Søndag den 26. november 2017

09:00 Lois beslutter ikke at gå i kirke i dag. Vejene er stadig isglatte efter nattens frostvejr.

10:00 Vi taler lidt på whatsapp med Sarah, vores 40-årige datter i Perth, Australien, og med hendes 4-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie. Sarah er meget glad for, at Lois og jeg planlægger at besøge dem næste år og har allerede købt flybilletterne. Hun er også glad, for at hun har kunnet bestille pladser til tvillingerne i Mullaloo-børnehaven, der har et godt navn blandt lokale forældre. Familien har til hensigt at flytte i de næste få uger til Mullaloo fra deres nuværende hus i Leederville.

Mullaloo-børnehaven

Sarah er statsautoriseret revisor, og familieforsørgeren. Francis, hendes 52-årige mand, er ”pappe latte” og passer på tvillingerne mandag til fredag, mens Sarah er på arbejde. Han lider af forskellige fysiske problemer, herunder brok og ischias, og han har lige haft sin 2. biopsi for at få undersøget knuder i skjoldbruskkirtel. En blandet landhandel af problemer der, stakkels Francis.

11:00 November måned er næsten forbi, så jeg går i gang med forskellige juleforberedelser: jeg udfærdiger to julekortlister, den ene over Lois’ venner og slægtninge (9 sider), den anden (meget kortere gudskelov – kun 5 sider ha ha ha) over mine. Jeg plejer ikke at falde over mine egne ben for at opbygge en stor omgangskreds – det må jeg indrømme: rent socialt er jeg bare en gnaven enspænder og fultidsprofessionelt pivehoved ha ha ha!

Efter jeg har udfærdiget de to julekortlister, udarbejder jeg vores årlige julenyhedsbrev. Jeg bliver pludselig klar over, at ikke ret meget er sket igen i år. Pokkers – ét år nærmere til vi ligger i en grav – yikes ha ha ha! Det er heldigt, at vi besøgte vores datter Alison og hendes familie i København i juli og passede på børnebørnene mens Ali og Ed var i Hong Kong på forretningsrejse: ellers ville hele året have været lidt af en fiasko, en blankt ark papir, ingen tvivl om det!!!! Yikes (igen) !!!!

Som altid, vælger jeg 4 fotos for at symbolisere året på en eller anden mystisk måde.

Vores datter Alison og hendes familie,

på besøg hos os i juli

Vores datter Sarah og hendes 4-årige tvillinger

på et skib i Perth-havn, Australien

Alison og Lois i juni i ”Hamlets slot” i Helsingør, Danmark

Mig, med mine forelskede fødselsdagsgaver:

Larkins digte, gin, teaterbilletter, en æske turkisk delight – nam nam!

12:30 Frokost og bagefter en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15:15 og smutter på badeværelset. Jeg bemærker til min store ærgelse, at kun 1 af vores 5 moderne loftlys stadigvæk virker – pokkers, endnu et lys må have brændt ud siden i går!

Før eller senere må jeg finde ud af, hvordan man skifter pære når det kommer til en af disse moderne loftlysmonteringer. Hvorfor gør man alting så kompliceret i den moderne verden???? Det var så nemt i fortiden – det største eksempel på en let opgave: hvor mange pensionister skal der til at skifte en pære?
(svaret) Tre. En til at skifte pæren og to til at snakke om hvor god den gamle pære var, og hvor meget bedre pærer var i gamle dage ha ha ha.

kun 1 af vores 5 loftlys virker nu – pokkers!

Hvordan skifter man pære i disse slags moderne loftlysmonteringer?

Det har jeg ikke den fjerneste anelse om!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og lytter til radio, et interessant program der handler om epikuræismen. Programmets vært er komikeren, Andy Zaltzman.

Epikuræismen er et filosofisystem baseret på Epikurs lære, der blev grundlagt en gang omkring 307 f.Kr. Epicur, der arbejdede i det antikke Grækenland, var en atomist og materialist, og hans materialisme tillod ham at angribe overtro og guddommelig indblanding. Han troede, at fornøjelsen var det højeste gode.  

Mennesket kan skabe et liv i indre frihed, uafhængig af den ydre verden. Den frie vilje gør os i stand til at forme vores egen verden ved rationelt at undersøge vores begreber. Målet med det er at komme i forbindelse med menneskets egen natur og at leve uforstyrret med mindst mulig ubehag og smerte. Epikurs filosofi har derfor et praktisk sigte, og i de epikuræiske haver har eleverne formentlig arbejdet med sig selv og ikke kun med teorierne, hvilket lyder fornuftigt.

