4 December 2023: Rebekka the loner and the second measurement of my eyes

December 4, 2023. I woke up around 8 AM because someone slammed the door loudly. My first thought was, "Cooking is the art of ruining food." Nutrition experts advise against buying highly processed foods. But what's the difference when we buy unprocessed foods only to "highly process" them at home through cooking?

Checked my phone. Nelly hasn't texted yet. Feeling mediocre as I wait for a message from Nelly. I told her that Mascha and Tobi used to live near Trillke Gut and sent her my homepage because she wanted to know more about me.

At half past nine, I was at Café Coffee Time treating myself to a peppermint-ginger tea with honey. At 11 o'clock, I had the thorough preliminary examination of my eyes before the laser eye surgery.

My visual acuity was tested. I had to cover one eye at a time and recognize letters on the wall. I had to form a triangle with my hands and look through the triangle at a point on a wall in front of me. Then I looked through a device with a cross and a red dot in the middle, focusing on the cross. At first, the cross was blurry, then it became clear.

In another room, the examination continued. I looked through a machine. I saw a street and at the end of the street, a tree that was initially blurry and then became clear. Then a measurement was taken where I had to look at a red dot without blinking.

In the waiting room, I received eye drops that dilated my pupils. The drops stung a bit at first, like I had cut an onion. I had to wait in the waiting room until the drops took effect. This made my eyes more sensitive to light. Meanwhile, I drank an apple juice from the bottle on the table in the waiting room. There was also orange juice and mineral water available.

After about 10 minutes, when my pupils were sufficiently dilated, I was called into the examination room by another colleague who was now a doctor. He briefed me again, for example, that I might see halos in the first few days. In case of complications requiring a follow-up correction, the cost of the follow-up correction is included in the price of the laser eye surgery. I was prescribed drops for prevention against infections and for dryness, which I will need to take regularly after the laser eye surgery.

After the examination, around 12:50 PM, I went to Coffee Time again. I had a decaffeinated latte with almond milk. I looked at my pupils in the restroom mirror. They were very dilated. I couldn't sit in front of my laptop for long; it was too bright due to light sensitivity. So, I drove back home.

At home, I ate three bananas and a few cookies I brought from Borsum. When I checked my phone, I finally got a message from Nelli: "I'll reply to you. I'm not interested anymore because I think we probably want different things from life."

I thanked her for not ghosting me and deleted Bumble again because I found it annoying to chase after women who lose interest over something trivial they don't like or probably because of a better match. Strange women I match with.

I darkened the room with blinds and recorded the script for the video "Determining Solar Temperature" under the covers.

Around 4 PM, my vision returned to normal. I walked to the library. On the way there, I bought a banana and two mandarins at the organic market on E-Damm.

As I was eating a banana just before Christurkirche, a student in all black passed by. I walked briefly to the trash can at Christuskirche station and threw away the banana peel. I turned around and saw her standing right in front of the internationalist bookstore, looking at the outdoor book stand.

I decided to approach her. I stood beside the book stand and said, "Hey." She flinched. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Hey," she looked at me with a completely neutral face.

"I've seen you a few times in the library on the fourth floor. Would you like to go to the Christmas market with me and have a mulled wine?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Sure, why not?"

"Perfect. I'll leave you my number, so you can just reach out to me."

She took out her phone. "I like your style. All in black," I complimented her.

"Thanks," she replied without smiling.

"What's your name?"

"Rebekka."

"Alexander, nice to meet you," I shook her hand.

She wrote my name down. She had long fingernails, but they weren't painted. I dictated my phone number to her.

"You seem to be a bookworm, is that right?"

"Can't help it. I study German and History."

"Oh, then you have no choice but to be a bookworm."

"And what do you study?" she asked me.

"I'm not studying anymore, just chilling in the library. But before that, I studied Physics."

"Hmm, that's totally different."

"Yeah. Most physicists chill more at the Technical Information Library. I somehow prefer the Conti Library."

"And you enjoy reading novels, as I see," I asked her, glancing at the stand of novels in front of us.

"Yes, exactly."

"What's your favorite novel?"

"Mmm," she pondered, "I don't have a specific book, but I would say Russian literature from 1900 to 1930, for example, 'The Master and Margarita' by Mikhail Bulgakov."

"Oh, a Russian!" I exclaimed, looking into her eyes, which were bright in the twilight. "Privet. Kak dela?" I continued.

"You speak Russian?"

"Yes, I'm originally from Russia. But I'm not very familiar with Russian literature. I only know titles like 'Crime and Punishment' by Tolstoy, which ring a bell."

"You mean by Dostoevsky."

"Oops, exactly. Shows what a beginner I am."

"Glad the date worked out," I continued. "Just message me, Rebekka."

"Sure," she replied flatly, and I moved on.

I uploaded a new video on YouTube. It was quickly edited. I also considered using AI voice to narrate the videos, so I wouldn't have to do it myself and could produce them even faster.