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Annoying Liza, Books from a Long Lost Time and Spare Mouse in Use

I’ll start directly, with last week’s runs. Plural, because the forecast for this week was rather worrying while the weather was very good last week, so I ran both Wednesday and Friday. If anything, the temperature may have been a bit high on Wednesday, 28°C being reported when I went out, and I was also a bit tired after wandering around the two days before, but it worked out in the end. And the forecast for tomorrow seems good enough, even if there may be a bit more wind than I’d care for, so I should be running then as well, leaving me with one more run to add to the buffer that has to last me over the winter, covering any weeks I’ll have to skip then.
Back to last week’s runs, Wednesday’s time was 48:44, with sector times of 4:29, 5:12, 5:53, 4:26, 5:03, 5:57, 4:39, 5:09, 6:04 and 1:52, making for lap times of 15:34, 15:26 and 15:52. While Friday’s time was 48:29, with sector times of 4:30, 5:09, 5:58, 4:26, 5:04, 5:48, 4:32, 5:11, 6:01 and 1:50, making for lap times of 15:37, 15:18 and 15:44. So that makes for ten ten-kilometer runs in a row with times below 49 minutes, though Wednesday broke the streak of such runs with times below 48:30, leaving it at four. Quite poor final sectors both times though, but an excellent second lap on Friday, on the other hand, in good part thanks to that great sector three.

