which I had purchased from Carrefour three days earlier, and since one sounded quite good when I knocked on it, I got that as well, and it ended up being the last watermelon for this year, which I finished on September 24, after running. Then I added four breads for dad, toilet paper and salt, used the self-checkout, retrieved everything from the cabinet, left those things in the bin on my way out and went back to Carrefour.
After struggling to somehow squeeze everything into one cabinet, since there are no large ones at that location, I think I went to pee and wash my hands, if I didn’t somehow do that the first time I got there. Either way, I went back into the store at 9:15 PM and saw the sign notifying of the evening discounts for the bakery area and that plenty of that bread that I get from there for dad was left, so I didn’t worry about it and first grabbed the other kind of cat food, using the first voucher at the self-checkout and getting another one. However, after somehow managing to squeeze that food into that cabinet as well, I went back in… And found that the employee was clearing away the bakery products, and had already done so for that bread, even though it was only 9:30 PM. So I grabbed a chocolate for dad and some snacks for myself, as a small “reward”, to also use that second voucher at the self-checkout. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet and spent quite some time arranging everything in the bags and backpack, only finally walking away after the closing announcement, which came at 10 PM. And I stopped once again after walking out of that mall, at the first bench, to count what I had left and arrange the purchases a little better.
After catching quite a thick spiderweb on the way back, I got back a little before 10:40 PM, having carried 16 kg. And it took me 50 minutes to get on the computer, despite wanting to do so quickly, to finish that day’s post, since I first put some of the purchases in their place and also put some pieces of watermelon in a plate. So I ate those snacks and watermelon while writing, posted what I had before midnight and then continued writing, to add the rest, which meant that I only went into the bathroom at 12:50 AM, and also had to use the toilet before showering, though I rushed and was done at 1:25 AM. I still had things to do, however, and also sliced two of dad’s breads, so I started to eat dinner at 3:20 AM and finished at 4:25 AM.

On August 31, I left a little after 2:20 PM and reached the family doctor’s office at 2:50 PM. I had taken the book, but only read a short chapter, since just one other person was waiting, another being inside. I actually ended up waiting a little longer, however, since the nurse came out at one point and asked who was waiting and what for, I said that I was there for tests, she took the other guy’s health card and later called him in, then came out again while he was still inside, also asked the woman who had arrived by then, with her daughter, why they were there, took both of our cards, and after that guy was done she just handed me the document for the tests and invited the woman and daughter inside. So I asked if I couldn’t see the doctor as well, at which point she told me to wait, calling me in after the woman and daughter were done. Not that talking to the doctor did any good, since I didn’t get anything out of that brief conversation, and also forgot to ask for the prescription for those iodine pills that the authorities are handing out to those under 40, in case something will happen, so I only ended up doing that when I went back, with the results. And the doctor and nurse were asking each other whether to tell me where to go in order to have the tests done, I said that any place that has funds should work, pointing out that a new month was just about to start, and they agreed, but by then I was pretty much just trying to get out of there and forgot to even get some numbers from the clinics that are operating in that building.
After walking out of there at 3:30 PM, I checked one other store on the way, then bought onions from Penny, which I walked in with everywhere else from then on. Once I got to Mega Mall, I first checked a sports store and actually tried on a couple of shoes, then went to Carrefour, not buying anything but seeing both the small electric oven that I was going to order and one that was larger and also seemed to have more functions among the discounted “last piece” products, with the latter having a lower base price as well, and the discounted price matching that of the first one on the site, where two discounts stacked. So I asked an employee what the difference was between them, but she had many other customers, was snappish when she got to me, and said that they were two entirely different products. I pointed out that they were from the same brand, but she repeated that they were different, said that they could have 20 models from that brand and asked if I’d ask about the differences between each of them, even though they carry exactly three models from that brand, which is actually a store brand, and all three were right there, next to each other. Then she said that one’s bigger and has a different color, but the functions are the same. That last part was obviously wrong, but I just asked how come the bigger one was cheaper, and she said that they might have had that one in stock for four years and the other one for one year, so they were purchased at different prices, plus that they’re sold as they are, without even packaging, though that applied to both of them. So I could have done without that conversation…
After quickly checking another sports store and washing my hands when I got to Kaufland, I went in and saw a carton of expiring bio (organic) eggs that was discounted by 75% and wasn’t wrapped in sticky tape, as discounted eggs usually are at Kaufland. It contained five instead of six, but none were cracked, so I grabbed it, plus something for dad, and also looked through some nicer apples and picked the one that seemed to be the best one, wanting it for that long practice run which I had planned for the following week. I could have waited, since over the next few days I found bags of discounted apples of that kind in several places, but I couldn’t have known that at that point, plus that I’d have had to purchase an entire bag and they probably wouldn’t have been as good. Either way, since I wanted to wait for 6:30 PM, I had another look around and among the spices I found no label for the cheap basil, so I used a price checker and the listed price was lower than that of any of the other spices, so I grabbed some of that as well and then had no problems with the self-checkout.
