Mandag den 30. oktober 2017

10:00 Det er ganske koldt i dag – efter efterårets hidtil koldeste nat, går vi ud i baghaven for at rydde op, luge lidt og fortsætte med at lægge haven i sengen for vinteren. Jeg skærer de lange græsser tilbage rundt omkring vores æbletræer, også vedbenden, der er løbt over hegnet i bunden af haven og begyndt at vikle sig rundt om ét af vores 3 blommetræs grene – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

vi fortsætter med at lægge haven i sengen for vinteren

Hun har sin røde hue på, den, vi købte for et par måneder siden i Lynton.

11:30 Vi kommer tilbage ind i huset for at varme os op med en kop kaffe.

Lois foretæller mig om en af sine veninder, der også er medlem af sin kirke. Jeg har selv også snakket med kvinden et par gange. Hun bor sammen med sin midaldrende søn, der hele livet har haft svært med at få et job, eller blive i et job på grund af milde psykiske problemer, mangel på selvtillid, eller lignende – det er ikke helt klart. Men kvinden har lyst til at flytte ind i et meget lille hus og bo der alene.

Hun har overtalt sønnen mod hans vilje til at sove på gaden i aften, så hans søster kan melde ham til kommunen for at være hjemløs. Så er kommunen i teorien forpligtet til at finde ham et sted at bo.

Hård kærlighed? Hun er en kristen selvfølgelig, og hun virker sød, men inderst inde er hun en meget skrap type – ingen tvivl om det. Hun har fortalt Lois om sin skilsmisse, for mange år siden, efter hendes mand begyndte at ignorere hende, holdende sig til sit eget værelset, og til sidst startende en affære med en anden kvinde. Lois siger, at hendes veninde var den uskyldige part, men selvfølgelig har Lois kun hørt sin venindes side af historien. Hvem ved, hvad manden skulle udholde, før han reagerede på denne måde?

Men vi håber begge to på, at i nat ikke vil være så koldt for sønnens skyld – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

12:00 Jeg går i gang med at læse de næste ca. 100 linjer af William Langlands ”Piers Plowman”, et middelengelsk digt som Lyndas U3A ”Making of English” gruppe har gjort til sit seneste projekt.

Et andet eksempel på ”hård kærlighed” her. Piers ejede et stykke jord, der faktisk lå ikke ret langt herfra, i Malvern-området, og han ansatte en flok lokale mænd til at hjælpe ham med at pløje, så og høste osv. En dag smuttede han ind i den lokale pub, og fandt nogle af sine ansatte i færd med at drikke øl på frokosttid, og han fyrede dem på stedet, for at lære dem, at ”sådan noget som en gratis frokost findes ikke”, hvilket han sagde, var en nyttig lektie for fortiden.

Min teori er, at Piers’ ansatte følte sig måske ikke værdsatte af Piers og hans ledelseshold, og havde brug for at tage en pause for at diskutere problemet med nogle af deres medarbejdere. Det er ofte de mest ineffektive ansatte, der føler sig de mest undervurderede. Dette er en flerårligt problem, der selv i nutiden har en virkning på mange forretninger, som dette nylige artikel i theonion.com gør klart. Et problem uden nogen åbenbare løsning, synes jeg!

problem: vores mest ineffektive arbejdere føler sig de mest

undervurderede – et problem hidtil uden løsning:

vi trænger til mere forskning her – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om!

13:00 Frokost, og bagefter en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Vi skruer vores elektriske varmetæppe op til max – hurra!

18:00 Aftensmad og bagefter smækker vi benene op foran fjernsynet. Vi ser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om dronning Elizabeths bryllup, der skete den 20. november 1947, dvs for 70 år siden.

Det er Lois’s valg at se dette program, men jeg finder det ganske interessant, det må jeg indrømme. Jeg kan se, at det var en fantastisk lejlighed for folk, endelig til at kunne hygge sig med noget spektakulært efter 2,5 års nøjsomhed, stramninger og vanvittig madrationering under efterkrigstidens regering af Clement Atlee.

Jeg formoder ikke, at min egen mor var så interereseret i brylluppet, som hun ville have været under anderledes omstændigheder. Hun var dengang  meget gravid: og Kathy, min afdøde lillesøster, blev faktisk født 9 dage efter brylluppet, og han vejede væsentlig over 11 pund. Jeg er het sikker på, at hun må have været med mindst et par uger forsinket – du godeste! Stakkels mor!!!!

  

Det, der mest interesser mig, er det kongelige pars fantastiske bryllupskage, der var 9 fod høj, og vejede 500 pund – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!! Man havde brug for en høj trinstige for at skære den – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!! Jeg forventer, at en af tjenestefolket faktisk skar den, men det ville have været morsommere at se selve kongelige par på to adskilte trinstiger gøre det. Eller måske på en enkel trinstige, med dronningen på Philips skuldre. Sjovt, men måske lidt for farligt, skal vi sige.

en rekonstruktion af den oprindelige 9 fods, 500 pund bryllupskage.

Du godeste – sikke et vanvid!!!

Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!

