Cav's Place

Biden’s “we had a horrible plague, followed by two years of Covid” quip and the current revelations about one major element of Trump’s legacy seeming about to make its effects felt in a terrible way made me spare more than a passing thought to how much of a relief it is that Trump isn’t still in office, and wasn’t when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. I mean, with that guy there, it seems unlikely that NATO would have done much of anything and doubtful that the US would have imposed significant sanctions, which would have also led to the EU shying away from doing much of anything. Perhaps even more notably, it’s unlikely that the intelligence services would have offered the aid that allowed Ukraine to counter the initial offensive so well… Or to foil the plans to assassinate Zelenskyy.
So Zelenskyy was likely to have been taken out right away and Ukraine would have likely fallen completely, probably followed by Moldova, the question being whether the Baltic states would have followed suit or they’d be shivering in terror and waiting for Putin’s move, despite the fact that they’re NATO members, which would put the very existence of NATO into question and prove to any and all powerful bad actors that they shouldn’t be deterred by it… The first other consequence of that likely being that China would have also made its move against Taiwan by now, or at least would be about to do so. And we’d probably also have very real reasons for concern here in Romania, along with a border with Russia by now. And instead of being about to join NATO, Sweden and Finland would have been likely to bow down to Russia even more, just hoping that keeping their heads low enough would prevent them from being chopped off. And I’m sure that the list could continue.
What a terrible prospect that is. Not that such a scenario couldn’t materialize even now, and not that NATO, the EU or the US are doing what they really should be doing in response to Russian aggression, but just thinking about how much worse things could have been… In a way, I wonder whether Putin’s plans weren’t delayed by COVID-19, if he didn’t intend to make use of that first horrible plague if the literal illness wouldn’t have started spreading across the globe, and also taking a heavy toll on Russia. But, either way, instead of merely being relieved that such a scenario was avoided, we must be fully aware that a similar one may yet become reality and truly do everything to prevent that from happening, now as well as in the future.

I’ll start this post with the early hours of April 14, so with the night before the run I only mentioned before, when I was feeling rather off, getting weaker and at one point, while making dinner, even shaking noticeably, despite having had lunch in the evening. And despite boiling the carrots while making that lunch, I still only ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:15 AM, and finished a little before 3:55 AM. Interestingly, however, I started feeling better even before starting to eat said dinner.
Moving on to the day of April 14, I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, had the usual stuff plus almonds, with the sweet thing being two of those wheat things, expired for who knows how long, with added jam, since I was out of honey, also took the pill I had started taking, with magnesium and potassium and some other things, and left just before 4:25 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was about 20°C, supposed to hold steady.
The time was 46:18.19, with sector times of 4:15.70, 4:56 (4:55.31), 5:37.85, 4:18 (4:17.59), 4:57 (4:56.87), 5:36 (5:35.69), 4:17.21, 4:56.23, 5:39.28 and 1:47 (1:46.46), making for lap times of 14:48.86, 14:51 (14:50.15) and 14:52.72. I controlled my pace to some extent on the first sector, but had what I thought was an ambitious initial target, the 47:27 resulting from the first three laps and last sector of the previous week’s half marathon run, so from sector two I started pushing, and after it I wondered about staying under 15 minutes on the first lap, giving it a mighty push on sector three and managing that by quite a margin. Pushing so hard from the beginning made me fear that I had tired myself too much to still be able to sustain the pace required for that initial target time, but when I saw how good the first two sectors of lap two were I thought I’ll at least keep the average lap time under 15 minutes at the end of it… Only to be surprised to see that I had actually stayed under 15 minutes on that lap as well, managing a sector three that was actually faster than the first lap’s. And I kept pushing, realizing that I had a fair chance of staying under 47 minutes. Needing to pick my way through at the end of sector two of lap three made me worry that I’ll fail just because of that, but when I saw that sector’s time I realized that it’d have been the fastest sector two without that loss, and at the end of the lap I knew I’ll safely finish in less than 46:30. And at the end I was actually somewhat frustrated, seeing that time that’s a second best over this distance, only nine seconds slower than the record, and knowing that a new record would have been possible on a clear track and without that headwind… And maybe also if I’d have pushed a little harder in the early part of the run… Though that might have caused me to lose more than I’d have gained, overall.
A roadblock caused me to briefly stop towards the end of the first sector, while on sector two of lap two another made me take to the grass, going around a tree and a bench, albeit cutting the turn in the process, and I already mentioned the end of sector two of lap three, when I had to slow to a walk for a few seconds, under the bridge, a woman walking on one side and her dog being on the other, the leash blocking the lane and others coming from the opposite direction and squeezing through the small space left around the dog. And there were plenty of people in general, so there were plenty of moments when I had to weave or go the long way around, and it was also windy, this being another pretty serious problem at times, including on long straights, mainly that one on sector two, while towards the end of a sector two, not sure if of lap two or three, I felt that I was barely advancing against the wind as I approached the bridge. Otherwise, my thigh muscles started complaining a little from the start of the long straight of sector two of lap two, but it wasn’t bad, and otherwise I could just push. As for the route, another tiny patch of the lane had probably been repaired and was fenced off, but it was just that tiny patch.

