Cav's Place

This will be another long post, covering a period starting on the evening of May 9, when I started reading Capital in the Twenty-First Century. And I also finished it during this period, on May 23, though I only wrote the English quick review the following evening, then made a few minor changes and also wrote the translation after a nap, after midnight. However, after making one more little change, I only actually posted it here the next night, and it wasn’t until I could get back on-line the following evening when I posted it on Goodreads as well, in both English and Romanian.

Since I mentioned nights, there was even one, last Thursday, when dad worked and I just barely managed to start eating dinner at 3 AM, otherwise the rule being that I alternated, eating dinner earlier when he worked, but starting well past 3 AM when he didn’t, which included this Monday and Wednesday, when he worked from home again. The latest time was 3:50 AM, Thursday night, without even having had lunch that day, just a cake before working on the stove top, getting to the bathroom for that a few minutes before 10 PM and finally out, after also showering, and in the kitchen at 1:08 AM, but still having more to do and only starting to work on dinner at almost 2 AM. And then there was last Friday night as well, when I admittedly had lunch just after midnight, but then spent a good hour after getting back to the kitchen separating some curdled milk and putting the liquid in bottles and jars and the rest in a bowl, then cleaned up what I also had to clean up and only grabbed the stuff for the salad at 2:30 AM, just barely managing to start eating dinner 3:45 AM, unless you count licking the top of some cheese and sour cream mix opened in the kitchen before moving everything to my room. Only finished eating at 5:15 AM and got in bed at 5:35 AM on both of those mornings, but it was actually past 5:15 AM when I finished eating Wednesday morning, getting in bed at 5:35 AM then as well. Got in bed at 5:30 AM on the mornings of May 14 and 16 and a bit later than that on May 27, finishing eating at 5:05 AM on that second occasion and past 5:10 AM on this last one, after doing some quick searches for TVs for my mother. Also got in bed at 5:25 AM on the mornings of May 10, 18 and 20 and at 5:20 AM on the mornings of May 12, 25 and 29… And I’ll also mention here that no visits were recorded in either view again on May 26.

Since I also mentioned yesterday morning above, I’ll add here that my mother was here again that day, dad bringing her when he got back from work in the morning and taking her back in the evening… And while we were all in the kitchen, the issue of the electricity contract came up and of course it didn’t go well, dad saying that if I want us to no longer pay this inflated and constantly increasing price that those who don’t have a signed contract pay, I need to stay next to him and show him exactly, step by step, how to sign a contract with the power company that is our distributor now as well, because that’d supposedly mean meeting him halfway, and if I refuse it means I only want it my way and in that case it’s my fault that we’ll keep paying more… If anyone can understand how can actually standing there and pretty much signing a contract with the company I firmly oppose staying with myself be described as meeting him halfway between my position of only accepting a supplier that offers 100% green energy, strongly recommending a particular one but accepting discussions if he’d prefer any other, and his position of only accepting to stay with our current one, which has no green energy, do let me know, because to me it looks like it’d be even more than going all the way in his direction, as in not even accepting to just be ignored and letting him sign this contract with the company he wants, but pretty much doing so myself!

Either way, I’ll now get back to May 11, when the plan was to run and then buy some things, so the alarm woke me at 2 PM… And I found that we had no hot water, and the site said it won’t return until the following afternoon. And that was the day when the weather would have been good for running that week, but it had also been good the day before, so I shouldn’t have waited. As it was, I changed plans, just had lunch then… And dad annoyed me again, throwing away some roes he had forgotten about, after I reminded him about them in an e-mail sent while he was at work, he tasted them when he got back that morning, decided they weren’t good anymore and didn’t even leave them for me to check as well. And in the evening he brought a lot of frozen goat milk he received from someone and I couldn’t shake the cold off after struggling to somehow stuff it in the freezer, ending up wearing the sweater when I went to the kitchen at night and for the first time in a long time not opening the window, the fact that I had to use cold water only making it even worse.

The following morning, a neighbor woke me up with noise around 9:30 AM, which at least meant I was already up at 10 AM, when the delivery guy brought the cat food I had ordered on the morning of May 10, while eating, before going to bed. The bad news, however, came when I checked that site again and found that the period without hot water had been extended not only to all of that day, but all of the next one as well… But at least I caught up on sleep in the afternoon.

