Cav's Place

With the first run I’m yet to write about having been on December 2, I’ll still leave the long walks to “pay” with PET bottles aside, and of course also the hospitalization, but use this post for the odds and ends from before that date that I’m yet to write about. That includes three days from the first half of October, but I’ll get back to those after picking up from where I left off, after walking away from that area and putting the shirt back on, so I’ll finally finish with the day of the marathon, October 31.

The plan was to go to Victoriei and then just keep going all the way to that street that’s just before Victory Square, to then go to that pizza place and use some more of those points I had won, but after crossing to the other side of Unirii Boulevard I just continued on it until I ended up before the park and fountains, so I went into the Old City, meaning to at least cut a little through there… Only to end up rather lost, apparently first going one way, then the other, before finding my way out close to University Square, so I should have just kept going and used the main roads. But since I was there and passing by a used books store, I decided to have what turned out to be a quite thorough look, despite that fact that all the fluids were starting to make their effects felt and I started needing to sort of dance around with increasing desperation with every minute that passed. But I somehow managed to hold it in until I finished looking at everything I cared to look at, then rushed to the underground passage and fortunately found the toilets open.
After staying on the main road for a while, I quickly checked a Mega Image and then turned to smaller streets again, deciding to get one of those carrot and orange cakes, and also having a quick look in another place I spotted just before getting there. Then I finally reached that pizza place and walked in, the work having finally been finished, first asking why was one kind of pizza much cheaper than the others, including the Margherita, and whether it was smaller. Then, since I was told that they’re all the same size, I ordered one of those and another vegetarian one, also trying my luck again by asking whether they had any offer for those who had finished the marathon and being told that they didn’t. After that, while waiting, I started looking for the toilets, ending up asking another waiter and not understanding the directions he gave me, looking around the corner instead of going through the doors, so I turned back to look at him in confusion as he just stood there looking at me as well, seeming to not understand what I wasn’t understanding. But then the one standing at the door, who had taken my order, returned and I could ask her, and she explained in a way I could understand, so I went to pee again and also wash better, then after the pizzas were brought I spent some more time trying to stuff both boxes in one bag before giving up and using two.
After stopping again to try to arrange the boxes better as soon as I found a spot where I could place the bags, I meant to just keep going all the way to Obor, but when I saw a 0.50 RON coin in front of a Mega Image, after picking it up I decided to go in after all. What I wanted to get from Mega Image is something that’s not usually available in the small stores, and the pizzas wouldn’t fit in a cabinet, so I asked the guard what to do about them if I just wanted to quickly look for something and he told me to leave them on the first checkout counter, which was unmanned at the time. So I did that and had that quick look, and somewhat to my surprise found what I was looking for, so I bought it and then continued on my way, having quick looks at some of the confectioneries and pastry places I passed by but not meaning to get anything until I reached that new place from Obor, for another one of those apple and meringue cakes. And it’s a good thing that, even though I again needed to pee quite desperately by the time I got there, I decided to make that detour before going to Carrefour and Kaufland, because once I got there I saw that it wasn’t open, though the listed schedule stated that it should have been, so I knew that I had to look for something else in the hypermarkets instead.
After managing to get everything in a cabinet and rushing again to the toilet, I got a pumpkin and various expiring things from Carrefour, these being for dad with the exception of the piece of pie that I ended up getting instead of that cake. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet and also went to Kaufland, and since I had a list of things to buy from there, including some more cat food, I first took care of that, then also got some cabbage, and also some cucumbers and green onions that were discounted even though it wasn’t that late, even the time on the receipt being only 6:40 PM.
With the pizzas needing to be kept more or less straight, some of the other things being placed on top of one of the boxes and sliding around, and the bag from the race kit being unusable, I had to figure out how to carry everything, the pumpkin and cabbage proving quite an issue, so after an initial attempt to arrange everything I stopped again after leaving Kaufland, spreading my things on a bench and taking my time to figure out something that seemed to work better… And that would have been the end of it if dad wouldn’t have called at 8 PM. He hadn’t called until then, but apparently decided to do so just then, when I was only some ten minutes away, the traffic was loud and even a tram was just passing by. And of course at first he hung up quickly, before I could manage to somehow free a hand to answer, then tried again but, again as usual, wouldn’t shout on the phone even when it’s obviously necessary, so all I heard were some unintelligible whispers until he hung up again… And then he called one more time, some five minutes later, and this last call was the real problem, because when I got the phone out of the jacket’s pocket, where I had placed it in order to be able to get to it faster, a hangnail broke off and I started bleeding quite heavily, all over the bags, jacket and phone, so it’s a good thing I was at least so close, because carrying everything suddenly became even more of a problem… As was getting my keys out and unlocking the building’s door.
Still, since I had told him that I was only a few minutes away and he had said he’ll wait, I assumed that I at least won’t have to struggle with the apartment door, so I rang the doorbell… Then knocked… Then rang some more… Until I gave up and struggled with the keys yet again, and then also with opening the door and walking in with everything, a bit before 8:20 PM, having carried 19 kg. As for the reason why he hadn’t answered, that was because he was in the bathroom, starting to take a bath, and when I reminded him what he had said he said he had waited until then, calling me when it started getting late and he really wanted to take that bath, so when he said he’ll wait, he meant he’ll wait in the bathroom… As if that made any sense… Or as if starting to take a bath just when he knew I was getting back after such a day and would want to take a bath myself made sense either. But I spent that time putting things in their place and cleaning up after him in the kitchen, then took that bath after he was done, and then made salad and, at 3:20 AM, started eating dinner, consisting of the carrot and orange cake, that cheaper pizza and the salad. Also took a cold pill, just in case, and finally got in bed at 5:30 AM.

