Fredag den 29. september 2017

Efter morgemad, min kone, Lois, og mig "samles" i spisestuen for at diskutere vores ægteskabelige økonomi. Vi har blevet klar over, vi må være mere forsigtigere, hvis vi ønsker at besøge vores 2 døtre jævnligt, i betragtning at, den ene (Alison) bor i Danmark (og snart måske i Italien) og den anden (Sarah) bor i Australien, sammen med deres familier.

Hele problemet synes at være så kompliceret, at vi beslutter at sætter os et konkret mål, og se om vi kan nå det: at prøve at spare nok penge til side hver måned, så vi kan besøge Alison en gang om året, og Sarah hvert andet år.

Vi må få bedre styr på vores udgifter – det ved vi med sikkerhed. Vi beslutter at bruge Jennifer Schneider-metoden for at beregne månedlige indkomst og udgifter, en metode jeg læste om for et par år siden i den indflydelsesrige amerikanske nyhedskilde, theonion.com .

Jennifter bruger en simpel blok, for at spare tid. Jeg vil altid huske den eksempel blokside, nyhedskildens fotograf reproducerede på nyhedswebstedet.

Den berømte Jennifer Schneider-metode til at få styr på

huslige indkomst og udgifter

Jennifer bruger også simple gule seddler for at registrere ”nødudgifter”, eksempelvis for at forudbestille den kommende nye udgivelse af  Halo, et populært computerspil. Lois og jeg har besluttet at adoptere samme systemet.

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og jeg går i seng for at tage min sædvanlige gigantiske eftermiddagslur. Mens jeg sover, går Lois hen rundt om hjørnet til det lokale bibliotek, for at hjælpe  bibliotekets personale med at organisere og lede eftermiddagens ugentlige ”Baby Bounce and Rhyme” session for unge mødre og deres små børn. Aktiviterne består af barnesange for babys og forældre (og bedsteforældre).

14:15 Lois’s Jehovas vidner venner ringer på døren. Jeg vågner vælter ud af sengen og smutter ind i det værelse, der har udsigt over forhaven og hoveddøren, for at tage et kig ud gennem gardinerne. Jeg beslutter ikke at besvare døren. Jeg vil hellere ikke komme indover en samtale med dem – også er jeg kun iført undertrøje og underbukser, hvilket ikke er så godt!

Nu hvor jeg er vågen beslutter jeg at hoppe op på min kondicykel. Jeg cykler 9 miles, i stedet af mine sædvanlige 6 miles. Jeg er blevet inspireret af den interessante dokumentarfilm, vi så i går aftes, hvor eksperterne sagde, at man har brug for 150 minutters aktiv motion om ugen, for at holde ens krop i form.

Mens jeg cykler tænder jeg for min smartphone. Jeg prøver at finde en video, der varer 30 minutter, men de er sjældne, viser det til. Til sidst finder jeg en 30-minutter biografi af Clark Gable, der ikke ville være mit første valg, men det springer jeg over.

16:00 Lois kommer tilbage fra biblioteket. Vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen. Vi hører et interessant program, ”Det sidste ord”. Lois og jeg har for vane at høre dette program hver uge, fordi vi ønsker at finde ud af, om nogen i de seneste 1-2 uger døde eller ej (jeg har bemærket, at der i de fleste uger sker nøjagtig 5 dødsfald). Programmets vært er den charmerend Matthew Bannister.

Hugh Hefner desværre døde. Matthew Bannister, programmets charmerende vært, snakker med mange af Hefners venner, og prøver at finde ud af, om Hefner var under overfladen en trist mand, men alle hans venner er faktisk enig i, at han var den lykkeligste mand, de nogensinde har mødt, hvilket siger noget vigtigt  og jeg har ikke den fjerneste anelse om hvad det er ha ha ha!!!

Liz Dawn også døde, der spillede Vera i 30 år i den langvarige soapopera, Coronation Street, som halvdelen af det berømte midaldrende ægtepar, Jack og Vera Duckworth.

Jack og Vera var ikke det konventionelle ægtepar, og begge to havde affærer jævnligt over årene. Jeg mindes, at Vera kom hjem engang kl 4 om morgenen, og forklarede til Jack, at hendes ven (faktisk elsker) havde været i gang med at give hende lambada-undervisning.