Still, I had to run, and that next day, May 13, was the one chance I still had that week, so the alarm woke me up at 2 PM, I had the usual stuff, with a slice of cozonac with added honey as the sweet thing, and left a bit after 4:15 PM, wearing the full running gear, with some stuff in the pocket of my tights again. The reported temperature was about 19°C then, supposed to actually increase to 20°C while I’ll run.
The time was 48:54.52, with sector times of 4:10.25, 5:09.54, 5:58.08, 4:32 (4:31.97), 5:12 (5:11.62), 6:00.36, 4:31 (4:30.20), 5:15.07, 6:11.00 and 1:56.43, making for lap times of 15:17.87, 15:44 (15:43.95) and 15:57 (15:56.27). Pushed at first, aiming to stay below 4:15 on the first sector, so that time was nice, and while sector two was worse than I expected, sector three was all right and the lap time was good enough, since I was aiming to stay under 15:20 and managed it. However, my hopes of 48:30, or at least no more than 48:40, to be less slow than the previous time, went away after sector two of lap two, when I also started tiring, so I had to just aim to stay under 49 minutes and at least managed that, not that it’s worth much of anything…
Felt a bit of pain in my right thigh at the start, but it went away quickly. And I can’t complain of the conditions, which were great, with the possible exception of a bit of wind on sector three of lap three. And there weren’t that many people either, which of course didn’t mean that I didn’t occasionally have to weave or go the long way around, but there were no real issues except maybe a broken sprint on that long sector one straight on lap two or three, when I was running out of energy anyway, and having to slow a bit and take to the grass at that stall on sector three of lap three because some kids came from the opposite direction on scooters or bicycles, can’t remember exactly, through the little space left around the people gathered there.

Went to Auchan after the run, jogging nearly all the way, and got a few things. The machine wouldn’t scan the ticket as I kept trying, but it oddly worked just fine when the employee came to help and tried as well, though she didn’t seem to do anything I hadn’t. Either way, I then also went to that newer Kaufland, grabbed a few things while waiting for 7 PM, to see the discounts in the bakery area, and then got the last two breads of that kind. There were no issues with the self-checkout other than the fact that one of the discounted breads for dad wouldn’t scan, which I quickly solved by scanning the other one twice, since they were the same.
There was a serious problem after that, however. It started from the fact that I again only had two flimsy bags with handles, one of them small and very flimsy, and one usable bag without handles, which I had used for potatoes and tied in a way that formed an improvised handle, so I was struggling to fit everything in them at the cabinets when a woman asked me to move a bit so she could get her things. The unexpected interaction made my mind pretty much shut down, so I completely forgot I still had the liquid soap from Auchan, which had been the main reason for going to buy stuff that day, still in the cabinet, and a guy who was trying different cabinets because some weren’t working put his backpack in that one, in front of the soap, and locked it before I could recover and realize what it meant. When I finally did, I quickly stuffed my things in another cabinet and tried to go in after him, but couldn’t recall how he looked, ending up asking the first guy I saw whether he had placed a backpack in that cabinet, then just sort of looking around a little after he said he had none, though I had no idea who to look for. After I calmed down a bit, I went back out of the store and asked the employees at the information desk for help, but they said they couldn’t get involved, security will have to do it, and then that the security guy was in the back, unloading merchandise, and it will be a while… And it was, since it was around 7:30 PM when the problem appeared and almost 8 PM when that guy came back and the security guy still hadn’t arrived, so I just rather snapped at that guy, he apologized, said he hadn’t noticed, just seeing that I had been standing around, I said I was struggling with the bags, we both retrieved our things and I could finally be on my way.
Went through the park on my way back as well, but again saw no buskers, and had actually just seen one while running and he hadn’t been one I’d have cared to give those 4 RON set aside to “tax” myself after that bad half marathon run to. And that walk back was quite difficult because I had to carry everything in those bags, the one with the potatoes being the biggest problem and pressing my fingers in a way that could, and likely did, cause damage. I switched hands after a while, but apparently too late for the little finger from my right hand, because a part of it is still quite numb even now, which is quite worrying… And there was obviously still no hot water when I got back, just before 8:50 PM, so I had to go to bed without even showering, though it was at least warm enough to be usable when I happened to wake up, at 8 AM, so I finally showered then.

