Cav's Place

Counting this as an actual book read feels even more like cheating than the one received when I volunteered in the same place last year, since it’s just a collection of quotes with an overly inflated page count, each page containing one to three quotes, at most four in a few very rare cases, even when plenty of those quotes have no more than a few lines, so there are even pages only containing a couple of printed lines.
As for the quotes themselves, the first chapter may do so slightly less, but the next few clearly focus on those main tenets of Stoicism that I was saying a year ago I find infuriating, also being so similar to the crap pushed by the modern professional mental health field, not stopping at reining in excesses but demanding that all must maintain that inner happiness and grin and bear whatever happens, blaming victims and the less fortunate who do not do so and discouraging and even condemning demands for improvement… Which is also hypocritical from someone pushing for the widespread adoption of a certain style of thinking and living. And the chapter about teaching is another I made a particular note of in a negative way, going well past the idea that unnecessary knowledge is forced onto pupils and heavily criticizing seeking knowledge and studying in itself, past what this school of thought deems necessary.
But other chapters are more of a mixed bag, a few even focusing in large part on concepts I can get behind, though there are major contradictions between those about friendship and companionship and those about self-sufficiency. And the title and what’s printed at the back are invitations to make up your own mind and argue for your own views, so I’ll leave it at that. As I also said a year ago, proper comments about philosophy require far more time and attention than I’m willing to offer this at the moment… Though I will add that reading things from over 2000 years ago certainly shows how little people and society ever really change.

Rating: 2/5

I already ran twice since the start of December but am yet to even post about November’s runs, so I’m going to fix that now, starting on November 5 when, after starting to eat dinner at 3:15 AM, admittedly after having lunch and also some corn puffs in the evening, the alarm woke me at noon… And, while I’ll otherwise continue to skip the things that have to do with the UPS, which also means not including November 11 and 13 in this post, I’ll mention here that after waking up that day I noticed that for some reason its software’s tray icon application was using 2% of CPU every few seconds and 150 Mb of RAM, so I killed it and then stopped the service as well… Which I should have done ever since disconnecting the UPS, as that’d have avoided the problem it caused on the night before the marathon. Either way, at least I did it then, and then had the usual stuff plus pumpkin, the yogurt being a “creamy” one with 10% fat, and the sweet thing the last of those expired nicer biscuits, with added honey, finally finishing them since I don’t have any long runs planned until spring, so there was nothing left to save them for. Then I put on the full running gear and left a bit after 2:25 PM, when the reported temperature was about 24°C, at least according to our weather service, since it otherwise varied wildly between sites. It felt a bit chilly on the way though, and the fact that it was somewhat cloudy wasn’t enough to explain that, so I rather doubt it was that much.
The time was 48:10.29, with sector times of 4:34.88, 5:01.10, 5:54 (5:53.84), 4:31 (4:30.53), 5:08.47, 5:55.00, 4:29 (4:28.57), 5:06 (5:05.65), 5:44.60 and 1:48 (1:47.65), making for lap times of 15:29.82, 15:34.00 and 15:19 (15:18.82). With work continuing in the park, I was learning how to lose less time as I went along, and there was a part, on sector three, where the new surface had been poured and the area wasn’t fenced off even if it hadn’t also been painted yet. I still rather avoided it on lap one, but tried it a little on lap two and made good use of it on lap three, finding that it just feels soft, so it protects the joints but doesn’t seem to recover energy, throw the leg back up, possibly even absorbing energy and making it a bit harder. I do seem faster when running on it, however, and I’m not sure how much of that is just because I don’t have to go the long way around it, so maybe it’s just an impression and it does help more directly as well, couldn’t really say even now. Either way, I definitely did my best to avoid the scraped areas, since they’re uneven and stepping there means risking injury, and they were working on a part of sector three, before the one where the new surface could be used, so most of the path was fenced off, leaving just a narrow strip for people. And, though on top of being rather cloudy I even felt a few drops on the first two sectors, the high temperature had brought out plenty of people, and the work being done made getting past them more difficult, plus that the scraped area made me go the long way around in plenty of places anyway. So I had to slow a few times as well, and briefly stop because of roadblocks on sector two of laps one and three and sector three of lap two. As for physical issues, there were some warnings from my knees and ankles, maybe starting with my left ankle, but most of it only on lap two.
Not that I could really notice anything else after the long straight of sector two of lap three… Since that was when I fell. Was sprinting, someone was ahead, someone else who I think was on a scooter was coming from the opposite direction, on the left, where the scraped area also was, but I seemed to have room to the right and aimed for that gap… Only for the woman in front of me, who was probably focusing on the person on the scooter, to get startled when she heard me coming, slow and spread an arm out, which I guess is a reflex, to make yourself seem bigger when you’re scared. So she blocked me at a moment when I could no longer stop in time even if I wanted to and I tried to get around her on the grass… But I guess I stepped on fallen leaves, because my right foot went sideways at a moment when the left one was in the air, and it was a good thing that my body knew better than my brain at that point, because I meant to slam the left foot down when I’m quite sure it’d have landed sideways and instead found that it went completely limp under me. That meant I was completely surprised to find myself going down, landing quite hard, on the path, first on the left knee, then the left elbow, and finally on my hands, but that saved my ankle, which would have likely snapped otherwise. And I picked myself back up right away, said yes when that woman asked whether I was all right, brushed off a few leaves and just kept going. I only noticed the blood flowing from the left elbow and right little finger a bit later, and the knee was stinging as well, but I pushed even harder, and putting on an angry face and making a point of showing my bloody arms whenever somebody was coming towards me tended to make people get out of my way.
That was an unpleasant way to mark what seems to have been the 200th time I ran ten kilometers, if you include those runs on the street and the one that was a few hundred meters shorter. But at least I avoided any serious injuries and my tights didn’t tear either… Though they did get a bit damaged in that spot, so they’re likely to tear there sooner or later. Either way, I even jogged on the way back, and then also stuck to the plan that included a long walk that evening. But that has to do with “round two” of the long walks to “pay” with PET bottles, so I’m leaving it for another time… Though I have no idea when or even if I’ll write about those.