I felt some drops when I walked out, which after a while became a light rain and just as I got back here, at 7:10 PM, turned into a “proper” rain. Then I called two clinics, trying to make an appointment for those tests, but one told me to try again in the morning, from 7 AM, and the recorded message from the other asked people to call the specific location that they want to go to, and the nearby one had closed much earlier. So I left that for the following day and then made that order which I had discussed with dad the day before, containing that oven and a Slow Cooker. Then I ate some plums and the pastry brought by dad, went to the toilet and showered, and then finally made mamaliga again… Which apparently caused everything else to be pushed out the other end before I went to bed in the morning… And that night I also checked the new catalog on Mega Image’s site and saw that the cat food which I had bought from Carrefour a few days earlier was going to have a lower price there as of the next day…

Since I was awake when dad got back, having just gone to pee, and it was just after 7 AM, I decided to try calling right away, so I asked dad for his phone… But ended up giving up after being on hold for 20 minutes. I also tried the other clinic at that point, but they told me that their earliest openings for tests covered by insurance were in November. So I gave dad his phone back at that point and he decided to try calling that first clinic as well, but at first the call was cutting off after exactly ten seconds and then the number became unavailable! So I used his computer to search for other clinics and called a few of them, but that didn’t help either, getting no answer from one, the one that I had the MRI at telling me that they charge for those tests, another one, operating in the same building that the family doctor has her office in, telling me that their earliest openings for tests covered by the insurance were also in November, and yet another one, which also has a center in that building, saying that they only had a few openings left before November, on October 5 and 6, which definitely couldn’t work, being just before the marathon. However, that apparently didn’t take into account the center from that building, since when I asked about it specifically I was told that they don’t have information about the funds available there and that I should call that center directly… Which I did, but once again there was no answer. So dad eventually sent a message to the family doctor, to ask her to recommend a place that was more likely to still have openings for September, and then finally went to bed, and at 9:10 AM I did the same.
I had sort of considered going to another nearby clinic, since their site stated that appointments for tests covered by insurance could only be made in person, at the desired location, especially since it didn’t seem like I was going to be able to actually sleep again, but I was too messed up after the calls to try something like that as well, so I just curled up in bed and eventually did manage to nap a little, getting up again just before 10:50 AM. And if trying that first clinic one more time, since dad had left his phone for me to use, once again proved to be a waste of time, since I was again put on hold and at 11 AM I once again gave up, I then made another attempt at the center from the building where the family doctor also has her office of that last place which I had tried before and someone immediately answered and told me that I could definitely make an appointment in September, the earliest date available being September 13. It wasn’t right away, as I had hoped, but it was good enough, so I agreed.
That was just the start of that day, however, since I had plans to wander around, despite the lack of sleep and the pain in my upper abdomen, quite clearly caused by having stuffed myself in that manner. So I left a little after 3:35 PM, going to Auchan and getting a number of things, including one of those breads, even though the real weight was once again a little below listed one, and the price is according to the listed weight. And then I also went to that Supeco, wanting to put the purchases in one of the cabinets that seemed to have a key but being unable to actually get that key. Whether that was because I didn’t know how or because it didn’t actually exist, I don’t know, but I ended up just walking in with everything and getting some things, though I couldn’t find number 1 candles, which I wanted for my grandmother’s 101st birthday. And the cashier also pointed out that one of the bags of soy was torn, or more exactly that the entire area where it should have been glued together was no longer glued, but I took it anyway. Then I spent quite some time arranging everything in the bags and backpack, both before and after walking out, and was finally walking away at 5:45 PM.
