17:00 Lois og jeg snakker om dette og hint i sofaen. Hun mindes mig om det,
jeg sidste måned lovede. Hendes kirke holder hver måned en ”venner og familie”
søndag, som kirkemedlemmer inviterer gæster (venner eller slægtninge) til at
deltage i. Strengt taget er det ikke min ting, fordi man må deltage i ikke bare
en gudstjeneste men også en fælles frokost sammen med kirkemedlemmerne, hvor
jeg skal være selskabelig og venlig -
uha, sikke et mareridt!!!
Også er jeg meget introverte og jeg har brug for en masse alenetid for at
genoplade mine psykiske batterier, og jeg begræder tabet af sådan alenetid.
Sidste måned afviste jeg invitationen, fordi jeg havde travlt med at
forberede mig på at deltage i et møde, men jeg lovede, at jeg ville komme
”næste gang” ha ha ha. Nu kommer denne begivenhed at overskygge lidt min
weekend – ingen tvivl om det! Nå, et løfte er et løfte.
Hvis muligt, ønsker jeg at forhindre pressen i at få nys om denne historie.
For et par uger siden læste jeg en trist nyhed på hjemmesiden af den
indflydelserige amerikanske nyhedswebsted, The Onion. Historien synliggjorde en
ung lokal mand, der havde brugt hele dagen på at fortryde, at han har aftalt at
deltage i en kommende social begivenhed i nabolaget den følgende aften. Jeg er
helt sikker på, at denne ubehagelige publicitet ville have gjort begivenheden
endnu mere vanskelig for den unge mand, der desværre er nu berømt verden over.
Stakkels mand!!!!
18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og derefter bruger vi aftenen på at se lidt
fjernsyn. De viser et gammelt afsnit af Top of the Pops fra marts 1983.
Lois og jeg så ikke dette afsnit, da det først blev sendt, fordi vi 7
måneder tidligere var flyttet til USA. Vi havde allerede besøgt Williamsburg,
og vi havde allerede oplevet vores første amerikanske vinter og vores værste
nogensinde snestorm (24 inches). Vores
ældste datter, Alison, var 7 år gammel og vores yngste datter, Sarah, var 5 år
gammel. Jeg forberedte mig i marts 1983 på at fejre min 37. fødselsdag og vi
vidste, at min søster, Kathy, var ved at flyve over fra England og flytte ind
hos os. Hun havde fået et job i den britiske ambassade. Lykkelige tider!
Mig, Alison og Sarah, ved siden af den lokale legeplads
Vores
første vinter i USA (1982-3)
Mig, min søster Kathy, Alison (7) og Sarah (5). Kathy var lige ankommet
i
USA og var meget begejstret over det.
Mig,
Lois, Alison og Sarah ved siden af en sø i Columbia Md
Det er meget sjovt for Lois og mig at se for første gang dette gamle afsnit
af Top of the Pops og især Bonnie Tyler, den walisiske husmor, synge sin
største hit, ”Total Eclipse of the Heart”.
Det er underligt at mindes, at da afsnittet blev sendt omkring kl 19:30
– 20:00 (engelsk tid), ville jeg have været i mit amerikanske kontor i
”fortet”, midt i min arbejdsdag.
Bonnie Tyler synger på Top of the Pops.
Til
venstre ser vi Bonnies to trofaste kvindelige groupies
20:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser ”The Good Old Days”, et
tv-program, der prøvede at genskabe stemningen af det gamle vaudeville-teater.
Programmet blev først udsendt i januar 1978.
For vores vedkommende er showets højdepunkt at se igen John Inman, der
spillede Mr Humphries i ”Are You Being Served”, en gammel sitcom. Han havde
klædt sig ud som en 82-årig vandretur enthusiast, og fortalte nogle morsomme
vittigheder.
John Inman fortæller vittigheder
22:00 Vi går i seng i henrykt humør – du godeste!
04:15 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske
ordforrådtest.
Jeg kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at vores ældste datter, Alison, der bor
i København sammen med sin familie, er ankommet til Gøteborg, på vej til
familiens skiferie i Norge. De har overnattet på en lille hotel midt i byen.
Sarah, vores yngste datter, der bor i Perth i Australien, sammen med sin
familie, er nu færdig med at flytte ind i familiens nye hus i Leederville, en
pæn forstad til Perth. Lois og jeg håber, vi kan tale med hende i morgen, og se
billeder fra det nye hus.
08:15 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem
med op i soveværelset og kryber tilbage under dynen til Lois. Vi drikker teen
og står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.
10:00 Jeg går i gang med at læse de næste 8 sider af den kriminovelle,
vores U3A danske gruppe, er begyndt at kigge på. Jeg printer sider ud, med
ordforrådlister i bunden af siderne. Lois sætter sig foran computeren og gøre
lidt forskning om sit familietræ.
13:00 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver frokost. Efter frokosten går
jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzzz!!!
15:30 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen. Vi lytter til
radio, et interessant program, der handler om Robert Hooke (1635-1703), den
berømte forsker.
Han var det første menneske til at tegne insekter, som han observerede
under et mikroskop. Han opfandt det sammensat mikroskop. Han opfandt urfjederen
(ca 1660), der erstattede pendulet og gjorde armbåndsure mulige. Han opfandt
Hooke-ledet, eller universelledet, der findes i alle biler i dag. Han opfandt
også mikrometerskruen, der findes i alle teleskoper. Han samarbejdede med sin
tætte ven, Christopher Wren for at fremstille domkirkens enorme kuppel.