Though I didn’t take a mask with me, on the way back I had a quick glance in this nearby Mega Image, then got here, had a banana, changed and left again at 7:10 PM. I went to Obor again, but was first looking for something from Mega Image, finding those things in the second one I checked on the way, and also seeing Food Bank on the donation box in that location and, after thinking about it for a moment after walking out, stepping back in to drop that 1 RON I wanted to donate in it.
Then I went to that Carrefour, put those purchases in a cabinet and got a few things, including an expiring cake and two bio (organic) eggs that I found among those sold by piece and decided to buy even though they weren’t discounted. Also happened to see Remus Cernea in the store and greeted him in passing, quickly walking away just as he looked up, so possibly even before he really saw me. And when I paid I gave 12 RON when the total was 11.51 RON, yet received only 0.40 RON as change, so I asked the cashier whether I could give him 0.01 RON and get a 0.50 RON coin, explaining that they’re useful, which was a part of the reason, but I obviously mainly wanted the correct change, and he said that he’ll just give me that coin, taking the smaller ones and doing so after checking out the next customer, without me giving him the 0.01 RON.
Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet, put everything in one at Kaufland after getting there, washed my hands, went in and got some buns, evening discounts just being placed in the bakery area. Other discounted products didn’t include anything else that could interest me, but I got a cabbage and a few other things and made my way to the self-checkout, the machine not causing any problems in itself but one of the 1 RON bills it gave me as change having a torn corner. Either way, I then used the scales that are next to the bathroom in order to get a label that I used to keep the bag with the buns closed, retrieved my things from the cabinet and, even though the store closed at that point, took my time to arrange the purchases before walking out.
After getting back just before 10:55 PM, I ate that expiring cake and put some of the purchases in their place, but left the two eggs on the kitchen table, for the mamaliga I planned to make. They were between several other things, so I thought they were safe and went to shower, and after I finished I first searched for the bag of bagels from Kaufland that I thought I still had, wanting to eat that older one and put the one purchased that evening in its place. After realizing that I must have eaten it at some earlier point, I got back to the kitchen at 12:35 AM… And saw just one egg on the table, and the coins knocked over. The other things placed around the eggs were much harder to knock over, but there are some other things on that part of the table, so I didn’t pay that much attention to blocking it, yet some space was available and it was obviously enough for Micky, since I’m sure she was the culprit. As for the egg, it was on the floor, cracked and with much of the white spilled out. But she had probably rolled it first onto the seat and then from there to the floor, since it’d have probably looked worse if it’d have fallen straight from the table. And the yolk was still inside and I didn’t want to waste it, so I took the egg and dropped the yolk in a cup, just throwing away the remaining white, then cleaned the floor in that spot, and after checking the yolk as well I could for dirt and not noticing anything, I threw it in the pot from the beginning, so it boiled for over an hour and a half. And yes, I yelled at Micky for that and closed her out of the kitchen for a while, though I eventually let her back in and gave her food… Otherwise, I ate that entire large bag of bagels before doing much else… And stopped eating the mamaliga at 3:40 AM, before stuffing myself too much. Got in bed at 5:20 AM.

That series of three runs in five days came next, the first needing to be on April 21 or April 22, even though both of those days were going to be windy, since I schedule these runs so the middle one falls either on Saturday or Sunday. But Easter was on April 24, and Good Friday is also legally a free day, so even though the forecast listed much better weather on April 24 than on April 23, and possibly also on April 26 than on April 25, I decided to start on April 21, this seeming to be the far better option from the point of view of the number of people I’ll have to deal with. And I stuck to that plan despite having multiple reasons for concern the day before, starting with the pain in my lower left leg when I went to bed in the morning, which continued for a while after I got up, and continuing with the odd taste I felt at one point while eating the macaroni and cheese I made that day, which remained in my mouth until I went to bed, something also not seeming quite right in my abdomen.
Fortunately, the problems seemed to have fixed themselves by the time the alarm rang on April 21, at 2 PM, and I got up. Then I had the usual stuff plus almonds, with the sweet thing being a slice of cozonac, with added jam, also took that supplement, and left at 4:15 PM, wearing the full running gear plus an undershirt underneath, and with a 10 RON bill in a flimsy bag in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was about 16°C, supposed to hold steady, but the problem was the wind.
The time was 1:14:53, with sector times of 4:16, 4:57, 5:47, 4:20, 4:53, 5:38, 4:21, 4:55, 5:48, 4:20, 4:53, 5:41, 4:29, 4:54 and 5:41, making for lap times of 15:00, 14:51, 15:04, 14:54 and 15:04. So I have a new personal best over 16 km as well, and also a new fastest lap four, that being the only time I completed a fourth lap in less than 15 minutes. And at first I was just hoping to stay under 1:18, aiming to gain compared to those target times on the first two laps and see what happens after that, actually being ready to accept to just stay under 1:20 if the wind would be bad, while the best case scenario was beating the 1:16:53 managed on the first five laps of the half marathon run from two weeks earlier. And, speaking of that half marathon run, I wonder what I’d have managed if I’d have continued to that distance, after being exactly two minutes faster over the five laps. Despite having pushed so hard until then, I’m thinking that I’d have still completed lap six in less than the 15:45 managed then, so even if I was very likely to then lose some time on the final portion, I’d have still been looking at about 1:40:30. But I guess we’ll never know, and I highly doubt I’ll ever be so fast again.
While I obviously didn’t give it everything, I did push to some extent from the start and the first sector’s time was fine. When the second sector was faster than expected, however, I wondered about completing the lap in less than 15 minutes and went for it, despite thinking that I was tiring myself too early by doing so. And I just missed that target by fractions of a second, so I’d have made it without the roadblocks I had to deal with on the first sector. Either way, I then hoped to just stay under 15:30 on lap two and, if possible, still not lose compared to the pace for 1:18 on lap three. But lap two was unexpectedly fast, actually under 15 minutes, so I kept pushing and when lap three was also fast I was thinking of that best case scenario, since I only needed to stay marginally under 16 minutes per lap. But when the sector times continued to be surprisingly fast, the target became 1:16, and I also pushed to try to finish four laps in less than one hour, which I also managed. I then assumed that I was going to slow significantly on lap five, the target becoming 1:15:30, but also realized that I had been faster than ever at that point and could challenge my personal best. That seemed unlikely after sector one of lap five, but I just pushed like crazy and after sector two it was clear that, if there won’t be problems, I was going to have a new personal best. Perhaps strangely, I found myself wondering whether I wanted to try to get under 1:15, what made me uncertain being that I was going to have to modify the graph if I’ll manage it, as silly as that sounds. But it was likely my last and only chance to do that, so I kept pushing and made it, maybe also helped by a guy who ended up in front of me on the last part of the last sector and was too fast for me to catch by the end but provided me with a target.
The second toe from my left foot started hurting on the way, but it no longer did while running, and there were no physical issues until the end of sector one of lap four, when I started feeling a need to crap. That seemed to go away by the end of the next sector, but my right knee was more persistent, the warnings it started giving me around that time going away after a while but then returning. And there were some slight warnings from the other knee as well, towards the end of the last lap, when I was pushing like crazy, and that was also when I felt like I couldn’t quite get enough air in. And my hands also started going numb from sector two of lap five. On the other hand, if the two roadblocks I had to deal with on the very first sector made me think that people were going to be a big problem, the first causing me to briefly stop and the second to take to the grass, going behind a bench and a pole, those were the only such situations, so I of course had to weave or go the long way around, and a few times also to squeeze through or avoid, but there were no other notable problems caused by people. It was windy, however, and while this aspect also wasn’t as bad as I feared, it did cause problems in a number of places, perhaps most notably in the area between the start of the long sector two straight and at least the end of that sector, or possibly until a little after the start of sector three. As for the lane, while no more work was being done, a few small moist patches confirmed that it’s unusable when wet, since it felt like stepping on a wet sponge.

