Saturday, March 16 2019

08:30 Lois and I drive over to the local Sainsbury’s supermarket to do the food shopping. On the way we swing by the local Waghorne’s butcher’s shop to buy high quality meat, bread and cheese. We come home and relax with a cup of coffee on the sofa.

Waghornes, the local butcher's shop, on the High Street

10:30 I jump up on my fitness bike and I ride 6 miles (10 km).

I watch old pop videos from the 1990’s on my child's DVD player while cycling, which I much prefer over joining a spin class, with its attendant risks of having to deal with some weirdo in the spin room.

A local gym recently hit the headlines because a bunch of spin class participants reported that they felt a little uncomfortable, to put it mildly, in these kinds of situations, so I'm not alone here. This is a typical incident, that hit the headlines on my go-to local news site, Onion News.

Local sources noted that the middle-aged individual walked  into the room, let his towel fall to the floor and began to talk to those who were moving around him. And local journalists confirmed that a man at our local Core Fitness Centre seemed to have absolutely no inhibitions about standing around naked in front of everyone in the spin class.

"The guy was certainly taking his sweet-ass time getting dressed right there in the middle of the spin room," said gym member Jeremy Kirsch, 27, who added that although the man had finally managed to put on a pair of socks, he was still almost naked when he sat down on the bike and tried engage  others in conversation.

"I’m happy that he’s comfortable in his own body and all that, but I come to the spin class to get a workout, not to look at some old guy's junk. God, he keeps talking to people as if his dick weren’t  hanging out right there where everyone can see it. "

At press time, the naked man was reportedly discussing the best way to get a good hamstring stretch, and had stuck his leg up on the spin-bike's handlebars to demonstrate.

You see, now that’s exactly what I've been saying for years when people suggest I join the local gym - it's simply not worth the risk of bumping into this kind of weirdo. People just tend to quit the gym for good after such traumatic experiences, and risk lose a fortune in membership fees as a result!

What a crazy world we live in !!!!!

11:00 Afterwards, Lois and I resume work on our downsizing mini-project, with the aim of getting rid of as many unwanted books as possible: there are 4 categories:

(1) books we can throw out for recycling: books that no one would want, and books that are too worn to be passed on.

(2) books we can donate to some charity shop, especially the Red Cross shop, which has a reputation for selling intellectual books, textbooks, classical literature, and the like.

(3) Books we can offer to our daughters, Alison and Sarah - books that their children might like to read.

(4) books we will keep for nostalgic reasons (it is important to minimize this category, otherwise the whole project will be in danger ha ha ha!)

Simples !!!!

I collect a lot of books in the 2nd category (donating to the charity shop), and put them in piles on Sarah's old double bed.

books on the bed, to go to charity shop

Then I collect a lot of books we can throw out for recycling (the 1st category).

books to throw out for recycling

I decide to keep only 3 books for nostalgic or sentimental reasons (the 4th category):

(1) my grandfather's Bible, a gift from my placeholder in 1943;

(2) "Stirring Days - Stories for Girls", one of my mother's Sunday School Awards from 1932;

(3) my mother's textbook for student nurses, "Anatomy and Physiology for Nurses", which she used in World War II when she was a student nurse in Bradford.

books to keep for sentimental reasons

I keep 3 large white cardboard boxes, where I store nostalgic souvenirs from my mother (1919-2011), my father (1914-2000), and my brother Steve (1952-2013). The cardboard boxes measure 19 "x 13" x 3.5 "(48cm x 33cm x 9 cm): it is a little scary to reflect on the fact that the main souvenirs from a human's life can be stuffed into a cardboard box of 865 cubic inches (14000 cubic-cm) - in fact, with thoughtfulness, 14,000 cubic-inches sounds a reasonable amount of room after all, which is a little calming, to say the least!

My three cardboard boxes: my mother (1919-2010),

my father (1914-2000), and my brother (1952-2013)

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3 pm, and Lois and I relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

We talk a little about our downsizing mini-project, which has made us a little nostalgic for times gone by. Lois has found a bunch of letters that she wrote to her mother from the 1982-85 period, when we lived in the United States. Aparently her mother kept all these letters and they are fascinating to read now.

The letters include Lois' first letter, dating from August 1982, shortly after we moved into our rental house in Columbia Md, but before our daughters, Alison (who has just turned 7) and Sarah (5) had started in the local primary school.