I had intended to be back by 6 PM and eat lunch before going out again, but since I only got back at 6:25 PM, having carried just about 11 kg, I didn’t eat anything, just getting ready and leaving again at 7:10 PM, taking the grapes and using the metro to meet my mother, after offering to do so because dad was so busy those days and I had purchased those grapes for her a few days earlier and they were going to spoil. And, after calling me just when I was switching trains, she was already waiting outside the station when I got there, just after 7:45 PM. Since the station is right next to the park, I had asked whether she’ll meet me there, and when she agreed I thought that we’d actually go in the park, but she said that she didn’t want to and we ended up sitting on a bench that was just outside of it and talking for a while. Then I gave her the grapes and was back in the metro just before 8:20 PM.
From there, I went to Obor, being in that mall at 8:50 PM and deciding to also pee when I went to wash my hands. Then, since I needed a sterile container for the urine test that was included on the list from the family doctor and had seen that the pharmacy which has a large location in that mall had the cheapest ones, I went there first… And wasted my time, since I couldn’t see any while looking around the medical accessories area, was told that I had to ask a cashier for those after asking another employee, needed a few moments to find the machine handing out order numbers, after seeing that they use those in that location, had someone else cut in and go to the checkout where my number had been called, got called over by the next cashier instead… And was told that they only had the larger containers, which I had no use for, so I didn’t want to spend more for one and said that I’ll try again at some later time, since I didn’t need it right away. But at least I got a few things from that Carrefour, including a deeply discounted expiring small bio (organic) yogurt that was among the products which were just being placed in the expiring products area at that moment… And then also got that container, after rushing to Kaufland, leaving the purchases in a cabinet and deciding to ask at the small location of that pharmacy that’s in that building. And, since I used dad’s fidelity card, I could also take part in a raffle that they had during that period, though I didn’t win anything.
After washing my hands again, I went in Kaufland at 9:35 PM, looked for evening discounts and grabbed two bakery products and a bundle of green onions. I also tried to dig through the crates of red onions, but couldn’t find as much as one good one, and likely ended up with a lot of those little flies on me and even under my clothes. And, just when I was about to head to the self-checkouts, the store being about to close, an old woman went to an employee wearing a t-shirt which clearly stated that he was in training and may be unable to help and asked where the teas were, saying that she was looking for thyme tea. I was a few steps away and found myself saying that I didn’t think that they had any, and after the coworker called by that trainee told the woman that she’ll take her to the teas I rushed ahead of them and told her to follow me… Only for her to keep following the employee even after she had pointed the area out to her and walked away, so she had to tell her to stay there and look at the teas. And I had already started looking by then, saying that I didn’t think that they had thyme tea but still helping her search. At one point she said that it didn’t have to be tea, just thyme, so I told her that she should be looking in the spices area for that, but it had just been announced that the store had closed, so I couldn’t take her there as well and I just quickly checked all the teas, told her that they didn’t have what she wanted and rushed to the self-checkout… Where I discovered that the price of the bundle of green onions had dropped to next to nothing, so I should have grabbed more.
After taking a little more time to arrange the purchases before walking away from there, I got back at 10:45 PM, washed some of the things left by dad, put some of the purchases in their place, ate a few plums, one of the sweet things bought from Auchan and lunch, went to the bathroom at 12:20 AM… And, despite feeling the need to go, I ended up just reading a newspaper on the toilet, before showering. And I had more things to do after that, including slicing dad’s three breads and dealing with one of mine, so even though I finished washing at 12:55 AM, it was 3:30 AM when I started eating dinner, 4:15 AM when I finished and 5:40 AM when I got in bed.