I will, however, mention November 6, since after only showering in the morning, having needed to wait for the hot water to return, I didn’t replace the bandages before finally getting in bed, at 8:55 AM… And that led to waking up with both the elbow and the knee stinging badly, too badly to be able to continue sleeping, so I eventually had to get up around 12:40 PM or so and put some bandages again, getting back to bed after that and only getting up for good a bit after 4 PM. And in the evening dad was baking a frozen pizza when the oven turned itself off again, so at first we thought it was that same problem, but the stove wouldn’t work either, so we wondered whether something was blocking it from receiving gas completely or the gas had been cut off, having no way to really check. It was only the next morning that we learned that it was the latter option, somebody from the gas company coming to say that it had been cut off because of some problems, even though the site hadn’t listed anything that night, and asking us to check to make sure that everything was working properly once it’ll be turned back on. But, to return to that night, I started eating dinner at 3:20 AM, after having had lunch in the evening, and kept feeling irregular heartbeats.

Kept feeling those heartbeats the next day as well, but another problem then was that there was again blood when I crapped. Had put it off the day before, not feeling like I really had to go, but that feeling struck me with a vengeance as soon as I woke up and, while I went straight away at that point, I guess that holding it in while sleeping, and also for those last few moments until I got to the toilet, had been too much. Either way, I again had lunch in the evening and then started eating dinner at 3:25 AM.

The next run, which would be the 200th ten-kilometer one if you don’t include that slightly shorter one, was on November 8, when the alarm woke me at 1 PM. I then had the usual stuff plus pumpkin, the yogurt being a bio (organic) “Greek” one with 10% fat, and a slice of cozonac with added honey as the sweet thing, just wasted time on the toilet, which was understandable after bleeding the day before, put on the full running gear, with some things in the pocket of my tights, and left at 3:45 PM, when the reported temperature was about 17°C, supposed to drop by 1-2°C by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 48:28.45, with sector times of 4:21.11, 5:06.25, 5:46 (5:45.72), 4:38.41, 5:09 (5:08.53), 5:51.90, 4:40 (4:39.53), 5:16.13, 5:52 (5:51.78) and 1:49.09, making for lap times of 15:13.08, 15:38.84 and 15:48 (15:47.44). Considering the scrapes and bandages, I had no real target, but would have been really disappointed to go over 50 minutes again and pushed from the start. Needing to carefully step on the scraped area to get around people meant that there was no way to sustain the sprint on the long sector one straight, however, and while it wasn’t quite as bad the scraped area caused problems on sector two as well, again most notably on the long straight, seeing as it again caused broken sprints. And the fenced off area started right after the bridge, so right at the start of sector three, but it also ended sooner, so the new surface could be used for more of that sector and I did so, for the most part. That lane is always on the left, however, towards the lake, so staying on the inside of turns that go in the other direction means going off it, and it also doesn’t quite get to the edge of the path, just enough space for a foot being left, so if you want to really stay on the inside you’ll end up with the right foot on the new surface and left off it. Either way, after the first lap I checked my times and wondered about 48:30, knowing that I won’t sustain the pace I had on said lap, which in itself would have been good enough to stay under 48 minutes, this being proven right away, by sector one of lap two. And at the start of lap three I knew I had to push for it, and the first two sectors didn’t look good, nor did the time at the end of the lap despite pushing harder on sector three. But I pushed even harder on the final sector and, despite slipping a couple of times on leaves on the final straight, it just worked out in the end.
The knee was fine, but I might have been favoring it a bit and the other one complained a little as a result. But the main problems were caused by people, since it was much harder to get around them, so there were broken sprints, times when I had to carefully step on the scraped area, and one clear roadblock at the start of sector three of lap three. A guy I had overtaken on sector three of lap one had just gotten back ahead of me, towards the end of sector two of lap three, after I heard him and made way, and we found a group of people ahead of us right after the bridge, where the path was narrow because most of it was fenced off, so he took a step on the grass and went right past them but I couldn’t get myself to do that again while running, in fact avoiding the grass altogether having caused me to need to slow a few times earlier as well, so at that point I pretty much just walked on the grass and around those people, losing a few seconds as a result. I did push after that and was slowly catching that guy again, but he soon stopped, so I couldn’t have him as a target all the way to the end of the lap. And on a part of that same sector three of lap three I also found myself really fighting the wind, which I had actually started feeling as of sector three of lap two.

After the run, I wondered about going to Auchan, or maybe even trying to run and get to both stores, but eventually just went to that Carrefour and got some more food for Liza, then came back, having a quick look in the nearby Mega Image but not getting anything. Then I had a quince and something sweet, was relieved to see no more blood when I went to the toilet, took a bath and, after dad went to bed, early, made mamaliga. My right foot was burning again, and the irregular heartbeats continued. They seemed to go away the next day, but just during the day, since there were a few more that night as well.

On November 12, the alarm woke me at 1:30 PM, I had the usual stuff plus pumpkin, and a slice of cozonac with added honey as the sweet thing… And saw the reply to the e-mail I had sent in reply to that message about a tree planting, which again stated that the event was exclusively for those who could get there on their own, the reply stating that transportation was offered after all, so after dad said that he could give me his metro card then, I signed up for the event I attended the next day… Which led to having more to do that evening. But I already wrote about that so, returning to that day’s run, I put on the full running gear, with some stuff in the pocket of my tights, and left at 4 PM, also wearing the jacket on the way, since the reported temperature was about 12°C, supposed to drop by a couple of degrees by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 48:13.01, with sector times of 4:18.32, 5:10 (5:09.94), 5:51 (5:50.78), 4:31.09, 5:09 (5:08.88), 5:55.97, 4:33 (5:32.56), 5:10 (5:09.59), 5:47.82 and 1:49 (1:48.06), making for lap times of 15:19.04, 15:35.94 and 15:30 (15:29.97). The fence that closed the area starting right after the bridge had been pushed back just a little, so the path won’t be narrowed even further where it’s already narrow, but that was the only relevant change, that part of the paved area on sector three still being fenced off even if the new surface had been poured there by then. So it was just as hard to get around people, and there was pretty much no chance to sprint all the way on a long straight, and I also briefly stopped because of a roadblock on the long straight of sector two of lap one, and again on sector three of lap one. But I also slowed twice on sector three of lap two, the second time more, to see the time better, and on sector three of lap three I actually stopped for a couple of seconds for that same reason, the light being at that level where it’s hardest to see the time. Otherwise, I saw an ambulance when I got to the paved area of sector two of lap two, someone having collapsed there, the ambulance just leaving when I got there again, on lap three. As for physical issues, the main warnings were from my hips. The right knee again gave a few early on, but from lap two it was the hips, and there was a moment, I think on sector three of lap two, when I almost twisted the right one, again noticing that I was stepping oddly, so I had to be careful.

