Monday, November 19, 2018

10:30 Lois and I take a total of 20 of our unwanted electrical appliances and 2 old computer keyboards along to the Stoke Orchard Recycling Centre: this is Phase 1 of our latest attempt to kick-start Project Downsize.

Afterwards we drive over to the small town of Bishops Cleeve, We drop into Lowry's cafe, get a cup of coffee and a piece of cake, and lastly we stop in at the local post office to send off a package and buy a few birthday cards and two "Peter Rabbit" children's magazines, which we will send to Lily and Jessie, our 5 year old twin grandchildren in Perth, Australia.

The two "Peter Rabbit" children's magazines we are sending to

Lily and Jessie, our 5 year old twin grandchildren in Perth, Australia

All in all, a good morning, except that unfortunately I do not notice a big bag in the trunk that contains an old unwanted electric blanket, so we end up taking it back home without realising - damn it! But the municipal recycling truck is coming on Wednesday and I will try to smuggle the blanket out in one of our two green recycling waste containers - aha, sneaky ! According to local regulations, it is okay to put "small" electrical appliances in there, but they do not define what "small" means. My god, what madness!

Lois and I feel that the town council's recycling system is very old-fashioned in comparison with US cities for example. Three years ago, we read about exciting developments in this field in American cities (source: Onion News), and were expecting that Cheltenham would quickly copy the new US system, but so far, the town's attempts at modernisation have been a bit disappointing, to put it mildly.

In a report published 3 years ago by the Environmental Protection Agency, officials praised new initiatives to take the guesswork out of the often confusing process of household waste management, and noted that more and more cities were now providing residents with bins just for material that looks like it could probably be recycled.

"We are aware that it can be difficult to know whether those stained pizza boxes or orange juice cartons with plastic spouts can be recycled or not, so with the introduction of these new containers we invite residents to just throw them all in and not worry about it!" said Rosa Fernandez, a spokesperson for the city of Seattle, who has urged its citizens to use the new bins to discard plastic bags, wrapping paper or other items that they suspect could be recyclable, and put them out on the kerbside next to their usual recycling bins and waste bins.

"Whether you're trying to find out if your city is taking plastic with number 4 or higher, or you cannot remember if you are allowed to send books for recycling, do not worry - just look for the little bins with the question mark on the side."

Fernandez added that the city is currently considering providing an additional bin for things that residents know are not recyclable, but which they still feel bad about throwing out.

Lois and I think it's a shame that Cheltenham is always the last town to adopt new ideas.

And when the municipality does opt for change, its decisions are largely of dubious value, we think. The recent decision to ban all traffic (except for buses) from the town's central focus, the so-called "Boots Corner" for 18 months, as a crazy ill-considered experiment, has been widely criticised by many residents, including the town's Conservative MP Alex Chalk.

The experiment has led to traffic jams all over the rest of the town, in addition to restaurants and other business owners in the city centre reporting a dramatic decline in revenue and number of customers.

My god, what madness !!!!

13:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap. I get up at 3:30 pm and we relax with a cup of tea and an apple. Afterwards Lois swings by the neighbours (Bill and Mary), to have a little chat with Mary, who suffers from dementia. Lois is so warm-hearted - if only I could be more like her !

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. Monday evening is TV quiz evening at our house: "Only Connect" and "University Challenge" are on.

Lois and I are always happy about all those questions we ourselves can answer, but which all the fresh young minds on the programmes strike out on, because we think it proves we are not yet suffering from dementia. Sometimes we are helped by our specialist knowledge stemming from our daughter Alison's 6 year residence in Copenhagen.

There is the obligatory "Danish" question in the "University Challenge": - "Which country's flag fell from heaven in 1219, according to the legend?". The answer is Denmark, we both knew that one very well of course. No problem there.

All in all, Lois and I have a good evening when it comes to answering questions that the fresh young "brains" struggle with, and sometimes we are faster than them, which is nice.

In "Only Connect", where participants have to find connections between 4 seemingly unconnected terms or concepts, there are a number of interesting questions, as always: for example, 4 "things" that have a connection with the word "thing", or the name "thing", which is all a bit confusing to put it mildly.

