Tuesday 12 June 2018

08:00 Lois and I go in the shower and get up. After breakfast, Lois starts making 4 pounds of apricot jam - yum yum!

Lois is making 4 lbs of apricot jam today – yum yum!

10:00 My friend, "Magyar" Mike, rings at the door and we study Hungarian for an hour. We have been unable to meet for 5 weeks due to massive road works on the road between the town of Nailsworth, where Mike lives, and Cheltenham. Road work is still in progress in the town of Stroud, but the road workers are now only working at night, which makes a refreshing change.

My friend, "Magyar" Mike (left), his grandson Stephen, and  "Magyar" Mary,

Mike's wife, on a recent visit to Prague, where Stephen was a student.

Mike tells me the latest news about the house belonging to his neighbor, Peter - and it's certainly a strange story, no doubt about that.

Peter disappeared without trace in about April 2017, after leaving Mike with the keys to his house in Nailsworth. Mike has not seen him for almost 14 months. Peter's garden has become a real jungle, and water from Peter's kitchen sink is all the time dripping into a drain just below the kitchen window. And Mike has now collected 14 months of post for Peter. Good grief, what madness !!!!

Mike first told me about the problem last October, and at that time I did some research online. I managed to find Peter on LinkedIn, which seems to be a kind of network / database for professional people. He categorized himself as a consultant in the areas of agriculture and environment, in the context of international development, with a bachelor degree from Imperial College, London. So he is not your average hobo / meths-drinker ha ha ha.

I ordered a month's free trial subscription to LinkedIn in October and sent Peter a message, but I did not have much hope that he would answer, because Mike already had Peter's email address and had never received any responses. But before long either Peter or one of Peter's friends turned up and slipped into his house to pick up a large bag containing 6 months of letters that had been left in the front porch. But Peter (or his friend) did not try to contact Mike during this short visit, which was a bit rude, to put it mildly.

Today, Mike tells me that for the 4th or 5th time he has been contacting the police about the case. Then the other day two policemen finally got into the house using Mike's key, and found out that a burst water pipe had been leaking a lot of water inside the house over a period of several months, and much of Peter's furniture had been ruined. They recommended to Mike that he call a plumber who could turn off the water. The plumber found out that Peter's stopcock had broken - Mike had to pay the plumber for the work - and the whole thing came to over £200: yikes!

The police had a little bit of information about Peter - Mike does not know where they got the information from. Peter has recently been living in the city of Bath, but he was not home when the police called, and he seemed to be no longer in residence at that address – perhaps they spoke to his neighbours in Bath. They seem to think that Peter has mental problems of some kind (dementia?) - again, reports by neighbours perhaps (?), all of which does not help poor Mike - my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

The mystery continues !!!!

It is interesting to see how limited the powers of the police and the authorities are when it comes to a private house, and how little authority they have to intervene, which in many cases may be a good thing, when it comes to civil liberties and all that, but not in this case, as seen from Mike's viewpoint!

Poor Mike !!!!!

13:00 Lunch and afterwards my usual giant afternoon nap, while Lois carries on making jam in the kitchen. I get up at 3:15pm and we relax with a cup of tea and a piece of bread and homemade apricot jam - yum yum!

16:00 I take a little look online and I see that Ed, our son-in-law in Copenhagen, has flown to London today. His job in Denmark finished at the end of March and the family, including our elder daughter Alison and the couple's 3 children, are moving back to England in a couple of weeks' time, after nearly 6 years in Denmark.

He says on Facebook that he is coming to London to do a little "networking" (which is code for "look for a new job", I suspect!) and to buy a UK car that he can drive back to Denmark. The whole family, including a dog and two cats, can then drive back to England in it in a couple of weeks' time. Simples!

17:30 Lois and I have dinner, a bit earlier than usual, and after that we have to go out. Lois wants to attend her church's bible seminar taking place this evening in the town of Brockworth. She'd rather not drive a car because of her repeated back problems. I drive her over to Mari-Ann and Alf's house, and they are going to drive her over to Brockworth - all three are attending this evening's bible seminar, which is all about the epistle of James, and in particular the concept of "wisdom".

I drop Lois off in front of Mari-Ann and Alf's house and come home. I have a little alone time tonight.

20:00 I settle down on the couch and watch television. The latest episode is showing in an interesting Anglo-American documentary series all about abandoned installations and facilities - former research facilities, military installations, etc., which have never been demolished, and are just sitting there out 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 find it really fascinating.