English translation

10:00 It's pretty cold today - after the coldest night of the fall, we go out into the backyard to clean up, do a little weeding and carry on putting the garden to bed for the winter. I cut the long grasses back around our apple trees, also the ivy that has spread up over the fence at the bottom of the garden and begun to wrap itself around the branches of one of our plum trees - good grief, what madness !!!

We carry on putting the garden to bed for the winter

She has her red  woolly hat on, the one we bought a couple of months ago in Lynton.

11:30 We come back into the house to warm ourselves up with a cup of coffee.

Lois tells me about one of her female friends, who is also a member of her church. I have myself talked to the woman a couple of times. She lives with her middle-aged son who has had trouble getting a job or holding down a job because of mild psychological problems, lack of self-confidence, or the like - it is not completely clear. But the woman wants to move into a very small house and to live on her own.

She has persuaded the son against his will to sleep on the street tonight so his sister can report him to the council for being homeless. Then the council in theory is obliged to find him somewhere to live.

Tough love? She is a Christian of course and she seems nice, but deep inside she is a very tough character - no doubt about that. She has told Lois about her divorce, many years ago, after her husband began ignoring her, sticking to her own room, and finally starting an affair with another woman. Lois says her friend was the innocent party, but of course Lois has only heard her friend's side of history. Who knows what the man had to put up with before he reacted in this way?

But we both hope that tonight will not be so cold for the son's sake - my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

12:00 I start to read the next approx. 100 lines of William Langland's "Piers Plowman", a medieval poem which Lynda's U3A "Making of English" group has chosen as its latest project.

Another example of "tough love" here. Piers owned a piece of land that was actually not far from here in the Malvern area, and he employed a bunch of local men to help him plow, sow, reap and so forth. One day he popped into the local pub, and found some of his employees drinking beer at lunchtime and he fired them on the spot, in order to teach them that "there's no such thing a free lunch", which he said was a useful lesson for the future.

My theory is that Piers' employees may have felt unappreciated by Piers and his management team and needed to take a break to discuss the problem with some of their co-workers. It is often the most ineffective employees who feel the most undervalued. This is a perennial issue that even today has an effect on many businesses, as this recent article in theonion.com makes clear. A problem without any obvious solution, I think!

Problem: Our most ineffective workers often feel the most undervalued - a problem so far without a solution: we need more research here - I have no doubts about that!

13:00 Lunch, and afterwards a gigantic afternoon nap. We crank our electric blanket up to max hurray!

18:00 Dinner, and afterwards we stick our feet up in front of the television. We see an interesting documentary about Queen Elizabeth's wedding, which took place in November 1947, ie 70 years ago.

It's Lois's choice to see this program, but I find it quite interesting, I have to admit. I can see that it was a great opportunity for people finally to be able to enjoy something spectacular after 2 and a half years of austerity and insane food rationing under the post-war government of Clement Atlee.

I do not suppose my own mother was as interested in the wedding as she would have been under different circumstances. She was very pregnant at that time: and Kathy, my late younger sister, was actually born 9 days after the Queen's wedding, and she weighed significantly over 11 pounds. I'm sure she must have been overdue by at least a couple of weeks - good grief! Poor mom!!!!

What interests me most is the royal couple's amazing wedding cake that was 9 feet tall and weighed 500 pounds - my god, what madness !!! They needed a tall step-ladder to cut it - I have no doubts on that score !!!!! I expect that one of the servants actually cut it, but it would have been more amusing to see the royal couple themselves on two separate ladders doing it. Or maybe on a single ladder, with the queen on Philips shoulders. Fun, but maybe a little too dangerous, let's say.

a reconstruction of the original 9 foot high, 500 pound wedding cake.

Good grief- what madness !!!What a crazy world we live in !!!!!

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

Søndag den 29. oktober 2017

04:00 Jeg står op kl 4 som sædvanligt, selvom klokken er kun 3 ifølge mit kropsur. Det er hvad jeg kalder disciplin ha ha ha. Jeg kigger lidt på nettet.

For 4 uger siden bestilte jeg en Calvin Klein sweater på nettet: det pågældene selskab sælger forskellige typer tøj. I de følgende 2-3 uger så jeg konstant reklamer for den samme sweater, når jeg loggede ind for at tjekke min mails osv. Det var meget venligt af selskabet at gøre det, i betragtning af, jeg godt kunne have lyst til at købe en anden  af samme type og farve.

Nu denne uge finder jeg, at jeg ser konstant en reklame, fremstillet af samme selskabet, denne gang for lingeri, en reklame, der fremviser tre kvinder, der synes at stirre på mig, og hvad mere er, lidt foragteligt, mistænker jeg.

Men jeg kan ikke brokke mig. Det hele er min skyld, må jeg indrømme. Jeg læste for nylig på nettet om en anden lokal mand, der ifølge theonion.com anerkendte til lokale journalister, at han skulle acceptere konsekvenserne af hans handlinger, også at han ikke havde andre at bebrejde, end sig selv for de målrettede pool legetøjsreklamer, der regelmæssigt var dukket op i hans browservindue over de to sidste uger.

en lokal man ser irriterende bannerreklamer, hver gang han logger ind

”Disse bannerannoncer er utroligt irriterende og invasive, men jeg må indrømme, at jeg er den, der for et par weekender siden kiggede på et par oppustelige indrerør," sagde han.