Back to Wednesday, just after I came back after my run and was thinking of starting to make myself something to eat, dad also came in, a whole lot earlier than I thought he would, and asked me to help him catch the cats and put them in the cage so he’ll take them to the vet to have their claws trimmed, since they, and Liza in particular, definitely don’t want my parents to do that and they decided to stop trying and pay the vet for it after a few early attempts, when they had me catch and hold her while my mother tried to get it done, unless she ended up feeling too sorry for how she struggled and gave up, leaving me with scratches and bites without even getting to the end of the task that was the reason for said scratches and bites.
Either way, with Micky it seemed to go well enough, as he already had her in his arms when I got the cage down and then I just had to hold it vertically and take the door out so he could drop her in it. When he came back with her, since he takes them separately, and wanted to take Liza, on the other hand, things were quite different, leading to quite a long standoff between me and Liza and some pretty deep bites in my right index finger, plus a few smaller marks elsewhere on that hand, despite the fact that I wore kitchen gloves for protection.
She was in the top part of the closet in the small bathroom when he came back and he said he wanted to trick her with some snacks she’s addicted to, which is an addiction he readily feeds when mother’s not here, as I think I heard that she at least tries to limit her to one per day, while he said he gives her one whenever she seems to ask. But I thought he’ll take pity on her if he won’t manage to grab her and put her in on first try, which he did before, plus that I don’t want that addiction fed even more, so I said I’ll handle it and just closed the bathroom door in his face when he meant to come after me, saying you can’t grab her when she’s up there.
Admittedly, I was very optimistic when I thought I will be able to just grab her, as she tried to scratch me as soon as I showed up there, so I quickly went to the kitchen to grab the kitchen gloves, for protection, and eventually let him bring a chair for me to climb on, since I didn’t exactly feel comfortable standing on the washing machine. By that point, she was already somewhere between panic and rage even though I kept pulling back whenever she screamed like crazy or meant to scratch or bite, which was whenever I moved towards her in any way. Didn’t want to fight her or to just reach in and grab her forcefully, initially hoping she’ll pay less attention for a moment and offer me an opportunity and then meaning to tire her, but there seemed to be no chance of that, so after I had the chair I used some of the things that are up there to make her jump down while still keeping my hands away from her.
Once down, it was a matter of just grabbing her, little else to do, but I still tried to go about it somewhat more slowly while she was jumping around the little room, trying to find another place to hide. And since she kept screaming like crazy, I soon heard dad tell me through the door that I should just give up and we’ll try again some other time, which was the very thing I wanted to avoid. So I said that was it, she lost her last chance of not being handled roughly, and I just grabbed her and pinned her down, not giving up even after her teeth went through the glove and deep in my finger. I just took her bite as one more thing that helped me hold on to her and neither of us loosened our grip on the other until dad brought the cage and she could be put inside.
I didn’t even realize how bad the bite had been at first, just giving him the gloves when he said he’d better have some way to protect himself too and only noticing that I had left blood on the side of the table after taking the chair back to the kitchen after he left with her. And then I actually took a few pictures before washing the blood away, then a few more when the bite marks could clearly be seen, and then I put medicinal alcohol on it, trying to clean as well as I could, ignoring any pain or stinging. Then again, I can’t say that I even felt that much, probably being too angry to notice.
Either way, when dad came back with Liza, he said she was breathing heavily, and indeed she had her tongue out and was panting like a dog, and that the vet told him it could be a reaction from the substance placed behind her neck against parasites, since they both had that done as well since they were taken there. He seemed quite upset with me for not letting him try to trick her as he wanted to and my initial reaction was to lash out at him over how much they kiss her ass, but bit my tongue and even apologized, grudgingly but I might have masked that to a reasonable degree, when he went out again, to pick up the gloves he had forgotten there. I had reminded him of them when I told him I gave them with my blood inside, but then the vet called as well to let him know, and also to tell him again that it might be a reaction from that substance, especially if she was already in such a state, and to wash it off her, which he had already started to do, so that was done and paid for pointlessly as well.
Minutes after he went out the door again, my mother called me, asking how she is, as he had apparently called her to tell her how she was acting. By then, after “crying” after him just after he went out again and then panting very loudly as she climbed on the kitchen table behind me, Liza had gone to the living room, lying on the floor and being quiet, no longer panting, but hissing loudly and getting ready to fight if I tried to even approach the living room door. And she mostly stayed there until dad came back, though she did come whenever I played with the wrapping of one of those snacks which dad had opened for her, which I did a few times after the call, since my mother had asked me to keep an eye on her and even if she should find a way to get back earlier to take care of her, which was a question I answered only with silence, since any of the angry replies coming to me at the moment would have just caused trouble for no potential gain. Back to Liza, even if she did come when I played with that wrapping, she just froze at the kitchen door, hesitating for a long moment, looking between me and the snack, and eventually walking away each time. She didn’t even come to eat it when I wasn’t in the kitchen, only doing so after dad came back.
Right. That cat is an annoying spoiled brat and I treat her like I treated Don when Andra’s grandmother was bringing him along when she was coming, which is to say I want whoever’s guilty of spoiling her silly in this manner to deal with her and keep her the fuck away from me. If parents are away and I’m alone with them, I’ll clean the litter and give them food when needed, but otherwise, if we are to be in the same apartment, me and Liza should just ignore each other and not be in the same room. Andra’s three cats were those I recognized as mine, inasmuch as the term can apply, and especially Bubu was the one I had a connection with, but that doesn’t apply to these two. Now that she’s old and generally just wants to find a good spot and sleep, Micky can stay with me just fine as long as it’s not in my room, even if I had that very bad reaction to her when I got thrown back here and it seemed that she wanted to take Bubu’s place, but I don’t want Liza around. And she doesn’t want me around either, hissing and trying to scratch and bite if I get near, which she was doing even before this, so I guess we see eye to eye on this matter. If that means giving up any “cat lover” credentials, so be it, but my reaction and connection is to individuals, not species.
On that note, before ending this long section, I also want to mention that Liza’s been screaming like crazy ever since, especially at night. At first she wouldn’t stop until dad woke up and moved to mother’s bedroom, as he sleeps in the living room, to sleep with her there, and then after mother came back too she keeps following her even more than before, not letting her do anything, and at night she’ll scream her heart out and launch herself into the door after my mother closes the door there, making them wander around and eventually switch rooms when dad goes to sleep as well, until they find an arrangement that Liza’s sufficiently content with to keep quiet. And my mother still says that spoiled, domineering brat is the nicest and most loving cat ever…