Skipping to the next run, that was on May 21, when I didn’t set an alarm, since the forecast stated that the occasional showers were to end around 6 PM. So I woke up at 2:20 PM, spent a little more time in bed, got up at 2:45 PM, took it easy… And just lost time on the toilet twice. Either way, I could have gone out at 4 PM after all, since there were occasional clouds but no rain, but after having the usual stuff, the yogurt being a “creamy” one with 5% fat from another brand, plus some of those expired nicer biscuits with added honey as the sweet thing, I put on the full running gear and only left at 7 PM, when the reported temperature was about 18°C, though obviously supposed to drop by a couple of degrees by the time I was going to finish the run.
The time was 1:19:39, with sector times of 4:20, 5:19, 6:04, 4:31, 5:10, 6:06, 4:34, 5:12, 6:03, 4:38, 5:17, 6:11, 4:43, 5:26 and 6:05, making for lap times of 15:43, 15:47, 15:49, 16:06 and 16:14. That first sector time made me think that staying under 1:21 was the best I could hope for, but then I aimed to also stay under 16 minutes on lap two, which I managed quite easily, and was thinking that I might just have a shot at staying under 1:20 with no more than 16:10 on lap three. Really doubted it at first, but when I stayed well under 16 minutes on lap three as well I realized it was indeed possible, so I pushed on lap four and then felt safe on lap five.
There was pretty much no wind, the weather was good, and the only physical issue was that my right knee gave me some warnings from what I think was the start of lap five, though it’s also possible it was the start of lap four and they went away later. There were quite a number of people, however, what’s probably the most notable single issue being the large roadblock costing me a few seconds on the very first sector. Two other runners who were ahead of me took to the grass and went around a garbage can and a bench while I hoped I’ll be able to squeeze through, since I’d have needed to either take a tight turn or cover a longer distance on the grass, but when that wasn’t possible I had to wait for the people to move past the bench and then take to the grass to go around them. Smaller issues followed on the next sector and the first two of lap two, including people breaking my sprint on that long sector one straight, while the few different issues I had on sector three of lap two likely ended up costing me a few seconds even if, taken separately, they weren’t exactly notable. The number of people started dropping during lap three, however, so I was still weaving and going the long way around and there were a few momentary blocks formed by people coming from opposite directions ending up next to each other right when I was also reaching that spot, but the losses weren’t significant, just needing to slow a bit a few more times, and quickly evade on a couple of occasions. One of those was on a sector three, forgot if on lap three or four, when a large group of runners came from the opposite direction, arranged on two rows and with one more person lagging behind, I spotted a way through and they kept it open so the rows weren’t an issue… Only for that last person to cut the turn when I had also taken the inside and almost crash into me, so I had to quickly sidestep.
I also finally gave those 4 RON to some buskers during that run. Those I had initially meant to give them to were also there that evening, but I didn’t give them to them, because they were playing violins from sheet music while two others I hadn’t seen before went towards rock, with voice and electric guitar. They were on sector one, so on lap three I pulled those bills out of my pocket and dropped them in their guitar case, the loss of time being minimal, since it just meant steering myself a little bit off the path, on a paved area, and dropping them there as I kept running. And it’s a good thing I chose to do that while running, since they were already gone when I passed by that spot on lap five, so waiting until I was done would have meant missing the opportunity yet again.

Before moving on to this week’s run I’ll also mention that Monday the alarm woke me at 11 AM, and I left with dad around 12:10 PM to finally get the antibody test. After that, we went our separate ways and I took the book back, quickly checking a couple of places on the way, since I meant to get myself something on the way back. However, after checking several places, including spending quite some time in the last Mega Image I entered, I ended up not getting anything and was back a few minutes before 3 PM. I was really down and whimpering since leaving the clinic, and also felt I had lost the week’s day with good running weather, and then dad made it worse because he was supposed to leave at 6 PM or so, yet a bit after 5 PM, when I came out of the shower, he announced he wasn’t leaving anymore.