Manden begyndte for første gang at se de svømning-relaterede bannerannoncer, efter han sidste måned ubesværet bladede igennem udvalget af flydende ride-on legetøj på en poolforsyninger butiks websted. "Ærligt sagt, jeg kan ikke sige, at jeg på en eller anden måde ikke havde bedt om at se billeder af poolnudler og selvlysende strandbolde hver gang jeg logger ind online. Det er min egen skyld, ærligt talt, og jeg skal bare klare det der. "

Jeg forstår præcis, hvad manden prøver at sige, og jeg kan ikke brokke mig. Pokkers! Men disse selskaber tænker kun på vores bedste interesser, kan jeg ikke nægte.

08:00 Jeg hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté. Vi går i bad og står op. Vi kan desværre ikke i dag blive liggende inde i sengen, fordi vi bad Sarah, vores datter i Australien, om at ringe til os i dag mellem kl 10 og 10:30 (british tid) på whatsapp eller skype.  Jeg har fortalt hende, at Lois gerne vil deltage i sin kirkes 2 gudstjenester i dag, og vi må af sted senest kl 10. Lois vil være bag rettet, med mig i den forreste passagersæde, for at give hende selvtillid. Det er hendes første gang i flere måneder – hun har ikke kunnet køre bil på grund af grå stær, men nu har hun haft sin øjenoperation og hun afprøver sine nye briller.

10: 20 Sarah ringer til os på whatsapp. Da jeg fortæller hende, at Alison, vores datter i Danmark, har planer om at flytte næste påske tilbage til England sammen med sin familie, kan jeg formode, at der går panik i Sarah – hun er meget bange for, at Lois og jeg ønsker at udskyde vores besøg til Australien, som vi provisorisk har bestemt til marts.

Du godeste! Sarah glæder sig meget meget meget til at se os i foråret i Australien – ingen tvivl om det. Vi vil i hvert fald ikke kunne udskyde vores besøg. Vi formoder, at Sarah føler sig meget isoleret derovre og hun har en masse problemer – hun har et stressende job, og når hun om aftenen kommer hjem, skal hun passe på Lily og Jessie, mens Francis, Sarahs mand, slapper af. Sympati er ikke Francis’s force, synes vi. Han foretrækker at modtage sympati, end at give den.

Men Lois og jeg vil ikke købe flybilletterne med det samme. Francis skal tage en anden biopsi om et par uger. Han er blevet diagnosticeret med knuder i skjoldbruskkirtel, men det er ikke klar, om knuderne er godartede, eller ej. Lois og jeg har på fornemmelsen, at det er muligt, familien vil beslutte at flytte tilbage til England, hvis det viser sig, at han har kræft, fordi familien har så lidt støtte derovre. Men vi håber på det bedste selvfølgelig.

10:50 Vi kører til Tewkesbury – Lois er bag retten, og hun synes at have ingen problemer med at køre bil på trods af, at dette er hendes første store rejse i snart ca 9 måneder. Hun står af foran kirken, og jeg kører tilbage til Cheltenham.

Jeg har lidt alenetid. Jeg fortsætter med at luge lidt i grøntsagshaven, og bagefter kommer jeg tilbage ind i huset for at spise frokost.

Jeg skrev i min blog for et par dage siden, at jeg føler, Lois er jeg er dømt til at dø i dette enorme hus, fordi det nu er blevet for svært at downsize. Jeg har besluttet at bekæmpe denne  ”skæbne” og ikke at acceptere den for øjeblikket.

Jeg beslutter, at jeg behøver at gøre noget symbolsk, for at vise mit tilsagn om at begynde kampen. Jeg finder ca. 50 bøger, som jeg senere på ugen vil tage med til den lokale Røde Kors genbrugsbutik for at donere dem. Jeg har besluttet at droppe ønsket om at opbevare bøger bare af nostalgiske grunde – yikes! Jeg mener det alvorligt nu!!!!

Hagen ved dette projekt er, at jeg i de 11 år, der er gået siden vi gik på pension, ikke har nået at overtale Lois til at gøre noget lignende, og jeg vurderer, at 90% af vores bøger nu er Lois’s. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!  Men jeg har besluttet, at Lois’s ulyst til at blive fri for nogle af sine bøger, ikke er en undskyldning for, at jeg ikke bliver fri for så mange af mine bøger som jeg kan.

Mit næste projekt vil kredse om min ”garderobe”. Jeg har stadig skjorter for eksempel, der allerede var slidte, da jeg plejede at have dem på på arbejde – og jeg gik på pension for nu 11 år siden!!!

13:00 Jeg går i seng for at tage mig en kort eftermiddagslur. Som jeg ligger og dagdrømmer, hører jeg min smartphone lyde ”ding” flere gange.

