Monday, February 11 2019

09:00 Lois is planning to accept her friend Margaret's morning coffee invitation in Evesham, but when Lois calls her, she finds out that there has been a bit of a misunderstanding - Margaret has promised to meet her daughter somewhere this morning, so our visit is cancelled, which I am more than a little happy with, frankly.

After today, Margaret has no more leisure time before she departs on a cruise in the Middle East. The cruise includes, for example, Dubai and the Gulf of Aqaba, according to Margaret: we are not quite sure how much Margaret knows about the geography of the Middle East, but if she is right, the cruise must be a kind of 75% "circumnavigation" of the Arabian Peninsula. Lois and I do not have the faintest idea why an elderly lady in her 80’s would want to brave the tropical heat to take such a cruise, but we’re going to let that one slide – good grief, what madness !!

Cruises can sometimes be rather a dangerous experience - no doubt about that. I hope Margaret's ship stays far away from those awful Somali pirates, I have to say!

Even in the United States, cruises can meet with unexpected experiences, although they often have their funny side, I have to admit. Lois and I read in Onion News about a cruise boat that hit the headlines recently when a rock group's tour bus dumped a second cargo of human shit on the same cruise boat after a 14-year gap, which was a little unfortunate to say the least.

CHICAGO - Representatives of the Dave Matthews Band expressed their sincere regret for repeating a 2004 incident after their tour bus dumped another 800 pounds of human shit on the same architecture cruise boat that they hit 14 years ago.

"On behalf of Dave and the rest of the crew, I'm here to stress how much we regret any emotional damage we might have caused the victims to experience after dumping half a ton of our group's excrement on their cruise ship." said tour manager Bryan Stewart to journalists.

He noted that whilst band members knew they were playing with fire when they decided to dump the entire contents of their septic tank into the Chicago River, they did not expect the very same group of architecture-lovers to be travelling under the Kinzie St. Bridge at the exact moment that the foul-smelling stream of stools hit the water.

My goodness, what a total nightmare! And the incident has persuaded Lois and me to avoid cruises for the foreseeable future. But Margaret is made of sterner stuff, it seems. If only we could be more like her!

10:00 I read some pages of my bedtime book, "The Scandinavian Languages - The Seven Sisters of the North" by Ruth H. Sanders, Miami University of Ohio.

Ruth H. Sanders, author of the book

I did not realise before how much the Danes in England's Danelaw jurisdictions were so trendsetting when it came to names and surnames. Ruth says that 40% of the personal names in the Doomsday Book (1086) are Nordic, names such as Turin, Osgod, Sigulf, Asgar and many others. The Doomsday Book was the Normans’ tool for tax collection in England, the country they had conquered in 1066, a mere 20 years earlier.

Also, England's and Scotland's many family names ending with "–son", for example Johnson, Wilson etc, stem from the dominant pattern we still see today in the Nordic countries apparently.

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

10:30  I jump up on my fitness bike and I ride 4 miles. Both Lois and I are feeling much better today - we hope that we have started to get on top of our recent colds.

We go for a short walk on the local football field, on the way posting a bunch of letters in the mailbox, including  a birthday card for Francis, our son-in-law in Perth, Australia.

We go for a short walk on the local football field

We walk past the former day care centre, 300 yards down the road. The centre has closed, but there are still some NHS executives working in the centre's offices. People in the neighbourhood have wondered whether the NHS has maybe decided to open a new doctor’s surgery in the complex within the next 2-3 years, which would replace the one that was recently closed, a closure that made a lot of local residents (including Lois and me) very angry to say the least - grrrrrrrr !!!!!

The former day care centre, now closed, where Lois once worked

in the kitchens a lifetime ago. Local residents have wondered

whether the NHS might open a new doctor’s surgey in the complex

within the next 2-3 years, but the jury is still out on that one.

A new medical centre just 300 yards away could be just what Lois and I want. But it may be that we will decide to move away from Cheltenham if our son-in-law Ed gets a long-term job somewhere in the country. He worked in Denmark for almost 6 years (2012-2018), but has been unemployed since the family moved back to England last year. He has just accepted an offer of a temporary 2-month job in Liverpool, but he is still looking for a permanent job.