On November 15, I went out at 7:20 PM, also taking the paper and the stuff I take to Kaufland, dropping off the paper in a recycling bin and then going straight to that newer Kaufland, grabbing a number of things, including the last bread of that kind and a few other bakery products once the discounts were announced. Got back a bit after 9:35 PM, had that cake bought two days earlier and one of the spoiling heavily discounted bio (organic) oranges I had grabbed, then spent a couple of hours washing the stove top in the bathroom before finally showering, being back in the kitchen at 1:15 AM. There were more things to wash, however, so it was 2:10 AM when I started making salad, and I started eating the dinner consisting of said salad and the second pizza bought two days earlier at 3:30 AM, after having lunch in the afternoon. Got in bed at 5:40 AM, annoyed after noticing that dad had sort of cleaned something in the small bathroom, messing things up of course.

On November 18 I got up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, had the usual stuff plus pumpkin, with some regular biscuits with added honey as the sweet thing, got out the food I had “invested” in for Micky, put on the full running gear, with some things in the pocket of my tights, and left a little after 3:40 PM, again wearing the jacket on the way, the reported temperature again being 12°C, supposed to drop by a couple of degrees by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 47:38.04, with sector times of 4:13.60, 5:08 (5:07.78), 5:52.38, 4:28.15, 5:03.03, 5:52 (5:51.16), 4:29.38, 4:54.50, 5:46 (5:45.46) and 1:53 (1.52.60), making for lap times of 15:13.76, 15:23 (15.22.34) and 15:09.34. Started by pushing really hard, but as soon as I got past the bridge the scraped area put an end to that, as I had to get across it a few times on that downward slope and on the long straight. And on sector two huge bags of that new surface were placed at certain distances on the scraped area, so there was no way to go across it at all in those spots, and two bags were sliced, with the contents spilling out, so I had to rather jump over what had spilled. And on sector three they were painting the area they had poured the new surface on, so all of it was closed off again, being even worse after getting past the area they had finished, since they had used ribbons tied between pieces of fence placed quite some distance from each other, the ribbon being blown by the wind towards the part of the path that was left, forcing me to go even wider to avoid getting tangled up in it. And some of the stuff had spilled past the fence in some spots, my shoes feeling sticky for a while after each time I passed through such a place. But I again tried to optimize, started thinking of staying under 48 minutes after the first lap, then calculated after the second, thinking it’d be hard but really pushing, the clearer long straight allowing me to do better than I thought even on sector one, and then really giving it everything after that, realizing after sector two, when I saw 39:59.98, that staying under 48 minutes was pretty much guaranteed unless I’ll have a problem.
It was just there, at the end of sector two, under the bridge, that an older man coming from the opposite direction dug something out of his bag as I approached and held it towards me, saying it was a present for a sportsperson, but I have no idea what it was, didn’t even really “process” what he said until a few seconds later, after finishing the sector and seeing the time. Otherwise, my right knee again gave some warnings on sector two of lap one, and they reappeared occasionally until the end, again telling me that I was moving it in a potentially damaging way. But the main problem was again that there were a fair number of people that it was hard to get around, making me have to go across the scraped area, slow, squeeze through, most notable being the roadblock that formed ahead of me at the end of sector two of lap one, forcing me to slow a lot. And on the last straight of sector three of lap three, two guys who were on scooters or skateboards were coming from the opposite direction and three people who meant to go across the path saw them and stopped, but as I squeezed between the guys and those three, the first two saw me and stayed where they were while the third probably didn’t, stepping forward just when I got there, so I ended up elbowing him in his large belly as I went past. And right at the end of the lap there were two people with dogs, one on the left, towards the lake, and the other sitting on the bench on the other side, the dogs being near the one on the left and a leash going across the entire path, from the person on the bench to her dog. I shouted at them to make way and at least the one on the left took her dog away to let me squeeze through, the other not seeming to care.

After the run, I went to the bigger Mega Image from the area, having seen discounts, and got the two other things, but just looked at Micky’s food. It was again discounted at the time and we badly needed more, but I had already taken out my “stash” and wondered whether to replace some of those cans or not, that discounted price being higher than the one I had purchased them at. But the price labels on the shelves didn’t mention any discounts, and the full price showed up when I used a price checker too, so I asked an employee and she said that the discount was applied at checkout, but I didn’t care to risk it at that point. And I also looked at the expiring things and saw that the discount had been reduced from 50% to a mere 20%, so I asked the employee who was there about that and she said that they had lowered it, then agreed with me that nobody was going to buy those products anymore, also saying that they used to be all gone by that hour and instead that area was overflowing. But there was a 50% discount for a few pastries and I bought one of those. And then I also checked this nearby Mega Image on the way back and did get some more of that food for Micky, albeit of just one kind, to replace that part of what I had taken out. And the discounts did apply, but just at checkout. Either way, that evening I made mamaliga again, after dad left.

The next day was unpleasant, however. The first problem was that, though I didn’t think it had been that long, I guess I again held it in for too long and there was blood in the toilet again. Actually, there was a whole lot of blood, and I didn’t feel well at all after that, getting worse in the evening even if I ate a fair bit. I meant to write that day and just couldn’t, eventually crawling in bed… And at night I saw a better deal for cat food on-line, for both Micky and Rocky, albeit only if purchasing entire boxes from that pet shop, making me feel even worse. It was still a tiny bit more expensive that what I had paid back when I made that “investment”, however, so I was fair and updated the “charge”, reducing my “profit” to a negligible amount.