Now that I finally finished with that day, let me get back to October 5, when dad said that mother had told him to get watermelon as well, and also bread, though those hadn’t been on the list she had given me, which I had taken care of after the previous day’s run. So that spurred me into action and I said I’ll go out that evening and get those as well, and since that meant I was going to shower again anyway, after getting back, I decided to also clean my room before leaving, at 7:20 PM.
Went to the Carrefour and Kaufland that are next to each other, first checking prices in Carrefour, then getting the bread for mother from Kaufland, then returning to Carrefour to also get a bread for dad and some potatoes, then going back to Kaufland, peeing and washing my hands and then being there just in time for the 9 PM discounts, getting a bread for myself and two other things from there, then taking my time picking a watermelon. Struggled with that watermelon for a while, first trying to put it in a smaller bag and then in my backpack, but eventually had to give up and leave it in a larger bag.
I still had a bit of time, however, so I also went to the Mega Image that’s across the road from there, for some more of that zacusca, just managing to stuff everything in a cabinet, since that location has some slightly larger ones there. I was in at 9:40 PM, got the zacusca and also found that in one of the bags of discounted carrots there were carrot pieces that otherwise were quite good, the others having mostly whole ones that were actually spoiling, so I bought that as well and just as I got back to the cabinet the cashier told the guard to get ready because it was 9:55 PM. So he blocked the doors, then helped me get the potatoes in my backpack, since I was struggling, then opened the doors so I could leave, and I was walking away just before 10 PM.
Didn’t walk far at first, however, stopping just a few steps away, to check that I had everything and try to arrange things better, and then doing so again after crossing the road. But I was eventually back a bit before 10:40 PM, having carried 14 kg. Then I had a small apple and a sweet pastry before eventually also changing my sheets and taking the blanket out, putting it back in use. Then I showered, got back in the kitchen at 1:15 AM and started eating dinner at 3:30 AM. My right foot was burning again, but I’m thinking that what made me make a note of this back then is significantly less than what I’m feeling now…

The next day I skipped over so far is October 10, when there were no visits recorded. Otherwise, after the irregular heartbeats I made a note of having the previous night continued when I happened to wake up that day, still feeling them even at 12:15 PM, when I last went to pee, they did seem to go away when I actually got up, around 2 PM. Had lunch not long after that, then only started eating dinner at 3:20 AM, after going to shower at almost 1 AM and then washing and cleaning things in the kitchen. And those irregular heartbeats returned that night, and continued throughout the next day.

As for October 12, I was out at 7:10 PM, and since I was looking for green onions I first checked the Shop & Go on the way to the Carrefour from the park. Then I went there and saw that regular onions were on sale, so I got some of those and a little bit of garlic, trying multiple scales after noticing that two added a bit to the weight. Then I made a little detour to have a very quick look in the Mega Image that’s next to the farmers’ market and then continued to Kaufland, also checking a Shop & Go on the way. There were no green onions in that Kaufland, however, so I just grabbed some oats for dad and the last bread of the kind I get from there, evening discounts already applying, then decided to change the plan, going to that newer Kaufland as well instead of Auchan.
Lost a little more time on the way, first having a quick and pointless look in that Profi and again going the wrong way for a little while after getting back out, and then also very quickly and just as pointlessly checking two more Shop & Go locations I passed by, but when I got to that Kaufland I saw evening discounts for fruits and vegetables and also a few bundles of green onions left, so I grabbed two of those first… And the last 1 RON bill I had fell from my pocket when I took out the phone to check the time. But I realized it soon after, rushed back to that spot and found it still there, on the floor, close to an employee who was working with some boxes. Then I wandered around a little, calculated what I had left and what I could still afford, found grapes for a pittance that looked good and got some, then saw that the prices of the vegetables had dropped yet again, at 9:30 PM, and also got a lettuce with root. Then I again tried to calculate how much I had left and what I could get without using any of the 0.50 RON coins, but somehow made a mistake, so if after also adding a bundle of carrots with leaves I thought I just had to find 0.03 RON at the self-checkouts, I actually needed 0.13 RON… And didn’t find anything anyway, so I had to use one of those coins after all. And the machine told me to scan the product first after placing the grapes on the scales, so I had to call an employee to override that.
After arranging the purchases in a bag, with what I had bought earlier that evening being in the backpack, I went to wash my hands, walked out at 9:55 PM and got back here just before 10:40 PM. Then I ate a cake brought by dad, showered, took care of something else I had to do and got back in the kitchen at 1:10 AM. There was a lot to do there, however, so it was 4:15 AM when I finally started eating dinner, and that was even though I forgot to put any seasonings in the salad and didn’t go back to the kitchen to do so, not wanting to lose even more time. But at least 4:15 AM wasn’t even at that point the latest time I had started eating dinner, and I finished at 5:10 AM and got in bed at 5:35 AM. The irregular heartbeats continued, and I noticed a few even while I was still in my room, after showering, and more after that, while I was in the kitchen and then while eating.

Now I’ll skip all the way to November 23, when I was careful and there was no more blood in the toilet, but I had a huge amount of gas all day and didn’t sleep much, being unable to get back to sleep after waking up a bit after 9:30 AM. And my mother was here and annoying me and I rather cracked in the evening, having to isolate myself, curling in a ball under the blanket. At least I napped then, but I stayed in my room after that as well, not eating that night… Which at least allowed me to add that last part to the post about the marathon, considering it completed after that, though it’s only with this post that I finally finished with that day.