På min smartphone har jeg adgang til et whatsapp-chatrum, der består af medlemmer af Lois’s kirke. Jeg har bemærket, at mange af dem bliver meget begejstrede over usædvanlige naturlige fænomener (såsom orkaner, jordskælv, røde sole osv), fordi de tror, at sådanne fænomener er tegn på, at vi bor i ”de sidste dage” og at Jesu genkomst er overhængende, selvom Lois er mere skeptisk, synes jeg. Det må være lidt demotiverende måske at forvente for ofte enden på verden og at blive skuffet derover atter og atter.

Den ene sms’er: ”Betydningsfulde ting foregår i verden og i Spanien for tiden! Folk skal rejse sig mod folk (Matthæus 24:7) .... jernet ikke blander sig med leret (Daniel 2:43) ...lad den svage sige, jeg er stærk (Joel 3:10). Der går ikke længe, før vi skal stå ansigt til ansigt med Herren!”

Jeg mistænker, at et af problemerne kirken har, når det kommer til at konvertere nye medlemmer, er, at deres ”sprog” og ”ordforråd” er blevet så helt anderledes, end de normale. Men det springer jeg over!

14:30 Jeg kører over til Tewkesbury. Lois kommer ud af kirken og vi kører hjem, med Lois bag rettet igen. Ingen problemer igen. Hun viser en masse selvtillid på trods af manglen på nylig erfaring bag rettet, og, ligesom i fortiden, kører hun bil på en meget mere aggressiv måde, end mig. Sikke en kvinde!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm (1. del af 8), der handler om afgørende tidspunkter i historien af det antikke Roma. Dette første afsnit sætter fokus på krigen mellem Roma og Karthago. Programmets vært er den charmerende Bettany Hughes.

Ganske interessant, men jeg kunne have undværet de mange voldelige rekonstructionsscener – det må jeg nok sige!

Men jeg må også indrømme, at tv er blevet meget meget bedre til at skabe troværdige rekonstructionsscener af store slag, selvom de sandsynligvis kun ansætter omkring 10-20 skuespillere. Teknikken er at vise closeups af ca 6 mænd, klædt ud som romerske eller karthagoiske soldater, der er i gang med at dræbe hinanden, med det hele skudt i en blød, ”romantisk” (hahaha) oplysning. Samtidigt hører vi lyden af tusindvis af folk, der råber konstant – sandynligvis en optagelse fra en fodboldkamp  eller lignende.

Et typisk stor slag mellem Roma og Karthago: vi ser closeups af ca. 6 mænd

i gang med at dræbe hinanden, i blød, "romantisk" oplysning,

med lyde af en fodboldkamp i baggrunden - sikke et vanvid!!!! 

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!

English translation

04:00 I get up at 4am as usual, although the time is only 3 a.m. according to my body clock. That's what I call discipline ha ha ha. I take a little look online.

Four weeks ago I ordered a Calvin Klein sweater online: the company in question sells various types of clothes. In the following 2-3 weeks, I constantly saw advertisments for the same sweater when I logged in to check my mails, etc. It was very kind of company to do that, considering that I might want to buy another one, of the same type and color.

Now this week, I find I am constantly looking at an advertisement from the same company, this time for lingerie, an advertisement that shows three women who seem to be staring at me and what's more, a little contemptuously, I suspect.

But I can’t complain. The whole thing is my fault, I have to admit. I read recently about another local man who according to theonion.com acknowledged to local reporters that he had to accept the consequences of his actions, also that he had nobody to blame other than himself for the targeted pool toy ads that have regularly appeared in his browser window over the last two weeks.

A local man sees annoying banner ads every time he logs in

"These banner ads are incredibly annoying and invasive, but I have to admit that I'm the one who looked at a pair of inflatable inner tubes a couple of weeks ago," he said.

The man started seeing the swimming-related banner ads for the first time after aimlessly browsing through the selection of floating ride-on toys on a pool shop store website last month. "Honestly, I cannot say that I more or less did not ask to see pictures of pool noodles and luminous beach balls every time I log in online. It's my fault, honestly, and I'll just have to deal with it."

I understand exactly what the man is trying to say and I cannot complain myself either. Damn! But these companies are only thinking of our best interests, I cannot deny that.

08:00 I hop back into bed with Lois and we drink our morning tea. We go in the shower and get up. Unfortunately, we cannot stay in bed today because we asked Sarah, our daughter in Australia, to call us today between 10am and 10.30 am (British time) on whatsapp or skype. I have told Sarah that Lois wants to attend her church's 2 services today and we have to leave by 10 a.m. at the latest. 

Lois is going to be behind the wheel, with me in the front passenger seat to give her confidence. It's her first time for several months - she has not been able to drive a car because of cataracts, but now she has had her eye surgery and she's trying out her new glasses.

10:20 Sarah calls us on whatsapp. When I tell her that Alison, our daughter in Denmark, plans to move back to England with her family next Easter, I can sense that Sarah is panicking - she is very much afraid that Lois and I want to postpone our visit to Australia, which we have provisionally fixed for March.

