Thursday, 4 May 2017

Onsdag den 3. maj 2017 kl 16:30 torsdag den 4. maj 2017 kl 16:29

16:30 Jeg har et lille problem med tænderne – det er jeg helt sikkert på. Men jeg kommer til at tro, at jeg af en eller anden grund for tiden bare lider af følsømme tænder, intet mere, end det, gudskelov.

Lois har haft en dårlig mave i dag, men hun har det lidt bedre nu, selvom hun har besluttet ikke at deltage i sin kirkes bibelklasse i aften, for en sikkerheds skyld.  

17:00 Jeg  hopper op på min kondicykel og tilbagelægger endnu 9 miles (15km). Jeg tænder for min smartphone og ser 1964s 100 bedste sange, mens jeg cykler. Hver gang jeg hopper op, stiller jeg året 1 år tilbage. Jeg føler mig i frit fald ned dette lange kaninhul tilbage til mine rødder ha ha ha.

jeg ser på 1964s 100 bedste sange, mens jeg cykler.

Mens jeg hører sangene, prøver jeg at huske året 1964s rolle i min livshistorie, i et forsøg på, at udskyde demens ha ha ha.

Jeg fyldte 18 år, og det var mit sidste år i gymnasiet. Under sommerferien boede mine forældre, min 12-årige bror, Steve, og min 6-årige søster Gill, og jeg i to uger på et lille hotel i Ilfracombe i grevskabet Devon. For første gang kom min 16-årige søster, Kathy, ikke med – hun syntes, at familieferier i hendes alder ikke længere var ”fedt” – du godeste, hvor var hun dog dristig!!!! (ulig ufedte mig!!!!!)

Det er utroligt, hvor få billeder man tog i de tider – du godeste! Der blev taget kun et billede af mig i hele året. Jeg sad på hug på Woolacombe-stranden i jakke og slips, som om jeg var på arbejde i et kontor – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

tilbageblik til august 1964: mig på Woolacombe-stranden
men hvorfor iført jakke og slips på stranden? Sikke et vanvid!!!!

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at lytte til radio og se lidt fjernsyn. Vi hører en interessant program i radioen, den 3. afsnit af en serie, der ser på bemærkelsesværdige reklamekampagner. I dette afsnit hører vi om Doves ”rigtige skønhed / rigtige kvinder” kampagne over de seneste ca. 15 år. Programmets vært er den charmerende Rory Sutherland.


Det lader til, at Doves produkter var lidt i tilbagegang i 1990’erne, da selskabet fandt på denne idé om ikke længere at bruge magre modeller i deres reklamer, med det formål ikke at deprimere unge kvinder, der ikke så ud som fotomodeller – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!

mange piger tror, at de kun er vellykkede
hvis de er magre som fotomodeller
– du  godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Lois synes, at problemet stammer fra, at de fleste tøjdesignere er bøsse mænd, der vil have deres modeller til at ligne drenge. Dermed tror mange piger at de kun er vellykkede, hvis de er magre som fotomodeller! Jeg ved ikke, om hun har ret i det, eller ej, men det lyder plausibelt, ingen tvivl om det!!!!

20:00 Vi hører et andet interessant program, 1. afsnit i en serie, der handler om historien af USA og landets stigning til supermagt status. Dette første afsnit handler om USAs landsfædre, og problemerne, de stod overfor, da de prøvede at afgøre om hvilken slags forfatning de ønskede.  Konklusionen af nogle af landsfædrene var, at ”det aldrig vil virke” ha ha ha – stor fejl! Programmets vært er den charmerende Misha Glenny.



Emnet har en topisk interesse for tiden, fordi Trump og den amerikanske ekstrem højrefløj, der først og fremmest ikke kan lide at nøjes med kompromiser,  taler meget om at komme tilbage til landsfædrenes idéer. Men det var landsfædrene faktisk meget dygtige til, dvs til at indgå kompromiser med hinanden, og mellem de 13 forskellige kolonier/delstater, der stadig var stærkt uafhængige og havde forskellige holdninger og idealer. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

21:00 Det er rart at kunne slukke for radioen og se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant reality tv-program, ”Second Chance Summer: Tuscany”, der handler om en gruppe af helt udslåede briter, mange af dem typiske ”tabere”, der ikke kender hinanden, og som midlertidigt overtager en bøndegård og vinmark i Toscana.


I dette afsnit, efter ca. 5 uger i Toscana skal gruppen organisere et bryllupsfest til et ungt lokalt italiensk par og 40 gæster. Ingen lille udfordring, med andre ord – du godeste, sikke et vanvid, og tegnene er ikke gode – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!!

Gruppen er en blandet landhandel af briter  – nogle af dem er bare livets tabere, andre har været igennem en krise i deres liv: for eksempel, afskedigelse, skilsmisse, dødsfaldet af en partner osv. De søger alle en ”anden chance” for at have succes ved at deltage i programmet og måske finde et nyt formål i livet.

flere af briterne mangler selvtillid.
Sikke et vanvid – tegnene er ikke ret gode!!!!!

