Cav's Place

After last week’s post, I’ll continue on this probably awfully inappropriate path, adding another along the same lines to this series, so again only having Ukrainian bands that are actual new finds for me, albeit from different parts of the country this time around. I’m still rushing even when it comes to picking the bands, not really using consistent criteria, but the three in this post do stick to my recent rule, having released new material, or in case of two of the three their only material, within the past year. Again, I can only hope that the members of these bands will make it through this, along with the rest of the Ukrainians and the country as a whole… And with all of us in this part of the world, and not only.

Again using the alphabetical order, I’ll start with Blessdivine, who only have one album so far, so both picks will have to be from it. It also seems to be another one of those infuriating cases of a label not allowing their bands to post their music on their own channels, and since it’s also from Italy I’m starting to wonder whether it’s something of a rule there, but I guess I’ll just have to deal with it and, since it’s the only song that they have at least a lyric video for, Servants of the Cross will have to be the first pick, while for the second I’ll go with A New Dawn. They have a pretty typical power metal sound, which also implies only male vocals, but they pull it off quite well, so I can’t complain, and found A New Dawn in particular to be quite enjoyable.

Defiant is a far more established band, so I just listened to the few songs that they have videos for and the two picks would be Breaker of Chains and Defiant… As strange as it is to see a self-titled song appearing quite a few albums into a band’s “life”. Either way, this is also power metal, and also only having male vocals, though they seem to have changed a few vocalists over the years and early on, when they weren’t singing in English, I’m seeing a female vocalist listed as well. But what I heard now shows that they’re confident, experienced, skilled, the instrumental parts also making me think of far better known bands at times.

As for Magic Infinity, they also only have one album released so far, and only two songs, Broken Heart and Nostradamus, posted separately, so I’ll take the easy way and go with them as my two picks. They also only have male vocals despite the fact that, at least based on these two songs, it seems fair enough to see them listed under Gothic, the sound leaning towards the theatrical, if I may use the term, so contrasting voices would definitely help. But at least there don’t seem to be growls, bar one little moment, at least as far as I could tell after quickly skipping through their other songs as well. Sadly, they seem to be badly suffering because of poor equipment, or at least it seems to me that the recording quality is poor and little, if any, work was done on the tracks after the recording itself, so what you can hear here is probably not what they’d really be capable of.

On February 1, I checked when I woke up to pee in the morning and, being a new month, requested The Longing from The Community Giveaway on the GOG.com forums, the key, donated by that same user who donates so much, being sent at night, so I redeemed it then, after eating. And at least that’s a game I could play on this computer, but it’s not one I can just try, or start and set aside for later, and what you get out of it is directly proportional to the amount of time you put in it, since you can just start it once and then only run it again after 400 days and find that you “completed” it, but if you actually want to play it, exploring, improving the shade’s conditions, figuring things out, then you need to put a lot of time into it, as I was reading that the shade takes 25 seconds just to walk from one side of a screen to another… And then there are all the included books as well, and I’m thinking that I could find some that would be interesting enough to read. So I want to play it, but I’ll need to schedule it very well, and should quite clearly start it after I’ll have a new computer, whenever that may be, so I won’t need to worry about the possible consequences of starting on one and continuing on another… Especially when I am still thinking of trying to switch to Linux at that time, as frightening as the prospect may be.
Getting back to February 1, in the evening I was about to microwave something dad had brought, as lunch, when the electric grill he was using threw out a lot of sparks. Good thing that nothing flammable was in front of it, and that I was there, so I turned off the power strip, but when I called him over he turned it back on, checked and said it was hot, and since there were no more sparks and the light was coming on, he left it on and went back to the living room. That made me eat there, to keep an eye on it, but nothing else happened… Because it had indeed broken, which I confirmed when I checked before leaving and found that it was cold, and while I was out dad took it apart and saw that it had visibly burned out.
Either way, I went out at 7:30 PM, also taking the paper and then needing to go back after missing the turn to the recycling bin. Then I first went to a Mega Image and got some zacusca for dad, then continued to the Carrefour and Kaufland that are next to each other, though I actually first checked a bookstore and a sports store from that mall. Then got to Carrefour, with the zacusca just in my pockets, buying what I wanted from there and one more thing I saw. And since the cashier didn’t give me 0.07 RON in change, I specifically looked around for coins and soon found two 0.05 RON ones.
Then I went to Kaufland, put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands and, since it was just after 9 PM, checked the bakery discounts. Hardly anything interesting was left, however, so I just got the last two of one product from there, and then some chocolate and soap for dad. Also looked at the potting soil, but saw that those were actually ten liter bags! There was no mention of the weight but, while not easy, it should have been possible to carry one, but it’d have required rearranging everything else and the size was in itself a problem, apparently not just for me, so I left it for another time. And since the price label for the chocolate didn’t even list the regular discount that applied then, but instead a smaller one, and the scanners don’t show any additional discount that applies if you use the store card, at the self-checkout I first just paid for those separately, to check that the additional discount applied… And somehow forgot that you need to pick up the change before the receipt is printed, being left staring at the screen and then calling the employee to help when it was saying that the receipt will be printed and it wasn’t happening, so she pointed out that I still had change to get. Then I scanned the other things, retrieved what I had in the cabinet and was back a little after 10:20 PM.

