Tuesday 26 June 2018

08:00 Lois and I get up and go in the shower. After breakfast, I am just on the point of getting ready for my friend "Magyar" Mike's weekly visit to study Hungarian with me, when the phone rings: Mike has lost his car keys. He has searched his house without success. He will later have to pop into his local service station to ask for help with getting a new set. Poor Mike !!!!

We are all getting on in years, no doubt about that !!!!

Unexpectedly, I have some extra free time. I take a little online and I book a double room for two nights in July in the county of Surrey so we can spend some time with our daughter Alison and her family after they move into their old house in Haslemere, after almost 6 years' residence in Denmark.

We do not want to stay in the house itself because we are quite sure that total confusion will be reigning there, only a week after their furniture and belongings have been delivered. But it will be so nice to be able to spend time with them without having to board an airplane for once - hurrah!

The hotel, which is called the Devil's Punchbowl Hotel, is near the top of what looks like a giant crater, the Devil's Punchbowl, which actually resulted from soil erosion over many millennia.

The cosy Devil's Punchbowl Hotel, 

where Lois and I have booked a double room

11:00 I take a little look online. I see that Alison has posted a charming picture up on "Insta", showing the family's two cats sitting looking out of the window. They have been "banned" from leaving the house for the time being - they are now worried the whole time at the moment because of the "mysterious" lack of furniture and belongings in the house, and Alison is afraid that if they go out they might never come home again - yikes! Poor cats !!!!

Alison's cats have been "forbidden" to leave the house for the time being.

Poor cats!!!

We are very curious about exactly what is happening, both in the family's house in Copenhagen, where Alison is getting ready for the imminent end of their 6-year stay in Denmark, and also exactly what is happening in Haslemere, England, where Ed, Alison's husband , is monitoring the delivery of family's furniture and belongings. At this point Lois and I would love to be flies on the wall, no doubt about that! But they are of course too busy to keep us informed, and rightly so.

As we age, we are becoming more and more mere spectators in our children and grandchildren's lives – that’s something we know for sure!

12:30 Lunch and afterwards we take a giant afternoon nap in our daughter Sarah's old bed. It is very hot again and the temperature could reach 80F (27C or so). But in Sarah's old room we can open the windows wide: the room overlooks the backyard and there is no traffic noise, which is a refreshing change, no doubt about that.

16:00 We get up and relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

17:00 My friend, "Magyar" Mike, sends me an email. He says that after searching the house, his wife, "Magyar" Mary, found Mike's missing car keys in one of his shoes. Mystery solved.

17:30 We have dinner a bit earlier than usual, because Lois wants to attend her sect's weekly bible seminar, taking place in Brockworth's town library.

18:15 Lois has to leave. She drives over to Mari-Ann and Alf's house. Alf will drive her over to Brockworth, where both of them will attend their sects' bible seminar. Mari-Ann has to stay home to look after Alf's brother Billy, currently staying with them, who is a little handicapped.

Lois is afraid that not many members will show up and attend the seminar tonight due to the warm weather.

19:00 I have a little alone time. I go out into the back yard and water the flower beds and vegetable garden. One of our 3 water butts is empty now, so I fill it to the brim again using our long garden hose, from the tap under the kitchen window.

I push our waste bins and recycle bins out onto the sidewalk because tomorrow is the council's collection day, and it's quite unpredictable when the trucks will show up. It varies from week to week, which is a bit annoying to put it mildly - damn it!

20:00 I watch television, the latest episode of an interesting Anglo-American documentary series, about abandoned disused installations and facilities - former research facilities, military facilities, etc., which have never been demolished, still just sitting there 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 installations is a mysterious flyover/overpass, the so-called Petrobras Viaduct, located in the midst of the Brazilian jungle, a massive concrete structure built on a mountainside, that is unconnected to any known roads, and which leads nowhere.

the mysterious flyover/overpass in the midst of the Brazilian jungle,

the so-called Petrobras viaduct, that leads nowhere.

Good grief, what madness !!!!

In the 1950s, the Brazilian government began to construct a new 3,000 mile long highway along the coast, the BR101 highway, which was to lead south from Rio. Unfortunately, there was a gap in the planned route near Sao Paolo - a mountainous region where the government judged it would be too expensive to construct a new road.

the mysterious gap on the route of the shiny new highway - yikes how peculiar!