Still, the conditions were good enough the next day as well. I slept poorly, however, waking up to pee multiple times, after the tomatoes and cucumbers in the salad I had at night, and also dreaming that Andra came here for a day, just using me to have a place to stay while she had to be in the city for some reason, ignoring me as I cried my eyes out and kept trying to get something out of her, and leaving without anything changing. But I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM… And got told by dad that he had the antibody test result already, mine being negative, 15.3 when the threshold is listed as 50. He, on the other hand, had 3093! Either way, I then had the usual stuff, the yogurt being the rest of that “creamy” one with 5% fat from another brand, and the sweet thing being a slice of cozonac with added honey. Then I put on the full running gear, with some stuff in the pocket of my tights again, and went out just before 4:20 PM, when the reported temperature was 22-23°C, actually being supposed to increase by 1-2°C by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 48:20.24, with sector times of 4:11.71, 5:04 (5:03.60), 5:52.61, 4:29 (4:28.56), 5:11.37, 6:05 (6:04.73), 4:29 (4:28.65), 5:13.18, 5:52.21 and 1:54 (1:53.62), making for lap times of 15:07.92, 15:45 (15:44.66) and 15:34.04. Went for it from the start and wondered about staying under 48 minutes after that first sector, but knew I’d need a 15-minute first lap for it, since I won’t keep it up after that, and sector two pretty much made it clear that I was looking at 48:30. Sector three made me hope just a bit again, though it’d have been a really tall order, but sector one of lap two settled things again, and at the end of the lap even 48:30 was in doubt. Though I pushed from the start of lap three, after sector two it still seemed unlikely I’ll manage it, but that good sector three meant I was safe and no longer worried during the final sector.
Physically I felt fine and the conditions were good, with a little wind on the usual part towards the end of sector two of lap two and then early on sector three of laps two and three, but not a serious issue even then. And there weren’t many people either, so there was of course some weaving and going the long way around, and squeezing through in a couple of places, but otherwise I just had to take a few steps off the path, on pavement, on the last sector three straight on lap two. Other than that, one of those little flies went right up my nose on the first sector’s long straight, something got in my eye on sector two of lap two, and right at the end of lap two I caught a spiderweb, trying to brush it and any possible spider away possibly causing me to lose a little bit of time at the start of lap three.

Went to Carrefour after the run, finding some expiring roes and a kind of bread that was sort of interesting and had a good and unannounced discount, a couple of them not being sliced, but I had that 10 RON code and it wouldn’t have been enough to use it, so I took it easy and went to that newer Kaufland, also quickly checking that Penny on the way. The idea was to be there at 7 PM, for the evening discounts, but I had forgotten that, with the restrictions on opening hours lifted, it was closing later, so no such discounts showed up at that time. Still got a pastry, however, plus a lettuce that actually looked really nice among the few things that were discounted separately, and some onions… And saw an employee picking bread for an order drop the bag and then just pick it back up and put it in the basket. Admittedly, just the paper bag had been on the floor, not the bread itself, but still… Either way, the self-checkout machine kept telling me to place the right item on the scales when I placed the onions, so I even weighed them again at the scales that are in that area, confirming that the weight was correct, then gestured to an employee, who was talking on the phone, and she just logged on to override the error. That wasn’t the last issue, however, since the gate wouldn’t open after I was done, another guy who was there and waiting for an employee to open it repeatedly telling me that it won’t work as I kept trying to scan my receipt, just in case, until an employee finally opened it for us.
After arranging the purchases in the larger bag I had and checking the change I had left, on top of the one 1 RON bill I still had, I eventually went to that confectionery that’s there, asking whether the pastries were indeed 50% off, as listed, and after the employee confirmed I asked for an apple roll… Only to see her quickly stuff two in a bag and be on her way to also add the last by the time I managed to react and remind her that I had just asked for one. She said she understood three and they’d be 3.75 RON, but when I showed her that I just had 1 RON and some change she put that last one back and just handed me the other two, saying I’ll get two for the price of one. I repeatedly asked whether she was sure of that, and she said she was, so I eventually took them. She didn’t offer a receipt though, and I also didn’t ask for one, as it’d have seemed wrong under those circumstances.
Went back to Carrefour after that, but all of that bread was sliced at that point, so I couldn’t get any for myself anymore, just deciding to get one for dad, plus the roes, a bag of corn puffs, a tea and a bit of garlic… And only realized as I was about to get checked out, after waiting in line for some minutes, that I had calculated the bread as costing 1 RON more, so the total wasn’t just over 10 RON and I still couldn’t use that code, and I only had a few coins left otherwise. So I apologized, struggled to gather everything and went back, getting another tea and putting half the garlic back, then using two different scales to weigh the little bit I kept and using the label printed by the one that listed a few grams less.
The label on the key from the cabinet I had placed the other purchases in snapped off as I took it out again and I didn’t even realize it until I stopped on the way back to check that I had retrieved the 0.50 RON coin from said cabinet and saw it in the bag. If I’d have noticed it sooner, maybe I’d have gone back to leave it at the information desk, or maybe in the cabinet, but I only thought to check for that coin when I had already walked most of the way back, so I just dropped it in a recycling bin and was back here just before 9:05 PM, having an apple and one of those apple rolls before showering.