On November 24 I started reading The Sixth Extinction. Otherwise, something was wrong with my stomach in the evening, a lot coming out the rear end after lunch, though I was very relieved that there was no blood, at least. And I still had old celery root and mayonnaise to finish, so I wanted to start eating dinner a bit earlier, but after crawling in bed after midnight and waking up at 1:20 AM, I only did so at 3:35 AM… And I had burned my tongue as well, in the evening, on the biscuits I had microwaved.

All I want to add about November 25 is that I timed the squats again, seeing 2:09 even though I did them in the kitchen. Then I’ll skip to the early hours of November 27, when I had a late shower, getting to the kitchen close to 1:30 AM, starting to eat dinner at 3:30 AM despite having had an early lunch, in the afternoon, and getting in bed at 5:20 AM. As for that evening, I managed to finish the book, then cooked something, then told dad that I was going to want to get on-line before midnight, to post the quick review. And since he said he was going to bed anyway and it was 11 PM, I calmly went to my room, to write it while eating lunch, and when I was done, at 11:50 PM, I just connected… Only to see that his computer was still connected as well, so I rushed to the living room to remind him of what he had said… Only for him to say that he had never said he’ll go to bed and was waiting for midnight, though as I was about to repeat exactly what he had said he drifted off, possibly realizing he was wrong, and immediately turned off the computer, though of course the “damage” was already done. Either way, I then started eating dinner at 3:05 AM. Could have started before 3 AM, but decided to mix and then arrange some cheese, so it was before 3 AM when I licked a bit of that.

On November 29 I left at 5:25 PM, taking the recyclables and making a little detour to drop them off in a bin. I was going to Obor, but also meant to once again check that location of the Library that was closed whenever I did, forgetting that it was a free day for state institutions, so it was of course closed yet again. Then I checked three Mega Image locations from the Obor area, including that big one, but didn’t get anything from any of them, the first purchases of the evening being from that Penny, frozen beans for dad and a small but passable pumpkin that somehow still had the previous week’s discounted price. Carrefour was next, and after putting those purchases in a cabinet I went to wash my hands and decided to pee as well, then got onions, an expiring bio (organic) yogurt and a similarly discounted piece of kadaif. Then I continued to Kaufland, washed my hands again, and confirmed that bread doesn’t get evening discounts there, and at 8:30 PM the employee grabbed it off the shelves anyway. But I made use of the evening discount for two other bakery products, then grabbed a heavily discounted cauliflower that was admittedly starting to go bad and also some canned sardines.
Even though I again took quite some time to arrange everything, making better use of the backpack, I was still out a couple of minutes before 9 PM, and entered the building at 9:45 PM. Then I had a late lunch, and writing some more to add to the post about medical matters meant it was late when I finally went to shower, finishing at 1:40 AM and starting to eat dinner at 3:30 AM, though I again licked a bit of cheese a little earlier. But at least I finished that post that night.

On the evening of November 30, I ended up spending four hours in bed, struggling to just barely hold back another breakdown caused by dad cooking and then complaining when I went to the kitchen in the evening and washed something. Meant to floss and brush my teeth and then read, but ended up needing to just crawl in bed, and when I somehow managed to briefly fall asleep I dreamed that I was having that breakdown, though at least that only happened in the dream. And even though I was thinking I won’t manage to go to the kitchen that night, I eventually managed to crawl out of bed, actually went there a little before 1 AM and even managed to clean up more of the mess dad had left than I thought I would. Still, that meant it was 3:25 AM when I started eating dinner, and that was after again having an early lunch, after waking up, and only got in bed again at 5:30 AM. In between, however, I also finally added the Romanian translation to the Goodreads version of the quick review for The Sixth Extinction, dealt with some more things in the kitchen and also flossed.

As for December 1, I knew that dad was going to bring mother again, but since they were first going to buy a new toilet tank to finally replace the broken one, I thought they’ll arrive later. However, they arrived in the afternoon, also put things in the kitchen and started working in the bathroom, so I didn’t really manage to do any of the things I had planned for that day other than making a full backup… And also had to hold it in again, which definitely isn’t a good idea when you have problems in that area. Either way, I had lunch in the evening, started eating dinner at 3:15 AM and got in bed at 5:20 AM.

This is a collection of texts from the Starea Natiei (State of the Nation) show, and I rather added it to get free shipping for the other books ordered, though supporting a rather good show and maybe the only remaining Leftist TV show host around here was a nice bonus. The texts are from five years ago, but while the details refer to that period, the general ideas are just as true now, and in some cases unfortunately even more so. Yes, the texts are short and therefore don’t go in depth or offer detailed arguments, but they tackle important topics, are written well and make points I can get behind. And since I prefer to read, not caring to watch or listen to people speaking, and definitely don’t want to waste time with skits, this also allowed me to see that the quality I had seen when I somehow happened to catch a piece of the show is the rule for them. That doesn’t change the fact that I disagree on some topics, mainly their support for the “right” to not vote and yet still complain afterwards, or for the most part their opposition to deficit limits or military spending and exercises, but those, while important, are just a few issues among many and, if anything, the fact that they don’t change my overall opinion only proves that it’s not solely a result of agreeing with everything.
But I used the plural and this leads me to the one thing that did make me raise an eyebrow: The show’s host is the only author listed on the cover and spine, and apparently also in the National Library’s records, yet the first page lists him and Mihai Radu as authors, and the foreword not only does the same, but actually states that the texts on the show are written by Mihai Radu and Gabi Drogeanu, while Dragos just edits them. Sure, it’s a matter of marketing, and in the end between him and his team, but it strikes me as particularly unfair from someone who otherwise so firmly advocates fairness.