Jack og Vera Duckworh i deres storhedstid

Jack havde for vane at bruge dating-websteder, og aftalte at mødes med en online kontakt. Kontakten viste sig at være selve Vera i en paryk, og med en falsk accent.

Det er lidt uhyggeligt, men i går aftes i fjernsyn, midt i et gamle afsnit af Top of the Pops fra august  1984, så vi Liz Dawns navn på forsiden af The Sun-avisen under en præstation af sangen, der lå på nr. 1 i hitlisten, Two Tribes, fortolket af popgruppen Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Liz stod dengang overfor en stor krise i sit privatliv, da hun havde ægteskabelige problemer med sin mand i det virkelige liv, problemer, der truede med at ødelægge også hendes professionelle liv – uha!

Holly Johnson, Frankie Goes To Hollywoods forsanger, læser en avis fra 1984,

hvor overskrifterne synliggør skuespillerinden Liz Dawns ægteskabelige problemer -

uhyggeligt, i betragtning af, hun lige er død !!!

Sikke et vanvid!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad i stuen og ser 2 gamle afsnit af Big Bang Theory på E4-kanalen. Før programmet begynder, siger annoncøren, at den nye (11.) sæson starter den 11. oktober – hurra, den lange venten er næsten endt.

20:00 Vi ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser ”Lyt til Storbritannien”, en kort (20 minutter) dokumentarfilm, der blev skudt for nøjagtig 75 år siden, i 1942 – midtvejs gennem den 2. verdenskrig.

En meget rørende film, i sær på grund af fraværet af kommentarspor – en stribe af filmsekvenser, visende almindelige mennesker i gang med deres rutinaktiviter under krigens skygge.

Jeg får tårer i mine øjne, da jeg tænker på mine kære afdøde forældre, og hvad de var nødt til at udholde i 6 år. Jeg spekulerer nogle gange om, hvordan det var at leve igennem den krig (jeg indser, at det var meget værre i mange andre lande). Lois og jeg har været så heldige – krig har ikke haft en direkte indvirkning på vores liv.

min mor i 1943 (på 23 år)

min far i 1944 (på 30 år) i London

I filmen kigger vi på almindelige mennesker, og det er charmerende at se, når nogen i billedet indimellem pludselig få øje på kameraet.

Musik er specielt rørende under kriseår, stressende år, når man er langt hjemmefra osv. Det er rart at se mennesker i filmen slappe af til musik, sange, koncerter osv. Vi ser masser af meget rørende filmsekvenser, hvor folk nyder sange og musik. Og det er intet så rørende efter min mening, som at høre en stor mængde mennesker synge med på velelskede sange under koncerter osv.

en frokostpausekoncert i London (billetter 1 skilling) -

det Kongelige Luftvåbens orkester med Myra Hess som klaversolist:

dronning Elizabeth sidder i den førreste række.

unge mennesker danser og synger med

på orkesterens fortolkning af ”Roll Out The Barrel”

kvindelige fabrikarbejdere

synger med på ”Yes, My Darling Daughter” i radioen

en gruppe skotske soldater synger ”Home On The Range” 
i 3 stemme harmoni under en lang togtur hjem

tre frugtplukkere holder pause, når

en gruppe Spitfire kampfly flyver højt over deres hoveder.

Det er interessant, at ifølge den biografi af Clark Gable, som jeg hørte i eftermiddags, blev Gable skudt på af et spitfire kampfly mens han deltog i en bombeangreb over Tyskland. Friendly fire? Lidt af en fejltagelse! Det var selvfølgelig faktisk et tyske kampfly, der skød på ham ha ha ha!!! Ikke en filmfan – ingen tvivl om det!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!!

English translation

After breakfast my wife, Lois, and I "gather" in the dining room to discuss our marital finances. We have become aware that we must be more careful if we want to visit our 2 daughters regularly, considering that one (Alison) lives in Denmark (and soon maybe in Italy) and the other (Sarah) lives in Australia, together with their families.

The whole problem seems to be so complicated that we decide to set ourselves a specific goal and see if we can achieve it: trying to put enough money aside every month so we can visit Alison once a year and Sarah once every two years.

We need to get better control of our expenses - we know that for sure. We decide to use the Jennifer Schneider method to calculate monthly income and expenses, a method I read about a couple of years ago in the influential US news source, theonion.com.

Jennifter uses a simple notepad to save time. I will always remember the example pad page that the news source's photographer reproduced on the news website.

