09:00 It's freezing cold and it's raining - brrrrr !!!!
Lois and I drive over to the local Waitrose supermarket to do the shopping. We
also pick up our Australian cash at the Thomas Cook Travel Agency, which is
housed in the supermarket. Finally we pop into the supermarket's cafe and have
a cup of coffee. We drive home.
We now have approx. $520 (Australian) from Thomas Cook,
plus $90, which I discovered yesterday in the bottom drawer of my nightstand -
I must have forgotten to exchange these extra banknotes back to British pounds
after returning from Australia at the end of June 2016.
It was a super surprise to stumble upon the extra money,
no doubt about that! Every bit helps!
I felt the same joy that Prince William and Duchess Kate
felt a couple of years ago when they ventured on a three-day whirlwind tour of
New York (report, Onion News on December 8, 2014). A few days before their
departure, William's grandma, Queen Elizabeth II, revealed that she still had
$32.61 left in US currency since her 2010 visit to the city. She handed the
money over to them as a surprise going-away present, to the couple's great
joy.
Prince William and Duchess Kate told reporters: "We
are hugely excited to visit New York for the first time and fortunately my
grandmother had some extra banknotes and coins lying around here and there in
the house left over after her last trip there and other small change that
turned up after a search of Philip's old trouser pockets."
William was referring to the $20 bill, the $10 bill, five
singles and $1.21 dollars in loose change that the UK's ruling monarch had kept
here and there in an old desk along with some Turkish lira from her 2008 visit
to Istanbul.
"It was really quite handy to have some US cash readily available so we did not have to rush into the exchange bureau
immediately, and we could actually tip the taxi driver who drove us to our
hotel." The Prince also expressed gratitude to his grandmother for also
giving him a Metro MetroCard, which still had $11.75 credit on it.
I can imagine how the prince must have felt. Any extra
cash is even more welcome today, after Brexit sent the value of the British
pound spinning down, I'm absolutely sure about that!
some of the loose change William
and Kate are taking to New York,
after Queen Elizabeth came across them in a
drawer and in Philip's old pants pocket
12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a
huge afternoon nap. I get up at 3:15pm and we relax with a cup of tea on the
couch.
18:00 We have dinner and listen a little to the radio, an
interesting program consisting of a discussion between three experts about the
world's amazing cephalopods, which are found in all oceans of the world,
regardless of how deep or shallow the water is, and in both tropical regions and also in
the polar areas - my god, what a crazy world we live in! The host of the
program is the charming Melvyn Bragg.
Cephalopods tend to be territorial, so for example, it's
a little unlikely that you stumble upon a massive school of octopi when you go
in the water, which is reassuring, I have to admit!
Cephalopods have existed for 600 million years (since the
Cambrium period, when complex life forms first appeared and began to
diversify). At the beginning they had external shells, but by the end of the
palæozoic (about 250 million years ago) many species had developed smaller,
internal shells, and these species were the ancestors of today's octopi, squid
and cuttlefish.
A massive extinction event then occurred at the end of
the palæozoic, when 60% of the world's lifeforms died out, probably as a result
of a lot of volcanic activity and climate change. Most cephalopods with outer
shells died out, except for the nautilus, and also many species with inner shells,
that fortunately survived, thank goodness! It is likely that the species that
were less specialized and more flexible managed to survive in the largest
numbers.
The morale is, "Be flexible" - no doubt about
that!
When we come to Mesozoic (Jurassic, Triassic), the era of
the dinosaurs, we see the next big extinction event (about 65 million years
ago), perhaps after a massive meteorite hit the earth. 30-40% of the world's
life-forms disappeared, including many species of cephalopods: ammonites died
out completely and all other species with external shells apart from the
nautilus. Once again, the cephalopods with inner shells were more flexible:
they survived and continued to evolve.
Cephalopods are similar to their relatives, ie molluscs
in general (snails for example) in various ways: they have the same nervous
system, and they are all bilaterally symmetrical.
