Tirsdag den 7. november 2017

04:00 Jeg står tidligt op og kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at fossiler af 'vores tidligste forfædre' er blevet fundet i grevskabet Dorset på Englands sydkyste. Tænder, der tilhører disse uddøde, små væsner, der lignede spidsmuse og som pilede rundt mellem dinosaurers fødder, er blevet opdaget i klipper på kysten.

De forskere, der identificerede væsnerne, siger, at de er de tidligste ubestridte fossiler af pattedyr, der tilhørte den linje, der førte til mennesker. De daterer tilbage 145 millioner år.

Disse tidlige pattedyrene var små, pelsagtige væsner, der sandsynligvis opstod under nattens omslag. Den ene art, som muligvis plejede at bore sig ind i jorden, levede af insekter, mens den anden, større art måske har levet af planter også.

Deres tænder var meget avancerede, af en type, der kan gennembore, skære og knuse mad. Tænderne var også meget slidte, hvilket tyder på, at de dyr, de tilhørte, levede i en god alder for deres art, hvilket var en betydelig bedrift i betragtning af, at de delte deres miljø med dinosaurer.

 forskere har identificeret tænder, der tilhørte

menneskers tidligste forfædre (145 millioner år gamle) – du godeste!

Disse væsners DNA uddøde bestemt ikke – det ved jeg med sikkerhed. Da jeg var studerende, mødte jeg mange kollegaer, der var små og pelsagtige, og som også kun opstod under nattens omslag. Eftersom jeg selv har aldrig været en natteravn, plejede jeg at se disse væsner komme hjem tidligt om morgenen, som jeg dukkede frisk og frejdig frem på vej til cafeteriet. Hvor irriterende jeg må have været!

08:00 Jeg hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté. Vi snakker lidt om mine planer om at blive så klar som muligt på at downsize, hvis det bliver nødvendigt. Vi er begge to 71 år gamle og dette hus og denne have er alt for store til, at vi kan klare de meget længere.

Men jeg bliver pludselig klar over, at vi aldrig kommer til at forlade dette hus, før en af os dør. Jeg foreslår til Lois, at vi kan donere til lokale legegrupper de legetøj, som vores børnebørn hyggede sig med, da de var yngre. Lois giver et ganske fornuftigt svar – hun siger, at hun hellere vil beholde nogle legetøj i huset for det tilfælde, nogen med små børn besøger os. 

Dette er fint nok og meget fornuftigt, men det ville tage en helvedes tid til at sortere vores store lager legetøj, og beslutte hvilke at beholde og hvilke at smide, og jeg er helt sikker på, at det aldrig vil ske. Jeg mistænker, at dette problem er et generelt problem, der vil forhindre alle vores planer om at downsize.

Bare nogle af de mange legetøj vi holder i huset. Mange af dem købte vi

først i 1980’erne til vores to døtre (nu i 40’erne) i USA

09:00 Bob, vores nabo, smutter forbi. Han har skudt to fasaner, en han og en hun. Vi takker Bob, selvom vi faktisk mere har ondt for fuglene, end at vi er glade for gaven. Bob foreslår, at vi kun skære brysterne ud og stege dem – der er ikke ret meget kød på benene. Vi hænger dem op i spisekammeret. Stakkels fugle!!!!!

Vi hænger Bobs fasaner op i spisekammeret.

Stakkels fugle!!!!!

10:00 Jeg går i gang med at fortsætte med at downsize min garderobe. Jeg smider sweaters, bukser og jakker (5 poser i alt). Min plan er som følger:  hvis der sker et eller andet uforventet, og vi bliver tvunget til at sælge huset, vil vi kun måtte downsize Lois’s ejendele, hvilket giver mening for mig. 