My Goodness! Sarah is very much looking forward to seeing us in Australia in the spring - no doubt about that. There's no way we will be able to postpone our visit. We sense that Sarah feels very isolated over there and she has a lot of problems - she has a stressful job and when she comes home in the evening, she has to look after Lily and Jessie, while Francis, Sarah's husband takes things easy. Sympathy is not Francis's strong point, we think. He prefers to receive sympathy rather than to give it.

But Lois and I do not want to buy the airline tickets right away. Francis has to take another biopsy in a couple of weeks. He has been diagnosed with nodules on the thyroid gland but it is not clear whether the nodes are benign or not. Lois and I have the feeling that it is possible that the family will decide to move back to England if it turns out that he has cancer, because the family has so little support over there. But we hope for the best of course.

10:50 We drive to Tewkesbury - Lois is behind the wheel and she seems to have no trouble driving a car, despite the fact that this is her first big trip for almost 9 months. She gets out in front of the church, and I drive back to Cheltenham.

I have a little alone time. I continue to do a little weeding in the vegetable garden, and afterwards I come back into the house to have lunch.

I wrote in my blog a few days ago that I feel Lois and I are doomed to die in this huge house because it's now become too hard to downsize. I have today decided to fight this "destiny" and not to accept it for the moment.

I decide that I need to do something symbolic to show my commitment to starting the struggle. I find about 50 books that I can take to the local Red Cross recycling store later this week as donations. I have decided to abandon the desire to keep books only for nostalgic reasons - yikes! I mean business now !!!!

The snag with this project is that in the 11 years since we retired, I have not persuaded Lois to do something similar, and I estimate that 90% of our books are now Lois's. Good grief, what madness !!!! But I've decided that Lois's reluctance to get rid of any of her books, is not an excuse for me not to get rid of as many of my books as I can.

My next project will centre on my "wardrobe". I still have shirts for example, that already looked worn out when I used to have them on at work - and I retired 11 years ago now !!!

13:00 I go to bed to take a short afternoon nap. As I lie there daydreaming, I hear my smartphone go "ding" several times.

On my smartphone, I have access to a whatsapp chat room, made up of members of Lois's church. I have noticed that many of the members get very excited about unusual natural phenomena (such as hurricanes, earthquakes, red suns, etc.) because they think such phenomena are indications that we are living in "the last days" and that Jesus' return is imminent, although Lois is more sceptical, I think. It must be a little demotivating to expect the end of the world too often and to be disappointed over and over again.

One member texts, “Momentous things are going on in the world and in Spain at the moment! Nation shall rise against nation (Matthew 24:7) … iron and clay that does not mix (Daniel 2:43) … let the weak say that I am strong (Joel 3:10) ….etc etc. It won’t be long before we see our Lord face to face!”

I suspect that one of the problems the church has when it comes to converting new members is that their "language" and "vocabulary" have become so completely different from the normal ones. But I'm going to let that one slide!

14:30 I drive over to Tewkesbury. Lois comes out of the church and we drive home, with Lois behind the wheel again. No problems again. She shows bags of self-confidence despite her lack of recent experience behind the wheel, and, just like in the past, she drives the car in a much more aggressive way than I do. What a woman !!!

18:00 We have dinner and watch television. An interesting documentary is on (1st part of 8) that deals with crucial moments in the history of ancient Rome. This first episode focuses on the war between Rome and Carthage. The host of the program is the charming Bettany Hughes.

Quite interesting, but I could have done without the many violent reconstruction scenes, I've got to say!

But I also have to admit that television has become much much better at creating credible reconstruction scenes of big battles, although they probably only employ about 10-20 actors. The technique is to show close-ups of about 6 men dressed as Roman or Carthaginian soldiers who are busy killing each other, with the whole thing shot in a soft "romantic" (hahaha) lighting. At the same time, we hear the sound of thousands of people shouting non-stop - probably a recording from a football match or the like.

A typical big battle between Rome and Carthage: we see close-ups of approx. 6 men

busy killing each other, filmed in soft, "romantic" lighting,

with the sounds of a football match in the background - what madness !!!!

22:00 We go to bed – zzzzzzzz!!!!

Lørdag den 28. oktober 2017

I aften skal vi stille urene en time tilbage, så vi i nat kan nyde den ekstra times søvn i sengen. Men først og fremmest er det et tegn på at vinteren er på vej. Vi bruger formiddagen på at rydde op i haven, og flytte terrassemøbler ind i skuret  - hulk, hulk! 

vi rydder op i haven – vinteren er på vej – uha!

Men faktisk har vi ikke haft flere lejligheder til at nyde vores terrassemøbler denne år. Det var ikke den bedste sommer, vi nogensinde har haft, ingen tvivl om det. Vi håber på bedre ting næste år. I det mindste vil Lois og jeg oplever lidt varmere vejr, hvis vi besøger Sarah, vores datter i Australien, og hendes lille familie.