To finally move on, Saturday an event took place in support of legalizing civil partnerships, mainly as a way to legally recognize same-sex relationships, but for heterosexual couples looking for an alternative to marriage as well. And I went to express my support, even if I didn’t have any sign and didn’t really do anything other than wander around, take a bunch of pictures, and eventually just sit down at the edge of the area and read for a while. That caused me to miss the opportunity for the group picture, since it was only about 4 PM and the event was supposed to last until 5 PM, so I didn’t expect that to happen then, but they ended it early, since plenty had already left by then.
To quickly describe what happened as well, mock civil partnerships were officiated on the spot, and the event description states that all members of the Chamber of Deputies will receive a notification regarding the number of partnerships officiated. And participants were also asked to write what love means for them, the pieces of paper with the answers being displayed on one side of the area, on ropes tied between some trees. Did keep meaning to write an answer to that as well, but gave up on the thought each time, so I didn’t even do that.
An interesting moment was when a bride and groom appeared, the bride showing up first and standing around somewhat awkwardly for a bit. I believe they intended to take some pictures in the area where the event was taking place, but upon seeing what was happening they just quickly took a few at the metro entrance and left, despite being invited to join and even having the Wedding March played for them. And, even though this event wasn’t about marriages, but in part actually about those who want alternatives to marriage even if they could get married, that pretty much just highlighted the problem, as they could do what they had just done while many of the participants aren’t allowed to.

After leaving from there at 4:20 PM, I first went to Cismigiu Park and read there for about half an hour, then just quickly checked out a small gallery that was nearby and could be visited for free starting at 5 PM. Not much there and nothing to interest me, but I know the photographer from protests, she maintains this “aura” of not quite living in this world, and I had noticed that Alexandra had also liked her page recently, so I took pictures and sent them to her, just in case she was interested.
Then I got back to reading on the way back, not only on the metro but also after stepping off, actually walking almost all the way back with my nose in the book. And I read some more after getting back as well, which got me on track to finish Magician: Apprentice Sunday and therefore make the quick review for it last week’s second post after all. Was actually quite surprised by that, since I wasn’t even sure I’ll read at all that day, but between taking the book with me and getting back way earlier than I thought, leaving that gallery so quickly and giving up on the idea of going somewhere else after that, I ended up getting far enough to easily finish on Sunday.
The problem was that Saturday night, not long before going to bed, I started feeling like I used to feel back when I was little and my parents were rushing me to a doctor every couple of weeks or so, as I felt my heart keep stopping and was all messed up, though I was told there was nothing physically wrong. In other words, I was about to have a panic attack, and the timing was bad too, since fighting it off just enough to avoid ending up like that again would have been hard enough without needing to be calm enough to go to bed in about an hour too. But I eventually managed it, somehow, though it still felt like it was going to return the next day, obviously even more so when I posted that quick review on Bookcrossing as well, since that book’s registered there… And Andra was probably notified of it, if she still uses the e-mail she has listed there and hasn’t blocked everything from that site, since I used it to try to reach her a few times, long ago.

On the topic of reading those books from back then, despite being unimpressed with the first one, I moved on to Magician: Master right away and I’m currently on track to finish Sunday. Not sure if I’ll manage to read anything tomorrow, since I mean to go somewhere in the evening as well, after running in the afternoon, but I should just manage it either way, even if it may require a bit of a push over the weekend. And it is noticeably better than the first, somewhat oddly, considering the fact that it’s in fact a single book, only split in two in this extended edition. So the quick review for that should be this week’s second post.