Lois has read somewhere on the web that working abroad can give you benefits in your career if you move back to England within say 3 years, but it sometimes becomes more problematic if you stay more than 3 years abroad - perhaps employers suspect you've been out of the loop for too long, or maybe have "gone native". But we are not completely sure about that. We also know that Ed has taken a very selective attitude, and is not at all willing to take a job that he thinks will not be good for him in the long run.

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap - zzzzzzz !!!!! I get up at 3 pm and we relax with a cup of tea and a biscuit on the sofa.

18:00 We have dinner - roast lamb with home-grown mint sauce, roast potatoes, and home-grown vegetables again, with homemade plum tart for dessert - yum yum! We are eating like kings, now that our freezer has broken down ha ha ha!

20:00 We spend the rest of the evening watching some television. Monday night is TV quiz night at our house. "Only Connect" and "University Challenge are on.

Lois and I are always happy about the questions we can answer, but which all the fresh young brains have problems with, because we believe it proves that we are not yet suffering from dementia, but perhaps we are deluding ourselves - the jury still out on that one.

In "Only Connect", both Lois and I find that we can answer several questions that the "brains" do not have the faintest idea about. And later, in the University Challenge, the same success, which is nice.

21:00 We continue to watch a bit of television. An interesting documentary is on, all about the people who every day eat a lot of often unhealthy food, and do not exercise, but somehow stay annoyingly skinny. The host of the program is the charming Sabina Grant.

The programme is only 30 minutes long, which is nice. It looks at just 2 young women, each exhibiting different characteristics from the other: Hayley, a busy mother of 3 who loves chocolate and double cream; and Rinia, who eats constantly all day and hates all kinds of exercise.

Hayley (right) with her partner

Rinia

Sabina Grant's researchers analyse the two women's routines.

Hayley is a typical busy mother of 3 children. Her days are full of activities (that is, taking the kids to school and then home from school, food shopping, etc.), and the researchers notice she tends to fidget restlessly all the time, even when sitting at the table. And when it comes to meals, it takes her a hell of time to finish eating because of all her talking, getting up, sitting down again, and generally encouraging the kids to eat up etc.

Lois and I think there is a moral and a lesson for us in Hayley's behaviour. We once read that one of the biggest reasons French people are skinnier than us Brits is that they spend a hell of a time eating a meal, and they also chat all the time during the meal: two hour lunch breaks have been the norm, at least until recently.

It's sitting still that’s dangerous, it seems. Sabina Grant, the programme's host, visited a university in the Netherlands where a professor Thijssen explained that the activity waves and blood flow to the brain and the muscles "flatlines" when we sit still, but speeds up quickly when we get up off the chair, and even more when we start walking around the room, which, incidentally, is something that Lois has got into the habit of doing periodically, while watching television, I have to say.

Rinia, the other young woman, is more of a special case, we believe. She gets hungry many times a day, but after she starts eating something, she quickly feels satisfied and she rarely eats anything up, even a packet of chips. The researchers believe that, perhaps for genetic reasons, she has an exceptionally effective hormone system: her ghreglin and leptin hormones seem to give her immediate signals the moment she gets hungry and the moment she has eaten enough.

22:00 We go to bed. I read about  15 pages of my bedtime book before I fall asleep - zzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation

09:00 Lois har planlagt at acceptere sin veninde Margarets invitation til morgenkaffe i formiddag i byen Evesham, men da Lois ringer til hende, finder hun ud af, at der har været lidt af en misforståelse – Margaret har lovet at mødes med sin datter et eller andet sted i formiddag, så vores besøg er aflyst, hvilket jeg er mere end en lille smule glad for, ærligt talt.

Efter i dag har Margaret ingen fritid mere, før hun tager af sted på et krydstogt i Mellemøsten. Krydstogten indeholder for eksempel Dubai og Akababugten ifølge Margaret: vi  er ikke helt sikre på hvor meget Margaret ved om geographien af Mellemøsten, men hvis hun har ret, må krydstogtet være en slags 75% "omsejling" af den arabiske halvø. Lois og jeg har ikke den fjerneste anelse om hvorfor en ældre dame i 80’erne ville ønske at trodse den tropiske varme for at tage sådant et krydstogt, men det springer vi over – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!! 

