Lørdag den 9. december 2017

08:00 Lois har en stor dag i dag, fordi hun vil hjælpe sin veninde, Mari-Ann, på dagens julemarked i byen Brockworth. Hun vil hjælpe Mari-Ann med at bemande en bod, hvor de vil sælger deres hjemmelavede kager og lækkerbisknener, flødekaramel osv, og også julekort.

Jeg går ud foran huset og skraber bilens forrude og sideruder fri for is – natten var langt den koldeste hidtil – bare vores held!!!! Jeg hjælper Lois med at lægge hendes kager, slik osv i bilen. Hun kører til af sted.

I mellemtiden går jeg hen ind i landsbyen for at købe kød, brød, frugt og grøntsager i Waghornes-slagterforretning og den tidligere Bakery Stores nærbutik. Så smutter jeg ind i det lokale postkantor for at afsende det seneste Octonauts børnemagasin til Isaac, vores 7-årige barnebarn i København.

en typisk Octonauts børnemagasin med tonnevis af gratis gaver på omslaget.

Jeg mistænker, at butikkernes ekspeditører og ekspeditricer er lidt overraskede at se mig uden Lois, i sær i slagterforretningen, hvor jeg prøver at se selvsikker ud, da jeg vælger en lammeskulder og beder Nigel om at skære det i to stykker, så vi to gamle krager kan bruge den til 2 måltider. Lois og jeg er normalt tapet sammen, når vi går på indkøb, og jeg har tendens til at lade hende være den, der taler – jeg er den, der fisker kreditkortet frem og betaler.

Jeg kommer hjem igen og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

10:00 Jeg har lidt alenetid, og læser resten af ”Forbandet”, en kriminovelle, der er vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende projekt. Nu, hvor jeg kender identitaten af denne rolige danske landbys lokale massemorder, har jeg problemet af, at jeg må ikke afsløre det til gruppens andre medlemmer, uanset hvor meget de forhører mig (og lægger mig på pinebænken ha ha ha!).

Vi vil have endnu et problem på torsdag, når gruppen holder sit næste møde: jeg ved ikke, om medlemmerne vil have mod til at oplæse sider 108-9, hvor forfatteren har besluttet at skildre en ganske grafisk sexscene mellem novellens helt, landsbyens landbetjenten Per Jansson, og Vivi, hans kone. Du godeste – det er ikke nemt at være en U3A gruppeleder, det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!! 

Landbetjenten Per Jansson og Vivi

Jeg føler mig lidt ansvarlig, fordi det var jeg, der valgte novellen som projekt, uden at vide, der ville være så meget sex derinde – jeg læste i forvejen kun de første ca. 50 sider, og der var ikke noget spor af sex. Jeg vil ikke have at kvindelige gruppemedlemmer klager til U3A-ledelsen over, at jeg har tvunget dem i en pinlig situation, hvor de er nødt til at beskrive en sexakt med flere detaljer, end vi har brug for (eller ønsker os!!!!) . Hjælp – jeg har ikke lyst til at blive til Cheltenham U3As Harvey Weinstein!!!!

Flere problemer: jeg ved ikke, hvordan medlemmerne vil reagere, når de finder ud af, at massemorderen er en kvinde, og begår sine forbrydelser iført en Superman-stil (eller Supergirl-stil) slag. Det er lidt af en overraskelse for mig, for at sige mildt.

Supergirl (Helen Slater): kan det være, at det danske politi skal

anholde Supergirl? Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Superheltes eller superskurkes tendens til at klæde sig ud som sig selv har altid været lidt af en ulempe, synes jeg. Seriens superskurke - Jokeren, Pingvinen, Gækkeren, Cat Woman osv – er øjeblikkelig genkendelige, når for eksempel vidner ser dem begå deres modbydelige forbrydelser, hvilket har tendens til at gøre politiets job lidt for nemt efter min mening. Det virkelige liv er ikke sådan, hvilket måske er lidt uheldigt.

Jeg mindes en webartikel jeg læste for 4 år siden, da nyheden først brød om, at Batman og Superman ville medvirke sammen i en ny film (rapport Onion News), og jeg så Del Chabrias kommentarer – han sagde, det ville være fedt, hvis de to superhelte byttede uniformer med hinanden. Jeg ignorer aldrig Dels kommentarer: han er en af webstedets mest erfarne kommentatorer, og han har fingeren på pulsen.

12:00 Jeg ser en opmuntrende email fra Sarah, vores datter i Australien.

Francis, Sarahs 52-årige mand, har nu haft 2 biopsier for at få undersøget knuder i skjoldbruskkirtel, men undersøgelserne viste ikke,  om knuderne var kræftagtige, eller ej. Sarah har forleden sagt, at han nu skal gennemgå en operation, sandsynligvis næste fredag (den 15.) på det lokale hospital.