Another question is about the connection between these 4 pictures:

The answer is that they are all mentioned in the well-known 18th century English sea-shanty, "What shall we do with the drunken sailor?", where 4 suggestions are made as to how to handle a drunken sailor.

(1) Put him in bed with the captain's daughter

(2) Shave his stomach with a rusty razor

(3) Put him in the scuppers with a hosepipe on him

(4) Put him in the long boat till he's sober.

Lois and I know this song well - we used to sing it in primary school (with the first suggestion censored). But we both have not the faintest idea about what the song means.

Tonight, Only Connect's charming host, Victoria Coren Mitchell, explains the true meaning of the song. It is actually all about so-called "brewer's droop", ie, temporary erectile dysfunction after a drunken binge. And the song is written from the point of view of a disappointed woman or prostitute who wakes up in the morning next to a sailor with a hangover. The song is actually giving 4 suggestions on how this sailor can be pepped up a bit.

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

Coincidentally, Victoria's mother once wrote a letter to "The Times" newspaper (in 2006) about the true meaning of the song, Victoria tells us.

My god, what a crazy world we live in !!!! [you've already said that at least once - Ed.]

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

Danish translation

10:30 Lois og jeg tager sammenlagt 20 af vores uønskede elektriske apparater samt 2 gamle computertastaturer med til Stoke Orchard-genbrugscentret: dette er fase 1 af vores seneste attempt to kickstart projekt-downsize.

Bagefter kører vi over til den lille by Bishops Cleeve: vi smutter ind i Lowrys café, får en kop kaffe og et stykke kager, og til sidst standser vi hos det lokale postkontor for at afsende en pakke, og køber et par fødselsdagskort og to ”Peter Rabbit” børnemagasiner, som vi vil sende til Lily og Jessie, vores 5-årige børnebørn i Perth, Australien.

De to ”Peter Rabbit” børnemagasiner, vi vil sender til

Lily og Jessie, vores 5-årige børnebørn i Perth, Australien

Alt i alt en succesfuld formiddag, bortset fra, at jeg desværre ikke bemærker en stor sæk i bagagerummet, der indeholder et gammelt, uønsket elektrisk varmetæppe, så vi tager det hjem igen uden at vide det – pokkers! Men kommunens genbruglastbil kommer på onsdag, og jeg vil forsøge at smugle varmetæppet i et af vores to grønne genbrugsaffaldsbeholdere – aha, lusket! Ifølge kommunens regler er det okay at putte ”små” elektriske apparater i dem, men de definerer ikke, hvad ”små” betyder. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Lois og jeg føler, at den lokale kommunes genbrugsystem er meget gammeldags i sammenligning med byer i USA for eksempel. Vi læste for 3 år siden om spændende udviklinger i dette feld i amerikanske byer (kilde: Onion News), og forventede, at Cheltenham hurtigt vil kopiere det nye amerikanske system, men hidtil har byens forsøg på modernisering været lidt skuffende for at sige mildt.

I en rapport, der blev offentliggjort for 3 år siden af Miljøstyrelsen, rosede embedsmænd nye initiativer til at tage gætteværket ud af den ofte forvirrende proces af håndteringen af husholdningsaffaldshåndtering, og bemærkede,  at flere og flere byer nu forsyner beboere med genbrugsbeholdere til materialer, der ser ud som om, at de sandsynligvis kunne være genanvendelige.

"Vi er klar over, at det kan være svært at vide, om de der plettede pizzakasser eller appelsinjuicekartoner med plastiktud kan genanvendes eller ej, så med indførelsen af disse nye affaldsbeholdere, opfordrer vi beboerne til kun at smide dem alle ind og ikke bekymre sig om det, "siger Rosa Fernandez, en talsmand for byen Seattle, der har opfordret sine borgere til at bruge de nye genbrug/affaldsbeholdere  til at kassere plastikposer, indpakningspapir eller andre artikler, som de mistænker kunne tænkes at blive genanvendt, og placere dem på kantsten ved siden af deres sædvanlige genbrugsbeholdere  og affaldsbeholdere.