The reason for that 10 RON bill I had taken with me was that I wanted to see whether I could get cat litter from a little store on the way back, but I made that small detour, and quickly entered the store without a mask, for nothing, since they don’t seem to have that kind anymore. And I couldn’t afford to waste the time either, so I jogged most of the way back. Then I had a banana and what was left of the sweet thing bought after that half marathon run from two weeks earlier, changed and went back out at 7:45 PM.
After first just getting a few more yogurts from the Carrefour from the park, I went to the newer Kaufland, put the yogurts in cabinet, washed my hands and walked in right at 9 PM. It closed at 11 PM those days, however, so I found no evening discounts for anything I’d care to get with the exception of wild garlic, and didn’t get any of that either, what was left looking too bad. But I did need green onions, so after digging through the crates I managed to find a bundle that didn’t look that bad and bought it, at what was either a regular discount or a small evening one, adding a few torn pieces I had found scattered in the crates to it, since it was otherwise smaller than the others I had considered. Then I looked for some snacks, but instead of getting another bag of bagels I found an expiring bio (organic) bag of peanuts and got that, then also got some bread for dad and, since there were still no bakery discounts, also grabbed some regular buns with sesame, which had a regular discount. Maybe the evening discounts would have appeared at 10 PM, but for once I didn’t wait, since I was planning to make another mamaliga and it was therefore getting late already. So I went to the self-checkout, had no problems with the machine, retrieved the yogurts, stepped outside to use one of those tables to arrange my purchases a little, and was walking away at 9:55 PM.
I got back at 10:30 PM, put some of the purchases away and washed what dad had left and another thing he wanted to use, went in the bathroom at 11:15 PM, got out at 12:10 AM, washed the other dishes which had appeared, and started making that mamaliga, also eating maybe a little more than half, so maybe a little more than 100 grams, of those peanuts, before the water started boiling… And after adding the last things I wanted to mix in it, as I was stirring them in the quite hard mamaliga, the whisk suddenly felt strange, and when I pulled it out I saw that the wire that makes a loop in the middle, the others passing through it, had snapped. So I had to hope that no bits of metal ended up in the pot, and also that the mamaliga won’t burn as I just left it to boil on its own while I finished making the salad, since I couldn’t exactly stir it with that whisk anymore. Then I stuffed myself until 3:40 AM, when I stopped, leaving what was left for another day. Got in bed at 5:20 AM.

The forecast for April 23 made me set the alarm to ring at 9 AM, but I actually managed to go to bed at 3:30 AM, after dad left earlier and I could also eat earlier, finishing around 2:20 AM even if I took it easy. That early alarm didn’t even get to ring, however, since I got up a little after 8:50 AM and turned it off, after waking up again at 8:40 AM, initially getting back in bed after checking the time and thinking that I could still catch one more brief nap, but eventually realizing that there was little chance of falling asleep again so quickly. So I had the usual stuff plus almonds, with the sweet thing being a slice of cozonac, with added jam, just wasted time on the toilet, which is entirely expected at such an early hour, despite feeling the need to go, also took that supplement, and left at 11:10 AM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was about 15°C, supposed to increase by 2-3°C by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 47:47.95, with sector times of 4:19.80, 5:08 (5:07.68), 5:49.13, 4:30.19, 5:04 (5:03.21), 5:53.50, 4:29.25, 5:05 (5:04.54), 5:39.03 and 1:51.62, making for lap times of 15:16.61, 15:27 (15:26.90) and 15:13 (15:12.82). At first I was aiming to stay under 48 minutes, just so it won’t be too bad, but after all the effort made two days earlier and since I was also running at an early hour and on little sleep, I had doubts about that, and after the first two sectors I was thinking of just staying under 50 minutes, assuming that I was only going to get slower. But a good sector three of lap one made me hope to stay under 49 minutes, and after lap two I was wondering whether I’ll have a chance to stay under 48:30. Then, after sector two of lap three, I realized that if I could give it a mighty push from then on I might just have a shot at staying under 48 minutes after all, being surprised when I saw that I was already safe at the end of the lap, after what was the fastest sector three and the fastest lap of the day.
It was windy, but at first I was thinking that it wasn’t as bad as I feared… Until the end of the long straight of sector two of lap two, when it did become that bad and I felt like I was pushing against jelly or something of that sort. And it was mostly like that all the way to the end, so it was such a relief when I was taking a turn and no longer had to push against it so much for a little while. On the other hand, there weren’t many people, and a fair number of those who were there were runners, so there was obviously some weaving and going the long way around, but no notable issues except needing to slow a little because of a kid who was unsteadily riding a bicycle, weaving on and off the lane, on sector three of lap two. But I was so exhausted, felt like I was approaching the end of a half marathon from the beginning, it was hard to even lift my legs, and I pushed from the start and the first sector’s time was poor when you take that into account. But from sector three of lap one I just gave it everything, thinking that I’ll keep going until I won’t be able to anymore… And apparently that moment didn’t come… Or at least not quite, since at one point, early on sector two of lap three, I rather blacked out. My feet obviously kept moving the right way, but it’s a good thing I didn’t have to avoid anyone or anything, because for a moment I lost track of what was going on and when I recovered I didn’t know where I was, having to take a good look around and figure out my position on the lap. Otherwise, a certain pressing need appeared early on, but it came and went after that and it was never too bad.
After getting back, I ate a banana, something sweet and the rest of those bio (organic) peanuts. Then, later in the afternoon, dad first grilled some bread with zacusca for himself, saying that the zacusca was too watery otherwise, and then bought two small baguettes to make more, saying that he got one for himself and repeatedly asking whether I wanted the other, so I eventually did grill it, but with the old eggplant spread I had left, which had seemed rather spoiled the night before, eating half of it then and keeping the other half for dinner. And that dinner consisted of that other half and the mamaliga I had left from two nights earlier, and I actually started working on that dinner in the evening and started eating at 12:15 AM, finishing just after 1 AM.

