Friday, February 15 2019

09:15 We pack and load the car and drive over to Haslemere, Surrey, where Alison, our eldest daughter, lives, along with Ed and their 3 children.

I am supposed to fill up the car with petrol at the nearby gas station, which is just around the corner, but I forget about it for some reason.

That isn’t like me, which is a little worrying, to say the least. And because it is very difficult to read the instruments on the car's dashboard, because of the very strong sunshine, during the first 40 minutes of driving I am totally unaware that there is very little fuel left in the tank. But there’s a happy ending, because later on the M4 motorway, having been driving for 10 minutes with the gasoline warning light on, I manage to find a gas station at the next rest area (Chieveley Services).

Is this the first sign of the beginning of dementia - let's hope not. I think you become much more relaxed when you have retired, and suddenly it becomes  a bit OTT to worry about things such as level of gasoline in the tank. That is my excuse at any rate.

We try to take a different route from the normal, which is not a success, to put it mildly. We leave the motorway at a previous exit from the normal one, to experience Hampshire's beautiful little roads out in the countryside, but it takes a hell of time to arrive at Alison's house, I have to say. Damn!

12:45 We arrive at Ali and Ed's house and eat lunch. Ed is still at work in Ellesmere Port. Ali, Rosalind and Isaac are at home - their school is closed for teachers' regular in-service training. But Josie is still at high school till 3.30 pm.

16:00 Josie comes home from school and she and Rosalind go for swimming training at the local sports centre.

19:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching tv. Ed comes back from work at 9 pm.

22:00 Lois and I go to bed. Isaac has let us have his room for 3 nights. The walls are covered with posters of football players and Harry Potter characters: he has stuck a piece of paper over some Harry Potter character with a scary face, which is fair enough: he does not want to be left exposed to the risk of nightmares to put it mildly.

Zzzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation

09:15 Vi pakker og læsser bilen og kører over til Haslemere, Surrey, hvor Alison, vores ældste datter bor, sammen med Ed og deres 3 børn.

Det er meningen at jeg fylder bilen op med benzin på den nærliggende tankstation,  rundt om hjørnet,  men jeg glemmer alt om det, for en eller anden grund.

Det ligner mig ikke, hvilket er lidt bekymrende, for at sige mildt. Og på grund af, at det er meget svært at læse instrumenterne på bilens instrumentpanel (på grund af den meget stærke solskin), er jeg i kørslens først 40 minutter ikke klar over, at der ikke er meget benzin tilbage i tanken. En lykkelig slutning, fordi senere på M4-motorvejen, efter at have kørt i 10 minutter med benzinadvarselslampe tændt, lykkes det mig at finde en tankstation på den næste rasteplads (Chievley Services).

Er dette det første tegn på begyndelsen af demens – det lad os ikke håbe på. Jeg synes, man bliver meget mere trygt, da man er gået på pension, og det synes pludselig lidt OTT at bekymre over tingene, såsom benzin i tanken. Det er min undskyldning i hvert fald.

Vi prøver at tage en anderledes rute fra den normale, hvilket ikke er en succes, for at sige mildt. VI forlader motorvejen på en tidligere afkørsel, end den normale, for at opleve grevskabet Hampshires smukke små veje ude på landet, men det tager en helvedes tid til at ankomme til Alisons hus, det må jeg nok sige. Pokkers!

12:45 Vi ankommer til Ali og Eds hus og spiser frokost. Ed er stadig på arbejde i Ellesmere Port. Rosalind og Isaac er herhjemme – skolen er lukket for lærernes regelmæssige in service-uddannelse. Josie er på skole.

16:00 Josie kommer hjem fra skole og hun og Rosalind har svømmetræning på det lokale motionscenter.

19:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen. Ed kommer tilbage fra arbejde kl 21.

22:00 Lois og jeg går i seng  Isaac har opgivet sit væresle i 3 nætter. Væggene er dækket med plakater om fodboldspillere og Harry Potter-karakterer: han har stukket et stykke papir over en ellen anden Harry Potter karakter med en skræmmende ansigt, hvilket er fair nok : han har ikke lyst til at blive udsat for mareridt, for at sige mildt.

Zzzzzzzzz!!!!!