Sarah sendte en email til sin svigerbror, David, der er en sygehuslæge i Bournemouth-område her i England for at stille nogle spørgsmål, fordi familiens australske læge ikke var synderligt hjælpsom.

David siger, at det er normalt under disse omstændigheder at fjerne knuderne, sammen med den halvdel af skjoldbruskkirtlen, hvor knuderne sidder, hvilket teknisk er den eneste sikre måde. Fjernelsen er en forholdsvis ukompliceret operation.

Resultaterne af operationen vil give et definitivt svar på kræft eller ikke-kræft spørgsmålet. Der er en risiko for, at knuderne er kræftagtige (ca 20 %), men David siger, at skjoldbruskkirtelkræft alligevel er ganske nemt at behandle. Tværtimod, hvis knuderne ikke er kræftagtige, så er ingen videre behandling nødvendigt, og de bliver ikke nødt til at bekymre mere.

Jeg føler mig meget mere positive, efter jeg har læst Davids kommentarer. Jeg håber på, at Sarah og Francis også føler sig mere positive, selvom selvfølgelig ingen er synderligt glad for, at gennemgå en operation.

13:00 Jeg spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Lois kommer tilbage, mens jeg ligger og sover.

15:00 Jeg står op og Lois fortæller mig om sine oplevelser på julemarkedet i formiddags. Det hele var ganske succesfuldt og de solgte en masse slik og kager, men kunderne var for det meste ikke ret interesserede i at købe julekort – ingen overraskelse der: jeg fortæller Lois, at jeg syntes, de fleste mennesker allerede har købt deres julekort til dette år: juledag er nu kun to uger væk.

Det var også lidt af en skam, at Lois’ og Mari-Anns bod desværre lå i bunden af bibliotekets sal, hvor der var mindre fodtrafik – bare deres held!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en morsom sitcom, ”Detectorists”, der handler om to metaldetektorister, Lance og Andy, der udforsker i markerne i  Østangeln, hvor de bor, i håbet på, at de falder på romerske eller angelsaksiske arkæologiske skatte, gamle historiske mønter, osv.

Denne sitcom er ikke rigtigt mit nummer. Humoren er lidt for blid, og det er lidt irriterende, at disse elendige mænd har nået at få fat i så attraktive kvinder som deres partnere, hvilket synes lidt usandsynligt, for at sige mildt.

Lance og Andy: det er lidt irriterende, at de begge har

så attraktive partnere, for at sige mildt!!!!

Men jeg kan godt lide de mærkelige og rørende filmsekvenser, nogle afsnit ender med. Ofte har Lance og Andy brugt hele dagen på arbejde på en mark med deres metaldetektorer, og har desværre igen ikke fundet noget (som sædvanligt). Ved slutningen af afsnittet, da programs kerningsmelodi begynder at lyde, viser programmagerne en slags drømmesekvens, hvor vi for eksempel skimter middelalderlige landarbejdere, ligesom spøgelser, på arbejde her og der på selve marken, hvor Lance og Andy har været i gang med at udforske.

Jeg tænker ofte på de usynlige mennesker, der engang boede i vores hus, for eksempel, eller gik ad vejen foran huset, en vej, er har eksisteret i århundreder, og forbinder to oprindelige landsbyer, der blev omtalt i Dommedagsbogen, som Vilhelm Erobreren fik kompileret i 1086. Jeg er helt sikker på, at vores vej eksisterede i 1086, selvom det kun var en mudret sti. Derfor er jeg til historien.

Men tilbage til virkeligheden...... Pokkers!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!!

English translation

08:00 Lois has a big day today because she is going to help her girlfriend, Mari-Ann, at today's Christmas market in Brockworth. She will be helping Mari-Ann to man a stall where they will sell their homemade cakes and treats, caramels etc, and also Christmas cards.

I go out in front of the house and scrape the car's windscreen and side windows free of ice - last night was by far the coldest so far - just our luck !!!! I help Lois to load her cakes etc, in the car. She drives away.

In the meantime I walk into the village to buy meat, bread, fruit and vegetables in Waghorne's butcher shop and the old Bakery Stores. Then I swing by the local post office to post off the latest Octonauts children's magazine to Isaac, our 7-year-old grandson in Copenhagen.

a typical Octonauts children's magazine with tons of free gifts on the cover.

I suspect that the shopkeepers' assitants are a little surprised to see me without Lois, especially in the butcher's shop, where I try to look confident as I choose a shoulder of lamb and ask Nigel to cut it in two pieces so we two old crows can use it for 2 meals. Lois and I are usually scotchtaped together when we go shopping, and I tend to let her be the one who does the talking - I'm the one who fishes the credit card out and pays.