One of tonight's facilities is the German army's massive secret command and control headquarters, Mauerwald, built in 1940 deep in a Polish forest to control Hitler's war on the eastern front. It was certainly massive, to put it mildly: it covered an area of 1500 square miles, with 200 buildings widely spread-out for the sake of security, and included apartment blocks, a cinema and a casino: and also bunkers with concrete walls that were up to 7m thick. My god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

The German army's massive eastern command and

control headquarters hidden deep in a Polish forest

The Germans made great efforts to camouflage the place and protect it from the Allied bombers. The roofs of the bunkers were covered with plastic trees, which were regularly changed, once a month or thereabouts, so that the appearance of the artificial trees matched the changing seasons. And the buildings were built of a special concrete that had been mixed with sea grass, which promoted the growth of moss: the moss gave the buildings even more camouflage.

Good grief, what madness !!!!

The complex was quickly shut down and abandoned in January 1945,

but it can still be seen in the middle of a deep Polish forest - yikes, spooky!!!!

21:00 I get going with a little clearing up and I vacuum the whole house. Our U3A Danish group is holding its next meeting here tomorrow afternoon.

22:00 Lois returns home - Mari-Ann drops her off in front of the house. I go to bed, but Lois needs to relax and wind down after this evening's stimulating Bible seminar, all about James, the brother of Jesus, and his epistle, and the concept of wisdom. She watches a little television.

23:00 She hops into bed with me. Now finally, we can put the day - and ourselves - to rest. Hurrah!

Danish translation

08:00 Lois og jeg går i bad og står op. Efter morgenmad går Lois i gang med at lave 4 pund abrikos marmelade – yum yum!

Lois laver 4 pund abrikos marmelade i dag – yum yum!

10:00 Min ven, ”Magyar” Mike ringer på, og vi studerer ungarsk i en time. Vi har ikke kunnet mødes i 5 uger på grund af massivt vejarbejde på vejen mellem byen Nailsworth, hvor Mike bor, og Cheltenham. Vejarbejdet er stadig i gang i selve byen Stroud, men vejmændene arbejder nu kun om natten, hvilket er en forfriskende forandring.

min ven, “Magyar” Mike, hans barnebarn Stephen, og Mary, 

Mikes kone, på et nyligt besøg til Prag, hvor Stephen var studerende

Mike foretæller mig de seneste nyheder om huset af sin nabo, Peter – og det er godt nok en mærkelig historie, ingen tvivl om det.

Peter er forsvundet uden spor i ca april 2017, efter at have efterladt hos Mike nøglerne til sit hus i Nailsworth. Mike har ikke set ham i snart 14 måneder. Peters have er blevet til en sand jungle, og vand fra Peters køkkenvaske drypper fortsat ned i et afløb lige under køkkenvinduet. Og Mike har nu samlet 14 måneders post til Peter. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Mike fortalte mig først om problemet sidste oktober, og jeg gjorde dengang lidt forskning på nettet. Det lykkedes mig at finde Peter i LinkedIn, der synes at være et slags netværk/database for professionelle mennesker. Han kategoriserede sig som konsulent i områder af landbrug og miljø i forbindelse med international udvikling, med en bachelorgrad fra Imperial College, London. Så han er ikke nogen spritter ha ha ha.

Jeg bestilte i oktober en måneds gratis prøveabonnement til LinkedIn og sendte Peter en besked, men jeg havde ikke ret meget håb om, at han ville svare, fordi Mike allerede havde Peters emailadresse, og aldrig havde fået noget svar. Men kort efter dukkede enten Peter eller en af Peters venner op og smuttede ind i huset for at hente en stor pose indeholdende 6 måneders breve, der fandtes i forverandaen.  Men Peter (eller hans ven) prøvede ikke at kontakte Mike under sit korte besøg, hvilket var lidt uhøfligt.

I dag fortæller Mike mig, at han for 4. eller 5. gang havde kontaktet politiet om sagen. To politimænd  trådte forleden ind i huset ved hjælp af Mikes nøgle, for det tilfælde, der var en død krop derinde. De fandt ud af, at et sprængt vandrør inde i huset har været i gang med at lække en masse vand i flere måneder, og mange af Peters møbler var blevet ødelagt. De anbefalede til Mike, at han kalder en blikkenslager, der kunne slukke vandet. Blikkenslageret fandt ud af, at Peters stophane er gået i stykker – Mike måtte betale blikkenslageren for arbejdet – og det hele blev til over 200£: yikes!