Han var den første til at bruge ordet ”celle” for at beskrive biologiske
celler. Før i tiden var ordet brugt kun for at beskrive de små rum i et
kloster.
Han er ikke særlig berømt i dag, fordi han specialiserede sig aldrig i kun én
grene af videnskaben, også han var ikke meget god til at skrive sine resultater
ned eller at holde sine papirer i orden – stakkels Robert!!!!
Han skændtes konstant med sin store rival, Isaac Newton, selvom de to mænd
var fælles om at have forhold med deres unge niecer – du godeste, sikke et
vanvid!!!!
English translation
17:00 Lois and I chat about this
and that on the sofa. She reminds me of what I promised last month. Her church
holds a monthly "friends and family" Sunday to which church members
invite guests (friends or relatives) to attend. Strictly speaking, it is
not my thing, because one must attend not just a service but also a shared
lunch together with church members, where I need to be sociable and friendly -
oh dear, what a nightmare !!!
Also I am very introverted and I
need a lot of alone-time to recharge my mental batteries, and I lament any loss
of such alone-time.
Last month, I rejected the
invitation because I was busy preparing to attend a meeting, but I promised
that I would come "next time"
ha ha ha. Now this event is going to overshadow my weekend a little - no
doubt about that! Well, a promise is a promise.
If possible, I want to prevent
the press from getting wind of this story. A few weeks ago I read a sad news item
on the home page of the influential US news website The Onion. The story
highlighted a young local man who had spent the whole day regretting that he
had agreed to participate in an upcoming social event in the neighborhood that evening. I am quite sure that this unpleasant publicity would have
made the event even more difficult for the young man, who unfortunately is now
famous worldwide. Poor man!!!!
18:00 We have dinner and then we
spend the evening watching TV. They show an old episode of Top of the Pops from
March 1983.
Lois and I did not see this
episode when it was first broadcast because we had moved to the United
States seven months earlier. We had already visited Williamsburg, and we had
already experienced our first American winter and our worst ever snowstorm (24
inches). Our oldest daughter, Alison, was 7 years old and our youngest
daughter, Sarah, was 5 years old. I was preparing in March 1983 to celebrate my
37th birthday and we knew that my sister, Kathy, was about to fly over from
England and move in with us. She had gotten a job in the British Embassy. Happy
times!
Me, Alison and Sarah by the local
park playground
Our first winter in the US (1982-3)
1983: Me, my sister Kathy, Alison (7) and
Sarah (5). Kathy had just arrived
in the United States and was very excited
about it.
Me, Lois, Alison and Sarah by a lake in
Columbia Md
It is a lot of fun for Lois and
me to see for the first time this old episode of Top of the Pops and especially
Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh housewife, singing her biggest hit, "Total Eclipse
of the Heart". It is strange to recall that when the episode was aired at
around 7.30 to 8pm (UK time), I would have been in my US office in "the
Fort", in the middle of my working day.
Bonnie Tyler sings on Top of the Pops
To the left we see Bonnie's two
faithful female groupies.
20:00 We continue to watch TV.
They show "The Good Old Days", a television program that tried to
recreate the atmosphere of the old vaudeville theater. The program was first
broadcast in January 1978.
For our part, the show's
highlight is to see again John Inman, who played Mr Humphries in "Are You
Being Served?", an old sitcom. He had dressed up as an 82-year-old hiking tour enthusiast, and told some funny jokes.
John Inman tells jokes
22:00 We go to bed in ecstatic mood
– my god!
04:15 I get up early and do one
of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.
I take a little look at the web.
I see that our eldest daughter, Alison, who lives in Copenhagen with her
family, has arrived in Gothenburg, on the way to a family ski holiday in
Norway. They've spent the night at a small hotel in the middle of the town.
Sarah, our youngest daughter, who
lives in Perth, Australia, with her family, has now finished moving into the
family's new house in Leederville, a nice suburb of Perth. Lois and I hope we
can talk to her tomorrow and see pictures of the new house.
08:15 I hurry into the kitchen
and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom and crawl back under
the covers with Lois. We drink the tea and get up. We eat breakfast.
10:00 I begin to read the next
eight pages of the detective story our U3A Danish group has begun to look at. I
print the pages out, with vocabulary lists at the bottom of the pages. Lois
sits down at the computer and does a little research on her family tree.
13:00 I hurry into the kitchen
and make lunch. After lunch I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap -
zzzzzz !!!
15:30 I get up and we relax with
a cup of tea on the sofa. We listen to the radio, an interesting program about
Robert Hooke (1635-1703), the famous scientist.
He was the first person to draw
insects which he observed under a microscope. He invented the compound
microscope. He invented the watch spring (ca 1660), which replaced the pendulum
and made wrist watches possible. He invented the Hooke-joint, or universal
joint, found in all cars today. He also invented the micrometer screw found in
all telescopes. He collaborated with his close friend Christopher Wren to
produce and build the cathedral's enormous dome.
He was the first man to use the
word "cell" to describe biological cells. In the past, the word had
been used only to describe the small rooms in monasteries.
He is not very famous today
because he never specialized in just one branch of science, he was also not
very good at writing his results down or keeping his papers in order - poor
Robert !!!!
He quarreled constantly with his
great rival, Isaac Newton, although the two men had in common that they both
had long-term relationships with their young nieces - my god, what madness !!!!
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