Danskcolin: Tuesday 29 May 2018

09:30 Lois and I drive over to the local Fresh Foods mini-supermarket to buy fruit and vegetables. Then we drive into the village and swing by Waghornes, the local butcher's shop, to buy meat, bread and cheese. We come home and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

11:00 We go out into the backyard and plant our little runner beans next to the poles.

It's a bit cloudy today and I'm not sure whether it's going to rain at some point. I feel a possible raindrop and consider saying something about it to Lois, but just in time I remember the sad case of Philip McKenna (report, Onion News) whose reputation was completely destroyed by such a remark.

Philip McKenna (left) giving his dire warning

Phillip McKenna, described as a wise local oracle, predicted the arrival of bad weather the other day at a neighbourhood barbecue get-together. He read the signs written in the world around him, and gave a sharp warning to the assembled guests, eyewitnesses said.

"Uh oh. I just felt a raindrop, guys," said the respected local prophet to all the assembled guests, as he held his damp wrist high up in the air as a testimony to his omen, staring up at the sky, and interpreting its unspoken teachings.

"It looks pretty grey. Maybe we should get the food into the house?" Finally, the discovery of drops of condensation that had fallen from an air conditioner unmasked McKenna as a false prophet.

I feel a bit sorry for Philip because his later, more detailed warnings, based on the seven trumpets in John's Revelation, have mostly been ignored as the result of his famous barbecue fiasco. Poor Philip !!!!

Philip's later, more detailed warning, based on

the Seven Trumpets in John's Revelation

13:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap.

15:30 I get up and jump on my exercise bike. I cycle 6 miles.

16:00 I take a little look online. I see that the Government Record Office (GRO) has sent us my grandmother Kathleen's death certificate explaining the reasons for her sudden death, at aged 52, in January 1939. We asked for this certificate after my younger sister Gill was recently taken to the emergency room and the doctors asked about her parents' and grandparents' health history.

My grandmother actually died for 3 reasons, according to the certificate: (1) shock (2) cerebral embolism, and (3) chronic valvular heart disease - yikes! It's a bit scary to think of what one might have inherited from one's ancestors (and passed on to one's children), no doubt about that !!!!

The circumstances of my grandmother's death were unusual and I'm not quite sure if my father felt partly responsible for his mother's death.

My father was then an enthusiastic and well-respected lay preacher in his sect, and his sermons were known for being very inspiring.

It's hard to believe, but unfortunately his rhetorical skills led to this great tragedy in his family. In January 1939 he gave a very inspiring sermon in the seaside resort of Bournemouth. His mother, who was only 52, was in the congregation and was so excited about his inspiring words and the enthusiastic reaction of the congregation, that she died the same night.

My father must have been shattered - he was very close to his mother. But he never talked about it.

"beclouding" - an excerpt from the sect's journal for January 1939

I imagine this tragedy damaged his faith. He must have wondered why God allowed his inspiring words to apparently cause his mother's death. He continued to give sermons, but less often, I think. He came out of the sect in 1944 when he entered the British Army - the sect takes a uncompromising pacifist stance.

17:00 I get a text from Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen. She says that Ed's potential new job in Frankfurt has not come to anything because Ed and the company cannot agree on his salary and perks. So, the family is certainly now moving back to England at the end of June.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. The latest episode is showing in an interesting Anglo-American documentary series, all about abandoned derelict installations and facilities - former research facilities, military installations, etc., which have never been demolished, and are still there just sitting in the countryside, on mountains, in deserts, in the sea etc.

Each hourly episode covers 4 former installations. It sounds a bit boring, but Lois and I actually find it really fascinating.

This evening's episode covers:

(1) a wind tunnel in Farnborough, England, where British researchers tested modifications to bombers and combat aircraft during WWII. It seems that the Anglo-American strategy of modifying already proven aircraft was more successful than the German strategy of trying to constantly launch completely new models.

(2) A Russian Air Force Base, built in the 1960s on the Mongolian / Chinese border, far out in the Gobi desert, during a 20-year period of severe tension between the two major communist powers.

(3) a massive ironworks just outside Pittsburgh, associated with a local steelworks, which during the Second World War, produced more iron and steel than all the Axis powers combined.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

(4) An obsolete artillery piece, a massive cannon, which the Italian army managed with a lot of hassle to haul to the top of a high mountain in the Alps. The cannon was already 30 years old, but it helped the Italians to drive back a threatened Austrian invasion during the First World War. The cannon is still just sitting there on the mountain - good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

The Italian Alps

The example that most strikes us is the Russian Air Force base, hundreds of miles from the nearest town. The base was operational for almost 20 years until Gorbachev closed it. Imagine if you will, that you had to work here and at the end of working day go home to one of the base's soulless apartment complexes - good grief, what madness !!!!

the abandoned Russian Air Force base on the Russian-Chinese border

the base's soulless apartment complexes

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

Danish translation

09:30 Lois og jeg kører over til det lokale Fresh Foods mini-supermarked for at købe frugt og grøntsager. Så kører vi ind i landsbyen og smutter ind i Waghornes, den lokale slagterforretning, for at købe kød, brød og ost. Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

11:00 Vi går ud i baghaven og planter vores små pralbønner ud ved siden af stængerne.

Det er lidt overskyet i dag, og jeg er ikke helt sikker på, om det kommer til at regne på et eller andet tidspunkt. Jeg føler en mulig regndråbe og overvejer at sige noget derom til Lois, men lige til tiden mindes jeg den triste sag af Philip McKenna (rapport, Onion News), hvis ry blev helt ødelagt af sådan en bemærkning.