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for a tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Mens jeg sover, ringer vores bank til Lois. Nogen har nappet nummeret af Lois’s betalingskort, hvilket vi fandt ud af i lørdags, da en autodeleforretning i byen Andover hævdede 800£ af vores penge.

autodeleforretningen i byen Andover der fik

800£ af vores penge efter en svigagtig brug af Lois’s betalingskort

Banken har krediteret vores konto med 800£, mens de undersøger sagen. De fortæller Lois i dag, at endnu et forsøg på at hæve penge er sket: 200£ til ”Cargo International” i Manchester, og nogle små summer til Eddie Bauer i USA – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i! Heldigvis har banken blokkeret Lois’s betalingskort, så ikke noget problem, gudskelov.

Nogen prøvede at købe forskellige ting fra Eddie Bauer i USA

ved at bruge Lois’s betalingskort svigagtigt. Du godeste,

sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og lytter lidt til radio, en koncert af tidlig engelsk musik. Solisten er den charmerende Carolyn Sampson.

Mens vi lytter til koncerten, læser jeg de næste 10 vers af ”Havamal”, et oldnorsk digt, der blev skrevet af Odin, den berømte nordiske gud. Scillas U3A oldnorske gruppe holder dens næste møde i morgen kl 14 i byens bibliotek.

I går læste jeg op til det vers, hvor Odin forsøger at forføre Billingrs datter – han ser et glimt af hende først, da hun ligger inde i sengen, og han bliver tiltrækket i sær af hendes hvide hudfarve – hun inviterer ham til at komme tilbage lidt senere og have sex, men da han senere smutter forbi, finder Odin desværre en masse dumme krigere i huset, viftende deres brændende fakler på kryds og tværs. Odin beslutter at stakke af og komme tilbage et par timer senere.

Odin kommer tilbage mod morgen, da krigerne sover, men han finder at Billingrs datter er blevet væk og han ser kun en ubehagelig, aggressiv hund lænket til hendes seng. Jeg formoder, at kvinden ikke havde lyst til at tage sit såkaldte ”forhold” med Odin til det næste niveau. Stakkels Odin!!!!

Billingrs datter, set her med mulig falsk solbrun: 

hun inviterede Odin til at komme senere i seng til hende,

men han fandt hendes seng uforklarligt tøm, da han smuttede forbi.

åbenbart havde hun desværre ikke lyst til at tage sit forhold

med Odin til det næste niveau – stakkels Odin !!!!

Der har været en livlig debat mellem oldnorske eksperter, der handler om selve Billingr, kvindens far. Det er velkendt, at Billingr ikke var en mand af standard størrelse, men var han dværg eller gigant (og jeg formoder at dette spørgsmål gælder også til hans datter) ? Vikingerne plejede dengang at opretholde og opdatere en katalog af dværger, et nyttigt kartotek, hvis man havde brug for en dværg af en eller anden grund – og Billingrs navn fandtes i katalogen.

Jeg hælder selv til ”gigant-lejren”. Odin gik i seng med bunkevis af kæmpekvinder, men ikke med en enkelt dværg, så vidt jeg ved. Men det er juryen er stadig ude om.

21:00 Vi slukker for radioen og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser første afsnit af en speciel serie af ”Grand Designs”, der fokuserer på RIBAs (Royal Institute of British Architects) konkurrence for at finde ”årets hus”. Programmets vært er den charmerende Kevin McCloud.

I aften ser vi de første 5 huse i konkurrencen. Mange af dem ser meget grimme og ukomfortable ud efter min mening – ingen overraskelse der! Men jeg må indrømme, at jeg har lidt ondt af nutidens arkitekter. Det er meget begrænset hvad de kan designe, hvis de ikke ønsker at blive foragtet af deres kollegaer. De er slaver af mode, og derfor er de fleste nye moderne hus bygget i samme stil. Mange aspekter er obligatoriske, så arkitekternes frihed er meget alvorligt begrænset.

Ofte er disse moderne huse bygget i et traditionelt villakvarterer, og de ødelægger fuldstændigt områdets skønhed og stemning – uha! Enorme huse, enorme vinduer, flade tage osv – disse aspekter determinerer husets udseende. Enorme stuer i åbent kontorlandskab stil (kombinerende køkken, spisestue og dagligstue), mangel på gulvtæpper og gardiner, hvide vægge og lofter, ukomfortable sofaer, forfærdelig akustik osv – disse obligatoriske aspekter begrænser alvorligt arkitektens frihed at variere husets indre – du godeste! Stakkels arkitekter!!!!