The famous Jennifer Schneider method for getting control over

household income and expenses

Jennifer also uses simple yellow post-it notes to record "emergency expenses", for example pre-ordering of the upcoming new release of Halo, a popular computer game. Lois and I have decided to adopt the same system.

12:30 We have lunch and I go to bed and have my usual gigantic afternoon nap. While I'm sleeping, Lois walks around the corner to the local library to help library staff organize and lead this afternoon's weekly Baby Bounce and Rhyme session for young mothers and their little children. The activities consist of children's songs for babies and parents (and grandparents).

14:15 Lois's Jehovah's Witnesses friends ring at the door. I wake up, roll out of bed and pop into the bedroom that overlooks the front garden and the front door to take a look through the curtains. I decide not to answer the door. I'd rather not get into conversation with them - plus, I'm only wearing undervest and underpants, which isn't so good!

Now that I'm awake, I decide to hop on my exercise bike. I cycle 9 miles, instead of my usual 6 miles. I have been inspired by the interesting documentary we saw last night, where the experts said that you need 150 minutes of active exercise a week to keep your body fit.

While I'm cycling, I turn on my smartphone. I try to find a video that lasts about 30 minutes, but they're quite rare, it turns out. Eventually, I find a 30-minute biography of Clark Gable, which would not be my first choice, but I'll let that one slide.

16:00 Lois comes back from the library. We relax with a cup of tea on the sofa. We hear an interesting radio programme, "The Last Word". Lois and I have a habit of listening to this programme every week because we want to find out if anyone in the last 1-2 weeks has died or not (I notice that most weeks exactly 5 deaths occur). The host of the program is the charming Matthew Bannister.

Hugh Hefner has sadly died. Matthew Bannister, the charming host of the programme, talks to many of Hefner's friends, trying to find out if Hefner was under the surface a sad man, but all his friends actually agree that he was the happiest man they ever met, which says something important and I do not have the slightest idea of what that is ha ha ha !!!

Liz Dawn has also died - she played Vera for 30 years in the long-running soap opera, Coronation Street, as one half of the famous middle-aged married couple, Jack and Vera Duckworth.

Jack and Vera were not the conventional married couple, and both had affairs over the years. I remember that Vera once came home at 4 o'clock in the morning, explaining to Jack that her friend (actually her lover) had been giving her lambada lessons.

Jack and Vera Duckworth in their heyday

Jack had the habit of using dating sites, and once agreed to meet up with an online contact. The contact turned out to be Vera herself in a wig and with a fake accent.

It's a little creepy, but last night on television, in the middle of an old episode of Top of the Pops from August 1984, we saw Liz Dawn's name on the cover of The Sun newspaper during a performance of the song that was then ranked No. 1 in the charts, "Two Tribes", by the pop group Frankie Goes To Hollywood. 

Liz was then facing a major crisis in her private life when she had marital problems with her real-life husband, problems which were threatening to destroy her professional life too - oh dear!

Holly Johnson, Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Singer,

reads a newspaper from august 1984, where the headlines reveal

the actress Liz Dawn's marital problems - spooky,

in view of the fact that she has just died !!!

What madness!!!!!

18:00 We have dinner in the living room and see 2 old episodes of the Big Bang Theory on the E4 channel. Before the programme begins, the announcer says that the new (11th) season is starting on October 11th - hurray, the long wait is almost at an end.

20:00 We watch a little television. "Listen to Britain" is on, a short (20 minute) documentary shot just over 75 years ago, in 1942 - midway through World War II.

A very touching film, especially because of the absence of commentary track - a series of film sequences, showing ordinary people going about their routine activities under the shadow of the war.

I get tears in my eyes when I think of my dear late parents and what they had to endure for 6 years. I wonder sometimes what it was like to live through that war (I realise it was much worse in many other countries). Lois and I have been so lucky - war has not had any direct impact on our lives.

my mother in 1943, aged 23

My father in 1944 (aged 30) in London

In the film we are looking at ordinary people and it is charming to see it whenever someone in the picture sometimes suddenly catches sight of the camera.

Music is especially touching during crisis years, stressful years, when you are far away from home, etc. It's nice to see people in the film relaxing to music, songs, at concerts, etc. We see lots of very touching film sequences where people are enjoying songs and music. And there is nothing so touching in my opinion as hearing a large crowd of people singing along on well-loved songs during concerts, etc.