Andy Zalzman, der denne uge forsøger sig med epikurænismen.

Et morsomt program, hvor komikeren Andy, programmets vært, prøver at bruge et par dage på at følge Epikurs lære.

Andy har en kone og børn, men er ellers lidt af en enspænder og helt uorganiseret i sit liv. Epikur mente, at venner og venskab var en vigtig del af det gode liv, så Andy gør til en af hans uges udfordringer opgaven at ringer til et par venner, han ikke har talt med i årevis og fortæller dem, hvor meget han elsker dem og sætter pris på deres venskab, deres meninger osv.

Selvfølgelig var vennernes første reaktion, at Andy ønskede at låne penge af dem, eller havde lige modtaget en negativ medicinsk rapport. Du godeste, det er sgu en underlig verden vi lever i, ingen tvivl om det !!!! Hmmmmm!!!!!  

Andy er besat af sport, især cricket,  og bruger mange timer på at se cricket på fjernsyn, eller høre til kampene på radio. En anden af hans uges udfordringer er at holde op med at interessere sig i sport, men hans indsatser er ikke 100% succesfulde. Hans dage virker nu så tomme – han mindes, at alkoholikere er altid ivrige efter at deltage i Anonyme Alkoholikere-møder, fordi det er én måde at dræbe tiden, de før i tiden brugte på at drikke – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Den sidste af ugens udfordringer er at skrive sin egen nekrolog. Han mindes først, at der stod i mange epikuræiske epitafier i en antikke verden ordene ”Jeg var ikke, jeg har været, jeg er ikke, jeg er ligeglad."

I sin selvnekrolog kommenterer han, at han i løbet af de mange timer, han har brugt på at se på cricketkampe eller tænkt på det, kunne have skrevet ca 153 romaner, opdaget og udforsket et nyt kontinent, rejst til Pluto og/eller tilbage med cykel-rickshaw, og startet og fuldført de mange opgaver, han aldrig nåede at gå i gang med! Du godeste, stakkels Andy – vi kommer til at savne dig, når du i virkelligheden afgår ved døden, ingen tvivl om det !!!! Og naturligvis vil jeg stadig være levende og godt ha ha ha!

20:00 Vi taler lidt på Skype med Alison, vores datter i København. Ed, Alisons mand, forventer, at hans selskab vil afskedige ham i marts/april, men for tiden planlægger Ali og Ed at blive boende i Danmark endnu et par måneder, så deres 3 børn kan fuldføre skoleåret i deres danske skole. De vil sandsynligvis få deres møbler sendt tilbage til England, og så bo i et airbnb-hus indtil skolens sommerferie starter.

Det ville være rart at tænke, at de vil bosatte sig tilbage i England, men virkeligheden er, at Eds næste job kunne være hvor som helst i verden. Biblen fortalte Lois og mig at  »blive frugtbare og mangfoldige og opfyld jorden”, og det har vi prøvet at gøre  på vores lille måde ha ha ha.

 22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!

English translation

09:00 Lois decides not to go to church today. The roads are still icy after the night's frost.

10:00 We talk a little on whatsapp with Sarah, our 40-year-old daughter in Perth, Australia, and with her 4-year-old twins, Lily and Jessie. Sarah is very happy that Lois and I plan to visit them next year and that we have already bought the tickets. She is also pleased that she has been able to book places for the twins in the Mullaloo kindergarten, which has a good name among local parents. The family intends to move to Mullaloo from their current house in Leederville in the next few weeks .

Mullaloo kindergarten

Sarah is a chartered accountant and the family's breadwinner. Francis, her 52-year-old husband, is a "pappa latte" (stay-at-home dad) and looks after the twins Monday to Friday while Sarah is at work. He suffers from various physical problems, including hernia and sciatica, and he has just had his second biopsy to investigate nodules on his thyroid gland. A real mixed bag of problems there - poor Francis.

11:00 November is almost over, so I get started with a variety of Christmas preparations: I make two Christmas card lists, one of Lois' friends and relatives (9 pages), the other (much shorter thank god - only 5 pages ha ha ha) of mine. I do not usually fall over myself to build up a big circle of friends - I have to admit. Socially, I'm a bit of a loner and a full-time professional whinger ha ha ha!