Thursday I was woken up by a cramp in my right calf, which hadn’t happened in a while. But the plan for that day was to get some more things before spending the night in the bathroom, cleaning the utterly soiled top of the stove, so I left at 5:45 PM. The route I initially had in mind was much longer, as I meant to first go in one direction, then either keep going or come back to drop off the purchases and then go in the other direction, but that would have really meant spending pretty much the whole night in the bathroom, going almost straight to bed after I’ll be done and obviously not eating, so I tried to get all I could the first time around and did so, returning and not going back out after that.
Since I hadn’t used that route in quite a while, I wasn’t even aware that the area around the National Arena was closed since April 30, and will understandably remain so until July, so I found myself needing to go around it, carrying the recyclables as well. And I also ended up dropping off said recyclables, except the things I drop off at Kaufland, in a bin inside the mall that Carrefour’s in, because those bins that used to be at the entrance weren’t there anymore. Then I had a look in Carrefour before going to Kaufland, dropping those things off and getting what I wanted from there… Or not quite all I wanted, since one of those breads was left and I kept waiting to see whether the employee was going to change the labels to show that discounts were going to apply after 7 PM, since that location still closed at 9 PM, but while she seemed to check the prices for another employee who was getting some things, she didn’t do anything else, instead just standing there to talk to someone else she obviously knew, and I couldn’t get myself to ask and just left the bread for another time. Still ended up interacting with someone, however, an old woman asking me what kind the cat food she had picked was while I was getting the cat litter, and then saying that she was looking for some different kinds of food for kittens, so I helped her with that for a little bit, then used the self-checkout without issues.
I also wanted cakes, to reward myself for the work I was going to do, and I had actually seen some that seemed all right at Carrefour, so I had that option if I wasn’t going to go anywhere else, but some of that same kind, cheaper and somewhat larger, were also at that confectionery that’s next to that Kaufland, so both before going in and after coming out, I tried to read the ingredients, quickly wandering away when the employee asked what I wanted almost as soon as I approached. Got far enough to see hydrogenated fats listed that second time, however, so I knew I wasn’t interested and got those from Carrefour instead, along with the other things I meant to get from there, which included a bread that I wouldn’t normally get and also costs too much for what it contains, but which at least got me through the next few days. And I was back just before 8:45 PM, apparently carrying 18.5 kg if you include clothes, bags and the usual stuff in my pockets.

Since, even though I only had half of the usual amount last night, I was still going to finish that bread tonight and tomorrow it’s supposed to rain all day, today I meant to go back out and get myself some more bread, and perhaps a few other things as well. However, though I checked the forecast again even after waking up, in the afternoon, the listed risk of rain being below 10%, about an hour later it started raining after all, quite heavily for a while, and I decided against it even if after a while it died down. Just a drizzle was left around 6:30 PM, and after 7 PM the clouds started clearing as well, so I could have gone after all, but it was getting late and writing some of this post seemed like a better idea… Though I also tried to play Bound by Flame a little more… And found that something strange happened. I’m still running it in a window and it had been fine yesterday, when I also played just a little more, but when I started it again today, the actual window width was 1276 and everything looked fuzzy, likely as a result of the image being resized, and I can’t seem to find any way to get it back to 1280 and a clear look.

Either way, now I’m going to make myself mamaliga again, though it’s rather late to start at this hour, I made some two nights ago as well and some of the one made by dad yesterday is also left, but I want to give myself the option of not going to get bread tomorrow either. So I’ll finish this post here, leaving the period between May 15 and 20 for another time. After all, two notable events happened then, and it’s not like I had any chance to write about them and post this before midnight anyway.