Danskcolin: Torsdag den 23. november 2017

09:00 Lois og jeg kører over til det lokale Waitrose-supermarked for at købe ind. Men først smutter vi ind i det lokale Thomas Cook-rejsebureau, der har til huse i supermarkedet. Vores datter Sarah har bedt os om at besøge hendes familie i Perth i foråret (Australiens efterår) og tilbringe tid hos dem alle: også Francis, Sarahs mand, og deres 4-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie.

Vi spørger ekspeditricen om, hvor meget vores planlagte rejse til Australien ville koste, og detaljer om flyafgange osv. Vi har været interesserede i nyheder om direkte flyveture fra London til Perth, men vi får at vide desværre, at direkte flyveture kun starter fra marts 2018, og den første måneds flyveture alle er udsolgte – pokkers! Vi beslutter på nogle provisionelle datoer (Birmingham til Perth og tilbage), men vi skal diskutere dem med Sarah, for at finde ud af, om datoerne er okay, eller ej.

Flyveturene vil være via Dubai, men vi skal kun skifte fly der – vi har besluttet ikke at overnatte dem, som sidste gang.

vi beslutter på nogle provisionelle datoer

Birmingham til Perth og tilbage

Det er lidt skuffende at få at vide, at vores 28.000 air-miles (der lyder fantastiske) ikke vil købe os mere, end en lille rabat – pokkers!!! Vi er så naive, når det kommer til flyrejser.

På den anden side er vi heldige i, at vi har endnu en rabat på grund af, at det hele kan kategoriseres som en Black Friday tilbud – hurra! Det er overraskende at se, hvor meget Black Friday tilbud i de seneste få år er blevet så udbredte, selvom vi briter ikke fejrer Thanksgiving, som først og fremmest er en amerikansk helligdag. Jeg ved ikke, hvorfor vi ikke fejrer den – de oprindelige pilgrimme var englænderer og hollandere, og man fejrer den i Canada. Hvorfor ikke? Jeg synes, man skal få at vide, hvorfor ikke ha ha ha!

11:30 Vi kommer hjem og jeg sender Sarah en sms på whatsapp, og hun siger datoerne er helt fine, så vi skal til Thomas Cooks rejsebureau igen i morgen for at købe billetterne. Du godeste, skræmmende!!!!

Vi synes, at Sarah er meget ivrig efter, at vi besøger dem. Da de flyttede til Australien i december 2015, troede de, at mange af deres venner og slægtninge ville fælde over sine egne ben for at besøge dem, men faktisk er det kun Lois og jeg der er rejst derover (i 2016).

Flybilletterne ville være meget dyre og ubehageligt lange for unge familiers vedkommende, og andre venner kan blive lidt nervøse for at opholde sig i et hus med meget unge børn, men det er vi ikke helt sikre på. Det er juryen stadig ude om, men vi må se kendsgerningerne i øjnene. Faktum er, at det er kun Lois og jeg, der har besøgt dem, hvilket er lidt skuffende for Sarah og Francis, ingen tvivl om det.

13:00 Vi spiser frokost. Vi ser lidt fjernsyn, programmet vi så i går aftes, en interessant dokumentarfilm ”Digging for Britain” (1. del af 4), en serie, der giver en oversigt af hvad landets arkæologer har afdækket i 2017. Dette afsnit handler om udgravninger i centrale og vestlige England. Programmets vært er den charmerende Alice Roberts.

Vi ser programmet igen, fordi både Lois og jeg faktisk faldt i søvn af og til under mange dele af programmet. Der er en interessant rapport om de enorme Avebury-stencirkler i Wiltshire, hvor arkæologer har opdaget at der oprindeligt stod et forhistorisk hus i centret af de to omgivende stencirkler, og huset faktisk eksisterede, før de to stencirkler blev bygget. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Arkæologer har i de seneste få måneder opdaget, at Aveburys

enorme stencirkler blev bygget omkring et forhistorisk hus

der engang stod på cirklernes centrum – sikke et vanvid!!!!

tilbageblik til januar 1997: jeg besøger Avebury sammen

med min søster Kathy og min svigerbror Steve, der var på besøg hos os fra USA.

senere fejrer vi Kathy og Steves besøg i en lokale pub – (fra venstre til højre)

Steve, min mor, Kathy, Lois, mig, Sarah (vores datter nu i Australien)

Lykkelige dage !!!!!