As for the month’s last run, that was on November 22 when, after starting to eat what was a combined lunch and dinner at 3:15 AM but at least managing to get in bed at what’s now the usual 5:15 AM, I got up when the alarm rang, at noon. There was again blood in the toilet, but I nevertheless stuck to the plan, having the usual stuff plus pumpkin, and doughnuts with added honey as the sweet thing, putting on the full running gear, also taking the pills and leaving at 2:35 PM, when the reported temperature was about 14°C, maybe dropping by 1-2°C by the time I’ll finish. Considering the blood, I also took the slip with the emergency contact information with me, just in case. And my mother arrived just as I was putting my shoes on, my cousin bringing her, so he also saw me, but he didn’t step inside and I didn’t even look up at that point.
The time was 47:37.26, with sector times of 4:14.85, 5:00.03, 5:50.04, 4:28 (4:27.87), 5:06.06, 5:48 (5:47.91), 4:27 (4:26.62), 5:19 (5:18.94), 5:35.00 and 1:50 (1:49.94), making for lap times of 15:04.92, 15:22 (15:21.84) and 15:21 (15:20.56). I hoped to stay under 48 minutes and the first two sectors were a bit faster than I thought, the first lap giving me hope overall, and after lap two I was fairly confident, but all the time lost at the end of sector two of lap three put it all in doubt, so I gave it everything on sector three, managing a great time and having a clear margin as a result.
I kept being worried that I’ll bleed again, which also made me hold in some gas, and I felt a bit lightheaded on sectors two and three of lap two, but it was fine in the end. The work being done continued to be a problem, however, so I still had to step carefully when I had to go across the scraped part and slow plenty of times. And there was a break in the closed off area on sector three, and when that part of the path was corded off again it wasn’t also corded off at the beginning, so I initially stayed on that side of the path on lap one, though I avoided stepping on the new surface, until I realized that I shouldn’t be there and at some point stooped between the ribbons to get back to the other side. Otherwise, I briefly stopped twice on sector three of lap two, but the worst loss of time was the one I already mentioned, at the end of sector two of lap three, since they had fenced off that part of the path under the bridge as well, leaving only a small space for people to squeeze through, and at that point that space was just full of people going both ways, with several elderly people walking slowly ahead of me and those coming from the opposite direction meaning that I had absolutely no way to squeeze past all of them, so I mostly had to walk at their pace, only slowly getting past some of them, one by one, before I got past the bridge.

After jogging back, not putting the mask back on as a result, changing and spending some time talking to my mother, I went out, realized I forgot my Library pass right after locking the door, came back for it and finally left again a bit before 5:15 PM, first going to that location of the Library again, hoping to finally find it open… Only to yet again see that it was closed, for the entire week, again supposedly for disinfection, and I had checked the site and nothing of the sort was mentioned. At the time I was wondering whether it was ever open or somebody just came from time to time to change the announcement listing the reason why it was closed.
But the plan then included going to several stores from the Obor area, so after a quick look in a Profi I went to Auchan, just getting some onions. Then I grabbed one thing from a Mega Image and then went to Penny, getting what I wanted except another pumpkin, those being really small and looking weird. The cashier was pretty much unbelievably fast, however, making the slowness of that one guy whose line I again ended up in at Carrefour, where I went next, even more obvious. But at least things went fine otherwise, as I put what I already had in a cabinet, peed, got what I wanted and a few discounted things, just skipping the yogurt since the kind I wanted was expiring too soon for the quantity required to get the sale price, and I also finally used that 10 RON code I had.
Then I retrieved my things and also went to Kaufland, seeing that they had properly separated the lanes, so people no longer had to go past the guard checking the certificate to reach the cabinets or toilets… Not that I ever had the certificate checked that day, the guard from the Obor shopping center not even bothering to approach and the one at Veranda having a look and saying that it was fine without scanning it. Either way, I put my things in a cabinet and then went to wash, ending up using the handicapped room, since the cleaner was cleaning the little hallway in front of the men’s and women’s and directed me there. Then I went in, heading straight for the bakery area and seeing evening discounts, but not for that kind of bread, so I even asked an employee and was told that if there’s no discount label, there’s no discount, and I therefore only got some other things, most for my mother and a few for myself. Then I also got the pasta I wanted and some yogurt, and then checked the evening discounts for fruits and vegetables and got a number of those as well, finding that the price of the cucumbers was even lower than the listed one even if those labels are electronic and should update automatically, and some apples ended up being almost free, a mere 0.10 RON per kg, as closing time approached. And I did stay there until those last moments, the receipt actually listing 9:05 PM, so the store had already closed by the time I scanned everything and paid, but at least the self-checkout caused no problems and there were other customers still behind me. In fact, there were quite certainly others still inside the store, since I was still trying to arrange everything in the bags and backpack when, I think at 9:15 PM, there was a rather firm announcement that the store had closed, no longer asking customers to finish their shopping or even head to checkout, and I heard an employee mutter that maybe they’ll get the message that way.
I certainly did, doing my best to finish what I was doing and finally being out of there a bit after 9:20 PM. And I got back at 10:15 PM, having carried 21 kg. Had a banana, then started eating lunch around 12:15 AM, finishing half an hour later, and then I showered, getting back in the kitchen at 1:40 AM, having something sweet and finally starting to make the salad a little after 2 AM. Started eating dinner at 3:35 AM and got in bed at 5:45 AM, after getting as far as crossing the finish line in the post about the marathon and editing it to add that part.

Speaking of that post, the plan for this one was again to pick up from where it left off and also include the rest of that day, what I did after leaving that area. But the runs were the priority and over the next two days I won’t have time to once again do what I’ve been doing lately and add more to this post, so I once again set that aside and focused on writing about all the runs from November, in fact managing to finish and post all of that a little before midnight, only this paragraph and that last section above, about the rest of November 22, after the run, being written and added later, while eating the mamaliga I made tonight. And for this reason I didn’t change the time to 11:59 PM again.

More than simply not struggling and not being annoyed by this book, I surprisingly enjoyed most of it, especially the early chapters. Such excellent and thorough criticism of the economic system, also detailing how it corrupts politics, justice and various other aspects of society and behavior, making most even act against their own interests. There are too many good points to make a selection, but it was great to see it spelled out that the current system rewards those who are most predatory, best at exploiting the market, people and the environment, while progress is mainly owed to state involvement and those choosing to not profit from their breakthroughs, and also how the fact that businesses don’t pay in full for the environmental damage caused and the natural resources used constitutes subsidies, on top of the direct ones that even some of the worst polluters receive. Otherwise, notes are often lengthy comments that are well worth reading, though I spotted one with no correspondence in the text, and not fitting anywhere, making me wonder whether a bit of text was skipped in this edition.
Later chapters, especially the ninth, did become less enjoyable, however. Focusing in ever greater detail on the 2008 crisis in the United States and maybe the next few years makes it less interesting for me here and now, but worse is the firm stance against prioritizing low inflation, though inflation hurts those who aren’t wealthy more, and repeatedly stressing that full employment must be the target and unemployment is the biggest failure puts me completely at odds with the author, the biggest failure being that people still need jobs and to “earn a living” when they should be freed from this. And overall, despite going surprisingly far for someone who held such important positions within the system, aiming for continued growth and mere reforms, albeit major ones, instead of completely changing the system, makes the proposed solutions too little, too late, doing more harm than good by supporting the belief that such a fundamental and rapid shift and the end of growth aren’t desperately necessary.

