Danskcolin: Thursday, March 7 2019

08:30 Lois and I take a shower, and the morning vanishes again under a gigantic pile of household tasks.

And we are going to be forced to change our usual eating habits today, because tonight, Lois is going to have to have dinner two hours later than usual (at 8 pm - yikes, what madness, to eat at such a time !!!!), at the town’s Beefeater restaurant, with some of her sect’s other female members.

11:00 We relax with a cup of coffee on the sofa. We listen a little to the radio, an interesting programme, Front Row, consisting of various reviews of new books, plays etc.

We hear a little about the new classical music radio station, Radio Scala, which has been launched this week as a rival for Classic FM and the BBC's "Radio 3". The new station is a little less intellectual than Classic FM, which of course in turn is a little less intellectual than Radio 3. It will play not only classical music but also movie music and pop songs in instrumental form - yikes, that's bold!

Simon Mayo, the new radio station's most famous DJ

The programme's reviewer says that one of the station's pluses is that it enables listeners to run screaming away from the Brexit madness and all that crap, for an hour or two - he implies that there aren't any news programmes on the station.

Lois and I are heartily sick of the stupid Brexit saga and our stupid politicians, to put it mildly! So now we think, “let's listen exclusively to Radio Scala, and escape into the sensuous world of music!". We turn on the computer and log in to the Scala site, but the first thing we hear is a news bulletin - damn!

That critic lied to us!

It just goes to show that in this life only 3 things are certain: death, taxes and Brexit-madness. My goodness, what a crazy country we live in !!!!!

12:00 For lunch we decide to take out of the freezer two of the low-fat ready meals we bought at Cookshop in Leckhampton the other day, so Lois does not get hungry while waiting to eat late at the restaurant for 8 pm: we choose the pork and lentil ragu with wholewheat spaghetti - yum yum!

Afterwards, I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:00 I get up and start preparing a Danish vocabulary list, which I want our U3A Danish group members to memorise before the group's next meeting in 7 days' time. I try to help them by attaching interesting notes on the origins of the words, etc. - I am so warm-hearted ha ha ha. But I'm not totally sure whether the notes will actually help them or just annoy them - oh dear!

16:00 I talk a little on the phone with my sister Gill in Cambridge. Gill is married to a severely disabled Catholic priest, Peter, and they have 3 grown-up daughters: Zoe, Lucy, and Maria.

Maria is visiting Gill and Peter this weekend to go shopping, in search of a wedding dress: she and Tom, her partner, are planning to marry next year in Cambridge. Maria is considering changing jobs: from being an accountant at the London branch of a Japanese bank to being an accountant at the London Stock Exchange, which sounds exciting. Zoe and her partner Chris, who both work in Manchester, are in the process of buying their first house, in Cheadle. Lucy is training as a lawyer - she will be fully qualified by September, and will be working in Ipswich.

Flashback to May 2018 and Gill's 60th Birthday celebrations in Blackpool.

(left to right: Chris, Zoe, Gill, Lucy, Maria, Tom)

Gill herself is doing fairly well health-wise - though she still suffers from a weakness in her left arm and side, and she plans to start sessions with a physiotherapist in the near future. Peter is in need of extra equipment now to help him cope with increasing neck and shoulder weakness.

Gill is very much involved with U3A groups, like me, also WEA, including groups, for example, that revolve around the writer Samuel Pepys (including a visit to Pepys’s library in Cambridge), "the women who made America what it is today" (part 1 - women from colonial times), the trade union movement in literature - Elizabeth Gaskell, John Steinbeck, etc. My god, what madness !!!!

17:00 I listen a little to the radio: an interesting program in the series "Inside Science". The programme host is the charming Adam Rutherford.

Could people manage without sleep? Researchers at Imperial College, London, have conducted an interesting experiment with fruit flies, where they stuffed a bunch of fruit flies in a series of test tubes, one fruit fly per test tube: and then they shook the test-tube violently every time a fly did not move for 20 seconds at a time.

My god, poor fruit flies - I would hate it if Lois did the same thing to me, that’s for sure!!!

But it turned out that the lifespan of the male flies was not shortened at all by the experience (fruit flies usually live for 60 days), and the lifespan of the female flies was only shortened by 3 days, which is not particularly bad.

a typical tired fruit fly

The jury is still out as to whether the same applies to humans, but the researchers say that no scientific results from fruit fly experiments have so far ever been disproved in experiments on humans, which is interesting to put it mildly.

