Tuesday 13 February 2018

08:00 Lois and I go in the shower and get up. Lois, unfortunately, has to go to a funeral today. Her friend Shirley died recently and the funeral is taking place today at 12:30pm in Randwick Baptist church - the village is not far from the town of Stroud.

9:15 Lois drives over to her friend Gillian's house in Churchdown, and Gillian is going to drive her over to Randwick.

I have a little bit of alone time to do some tasks on my to-do list: I have decided to buy a new printer, instead of asking Mark, our local IT expert, to repair the old one. Printers are not very expensive nowadays. I have asked Mark to install the new one, when he swings by on Thursday.

I drag all our suitcases down from the attic so Lois can choose which one she wants to take when we visit Sarah, our daughter in Australia. And I send an email to a company in Joondalup, Perth, to inquire about the possibility of renting a car over there.

My purpose is partly psychological: there is a mental barrier that I have to get over. I'm still in denial. Lois and I live a quiet existence, especially me - I do not do much. I do not often get out of the house. I look at the web, watch TV, listen to the radio, I live in a bit of a fantasy world. I must now convince myself that we are soon going to be travelling to the other side of the world. Yikes, scary !!!!

It's lucky that the Australians drive on the left hand side of the road, just like us. But distances and speed limits are given in kilometers, just like on the continent, which is a bit of a shame. I once read that people across Europe all drove on the left side until the French Revolution: but during the war between the aristocrats and the revolutionaries, the aristocrats continued to drive on the left, but the revolutionaries decided to drive on the right, which sounds a little dangerous, but I'm going to let that one slide.

When the revolutionaries executed the nobility and gained power in France, driving on the right was made the law. During the Napoleonic Wars, this practice was extended by the French to most of Europe. However, Napoleon's chief enemy, England, was an exception. Here, people stayed with driving on the left, and this was made the law in 1835. In general, only the countries (England and Sweden) that managed to resist Napoleon retained driving on the left.

The Americans chose to change to the right to take revenge on their former colonial masters, which was fair enough!

It is interesting that, although in England it was customary to drive on the left, it was not illegal to drive on the right until 1835. You drove however you liked in the old days, it seems.

My god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

11:00 There are a lot of car rental companies in Perth and surrounding area. I browse the web to find the best prices. But I cannot compete for genius with Michael Kirrane (54) who recently hit the local headlines (report, August 24, 2012, source: Onion News).

According to the article, local journalists saw Kirrane maneuvering the mouse along the desk as if to play the first chord in the "Coronation" concerto on an ornate fortepiano. He started by opening an Internet Explorer browser window to serve as the staves on which he would orchestrate his latest masterpiece.

"I usually go to Expedia first because they have many great deals," said Kirrane, who deftly moved through various itinerary dates as though effortlessly penning arpeggios with a plumed quill. "

He is an artist, no doubt about it. And I can never dream of competing with him, but he gives us all something to aim at, I know that for sure.

Kirrane is a local man, according to the article. I do not know him, but Lois thinks she has seen him in the local pharmacy haggling with staff about the price of their toothpaste.

12:30 I hurry into the kitchen and make lunch. After the meal I go to bed and take a giant afternoon nap. I get up at 3 o'clock and jump on my exercise bike. I cycle my usual 6 miles (10km).

16:00 Lois comes back from the funeral. Shirley was an enthusiastic amateur painter and had painted hundreds of paintings. Her family decided to offer some of Shirley's paintings to attendees as souvenirs of her, in exchange for a donation to charity, so Lois has brought one home.

It's very touching, I think, looking at the painting, thinking about the time Shirley spent on it and the pleasure it must have given her.

the painting by Shirley, that Lois came home with

17:00 Lois is tired, but she's going out again tonight. My culinary skills are quite limited, but I hurry into the kitchen to make one of my specialties (my so-called "signature dish": fish fingers, boiled potatoes and peas - yummy!).

18:15 Lois goes out. She wants to attend her church's seminar taking place this evening in Brockworth library. She drives over to Mari-Anne's house and Mari-Ann is going to drive her over to Brockworth: both of them are taking part in the seminar.