A lunchtime concert in London (tickets 1 shilling):

the Royal Air Force's orchestra with Myra Hess as piano soloist:

Queen Elizabeth is sitting in the front row.

young people dance and sing along

on the band's version of "Roll Out The Barrel"

women factory workers

sing along to "Yes, My Darling Daughter" on the radio

a group of Scottish soldiers sing "Home On The Range" 
in 3 part harmony on a long train ride home

three fruit pickers pause in their work 

as a group of Spitfires flies high up over their heads.

It is interesting that according to the biography of Clark Gable I heard this afternoon, Gable was shot at by a spitfire fighter plane while taking part in a bombing raid over Germany. Friendly fire? Bit of a mistake! Of course it was a German fighter who shot at him. Not a movie fan for sure ha ha ha !!!

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

Torsdag den 28. september 2017

Jeg står op. Jeg bliver mindet om, at jeg er forkølet. Selve symptomerne er ikke ret dårlige, men jeg mangler energi. Jeg har også bange for, min konjunktivitis kommer tilbage i det venstre øje, men jeg krydser fingre for mig selv og jeg håber på det bedste.

Jeg har også milde tilbagetræknings symptomer. I går sad jeg med Scilla og Kath i byens bibliotek og diskuterede Havamal, dvs digtet, den nordiske gud Odin skrev, da han (for 1100 år siden) var en ung mand. Vi nåede i går at læse digtets første 30 linjer. Desværre skal jeg vente 4 uger før vores U3A oldnordiske gruppe kan samles igen – pokkers!

Lois og jeg blev først klar over, at Odin var en sej gud, da vi købte en dvd af Henry Purcells opera ”Arthur” – en opera, der udspillede sig i det 6. århundrede og handlede om kampen mellem de invaderende angelsaskiske (med andre ord ”engelske”) hær og de indfødte briter.

Før det kommende slag mellem de to hære er englænderne selvfølgelig omhyggelige med, at ofre tre jomfruer til Odin – i forestillingen på vores dvd, der fandt sted for 9 år siden i Salzburg, var kvinderne  tatoverede med Odins navn.

I forestillingen var den såkaldte ofring rent symbolisk, hvilket Lois og jeg var meget glade for. Vi misbilliger menneskelig ofring, og det blev heldigvis klargjort i slutningen af forestillingen på dvd-skærmen, at ingen jomfruer havde taget skade i løbet af produktionen.

i Purcells opera bliver 3 jomfruer ofret til Odin før slaget begynder,

men ofringen er rent symbolsk, gudskelov!

Selvfølgelig hædrer vi stadig Odins/Wodens navn, ved at kalde den tredje dag i arbejdsugen for ”onsdag”, eller Odins dag. Jeg er helt sikker på, at Odin selv er meget glad for denne anerkendelse. Men det er lidt af en skam, at tyskerne af en eller anden grund har fjernet Odins navn ved at bruge navnet ”Mittwoch”, der bogestaveligt talt betyder ”midten af ugen” – lidt intetsigende, synes jeg.

07:00 Jeg tænder for min smartphone. Jeg har fået en sms på whatsapp fra Alison, vores datter der bor i København sammen med Ed, sin mand, og deres 3 børn.

Hun har en nyhed om Eds job. Lois og jeg er allerede klar over, at Alisons familie må flytte andetsteds indenfor de næste 9 måneder eller deromkring, fordi Ed bliver afskediget af sit selskab. Derfor begyndte han for nogle måneder siden at ansøge om andre jobs – og sit næste job kunne være hvor som helst i verden.

I øjeblikket bliver han interviewet for et job i Milan, Italien. Lidt længere fra England, men nemmere at rejse til med tog – Lois er lidt nervøs, når det kommer til at flyve, så ville hun være meget glad for det, hvis han ender op med at få jobbet. Vi får se.

Det kan være, at Alison selv bliver glad for, at flytte til Italien. Hun erhvervede for næsten 20 år siden en bachelorgrad i italiensk på Cardiff University. Jeg er helt sikker på, at hun må være meget rusten, fordi hun ikke har studeret sproget i så længe, men jeg gætter, at hun stadig har en masse viden, der ligger på bagsiden af hendes sind. 