Alice Roberts, programmets vært, påpager, at den stor vikinge invasion af det 9. århundrede efter et par år endte ud i fiasko, da den berømte angel-saksiske konge, Alfred, besejrede den danske hær og forenede de forskellige engelske riger.

Men Lois og jeg synes, at det var lidt af en skam, at Alfred besejrede danskerne. Hvis danskerne havde overtaget landet, og vi var blevet en del af det danske rige, ville de måske have kunne redde os fra Vilhelm Erobreren, der medbragte sit forfærdelige feudale system over fra Normandiet. Hvis vi alle havde været danskere, ville vi måske have kunnet opnå et demokratisk system århundreder tidligere, hvilket lyder som gode nyheder for vores vedkommende. Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!! Men tilbage til virkeligheden....

Lois og jeg synes, at det var lidt af en skam, at Alfred og hans

angel-saksiske hær endelig besejrede danskerne.

Som en del af det danske rige kunne vi har modstået

Vilhelm Erobreren, og opnået et demokratiske system

århundreder tidligere, end vi faktisk gjorde – uha!!!

14:00 Jeg går i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 16.

Både Lois og jeg føler os lidt udkørt – vi føler os slatne som karklude: det er ikke hver dag, man beslutter at sluge kamelen og bruge tusindvis af pounds for at flyve til den anden side af verden og tilbage.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser det 7. afsnit af Big Bang Theorys seneste (11.) sæson.

Et meget morsomt afsnit, hvor Raj virker at begynde på et rent fysisk forhold med en indisk kvinde, Ruchi. Lois og jeg er ikke helt sikre, om Ruchi vil blive til en regelmæssig figur i sitcommen, eller ej. Raj er nu den eneste single tilbage mellem showets hovedfigurer, og det har altid set ud til, at forfatterne var usikre på, hvad slags kæreste at parre ham op med. Ruchis personlighed er modsat til Rajs – hun er i det mindste ikke romantiker.

Raj og Ruchi går i seng med hinanden for første gang efter et par timer i en indiansk pub, hvor gæsterne bruger aftenen på at se en cricketkamp på tv – ikke sædvanligt kategoriseres som et afrodisiakum, med det springer jeg over! Showet må have været nødt til at ansatte en flok af indianske statister – ingen tvivl om det!!!

På pubben hører vi en ganske kompliceret og informativ samtale om cricket mellem Raj og Ruchi, mens Rajs bedste ven Howard sidder på sidelinjerne: og det er muligt at Raj og Ruchis diskussion kunne have været lidt af et mysterium for showets amerikanske tvseere. Lois og jeg kommer til den konklusion, at samtalen var en plotmekanisme, for at Howard, der lige har haft en vasketomi, forlader parret efter at høre ordet ”googly” – en meget frygtet type kastning.

Howard, der lige har haft en vasektomi

forlader Raj og Ruchi alene ved bordet, efter han hører

ordet ”googly” en meget frygtet type kastning

Ruchi, en kemiker, fortæller Raj om sit arbejdsdag, hvor hun kiggede på

bivirkninger af sit selskabs svampecreme

Raj ser Juchi i et romantisk lys på trods af de

ubehagelige detaljer af hendes beskrivelse – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Senere gør Sheldon det samme med Bert, universitetets ufede geologer,

som Sheldon for første gang ser i et romantisk lys –

du godeste, sikke et vanvid (igen) !!!!

I løbet af reklamepausen ser vi tilfældigvis en reklame for Emirates,

vores skyselskab, hvilket er lidt uhyggeligt. Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!

English translation

09:00 Lois and I drive over to the local Waitrose supermarket to do the shopping. But first we pop into the local Thomas Cook travel agency that has a desk in the supermarket. Our daughter Sarah has asked us to visit her family in Perth this spring (Australia’s autumn) and spend time with them all: including Francis, Sarah's husband, and their 4-year-old twins, Lily and Jessie.

We ask the sales clerk about how much our planned trip to Australia would cost and details about flights etc. We have been interested in news about direct flights from London to Perth, but we are told that direct flights only start from March 2018 , and the first month's flights are all sold out - damn! We decide on some provisional dates (Birmingham to Perth and back), but we need to discuss them with Sarah, to find out if the dates are okay or not.

The Flights will be via Dubai, but we only have to change planes there - we have decided not to stay overnight like we did last time.

we decide on some provisional dates,

Birmingham to Perth and back.

It's a bit disappointing to know that our 28,000 air-miles (which sounds fantastic) will not buy us more than a small discount - damn !!! We are so naive when it comes to air travel.