Steve, my brother in law, recently told me that it is no longer necessary to study the minor prophets, etc. because everything has already been completely and thoroughly dissected in Douay-Reims Haydock's Bible, but I think that church members get their greatest pleasure out of dissecting beyond thoroughly, and thinking up their own 'new' insights, but that's something I'm not entirely sure about.

19:00 I'm alone again. I have had a lot of alone time today. I sometimes think that I could fix my life and solve my issues if I just had more alone time, but being alone actually seems to make very little difference - damn !!!!

21:00 I watch TV. An interesting documentary is on, all about Singapore Airlines, and their efforts to create a whole new level of luxury for their first class passengers.

I have decided to watch the program because it could be another step in forcing me to face facts and to shake myself out of my denial. I must try to focus on the joys of flying: the champagne, the beds, the charming flight attendants ha ha ha. And I must not think of the hassles - airports, security checks, etc.

22:00 It was a good idea to see this program and I feel more relaxed about the upcoming trip and have started to fantasise, when Lois comes home. I go to bed, but Lois needs to wind down after this evening's stimulating Bible seminar about Amos and the minor prophets. Poor Lois !!!!! She starts to watch a bit of television. She does not wake me up when she hops into bed with me an hour later.

Danish translation

08:00 Lois og jeg går i bad og står op. Lois skal desværre til en begravelse i dag. Hendes veninde Shirley døde for nylig, og ceremonie finder sted i dag kl 12:30 i landsbyen Randwicks sognekirke – landsbyen ligger ikke ret langt fra byen Stroud.

09:15 Lois kører over til sin veninde, Gillians hus i Churchdown, og Gillian skal køre hende over til Randwick.

Jeg har lidt alenetid og går i gang med at klare nogle opgaver på min gøremålsliste: jeg har besluttet at købe en ny printer, i stedet for at bede Mark, vores lokale IT-ekspert, om at reparere den gamle. Printere er ikke ret dyre nu til dags. Jeg har bedt Mark om at installere den nye, når han smutter ind på torsdag.

Jeg slæber alle vores kufferter ned fra loftet, så Lois kan vælge, hvilken hun vil tage med, når vi besøger Sarah, vores datter i Australien. Og jeg sender en email til et firma  i Joondalup, Perth, for at forhøre mig om mulighederne for at leje en bil derover.

Mit formål er delvis psykisk: der er en psykisk barriere, jeg skal over. Jeg er stadig i benægtelse. Lois og jeg lever en rolig eksistens, især mig – jeg laver ikke meget. Jeg kommer ikke ofte ud af huset. Jeg kigger på nettet, ser fjernsyn, lytter til radio, jeg lever i lidt af en fantasiverden. Jeg må nu overbevise mig, at vi snart for alvor kommer til at rejse til den anden ende af verden. Yikes, skræmmende!!!!

Det er heldigt, at australierne kører i venstre side af vejen, ligesom os. Men afstander og hastighedgrænser er angivet i kilometer, ligesom på kontinentet, hvilket er lidt af en skam. Jeg læste engang, at mennesker Europa over kørte i venstre side, indtil den franske revolution: men under krigen mellem de aristokrater og de revolutionære, fortsatte aristokraterne at køre i venstre side, men de revolutionære besluttede sig for at køre i højre side, hvilket lyder lidt farligt, men det springer jeg over.

Da de revolutionære henrettede adelen og vandt magten i Frankrig, blev højrekørsel indført ved lov. Under Napoleonskrigene blev højrekørsel spredt til det meste af Europa. Napoleons hovedfjende, England, var dog en undtagelse. Her holdt man fast i venstrekørsel, som blev ophøjet til lov i 1835. Generelt var det kun de stater (England og Sverige), der holdt stand mod Napoleon, som beholdt venstrekørsel.

Amerikanerne valgte at skifte siden for at tage hævn mod deres tidligere koloniale mestere, hvilket er fair nok!

Det er interessant, at selvom det i England var sædvane at køre i venstre side, var det inden 1835 ikke ulovligt at køre i højre. Man kørte hvordan man havde lyst til i gamle dage, lader det til.