Da Lois og jeg var frugtbare, fik vi to døtre, Alison og Sarah, i henholdsvis 1975 og 1977: vi troede, 2  ville være nok for at sikre vores støtte og velfærd i alderdommen – stor fejl! Den ældste datter flyttede for 5 år siden til København, og den yngre flyttede for 2 år siden til Australien. Når vi bliver så svage, at vi ikke længere kan skifte vores egne elektriske pærer, bliver vi nødt til at stole på naboer eller venner til at hjælpe os – pokkers!

10:00 Vi tager bussen ind i byen. Vi kigger ind i Halifax og Leeds bankerne for at lukke et par kontoer og køber et par ting i Boots-apoteket. Vi smutter ind i Huffkins-caféen. Vi drikker en kop te og spiser et stykke kage. Vi tager bussen hjem.

vi smutter ind i Huffkins-caféen midt i byen.

Vi drikker en kop te og spiser et stykke kage

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Efter et par timer står jeg op og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

17:00 Jeg læser de første 150 linjer af et uddrag af William Langlands digt på middelengelsk, ”Piers Plowman”, fordi Lyndas U3A ”Making of English” gruppes månedlige møde finder sted i byens Everyman-teater på fredag næste uge.

Langland kom fra Malvern-området.  Vi kan se Malvern-bakkerne fra Cheltenham, hvis vejret er godt og luften klar. Det er meget nostalgisk at se dem, fordi Lois og jeg i 1971 holdte en magiske ferie derovre, hvor vi ”lærte hinanden at kende igen” efter mit år i Japan. Vi boede i et lille hotel og gik mange tur på bakkene. Vi giftede os det følgende år.

Tilbageblik til 1971: Lois og jeg ”lærte hinanden at kende igen”

på Malvern-bakkerne.

Langland skrev digtet sidst i det 14. århundrede. Digtets helt, Will, forlade Malvern og flytter til London. Han bor i en elendig hytte og klæder sig som en landstryger, men i det mindste har han en dejlig kone, Kytte (Kit eller Katherine). Han arbejder ikke ret meget, men det føler han sig samtidigt skyldig i, en følelse jeg kan relatere til, når jeg mindes om min tid på universitet ha ha ha.

Han skriver om London nærmest som en lille landsby, med små hytter og hjorde af køer i mudrede gader. Det er underligt, at forestille sig London som det var for 600 år siden.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og derefter smækker vi benene op foran fjernsynet. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm (3. del af 3), jeg optog i går aftes på vores Now-tv-enhed. Programmet handler om, hvordan man kan ældre langsommere (uden at blive nødt til at rejse i rummet ha ha ha).

Jeg har optaget alle 3 dele af denne serie på min Now-tv-enhed, og jeg har besluttet ikke at slette dem. Jeg mistænker, det ikke kan være en dårlig idé at se dem alle igen engang imellem, fordi Lois og jeg ved slutningen af hvert afsnit  føler os meget skyldige – og vi bliver hver gang pludselig klar over, at vi ikke gør nok for at ældes langsommere.

Under ”den lange engelske vinter”  er min aktiv motion for det meste begrænset til sessionerne på min kondicykel, der svarer til maximum 60 minutter om ugen. Den anbefalede varighed er faktisk ca 150 minutter. Jeg må enten dyrke flere sessioner eller forsøge mig med ”HIT” motion.

HIT-teknikken (høj intensitet interval træning) består af eksempelvis 45 sekunder høj intensitet motion, fulgt af 15 sekunder lav intensitet motion osv. Skræmmende!!!!

Jeg er lidt bange for HIT i betragtning af min alder. Men Steve, min svigerbror, sendte mig for nylig en mail, hvor der stod, hvad man bør kunne udrette i 70’erne, hvad angår motion: (1) gå en 1-mile tur på mindre end 16 minutter, (2) klatre en trappe med 10 trin på under 30 sekunder komfortabelt, og (3) rejse sig fra en stol uden at bruge hænderne eller armene, og gentage minst 12 gange om 30 sekunder. Jeg har hidtil overskudt  at teste mig selv i lyset af disse 3 kriterier, men jeg må ikke udskyde det for evigt, ingen tvivl om det. Vi får se.

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en morsom sitcom, ”Back”, der bliver mørkere med hvert afsnit.

Humoren kredser om Stephen (David Mitchell) og hans ”ikke stedbror”, Andrew, der driver en pub i Stroud. Det er altid den charmerende Andrew, der tiltrækker kvinderne, mens Stephens kærlighedsliv er lidt af en katastrofe – han er stadig forelsket i sin eks-kone, Alison og har et skidt liv generelt.