On February 8, I had the alarm wake me at 2:30 PM and left a bit after 4:30 PM, with dad’s large backpack and two sturdier bags, since I was taking the stacked paper to that recycling center I had seen offered a little more for it when I got lost on the way to withdraw the money for the state bonds. I was worried that it might close at 5 PM, since I hadn’t checked that, and thought that it was going to take me an hour to get there, with 20 kg of paper on top of the weight of what I had on me, but that backpack’s great, so with 12 kg in it and the rest balanced between the bags, I just kept going, feeling no need to make stops, and was there in 35 minutes. That’d have still been a little late if it would have closed at 5 PM, but that wasn’t the case, and those working there were also younger and nicer than I expected. They also seemed a bit surprised that I had weighed the paper, after I said that I had 20 kg, and after putting it on their scale I saw that I in fact had 20.7 kg, which I guess was the result of adding a few more things I realized were still around after weighing what I had initially thought was everything the previous evening and seeing 20.1 kg. Either way, I received the 5 RON I should have received for 20 kg and walked away, hesitantly at first, since I was looking for a sign listing the hours and didn’t see any, and couldn’t get myself to ask.
Then I went to Carrefour Unirii, mainly looking for cheap eggs again, but there were none sold by piece anymore, and also none of the cheap flour dad had asked me to get, though at least I found one of the breads I can get from there left unsliced. The price had increased, but I was completely out and didn’t know what I’ll find later, so I wanted to make sure I’ll have something and it was a good thing I did. Then, after getting a couple more things, I walked out… And again got turned around when trying to look for the slightly shorter way from there to Unirii Boulevard, losing some minutes as a result. That always happens, there’s just something about those roads that makes me certain that I must not go in what would be the right direction, not even trying to make a point of remembering, of memorizing, seeming to work. And the right way implies just going straight through, not on the street, but it seems that I just can’t get myself to do that.
Either way, a little later I made the small detour to a Library location, to get The Blind Owl, seeing on Goodreads that Sandra had read it making me interested. The librarian asked whether I had been to that location before and I couldn’t quite recall, saying that I might have been there once, years before, but wasn’t sure, though that was in fact correct. Either way, after I handed her the pass she said that it had expired and I had to renew it, but then just gave me the form to sign and said she’ll fill in the information if it’s the same. I wasn’t sure that my ID card was the same, however, though it should have been obvious, the date when it was issued being on it, and she pointed that out when I mentioned it, but we nevertheless checked to confirm. And she only asked for the certificate after that, after having allowed me to just walk in without asking at first, and even then barely glanced at it when I showed it to her… And probably had the same reaction she’d have had if I wouldn’t have had one, asking me to stay in front of the desk while she went to get the book, so while I’d have actually wanted to have a look at what was available, maybe while she was filling in that form, I had to stick to just looking at what was in that area… Which was mostly good fantasy, actually. Either way, as I was putting the book in the backpack she also asked about my job and I quickly gave the information that’s correct on paper, then left… And when I checked at night I found that renewing the pass had reset my password on the site, only figuring out that I should try the default one after many attempts, thinking I had forgotten it and trying a few different variants.
Back to the evening, next I went to Penny and found what I wanted, getting two of the last four bags of frozen green beans and two of the last three cans of sprats, which I found hidden at the back of the shelf, on top of boxes of other cans. Also saw potting soil at a price that worked out to a similar amount per liter as the one from Kaufland, but the bags were of only four liters and I had that backpack, which would have allowed me to easily carry one of those large ones, so I decided against getting one from there.
Things became rather unpleasant after that, however, since there was a single cashier, the line was barely moving, an employee also apparently had two large orders to check out, and on top of that he saw a woman with a child in line, behind me, and told her to come ahead, just assuming that she’ll be allowed to reach him, also getting past the woman who was ahead of me, and only adding that she could keep going if those farther ahead will let her after she did so. But she couldn’t get the pram around the carts, so she asked if she could go behind that checkout and hand over the purchases that way, and when she was allowed to do so the quite large woman who was behind me came right next to me. I tried to place myself so I’ll protect my spot in line without saying anything and she didn’t advance farther, but eventually spoke out against that woman being allowed to jump ahead, so at least someone did, since it had definitely bothered me as well but I just sighed and waited. But that woman speaking out led to quite an argument with that guy, the fact that they knew each other quickly becoming obvious, and while I wasn’t paying attention at first and didn’t quite hear whether he insulted her for being a Gypsy or just told her to go to another store if she’s unhappy without an insult, she retaliated by insulting him, calling him a drug addict and other things, and also said that he came to ask the leaders of their community to find his stolen bicycle and they had quite an exchange about that as well. The other guard came at one point, while that was going on, but then she just turned around and walked away again, not even saying anything.