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

11:00 Der en masse billejefirmaer i Perth og omegn. Jeg surfer nettet for at finde de bedste priser. Men jeg kan ikke konkurrere om genius med Michael Kirrane (54), der for nylig ramte de lokale overskrifter (rapport, den 24 august 2012, kilde: Onion News).

Ifølge artiklen så lokale journalister Kirrane manøvrere musen langs skrivebordet som om at slå den første akkord på "Coronation"-koncerten på en udsmykkede fortepiano.  Han begyndte med  at åbne et Internet Explorer-browservindue for at gøre det ud for som nodesystemet, hvorpå han ville orkestrere sit nyeste mesterværk.

"Jeg går normalt til Expedia først, da de har mange gode tilbud," sagde Kirrane, som flittigt bevæger sig gennem forskellige rejsedatoer som om han komponerede arpeggioer med en pennefjer.”

Han er en kunstner, ingen tvivl om det. Og jeg kan aldrig drømme om at konkurrere med ham, men han giver os alle noget at sigte på, ved jeg med sikkerhed.

Kirrane er en lokal mand, ifølge artiklen. Jeg kender ham ikke, men Lois tror, hun har set ham i det lokale apotek, mens han prutter om prisen på deres tuber tandpasta.

12:30 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver frokost. Efter måltidet går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15 og hopper op på min kondicykel. Jeg cykler mine sædvanlige 6 miles (10km).

16:00 Lois kommer tilbage fra begravelsen. Shirley var en entusiastisk amatør maler, og havde malet hundredvis af malerier. Hendes familie besluttede at tilbyde nogle af Shirleys malerier til deltagere som souvenirs af hende, i bytte for en donation til velgørenhed, så Lois har fået ét med hjem.

Det er meget rørende, synes jeg, at kigge på maleriet, og tænker på tiden, Shirley brugte på det, og fornøjelsen, det må have givet hende.

maleriet af Shirley, som Lois fik med hjem

17:00 Lois er træt, men hun skal ud igen i aften. Mine kulariske færdigheder er helt begrænsede, men jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet for at lave en af mine specialiteter (min såkaldte ”signaturret”: fiskepinde, kogte kartofler og ærter – nam nam!).

18:15 Lois skal ud. Hun ønsker at deltage i sin kirkes bibelseminar, der finder sted i aften i byen Brockworths bibliotek. Hun kører over til Mari-Anns hus og Mari-Ann skal køre hende over til Brockworth: begge to deltager i seminaret.

Steve, min svigerbror, fortalte mig for nyligt, at det ikke længere er nødvendigt at studere de mindre profeter osv, fordi det hele allerede er blevet fuldstændigt og grundigt dissekeret i Douay-Reims Haydocks bibelen, men jeg synes, at kirkemedlemmer får deres største fornøjelse ud af at dissekere endnu mere, end grundigt, og finde på deres egne 'nye' indsigter, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på.

19:00 Jeg er alene igen. Jeg har haft en masse alenetid i dag. Jeg tænker nogle gange, at jeg kunne ordne mit liv og løse mine spørgsmål, hvis jeg bare havde mere alenetid, men det, at være alene faktisk gør meget lille forskel – pokkers!!!!

21:00 Jeg ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Singapore Airlines, og deres indsatser for at skabe et helt nyt niveau af luksus for deres første klasse passagerer.

Jeg har besluttet for at se programmet, fordi det kunne være endnu et skridt til at tvinge mig til at se kendsgerningerne i øjnene, og ruske mig ud af min benægtelse. Jeg må prøve at sætte fokus på glæderne ved at flyve: champagnen, sengene, de charmerende stewardesser ha ha ha. Og jeg må ikke tænke på besværet – lufthavne, sikkerhedskontrollen osv.

22:00 Det var en god idé at se dette program, og jeg føler mig mere afslappet om den kommende rejse, og jeg er begyndt at fantasere lidt, da Lois kommer hjem. Jeg går i seng, men Lois trænger til at geare ned efter aftenens stimulerende bibelseminar om Amos og de mindre profeter. Stakkels Lois !!!!! Hun går i gang med at se lidt fjernsyn. Hun vækker mig ikke, da hun en time senere hopper op i sengen til mig.