I come back home and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

10:00 I have a little alone time and read the rest of "Accursed", a crime novella that is our U3A Danish group's current project. Now that I know the identity of the local mass murderer in this quiet Danish village, I have the problem that I cannot reveal it to the other members of the group, no matter how much they interrogate me (or torture me on the rack ha ha ha!).

We will have another problem on Thursday when the group holds its next meeting: I do not know if the members will have the courage to read pages 108-9, where the author has decided to depict a pretty graphic sex-scene between the novel's hero, Constable Per Jansson, and Vivi, his wife. My god - it's not easy to be a U3A group leader, I have no doubt about that !!!!

Constable Per Jansson and Vivi

I feel a little responsible because I chose the short story as a project without knowing that there would be so much sex in it - I managed to read only the first approx. 50 pages before we started on it, and there was no trace of sex in those.

I do not want female team members to complain to the U3A management that I have forced them into an embarrassing situation where they have to describe a sex act in more details than we need (or want !!!! ). Help - I do not want to become Cheltenham U3A's Harvey Weinstein !!!!

Further Issues: I do not know how the members will react when they find out that the mass-murderer is a woman who commits his crimes wearing a Superman style (or Supergirl style) cape. It's a bit of a surprise for me, to say the least.

Supergirl (Helen Slater): Could the Danish police be

having to arrest Supergirl? My god, what madness !!!

Superheroes' or supervillains' tendency to dress up as themselves has always been a bit of a disadvantage, I think. The series' supervillains - The Joker, The Penguin, The Riddler, Cat Woman, etc. - are instantly recognizable when, for example, witnesses see them committing their abominable crimes, which tends to make the police's job a little too easy in my opinion. Real life is not like that, which may be a little unfortunate, but that's reality, I'm afraid.

I recall a web article I read about 4 years ago when the news first broke that Batman and Superman would be appearing together in a new movie (report Onion News) and I saw Del Chabria's comments - he said he thought it would be cool if the two superheroes swapped uniforms with each other. I never ignore Del's comments: he is one of the site's most experienced commentators, and he has his finger on the pulse.

12:00 I see an encouraging email from Sarah, our daughter in Australia.

Francis, Sarah's 52-year-old husband, has now had 2 biopsies to investigate nodules on the thyroid gland, but the studies did not show whether the nodes were cancerous or not. Sarah has said that he must now undergo surgery, probably next Friday (15th) at the local hospital.

Sarah sent an email to her brother-in-law, David, a hospital doctor in the Bournemouth area here in England to ask some questions, because the family's Australian doctor was not being very helpful.

David says that in these circumstances, it is normal to remove the nodules, along with the half of the thyroid gland where the nodes are sitting, which is the only safe way of doing it. The removal is a relatively straightforward operation.

The results of the operation will provide a definitive answer to the cancer or no-cancer issue. There is a risk that the nodules are cancerous (about 20%), but David says that thyroid cancer is anyway fairly easy to treat. On the other hand, if the nodes are not cancerous, no further treatment is necessary and they will not have to worry any more.

I feel much more positive after reading David's comments. I hope Sarah and Francis also feel more positive, although of course no one is very happy about having to undergo surgery.

13:00 I eat lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. Lois comes back while I am asleep.

15:00 I get up and Lois tells me about her experiences in the Christmas market this morning. The whole thing was quite successful and they sold a lot of sweets and cakes, but the customers were mostly not interested in buying Christmas cards - no surprise there: I tell Lois that I thought most people have already bought their Christmas cards for this year: Christmas Day is now only two weeks away.

It was also a bit of a shame that Lois' and Mari-Ann's stall was unfortunately at the end of the library hall, where there was less footfall - just their luck!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. An amusing sitcom is on, "Detectorists" - all about with two metal detectorists, Lance and Andy, exploring the fields of the East Anglia where they live, hoping to come across Roman or Anglo-Saxon archaeological treasures, ancient historical coins, etc. .

This sitcom is not really my cup of tea. The humor is a bit too gentle and it's a little annoying that these wretched men have managed to grab such attractive women as their partners, which seems a bit unlikely to put it mildly.

Lance and Andy: It's a little annoying that they both have

such attractive partners, to put it mildly !!!!

But I like the strange and touching film-sequences that some episodes end with. Often Lance and Andy have spent the whole day working in a field with their metal detectors and sadly have not found anything again (as usual). At the end of the episode, when the program's signature tune begins to play, the programme-makers sometimes show a kind of dream sequence where, for example, we catch fleeting glimpses of medieval peasants, moving about like ghosts, at work here and there in the field where Lance and Andy have been exploring.

I often think of the invisible people who once lived in our house, for example, or walked in front of our house, a road that has existed for centuries and connects two original villages mentioned in the Doomsday book, which William the Conqueror had compiled in 1086. I’m certain that our road existed in 1086, even if it was just a muddy path. That's why I'm into history.

But back to reality ...... Damn !!!!

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