Faktum er, at vi bare er to gamle krager, og vores to kære døtre bor begge to i udlandet, den ene i Danmark, og den anden i Australien. Men i dag ser vi i det mindste billeder af vores børnebørn på whatsapp og ”Insta”, hvilket opmuntrer os lidt.

vores børnebørn i Australien tilbragte dagen

på at en lokal basar og hyggede sig med at male og pynte sig selv:

Lily (til venstre) og Jessie.

Lily – hvor er hun dog sød !!!!

Lily og Jessie sammen med en af deres venner.

to af vores 3 børnebørn i København, Josie (11) og Isaac (7)

fejrer Halloween hos Darlene, deres kanadiske klaverlærerinde

Vi er ikke så alene, som vi føler os!

11:00 Vi kører til en lokale nærbutik for at købe et par ting. Lois er bag rettet for første gang i snart ét år, hvilket er lidt af en milepæl for hende efter sin øjenoperation for grå stære – hurra!

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15 og hopper op på min kondicykel. Jeg cykler 9 miles (15km), mens Lois smutter ind hos naboerne (Bill og Mary) for at snakke lidt med Mary, der lider af mild demens. Lois er så hvarmhjertet. Bare jeg kunne være så menneskekærlig som hende.

16:00 Jeg lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program, der hedder ”Store Live”. Programmets vært er den charmerende Matthew Paris.

I hver uge nominerer en berømthed en anden berømthed, som han betragter som en stor mand, og mandens biograf eller anden ekspert kommenterer og tilfører yderliggere oplysninger. I dag hører vi Richard Dawkins, den berømte evolutionistisk forsker, der nominerer en tidligere arbejdskollega, Bill Hamilton (1936 – 2000) som ”ugens stor mand”. Bills søster Mary deltager også i diskussionen, som ”ekspertvidne”.

Hamilton var en rigtig cyklist, ikke en elendig kondicyklist som mig. Som en gråhåret mand terroriserede han både fodgængere og bilister på byen Oxfords gader med den utrolig cykelhastighed, han opnåede. Han plejede at cykle så hurtigt, at en check på 15.000£ fra Royal Society engang fløj ud af sin cykelkurv, og var aldrig fundet – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Bill Hamilton, den evolutionistiske biolog og vanvittig cyklist,

der terroriserede byen Oxfords gader med sin super-hurtige cykling.

Han ligner lidt min ven, ”Magyar” Mike, må jeg indrømme

Min ven, ”Magyar” Mike (til venstre)

Jeg har nogle gange tænkt på den bedste måde jeg kan forestille mig min egen død. I filmene ser vi mange romantiske imager af  død, for eksempel i tilfælde af  RJ Mitchell, der udviklede det ikoniske Spitfire-kampfly i 1930’erne og var helten af en inspirerende biopic (biografisk film).

Ved slutningen af filmen bliver Mitchell mere og mere syg og han dør desværre som en ganske ung mand (på 42 år), i 1937. Han er blevet begrænset til en lænestol. Hans sygeplejerske bringer ham et glas mælk og forlader ham et par minutter. Vi ser hans sjæl forlade hans krop og flyve ud af vinduet og op i luften, hvor det kongelige luftvåben er i gang med at teste Mitchells kampfly. Hans glas mælk falder til gulvet, hvor sygeplejersken finder det, da hun et par minutter senere kommer tilbage. Du godeste! Hvor rørende!!!

Hamilton, den evolutionistiske biolog, havde nogle fikserede idéer om, hvordan han forestillede sig sin egen død.

Når han døde, ville han gerne blive lagt ud på skovbundet i Amazonas jungle og blive begravet af ådselgravere som mad til deres larver. Begravende biller lever af at  tage døde kroppe ned under jorden og lægge deres æg i dem. Deres larver bliver udruget på denne måde og dukker op det næste år som flyvende voksne .

Hamilton sagde, ”Når jeg dør, vil jeg ’undslippe’ inde i disse ’børn’, opdraget med omhu af deres hornede forældre, formet af knytnæveformede bolde skabt fra mit kød. Omarrangeret og i multipel form, vil jeg til sidst summe væk fra jorden som bier ud af en rede, faktisk summe højere end bier, næsten som en sværm af motorcykler. Jeg skal så blive båret op i luften af bille efter flyvende bille ud i den brasilianske jungle under stjernerne."

Dawkins mener, at dette billede af multiple Hamiltoner med blå iriserende vinger der flyver op i den brasilianske jungle - er et smukt poetisk indfald, og det giver jeg ham ret.

en sværm af biller  -  multiple Hamiltoner?

en typisk ådselsgraver – Bill Hamilton, den evolutionistiske biolog,

ville gerne blive til multiple ådselsgravere efter sin død – yikes!!!!

Hamilton var min type af forsker, fordi han var så selvudslettende (derfor har ingen hørt om ham). Han var en så produktiv kilde af idéer, der involverede så mange aspekter af evolutionistisk biologi, men han skrev ikke altid afhandlinger om dem – han  begravede for eksempel en af sine snildeste teorier i en anmedelse, han skrev om en kollegas bog.

Han var en stor beundrer af Darwin og faktisk lignede ham meget ifølge Dawkins. Og han var meget ivrig efter at ”rydde op” nogle af de usvarede problemer, som Darwin ”efterlod” bag sig.