After I have completed the two Christmas card lists, I draft our annual Christmas newsletter. I suddenly realize that not much has happened again this year. Damn - one year closer to being in a grave - yikes ha ha ha! It's fortunate that we visited our daughter Alison and her family in Copenhagen in July and looked after the grandchildren while Ali and Ed were in Hong Kong on business: otherwise the whole year would have been a bit of a wash-out, a blank sheet of paper, no doubt about that!!!! Yikes (again) !!!!

As always, I choose 4 photos to symbolize the year in some mysterious way.

Our daughter Alison and her family,

visiting us in July

Our daughter Sarah and her 4 year old twins

on a boat in Perth Harbor, Australia

Alison and Lois in June in "Hamlet's Castle" in Helsingør, Denmark

Me, with my beloved birthday gifts:

Larkin's poems, gin, theater tickets, a box of Turkish delight - yum yum!

12:30 Lunch and afterwards a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3:15pm and pop into the bathroom. I notice to my great annoyance that now only one of our 5 modern ceiling lights is still working - damn, another light must have burned out since yesterday!

Sooner or later I have to figure out how to change the bulbs when it comes to one of these modern ceiling light fittings. Why do they make everything so complicated in the modern world ???? It was so easy in the past - the biggest example of an easy task: how many retirees do you need to change a lightbulb? (The answer:- three: one to change the bulb and two to talk about how good the old bulb was and how much better bulbs were in the old days ha ha ha.)

Only 1 of our 5 ceiling lights now works - damn it!

How do you change the bulb in this kind of modern ceiling light fitting?

I haven't the slightest idea!

18:00 We eat dinner and listen to the radio, an interesting program about epicureanism. The host of the program is the comedian, Andy Zaltzman.

Epicureanism is a philosophy system based on Epicurus's teachings, and was founded around 307 BC. Epicurus, who lived and "worked" in ancient Greece, was an atomist and materialist, and his materialism allowed him to attack superstition and the belief in divine interference. He thought that pleasure was the greatest good.

Man can create a life of inner freedom, independent of the outer world. Free will enables us to shape our own world by rationally examining our concepts. Its goal is to connect with human nature and to live undisturbed and in the least possible amount of discomfort and pain. Epicurus's philosophy is therefore a practical aim, and in the "Epicurean Gardens" (the school he ran) the students worked on improving their own lives and not just on looking at the theories, which sounds sensible.

Andy Zalzman, who is having a go at epicureanism this week.

Tonight's is a fun program where comedian Andy, the host of the program, tries to spend a few days following Epicurus's teachings.

Andy has a wife and children, but is otherwise a bit of a loner and totally disorganized in his life. Epicurus believed that friends and friendship were an important part of the good life so Andy makes one of his week's challenges the task of calling a few friends he has not spoken to for years, and telling them how much he loves them and how much he appreciates their friendship, their opinions, etc.

Of course, the friends' first reaction was that Andy wanted to borrow money off them or had just received an adverse medical report. My god, it's a strange world we live in, no doubt about that !!!! Hmmmmm !!!!!

Andy is obsessed with sports, especially cricket, and spends many hours watching cricket on television or listening to the games on the radio. Another of his week's challenges is to stop being interested in sports, but his efforts are not 100% successful. His days now seem so empty - he recalls that most alcoholics are always keen to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings partly because it is one way to kill the time they used to spend on drinking. Good grief, what madness !! !!

The last of the week's challenges is to write his own obituary. He first recalled that in many epicurean epitaphs in an ancient world we see the words "I was not, I have been, I am not, I do not care".

In his self-obituary, he comments that during the many hours he spent watching cricket matches or thinking about it, he could have written about 153 novels, discovered and explored a new continent, traveled to Pluto and back by cycle rickshaw, and started and finished the many tasks he has never managed to get around to! My god, poor Andy - we're going to miss you when you really die, no doubt about that! And yes off course, I’ll still be around ha ha ha!

20:00 We talk a little on Skype with Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen. 

Ed, Alison's husband, expects his company to dismiss him in March / April, but at the moment Ali and Ed are planning to stay in Denmark a few months after that, so their 3 children can complete the school year in their Danish school. They will probably have their furniture sent back to England, and then stay in an airbnb house until the school's summer vacation starts.

It would be nice to think that they will settle back in England, but the reality is that Ed's next job could be anywhere in the world. The Bible told Lois and me to "go forth and multiply and fill the earth," and that's what we have tried to do in our little way ha ha ha.

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