Unfortunately, it was just when another person had finally been checked out and I could advance another step that another checkout finally opened, the lane for it being the one I had just stepped past, so those behind me, starting with that large woman, went there immediately while I had to continue waiting. And when the cashier was finally done with those two large orders as well, she started explaining to the woman who was ahead, and to me as well, looking back and forth between us and taking even longer as a result, that she was new, had only been there for a month, so it was normal for her to be slow. I told her I hadn’t said anything, but she was obviously stressed out and felt the need to explain. And then she also said she had no 0.50 RON coins to give me as change, and I should have received 0.55 RON in coins, but after I asked what was I supposed to do then, wondering whether I should unlock the cabinet and give her the one I used for that, she found one, and I took one of the 0.05 RON ones that were scattered on the counter in order to actually get the correct change. Also saw a store card there and said that somebody forgot it, but she said that it had been there for two hours.
Since I mentioned the scattered 0.05 RON coins, it seemed that somebody had dropped quite a number of them in that area, since on top of those on the counter, there had also been one in front of the cabinets when I went in and I had grabbed it right in front of the guard, who might have muttered something then, though I didn’t pay attention, and there were three more just outside, which I saw and grabbed when I finally left and stopped there in order to arrange the purchases, wanting to put everything except the bread in the backpack. My belt buckle probably jabbed my abdomen while I was doing that, however, right in that lower right side which had been bothering me, and while that made me realize that the dull pain and pressure I had been feeling in that area for weeks had actually rather gone away, at that moment I felt a sharp pain. It stopped after I quickly sat up and the spot only bothered me a little bit for a while longer, but it gave me another reason to worry at the time.
Either way, I then went to the Carrefour from the park, finding that flour there and getting a few more things, including two of the three remaining 1 kg bags of frozen yellow beans, which were cheaper than the green ones from Penny. Hadn’t expected those to still be at that price and also still available, so I probably shouldn’t have bought those green ones, but dad had just cooked some that day, so at least there was room in the freezer for all of them. And I’ll also mention that after checking out I realized that I had forgotten to check the price of potting soil there, so I added the purchases to what I already had in the cabinet and went back in, which proved to just be a waste of time, since they had several kinds but all of them far more expensive, with the exception of one kind that would have been only somewhat more expensive but was out of stock. So I went back out, retrieved my things and took my time to put as much as possible in the backpack and the rest in a bag, or actually in two, since I had a plastic one inside a sturdier one.
Then I also went to Kaufland, piling everything in one of the larger cabinets and then wanting to wash my hands and needing to make do just with water, since there was no soap… And also no disinfectant in the dispenser. And bakery discounts of 75% were just announced, so I went straight there, but some others had also gathered, not much was left and I just grabbed a baguette, and then went this way and that with it in my hand, looking for one of those long paper bags, at which point the employee warned me of “the microbe”, though she seemed rather amused. Then I checked for other evening discounts, but there was nothing interesting, so I got what I wanted to get from there and also an expiring bread for dad, which was the only one in that area. Also looked for potting soil, but again found a single, torn bag, and no employee in that area, so I gave up again and made my way to the self-checkout… Which refused to accept that the expiring bread was the correct product, and the employee who came when I called had to try a number of times until it finally worked even though she had logged on, which made her comment that she’d rather stay at the regular checkouts instead of fighting the machines. But at least there was still time, the announcement that the store was going to close in five minutes only coming after I had retrieved my things and took my time to arrange everything again.
It was close to 10:30 PM when I got back, having carried almost 19 kg, including everything, so I had left with much more, since I probably had a total of around 25 kg or so at that point. The water was still quite cold, however, and when I checked the site I saw that it was listed as being below parameters until 11:30 PM, which would normally mean that the problem was known to last all day and there was no hope of it actually getting fixed before morning, so I put a pot on the stove while putting things in the fridge and freezer, then went to the toilet, just getting a tiny bit out. That made it about 11:30 PM when I tried to wash my head with the water as it was, bent over the side of the bathtub… And found that the water was actually getting warm enough to be acceptable for a quick shower, so I turned off the stove and showered normally, albeit very quickly, even managing to eat something sweet before midnight. Then I did something else I had to do, then got back to the kitchen and, after first having an orange, it was 1:10 AM when I had a “lunch” consisting of a can of sardines, which I finished in ten minutes. And then I still just managed to stick to the new schedule for dinner.