Flere af briterne mangler selvtillid, i sammenligning med de lokale indbyggere, der ikke kan lade være med at rose deres liv, Toscanas smukke landskab, Italiens smukke vejr, og den lækre mad, de hver dag spiser – du godeste!

Der er lidt af en katastrofe, da den britiske gruppe organiserer deres første bryllupsfest på ejendommen. Lois og jeg synes, at italienerne har svagheden i, at de vil have alt til at være perfekt (”perfetto”), ellers de ikke er interesseret. Vi synes derfor, at BBC-kanalen må have betalt det unge par en masse penge for at overtale dem til at stole på denne gruppe ”udslåede” briter, da det kom til organisere parrets ”store dag” – du godeste!

Det er interessant, at én medlem af gruppen, den 56-årige Gavin, er en tidligere kok fra det nordlige England, men det synes at være, at han mangler selvtillid, fordi han altid overlader madlavningen til 3 af kvinderne i gruppen – det kan være, at han havde en omtumlet tilværelse som kok i England – det er vi ikke helt sikre på.

Pasta i britisk stil er en komplet katastrofe!



bryllupsgæsterne hader ”pasta i britisk stil”.
Gifteparrets unge datter afslår at spise den!!!

Der er en ulykke i køkkenet. En af de tre britiske kvinder i køkkenet kommer desværre ud af balance og snubler over et hjørne af gifteparrets bryllupskage. Du godeste, sikke en katastrofe!!!!


En af de tre britiske kvinder i køkkenet
kommer ud af balance og snubler desværer over et hjørne af
gifteparrets bryllupskage – sikke et vanvid!!!!

Ræk mig life opkastningsposen, Alice!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!!

04:30 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.


08:00 Jeg lunter ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op i soveværelset og hopper op i sengen til Lois. Vi drikker téen og går i bad. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

10:00 Lois og jeg går i gang med at rydde op i huset og støvsuge overalt, fordi vores U3A danske gruppes næste møde finder sted her i eftermiddag kl 14:30.

11:00 Jeg fortsætter med at læse et uddrag fra Layamons Brut, den middelengelske tekst, som Lyndas U3A ”Making of English” gruppe har gjort til sit nuværende projekt. Gruppens næste møde finder sted i morgen på byens bibliotek.

12:00 Vi går hen til den lokale lægeklinik, hvor klinikkens sygeplejerske giver os vores gratis vaccine mod helvedesild. Lois led faktisk af helvedesild for et par år siden, og hun vil hellere ikke lide af den igen – nej tak!!!!

Vores sundhedssytem prøver at rationere vaccinen, fordi den er lidt dyr. Man er kun kvalificeret, hvis man var 70 år gammel den 1. september 2016: og der er en frist på 12 måneder startende fra det dato. Du godeste, sikke et skør verden vi lever i !!!!

12:30 Vi kommer hjem og spiser frokost. Bagefter går vi i seng.

14:00 Vi vælter ud af sengen op og forbereder os på vores danske gruppes næste møde.

14:30 Gruppens medlemmer ankommer og vi lærer dansk i 90 minutter.

16:00 Gruppens medlemmer skal af sted. De foretrækker normalt at blive siddende og snakkende, men i dag opmuntrer vi dem til at forsvinde, på grund af vores Skype-opkald kl 17. Lois og jeg slapper af med en hurtig kop te i sofaen.

16:15 Lois skynder sig ind i køkkenet for at forberede aftensmad.  Yikes, sikke en dag!!!!

English translation

16:30 I have a little problem with my teeth - I'm sure of that. But I'm coming to think that for one reason or another I'm just suffering from sensitive teeth, nothing more than that, thank God.

Lois has had a bad stomach today, but she's a bit better now, although she has decided not to attend her church's Bible class tonight to be on the safe side.

17:00 I hop up on my exercise bike and notch up another 9 miles (15km). I turn on my smartphone and look at 1964's 100 best songs while cycling. Every time I hop up, I set the year back a year. I feel like I'm in free fall down this long rabbit hole back to my roots ha ha ha.

I watch 1964's 100 best songs while cycling.

As I listen to the songs, I try to remember the role of the year 1964 in my life story, in an attempt to postpone dementia ha ha ha.

I turned 18, and it was my last year in high school. During the summer vacation, my parents, my 12 year old brother, Steve, and my 6 year old sister Gill, and I, stayed two weeks at a small hotel in Ilfracombe in the county of Devon. For the first time, my 16-year-old sister Kathy did not come along - she thought family holidays at her age were no longer "cool" - my god, how daring she was !!!! (unlike uncool me !!!!!)

It is unbelievable how few pictures we took in those days - my god! Only one picture of me was taken all through the year. I was squatting on Woolacombe Beach in jacket and tie as if I was at work in an office - my god, what madness !!!!