With that eggplant spread finished then, I was relying on dad bringing drob on Easter evening in order to have something to put on the bread at dinner, but he instead had to go straight to work, not coming back here first, and after considering trying the new peanut butter I had purchased but deciding against it, I ended up just boiling a small potato along with the carrots for the salad, then mashing it and putting that on the bread, and also some jam. And I had dinner between 2:05 AM and 2:55 AM, and managed to get to bed just after 4 AM, the forecast again making me set the alarm to ring at 9 AM.
That time around, the alarm did get to ring, so I got up then, only left a little in the toilet, which was at least better than nothing, had the usual stuff plus almonds, with a slice of the new cozonac dad brought when he got back in the morning, with added jam, as the sweet thing, even though it struck me as being too oily, also took both supplements, having also started to take the one for joints the day before, and left a little after 11:15 AM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 19°C, supposed to increase by a couple of degrees by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 1:17:43, with sector times of 4:23, 5:11, 5:52, 4:27, 4:59, 5:49, 4:30, 5:08, 6:00, 4:33, 5:09, 5:52, 4:34, 5:11 and 6:05, making for lap times of 15:26, 15:15, 15:38, 15:34 and 15:50. I aimed to stay under 1:18, but again feeling tired from the beginning made me ready to accept to just stay under 1:20 if I’ll have to, and the first two sectors made it look like that might be the case. But then I pushed more and sector three was good enough for the first lap’s time to not be bad. And, surprisingly, lap two was faster, so I started to actually believe that I was aiming to stay under 1:18 and was hoping to not lose compared to that target time on lap three either. But I did lose two seconds, which again made me doubt that target. However, I unexpectedly gained just those two seconds on lap four, which meant that I could even afford to go a little over 16 minutes on lap five and I therefore probably didn’t push quite that hard on it, just wanting to complete the series without any poor times. And the total time for the three runs was by far the best yet, 3:20:23, beating the previous best, from 2018, by 3:57! Maybe I should have pushed a little harder on that last lap, to get that difference to four minutes, but I wasn’t thinking about that then, and it’s great either way.
It was crowded, requiring a lot of weaving and going the long way around and squeezing through, but on lap one I just managed to avoid actual roadblocks. On lap two, however, each sector had one roadblock that likely cost me a couple of seconds and another that caused a smaller loss, so it’s even more surprising that it was the fastest lap. And on sector one of lap two I also started to feel some pain in my right knee, as well as a certain pressing need, neither going away after that, though the knee pain lessened much of the time, so the latter problem was more notable. And my arms started to go numb from sector two of lap two. Then, on sector two of lap three, I had to take to the grass three times and, right at the end, slam on the brakes and just manage to avoid a cyclist riding at some speed and with a large dog on a leash running alongside him, since he came out from under the bridge and appeared a small distance in front of me, on the lane, as other people got out of the way. Then I can’t quite recall how sector three of that lap went, but the time suggests that there were some problems then as well. On the other hand, while I’m again not certain, I think that on lap four I managed to avoid or at least minimize roadblocks, which would explain the better time. But there were a couple of brief stops on sector one of lap five, and on sector three of lap five, when I was exhausted anyway, I clearly recall being stuck behind a slow jogger with a dog, probably losing up to a few seconds because there was no way around on the lane and other people meant that I couldn’t get off it just then. And I was so tired on lap five, especially as I was approaching the end of sector two. Even my legs were starting to go numb, there was pain in my abdomen and I was thinking that sector three will be so hard…

After getting back, I had lunch, changed, and left again at 3:20 PM, after first walking out the door and then getting back in to grab the Kaufland card, just in case, since I had forgotten it. Then, after having a quick look in a kitchenware store that I just happened to notice in that mall, I went to Carrefour and saw that in that location they had finally added self-checkouts that also accept cash, so I used one, without problems, to buy some expiring roes and three lemons, after also checking their whisks and finding none that I’d consider usable. Then I checked the kitchenware store I had actually meant to check, looking for the whisk I had seen on their site, and when I didn’t spot it I asked the cashier, but she pointed me to some tiny ones and after I repeated the size she said that they had none like that in that location.
Then I continued to the nearby Kaufland, put those first purchases in a cabinet, washed my hands and looked around, waiting for 5 PM, which was when I expected what would normally be evening discounts to appear, since closing time was 6 PM that day. And they did appear, so I got some buns for myself and beeped dad to ask whether he wanted some of those baguettes as well, eventually gathering that he wanted two and getting them, though it was again very hard to hear him when he called. Oddly, if you don’t count the doughnuts, which don’t usually get evening discounts, that bread seemed to be the only bakery product without a discount label, and I asked the employee who had placed the labels and she confirmed that it wasn’t discounted, so I moved on and made use of discounts to get a bundle of green garlic, a cabbage and some red onions. And yes, I checked their whisks as well, confirming that I couldn’t get what seems to be the regular kind, not even a particularly good one in that style, since they can’t be used like I use one. So I also grabbed two bags of bagels and went to the self-checkouts… The problem being that only one of those accepting cash worked, so there was a line, and waiting offered no benefits, the discounts not increasing. But at least there were no problems with the machine. It took me a moment to realize that, however, since I had somehow forgotten to add the onions when I had calculated the total, so after I finished scanning I ended up staring in surprise for a moment, before realizing that, and the guy behind me asked if I was going to pay, then complained when I picked up a coin and again when I took money out of both pockets, saying that the store was closing, even if closing time was still some 20 minutes away, and I had scanned my purchases quickly. But he said nothing else after I asked whether that bothered him.
After also retrieving the first purchases from the cabinet and arranging everything in the bags, I got back here a little before 6:15 PM, and during the evening ate some walnuts, a bag of bagels and some pasca, and made and drank another tea… And when I told dad that I was thinking of ordering the whisk I had seen on-line despite having to add a quarter of its price to even pick it up myself, he asked how much it was and then said that he disagreed with paying that much for a whisk… Which made things simpler for me, as I decided to count it as being paid out of what I have set aside, which also meant that I no longer had any reason to discuss it with him or take his opinion into account. So I spent some time searching for stores selling whisks, got back to the kitchen at 1:10 AM, just failed to start eating dinner at 3 AM… And in the rush to take that first bite dropped the knife on the floor in my room, so I ended up starting to eat at 3:05 AM, and since I kept checking things on-line while eating, I only finished at 4:05 AM. And it was 5:25 AM when I got in bed.