Rating: 4/5

The plan for this week’s personal post was to start with the rest of the day of the marathon, picking up where I left off, and then continue with November’s runs, since I’m yet to post about any of them. But that’d have pretty much meant making a decision about the odds and ends left from August and September, with the exception of September 12 to 16, because continuing to ignore them had at some point to mean deciding to not post about them at all. So, even though the runs are, even for myself, likely the most relevant part of these posts, I decided to delay writing about those yet again and at least finish with August and September, with the exception of the hospitalization.

I’ll start with September though, quickly going through September 1, when I made and ate pasta in the evening, then also ate what was left on the pot after dad made himself mamaliga, finishing after midnight, and then started eating dinner at 3:25 AM. But the reason why I’m starting with September is that on September 3 I picked up the kit for the half marathon, and while I wrote about that day, I had so far skipped this. And there were also no visits recorded in either view on September 3, which is another thing to make a note of.
To start from the beginning, I got up at 1 PM and left at 2:40 PM, got there at 3:50 PM and saw the area where kits were to be picked up right away, but when I tried to go there I was asked for the bracelet and told that I had to first go all the way to the entrance at the other end to receive it. So I kept walking until another guard turned me away and told me to go around the fence, and I finally found those giving bracelets there, one checked that I was vaccinated and I was given one, and was told to keep it on until the race. Then I tried to keep going, but that direction was for the unvaccinated, to get tested, so I got told to go right, around the fence, but after just coming from there, I got confused and went left, around another fence. After being turned away again, I went all the way back, picked up the t-shirt and kit and checked what was in the bag, finding that the protein bar was squashed, there was no sponge and also no running magazines. Then I wandered around a bit, considered buying an energy bar but decided against it, and eventually went back to where I had seen that NGO I had chosen to run for, wrote myself down on their list and received a t-shirt from them, said I was unsure whether I’ll wear it, talked a bit, grabbed a biscuit at the end and was out of that area at 4:20 PM. Then I went to the Carrefour from Unirii, finding a bag of mostly good bananas among the spoiling ones and buying it, not being charged for the bag itself, and got back at 5:55 PM, after quickly checking the price of green onions at this nearby store.
After putting the whites, along with the t-shirt from the NGO, in the washing machine, having another banana, wolfing down a sizable lunch, finishing the book, hanging the whites to dry, putting in the reds, along with the official t-shirt, and starting the washing machine again, I went back out at 8:10 PM. Got to Kaufland at 8:35 PM, peed and washed my hands, but saw no bakery discounts yet, so I grabbed a number of other things that did have evening discounts. As I was looking through a crate of potatoes, a guy was looking through another, then moved it and saw that mostly large ones were in the bag that was in the one underneath, while those in the crates on top were small, so he used his keys to cut open the bag and I did the same, moving the crate I was searching through and the empty one underneath, cutting the bag in the next one in the same manner and getting large ones, like dad wants. And I learned how to no longer struggle to open such bags. Either way, I then checked the bakery area again, but only some buns had a discount sticker and it was well past 9 PM, so I also got some olives and went to the self-checkout… Only for the announcement that bakery products were 50% off to come while I was there, at almost 9:30 PM. And the machine asked me to place the correct product after I placed the watermelon on the scales, probably because I had left it in the bag, which added a little to the weight, but an employee was watching me and came right away to log on, scan it again and let me keep going. But I wanted to look at the bakery products too, so I stuffed everything in a cabinet, washed my hands again and went back in to grab a couple of those as well, having no issues with the self-checkout that time, and being out of there a bit before 9:45 PM.
On the way back a guy, possibly drunk, called to me as I was walking towards him, got in my way when I meant to ignore him, told me to come over a couple of times and tried to grab me, ending up jabbing me quite hard in the right side of my abdomen as I dodged and kept going, relieved that he didn’t follow. Since I was carrying some 16 kg, running away wouldn’t have exactly been an option, but as it was, I was back at 10:20 PM. Then I had the day’s third banana and the sweet pastry I had bought, wrote the quick review, washed the garbage can, which had been in the bathtub, and showered. There were still things to do after that, however, so it was around 1:45 AM when I started making the salad and 3:15 AM when I started eating dinner. Then I checked that quick review and translated it, for the version on Goodreads to be in both English and Romanian. Otherwise, felt irregular heartbeats both during the day and at night, forgot to take that iron supplement I was taking at the time, and got in bed at 5:20 AM.

One last thing left to mention about September, with the exception of the hospitalization, is that in the early moments of September 11 there was a dangerous moment in the kitchen. I had placed the beets in the oven and after a while turned it down and then heard a click and it sounded as if it was cooling, and when I checked the flame was out and I smelled gas, so I opened the window and moved it for a while, then carefully turned the oven back on, being able to finish baking those beets without it happening again. It was a sign of things to come, however, as since then it’s been turning itself off more and more regularly unless it’s turned up to a level that burns pretty much anything we put there unless we’re very careful and occasionally open the door to lower the temperature. The very good news is that it was the only time it smelled of gas, as since then it just turns itself off completely, the safety mechanism kicking in either right away if we try to start it without turning it up to a high enough level or maybe a minute or so after turning it down if we try that after starting it at a high level. I’m thinking that something probably dripped in there when dad cooked, so maybe taking it apart and cleaning that area would solve the problem, but it has other issues as well and my parents are talking about replacing it as soon as they’ll be able to afford to, so let’s see how that will go. Either way, to get back to the early hours of September 11, it was 5:30 AM when I went to bed.