In the 1970s, the then Brazilian military government invested a lot of money in new infrastructure projects, and it was decided to eliminate this gap by building a new section through (and on top of) the jungle.

In the midst of the economic boom, known as the Brazilian miracle, the authorities planned the most direct route possible, using tunnels and viaducts, etc. The project was urgent because they had also decided to build the Angra dos Rels thermonuclear plant just outside Rio, and they needed a reliable escape route south in the event of some nuclear accident or other - yikes!

They decided to build the most complex, difficult and expensive section first, so they started building the Petrobras viaduct, which was 1000 ft long and 130 ft high, far away from big cities in the middle of the jungle in a mountainous region - yikes again!.

But unfortunately in the 1980s, when the construction of the Angra dos Rel thermonuclear plant encountered problems and became seriously delayed, the Brazilian economy began to experience problems, partly because of the global gasoline crisis.

The government decided to scrap the new section of the road through the jungle, and Petrobras viaduct remains today unused and isolated. It's too expensive to tear it down - it's often more expensive to tear down such structures than to build them.

Good grief, what madness !!!!!

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 the evening's stimulating Bible seminar, and she watches a bit of television.

23:00 She hops up into bed with me. I read 12 pages of my bedside book, JD Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye", before I drift off to sleep - zzzzzzz !!!

Danish translation

08:00 Lois og jeg står op og går i bad. Efter morgenmad skal jeg lige til at forberede mig på min ven ”Magyar” Mikes ugentlige besøg for at studere ungarsk sammen med mig, da telefonen ringer: Mike har mistet sine bilnøgler. Han har ransaget sit hus uden succés. Han vil senere på dagen smutte ind i sin lokale servicestation for at bede om deres hjælp til at få et nyt sæt. Stakkels Mike!!!!

Vi bliver alle godt oppe i årene, ingen tvivl om det!!!!

Uforventet har jeg lidt ekstra fritid. Jeg kigger lidt på nettet, og jeg booker et dobbelt hotelværelse i to nætter i juli i grevskabet Surrey, så vi kan tilbringe nogen tid hos vores datter Alison og hendes familie, efter de flytter ind til deres gamle hus i Haslemere efter næsten 6 års ophold i Danmark.

Vi har ikke lyst til at bo i selve huset, fordi vi er helt sikre på, at total forvirring vil herske derovre, kun en uge efter deres møbler og ejendele er blevet leveret. Men det vil være så rart at kunne tilbringe tid med dem uden at skulle gå ombord på et fly for engangs skyld – hurra!

Hotellet, der hedder Devil’s Punchbowl Hotel, ligger nær toppen af, hvad der ser ud som en gigantisk krater, Devil’s Punchbowl, som faktisk blev resultatet af erosion over mange årtusinder.

det hyggelige Devil’s Punchbowl Hotel, 

hvor Lois og jeg har booket et dobbeltværelse

11:00 Jeg kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at Alison har lagt et charmerende billede op på ”Insta”, der viser familiens to katte, der sidder og kigger ud af vinduet. De er blevet ”forbudt” at gå ud af huset for tiden – de er hele tiden lidt bekymrede for tiden på grund af den ”mystiske” mangel på møbler og ejendele i huset, og Alison er bange for, at hvis de går ud, kan det være, at de ikke vil komme hjem igen – yikes! Stakkels katte!!!!

Alisons katte er blevet ”forbudt” at gå ud af huset for tiden.

Stakkels katte !!!!

Vi er meget nysgerrige over, præcis hvad der sker, både i familiens hus i København, hvor Alison forbereder sig på den overhængende slutning af deres 6-års ophold i Danmark, og præcis hvad der sker i Haslemere, England, hvor Ed, Alisons mand, er i gang med at overvåge leverancen af familiens møbler og ejendele. På dette tidspunkt ville Lois og jeg meget gerne være fluer på væggen, ingen tvivl om det! Men de har alt for travlt til at holde os informeret, og med rette.

Mens vi ældes, bliver vi mere og mere bare tilskuere i vores børn og børnebørns liv – det ved vi med sikkerhed!