Rating: 4/5

Though it’s still under the desk instead of back in its place inside it, last evening I finally worked up the courage to plug the computer back into the UPS and test it, letting it run on battery for ten minutes, and then seeing that it charged back up at a normal rate. Seeing it at 57% after the ten minutes gave me the impression that it drained a bit faster than before, but I can’t be sure, and the listed estimate used to be 24 minutes, if I remember correctly, and now it’s 25, and losing 43% after ten works out to 23:15, but it actually just dropped from 61% to 57% as I was under the desk to turn the power strip back on, so it’s probably pretty much the same… But I’m starting with the end, so while I’m here let me also mention that last evening dad made homemade pizza again and I had that for lunch, but then still cooked later in the evening, for the next days, then showered, getting back to the kitchen at almost 1:25 AM and starting to eat dinner at 3:05 AM.

And now I’ll go two months back, to the early hours of October 19, when the UPS again reported that the battery was disconnected as I was eating at night, again fixing itself after exactly ten seconds, and that was despite having passed a self-test since the first time that happened. So, before going to bed on the morning of October 25 I ordered the replacement battery from the same place I had replaced the battery and repaired the UPS at the first time, and a few minutes before noon I was woken up by the call confirming that it was ready to be picked up. I asked to make sure that it was that specific model, being told that it was just that one, and whether I could come two days later and also bring the old battery to be recycled, the answer to both questions being yes, but forgot to ask whether they still offered any discount for recycling the old battery.
Either way, I didn’t go back to bed after that, yet still didn’t do the laundry, forgetting that I had planned to take care of it that day, since I at least needed the running gear to be washed. Then again, I wouldn’t have had time for it anyway, spending a good part of that day transcribing the “interview” dad took of my grandmother so he’ll put her story together for her 100th birthday. Then I had lunch in the evening, napped for up to an hour late in the evening, when I took a break, and only got back to the kitchen after I was done, at 1:30 AM. And there was stuff to wash, of course, and the slice or crack on my right thumb was troubling, so I bandaged it more thoroughly and tried to spare it, making me even slower than I normally am. So I started eating dinner at 3:50 AM and got in bed at 5:30 AM.

On October 26, I was woken up by the UPS again beeping and reporting that the battery was disconnected. Though it again recovered after ten seconds and I had meant to sleep more, it was past 3:30 PM already, so it was late enough and I got up, again meaning to do the laundry. However, I decided to wait for dad to get back, to ask whether he had something else to put in… Only for him to say that it was a holiday and that the day also held a personal significance for him, which I won’t mention here, so if I really must, I should just put my things in the machine, but none of his. But I wasn’t going to run the machine just for the few things I had, so I eventually decided to leave it for another time and run the next day in the old running clothes, which I had been wearing inside.
With that morning run planned, I had a pretty strict schedule for that evening and night… Only for the power to fail at 10 PM. With my concerns about the UPS, that was a serious reason for concern, but it did its job perfectly, since I left the computer running for a full ten minutes, hoping that the power will be restored, before finally shutting it down. And the power returned around 11:10 PM and at 11:15 PM I got back to my room to turn the computer back on, and once it reported that the battery was fully charged again the UPS was surprisingly, and very likely wrongly, estimating that it could keep it running on battery for 36 minutes, 50% more than before.
That wasn’t the end of the problems, however, since the oven also turned itself off again that night. It had been hard to make it stay on when I placed the pumpkin in, needing to turn it up for that, and it turned itself off when I turned it down, so I initially left it at a high level when I tried again, but when I saw the temperature reach 230°C I again turned it down, waited for some 30 seconds and then went to the toilet… Only for it to quite obviously turn itself off pretty much as soon as I left, since I was there for a while and it had clearly been off for quite a long time when I got back. But at least, as it was fortunately always the case after that quite scary first time, it was fully off and there was no smell of gas. I was still worried, however, again opening the window and waving it around a little, then going to the living room to light a lighter and carefully approaching with it before finally turning it back on. And, just to add to the worries, when I got back to my room the UPS again reported that the battery was disconnected, again for the usual ten seconds. And I eventually turned the oven off again before the pumpkin was done, leaving it there and getting in bed at 4:30 AM.