Byen Bath er en af de smukkeste byer i England, så derfor er det lidt af en skam at få bygget et grimt moderne hus i bymidten, og ødelægger fuldstændigt stemningen af området.

Byen Bath er en af de smukkeste byer i England

det er lidt af en skam at få bygget et grimt, moderne hus

i bymidten, og ødelægge områdets dejlige, historiske stemning – uha!

husets modbydelige stue: et enorme, åbent kontorlandskab

med enorme ukomfortable sofaer, ingen gulvtæpper, elendig akustik osv

Sikke et vanvid!!!!

Vi kan godt lide programmets charmerende vært, Kevin McCloud, men jeg har desværre ofte lejlighed til at kritisere hans grammatik. Han er en uddannet mand, men vi hører ofte udtryk som for eksempel ”for you and I”, der skurrer i ørerne.

Lois siger, at jeg hver dag mere og mere ligner Big Bang Theorys Sheldon Cooper, der også er lidt pedantisk, når det kommer til grammatik.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!

English translation

04:00 I get up early and look online. I see that fossils of 'our earliest ancestors' have been found in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. Teeth belonging to these extinct little creatures, that resembled shrews and used to bomb around between the feet of dinosaurs, have been discovered in cliffs on the coast.

The scientists who identified the creatures say they are the earliest undisputed fossils of mammals belonging to the line that led to humans. They date back 145 million years.

These early mammals were small, furry creatures that probably emerged under cover of night. The one species, that may have been a burrower, lived off insects, while the other, larger species may have lived off plants as well.

Their teeth were very advanced, of a type that could pierce, cut and crush food. The teeth were also very worn, indicating that the animals they belonged to lived to be a ripe old age for their kind, which was a significant achievement, given that they shared their environment with dinosaurs.

researchers have identified teeth belonging

to human beings' earliest ancestors (145 million years old) –

my goodness!

Certainly, these creatures' DNA did not die out - that's something I know for sure. When I was a student, I met a lot of colleagues who were small and furry, and who also only came out under cover of night. Since I have never been a night owl, I used to see these creatures coming home early in the morning as I emerged bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on my way to the cafeteria. How annoying I must have been!

08:00 I jump back into bed with Lois and we drink our morning tea. We chat a little about my plans to get as ready as possible to downsize if it becomes necessary. We are both 71 years old and this house and this garden are far too big for us to manage much longer.

But I suddenly realize that we will never leave this house before one of us dies. I suggest to Lois that we can donate to the local playgroups the toys that our grandchildren enjoyed when they were younger. Lois gives a very reasonable answer - she says she'd rather keep some toys in the house in case someone with small children visits us.

This is fine enough and very reasonable, but it would take a hell of time to sort through our big stock of toys and decide which to keep and which to throw out, and I'm sure it will never happen. I suspect this problem is a general issue that will prevent all our plans to downsize.

Just a few of the many toys we keep in the house. Many of them we bought

in the US in the early 1980s for our two daughters (who are now in their 40's)

09:00 Bob, our neighbor, drops by. He has shot two pheasants, one male and one female. We thank Bob, even if we actually feel more sorry for the birds than we are pleased about the gift. Bob suggests that we just cut the breasts out and cook them - there is not much meat on the legs. We hang them up in the pantry. Poor birds !!!!!

We hang Bob's pheasants up in the pantry.

Poor birds !!!!!

10:00 I get started on continuing to downsize my wardrobe. I throw sweaters, pants and jackets away (5 bags in all). My plan is as follows: if something unexpected happens and we are forced to sell the house, we will only have to downsize Lois's belongings, which makes sense to me.