Molluscs are characterized by an elastic mantle-cavity
that actively replaces the water in the mantle for primitive molluscs, and for
other molluscs in their gills. Terrestrial snails have evolved their gills into
lungs, and the mantle cavities give these their air. Mussels use the mantle
cavity to filter the surrounding water for food. What madness!!!
Most use siphons (pipes) for
pumping in and out. For example, an oyster can pump a litre of water every
hour. Octopi use the mantle cavity for jet propulsion and can maneuver by
turning their funnels in different directions.
My god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!
Cephalopods all have a cool little tongue that makes a
kind of rasping sound, for example when the snails are busy eating cabbages in
our vegetable garden. If you take a microphone with you when you're out in the
garden, you can record this charming sound. Aw snails! Aren't they just so
cute!!!
Melvyn Bragg, the charming host of the
series
Melvyn Bragg, the program's charming host, is now 78
years old. He has had a long career in radio and television since the 1960s - I
do not have the faintest idea what kind of sounds his little tongue makes when he is busy eating his cabbages. Perhaps we should be told.
BBC, please note!
Lois and I think Melvyn sometimes slurs his speech, but
maybe that's because he has a lot of subjects to get through in the programs in
this series. His brain is still as sharp as ever, no doubt about that.
Bragg with Paul Macartney in the 1960s
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzz !!!!!!
Danish
translation
09:00 Det er
hundekoldt og det regner – brrrrr!!!! Lois og jeg kører over til det lokale
Waitrose-supermarked for at købe ind. Vi henter også vores australske kontant
på Thomas Cook-rejsebureauet, der har til huse i supermarkedet. Til sidst
smutter vi ind i supermarkedets café og drikker en kop kaffe. Vi kører hjem.
Vi har nu ca.
$520 (australske) fra Thomas Cook, plus $90, som jeg i går tilfældigvis opdagede i mit natbords nederste
skuffe – jeg må have glemt at veksle disse ekstra pengeseddler tilbage til
britiske pund, efter vi ankom tilbage fra Australien ved slutningen af juni
2016.
Det var en super
overraskelse at snuble over de ekstra penge, ingen tvivl om det! Hver bit
hjælper!
Jeg synes, jeg
oplevede samme glæde, som prins William og hertuginde Kate for et par år siden følte,
da de drønede af sted på en tredages hvirvelvindstur i New York (rapport, Onion
News den 8. december 2014). Et par dage inden deres afgang, afslørte Williams
farmor, dronning Elizabeth II, at hun stadig havde £32,61 tilbage i amerikansk
valuta siden sit 2010-besøg i byen. Hun rækkede pengene til dem som en
overraskelse farvelgave, til parrets stor glæde.
Prins William og
hertuginden Kate sagde til journalister, ”Vi er enormt begejstrede for at
besøge New York for første gang, og heldigvis havde min bedstemor nogle ekstra pengesedler
og mønter, der lå og flød her og der i huset, som var tilbage efter hendes
sidste tur her, og andre små penge, der dukkede op efter en ransagning af Philips
gamle bukselommer."
Han henviste
til $ 20-sedlen, $ 10-sedlen, fem $1-sedler og $1,21 dollars i små penge, som
Storbritanniens regerende monark havde opbevaret her og der i et gammelt skrivebord
sammen med nogle tyrkiske lira fra hendes 2008-besøg i Istanbul.
"Det var
virkelig ret praktisk at have nogle amerikanske dollars allerede til rådighed,
så vi behøvede ikke at smutte straks ind i vekselkontoret med det samme, og vi kunne
faktisk tippe taxachaufføren, der kørte os til vores hotel." Prinsen
udtrykte også taknemmelighed til hans bedstemor for at give ham også en Metro
MetroCard, der stadig havde en resterende kredit på $ 11,75.
Jeg kan
forestille mig, hvordan prinsen må have følt. Og ekstra kontant er endnu mere
velkommen i dag, efter Brexit sendte værdien af det britiske pund ned, er jeg
helt sikker på!
nogle af de små penge William og Kate tager med til New York,
efter
dronning Elizabeth faldt over dem bagest i en skuffe og i Philips gamle bukselommer
12:30 Vi
spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk
eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15:15 og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.