After all of that, when I woke up to pee, at 8 AM, I found that dad had left a lot to wash and clean in the kitchen after coming back in the morning, taking me 25 minutes to deal with everything. And then I realized how bloated I was and pressed on the right side of my abdomen and it sounded like it was just full of fluid, so I stayed on my back, in bed, and tried pressing in various ways and spots, to see what the results would be, and after quite some time it seemed better, and getting increasingly so as time passed, and by the time I actually got up, after plenty of farting and peeing a couple more times, there were just a couple of spots, right at the bottom of my abdomen, that still sounded like that. But I again had the impression of having fluid there after lunch… And then, after spending some time in bed late in the evening, including napping for maybe some 20 minutes after midnight, I had beets to bake and carrots to peel and boil, so I failed to stick to that new schedule, only starting to eat dinner at 3:25 AM and finishing at 4:15 AM, which I’m quite sure doesn’t help.
It was also on February 9 when dad called and my phone reported that it couldn’t register the SIM, like it used to do before being replaced. As far as I recall, that’s the first time it happened since then, and it’s yet to happen again, but it was just over a month after even the extended warranty expired, if it just continued instead of being replaced with a regular two-year warranty starting when I received the replacement, so I guess it was to be expected… Though I also wonder whether it might be some delayed effect of it falling out of the jacket’s pocket, just under two months before.