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. While I sleep, our bank calls Lois. Someone has pinched the number of Lois's debit card, something we already found out about on Saturday when an autoparts business in Andover claimed £800 of our money.

an autoparts business in the town of Andover that got

£800 of our money after fraudulent use of Lois's payment card

The bank has credited our account with £800 while investigating the case. They tell Lois today that another attempt has been made to withdraw money: £200 for "Cargo International" in Manchester, and a few small amounts for Eddie Bauer in the US - good grief, what a crazy world we live in! Fortunately, the bank has blocked Lois's debit card, so no problem, thank goodness.

Somebody tried to buy various things from Eddie Bauer in the US

by using Lois's debit card fraudulently. My goodness,

what a crazy world we live in !!!!!

18:00 We have dinner and listen to a bit of radio, a concert of early English music. The soloist is the charming Carolyn Sampson.

While we listen to the concert, I read the next 10 verses of "Havamal", an Old Norse poem written by Odin, the famous Norse god. Scilla's U3A Old Norse Group will be holding its next meeting tomorrow at 2pm in the town's library.

Yesterday I read up to the verse where Odin tries to seduce Billingr's daughter - he first gets a glimpse of her when she is in bed and he is attracted to her very white skin tones - she invites him to come back a little later and have sex, but when he swings by later, Odin unfortunately finds a lot of stupid warriors in the house, waving their burning torches all over the place. Odin decides to clear off and come back a couple of hours later.

Odin comes back towards morning when the warriors are asleep, but he finds that Billing's daughter has gone away and he sees only an unpleasant, aggressive dog chained to her bed. I suppose the woman did not want to take her so-called "relationship" with Odin to the next level. Poor Odin !!!!

Billing's daughter, possibly with fake tan: 

she invited Odin to come to bed with her later,

but he found the bed inexplicably empty when he swung by.

Obviously she did not want to take her relationship

with Odin to the next level - poor Odin !!!!

There has been a lively debate between Old Norse experts, all about Billingr himself, the woman's father. It is well known that Billingr was not a man of standard size, but was he a dwarf or a giant (and I suppose this question also applies to his daughter)? The Vikings used to maintain and update a catalog of dwarfs, a useful directory if you needed a dwarf for any reason - and Billing's name was listed in the directory.

I myself lean towards the "giant camp". Odin went to bed with a bunch of giantesses, but not with a single dwarfess, as far as I know. But that's something the jury is still out on.

21:00 We turn off the radio and watch a bit of television. The first episode of a special series of "Grand Designs" is on, focussing on RIBA's (Royal Institute of British Architects) competition to find "the house of the year". The host of the program is the charming Kevin McCloud.

Tonight we see the first 5 houses in the competition. Many of them look very ugly and uncomfortable in my opinion - no surprise there! But I must admit that I feel sorry for today's architects. It is very limited what they can design if they do not want to be despised by their colleagues. They are slaves to fashion, and therefore most new modern houses are built in the same style. Many aspects are mandatory, so the freedom of the architects is very seriously limited.

Often these modern houses are built in a traditional residential neighborhoods, and they completely spoil the area's beauty and atmosphere - oh dear! Huge houses, huge windows, flat roofs etc. - these aspects determine the appearance of the house. Huge living rooms in open-plan office style (combining kitchen, dining and living room), lack of carpets and curtains, white walls and ceilings, uncomfortable sofas, horrible acoustics, etc. - These mandatory aspects seriously limit the architect's freedom to vary the interior of the house - good grief! Poor architects !!!!

The city of Bath is one of the most beautiful cities in England, so it's a bit of a shame to have built an ugly modern house in the city center, completely destroying the atmosphere.

The city of Bath is one of the most beautiful cities in England

It's a bit of a shame to have built an ugly modern house

in the city center, and spoil the area's lovely historic atmosphere – oh dear!

The House's nasty living room: an enormous, open plan landscape

with huge uncomfortable sofas, no carpeting, lousy acoustics, etc.

What madness !!!!

We like the program's charming host, Kevin McCloud, but unfortunately I often have occasion to criticize his grammar. He is an educated man, but we often hear expressions like "for you and I" that grate on the ears.

Lois says that every day I am getting more and more like Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper, who is also a little pedantic when it comes to grammar.

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