Now I’ll get back to the oldest days I’m yet to write about, starting with the early hours of August 14, when I went to the kitchen late and just failed to make up for that time, starting to eat dinner at 3:05 AM, and that was after having lunch rather early that evening. But it’s the evening of August 14 that I have details about, since I went out a bit before 7:30 PM, meaning to take advantage of an even better deal for Micky’s and Rocky’s food, dad also agreeing to it then. But in the Mega Image across the road there were just four cans of one of the kinds Micky eats, and one was badly banged up, and I didn’t care to stand in line for just three. But I did buy the five of that same kind I found in the Shop & Go on that street. Then I decided to go to the larger Mega Image from the area after all, though the initial plan had included just Carrefour and Kaufland, and maybe the Mega Image next to the pharmacy on the way back. And I also stopped in another Shop & Go on the way, getting the rest of that kind of food for Micky, giving the cashier 13.06 RON, to get 0.60 RON back, but having her ask for 12.50 RON, take all the coins as well but still just give a 0.50 RON one as change. She asked what did I say when I mentioned I needed 0.10 RON more, so I repeated myself, but then muttered in annoyance, and at that point embarrassment, and left… Only to just find eight cans for Rocky at that larger Mega Image, and still none of that other kind for Micky. So I got those eight, then also checked the one next to the pharmacy and the one next to the farmers’ market on the way to Carrefour, but they had neither, the one next to the market in fact just having a total of four cans left, of a different kind.
I was in Carrefour at 9 PM, which was when I meant to be in Kaufland, but that couldn’t be helped, so I got what I meant to get from there, though I forgot to use the 10 RON code I had… And what I bought included cheese, which they just put in a bag, which caused a problem later. But at least that time I wasn’t charged for the bag, unlike the previous time I bought some of that cheese, admittedly from the Carrefour from Unirii. Either way, I then considered coming back, because of the watermelon, especially since the bag I had it in is torn on one side and was tearing more as I got going, so I had to make sure to keep it on its other side, but I still also went to Kaufland after all, getting there at 10:05 PM, struggling a little to put everything in a cabinet, washing my hands and then making use of evening discounts for two bakery products and some more green onions, plus what I had meant to get, which included that month’s National Geographic… And as I was rearranging everything in the bags and backpack, I threw the cheese in the bag with the magazine for a moment, and when I pulled it back out I realized that the brine from it had leaked, so all I could do just then was move the cheese to another bag and hope that the magazine would still be readable. Then, after stopping again outside to check that I had everything, I was finally walking away from Kaufland at 10:55 PM… And I caught at least one more spiderweb on the way, and around the hospital entrance too, where I didn’t want to stop and put the bags down to brush it off, so I’m not sure whether parts of it were still on me after I did stop to try to brush it off, a bit later, or I caught yet another before getting back.
Either way, I got back at 11:30 PM, having carried 17 kg, including everything, and while the backpack helped, that 8.2 kg watermelon made it harder than it would have been otherwise. And then I spent quite some time prying apart the pages of the magazine, since that brine was drying and they were sticking together badly, so it was getting quite seriously damaged and risked becoming impossible to read. As it was, I just managed to keep it readable. It looked bad and some pictures were quite seriously damaged, but only the last page was impossible to pry apart from the back cover in any decent way and ended up torn and unreadable, and there’s nothing to read there. But another issue was that I had to post what I posted that evening by midnight, since it was Saturday and I hadn’t posted anything that week, and I just barely managed to do so after finishing with the magazine and hanging it to dry. Then I drank the tea and had two plums and the pastry I had grabbed, with added jam, and it was 1:15 AM when I went to shower, not even going to the toilet. And I still had things to do after getting out, at 1:45 AM, so it was 2:40 AM when I started making salad, 3:55 AM when I started eating and 5:30 AM when I got in bed. My right foot was burning again, though at least the feeling didn’t spread higher on the leg, and when I got back and decided to check I saw a blood oxygen level of just 94%.

Moving on to the early hours of August 16, after again thinking I’ll manage to start eating dinner before 3 AM, I nevertheless ended up doing so at 3:10 AM, admittedly after having a large bag of corn puffs in the evening and lunch earlier. Also chased cockroaches, which were starting to roam out of the bathroom, killing one in front of the fridge and another in the kitchen but missing one in my room, which ran under the bookcase, so that was obviously worrying.
Getting to the afternoon, I left at 3:25 PM, first checking this larger Mega Image again, not finding any more of the food for Rocky nor that second kind for Micky, but finding an expiring pack of two nice cakes… Which I didn’t buy, since I was thinking of a long route, going to Obor. So I kept going, to the Mega Image near the clinic, also checking a Shop & Go on the way but not finding any of that cat food there. I did find 24 cans for Rocky at that one near the clinic, however, so I got all of them, as well as some biscuits that were on sale. And since that was the main goal, I then went back to the larger Mega Image from this area for those cakes, but hadn’t hidden them, in fact leaving them on top of the other expiring things, and by the time I got there again they were gone. That box actually seemed to be the only thing from that area which was no longer there, and definitely the only sweet thing, since I remembered the others and they were all still there. So I just went back out and got back here at 5:10 PM.
I was out again at 7:25 PM, however, grabbing the little plastic and metal which had gathered and dropping it off in a bin on the way and also taking tea with me again. Had done so the first time too, and only drank it before leaving this second time, then put the new tea in the bottle… And didn’t drink that either. But, returning to the chronological order of things, I first went to the Carrefour from the park, just finding two cheap eggs that didn’t have code three and also weren’t cracked… Or they didn’t seem cracked at first, since at checkout I noticed that one of them did have a little crack. And I also realized after I told the cashier that I just had two eggs, the word being the Romanian equivalent of balls in English, that it must have sounded weird, and she gave me a look, but there was nothing to do about it then, though I tried to mutter something about the others being all messed up. Either way, after forgetting about it two days earlier, that time the amount was far too low to use that 10 RON code I had.
Peed and washed my hands before leaving that mall, then went to Auchan, looking for bread, for the planned runs, and before going in I put the eggs in the sturdy bag I had and then carefully placed them in my backpack, so I won’t have to deal with the guard and maybe have another awkward moment. Didn’t find that kind of bread though, and in fact I think just two kinds, both white, were still unsliced, and there wasn’t much left in general, the employees in the bakery area already cleaning. So I just bought vinegar, again having to use a regular checkout because those using machines had closed by that hour. And nobody said anything about the backpack, though I had the tea in it as well, so the weight was obvious, but I did just put the bags, which I had taken out before going inside, back in it while standing in line, then put the vinegar on top of them, so it could be seen that I had empty bags in there… At least on top…
That wasn’t the end of it, however, since I also went to that newer Kaufland… And when I was placing my stuff in a cabinet an older man came to retrieve his, and I tried to hurry, just taking a few seconds, but he was waiting for me, keeping the distance, and muttering that I was so slow. Then I peed and washed again, found no bread left for myself but grabbed two bakery products that had the evening discount and an expiring bread for dad, plus three lemons, finding them at a price that’d normally be high but which at that point meant quite a discount compared to the very high prices they otherwise had at the time. Also meant to get another discounted bundle of green onions, and returned for it when I realized I had left it somewhere, but then saw what seemed to be a discount on some ice cream I was thinking of getting, so I dropped the onions back in their place… Only to scan that ice cream and find that there was no discount after all, so I just went with those few other things to the self-checkout… And the screen flickered and it didn’t accept the lemons as the correct product, so I had to ask for help… And then had to do so again when that expiring bread wouldn’t scan, the discount sticker being placed so I could find no way to keep it straight, despite trying for quite some time… Only for the employee to just scan it right away. And putting together that with the fact that I had also told the guard what I was struggling with, the issue with that older guy, and the embarrassment from Carrefour, meant that my brain rather disconnected. And I was also surprised when the machine registered 0.66 RON as having been paid when I selected to pay, so somebody must have dumped them in the coins slot and it hadn’t spat them out.
With my mind in that state, I couldn’t remember whether I had grabbed the 1 RON bill I should have received as change, so after washing my hands again, since I was sticky after touching a discounted jar of jam, realizing why it was discounted once I did, I stopped outside to count what I had left, then kept trying to calculate how much I should have, struggling with it for quite some time on the way back, until I knew it was fine. And I also tried to find that slightly shorter route through the park, which was definitely not recommended when I was in that state, so I ended up taking even longer instead, being back at 11:10 PM. Then I had the sweet pastry I had grabbed and it was just after midnight when I went to shower, being there for half an hour, and since I started making mamaliga after that, it’s quite something that I just managed to start eating just before 3 AM. And there was a brief power failure while I was in the kitchen as well, though it only lasted for 20 seconds. It was 5:25 AM when I got in bed, however.