18:00 Vi
spiser aftensmad og lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program, der består
af en diskussion om mellem tre eksperter om verdens utrolige blæksprutter, der
findes i alle verdens oceaner, uanset for dybt eller lavt vandet er, i tropiske
regioner og også i polarområderne – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i!
Programmets vært er den charmerende Melvyn Bragg.
De har tendens
at være territoriale, så for eksempel, det er lidt usandsynligt, at man snubler
over en stime af ottearmede blæksprutter, når man går i vandet, hvilket er
beroligende, det må jeg indrømme!
Blæksprutter
har eksisteret i 600 millioner år (siden perioden Kambrium, da kompleks
livformer først dukkede op og begyndte at variere). De havde i begyndelsen udvendige
skaller for det meste, men ved slutningen af palæozoikum (for ca 250 millioner
år siden) havde mange arte udviklet mindre indvendige skaller, og disse arter
var forfadrene af nutidens ottearmede, tiartede blækkesprutter og
sepiablæksprutter.
Der skete
dengang en større masseuddøen ved slutningen af palæozoikum, da 60% af verdens
livsformer uddøde, sandsynligvis resulterende fra en masse vulkansk aktivitet
og klimaforandring. De fleste blæksprutter med udvendige skaller døde ud, bortset
fra nautilerner og mange arter med indvendige skaller, der heldigvis overlevede,
gudskelov! Det er sandsynligt, at de arter, der var mindre specialiserede og
mere fleksible, nåede at overleve i største antal.
Moralen er, ”Vær
fleksibel” – ingen tvivl om det!
Når vi kommer
til mesozoikum (Jura, Trias), dinosaurernes æra, ser vi endelig den næste
masseuddøen (for ca. 65 millioner år siden), måske efter en massiv meteorit
ramte jorden. 30-40% af verdens livsformer forsvandt, herunder mange arter
blækkesprutter: ammoniter uddøde fuldstændigt samt alle andre arter med
udvendige skaller, bortvist fra nautilerne. Endnu engang, blækkesprutterne med
indvendige skaller var mere fleksible og overlevede og fortsatte at udvikle
sig.
Blækkesprutter
ligner deres slægtninge, bløddyrene generelt (snegle for eksempel) på
forskellige måder: samme nervesystemet, de er alle bilateralt symmetrisk.
Bløddyr er
karakteriseret af en elastisk kappehule, der aktivt udskifter vandet i kappen
hos primitive bløddyr, og hos de andre bløddyr i gællerne. Landsnegle har
videreudviklet deres gæller til lunger, hvor kappehulen ventilerer disse.
Muslinger anvender kappehulen til at filtrere det omgivende vand for føde. De
fleste anvender sifoner (rør) til ind- og udpumpning. En østers kan fx pumpe en
liter vand i timen. Blæksprutter anvender kappehulen til jetfremdrift og kan
ved at dreje tragten manøvrere.
Sikke en skør
verden vi lever i !!!!
De har alle en
sej lille tunge, som laver en slags skurrende lyd, for eksempel når snejlene er
i gang med at spise kål i vores grøntsagshave. Hvis du tager en mikrofon med,
når du smutter ud i haven, kan du optage denne charmerende lyd. Åh snegle! Hvor
er de dog søde!
Melvyn
Bragg, seriens charmerende vært
Melvyn Bragg,
programmets charmerende vært, er nu 78 år gammel. Han har haft en lang karriere
i radio og tv siden 1960’erne – jeg har
ikke den fjerneste idé om, hvilke slags lyde, hans lille tunge laver, når han
er i gang med at spise kål. Lois og jeg synes, at han nu og da udtaler lidt
utydeligt, men måske det er fordi han har en masse emner at komme igennem under
programmer i denne serie. Hans hjerne er stadig så skarpe som nogensinde, ingen
tvivl om det.
Bragg
med Paul Macartney i 1960’erne
22:00 Vi går i
seng – zzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!
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