I denne uges afsnit møder de 2 mænd en dejlig kvinde, Annie, der elsker vin, og der er øjeblikkelig god kemi mellem Annie og Stephen. Hun inviterer dem begge at overnatte hos hende i sit gæsteværelse.  Men som altid med Stephen, går det hele galt: han og Annie bliver oppe og fortsætter med at drikke vin, men falder i søvn i deres lænestole, før de kan gå i seng sammen. Stakkels Stephen!!!!

Stephens forventede idyl af en nat i Annies seng

bliver ikke til noget - stakkels Stephen !!!!

Jeg har et filosofisk øjeblik, da jeg kigger på denne sekvens i afsnittet. Stephen, der generelt har et skidt liv, fanger i et par timer et kort glimt af paradis. En dejlig mørkhåret kvinde, Annie, der synes at være meget til ham. Hun bor i et dejligt hus ude på landet på de smukke Cotswold-bakker. Hun kender til viner, og bruger aftenerne på at sidde foran huset og smage på den ene flaske efter den anden.

Men det hele går galt for Stephen, og den forventede idyl af en nat i Annies seng slår fejl. Det ser ud til, at evolutionen simpelthen ikke vil have, at vi har idylliske liv. Jeg læste en bog engang, hvor forfatteren skrev, hvor dejligt livet ville være, hvis vi hele tiden kunne holde den følelse af at være småfulde, af at være venlige over for alle, og ikke bekymre os over noget. Desværre viser tingene sig ikke sådan af en eller anden grund – pokkers!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!!

English translation

I get up. I'm reminded that I have a cold. The symptoms themselves are not that bad, but I lack energy. I'm also afraid my pink eye is coming back in my left eye, but I am keeping my fingers crossed for myself and hoping for the best.

I also have mild withdrawal symptoms. Yesterday I sat with Scilla and Kath in the town library and discussed Havamal, ie the poem that the Nordic god Odin wrote when he (1100 years ago) was a young man. We managed yesterday to read the first 30 lines of the poem. Unfortunately, I have to wait 4 weeks before our U3A Old Norse group can get together again - damn!

Lois and I first realised that Odin was a cool god when we bought a DVD of Henry Purcell's opera "Arthur" - an opera set in the 6th century and which was all about the struggle between the invading Anglo-Saxon army (in other words "English army") and the native Britons.

Before the coming battle between the two armies, the Englishmen are, of course, careful to sacrifice three virgins to Odin - in the performance on our DVD, that took place 9 years ago in Salzburg, the women were tattooed with Odin's name.

In the performance, the so-called sacrifice was purely symbolic, which Lois and I were very happy about. We disapprove of human sacrifice, and it was fortunately made clear on the DVD screen at the end of the performance that no virgins had been harmed during production of the opera.

In Purcell's opera 3 virgins are sacrificed to Odin before the battle begins,

but the sacrifice is purely symbolic, thank goodness!

Of course, we still honour the name of Odin / Woden by calling the third day of the working week "Wednesday" or Odin's day. I am absolutely certain that Odin himself is very pleased with this recognition he gets. But it is a shame that the Germans have for some reason removed the name of Odin from the calendar by using the name "Mittwoch" for Wednesday, which literally means "middle of the week" - a little bland, I think.

07:00 I turn on my smartphone. I've got a text on whatsapp from Alison, our daughter who lives in Copenhagen with Ed, her husband, and their 3 children.

She has a bit of news about Ed's job. Lois and I are already aware that Alison's family have to move somewhere else within the next 9 months or so, because Ed is being let go by his company. For that reason he began applying for other jobs a few months ago - and his next job could be anywhere in the world.

Currently he is being interviewed for a job in Milan, Italy. A bit further from England, but easier to travel to by train - Lois is a little nervous when it comes to flying, so she would be very happy if he ends up getting that job. We'll see.

Alison herself may be happy to move to Italy. She got a bachelor's degree in Italian at Cardiff University nearly 20 years ago. I'm quite sure she must be very rusty because she has not studied the language for so long, but I guess she still has a lot of knowledge sitting there in the back of her head.

When Lois and I were fertile, we had two daughters, Alison and Sarah, in 1975 and 1977 respectively: we thought 2 would be enough to guarantee our support and well-being in old age - big mistake! Alison moved to Copenhagen 5 years ago, and Sarah moved 2 years ago to Australia. When we get so feeble that we can no longer change our own lightbulbs, we will have to rely on neighbours or friends to help us - damn!