This was another post I couldn’t finish before midnight, only just managing to finish the part about April 23 and posting it like that at first, then editing to add the part about the April 25 run the following night, so in the early hours of Tuesday, and then editing one more time one more night later, so in the early hours of Wednesday, in order to also add the part about the rest of that day. By that point, I also had another run to write about, but that’s a matter for another post.

I need another quick non-personal post and did mention the bad news about the end of the fourth incarnation of The GOG.com Community Giveaway, so I might as well also mention the good news about the start of the fifth incarnation, now called The GOGmmunity Monthly Giveaway. The new manager isn’t Doc0075, as he backed out, but Lone_Scout, who jumped in and acted with surprising haste, so let’s hope that’s not because he’s rushing into it but quite the contrary, because he had already been thinking about it and preparing for a while, only holding off because Doc0075 had announced his intentions first. After all, such an endeavor implies a commitment, putting in quite a lot of time and taking on a significant workload, preferably for a longer period, so I hope he’s fully aware of what he signed up for and prepared for it.
Not that this does much to revive the community on the GOG.com forums, which has been and continues to be destroyed by the actions of those in charge of the store, or even of its parent corporation, completely changing the target audience, alienating or even more or less directly driving away and silencing the more discerning users and having staff moderators implement ever more troubling policies. In fact, just for those reasons, I still can’t in all honesty say that I truly still want something like this to continue on the GOG.com forums at all, but just like it was sad to see the fourth incarnation end in spite of that, it’s equally nice to see this fifth incarnation start. How long it’ll last and how much of an active community it’ll still have to bring together and reward, it remains to be seen.

On March 7 I left a little after 9:50 AM, with dad’s large backpack, a great sale on cat litter making me want to go early. So I was at Kaufland just after 10:15 AM and, after seeing that there was no danger of them running out of the cat litter right away, I looked for the other things that were on that limited sale, finding that the labels still listed the normal full price, but the discounts did apply correctly, so I got those other things and then also the cat litter, which actually had the regular sale price listed when I first looked and the additional, limited one added before I got back there. Then I looked around for a while and eventually used the self-checkout without problems.
Getting back wasn’t that easy or free of incidents, however, two bags of cat litter plus a little over a kilogram of other things in the backpack and the third bag of cat litter in one hand making me move rather like a tank, and at an intersection I meant to wait for the car that was just turning and then cross, so I stepped on the crossing as it was going past it, but those coming right behind it showed no intention of even slowing, so it’s a good thing I stopped in time for one to pass just centimeters in front of me at full speed. Since another car was alongside it, on the next lane, the driver would have had nowhere to even try to turn away if I’d have taken another step. And after getting halfway across and putting one foot down, to take another step, I looked and saw a car with no intention to stop coming from that direction as well, so I had to wait for it to pass too, despite being on the crossing. But I eventually made it back a little before 11:45 AM, having carried 25 kg.
After having something sweet and lunch and spending some time on-line, I went out again just before 4:55 PM, taking the recyclables… And somehow just walking past the bin, so I had to turn back to drop them off. Either way, I then went to Auchan and got some things from there, including one of those breads, the real weight being only eight grams under the listed one that time around, and some of those purple potatoes, though the price was 25% higher than when I first meant to get some and then forgot about them. Also looked at slippers, to compare them with those from Carrefour, but was probably too set on getting those I had seen there, because while I didn’t like the soles of the others that were around that price or less, there was one model that seemed all right and was even 10% less than those I had in mind from Carrefour, but I didn’t even check whether that model was available in size 43… Either way, I then also went to that Penny, put the purchases in a cabinet, but just found garlic and canned mushrooms, which I later also found in the other location I went to, so I shouldn’t have gone there. But I couldn’t know that at the time, so I got those things, retrieved the other purchases and continued on my way.
As if I wasn’t already running late, I then lost even more time by somehow getting lost in Park Lake, I guess because I kept changing my mind about going to the toilet. But I eventually put the purchases in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, and rushed in Carrefour, first checking the frozen products and finding one last 1 kg bag of cheaper green beans, which I initially picked up, since my mother wanted one. However, it was more expensive than they are when they go on sale at Penny, and we still had one that dad could take there, so I eventually put it back, albeit after getting those slippers… Despite not finding any of the kind I wanted in size 43, that being the only size that was missing. Sure, 42 is what I wear, but that’s for shoes, slippers should be a little bigger, yet I made do with what was available, getting a pair in size 42, just like three years ago, when I got those I then replaced, being really torn and falling apart… And that was a bad idea, since on April 12 I noticed that they were starting to tear, the rubber at the heel splitting, so I guess they’re meant to last just the 30 days listed on the warranty slip they come with. Actually sent an e-mail about it to Carrefour that evening, and on April 20 I received a reply and a code for free shipping for an order from the site as an apology, not that it’ll do me much good.
Back to that evening, I then went to get some more of the large mucenici, or sfintisori, I had bought to reward myself two days earlier, after that half marathon run, wanting eight since four were to be taken to my mother. I couldn’t see the big sign advertising the four for the price of three offer anymore, however, so I asked the guy who was there, but he didn’t really seem to know, and the way he was dressed seemed to suggest that he was mainly a production worker in that department, only filling in at that time. So I looked and found that the whole bakery page from the catalog was displayed there, that offer also being listed on it, and when I pointed it out to him he said that in that case it applies. However, the one who should have been selling, or at least one of them, showed up at that point and when he asked her she said that the offer wasn’t valid anymore, because it had supposedly been for the frozen ones and they ran out, which was why they had taken down the big sign. But the guy actually took my side, and firmly, repeatedly pointing out what it said on the catalog page and the dates while she kept saying that it no longer applied, and in the end he told me to tell the cashier that they should be on sale. And he also made sure to add quite a few fistfuls of the ground walnuts spilled in the trays. Then again, I guess that mentioning the discount to the cashier wouldn’t have made any difference, since when I did she said that she didn’t know about that and will just see what happens, but it did indeed apply automatically to the total, so there were no problems… Except the fact that the change she gave me was 0.07 RON short. But there were a few coins in front of her and I just brazenly grabbed a 0.10 RON one. Forgot to use the discount voucher I had on the receipt from two days earlier, however.
Since I still needed frozen spinach and some other pastries for my mother from Penny, I then rushed to the one that’s close to the newer Kaufland, finding just one of each to get, a second 1 kg bag of that cheap frozen spinach being available but torn. Then I also rushed to that Kaufland, walking in minutes after 9 PM, putting my things in a cabinet, washing my hands and heading straight to the bakery area, where the employee was just placing additional discount labels. They were out of the kind of bread I’d usually get from there, but I got two of the second kind, the 75% discount applying even though it also had a regular discount those days, albeit of only 10%. Since I couldn’t find the three of that other kind that I had been asked to get from Penny, I also got some sweet pastries, two to send to my mother and one for myself, those being at an eighth of the price, and also a baguette that just had a label listing a 50% discount, but which ended up being an eighth of the price as well. Then I looked around, picked the last of the onions that seemed all right and, after having found none in the location I had been to in the morning, also found a few pieces of the large chocolate I wanted to get for dad. I think four were left, but just one was of a kind he could want, so I got that as well, waited around for a while longer, went to the self-checkout at 9:50 PM… And saw that the couple who was ahead of me had three of those large chocolates, along with several others, so maybe they had cleared out that area after me. Either way, I had no problems with the machine, then took a little time to put some things in the backpack, after retrieving them from the cabinet, but after the store closed I went out while I could still use the main doors and really took my time to arrange everything, using one of those tables that are outside.
On the way back, yet another car almost ran into me. I was crossing the street that’s right after that Penny, noticed lights that seemed to be coming towards me and froze in place, but did so a step too late, a car stopping just before hitting me, after having tried to turn in from the other side of the other road at some speed. Since he was also coming from behind, he could have seen me while I couldn’t have seen him, but it nevertheless sounded like the driver had some choice words for me. I just said out loud that it’s a crossing and kept going, however.
I got back at 10:50 PM, having carried almost 16 kg, so it was easy compared to the morning, but I was so tired… Couldn’t rest quite yet, however, so I had a banana and that sweet pastry from Kaufland, put some things in their place, and went to the bathroom right at midnight, not leaving much in the toilet but having good water to wash. I was out just before 1 AM, but still had much to do, so after putting more things in their place and washing what dad had left, it was 3:20 AM when I started eating dinner and 3:55 AM when I finished, and that was without even dealing with the bread. Sadly, the exact same start and end times applied to the following night’s dinner, after dealing with two of the three breads and also some lettuce, though that was after having a large lunch in the evening.