Otherwise, wandered around to buy a few more things both Monday and yesterday, though I shouldn’t have rushed, because I just noticed today that the offers I thought ended yesterday actually last until next Wednesday. And going again yesterday meant my mother asked me to grab some more cat food and some milk for something she baked today, which caused me to get into some money I had set aside for a pizza and something sweet I mean to get after I’ll take part in the autumn cleaning at the Botanical Garden as well. But I didn’t get one thing I meant to get for myself and found some cheap milk, which meant I still at least have enough of that for the pizza, assuming they didn’t increase the price. And, either way, that’s not needed now and I’ll be getting more from them these days, so it’s not a problem in itself, but only in the sense of it not going exactly according to plan.
And since I mentioned the autumn cleaning, yes, I mean to take part in the cleaning of the Botanical Garden again. Probably still just once, and the plan was to pick either next Saturday or next Sunday, so one of the days of what should have been the second weekend, but now it’ll be the first one at best, since it was supposed to start this weekend but the forecast made them push it back a week and it remains to be seen if the weather will be good enough to start even then.
While on this topic, as I was coming back last evening, carrying a pretty large pumpkin along with a smaller one and a couple of other things, I thought I saw the woman who pretty much brought me into the mix back in spring. Knew I recognized the face, and the hair, but wasn’t sure who she was until some time after passing by her. Not that I’m actually sure even now, but sure seemed like her, even though it would be a rather strange coincidence and it may therefore be a case of my mind making a connection, since I’m thinking about this now again, even if the person I saw was just someone who happened to look a little bit like her. On the other hand, I know enough faces by now to no longer be surprised when I just happen to spot one somewhere.

But I really should be finishing this, so let me also mention the fact that I’m now using the spare mouse again and have been doing so since last week. The Kone XTD was double clicking badly again, so I plugged this back in and used it for a day, then used the main one again for a while, then put it aside and have just been using this since the end of last week.
It’s obviously quite an issue to no longer just click a mouse button for Alt+Tab, or to open Notepad, Calculator or Task Manager, or to show the desktop, or to no longer have horizontal scrolling available when needed, plus that it’s smaller and far less comfortable, the sensor is far from accurate and the wheel doesn’t feel right either, and occasionally scrolls twice when moved only once. There have also been a few moments when it just stopped responding for a few seconds, three of them on that first day and just one since, and I remember that happening when I used it before as well, but I have no idea whether that’s because there’s a problem with it or because of that USB port or because I have two mice connected and this is the second one and I don’t care to try to figure it out. It’s just a very cheap toy, after all, and I’m comparing it to one of the best mice out there, and very likely the very best one for me personally.
Just wish the Kone XTD would have been more reliable, or that I could repair it, because buying a new one will be quite a problem, considering how terribly expensive it is. Still, I’ll try to get back to it soon enough and see what can be done. Maybe the problem will just fix itself again for a while, as it has done before. And, if not, it seems that they just released something called KONE AIMO, which at least has the same number of buttons again, unlike the Kone EMP, even if it still doesn’t mark a return of that button above the wheel that I really want, adding even more useless lighting isn’t earning it any points from me, and it also uses their new driver instead of this one which I at least know to be very stable and compatible with everything. But, even if I’d really rather not buy a new one, it may be an option, depending on price, since I see the EMP being significantly less expensive than the XTD here and the AIMO apparently being released at the same price as the EMP.

One last thing: I mentioned the bad weather this week, and in fact the day when the weather was actually bad and not just not quite good enough for me to care to run was Tuesday, and that’s when a tree fell on my parents’ car, making a hole in the roof and shattering the rear window. A pole also fell and people say different things, some claiming the pole fell first and the cables dragged down the tree and others saying the tree fell first and the cables dragged down the pole, and that will make quite a difference in terms of who should cover the damage, but the point is that at the moment the car just has some plastic put on it. But it can still be used if actually needed even before repairs and it was a piece of junk which probably shouldn’t have even been on public roads for quite some time already… And I have a serious problem with having a car in itself, especially if it’s not an electric one, so I’m just shrugging and passing it off as a little thing to add at the end of a post. They’re quite troubled by it, on the other hand.

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