Alison's first reactions to life in the USA

Sarah talks about her new friends, Amelia and Tracey

 first page of Lois' first letter from USA to her parents 

back in England, after we arrived in USA

Flashback to 1982: Alison asleep in her four-poster bed

Me, as Jimmy "Schnozzle" Durante

Alison and Sarah watching The Pirate Movie on TV

Happy times !!!!!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television. An interesting documentary (part 1 of 5) is on, all about the life of the Queen. The first episode deals with the years 1926-1960 or thereabouts.

The programme is sponsored by Crown Paints, which seems appropriate.

The series is sponsored by Crown Paints, which seems

appropriate, to put it mildly.

Ten hours of programmes about the Queen's life seem a little on the long side, but Lois and I are her biggest fans - we think she has done a great job, so we don't have any inhibitions about seeing the whole series from start to finish - yikes!

This first episode is of particular interest to us because it covers the part of the Queen's life that played out before we were born.

Interestingly, Elizabeth got a massive megacrush on Philip, at first sight, that is, from the first time she saw him, when her parents took her and Margaret on a visit to the Dartmouth Naval College in 1939. She was only 13 years old.

A photographer happened to take this photo showing the 13-year-old

Princess Elizabeth and Philip (aged 18) together in the college gardens

The war broke out the following year. It's amusing to see some kind of officer cycling through London's streets with a warning sign on the neck: "TAKE COVER!". We suppose that the sign saved him having to shout too much and strain his voice. Yikes - scary!

War breaks out, and a man on a bike broadcasts his low-key message

with a sign hung round his neck  - "TAKE COVER!" !!!!! My god - what madness !!!!

In 1940, she and Margaret made her first radio broadcast: a message to British children who had been evacuated to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, where they had received a very warm welcome. The broadcast hit the headlines the free world, it seems.

"In the end all will be well", said the Princess.

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

Danish translation

08:30 Lois og jeg kører over til det locale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe ind. På vej smutter vi ind  i den lokale Waghornes-slagterbutik for at købe kød, brød og ost i høj kvalitet. Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

Waghornes, den lokale slagterbutik, på Højgade

10:30 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og jeg cykler 6 miles (10 km).

Jeg ser gamle popvideoer fra 1990’erne på min børne-dvdafspiller, mens jeg cykler, hvilket jeg hellere kan lide, end at deltage i en spin-klasse, med den konstant risiko for at skulle omgås en eller anden original  i klasserummene.

En lokal motionscenter ramte overskrifterne for nylig, fordi en flok spinklasse-deltagere rapporterede, at de følte sig lidt ukomfortable, for at sige mildt, i disse slags situationer, så er jeg ikke alene her.

Lokale kilder bemærkede at den midaldrende person gik ind, lod sit håndklæde falde til gulvet og begyndte at tage en lille snak med dem der bevægede sig omkring ham. Og lokale journalister bekræftede, at en mand på det lokale Core Fitness Center syntes at have absolut ingen hæmninger med at stå nøgen omkring foran alle i spin-klassen.

"Den fyr tager helt sikkert en helvedes tid at klæde sig lige der midt i spinklasserummet," sagde motionscentermedlem Jeremy Kirsch, 27, der tilføjede, at selvom manden endelig havde formået at tage et par sokker på, var han stadig næsten helt nøgen, da han satte sig på kondicyklen og forsøgte at få andre i snak.

"Jeg er glad for, at han hviler i sin egen krop og alt det der, men jeg kommer til spin- klassen for at få en træning, ikke for at se på en gammel fyrs kønsorganer. Gud, han fortsætter med at tale med folk som om hans pik ikke hængte lige der, hvor alle kan se den. "

På pressetid diskuterede den nøgne mand den bedste måde at få en god hase-strækning på, og havde stukket sit ben op på kondicyklens styrestang for at demonstrere.

Kan du se, det der er præcis, hvad jeg i årevis har sagt, når folk foreslår at jeg slutter mig ind i det lokale motionscenter – det er simpelthen ikke det værd at risikere at støde på denne slags original. Folk har tendens bare til at sige op efter sådan en traumatisk oplevelse, og miste en formue i motionscentre gebyrer som resultatet!

Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!

11:00 Bagefter går Lois og jeg i gang med at arbejde på vores downsize-miniprojekt, med det formål af blive fri for så mange uønskede bøger som muligt: der er 4 kategorier:

(1)          bøger vi kan smide ud til genbrug: bøger, som ingen ville interessere sig for, og bøger, der er for slidte til at blive videregivet.