12:30 Frokost og bagefter tager vi en gigantisk eftermiddagslur i vores datter Sarahs gamle seng. Det er meget varmt igen og temperaturen kan nå 80F (27C eller deromkring). Men i Sarahs gamle værelse kan vi åbne vinduerne på vid gab: værelset har udsigt over baghaven og der er ikke noget trafiklarm, hvilket er en forfriskende forandring, ingen tvivl om det.

16:00 Vi står op og slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

17:00 Min ven, ”Magyar” Mike, sender mig en email. Han siger, at efter at have ransaget huset, har hendes kone, ”Magyar” Mary,  fundet Mikes manglende bilnøgler i en af hans sko. Mysteriet løst.

17:30 Vi spiser aftensmad lidt tidligere, end normalt, fordi Lois ønsker at deltage i sin sekts ugentlige bibelseminar, der finder sted i aften på byen Brockworths bibliotek.

18:15 Lois skal ud. Hun kører over til Mari-Ann og Alfs hus. Alf skal køre hende over til Brockworth, hvor de begge to vil deltage I deres sekts bibelseminar. Mari-Ann skal blive hjemme for at passe på Alfs bror Billy, der for tiden bor hos dem og er lidt handicappet.

Lois er bange for, at ikke mange i aften vil dukke op og deltage i seminaret på grund af det varme vejr.

19:00 Jeg har lidt alenetid. Jeg går ud i baghaven og vander blomsterbedene og grøntsagshaven. En af vores 3 vandstønder er nu tom, så jeg fylder den til randen igen ved hjælp af vores lange havslange  fra vandhanen under køkkenvinduet.

Jeg skubber vores affaldspande og genbrugaffaldspande ud på fortovet, fordi i morgen er kommunens indsamlingsdag, og det er helt uforudsigeligt, præcis hvornår lastbilerne dukker op. Det varierer fra uge til uge, hvilket er lidt irriterende for at sige mildt   – pokkers!  

20:00 Jeg ser lidt fjernsyn, 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 handler om en mystisk overføring, den såkaldte Petrobras-viadukt, der står midt i den brasilianske jungel, en massiv betonstruktur bygget på en bjergside, der er uforbindet med nogle kendte veje, og som fører ingen steder.

den mystiske overføring midt i den brasilianske jungel,

den såkaldte Petrobras-viadukt, der fører ingen steder.

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!

I 1950’erne begyndte den brasianske regering at konstruere en ny 3.000 miles lang landevej langs kysten, den BR101 Landevej, der skulle føre sydpå fra Rio. Desværre var der en kløft i den planlagte rute i nærheden af Sao Paolo – en bjergrig region, hvor regeringen bedømte det ville være for svært for dyrt til at konstruere en ny vej.

den mystiske kløft i den spritnye landvejs rute – yikes, hvor underligt!

I 1970’erne investerede den daværende brasilianske militære regering en masse penge i nye infrastrukturprojekter, og det blev besluttet at eliminere denne kløft ved at bygge en ny sektion gennem (og på toppen af) junglen.

Midt i den økonomiske boom, der blev kendt som den brasilianske mirakel, planlagte myndighederne den mest direkte rute muligt, ved hjælp af tunneler og viadukter osv. Projektet blev presserende, fordi de havde besluttet at bygge det Angra dos Rels termonuklear anlæg lige udenfor Rio, og de havde brug for en pålidelig flygtvej sydpå i det tilfælde, de skulle være en eller anden nuklear ulykke – yikes!

De besluttede at bygge den mest komplekse, svære og dyre sektion først, og derfor startede de ved at bygge den Petrobras-viadukt, der var 1000 fods lang og 130 fods høj, langt væk fra storbyer midt i junglen i en bjergrig region – yikes (igen!).

Men desværre i 1980’erne, da konstruktionen af det Angra dos Rels termonukler anlæg mødte problemer og blev alvorligt forsinket, begyndte den brasilianske økonomi at oplever problemer, delsvis på grund af den globale benzinkrise.

Regeringen besluttede at skrotte landevejens nye sektion gennem junglen, og Petrobras-viadukt henstår ubrugt og isoleret. Det er for dyrt at rive den ned – ofte er det dyrere at rive sådanne strukturer ned, end at bygge dem.

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!!

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, og hun ser lidt fjernsyn.

23:00 Hun hopper op i sengen til mig. Jeg læser 12 sider af min sengetidbog, JD Salingers ”Forbandede Ungdom”, før jeg glider over i søvnen – zzzzzzz!!!