After that morning run, I jogged back, so I only wore the jacket, and also the mask, on the way to the park. Then I had watermelon, watched the press conference for the marathon, finally did another full backup, turned off the computer and UPS and removed them from the desk, removed the battery from the UPS, took the plastic and metal and the old battery and left again at 1:40 PM, dropping off the plastic and metal in the first bin and then going straight to pick up the replacement battery, deciding to not make the small detour to my bank’s branch from the mall from the park, thinking that I’ll certainly find another on the way even though I hadn’t checked before leaving. And I did find one, but it was closed for remodeling, and the announcement listed “nearby” locations that were quite far and in the opposite direction, none being ahead, and when I checked after getting back I saw that there are no other branches at all in that entire part of the city. And that place still only accepts payments by card, so I needed to deposit the money first and had no choice but to pick one of those locations and walk there and back, losing some 40 minutes because of it and only reaching my destination just after 3:25 PM. And the employees were still joking around, with each other but also at the expense of the customers, since when one asked me to come and pay another asked why and said something about the site stating that all sales were free that day, then apologized and supposedly realized that the free day was the next one. But I didn’t bite, just paying, checking the new battery against the old one, to make sure it was the exact same model even though the color was different, and taking both back, since I had asked whether there was any discount for leaving the old one and the guy just looked at me oddly.
I was walking away ten minutes after getting there and then went to Auchan, finding the bread I want from there, and also getting another for dad and another bottle of vinegar. Also saw beets and wanted some, but decided to wander around the store first, looking for anything else I’d want, and when I finally decided to go to the checkout I forgot all about the beets. And I paid by card, since I hadn’t had smaller bills and had deposited a fair bit more than necessary, and was out a few minutes before 5 PM. Also meant to go to the Carrefour from the park on the way back, but even though I didn’t cross and cut through the park in order to do so, as I approached I decided against it yet again, being back just before 5:45 PM.
Since in an earlier discussion he didn’t seem to know the difference, I showed dad the UPS and the battery… Only for him to lash out at me for replacing the battery without testing the old one first, telling me to tell him what he had to buy so I’ll be able to test batteries, which would have obviously just added to the expenses, and when I said that batteries are supposed to be replaced every two to three and a half years and that one was almost three and a half years old he kept saying that old products last longer and shouldn’t be replaced just because you’re told they should be, though that rule doesn’t apply to batteries. He was, however, right when he asked what if the problem was with the UPS itself, but since he dismissed the idea that the battery had to be replaced anyway, even after I told him that I had been told that not replacing the battery in time had damaged the UPS the first time around, and that doing so allowed me to see whether there was something wrong with the UPS as well or not, I pretty much cracked and told him to leave me the fuck alone, which made him angry as well, or angrier than he already was, I guess.
Either way, I then had lunch and put in the new battery, tested it quickly with the kitchen phone, blew and wiped the dust off the UPS a little, then cleaned the dust inside the computer, put it and the UPS back in the desk, turned them on, saw an even less likely estimated time on battery, 40 minutes, and then went to shower… Only to hear the UPS beep while I was on the toilet. And then it did it twice more, reporting that the battery was disconnected for those same ten seconds three times in 30 minutes. So I delayed the shower, telling dad that he had likely been right in saying that the problem was with the UPS and asking whether he could spare a power strip, then turned the computer off again, removed the UPS from the desk and put it under it, with the computer plugged straight into the power strip and just the monitor in the UPS, to still test it in that manner, after also blowing into the contacts and using a toothpick to try to clean them a little. And I also set the UPS to stop beeping, so those errors won’t bother me anymore.
Otherwise, I think I saw a bit of blood on the toilet paper, but at least there was none the next day. Either way, then I finally showered, though I guess I was so messed up that I grabbed the training suit I meant to put on and threw it in the laundry basket, then realized it, took it out, decided I wasn’t going to wear it after it was there, put it back, then changed my mind again and took it out one more time, putting it on after all. And I started eating dinner at 3:05 AM. But I’ll also mention here that cleaning the computer reduced the CPU temperature by over 10°C… But also caused a fan to be a bit noisy again, or to make the side panel vibrate. It used to do that, but at some point, long ago, I somehow managed to make it stop and hadn’t touched it since.

Though the UPS reported that the battery was disconnected again on the morning of October 29, clearly confirming that the problem wasn’t with the battery, I had the marathon to focus on, so I just hoped that there won’t be any more power issues and only sent an e-mail to ask about having it looked at in the early hours of November 2. And by the time I woke up I had a reply, so I held off going to the toilet a little longer in order to read it, after having held it in the night before as well, and that resulted in blood dripping into the toilet, though at least it stopped quickly.
Since I got to that date, I’ll also mention that the cardiology appointment made the second time I went to Coltea was for that day, but I just ignored it, not even canceling. Instead, I left at 3:15 PM to drop off the UPS… And got a bit lost as I tried a different route, not wanting to have to pick my way through the work being done on the sidewalk in that area again. However, before getting lost I spotted a small pastry place, meant to get closer for a look, quickly stopped when a dog started barking and ended up saying that I’ll get something on my way back when the guy opened the window to say that the dog was chained, though it was in fact behind a fence, and asked what I wanted. So, if the initial plan didn’t include returning the same way, I made use of the fact that I got lost to keep my word, getting back there and buying a pastry even though I had finally figured out which way I was supposed to go a bit earlier. But that guy made things quite awkward, since when he asked I said I didn’t want it heated, since it was going to be cold again long before I’ll get home, but he started heating it anyway, saying that he’ll just heat it a little bit when I repeated that I had said no… And then he put it on an envelope and handed it to me, so I asked what was I supposed to do with it like that and he placed it in it instead. The envelope, likely waxed, was actually a good substitute for a paper bag, but the size and the fact that it was cut on one side on top of being open meant I couldn’t really keep the pastry in it. Still, by that point I just wanted to get out of there, so when he also placed napkins in front of me and asked me to take one, I just did so and walked away, struggling to figure out how to make that pastry stay in the envelope on the way.
All of that meant that I reached my destination at 4:35 PM, and the schedule listed on the site states that the service area closes at 4:30 PM. But I had been told that somebody will be there to receive it even if I’ll be a little late, and either way that schedule is for the battery service, which I found is different from the UPS service when I walked in, pulled the UPS out of the backpack and got told to go back outside and take it to the place that has the big sign. So I did so, telling the guy who was there that I had sent an e-mail and he remembered, took the UPS, asked what brief description of the problem he should list on the documents and said he’ll call me. Considering the previous experience, leaving it there with the new battery inside was not something I was comfortable with, and I had asked in that e-mail whether I could take it there without it, but he said it’s recommended to bring the battery as well, so they’ll be tested together, and in the end that’s what I did… Though just before putting the UPS in the backpack I had marked the battery and also took a picture of the serial number, to be able to check when I’ll get it back.
By that point I really needed to pee, so I went to a nearby gas station to take care of that, and washing my hands meant that I could handle that pastry better after I got back outside, carefully wrapping it in that napkin before putting it back in the envelope. Then I went to Auchan, finding that some of the teas I’d normally get were on sale and buying some, as well as some of the things my mother had asked for. Couldn’t also get bread, however, none of the things they make there being available and that entire area being closed off by health inspectors, and I had in fact seen on the news that four of their stores had that area closed off after inspections, so I guess that was one of them. And the 0.50 RON coin I should have received as change got stuck in the machine, so I struggled to retrieve it until someone, not sure if a cashier or a guard, eventually asked whether it had something to give me and managed to pull it out with a pen after I told her what was happening.
Then I also went to that Penny, finding no free cabinets with keys, so I had to just leave my things in an unlocked one while I got one more thing for my mother. But that wasn’t the end of it, since I decided to also go to the Carrefour from the park and then continue to Kaufland as well. So, after peeing again once I reached that Carrefour, I was relieved to find unsliced bread of the kind I get from there and grabbed one, paying by card and therefore being able to use the self-checkout. Then I checked the evening discounts in Kaufland, but it was too late to find anything I wanted, so I just grabbed one more thing for my mother and another bag of cat litter, since it was discounted, had no issues with the self-checkout, struggled to get the cat litter in the backpack and was out of there at 8:55 PM and back here at 9:30 PM. Then I had a quince and a pastry bought two days earlier and it was 3:15 AM when I started eating dinner, in the form of the vegetarian pizza bought two days earlier and a salad. Got in bed at 5:30 AM… And realized that my legs weren’t burning, and in fact hadn’t burned after the marathon either.