(2)          bøger vi kan donere til en eller anden velgørenhedsbutik, i sær Røde Kors-butikken, der har et ry for at sælge intellektuelle bøger, lærebøger, klassisk litteratur, og lignende.

(3)          bøger vi kan tilbyde til vores døtre, Alison og Sarah – bøger, som deres børn måske ville være glade for.

(4)          bøger vi vil opbevare af nostalgiske grunde (det er vigtigt at minimisere denne kategori, ellers hele projektet bliver i fare ha ha ha!

Simples!!!!

Jeg samler en masse bøger i den 2. kategori (at donere til velgørenhedsbutik), og lægger dem i bunker på Sarahs gamle dobbeltseng.

Jeg samler en masse bøger vi kan smide ud til genbrug (den 1. kategori).

Jeg beslutter at opbevare kun 3 bøger af nostalgiske eller sentimentale grunde (den 4. kategori):

(1) min farfars bibel, en gave fra min stedfarmor i 1943;

(2) ”Stirring Days – Stories for Girls”, en af min mors søndagsskolepriser fra 1932;

(3) min mors lærebog for studerendesygeplejersker, ”Anatomy and Physiology for Nurses”, som hun brugte i den 2. verdenskrig, da hun var studerendesyteplejerske i Bradford.

Jeg opbevarer 3 store hvide papkasser, hvor jeg gemmer nostalgiske souvenirs fra min mor (1919-2011), min far  (1914-2000), og min bror Steve (1952-2013). Papkasserne måler 19” x 13” x 3,5” (48cm x 33cm x 9 cm) : det er lidt skræmmende at reflektere over, at de vigtigste souvenirs fra et menneskes liv kan blive proppet i en papkasse på 865 kubik-inches (14000 kubik-cm) – faktisk med nærmere eftertanke lyder 14.000 kubik-inches et rimeligt beløb rum trods alt, hvilket er lidt beroligende, for at sige mildt!

Mine tre papkasser: min mor (1919-2010), 

min far (1914-2000), og min bror (1952-2013)

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

Vi snakker lidt om vores downsize mini-projekt , som har gjort os lidt nostalgiske efter svundne tider. Lois har fundet et bundt breve, som hun skrev til sin mor, fra perioden 1982-85, da vi boede i USA. åbenbart opbevarede hendes mor alle disse breve, og de er fascinerende at læse nu.

Brevene indeholder Lois’ første brev, daterende fra august 1982, kort efter vi flyttede ind i vores lejehus i Columbia Md, men før vores døtre, Alison (der lige har fyldt 7 år) og Sarah (5) havde startet i den lokale folkeskole.

første side af Lois’ 1. brev fra USA til sine forældre tilbage i England

Tilbageblik til 1982: Alison i søvne

Mig som Jimmy "Schnozzle" Durante

Alison og Sarah ser "The Pirate Movie" i fjernsyn

Lykkelige tider!!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm (1. del af 5), der handler om livet af dronningen. Det første afsnit handler om årene 1926-1960 eller deromkring.

Programmet er sponsoreret af Crown  Paints, hvilket virker hensigtsmæssigt, for at sige mildt.

Ti timer af programmer om dronningens liv synes lidt på den lange side, men Lois og jeg er hendes største fans – vi synes hun har gjort en fantastisk job, så vi har ikke nogle hæmninger med at se hele serien fra start til slut – yikes!

Dette 1. afsnit interesserer os i særdeleshed, fordi det dækker den del af dronningens liv, der spillede sig ud inden vi var født.

Det er interessant, at hun fik en massiv megacrush på Philip, ved første øjekast, dvs fra den første gang hun fik øje på ham, da sine forældre tog hende og Margaret med på et besøg til Dartmouth Naval College i 1939. Hun var kun 13 år gammel.

En fotograf tog tilfældigvis dette foto, som viser den 13-årige

prinsesse Elizabeth og Philip (på 18 år) sammen i collegets haver

Krigen brødt ud det følgende år. Det er morsomt at se en eller anden slags betjent cykle gennem Londons gaderne med et advarselskilt om halsen: ”Søg dækning”. Vi formoder, at skiltet sparede ham for at råbe for meget og overanstrenge stemmen. Yikes – skræmmende!

I 1940 lavede hun sammen med Margaret sin første radioudsendelse: en besked til britiske børn, der var blevet evakueret til Australien, Canada, New Zealand og USA, hvor de havde modtaget en meget varm velkomst. Udsendelsen ramte overskrifterne den frie verden over, lader det til.

"In the end all will be well", sagde princessen.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!