On the other hand, we are lucky in that we have another discount because it can all be categorized as a Black Friday offer - hurrah! It is surprising to see how much Black Friday offers have become so widespread over the last few years, although we Brits do not celebrate Thanksgiving, which is primarily an American holiday. I do not know why we do not celebrate it - the original pilgrims were English and Dutch, and they celebrate it in Canada. Why not? I think we should be told why not ha ha ha!

11:30 We come home and I send Sarah an sms on whatsapp and she says the dates are fine so we will go to Thomas Cook's travel agency again tomorrow to buy the tickets. Good grief, scary !!!!

We think Sarah is very eager for us to visit them. When they moved to Australia in December 2015, they thought that a lot of their friends and relatives would fall over themselves to visit them, but in fact, it's only Lois and I that have traveled over there (in 2016).

The flights would be very expensive (and incredibly long) for young families, and other friends might be a little nervous about staying in a house with very young children, but that's something we are not entirely sure about. The jury is still out on that, but we must face realities. The fact is that it's only Lois and I that have visited them, which is a little disappointing for Sarah and Francis, no doubt about it.

13:00 We have lunch. We watch some television, the program we saw last night, an interesting documentary "Digging for Britain" (1st part of 4), a series that gives an overview of what the country's archaeologists have uncovered in 2017. This episode is about excavations in central and western england. The host of the program is the charming Alice Roberts.

We are seeing the program again because both Lois and I actually fell asleep occasionally during many parts of the program. There is an interesting report about the huge Avebury stone circles in Wiltshire, where archaeologists have discovered that there was originally a prehistoric house in the center of the two surrounding stone circles, and the house actually existed before the two stone circles were built. Good grief, what madness !!!!

Archaelogists have discovered in the last few months that

Avebury's huge stone circles were built around a prehistoric house

that once stood at the center of the circles - what madness !!!!

Flashback to January 1997: I visit Avebury together

with my sister Kathy and my brother in law Steve who were on a visit from the USA.

later we celebrate Kathy and Steve's visit in a local pub - (from left to right)

Steve, my mother, Kathy, Lois, me, Sarah (our daughter now in Australia)

Happy days !!!!!

Alice Roberts, host of the program, pointed out that the great viking invasion of the 9th century ended in failure after a couple of years when the famous Anglo-Saxon king Alfred defeated the Danish army and united the various English kingdoms.

But Lois and I think it was a shame that Alfred defeated the Danes. If the Danes had taken over the country and we had become part of the Danish empire, they might have been able to save us from William the Conqueror who brought his terrible feudal system with him across from Normandy. If we had all been Danes, we might have been able to achieve a democratic system centuries earlier than we actually did, which sounds like good news from our viewpoint. My god, what a crazy world we live in !!! But back to reality ....

Lois and I actually think it was a shame that Alfred and his

Anglo-Saxon army finally defeated the Danes.

If England had stayed part of the Danish empire we could have resisted

William the Conqueror, and achieved a democratic system

centuries earlier than we actually did - oh dear !!!

14:00 I go to bed and take me a huge afternoon nap. I get up at 4pm.

Both Lois and I feel a bit jaded - we feel as limp as damp cloths: it's not every day you decide to bite the bullet and spend thousands of pounds to fly to the other side of the world and back.

18:00 We have dinner and watch television. They show the 7th episode of Big Bang Theory's latest (11th) season.

A very amusing episode, where Raj seems to embark on a purely physical relationship with an Indian woman, Ruchi. Lois and I are not sure if Ruchi will become a regular character in the sitcom, or not. Raj is now the only single left among the show's main characters, and it has always looked like the writers have always been unsure about what kind of girlfriend to pair him up with. Ruchi's personality is opposite to Raj's - she is not the least bit romantic.

Raj and Ruchi go to bed with each other for the first time after a couple of hours in an Indian pub where guests spend the evening watching a cricket match on tv - not usually categorized as an aphrodisiac, but I'm going to let that one slide. The show must have had to employ a bunch of Indian extras - no doubt about that !!!

In the pub we hear a rather complicated and informative conversation between Raj and Ruchi about cricket, while Raj's best friend Howard is there sitting on the sidelines: and it is possible that Raj and Ruchi's discussion could have been a bit of a mystery for the show's American viewers. Lois and I come to the conclusion that the conversation was a plot mechanism for Howard, who has just had a vasectomy, to leave the couple by themselves after hearing the word "googly" - name for a much feared type of bowling/pitching.