With no word from them until then, on the evening of November 10 I sent an e-mail to ask if there were any news about the UPS, since if it couldn’t be fixed or it’d cost too much I wanted to look for a replacement on Black Friday, that being on November 12 here. Then I baked pumpkin that night, but first put the seeds from the previous one in their place, so it was past 12:30 AM when I went to shower, almost 1:30 AM when I got back to the kitchen and 2 AM when I could start making the salad, after actually starting to bake the pumpkin. And the temperature was again too high in the oven, and when I turned it down it again turned itself off and wouldn’t stay on at a low enough level, so I had to make do with it as it was and eventually started eating dinner at 3:55 AM. It was 5:30 AM when I got in bed, after moving the pumpkin on a plate, so it won’t stick even worse to the tray, and putting it back in the oven, leaving it to cool there.
Back to the UPS, after waking up I saw a reply to that e-mail, being told that it could be fixed, but for a price that’s similar to that of the cheapest new ones available, and if you add the battery it’s close to what I paid for this one in the first place, admittedly with a Black Friday discount and seven years ago, what’s supposedly its replacement, this model being discontinued, being about 50% more now, and about two thirds more than the total I’d have ended up paying, and it didn’t have Black Friday discounts anywhere. So I mentioned that the amount was much higher than I expected, then timed my squats, for the first time in a long time, seeing 2:17 even if I was still being careful with that knee, a scab forming there after the fall. Also had lunch in the evening and popcorn later, then put the pumpkin seeds to dry and decided to also have a few walnuts, so it was 2:30 AM when I started making the salad, and I had spoiling stuff, mainly cucumbers, to deal with, so it was 4:05 AM when I started eating dinner, finishing at 5:15 AM and getting in bed at 5:45 AM.

It was after Black Friday, on November 13, when I received another reply, consisting of an offer to repair the UPS at cost, reducing the price by just over a third, in exchange for a review, specifically for the UPS service, not for the store itself. And I did have the past experience to write about, the UPS itself having been repaired quickly and cheaply and lasting close to three and a half more years before something failed again, so I could accept and do my part without lying, writing a 5-star review that night and not mentioning the mess with the battery, since that doesn’t actually have to do with the UPS being repaired, just adding that I hope to be able to say that their work is just as good in a few years.

Seeing as they import original components directly and considering the current problems with shipping and the time of the year, and the fact that when I mentioned this the guy confirmed that it might take a while, plus that if they really made no profit from this job they had no reason to not take their time with it, I expected to have to wait until January, but on December 10 I was woken up by the call letting me know that my UPS was ready to be picked up. But that was at 1:20 PM, and it was raining too, so I said I’ll probably get there the next day… Which was Saturday, so I was told it’d be better to wait until Monday, then asked for the required information so they’ll have the invoice ready, to speed things up. And then the guy called back a little later, saying he forgot to mention that they only accept payments by card, but I already knew that, and it should have been obvious, seeing as I had purchased that replacement battery. But at least that second call offered me the opportunity to ask whether I’ll get it back with the same battery, and he said I will and that nobody did anything to the battery. Then I got back in bed for another hour or so, though I doubt I fell asleep again.