Moving on to March 10, I had lunch after waking up and was eating in my room and being on-line when dad got back and I didn’t hear him and he turned on his computer. I went out of my room some five minutes later, noticed him and ran back to disconnect, but the harm was done… And his “excuse” was that I hadn’t left him any note! Excuse me? A note to say that I woke up? I had taken the note he had left for me off the table, cleaned up after him, made tea and took it to my room, also took the plates with my food…
Either way, I left a little after 4:15 PM, with the electric grill which had burned out and some other such things that no longer worked in dad’s large backpack, since I was taking them to the collection center that’s close to Obor. I had to rush, since it closes at 5 PM, and in fact I got there at 4:50 PM and the last container was being closed and a truck was leaving, though the guy who was closing that container opened it again when I asked where could I drop off what I had and apologized for closing earlier, saying that the snow was coming over them, and it had indeed been snowing lightly almost since I had left, and it was windy as well. He told me to just dump everything at the entrance of the container, since they’ll clean up the next day, so I did just that, rushing even though he was telling me not to.
Another small event in support of Ukraine was supposed to start at 5:30 PM at Victory Square, but I knew that people won’t gather right away and I wasn’t going to have time to go everywhere on the way back, so I decided to first pass through Kaufland, peeing and then checking what the cereals that were on sale contained and looking for but failing to find their cheap batteries, so I couldn’t compare the price with that of those that were on sale at Carrefour. And then I also went to Penny, looking for paper towels for dad, seeing none at first but finding that two packs had appeared when I got back there after having a look around the rest of the store. They had probably just been returned there, one being completely torn and with one roll outside of it and the other being just a little torn, but I took that one that was just a little torn… And then struggled for a while to stuff it in the backpack, walking outside after at least managing to get it in, then placing the backpack on a bench and struggling a while longer, until I could finally manage to close it.
I was finally walking away at 5:55 PM and reached Victory Square at 6:40 PM… Only to find absolutely nobody there. I tried to look across, to see whether they had moved, but it didn’t seem like it and I didn’t actually go all the way around, in order to have a close look, just trying to make my way to the Ukrainian Embassy instead. I didn’t correctly remember its location, however, so I ended up walking almost all the way to the end of Kiseleff instead of going on Aviatorilor, after a while realizing that something was wrong and being increasingly hesitant and eventually starting to search, but even then remaining certain that it was there, only thinking that the entrance might perhaps be on another street. I eventually put together a mental image of the map of the area and finally realized that there was no way it could be there, and just after 7:30 PM I managed to find it, but couldn’t even light a candle. At first I also meant to try to light at least some of the many that were already there again, since only one was still lit, but neither the lighter nor the matches I had seemed to work and my hands were freezing, so after a few minutes I gave up and walked away. My hands were utterly frozen and painful, and I was cold in general, and also needed to pee again.
After reaching the mall from Obor, I peed again and started warming up a little, then went inside that Carrefour with the backpack, not bothering with a cabinet, and got sugar, two beets for dad and, after happening to buy one kind two days earlier, also the other three kinds of cereals included in those that were on sale at Kaufland, the difference being that those from Carrefour were bio (organic)… And yet ended up being even cheaper, for the same quantity, despite not even being on sale! And one of those kinds of cereals was cheaper than the others and I noticed that the cashier got confused while scanning them, so when the total was different than what I had calculated, I ended up thinking that it was a little more than it should have been, since I had just calculated the coins, to make sure that I had exact change, and I told her that I’ll be checking the receipt. At that point, she also had another look, but whether she realized what had happened and decided to let it slide or still didn’t notice, she said that everything was fine… And when I also checked, I realized that it had actually been more than fine, because she had scanned those slightly cheaper cereals a second time instead of one of the others, the total being 0.83 RON less than it should have been, not more. So I decided to set 1 RON aside and donate it at some point.
It was past 9:30 PM when I walked out of that mall, so I rushed to Kaufland, had to try three cabinets until I found one that worked, put my things in it, washed my hands again and, finding nothing else that was discounted and interesting, ended up only buying a few onions that had an evening discount and still seemed all right, after digging through all the crates to even find those. Since the price was even less than the small amount left in my account, I paid by card at the self-checkout, though I still used one of the machines that also accepts cash. And I managed to do that in time, the announcement that the store had closed coming as I was arranging everything in the backpack, though I then took a couple more minutes to finish doing that, after which I walked out and finished arranging my clothes before walking away, a little after 10:05 PM.
I got back at 10:55 PM, ate an apple and something sweet, put the purchases in their place, and it was 12:30 AM when I went to take a shower, the water being good enough to drive that cold out of me. I was back in the kitchen at 1:15 AM, but still had things to do, including washing what dad had left, so I started eating dinner at 3:05 AM, but still managed to finish at 3:40 AM. As for that event, I later asked Remus Cernea what had happened and he said that some ten people had showed up but it was too cold and windy and at 6:30 PM they had decided to go and have a hot tea somewhere, so on the one hand I just missed them, but on the other I didn’t miss anything relevant.