With the electric oven getting delivered that morning and the delivery guy calling at 9:50 AM, it’s unsurprising that my brain wasn’t really working, so I tried to delay him a little, to give myself time to change, but couldn’t quite figure out how, and dad didn’t help either, even though he was awake and I asked him to stick around, instead staying in the kitchen and then asking me whether Liza had gone out while the door was open! I had even needed to go back to my room, to check the SMS I had received and tell the delivery guy the code contained in it, so how would I have known? I couldn’t even recall whether I had looked at the box when it was delivered, so when I saw that it was torn in two places after we took the oven out of it, I had no idea whether it had been like that all along or we had damaged it. But at least we found a suitable place for the oven and let it run for ten minutes, to check that it worked, and then I changed back into my pajamas and got back in bed at 11:20 AM. But I was still awfully sleepy when I eventually got up again, after being woken up by some noise at 2:45 PM, and dad cooked that day, so I had a lot to wash after him, and also did a load of laundry, which also included washing the snot off some of dad’s handkerchiefs by hand in order to add those in the machine as well, without it ending up on everything else…

In spite of that, on September 3 I went out again, leaving right at 6 PM, having quick looks though Supeco, that Mega Image and the farmers’ market, just a few still being in the market at that hour, and then heading to the other Supeco, with a quick look in another Mega Image and an equally quick detour through another farmers’ market, which was almost deserted… And during that walk I realized that I hadn’t taken more money with me, so it was going to be tight. But what helped was that the first purchases were only made after I got to Auchan, and also used the toilet. And I used an actual self-checkout, which said that the bar code was wrong for the second product on the first attempt, but worked after that.
I used the toilet once again when I got to Kaufland Pantelimon, then entered with the purchases and just checked prices before going to Carrefour, once again entering with the purchases and at first only getting dental floss. That was because that was one of the categories of products that those vouchers were offered for those days, so after throwing it in the backpack as well I went back in and bought a few more things, also using that voucher and therefore keeping the receipt, since I used a self-checkout. But, despite getting two of each, I didn’t enter the bakery products as one of each, to get the discount that way, so I had to call an employee in order for it to apply, and she said that she had to discount each of them separately, so she had to first cancel them and then enter them again. And a box was thrown from the direction of the customer service desk while I was there and several people gathered, but I didn’t try to figure out what was going on.
After taking a little time to put the food products in a small bag, I finally put everything in a cabinet when I went back to Kaufland, then washed my hands once again, but plenty of bakery products weren’t discounted and I didn’t care for any of those that were. Still, that meant that I had enough for some bananas and a lettuce, both having evening discounts, albeit not enough to get some more garlic as well. Then, after having no problems with the self-checkout and retrieving my things from the cabinet, I meant to also check that Mega Image, but changed my mind while waiting at the stoplight and ended up going to this one that’s across the road, putting what I had in bags, not including the one hanging from my neck, in a cabinet, even though they don’t have keys, and getting cucumbers. Nobody was at the checkouts when I got there, but after I asked a guard about it he called a cashier.
I got back at 10:35 PM, just had a banana and a quick shower, quickly wrote and posted that evening’s post… And then for some reason decided to reinstall Fate of the World: Tipping Point, and since when I checked the logs of Comodo Firewall after doing so it complained that there was no disk in the DVD drive, which was odd, I checked the system logs… And found that during the afternoon there had been an error, saying that “the driver detected a controller error” at what I discovered was my SSD, and when I checked I also saw one CRC error logged in the SSD’s S.M.A.R.T. data. So I went to the kitchen a little after 1 AM and had quite a few things to do, since I hadn’t put the purchases in their place and there were some things to wash as well, and I also talked to dad a little, which meant that it was 3:05 AM when I started eating dinner and, since I searched for information about that error and tried to figure out just what I was doing at that time and whether a file was corrupted as a result, I only finished at 4:10 AM.
However, since I was so close to winning, before going to bed I finished King of Dragon Pass! After meaning to try again each year since the last failed attempt, back in 2015, on July 21 I had finally managed to get myself to do so, and when that attempt went too badly from the beginning, the following day I restarted and decided to stop trying to just keep going, being determined to actually win, which meant playing it “properly” but also saving and reloading when things went too badly, and sometimes also when I wanted to experiment.