Krydstogter kan nogle gange være lidt farlige oplevelser – ingen tvivl om det. Jeg håber på, at Margarets skib holder sig langt væk fra de der somalienske sørøvere, det må jeg nok sige!

Selv i USA kan krydstogter møder uforventede oplevelser, selvom de ofte har deres morsomme side, det må jeg indrømme. Lois og jeg læste forleden i Onion News om et krydstogtbåd, der ramte overskrifterne, da en rockgruppes tournébus  efter et 14 års mellemrum, dumpede et 2. ladning af menneskelig skidt på det samme krydstogtbåd, hvilket var lidt uheldigt, for at sige mildt.

CHICAGO - repræsentanter for Dave Matthews Band udtrykkede deres oprigtige beklagelse for at gentage en 2004-hændelse, efter at deres turnébus dumpede endnu  800 pund menneskelig skidt på samme arkitekturkrydstogtbåd, som de ramte for 14 år siden.

"På vegne af Dave og resten af besætningen er jeg her for at understrege, hvor meget vi fortryder nogen følelsesmæssig skade, som vi måske har fået ofrene til at opleve efter at have dumpet et halvt ton af vores gruppes ekskrementer på deres krydstogtsbåd." sagde turnémanageren Bryan Stewart.

Han bemærkede, at mens bandmedlemmer vidste at de legede med ild, da de besluttede at dumpe hele indhold af  deres septiktank ind i floden Chicago, havde ikke forventet, at den samme gruppe arkitektur-elskere ville være i gang med at rejse under Kinziegade-broen det præcis  øjeblik, fællugtende strøm af afføring ramte vandet.

Du godeste, sikke et totalt mareridt! Og handelsen har overtalt Lois og mig til at undgå krydstogter i overskuelig fremtid. Margaret er ikke desto mindre lavet af sterne ting, lader det til. Hvis bare vi kunne ligne hende mere!

10:00 Jeg læser nogle sider af min sengetidbog, ”Skandinaviens sprog – nordens syv søstre” af Ruth H. Sanders, Miami University af Ohio.

Ruth H. Sanders, bogens forfatter

Jeg vidste ikke, hvor meget danskerne i Englands Danelaw-jurisdictioner var så trendsættende, når det kom til navne og efternavne. Ruth siger, at 40% af de personlige navne i Doomsday Book (1086), er nordiske, for eksempel Turstin, Osgod, Sigulf, Asgar og mange andre. Domesday Book var normannernes redskab til skatteopkrævning i England, et land de erobrede i 1066, 20 år tidligere.

Doomsday Book

Også England og Skotlands mange familienavne, der ender med ”–son”, for eksempel Johnson, Wilson osv, stammer faktisk fra det dominerende mønster vi ser i de nordiske lande.

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

10:30 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og jeg cykler 4 miles. Både Lois og jeg har det meget bedre i dag – vi håber på, at vi er begyndt at komme os ovenpå vores nylige forkølelser.

Vi går en kort tur på den lokale fodboldbane, på vej lægger vi en masse brev i postkassen, også et fødseldagskort til Francis, vores svigersøn i Perth, Australien.

vi går en kort tur på det lokale fodboldbane

Vi går forbi den tidligere dagplejecenter, 300 yards ned ad vejen. Centret er lukket, men der er stadig nogle sundhedsspersonale, der arbejder i centrets kontorer.  Folk i nabolaget har spekuleret på om sundhedssystemet har besluttet at åbne et nyt lægehus indenfor de næste 2-3 år  i komplekset, der ville erstate dét, der for nylig lukkede, en lukning, der gjorde en masse lokale indbyggere (inklusive Lois og mig) meget vrede for at sige mildt – grrrrrrrr!!!!!

den tidligere dagplejecenter, nu lukket. Lokale indbyggere har spekuleret på,

om sundhedssystem måske kunne åbne et nyt lægehus i komplekset

indenfor de næste 2-3 år, men det er juryen stadig ude om.

Et nyt lægehus bare 300 yards væk kunne være lige hvad Lois og jeg ønsker os. Men det kan være, at vi beslutter at flytte fra Cheltenham, hvis vores svigersøn Ed får et langsigtet job et eller andet sted i landet. Han arbejdede i Danmark i næsten 6 år (2012-2018), men har været arbejdsløs siden familien sidste år flyttede tilbage til England. Han har accepteret et tilbud af et midlertidigt 2-måneders job i Liverpool, men han er stadig på jagt efter et permanent job.