I felt occasional pain around my left kidney before getting up the next day, and it returned at night, while making and having dinner and after that, though it seemed fine during the day. But when I felt it again before getting up the following day, I was wondering whether it wasn’t actually caused by my lower back. If so, I strained it even more that evening, since dad came earlier than he had said and we defrosted the fridge, so he moved it, cleaned behind it a little, tried to balance it better and sorted a few things at the end, and I worked away for some five hours, most of that time being spent cleaning it, and otherwise holding it while he was trying to balance it better, taking things out, scraping the ice and taking it away, then putting things back. It was past 1 AM when I was done and went to shower and 1:30 AM or just after that when I was back in the kitchen. Then I had half of an expired bar and left most of what was to wash for later, to at least manage to start eating dinner at 3:10 AM, and that was after having lunch in the early evening. I might have still managed to finish at 3:40 AM, but accidentally knocked three slices of bread off the plate and spent a few minutes dealing with that, so I finished just after 3:45 AM. My back was hurting, my arms, also my legs to some extent… But I still also washed most of what was in the kitchen after all, and got in bed at 5:20 AM.

After running on March 14 and everything I had done in the previous days, I was really tired on the morning of March 15, but as it tends to happen in such cases, I slept little. I woke up after some three and a half hours of sleep, needing to pee, but just couldn’t get myself to get up, and I guess it was a good thing I took a while, because there was a call from the organizers of the planting event on March 19, so I answered and then went… But couldn’t get back to sleep after that, spending some three more hours mostly in bed, albeit getting up twice more during that time and on one of those occasions spending a few minutes in the kitchen, feeding Micky and then staying there while she ate. In the end, I’m not sure I slept more than half an hour more, and it quite certainly was less than one hour.
In spite of that, and of already needing to take care of laundry that day, I decided to also clean my room a little, doing that in the evening, after having lunch after dad got back. I was so exhausted, feeling quite out of it, my feet were also burning again, mostly after cleaning, my back wasn’t happy either, but oddly enough my nose got better over the course of that day, despite the cleaning, though it had been quite badly irritated in the morning… On the other hand, I’ll also mention here that I finally ate the last of the Granny Smith apples received back in October, when “paying” with PET bottles, that day.
I did feel much better the next day, but couldn’t quite say why, after sleeping badly again. I did get somewhat more sleep, but I’m not even sure I had been sleeping for three hours when I woke up to pee and while I did get back to sleep after that, an hour and a half later I woke up screaming. Only got up at 2:55 PM, but what little sleep I got in the nearly four and a half hours until then was plagued by awful dreams that I had a hard time realizing weren’t actually “real”, seeing as I’d just fall asleep and dream myself right there and then, but with something awful and, at least to some extent, plausible happening.