"Uanset om du prøver at finde ud af, om din by tager plast med nummer 4 eller højere, eller du ikke kan huske, om du får lov til at sende bøger for genanvendelse, skal du ikke bekymre dig - bare se efter de lilla genbrug/affaldsbeholdere med spørgsmålstegnet på siden. "

Fernandez tilføjede, at byen i øjeblikket overvejer at give en ekstra affaldsbeholder  til ting, som beboerne ved, ikke er genanvendelige, men som de alligevel har det dårligt med at smide ud.

Lois og jeg mener, det er lidt af en skam, at Cheltenham altid er den sidste by til at adoptere nye idéer.

Og når kommunen opter for forandring, er dens beslutninger for det meste af tvivlsom værd, synes vi. Den nylige beslutning at lukke byens centrale fokus, det såkaldte ”Boots Corner” i 18 måneder, som et vanvittigt uovervejet eksperiment er blevet bredt kritiseret af mange borgere, herunder byens konservative parlamentsmedlem, Alex Chalk.

Eksperimentet har ført til trafikpropper over hele resten af byen, udover det, at restauranter og andre forretningsejere i bymidten rapporterer en dramatisk nedgang i omsætning og antallet af kunder.

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15:30 og vi slapper af med en kop te og et æble. Bagefter smutter Lois ind hos naboerne (Bill og Mary), for at snakke lidt med Mary, der lider af demens. Lois er så varmhjertet – hvis bare jeg kunne ligne hende mere!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. Mandag aften er tv-quiz-aften hos os. De viser ”Only Connect” og ”University Challenge.

Lois og jeg er altid glad for de spørgsmål, som vi kan besvare, men som alle de friske unge hjerne har problemer med, fordi vi tror det beviser, at vi ikke endnu lider af demens. Nogle gange hjælper vores specialistiske viden, der stammer fra vores datter Alisons 6-års ophold i København.

Der er det obligatoriske ”danske” spørgsmål i ”University Challenge”:- hvilke lands flag faldt fra himlen i 1219 ifølge legenden? Det var Danmark, vidste vi godt. Intet problem der.

I det hele taget har Lois og jeg en god aften, når det kommer til at svare på spørgsmål, de friske unge ”hjerner” har svært med at klare, og nogle gange er vi hurtigere, end dem, hvilket er rart.

I ”Only Connect”, hvor deltagere skal finde frem til forbindelser mellem 4 tilsyneladende uforbundede udtryk eller koncepter, er der mange interessante spørgsmål, som altid. For eksempel 4 ”ting” der har en forbindelse med ordet eller navnet ”ting”, hvilket er lidt forvirrende for at sige mildt.

  

Et andet spørgsmål handler om forbindelsen mellem disse 4 billeder:

Svaret er, at de alle er nævnet i den berømte engelske shanty (takfast sømandssang), ”What shall we do with the drunken sailor?”, hvor 4 forslag bliver sunget på, hvordan man skulle behandle en beruset sømand.

(1)    Put ham i seng med kaptajns datter

(2)    Barber hans mave med en rusten barberblad

(3)    Put ham i spygattet med en hosepipe på ham

(4)    Put ham i den lange båd til han er ædru.

Lois og jeg kender denne sang godt – vi plejede at synge den i folkskolens musiklektioner (med det første forslag censureret). Men vi havde begge to ikke anelser om, hvad sangen betyder.

I aften forklarer Only Connect’s charmerende vært, Victoria Coren Mitchell, sangens ægte betydelse. Det handler faktisk om det såkaldte ”brewer’s droop”, dvs midlertidlige rejsningsproblemer efter en alkoholrus. Og sangen er skrevet fra synspunktet af en skuffet kvinde eller prostituerede, der vågner op om morgenen ved siden af en sømand med fysiske ubehag efter en alkoholrus. Sangen giver faktisk 4 forslag på, hvordan denne sømand kan peppes lidt op.

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

Tilfældigvis skrev Victorias mor et brev til avisen ”The Times” om sangens ægte betydning.

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!! [det har du allerede sagt engang – red.]

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!!