I didn't realise that there is in any case actually a huge range of sleep patterns in the animal world: bats sleep on average for 21 hours a day, elephants only 2 hours. I'm closer to being an elephant, I would say, by several miles, although I do nap in the afternoon and in front of tv in the evenings.

Coincidentally, Steve, my brother-in-law, has sent me an interesting Daily Telegraph article that shows that taking a nap is very good for blood pressure, which is good news for me, that’s for sure.

An afternoon nap is as good as a pill, if you want to reduce your blood pressure, the research says. Researchers found that those who took a daily siesta were more likely than those who stayed awake to experience a drop in readings.

I suppose a fruit fly in that Imperial College laboratory had the chance of taking a quick 20-second nap in its test-tube before the mean scientists picked it up and shook it like one of James Bond's martinis, but I'm not 100% sure - the jury is still out on that one. But if you only live 60 days anyway, is a 20-second nap sufficient perhaps?

17:30 We have dinner a little earlier than usual. I have fish fingers, mash potatoes and peas, but unfortunately, Lois only gets to eat a snack version, or mini version, of my dish.

Poor Lois !!!!

I eat fish fingers, mashed potatoes and peas, but Lois

unfortunately just gets a snack version or mini version of my dish. Poor Lois !!!!

19:00 We have to go out. Lois has been invited to have dinner at the town’s Beefeater restaurant with some of her sect’s other female members. She hasn't gotten used to her new glasses yet, so she has asked me to run her over there. I drop her off in front of the restaurant and drive home.

19:30 I have some alone time and spend the evening watching some television and listening to the radio. An old episode of Top of the Pops is on, from June 5, 1987 - Lois' 41st birthday. The programme host is the charming Gary Davies.

Earlier on, on that day back in 1987, I had taken a half-day off from work, and Lois and I had lunch at what was one of our favourite pubs, the Green Dragon, which is just outside the village of Cowley, to celebrate her birthday.

Flashback to June 5, 1987: I took the afternoon off from work,

and Lois and I ate lunch at the Green Dragon Pub to celebrate her 41st birthday:

The photo shows Lois in sun-glasses and a summer dress walking in front of the pub

Happy days!!!

It's very nostalgic tonight to see Samantha Fox again, with the video of her hit song "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now", which closed tonight's show.

22:00 Lois comes back from the restaurant and we go to bed - zzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation

08:30 Lois og jeg tager et brusebad, og formiddagen går hurtigt med en masse huslige opgaver. Vi bliver tvunget til at forandre vores sædvanlige madvaner i dag, fordi Lois i aften skal spise aftensmad to timer senere, end normalt (kl 20 – yikes, sikke et vanvid, dét, at spise på sådan en tid!!!!), på byens Beefeater-restaurant sammen med nogle af sin sekts andre kvindelige medlemmer.

11:00 Vi slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen. Vi lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program, Front Row, der består af forskellige anmeldelser af nye bøger, teaterstykker osv.

Vi hører lidt om den nye klassisk musik-radiostation, Radio Scala, der er blevet lanceret denne uge som rival til Classic FM og BBCs ”Radio 3”. Den nye station er lidt mindre intellektuel, end Classic FM, som selvfølgelig igen er lidt mindre intellektuel, end Radio 3. Den vil spille ikke udelukkende klassisk musik men også filmmusik og popsange i instrumental form – yikes!

Simon Mayo, den nye radiostations mest kendte dj

Programmets kritikeren siger, at en af stationens plusser er, at man kan løbe skrigende væk fra Brexit-vanviddet og alt den der lort – han antyder, at der er ikke nogle nyhedsprogrammer på stationen.

Lois og jeg er godt og grundigt trætte af den dumme Brexit-saga og vores dumme politikere, for at sige mildt! Så derfor tænker vi, lad os lytte udelukkende til Radio Scala, og flygte ind i den sanselige, musikalske verden. Vi tænder for computeren og logge ind på Scala-webstedet, men det første ting vi hører, er en nyhedsbulletin – pokkers! Kritikeren løj for os!

Der kan man se at der er 3 uomgængelige realiteter i livet: døden, skatterne og Brexit-vanviddet. Du godeste, sikke et skørt land vi bor i !!!!!