Lois har læst et eller andet sted på nettet, at det, at arbejde i udlandet, kan give dig fordele i din karriere, hvis du flytter tilbage til England indenfor fx 3 år, men det hele bliver nogle gange mere problematisk, hvis du opholder dig mere end 3 år i udlandet – måske arbejdsgivere mistænker du har været ude af loopet i for lang tid, eller måske er ”gået indført”. Men det er vi ikke helt sikre på. Vi ved også, at Ed har taget en meget selektiv attitude, og slet ikke er villig til at modtage jobs, han synes, ikke vil være gode i længden.

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzzzz!!!!! Jeg står op kl 15 og vi slapper af med en kop te og en kiks i sofaen.

18:00 VI spiser aftensmad – stegte lam me hjemmedyrket mynte-sauce, stegte kartofler, og hjemmedyrkede grøntsager igen, med hjemmelavet blommetærte til dessert – yum yum! Vi spiser som konger, nu hvor vores fryser er gået i stå ha ha ha !

20:00 Vi 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 hjerner har problemer med, fordi vi tror det beviser, at vi ikke endnu lider af demens, men måske vildleder vi os – det er juryen stadig ude om!

I ”Only Connect” finder både Lois og jeg at vi kan besvare spørgsmål, som ”hjernerne” ikke har den fjerneste anelse om. Og senere, i University Challenge, den samme succés, hvilket er rart.

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om de mennesker, der hver dag spiser en masse, ofte usund mad, og ikke dyrker motion, men som på en eller anden måde når at forblive irriterende magre. Programmets vært er den charmerende Sabina Grant.

Programmet er kun 20 minutters langt, hvilket er rart. Det kigger på kun 2 unge kvinder, der hver udviser anderledes egenskaber,  end hinanden: Hayley, en travlt mor til 3 børn, der elsker chokolade og dobbeltfløde; og Rinia, der spiser konstant hele dagen, og hader alle former for motion.

Hayley

Rinia

Sabina Grants forskere analyserer de to kvindes rutiner.

Hayley er en typisk travlt mor til 3 børn. Hendes dage er fuld af aktiviteter (dét at tage børnene til skolen og hjem fra skolen, madindkøb osv), og forskerne lægger mærke til, hun bevæger sig rastløst, selv når hun sidder ved bordet. Og når det kommer til måltider, tager det hende en helvedes tid til at spise færdigt på grund af det at snakke, rejse sig op, sætte sig ned igen, og generelt at opfordre børnene til at spise færdigt osv.

Lois og jeg synes, der er en moral, og lektioner til os, i Hayleys opførsel. Vi læste engang, at en af de største grunde, franskmænd er slankere, end os briter, er, at de bruger en helvedes tid på at spise, og de snakker hele tiden under måltiden: to timers frokostpauser har været normen, i det mindst indtil for nylig.

Det er blive siddende er ganske farligt, lader det til. Sabina Grant, programmets vært, besøgte et universitet i Holland, hvor en prof. Thijssen forklarede, at hjernens og musklernes aktivitetsbølger og blodgennemstrømninger går ”flatline”, mens vi sidder, men speeder hurtigt op, når vi rejser os, og endnu mere, når vi går rundt omkring i værelset, hvilket for øvrigt er noget, Lois er kommet i vane med at gøre af og til, mens vi ser på fjernsyn, det må jeg nok sige. 

Rinia, den anden unge kvinde, er mere af et specielt tilfælde, tror vi. Hun bliver sulten mange gange om dagen, men efter hun er begyndt at spise noget, føler hun sig hurtigt tilfredsstillet og hun sjældent spiser noget færdigt, selv en paket chips. Forskerne tror, at hun, måske af genetiske grunde, har et usædvanligt effektivt hormonsystem: hormonerne ghreglin og leptin, der giver hende umiddelbare signaler det øjeblik, hun bliver sulten, og dett øjeblik hu  har spist nok.

22:00 Vi går i seng. Jeg læser ca. 15 sider af min sengetidbog, før jeg glider over i søvnen – zzzzzzz!!!!!