After starting it on the evening of February 9, I managed to finish The Blind Owl on February 11, a little before midnight, though I wrote the quick review after eating at night, and only translated it the following afternoon, so the version on Goodreads will be in both languages, as is my rule when I read something in Romanian.

On February 14 I decided to order a 2 TB external HDD after all, so I’ll again have everything backed up without worrying about space. Then I had lunch and went out a bit after 7:30 PM, going to Obor, first checking that Profi, then also Auchan, but only making the first purchase from Carrefour, a carton of expiring eggs, discounted by 75%. Then I also went to Kaufland, put the eggs in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, then checked the bakery discounts and got a sweet pastry and a bun. After that, I again looked for cat litter but of course only found empty space, but then I got a number of vegetables that had high evening discounts, digging through in case of the red onions, since those from the crates that were on top were pretty much unusable, as were those from one of the crates that was underneath, but in the one that was under the other one they were completely different, much smaller and mostly good. Then I also got some bread for dad and a small pack of biscuits that was among the expiring things and 65% off without being expiring, because the contents were crushed, had no problems with the self-checkout and was arranging the purchases in the backpack and bags when it was announced that the store had closed. And, after getting back a little before 10:55 PM, I had an apple and the sweet pastry, went to shower some time after midnight but still got back out a little before 1 AM, and managed to stick to the new schedule for dinner.

On February 18, I went out a bit before 7:20 PM, also taking the recyclables and the things I take to Kaufland. After dropping off the recyclables in a bin, I went back a little, to just glance in a small store, looking for cheaper cabbage, but saw no vegetables there, so I continued to the Carrefour from the park, where I saw boxes of four of the cakes I could get from there at not much more than the regular price of a box of two, and just a little more than the price of two if bought individually. The label stated that they were made that day and good until February 21, but they didn’t look quite right, many having noticeably less glazing, all but one box having at least one, and at least one having two, that were at most two thirds of the normal size, some maybe even closer to half, some being a little misshapen, and there were several such boxes, so I guess they had made a bad batch and were trying to get rid of it… And I decided to “help” with that, grabbing that box that didn’t have smaller ones, in fact the only issues that I could see being that one had visibly less glazing and another had a bit less glazing and was just slightly misshapen, the other two seeming completely fine. And that also allowed me to use the 10 RON voucher I had. And then, before leaving that mall, I used an ATM from my bank’s branch from there to deposit the money I was going to need for the HDD, since I had selected to pay by card.
From there, I went to the newer Kaufland, put those things in the proper bins and the cakes in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, but when I got to the bakery area I saw no discounts, and no bread of that kind was left at all, though at that point I’d have bought one at full price, since I was running low and again hadn’t found any unsliced one in Carrefour. But there were deeply discounted lettuces and bundles of green onions, so I first looked through them and picked a lettuce and three of those bundles, then got everything else, including the last 1.5 kg bag of cat food of this kind that was left, being on sale, and a couple of expiring things, then returned and saw that the prices for the lettuces and green onions had decreased even further, to a fifth of those already very low ones, so next to nothing, which made me grab another lettuce and also the last bundle of green onions. The cat litter had also reappeared, albeit at the regular price, the sale being over, so I got one of those as well, then used the self-checkout without problems and still had time to properly arrange everything in the bags and backpack and walk out a few minutes before 10 PM.
Got back at 10:40 PM, having just carried 15 kg, including everything. Then I had an orange, put the purchases in their place and started eating lunch just before midnight, also having one of the cakes then. That meant that it was well after midnight when I got in the shower, but I just managed to get back in the kitchen right at 1 AM and just barely still held on to the new schedule for dinner, even if I had the worst parts of the lettuces and green onions to deal with in order to make the salad.