Moving on to the early hours of August 18, there was another brief power failure while I was in the kitchen, at 2:07 AM. It only lasted ten seconds, but the power strip the living room TV was plugged into no longer worked that evening and I wondered whether the previous night’s failure had anything to do with that, so that new failure made me worry about other things breaking, the first reason for concern obviously being the fridge. Fortunately, everything seemed fine, and I started eating dinner in my room at 3:30 AM, though while in the kitchen I had licked a fair bit of sour cream off the thing I had purchased it in after moving all I could, and had also had lunch in the evening.
As for the evening of August 18, I was getting worried that I might have had too many fluids, and after doing the leg exercises I was doing at the time and keeping my legs up for a while, something seemed to be in my chest too, making me try to cough at night, and the health concerns I had meant that something I’d have hardly paid attention to before made me worry of pulmonary edema as well, and the swelling also seemed to have spread higher on my right leg, though the foot was less swollen than before, oddly enough. And I meant to go to bed a bit earlier but it was still 5:20 AM when I did, after cleaning the litter box just then… Only for one of the cats to go again soon after that and apparently not even bury the shit, since dad also had to clean it when he got back from work.

Back to how I was feeling at the time, I actually felt quite well after the run on August 23, and my feet also looked fine during the evening and night, though that shouldn’t have been surprising, after also walking a fair bit that evening. However, at 7:30 AM on August 24 I was again woken up by that odd feeling in my arms, decided to get on the computer and spent an hour winning another battle from the Fantasy General expansion. After that, I wrote some more notes about the previous day, got back in bed at 8:55 AM… And even though that feeling had gone away shortly after getting on the computer, it was a long time until I managed to get back to sleep and a short one until I woke up again, that feeling having returned. And then I just tossed and turned, only getting up after dad left, at 11:45 AM… When, oddly enough, I finally started feeling sleepy. I did try to get some more sleep in the afternoon, but shortly after I managed to fall asleep dad got back and I got up. Then I had lunch in the evening and went back to bed after dad left, getting back up at 12:55 AM. However, after spending quite some time dealing with some more of the radishes bought the day before, using some of the leaves in the salad, I only started eating dinner at 3:55 AM, and got back in bed at 5:25 AM.

On the morning of August 25, I got up to pee after dad got back and before he left again for a while, and we briefly talked about the cat food we were looking for then, which he hadn’t found at the Mega Image he had checked, being told that it had been delivered but not placed on the shelves yet, those employees coming in later. And before 8:15 AM I was awake again, got up and left at 9:20 AM, but didn’t go to that location he had checked. The thing is that all cat food not otherwise discounted was 30% off at Mega Image that day, and those medium bags of that kind of food had been 20% off for the week ending on that day, so I checked and saw that the 20% discount remained for those bags, while the large ones had the 30% discount, but oddly enough had a sufficiently higher base price that they remained more expensive for the same quantity. So we shouldn’t have waited until that day. But we did, so I first checked the larger Mega Image from the area, but the specific type we want of that kind of cat food seemed to be the only one missing. Then I went to the one that’s near the clinic, finding just three of that type, though there were again more of the others, so I even asked an employee and he said that they only had what was on the shelves, but hadn’t received all of it, so maybe they’ll get more later that day. Not that it helped me, since I couldn’t exactly stand around and wait, so I bought those three and an expiring raw vegan cake, then wondered where to go next, eventually deciding on the location that’s next to the pharmacy. Walked past Kaufland on the way, without going in, but did quickly check two Shop & Go and two small Mega Image locations I saw, finding no bags of that type in any of them, though in one Mega Image I found a 0.50 RON coin.
However, once I got to my destination I found just the three more bags I wanted, reaching past the older woman who was looking at them at the time and grabbing them, saying out loud that they were just the three I wanted. But I turned back after a few steps, to have another look while wondering whether I should give a bag to that woman and get one of the other type that Micky ate at one point for us. But she was holding a bag of that other type, seeming to be looking at that kind of food in general, and she looked up and asked which ones the 30% discount applied to. So I explained it to her, including the fact that the medium bags that it didn’t apply to still ended up being cheaper than the large ones that it did apply to, and she took a medium bag of some other type. Then, after purchasing those three bags, walking past the pharmacy and around the corner and seeing another older woman who seemed to be looking for something in that area, I realized I could grab some grass for Micky as well, finding some that hadn’t dried out in the shade of a car and spending some time discarding the other weeds and dry parts. Then I went to the farmers’ market, not getting anything since I didn’t find cheap enough apples or corn, and also had a quick and pointless look in the Mega Image next to it. And on the way back I stopped again to check my bags, wondering how that cake was faring and whether the bag with the grass had come loose, and it had, so I discarded some more dry bits and tied it again, then noticed that the cake had started leaking, softening in the heat, so I took it out and carried it in my hand the rest of the way.
Got back a bit after 12:45 PM, had that cake and watermelon, showered, then meant to get some more sleep… Only to wake after about an hour, at 4:30 PM, needing to pee, and moments later that neighbor started drilling again. It didn’t last long, and I hoped to get back to sleep, but after a while he did it again. It was again only for a moment, and then I actually did nap for a few minutes… Until he did it yet again, at 5 PM, and I got frustrated and started reading, not getting back to bed… Even though that was the last time he did it. Either way, I had lunch in the evening and started eating dinner at 3:25 AM.