On December 13, I left a few minutes after 3 PM and made that detour I had decided against the first time around, having a quick look in the Carrefour from the park and then depositing the needed money at my bank’s branch from there, using one ATM for that and then deciding to use another to check the balance. Then I reached that place at 4:15 PM, seeing on the way that the branch which had been closed the first time around had opened, but of course I hadn’t wanted to risk it. Either way, a different guy was there, he gave me the invoice and told me to go and pay, but the cashier wasn’t there, so I waited a little… During which time one of the guys was telling something to the others about everyone knowing everyone else somewhere and said that in such places if you hear that a chick’s fucking you want to fuck her too, then apologized for his foul mouth when he was made aware that they had a customer, though I’d say that the sexism would have been the bigger issue. But at least that meant that everyone was suddenly all too aware that I was waiting there for a cashier who didn’t seem to be around, so another guy came and took the payment in her place, then I went back and received the UPS, one more guy having joined that first one and asking whether I wanted to test it. And I should have done so, as that’d have made me aware of the empty battery right away, but since I was thinking of the original problem I said that it appeared randomly, after a while, so a quick test wouldn’t tell me much and I’ll test it at home, and only wanted to get it in the backpack before leaving. I did quickly check to make sure that the same battery was inside, then just put the UPS directly in the backpack, though I had plastic bags I wanted to put it in first, since it had rained before I left and would drizzle more later.
Less than ten minutes after getting there, I was walking away, but then I stopped at the nearby Lidl, mainly looking for a place that was certainly dry, to be able to place the UPS in those bags after all. And, after struggling to do that for a while, I put the backpack in a cabinet and decided to have a look inside as well, even though I boycott Lidl, being by far the chain that relies the most on imported products, and obviously didn’t buy anything. Then I went to Auchan, receiving a call just as I was about to get there that turned out to be a wrong number, or more exactly someone who had been given a wrong number, since he checked that he dialed the number he meant to dial, but I obviously wasn’t the person who had given it to him. Either way, after peeing and washing my hands, I got a few things from Auchan and then went to that Penny as well, again trying to hand over the three Tetra Paks I had. After the cashier had rejected them the first time I tried, in another location, on December 2, I had read the terms and conditions, knew I should give them to the guard and was ready to argue if he’ll reject them as well, but he accepted them right away, calling someone to give me the ticket for the free product… And also using his coin for the cabinet I had stuffed my things in, as I was searching for the one I had and he told me to just leave the door unlocked since he was there to watch over things, but I said I didn’t want to, finally finding the coin only to see that he was faster than me… Not that I was going anywhere, since I still had to wait a little for that ticket. Then I got onions and some little bagels, and also took the free product, which was one of the only two remaining ones at that time.
Then I decided to also go to Carrefour and Kaufland again, choosing those two that are right next to each other. So I first checked Kaufland, put my things in a cabinet, got peppers for dad and found evening discounts, including for pumpkins, so I grabbed the one passable, albeit small, one I could find among the bad ones that were otherwise left. There was no discount label on some pastries my mother usually wants, however, so I asked whether those were also discounted and the employee said that if there’s no label there’s no discount, and as I was grabbing two of another kind another employee actually came to ask about those as well, being told that they were left to be discounted at 9 PM. So I wandered around until then, since it was just after 8:30 PM at that point, but all of those pastries were gone by the time I passed by that area again when it was close to 9 PM, so I slowly made my way to the self-checkout with what I had, having no issues with the machine but also seeing no additional discounts.
Carrefour was next, so I again put my things in a cabinet and checked the expiring products, getting bread for dad and something sweet for myself from there. But I also saw eggs and took a carton that seemed all right at a quick glance, but after stopping a few steps away to check it more thoroughly I found two cracked eggs, one of them badly, so I put it back and started checking another egg by egg without taking it from that area. I noticed that somebody was standing nearby as I did that, but didn’t pay much attention until I realized that he was actually watching me closely, at which point I glanced that way and realized that it was the employee working in that area, and one of the eggs from that carton might have also been cracked and I was too uncomfortable to even try to wipe what was on it and have a better look, and obviously couldn’t just switch it with a good one from another carton, so I left the whole carton there and wandered away, at which point the employee started rearranging the cartons. I wasn’t about to give up, however, returning after getting the raisins for my mother, finding that carton again and quickly replacing that egg as well as another one I hadn’t gotten to check the first time around, just to be sure, before the employee also got back… And he followed me when I again went a few steps away to have another look, asking what was I doing with the carton. So I said I was doing the same thing I had been doing before, checking it, and he told me to take it back to the refrigerated area, and that it’s discounted because it’s expiring, so if I don’t like it I should get some good ones, and also added that eggs keep disappearing. I didn’t bother to remind him that yes, the discount is because they’re expiring, not because they’re cracked, and obviously wasn’t going to respond to his thinly veiled accusation of stealing, just walking away with that carton, at which point he left me be.
Then I retrieved my things and was out of there at 9:55 PM, so it was too late to go around the stadium and had to use the longer route. But I had dad’s large backpack, so even though I was carrying 20 kg, it really didn’t feel like it and I got back at 10:20 PM. Then I grated some apples, with sugar, had a lunch that was bigger than intended since the food I had left was quite clearly spoiling and I had to finish it, finished that after 12:30 AM, went to shower at 12:45 AM and it was after 1:20 AM when I finished, but still had something else to do first, so it was actually 1:40 AM when I got back to the kitchen. And there was more to do there as well, so I started making the salad at 2:15 AM and started eating dinner at 3:25 AM. As for the UPS, didn’t even try to turn it on that night.