With the first run that’s actually part of that planned series leading up to the half marathon being on February 21, the last day I’ll cover in this post is February 19, when I finally cleaned my room a little, those cakes making me want to do something to feel that I’ll deserve them. I left changing my sheets for later, however, and it was only this Sunday that I finally got around to doing that as well. But, to return to February 19, I actually kept busy all day, dad wanting to put all the dirty things he had in the machine, saying he didn’t care what will happen, resulting in most of them still being very dirty after being “washed”, many being full of cat hair and the whole pile of handkerchiefs he threw in there still having plenty of snot on them. At least none of my clothes had been in the machine, but hanging all of those to dry definitely made me feel soiled… And on top of that, I also took everything from a kitchen drawer out and then put them back in, trying to arrange them better, after dad got a set of knives and I wanted to show him those we already had, which made me also want to use the opportunity to make some sense of the mess that was there. And then I also wrote that day’s post, and after that I cooked. So it was a productive day… But I was feeling more and more depressed over the course of it…

This is probably awfully inappropriate, but the current situation made me think of looking for some bands from Ukraine, and more specifically from Kyiv and Kharkiv, and adding another post in this series with them. Even picking the bands was rushed, having to do with what I happened to click on and what I didn’t dismiss at a glance that didn’t allow for consistent criteria to be used, but at least they are actual new finds… And I can only hope that their members will make it through this, along with the rest of the Ukrainians and the country as a whole… And with all of us in this part of the world, and not only.

I’ll go in alphabetical order and start with Delusion, who are from Kharkiv and just have two singles released, Neon Paradise and I Am Still Alive. Didn’t feel the need for other options though, these being more than enough to tell me that they have plenty of potential and deserve to be in such a post… And this would be the part where I’d say that I hope to hear more from them in the future, but in this particular situation that takes an entirely different meaning.

Next is Dominatos, from Kyiv, and they have male vocals, which makes them unusual among what I include in such posts, but those are good, powerful vocals and the sound is quite nice on plenty of the songs. It also strikes me as coming from a past age of rock and metal, but there may be times when that actually may be refreshing at the present time. Either way, for the first pick I’ll just go with their most recent release, Perfect World, while for the second, out of their older songs, let’s say Will You?.

And the third band is Scarleth, also from Kyiv but having apparently relocated there from Donetsk at some point, which in itself is saying something. They’re the most established of the three and have by far the most material released, but I have this feeling that I heard of them before and eventually dismissed them… And maybe I’d have done that now as well, but these were actually the only three bands I picked on that rushed first pass and Pain Is My Name, for which they just recently released a video, is something that would have caught my attention anyway. However, since I only listened to the three other songs that they have videos or lyric videos for, the fact that I’ll go with Voices as the second pick only means that it bothers me less than the others, having a nice enough sound overall, with the exception of those growls.

All I can really say at this moment is what’s in the title. It was clear that this was coming after the end of the Olympics, yet somehow many still seemed surprised, disbelieving… The bottom line is that Putin doesn’t stop unless he’s stopped, and the West, NATO, the EU, nobody did anything relevant to prevent things from getting to this point, and they still do nothing relevant to stop them now… Not that anything was to be expected from top officials, of course, even if they’d be the only ones with any chance to do enough… But maybe NGOs and regular people will rise up to the occasion, put pressure on the officials and do what they can to help the people of Ukraine, the refugees but also those remaining there, possibly even including offering some small aid for those fighting, especially when it comes to the unconventional warfare.

In a way, it can be said that this week’s run was the first in the series meant to prepare me for the half marathon, but that’s just because I’d normally avoid another longer run before the first that has to be of 16 km. Then again, even that first 16 km run in the series was only notable back when I’d just stick to ten kilometers for quite a few months in a row, which is no longer the case now, so the first truly notable run in this series should be on the week starting on March 7, when I’ll cover a half marathon distance, to see where I stand. But that 16 km run, planned for tomorrow, is the first one I actually schedule in this manner, so this post will be about the last three runs, which would therefore be the last three before starting to train… Or, more likely, to disappoint and dishearten myself when I’ll see how badly I’m doing.