Hans teori om altruismen prøvede at  forklare eksistensen af denne ejendommelighed som stammende fra individets forsøg på at forplante generne af folk, der har lignende gener som sine egne, for eksempel, generne af vores tætteste slægtninger.

Selvom Hamilton er bedst kendt for sin forskning om altruismen, var selve manden mest interesseret i spørgsmålet om sex – hvorfor har vi sex? Ja, vi vil alle gerne sprede vores gener ud til alle sider, men ville det ikke være mere effektivt, hvis kvinder kunne føde via partenogenese, og dermed sprede deres gener i en helt ren form (som kloner med andre ord) uden hjælp fra mænd??

Det er juryen desværre stadig ude om.

seksuel udvælgelse i den akademiske verden

Han arbejdede også på seksuel udvælgelse. Hvorfor vælger hunner én han fremfor en anden han? Hamilton troede, at det er vigtigste, at hannen viser, at han kan modstå de nuværende parasiter, fordi parasiter udvikler sig konstant og i et alarmerende hastighed.

Det er velkendt, at hunner vælger hanner, der bærer visse ejendommeligheder, for eksempel lyse fjær. Hamilton troede, at disse ejendommeligheder er et slags ”sundhedscertifikat”, der viser, at hannen har høj modstand mod parasiter. Og hunnerne går konstant på jagt efter disse sundhedscertifikater, så de kan have sex med certifikatets ejer.

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

17:30 Lois kommer hjem og vi spiser aftensmad. Bagefter taler vi lidt med Alison, vores datter i København, og Ed, hendes mand. Det mest sandsynligvise nu, at de vil flytte tilbage til England næste påske. Den familie, der for tiden bor i deres hus i Haslemere, planlægger at flytte ind i deres nye hus næste påske eller deromkring.

Vi overlader til senere diskussion om planer om jul og nytår. Lois foretrækker, at hun og jeg bliver herhjemme i år. Vi må spare penge sammen for at besøge Sarah, vores datter i Australien, i foråret, og hvis Alisons familie flytter tilbage til England næste år, vil vi have mange lejligheder til at se dem derefter. Også Lois er stadig lidt bange for at flyve, så hun gerne vil minimisere de flyveture, vi har brug for at tage.

21:00 Jeg ser lidt fjernsyn, mens Lois smutter ind i spisestuen for at snakke i telefon med Ruth, sin fætters kone. Jeg ved godt, at Ruth vil snakke i en time eller mere, om alle sine mange slægtninges mange problemer og sygdomme. Ruth er en ”problemer-junkie”. Hun ligner ikke den evolutionaristiske ”hunner”, der konstant går på jagt efter dem, der bærer synlige ”sundhedscertifikater” – hun går konstant på jagt efter nogen som helst, der bærer en (fysisk eller psykisk) ”usundhedscertifikat” – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

22:00 Jeg stiller urene en time tilbage, bortset fra de to ure, vi holder på Western Australia tid – folk er heldigere derovre, og de bliver ikke tvunget til at forstyrre deres kropsure to gange om året.

Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!!

English translation

Tonight we have to put the clocks back one hour, so we can enjoy the extra hour of sleep in bed. But first and foremost, it is a sign that winter is on its way. We spend the morning clearing up in the garden and moving patio furniture into the shed - sob sob!

we clear up in the garden – winter is on the way. Oh dear!

But in fact, we have not had many opportunities to enjoy our patio furniture this year. It was not the best summer we have ever had, no doubt about that. We hope for better things next year. At least, Lois and I will experience a little warmer weather if we visit Sarah, our daughter in Australia, and her little family.

The fact is that we are just two old crows, and our two dear daughters both live both abroad, one in Denmark and one in Australia. But today at least we see pictures of our grandchildren on whatsapp and "Insta", which encourages us a little.

 Our grandchildren in Australia spent the day

at a local bazaar and enjoyed painting and decorating themselves:

Lily (left) and Jessie.

Lily - how cute she looks !!!!

Lily and Jessie with one of their friends.

 two of our 3 grandchildren in Copenhagen, Josie (11) and Isaac (7)

celebrating Halloween at the house of Darlene, their Canadian piano teacher

We are not as alone as we feel!

11:00 We drive to a local convenience store to buy a few things. Lois is behind the wheel for the first time for almost a year, which is a bit of a milestone for her after her eye operation for cataracts - hurrah!

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap. I get up at 3pm and jump up on my exercise bike. I cycle 9 miles (15km) while Lois pops into the neighbors' (Bill and Mary) to have a little chat with Mary, who suffers from mild dementia. Lois is so warm-hearted. If only I could be as charitable as her.

16:00 I listen a bit to the radio, an interesting program called "Great Lives". The host of the program is the charming Matthew Paris.

Every week, a celebrity nominates another celebrity, whom he regards as a great man, and the man's biographer or other expert comments and adds further information. Today we hear Richard Dawkins, the famous evolutionary scientist, who nominates a former work colleague, Bill Hamilton (1936 - 2000) as "the great man of the week". Bill's sister Mary also takes part in the discussion, as "expert witness".