The original plan for this post also included writing about volunteering to make packages again, which I did on December 14, but it’d be a new longest ever post by far if I’d do that, and it’s again written over multiple days and edited to add the rest as it is, with what I managed to post before midnight stopping on November 2, in fact at that coin that got stuck in the machine at Auchan, the rest of that section being added some ten minutes later, the rest of what’s above this point being added some hours later, before I went to bed that morning, and this part being written and added Tuesday, since Monday I had no time to write.
True, what’s above got as far as getting back the repaired UPS, but since five more days passed until I actually used it again for the computer, I’ll add the rest here as well, and that rest does start in the early hours of December 15, so I’ll get some other things out of the way as well and include everything from the moment I got back on the evening of December 14, a few minutes before 8 PM. Kept myself busy, putting things in their place and taking care of other matters I had been putting off until dad left, and then decided to also take the pumpkin seeds I had set to dry and munch on the somewhat nicer corn puffs I had grabbed from Carrefour on the way back while selecting which of those to put along with the others, eating those that seemed split or starting to sprout and discarding the empty husks, since I hadn’t done that before setting them to dry. And I took my time, and the fact that I kept ignoring a certain pressing need I had been feeling all day and which only got worse after getting back eventually bit me, since I think it was just after 11:30 PM when what I thought was just gas proved to be more than that and I had to drop everything and rush to the bathroom, fortunately finding that just a trace had ended up on my underwear. So I cleaned up, then put the remaining seeds on a smaller plate and took it to my room, where it still is even now, quickly washed the underwear in question and went back to the bathroom to do things properly, though little else seemed to be coming, and then shower. I was finally out again at 1:10 AM, but first checked some things on-line and only got back to the kitchen at 1:35 AM, then took care of some other things and first meant to finally start making the salad at 2:10 AM.
Well, that’s where the part about the UPS comes in, since I decided to plug it in and test it quickly, meaning to then let it charge while I’ll work on dinner. However, when I plugged the kitchen TV into it and then unplugged it, it immediately turned off, beeping in a way that, after checking the manual, I found meant that the battery was empty. So I connected it to the computer and saw that it was indeed reporting that the battery was at 1%, which quickly dropped to 0% and stayed there for the half an hour or so I spent looking and checking, turning the service on and off a number of times, so I won’t risk having it turn my computer off for some reason. Then, wanting to check whether the problem was with the battery or with the UPS itself, I put the old one in and saw that it reported it was at 17%. It had been fully charged when I removed it, but being old and having been disconnected since then, having it discharge on its own wasn’t surprising, so I let it charge while making the salad, checking an hour later and seeing that it was at 39%, so it was charging exactly at the rate it was supposed to. So I put the new battery in again and finally started eating dinner at 3:55 AM, finishing at 5:20 AM. At that point, an hour and 40 minutes after being put back in, the new battery was reporting 17%. Then I also did a partial backup, just in case, finally got in bed when it was almost 5:50 AM… And immediately got back up, hearing something pop, going to check and finding that the light bulb dad insists on leaving on in the hallway burned out, so I removed it and put it in a bag before getting back to bed.

After waking up I checked again and saw 49%, almost 11 hours after the new battery was put back in, getting to 50% for a moment but then dropping back to 49%. So I tried to see if it held at all, plugging the monitor into the UPS and then unplugging the UPS, seeing it drop to 37% right away. After plugging the UPS back in after less than a minute, I sent the guy an e-mail explaining the issues and asking whether they had given it back to me with the battery completely drained and whether that could have reduced its capacity. Then I saw the battery recharge at a normal rate to 49%, but then it stopped again, still reporting 49% some two more hours later, so I put the old one in again. And that old one was listed as being at 49% as well at first, though it was at 39% when I removed it, as I said, and it didn’t seem to be a case of the UPS remembering the value it had reported before the switch, as in that case it should have eventually dropped before going back up, but instead it immediately started charging more and sustained that normal rate all the way to 100%.
Otherwise, dad had told me that he had an interview to take that day and will need me to transcribe it right away, but he came much later than he said he would and had two interviews, the second almost twice as long as the first, so I’d have had no chance to transcribe all of that before the following evening, which was when he needed it, but he said he only needed the first one and the first part of the second until then, so about 55 minutes, and while I didn’t think I’ll manage even that at first, my plan for the following day including a run, I got right on it and actually finished the first interview at 1:25 AM. But when I got to the kitchen I obviously first had to clean up after him, and also talked to him a little, so I started eating dinner at 3:30 AM and it was after 5:05 AM when I finished, transcribing about half of that first part of the second interview as I ate. Got in bed at 5:25 AM, making a note of the fact that my legs were again quite swollen and the skin seemed to be flaking off them, assuming that’s dry skin and not something else. And they were clearly burning again, and have been since then, but that area of my back where I have that bone spur is also burning at times, and now that I think of it I guess it’s been doing that for a while, so maybe the doctors from Coltea were right when they told me, when I was discharged, that the burning is caused by my spine.

Moving on to the early hours of December 17, right before going to bed I put the new battery back in, seeing it start at 70% even though, as I said, it had been at 49% when I took it out. But that did seem to be a case of a wrong initial value, because I went to bed at 5:20 AM but, after having made mamaliga that night, I kept waking up to pee, so I checked about an hour and a half later and saw it at 66%, and a little over an hour after that, at 8 AM, it was at 63%. However, around 3 PM, when I checked again after getting up, the battery was at 98%, so I sent another reply to that guy, who had admitted that it might have been fully discharged during testing, to say that I thought batteries lose their capacity if allowed to get below 50%, so they probably shouldn’t be fully discharged while testing either. But he had also told me to let it fully charge and then test it, and bring it to them if it won’t work or if it won’t stay at 100% after getting there, so after it did finally reach 100%, I did test it, first putting it through a stress test, with the speakers and a hand mixer that has 250W listed on it. The fact that it held was good, but it drained very quickly, getting to 62% in two minutes even though I was varying the mixer’s speed, so it wasn’t at maximum all the time. Still, who knows how much that mixer actually uses, 250W possibly being the power generated, and the battery did finally recharge to 100% at a normal rate after that, and the next day I finally worked up the courage to plug the computer in it again and do the relevant test, which I wrote about at the beginning of this post.

It was before I did that relevant test that the guy replied again, to tell me not to worry because only repeated discharges cause problems, but of course it was the fact that the results of my test were so normal that finally calmed me down to some extent. After all, with battery problems both times I had the UPS repaired there, I have no reason to trust them when it comes to batteries. But that previous experience still makes me trust them when it comes to the actual repairs, so let’s hope it’ll last at least as long this time around as well… Though it is seven years old now, so if it’ll fail again, especially if it’ll be in some different way, I won’t have real reasons to blame them for it, or at least not without evidence that would be next to impossible for me to find either way. And I’ll also mention here that fortunately, and quite unusually, there were no power failures, not even brief ones, during the 52 days that my computer spent unprotected by the UPS, the last one being the one mentioned in this post, the day before before I picked up the new battery and then ended up unplugging the computer from the UPS.

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.