Flashback to August 1964: Me on Woolacombe Beach
But why wearing jacket and tie on the beach? What madness !!!!

18:00 Lois and I eat dinner and spend the rest of the evening listening to the radio and watching some television. We hear an interesting program on the radio, the third episode of a series looking at noteworthy advertising campaigns. In this episode we hear about Dove's "real beauty / real women" campaign over the past approx. 15 years. The host of the program is the charming Rory Sutherland.


It seems that Dove's products were a bit in decline in the 1990s when the company thought of this idea of no longer using skinny models in their advertisements, with the aim of not depressing those young women who did not look like fashion models - my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!

Many girls think they are only successful
if they are skinny like fashion models
- my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

Lois thinks that the problem stems from the fact that most clothing designers are gay men who want their models to look like boys. Thus many girls believe that they are only successful if they are skinny like fashion models! I do not know if she is right about that, or not, but it sounds plausible, no doubt about it !!!!

20:00 We hear another interesting program, first episode in a series about the history of the United States and the country's rise to superpower status. This first episode is about the United States' founding fathers and the problems they faced when they were trying to decide what kind of constitution they wanted. The conclusion of some of the founding fathers was that "this will never work" ha ha ha - big mistake! The host of the program is the charming Misha Glenny.


The subject is of topical interest, because Trump and the American extreme right wing, who primarily do not like to settle for compromises, talk a lot about returning to the founding fathers' ideas. However, that was something the founding fathers were very good at, ie compromising with each other, and between the 13 different colonies / states that were still strongly independent and had different attitudes and ideals. My god, what madness !!!!

21:00 It's nice to be able to turn off the radio and watch some television. An interesting reality tv show is on, "Second Chance Summer: Tuscany", which is about a group of totally washed-up Brits, many of them typical "losers" who do not know each other and who temporarily take over a farmyard and vineyard in Tuscany .


In this episode, after approx. 5 weeks in Tuscany, the group organises a wedding party for a young local Italian couple and 40 guests. No small challenge, in other words - my god, what madness, and the signs are not good - I know that for sure !!!!

The group is a mixed bag of Brits - some of them are just life's losers, others have been through a crisis in their lives: for example, redundancy, divorce, the death of a partner, etc. They are all seeking a "second chance" to seek success by participating in the program and maybe finding a new purpose in life.

Several of the Brits lack self-esteem.
What madness - the signs do not look good !!!!!

Several of the Brits lack self-confidence, in contrast to local residents who cannot stop praising their lives, the beautiful scenery of Tuscany, the beautiful weather in Italy and the delicious food they eat every day - good grief!

There is a bit of a disaster when the British group organises their first wedding party on the property. Lois and I think Italians have the weakness that they want everything to be perfetto, otherwise they are not interested. We therefore think that the BBC channel must have paid the young couple a lot of money to persuade them to rely on this group of "washed-up" brits when it came to organising the couple's "big day" - good grief!

It is interesting that one member of the group, 56-year-old Gavin, is a former chef from the north of England, but it seems that he lacks confidence because he always leaves the cooking to 3 of the women in the group - it may be that he had a chequered career as a cook in England - we are not entirely sure about that.

British style pasta is a complete disaster!



The wedding guests hate "British style pasta".
The married couple's young daughter refuses to eat it !!!

There is an accident in the kitchen. Unfortunately, one of the three British women in the kitchen loses her balance and stumbles across a corner of the wedding couple's wedding cake. Good grief, what a disaster !!!!


One of the three British women in the kitchen
loses her balance and stumbles across a corner
of the wedding couple's cake - what madness !!!!

Pass the sickbag, Alice !!!!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzz !!!!!

04:30 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.


08:00 I amble into the kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up into the bedroom and hop into bed with Lois. We drink the tea and go in the shower. We get up and have breakfast.

10:00 Lois and I get going with clearing up the house and vacuuming all over because our U3A Danish group's next meeting is taking place here this afternoon at 2:30pm.

11:00 I carry on reading an excerpt from Layamon's Brut, the Middle English text that Lynda's U3A Making of English Group has turned into its current project. The next meeting of the group will take place tomorrow at the city's library.

12:00 We go to the local clinic where the clinic's nurse gives us our free vaccine against shingles. Lois actually suffered from shingles a couple of years ago, and she would rather not suffer from it again - thanks but no thanks !!!!

Our health system tries to ration the vaccine because it is a bit expensive. You are only qualified if you were 70 years old on September 1, 2016: and there is a deadline of 12 months starting from that date. Good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

12:30 We come home and have lunch. Afterwards we go to bed.

14:00 We roll out of bed and prepare for the next meeting of our Danish group.

14:30 The group members arrive and we study Danish for 90 minutes.

16:00 Group members leave. They usually prefer to stay sitting and talking, but today we encourage them to disappear because of our Skype call at 5pm. Lois and I relax with a quick cup of tea on the couch.

16:15 Lois hurries into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Yikes, what a day !!!!


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