Hamilton was a real cyclist, not a rubbish fitness cyclist like me. As a gray-haired man, he terrorized both pedestrians and motorists on the streets of Oxford with the incredible cycling speed he achieved. He used to cycle so fast that a cheque for £ 15,000 from Royal Society once flew out of his cycle-basket and was never found - good grief, what madness !!!!

Bill Hamilton, the evolutionary biologist and crazy cyclist,

who terrorized the city of Oxford with his super-fast cycling.

He looks a bit like my friend, "Magyar" Mike, I must admit

My friend, "Magyar" Mike (left)

I have sometimes thought of the best way I can imagine my own death. In the movies, we see many romantic images of death, for example in the case of RJ Mitchell, who developed the iconic Spitfire fighter plane in the 1930s and was the hero of an inspirational biopic (biographical movie).

At the end of the film, Mitchell becomes more and more sick and he dies as quite a young man (42 years old), in 1937. He has been confined to an armchair. His nurse brings him a glass of milk and leaves him for a few minutes. We see his soul leave his body and fly out of the window and into the air where the Royal Air Force is testing Mitchell's combat aircraft. His glass of milk falls to the floor where the nurse finds it when she comes back a couple of minutes later. My goodness! How touching !!!

Hamilton, the evolutionary biologist, had some fixed ideas about how he imagined his own death.

When he died, he wanted to be laid out on the forest floor in the Amazon jungle and be buried by burying beetles (sexton beetles) as food for their larvae. Burying beetles live by taking dead bodies under the ground and laying their eggs in them. Their larvae are brought up in this way and appear next year as flying adults.

Hamilton said, "When I die, I'll 'escape' into these 'children ', who are cared for lovingly by their horned parents, and are nourished by fist-shaped balls made from my flesh. Rearranged and in multiple form, I will finally buzz away off the ground like bees out of a nest, actually buzzing more loudly than bees, almost like a swarm of motorcycles. I will then be carried up in the air by beetle after flying beetle into the Brazilian jungle under the stars."

Dawkins believes that this image of multiple Hamiltons with blue iridescent wings flying up into the Brazilian jungle is a beautiful poetic fancy, and I agree with him there.

a swarm of beetles – multiple Hamiltons???

a typical burying beetle (sexton beetle) - Bill Hamilton, the evolutionary biologist,

wanted to become multiple beetles after his death - yikes !!!!

Hamilton was my kind of researcher because he was so self-effacing (that's why nobody has heard of him). He was such a productive source of ideas involving so many aspects of evolutionary biology, but he did not always write dissertations about them - for example, he buried one of his most ingenious theories in a review he wrote about a colleague's book.

He was a great admirer of Darwin and was actually very like him according to Dawkins. And he was very keen to "tidy up" some of the unresolved issues that Darwin "left behind".

His theory of altruism tried to explain the existence of this characteristic as derived from the individual's attempt to propagate the genes of people who have similar genes to his own, for example, the genes of our closest relatives.

Although Hamilton is best known for his research on altruism, the man himself was most interested in the question of sex - why do we have sex? Yes, we all want to spread our genes far and wide, but would it not be more efficient if women could give birth through parthenogenesis, thus spreading their genes in a completely pure form (like clones in other words) without the help of men ??

Unfortunately, the jury is still out on that one.

sexual selection in the academic world

He also worked on sexual selection. Why do females choose one male rather than another? Hamilton thought that the most important thing is for the male to show that he can resist the current parasites because parasites are evolving constantly and at an alarming rate.

It is well-known that females choose males that bear certain characteristics, such as bright feathers. Hamilton believed that these features are a kind of "health certificate" that shows that the male is highly resistant to current parasites. And the females are all out looking for these health certificates, so they can have sex with the certificate’s bearer.

Good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

17:30 Lois comes home and we have dinner. Afterwards, we talk a little on Skype with Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, and Ed, her husband. The most likely thing now is that they will move back to England next Easter. The family that are currently living in Ali and Ed's Haslemere house, plan to move into their new house next Easter or thereabouts.

We leave discussion till later about Christmas and New Year plans. Lois prefers that she and I stay at home this year. We must save money to visit Sarah, our daughter in Australia, in the spring, and if Alison's family move back to England next year, we will have many opportunities to see them thereafter. Lois is still a little afraid of flying so she would like to minimize the flights we need to take.

21:00 I watch a bit of television while Lois pops into the dining room to talk to Ruth, her cousin's wife. I know that Ruth will talk for an hour or more about all her many relatives' many problems and illnesses. Ruth is a "problems-junkie". She is not like the evolutionary females who are constantly on the hunt for bearers of visible "health certificates" - she is constantly on the hunt  for anyone bearing a (physical or mental) "unhealth-certificate" - good grief, what madness !!!!

22:00 I put our clocks back an hour, except for the two clocks we keep on Western Australia time - people are lucky over there and they are not forced to disturb their body clocks twice a year.We go to bed - zzzzzzz !!!!!