As for March 17, I left a bit after 7:20 PM, taking the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a bin on the way, and also the caps and Tetra Paks to take to Penny and five cooking oil bottles, wanting to see whether the machine at Kaufland would accept them, for that 99% discount on a bottle of Pepsi Max. So I first went to the nearest Penny, but even though the sign was still there, when I asked whether the Tetra Pak campaign was still valid a guard told me it wasn’t. So I just threw the bag in a cabinet, without locking, and went in to look for the cornmeal that was supposed to be on sale. Didn’t even find a label or an empty area where it should have been, however, and when I asked an employee she took me to the spot where the one other kind was and said that was the only kind they had. That made me assume that they were already out of it, also saying so when I walked out, told that same guard that I was looking for that cornmeal and couldn’t find it and he said that maybe it’ll show up later, but he might have actually been right, seeing as large bundles, still wrapped up, were all over the store that evening and two days later, when I found it in another location, it had just been brought.
Either way, I then retrieved that bag from the cabinet, dropped the caps in the proper place and continued to Kaufland, to try that machine. At first it wouldn’t take the bottles, but I then noticed that a discount ticket was still in it, and another on the floor, so I grabbed those and taking out the one that was still in the machine made it accept the bottles, so I ended up with three tickets. But I didn’t actually go to Kaufland just yet, first going to that mall and buying a code to recharge my prepaid phone card, then having a quick look in a sports store, and then throwing the bag with the Tetra Paks in a cabinet and entering that Carrefour, finding two of the packs of batteries that I had been looking for, for dad, and getting both. Then I had a quick look in another store, retrieved that bag and finally went to Kaufland.
After putting the bag in a cabinet and washing my hands, I went to the bakery area, since it was a few minutes past 9 PM, but no bread was left… And, as I later confirmed, the label indicated that the price of the one that I prefer to get from there had increased yet again. But I got two sweet pastries, then checked for evening discounts for fruits and vegetables, grabbing the last two bundles of green onions and adding a few more pieces that were scattered in the crates to them, checking the handful of remaining bananas one by one and just getting two, digging a lot through all the crates of potatoes and getting close to six kilograms, and also taking a few beets. But I had mainly meant to get a bottle of the bio (organic) olive oil that was on sale at a shockingly good price, it was getting late and I was yet to even look for it… And when I did, I didn’t even find a label, so I asked an employee who was in that area and she said that they were out. Even though the sale had only started the day before, I didn’t find that surprising, considering the price, but later realized that it had been listed in a separate section of the catalog and site and I should have probably looked for it elsewhere in the store, and in fact I did find it in an entirely different place two days later, in another location. Either way, I then also looked for that Pepsi, but couldn’t find any small bottles of Pepsi Max, so I just grabbed three of the regular kind, which had the same price, and went to check whether the discount would also apply to those.
Well, it didn’t. I got to the self-checkout a few minutes before closing and just scanned the Pepsi and the discount tickets at first, and when I saw that no discount applied I looked for an employee to cancel that and allow me to scan the other purchases. But, if one had been running around that area until then, they all seemed to have suddenly vanished at that point, which left me and a couple who needed one to clear an alcohol sale looking around and waiting, blocking the available machines that also accepted cash after the store had closed and with a line forming behind us. And after an employee finally came and sorted things out, an old woman kept getting ever closer to me, almost pushing me from the machine as I was trying to hurry to scan my other purchases. And an employee, which I actually think was the same one who had sorted things out, was starting to clean the cabinets when I left the checkout area, so I rushed to take my things out, then moved a few steps away in order to start trying to stuff the bag with the potatoes in the backpack. But I thought that I might be getting in the way even there, so I then moved to the other set of cabinets, from the area with the stairs, and when I still wasn’t done when she came there as well I went down the escalator and continued there, finally managing it and putting on the backpack before walking out.
I was walking away from Kaufland a little after 10:10 PM, got back at 10:40 PM, had a banana and one of the sweet pastries, took a quick shower, did another thing I had to do, and only had lunch after that, taking it to my room and also checking some things on-line, so it was past 1:20 AM when I finished. In spite of that, I managed to stick to the schedule for dinner. On the other hand, I only got in bed at 5:20 AM, after finally managing to ensure that my computer won’t run out of work.
I’m referring to the fact that the problems that MilkyWay@home had at the time got worse and if for a while it worked intermittently and I could just manage to get enough work to keep the computer busy between outages, that was about to end that night and things weren’t going to get fixed in time, and with World Community Grid also taking a break, I urgently needed other options. Following someone’s suggestion, the first attempt was Universe@home, but after at first it wouldn’t connect and I needed quite some time to finally manage to get an updated ca-bundle.crt and fix that issue, the BOINC warning that the project may not have work for my type of computer proved correct. So I tried Cosmology@home next, remembering seeing that its legacy app was supposed to run on 32-bit systems, and that did the trick… Eventually, because at first it kept saying either that the work cache was full even though I had it set to 1+1 days and just had MilkyWay@home work units for a few more hours, or that tasks weren’t needed because it’s not the highest priority project even though I even set its share to 2000, with the rest being at 100. But after setting the work cache back to the previous 5+5 days and giving it a little time, it finally downloaded work units… The problem being that, because of that setting, it downloaded too many, and since I just used it to take me through that MilkyWay@home outage, I ended up abandoning the rest. And the time spent working on that project was unpleasant, because if at first I saw it use 120 MB of RAM per work unit, that amount increases in time, and I saw it reach 750 MB, which made it quite a problem to actually use the computer. And the following day I was trying to let one of those work units finish and then switch back to the few remaining ones from MilkyWay@home while I’ll be using the computer and missed the moment, one core being idle for three and a half minutes. But at least that wasn’t much.

It seems that this year Earth Day is flying rather under the radar, but that’s neither surprising nor, in this particular case and in my view, that much of a problem. Of course, in general, every day should be Earth Day and marking one specific date in the calendar for this purpose shouldn’t make much of a difference, and not paying much attention to such an event at a time when so many terrible things are going on in the world is unsurprising, the problem being that people, whether we’re talking about the masses or about those in positions of authority, don’t recognize or accept at any point that they have a responsibility towards the world, much less act in the manner which such responsibility would require. But the theme of this particular Earth Day, or more exactly the manner in which the topic is approached, strikes me as something that probably should be more or less ignored, if not even fought against.
Yes, we obviously must invest in the planet, but it must be done for the sake of the planet, and in a manner that will break away from the systems that got us in this terrible situation, from exploiting, the environment as well as people, for profits, from endless growth, from corporations, from the finance-based economy, from the private sector setting these directions… And yet, while there are also parts that deal with government intervention and regulations, what I’m seeing there mainly focuses on the crucial role of the private sector and how such investments boost profits and earnings and aid growth, when infinite growth, profits and private sector decisions with large scale impacts are fundamentally incompatible with sustainability on a finite planet where many other species should also have good lives and people should also be guaranteed a decent standard of living and fair treatment.

Under these circumstances, I find the report released by the IEA and EC yesterday, specifying a few key actions that individuals can take in order to reduce the reliance on Russian energy imports, to be more interesting. Of course, individual actions, and individual responsibility, is the least part of this puzzle, far less important than the systems that govern human society and the actions that governments and others in positions of authority need to take, but this was actually only the most recent such report that was released, the previous two, dealing with reducing the reliance on Russian natural gas and, respectively, reducing oil demand, focus on the policies which should be implemented by the authorities, and mostly make very good points, with the notable exception of pushing for maximizing the power generated from nuclear plants and delaying even the planned closures, the mention of bioenergy also being potentially concerning, considering what it often implies. And there’s also that part listed under additional options, stating that switching from gas to coal would also go a long way, though that’s something that should have never even been considered, the fact that it’s specifically not included in the actual plan because it would increase emissions definitely not being enough to stop the potential damage caused by the very fact that such a possibility was even taken into account. But, again, with those exceptions, those plans are more worthy of being mentioned and promoted at the present time than the theme of this year’s Earth Day, considering the manner in which it was approached.