This week’s run, which was on Wednesday, was surprisingly fast, however, so I’ll start with it, though I’ll first mention that I sadly couldn’t stick to this newer eating schedule the night before. Dad had cooked, but I had cleaned most of what he had left in the evening, so while there was a little more to do when I got to the kitchen at night, the main problem was boiling too many carrots for the salad, which meant more time to select, peel, boil and then chop. So, after having had lunch in the first part of the evening, I ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:20 AM… And more carrots meant more to eat, and needing to do so faster, trying to at least finish at 4 AM, which I just barely managed.
Then I also kept waking up. First to pee, just after 7:10 AM and at 9:45 AM, but then that was no longer the cause and yet it took a while to get back to sleep and after I finally did I woke up even more often. Went to pee one more time just before noon, after dad left, thinking it might help, but still kept waking up. Then I went again at 1:20 PM, hoping to catch at least another brief nap after that, but while I guess I did, I was awake again just before the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and I got up. Then I had the usual stuff plus almonds, with a slice of cozonac with added honey as the sweet thing, put on the full running gear, with an undershirt underneath and a few things in the pocket of my tights, and left at 4:15 PM, when the reported temperature was 16°C, likely to drop by just 1°C by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 47:20.91, with sector times of 4:09.60, 5:05.13, 5:53 (5:52.90), 4:30 (4:29.63), 4:57.22, 5:54.25, 4:22.25, 4:59.00, 5:46 (5:45.93) and 1:45.00, making for lap times of 15:07.63, 15:21.10 and 15:07.18. Was just hoping to stay under 49 minutes at first, but the first sector was fast, and after the second I was wondering about 15:10 on the first lap, to perhaps give myself a shred of a chance to stay under 48 minutes. And I managed that, and then started hoping even more after the great sector two of lap two. And that nice sector one of lap three made it nearly certain that I’ll stay under 48 minutes if there won’t be problems, and after another great sector two I decided to aim for 47:45 and really go for it… Only to realize after the end of the lap that I just had a shot to even stay under 47:30, so I really gave it everything on the final sector, managing a great time on it on top of staying well under 47:30 overall. I definitely didn’t expect that, and it was the best time since December 2, which was when I last took that iron, and the first time under 48 minutes since December 20.
Parts of sectors two and three were still fenced off, but they were here and there, not long stretches. And while there were quite a number of people, I could manage for the most part, only slowing because of roadblocks at the end of the long straight of sector one of lap one and right at the end of sector two of lap three, under the bridge, while the only brief stop was on sector three of lap one, because of a misunderstanding with someone on a scooter. As for physical issues, there were a few warnings from my right calf on sector three of lap two, but they went away after that.
After the run, I went to that Carrefour, jogging part of the way, and got some more yogurt, which was still at the old price in that location, and also rewarded myself with a sesame bar that was discounted as if it was expiring even though it wasn’t. Then I jogged almost all the way back, sparing a few seconds for a very quick look in the nearby Mega Image as well. Then I ate that bar and an orange, after which I went to the toilet and to shower… And it was a good thing I rushed to do so, because while it seemed that we were lucky with the hot water, a big problem having left most of Sectors two, three and five without since the day before, the temperature was dropping as I showered, so I hurried to finish, the “hot” water remaining quite lukewarm after that. Either way, I then made mamaliga. My right foot was burning again, however.

Sticking to the reverse order, last week’s run was on February 10, when I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, though I was awake for a few minutes at that point, and had only napped a little bit more after waking up just after 1 PM. Then I had the usual stuff plus almonds, with a slice of cozonac with added honey as the sweet thing, put on the full running gear, with a few things in the pocket of my tights, and left at 4 PM, when the reported temperature was 14°C, likely to drop by just 1°C by the time I’ll finish, and it was sunny.
The time was 48:12.95, with sector times of 4:22.86, 5:02 (5:01.97), 5:52 (5:51.50), 4:37.28, 5:05 (5:04.40), 5:52.69, 4:35 (4:34.81), 5:01.07, 5:56 (5:55.75) and 1:50.62, making for lap times of 15:16.33, 15:34.37 and 15:32 (15:31.63). I didn’t think I’ll be able to do better than just staying under 49 minutes, and the first sector was worrying even for that target, but there were reasons for it being slow… Including the fact that I forgot to take my mask off before starting, being so used to it that it took me a little while to realize I still had it on and taking it off after the bridge, running with it in my hand after that. Either way, the next two sectors were good, resulting in a first lap that was good enough, but I was still calculating target times adding up to 49 minutes, and I continued to do so even after lap two, even though the time at that point should have allowed me to think of 48:30. Can’t even say that I really switched after the first sector of lap three, only finally setting my mind on 48:30 after the second… Which makes me wonder whether I’d have managed to get back under 48 minutes a week earlier if I’d have really set my mind on it early enough.
There were no notable physical issues, but it was windy on parts of sector three of laps one and two and at the end of sector two of lap two, though on lap three I can’t say I noticed it anymore. The real problems, however, were that there were plenty of people and the fenced off area started at one point on the long sector one straight and ended a little after the start of sector two, right at a stall, which created a bottleneck in that spot. There were also areas that were either scraped or fenced off towards the end of sector three, but those caused no serious problems. On sector one, however, it was bad, and on lap one I tried to stay on that narrow strip that was still open and ended up slamming into a man, since I was trying to squeeze past him but a girl moved to throw something in a bin in front of him and he moved because of that, then was likely startled by hearing me the next instant and turned to look, slowing or possibly even stopping when I was right there, so I ran into him and think I stepped on his foot as I pushed past. So on the next two laps I took to the grass a lot on that straight, going around benches and garbage cans and trees. And I often, again mainly after the first lap, also took to the grass on that last sector one straight, at the boat dock, and at one point when I tried to not do that, maybe on lap two, though I’m not really sure, a roadblock caused me to briefly stop. So I wouldn’t call any sector one time as representative. And there were problems in other areas as well, including slowing a few times and maybe one more brief stop, because of a roadblock at that stall where the fenced area ended, at the start of sector two, on top of a lot of weaving and going the long way around, that also being caused by the fenced areas, or sometimes by sticking to the lane.
After the run, I again went to that Carrefour, getting some more of that yogurt at the old price, and another bread. The bread was on a “sale” that just got it back to its previous full price, and I had to ask for it, pointing to one that seemed particularly large and asking the employee whether it’d even fit in the bag she was putting it in, and after saying that it had to she saw that the bag did actually tear, so she took another and was particularly careful, managing it in the end. It was only particularly large, however, not also heavier, the weight being just a little above what it should have been.
After getting back, I just had an orange and a little after 7:30 PM I went out again, going to these two that are next to each other. Just looked in Carrefour, but bought a few things from Kaufland. According to the catalog, that cat litter was not only back in stock, but also on sale, yet when I looked for it I just found an empty area, but at least I found bags of potting soil that weren’t torn and got one of those, and also a sweet pastry that had the evening discount, a lettuce at a price that was similar to what’d have been a regular price at the height of the season but which at the time was listed as being more than 50% off from what I guess would be the current full price, and a few other things. Then, while I had no issues with the self-checkout, the guard stopped me and asked for the receipt right after I left the checkout area, as I was passing by the information desk. After I gave it to him, he glanced at the bag with the potting soil and just briefly at the rest, not asking me to take anything out and show him, and when I asked whether I had seemed suspicious he said that what I was carrying was too voluminous, so I just said that the potting soil was voluminous and that was that… Though I was thinking that he should have seen me if I’d have found cat litter as well…
I was back a little before 10:25 PM and showered, finally having really hot water again, then had that sweet pastry and made mamaliga… And a lot of it, but putting fewer other things in as a result, since I had to add some expired kefir that dad hadn’t gotten to. And I only ate about half of it that night, leaving the rest for the next day, so I won’t stuff myself at night and finish that late anymore. Even so, that feeling of pressure in the right side of my abdomen had returned, and it seemed like there was some more swelling.