10:00 We take the bus into town. We pop into the Halifax and Leeds banks to close a few accounts and buy a few things in the Boots pharmacy. We pop into Huffkins café and have a cup of tea and a piece of cake. We take the bus home.

We pop into Huffkins cafe in the middle of town.

We have a cup of tea and a piece of cake

13:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. After a couple of hours I get up and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

17:00 I read the first 150 lines of an extract of William Langland's poem in Middle English, "Piers Plowman" because Lynda's U3A "Making of English" group's monthly meeting is taking place in the town's Everyman Theatre on Friday next week.

Langland came from the Malvern area. We can see the Malvern Hills from Cheltenham if the weather is good and the air is clear. It is very nostalgic to see the hills because Lois and I had a magical holiday over there in 1971, where we "got to know each other again" after my year in Japan. We stayed in a small hotel and walked a lot on the hills. We got married the following year.

Flashback to 1971: Lois and I "got to know each other again"

up on the Malvern Hills.

Langland wrote the poem in the late 14th century. The poem's hero, Will, leaves Malvern and moves to London. He lives in a hovel and dresses like a hobo, but at least he has a lovely wife, Kytte (Kit or Katherine). He does not do much work , but at the same time he feels guilty about it, a feeling I can relate to when I think back to my time at university ha ha ha.

He writes about London almost like a small village, with little huts and herds of cows in muddy streets. It is strange to imagine London as it was 600 years ago.

18:00 We have dinner and then we stick our feet up in front of the television. An interesting documentary is on (3rd part of 3) that I recorded last night on our Now TV device. The programme is all about how to age more slowly (without having to travel in space ha ha ha).

I have recorded all 3 parts of this series on my Now tv device and I have decided not to delete them. I suspect it may not be a bad idea to see them all again from time to time because Lois and I feel very guilty at the end of each episode - and every time we are made to realise that we are not doing enough to age more slowly .

During the "long English winter" my active exercise is mostly limited to the sessions on my fitness bike, which correspond to a maximum of 60 minutes a week. The recommended duration is actually about 150 minutes. I must either go in for more sessions or have a go at "HIT" exercise.

HIT technique (high intensity interval training) consists of, for example, 45 seconds high intensity exercise, followed by 15 seconds low intensity exercise etc. Scary !!!!

I'm a little afraid of HIT considering my age. But Steve, my brother-in-law, recently sent me an email telling me what one ought to be able to do in one's 70's with regard to exercise: (1) do a 1-mile walk in less than 16 minutes, (2) climb a staircase with 10 steps in less than 30 seconds comfortably, and (3) get up from a chair without using your hands or arms, and repeat at least 12 times in 30 seconds. So far, I've put off testing myself against these 3 criteria, but I cannot now delay it forever, no doubt about that. We'll see.

21:00 We continue to watch some television. They show a fun sitcom, "Back", which is getting darker with each episode.

The humour revolves around Stephen (David Mitchell) and his "non-stepbrother", Andrew (Robert Webb), who run a pub in Stroud. It's always the charming Andrew who attracts the women while Stephen's love life is a bit of a disaster - he's still in love with his ex-wife, Alison.

In this week's episode, the 2 men meet a lovely woman, Annie, who loves wine, and there is instant chemistry between Annie and Stephen. She invites them to stay the night with her. But as always with Stephen, it all goes wrong: he and Annie stay up and carry on drinking wine, but fall asleep in their armchairs before they can go to bed together. Poor Stephen!!!!

Stephen's anticipated idyll of a night in Annie's bed

comes to nothing - poor Stephen!!!!!

I have a philosophical moment when I look at this sequence in the episode. Stephen, who generally has a shit life, catches a short glimpse of paradise for a couple of hours. A lovely dark-haired woman, Annie, seems very into him. She lives in a lovely house in the countryside on the beautiful Cotswold hills. She knows about wine, and spends the evenings sitting in front of the house and trying one bottle after another.

But everything goes wrong for Stephen, and the expected idyll of a night in Annie's bed doesn't happen. It seems that evolution simply does not want us to have idyllic lives. I read a book once where the author wrote about how wonderful life would be if we could always have that feeling of being a little bit drunk, of being friendly to everyone, and not worrying about anything. Unfortunately, things do not turn out that way for one reason or another - damn!

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