And the last day I’ll include in this post is August 29 when, after that rough awakening, I eventually went out a bit after 6:15 PM, taking the plastic and metal and the stuff I take to Kaufland. I first checked Carrefour, finding that bread I get from there still discounted and unsliced, but didn’t want to wait in line twice and didn’t know what I’ll find in Kaufland, so I hid two behind some quite expensive other kind and went to Kaufland, where I first waited for a while for a woman who was arranging a lot of purchases in bags right in front of the recycling bins, taking the opportunity to wash my hands during that time. Then I found evening discounts for fruits and vegetables, but not for bakery products, and in fact there were very few bakery products or even sliced bread left, and I later noticed that all freezers were empty and seemed off, so something rather strange was going on. But I made use of the evening discounts that were available for quite a few things, and also got one 11 kg watermelon, a weekend discount applying to that and seeming good enough that I didn’t even try to look for a smaller one. Then I added the few other things I meant to get and made sure it was past 8 PM when I got to the self-checkout, in case the discounts would increase, which actually happened for some of the products.
I was back in Carrefour at 8:20 PM and went straight to the spot where I had hidden that bread, finding it still there even though the three expensive ones I had hidden it behind were gone. So I grabbed it again… Only to then see some of that other kind which they seemed to have started baking around that time, though I’m quite sure it hadn’t been there the first time I looked, so I got one of those and only kept one of the two I had initially hidden, putting the other one back in its proper place. Then I also got two breads for dad, a tea and some more onions, to get the total to exceed 10 RON and finally be able to use that code, actually getting to 10.01 RON on the first try, with the onions I picked before weighing them.
After standing in line for a while, I took a fair bit of time to try to arrange the purchases in the bags and backpack, the watermelon being the big problem, and it was past 8:50 PM when I walked out of that mall… Only to stop again right away, at a bench, and spend a couple more minutes to try to arrange things a bit better. And then I thought to hang the other two bags on my arms and carry the one with the watermelon in both hands, but one of the bags was dangling a lot, kept hitting and unbalancing me, and I soon had to give up on that idea and return to holding the bag with the watermelon in one hand and the other two in the other. And the backpack was also unbalanced, which caused one of the rope straps to dig into me, getting worse as time passed. Still, I managed, getting back at 9:25 PM, having carried a total of 23 kg.
I was in the kitchen until around 12:30 AM, putting things in their place, slicing the bread for dad and handling mine as well, but also eating a banana and a late lunch, finished after midnight. Then I showered and got back there at 1:15 AM, but spent some time talking to dad at that point, only starting to make the salad at 2 AM. And, after taking some more time to also mix some things, it was 3:55 AM when I started eating dinner, and 5:30 AM when I got in bed. Felt some more irregular heartbeats that night.

And of course I’m again doing what I’ve been doing lately, posting the first part, about September, when I could get on-line in the evening and then editing to add the rest later. But at least that was more relevant, the edits just adding what’s left from August, which is quite a lot but doesn’t include anything important… And the first edit, made while eating that night, just included August 14, the second, posted before going to bed the following night, including August 16 to 24, while the last part was written Tuesday evening and posted when I got on-line that night, so in the early hours of Wednesday, at which point I also changed the time to 11:59 PM, maybe as a small indication that this wasn’t finished when it was posted.

In the previous post from this series, I mentioned hoping to remember a band I wanted to include even though it had split up. Well, I didn’t remember it, but that was actually the second such band I knew I wanted to add in such a post, and it didn’t take me long to find two more to add to the one I’ve known for quite a while that I wanted to include. So this post contains three bands that aren’t just not new finds, but not even active anymore, yet I consider them to deserve to be mentioned, likely more so than quite a number of those I have included in such posts so far.

I’ll start with Victorians, who seem to have struggled to continue for quite a while before finally giving up for good, so material that was supposed to be on a second album exists, but only the first seems to have been released. And since I checked the list of tracks on that first album in a few different places and couldn’t find the one I initially picked, I’ll go with Descent of Your Destiny as first pick, just to be sure, and at least I also clearly remember listening to this one way back when I first heard of them. As for the second pick, that’s SteamHeart. I’m not as pleased with some of their other songs, but that’s mainly a matter of personal preferences, the sound showing confidence. They knew what style they wanted to approach, had the skills for it and should have released more, if only they’d have managed to stay together.

Next is DamageScape, which seems to have been a side project of the vocalist of Collibus to begin with, and that band is still active and even released new songs recently. But, to return to DamageScape, only a few songs were released under this name and, with one video, for Damage, and just one other song, Refrain, having a studio version officially posted somewhere, my picks are obvious. Interestingly, it’s this second one that I remember having listened to before, but maybe that’s because I like it more. But they’re both solid, powerful songs, showing the experience of the band members.

As for the third band, that’s Astray Path and I’m assuming that they split up because I’m not seeing any activity for the past five and a half years, but I also didn’t see any posts actually specifying that they split up and there are no pages for them on either The Metal Archives or Spirit of Metal, maybe because they list their genre as Gothic Rock. They do seem to have released at least three albums while they were active, but only a few songs are officially posted and I’ll go with Alone and Insomnia as my picks. Can’t find anything to not like in the others I listened to either, so it’s a pity they didn’t continue… And that they didn’t become much better known while they were active.