Phillip McKenna, beskrevet som en kloge lokale orakel, forudså forleden ankomsten af dårligt vejr i løbet af en barbecuesammenkomst i nabolaget. Han læste de tegn, der var skrevet i verden omkring ham, og afgav en skarp advarsel til de indsamlede gæster, sagde øjenvidnere.

” Åh åh. Jeg har lige følt en regndråbe, fyre", sagde den respekterede lokale profet til alle, mens han holdt sit fugtede håndled højt oppe i luften, som vidnesbyrd om hans omen og stirrede i himlen og fortolkede dens uudtalte undervisninger.

”Det ser temmilig gråt ud. Måske burde vi tage maden med ind i huset?” Endelig havde opdagelsen af kondensation, der var faldet fra en klimaanlæg, afsløret McKenna som en falsk profet.

Jeg har lidt ondt af Philip, fordi hans senere, mere detaljerede advarsel, baseret på de 7 trumpetter i Johannes’ Åbenbaring er for det meste blevet ignoreret på grund af den berømte barbecue-fiasko. Stakkels Philip!!!!

Philips senere, mere detaljerede advarsel, baseret på

de 7 trumpetter i Johannes’ Åbenbaring

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:30 Jeg står op og hopper op på min kondicykel. Jeg cykler 6 miles.

16:00 Jeg kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at GRO (Government Record Office) har sendt os min farmor Kathleens dødscertifikat, der forklarer årsagerne til hendes pludselig død på 52 år i januar 1939. Vi bad om dette certifikat efter min lillesøster Gill for nylig blev taget til skadestuen, og lægerne spurgte om hendes forældre og bedsteforældres sundhedshistorie.

Min farmor døde faktisk af 3 årsager, ifølge certifikatet: (1) chok (2) cerebral emboli, og (3) kronisk valvulær hjertesygdom – yikes! Det er lidt skræmmende at tænke på, hvad man måske kan have arvet fra sine forfædre (og videregivet til sine børn), ingen tvivl om det!!!!

Omstændighederne af min farmors død var usædvanlige, og jeg er ikke helt sikker på, om min far følte sig delsvis ansvarlig for sin mors død.

Min far var dengang en entusiastisk og velanset lægprædikant i sin sekt, og hans prædikener var kendt for at være meget inspirerende.

Det er svært at tro, men desværre førte hans retoriske færdigheder til denne stor tragedie i sin familie. I januar 1939 holdt han en meget inspirende prædiken i badebyen Bournemouth. Hans mor, der kun var 52 år, var i menigheden og blev så begejstret over hans inspirerende ord og menighedens entusiastiske reaktion, at hun samme nat døde.

Min far må have været sønderknust – han var meget tæt på sin mor. Men han talte aldrig om det.

uddrag fra sektens tidskrift (januar 1939)

Jeg formoder, at denne tragedie beskadigede hans tro. Han må have undret sig, hvorfor Gud tillod hans inspirerende ord tilsyneladende at forårsage sin mors død. Han fortsatte med at holde prædikener, men mindre hyppigt, tror jeg. Han kom ud af sekten i 1944, da han trådte ind i den britiske hær – sekten har en kompromisløst pacifistisk holdning.

17:00 Jeg får en sms fra Alison, vores datter i København. Hun siger, at Eds potentielle nye job i Frankfurt ikke er blevet til noget, fordi Ed og selskabet kan ikke blive enige om hans løn og frynsegoder. Så derfor et det helt sikkert, at familien ved slutningen af juni flytter tilbage til England.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser det seneste afsnit i en interessant anglo-amerikansk dokumentarserie, der handler om opgivede, forladte anlæg og faciliteter – tidligere forskningsfaciliteter, militær faciliteter osv, der aldrig er blevet revet ned, som bare sidder ude på landet, på bjerge, i ørkner, i havet osv.

Hvert timelangt afsnit dækker 4 tidligere anlæg. Det lyder lidt kedeligt, men Lois og jeg finder det faktisk helt fascinerende.

Aftenens afsnit dækker:

(1) en vindtunnel i Farnborough, England, hvor britiske forskere testede modifikationer til bombefly og kampfly under den 2. verdenskrig. Det lader til at den anglo-amerikanske strategi af at modificere allerede vellykkede fly var mere succesfuld, end den tyske strategi af at prøve konstant at lancere helt nye modeller.

(2) en russisk luftvåbenbase, bygget i 1960’erne på den mongolisk/kinesisk grænse, langt ude i Gobi-ørkenen, under en 20-års periode af alvorlig spænding mellem de to store kommunistiske magter.

(3) et massivt jernværk lige uden for Pittsburgh, forbundet med et lokalt stålværk, der under den 2. verdenskrig, fremstillede mere jern og stål, end alle de kombinerede aksemagterne.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

(4) En forældet artilleripjese, en massiv kanon, som de italienske hær med meget besvær nåede at hale op til toppen af et højt bjerge i Alperne. Kanonen var allerede 30 år gammel, men den hjalp italienerne at drive en truet østrig invasion tilbage under den 1. verdenskrig. Kanonen sidder stadigvæk der på bjerget – du godeste, sikke et skør verden vi lever i !!!!

de italienske Alper

Det, der mest slår os er den russiske luftvåbenbase, hundredvis af miles fra den nærmenste by. Basen var operationel i næsten 20 år, indtil Gorbachev lukkede den. Forstil dig, hvis du vil, at du skal arbejde her og ved slutningen af arbejdsdag gå hjem til en af basens sjælløse lejlighedskomplekser – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!