Politiet havde information om Peter – Mike ved ikke, hvor de fik informationen fra. Han har for nylig boet i byen Bath, men han var ikke hjemme, da politiet ringede på. Han virkede at ikke længere bebor boligen. Politiet  virker at tro, at Peter har psykiske problemer af en eller anden art (demens?), hvilket ikke hjælper stakkels Mike  - du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Mysteriet fortsætter!!!!

Det er interessant at se, hvor begrænsede er politiets og myndighedernes kræfter, når det kommer til et privat hus, og hvor lille beføjelse de har til at gribe ind, hvilket i mange tilfælder kan være en god ting, når det kommer til borgerlige frihedsrettighedder og alt det der, men ikke  i den her sag, set ud fra Mikes synspunkt!

Stakkels Mike !!!!!

13:00 Frokost og bagefter min sædvanlige gigantiske eftermiddagslur, mens Lois fortsætter med at lave marmelade i køkkenet. Jeg står op kl 15:15 og vi slapper af med en kop te og et stykke brød  med hjemmelavet abrikos marmelade – yum yum!

16:00 Jeg kigger lidt på nettet og jeg ser, at Ed, vores svigersøn i København, har fløet til London i dag. Hans job i Danmark endte ved slutningen af marts og familien, herunder vores ældste datter Alison og parrets 3 børn, skal flytte tilbage til England om et par ugers tid.

Han siger på Facebook, at han kommer til London for at gøre lidt ”netværkning ” (hvilket er kode for ”søge et nyt job”, mistænker jeg!), og for at købe en britisk bil, som han kan kører tilbage til Danmark. Hele familien, inklusive en hund og to katte, kan så køre med bil tilbage til England om et par ugers tid. Simples!

17:30 Vi spiser aftensmad, lidt tidligere, end normalt, og dernæst skal vi ud. Lois ønsker at deltage i sin kirkes bibelseminar, der finder sted i aften i byen Brockworth. Hun vil hellere ikke køre bil på grund af sine gentagende rygproblemer.  Jeg kører hende over til Mari-Ann og Alfs hus, og de skal køre hende over til Brockworth – alle tre deltager i aftenens bibelseminar, der handler om Jakobs brev, og i særdeleshed begrebet om ”visdom”.

Jeg sætter Lois af foran Mari-Ann og Alfs hus og kommer hjem. Jeg har lidt alenetid i aften.

20:00 Jeg sætter mig til rette i sofaen og ser 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.

En af aftenens anlæg er den tyske hærs massive hemmelige kommando- og kontrolhovedkvarter, Mauerwald, der blev bygget i 1940 i en dyb polske skov for at kontrollere Hitlers krig på den østlige front. Det var vist nok massivt for at sige mildt: det dækkede et område af 1500 kvadratmiles, med 200 bygningner meget vidt udspredte for sikkerheds skyld, herunder en biograf og en kasino:  også bunkers med betonmure, der var op til 7m tykke. Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Den tyske hærs massive østlige kommando- og

kontrolhovedkvarter skjult dybt i en polsk skov

Tyskerne gjorde store indsats for at camouflere stedet og beskytte det fra de allieredes bomberfly. Bunkerne blev dækket med plastik træer, som regelmæssigt, engang om måneden,  blev skiftet, så de kunstige træers udseende passede til de skiftende årstider. Og bygninger blev bygget af en særlig beton, der er blevet blandet med havgræs, hvilket forfremmede væksten af mos: mossen gav bygninger endnu mere camouflage.

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

komplekset blev opgivet og forladt i januar 1944,

men det kan stadig ses i midten af en dybe polske skov – yikes, uhyggeligt!!!!

21:00 Jeg går i gang med at rydde lidt op og støvsuge hele huset. Vores U3A danske gruppe holder sit næste møde i morgen eftermiddag hos os.

22:00 Lois kommer hjem igen – Mari-Ann sætter hende af foran huset. Jeg går i seng, men Lois trænger til at slappe af og geare ned efter aftenens stimulerende bibelseminar, der handlede om Jakob, Jesus’ bror, og hans brev, og begrebet om visdom. Hun ser lidt fjernsyn.

23:00 Hun hopper op i sengen til mig. Nu endelig kan vi lægge dagen – og os – til ro. Hurra!