As for February 3, that was that week’s best day to run, but it was also when a protest was to take place at the Ministry of Energy, demanding increasing the green energy target for 2030 and focusing on investments in green energy instead of gas, also in order to have lower energy bills in the long term. And the breakdown I had the previous week had prevented me from going to that other protest, against the hunting quotas for birds becoming daily instead of yearly and the minimum required training for hunters being reduced from one year to six months, so I couldn’t also miss this one and therefore got up when the alarm rang, at 9 AM, had an apple and left just before 10 AM.
I was somewhat worried, since the event started at 11 AM and I thought it’ll take me over an hour to get there, but in fact it took me just under 50 minutes. And I soon took a position inside the perimeter where we were supposed to stand, but most, including the very visible Greenpeace members, silently resisted the “main” organizers’ attempts to have them stand there, as the gendarmes had asked. There were some discussions about moving a little, but eventually we remained there, and I ended up being asked by Olga to help hold a banner and needing to keep compensating, since the person holding the other side kept holding it too low or not stretching it.
The more unpleasant moment, however, was when Olga asked me to slowly remove my hat, since the name and logo of a fossil fuel company was very visible on it. Since it’s the only one I have except the one knitted by Andra, it was the one received when planting trees in November of 2019, so it also had the logo of the NGO organizing that event on it, and I said it was from them, but she said she knew that but the other one is very visible. So I just removed it suddenly and stuffed it in a pocket, not even thinking of trying to make it less obvious, and said I’m bald and don’t exactly want to have my head exposed, at which point she said she had one I could use, but I wasn’t going to use another’s clothes. And I didn’t really comment when she later asked whether the request had bothered me.
At least, though there were plenty of reporters and I was very visible, nobody tried to interview me, neither then nor later, after people started leaving and Olga asked me to hold that banner again for a little longer, that time on my own, after she had found someone else to take over my spot when she saw me trying to take some more pictures, allowing me to wander around a little more. And while I was doing so she came to apologize, in case I felt singled out, and I said I was feeling bad anyway, considering how I am around people. She also asked whether I wanted to go for a coffee with her after the protest, saying it could also be a tea or something else when I said I don’t even drink coffee, but I obviously declined, mostly just wanting her to leave me alone. However, she then asked whether there was anything else she could do, then apologized again when I said no, adding that she was glad that I was there and that I’m one of the most active members, so I also apologized for having been unable to attend the previous week’s protest and said that I’m probably also one of the most annoying members. She asked why do I think that and said that I’m so quiet, but at that point I finally wandered away.
Either way, the event was supposed to last for 30 minutes, and as 11:30 AM approached the few other regular participants started leaving, and the total number had only been around 30 anyway, many being NGO members. And those NGO members then moved to the entrance of the Ministry for a few more pictures, at which point I also put that hat back on, and eventually left at 11:45 AM, just wandering away as they were preparing to go in, not saying anything more. As for the outcome, they delivered the petition and a study and had some talks, but those had no result, or at least no good one, the strategy remaining the one focused on gas.
On my way back, I stopped at the Carrefour from Unirii, grabbing some spoiling bananas and seeing that the eggs sold by piece again didn’t have a listed price. So I asked an employee and she told me a price that’d be the regular one, which made me just get four, but the price I saw at the checkout was half that, so I told the cashier that I had been told a higher one and asked whether I could go back and get more, and she said I could, if I’ll first pay for those purchases and then leave them there. So I did that and grabbed seven more with code one, which I had put back after first going through all of them in order to select all of those.
I was back here at 1:50 PM, so it could be said that I actually had a little more time to get ready for the run, compared to waking up at 2 PM, but after sleeping so little and walking a fair bit, I was thinking that the main reason why I was determined to run that day was to have an excuse for the poor time I was sure I was going to have, especially since the pressure and discomfort I was feeling on the right side of my abdomen seemed to be worsening, and I was more and more concerned about fluid… And then something else went wrong even before I could start getting ready, since I wanted to put the eggs in the fridge, doing so just when dad left, and one fell on the floor and cracked. I placed the bag on a shelf, so I won’t risk dropping it if I’ll hold it while placing and arranging the eggs on the door, and I pushed it farther in, so it won’t fall off, but that was just when dad walked out and I guess I glanced at the door, which meant that I didn’t see that an egg had ended up under the shelf, obviously falling when I let go of the bag… So I had to gather it up and then also wash that spot a little.
Either way, after placing the rest on the door, I had the usual stuff plus almonds, but a banana instead of the usual apple, since I had already eaten one of those in the morning, and a slice of cozonac with added honey as the sweet thing. I just wasted time on the toilet, however, and what was worse was that something popped in the left side as I was pressing some areas of my abdomen. That made me so worried that I started shaking, but eventually managed to calm down to some extent and went out at 3:50 PM. The reported temperature was 7-8°C and there was next to no wind, but it was overcast, so on top of the full running gear I also wore that thing around my neck and the gloves, plus the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran.
The time was 48:15.01, with sector times of 4:10.51, 5:01.34, 5:54 (5:53.78), 4:31 (4:30.57), 5:04 (5:03.96), 5:57.82, 4:33 (4:32.06), 5:11.22, 6:00.19 and 1:54 (1:53.56), making for lap times of 15:05.63, 15:32.35 and 15:44 (15:43.47). Seeing as I was initially thinking that I should aim for 52 minutes and will reward myself if I’ll somehow stay under 50 minutes, I definitely didn’t expect that! However, after dad had said that he was going to make pizza that evening, or at least what passes for pizza for him, I decided that I’ll also have some and that was going to be the reward, which likely motivated me to really push, wanting to deserve it. And I actually didn’t feel that I had pushed that hard on the first sector, and yet it was surprisingly fast, and when the second was fast as well I wondered whether I’ll manage to stay under 15 minutes on that first lap. And while I missed that target, I also knew I hadn’t quite given it everything and was nevertheless much faster than I had even dared to hope at first, so I started calculating target times adding up to 49 minutes. Then, with lap two also going well, I thought of 48:30, being pleased with the first sector of lap three and thinking that, if there won’t be problems, it’ll be hard to fail from then on, which indeed proved to be the case, and by a safe margin.
Surprisingly, I had no notable physical issues, but they were painting the new surface right at the end of the lap, and had just done so at the beginning, so those areas were fenced off, some other fenced portions appearing intermittently later on the first sector and a little earlier on the third. While there weren’t that many people overall and some knew to stand aside when noticing me, especially in fenced areas, the fences did cause some issues on the long sector one straight, as I had to take a little to the grass or step on the paved area that’s behind the stage on each lap, though at least I didn’t actually get blocked. There was one roadblock in a fenced area that did make me briefly stop, however, and I think it was at the start of lap two, but I’m not quite sure and it might have also been at the end of lap one or two or even, though far less likely, at the start of lap three. Either way, a man and a woman were walking on either side of a child and I don’t know whether the man had a handicap, was aping the child or trying to show something he was talking about, but as I approached from behind he started walking with difficulty and holding his arms to the side, and when I asked them to make way he got startled, stopping and stretching his arms even wider, fully blocking the way. And another brief stop was on the long straight of sector two of lap three, a dog that was off the leash and running ahead of me stopping and turning to look when it heard me, so I had to stop for an instant and step aside to avoid tripping over it. And I also slowed a little at the start of sector three of lap three, to see the time better, since it was still very cloudy and there were even a few drops towards the end, so it was darker than it’d have otherwise been, even though some breaks in the clouds had started appearing earlier.
At least I could crap after the run, and again later. And when I got on-line at night I was making a note of the fact that the router was listing an uptime of 100 days, so there had been no power failures in that long, since the one on the evening of October 26, and I meant to take a screenshot of that… And should have done so, because I was woken up by my UPS beeping because of a blackout just before 10:20 AM the next morning. It was a brief one, but enough for it to actually beep, meaning that it wasn’t just a matter of fractions of a second, and it was also enough for the router to reboot. Not that a screenshot of the router’s uptime matters, but it’d have just been nice to have it. Missing that, I’ll just add here that it had just reached 100 days and a half, since the hour had gone back during that period, so the power returning around 11:10 PM after that previous failure was the equivalent of 10:10 PM at the time of this one. On the other hand, and seeing as this paragraph went beyond February 3 anyway, and it was also added after midnight, since I only just managed to finish the previous one by then, I’ll also mention here that, as of the start of the month or so, my mouse has been double clicking often again, after being better for quite a while.