12:00 Til frokost beslutter vi at tage op af fryseren to af de fedtfattige færdigretter, vi købte hos Cookshop i Leckhampton, så Lois ikke bliver for sulten, mens hun venter på at spise sent på restauranten: svinekød og linser ragu med fuldkorns spaghetti – yum yum!

Bagefter, går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:00 Jeg står op og går I gang med at udfærdige en dansk ordforrådlist, som jeg vil have vores U3A danske gruppes medlemmer til at lære udenad før gruppens næste møde om 7 dages tid. Jeg prøver at hjælpe dem ved at vedlægge interessante noter om ordenes oprindelser osv - jeg er så varmhjertet ha ha ha. Men jeg er ikke helt sikker på, om noterne faktisk vil hjælpe dem eller snarere irritere dem bare – yikes!!!!

16:00 Jeg taler lidt på telefon med min søster Gill I Cambridge. Gill er gift med en alvorligt handicappet katolsk præst, Peter, og de har 3 døtre: Zoe, Lucy og Maria.

Maria besøger Gill og Peter denne weekend for at gå på indkøb, på jagt efter en brudekjole: hun og Tom, hendes partner, planlægger at gifte sig næste år i Cambridge. Maria overvejer at skifte jobs: fra revisor hos en japansk banks London-filial til revisor hos London Stock Exchange - spændende! Zoe og hendes partner Chris, der begge arbejder i Manchester er i gang med at købe deres første hus, i Cheadle. Lucy er i gang med at uddanne sig som advokat – hun bliver kvalificeret til september, i Ipswich.

Tilbageblik til maj 2018 og Gills 60. fødselsdag: i Blackpool.

(venstre til højre: Chris, Zoe, Gill, Lucy, Maria, Tom)

Selve Gill har det ganske godt – selvom hun stadig lider af en svaghed i venstre arm, og hun planlægger at starte sessioner ved en fysioterapeut i den nærmeste fremtid. Peter har brug for ekstra udstyr for at hjælpe ham med at klare stigende problemer med nakken og skuldrene.

Gill er meget beskæftiget med U3A grupper, ligesom mig, også WEA, herunder grupper der kredser om forfatteren Samuel Pepys (herunder et besøg til Pepys’ bibliotek i Cambridge), ”kvinderne der lavede Amerika hvad det er i dag” (kvinder fra den kolonitiden), fagforeningsbevægelsen i litterature – Elizabeth Gaskell, John Steinbeck osv. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

17:00 Jeg lytter lidt til radio: et interessant program i serien ”Inside Science”. Programmets vært er den charmerende Adam Rutherford.

Kunne mennesker klare sig uden at sove? Forskere i Imperial College, London, har gennemført et interessant eksperiment med bananfluer, hvor de proppede en flok bananfluer i en række prøveglas, en bananflue pr. prøveglas: og rystede prøveglassene voldsomt, hver gang fluerne ikke bevægede sig i 20 sekunder.

Du godestes, stakkels bananfluer – jeg ville hade det, hvis Lois gør det samme ved mig – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!

Men det viste sig, at han-fluernes levetid faktisk slet ikke blev forkortet af oplevelsen (bananfluer lever normalt i 60 dage), og hun-fluernes levetid kun blev forkortet af 3 dage, hvilket ikke er særlig dårligt.

en typisk træt bananflue

Juryen er stadig ude om, om det samme gælder til mennesker, men forskerne siger, at ingen videnskabelige resultater fra eksperimenter med bananfluer hidtil aldrig er blevet modbevist, når det kommer til mennesker, hvilket er interessant, for at sige mildt.

Jeg vidste ikke for øvrigt, at der faktisk er en enorm vifte af søvnmønstrer i dyreverden: flagermus sover i 21 timer i gennemsnit, elefanter kun 2 – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Tilfældigvis har Steve, min svigerbor, sendt mig en interssant Daily Telegraph artikel, der viser, at dét, at tage en lur, er meget godt for blodtrykket, hvilket er en god nyhed for mig,uden tvivl.

En eftermiddagsnap er lige så god som en pille til at reducere blodtrykket, siger forskningen. Forskere fandt, at de, der tog en daglig siesta, var mere sandsynlige end dem, der holdt sig vågen, for at opleve et fald i aflæsningerne.

Jeg formoder, at bananfluerne i det der Imperial College laboratorium, havde chancerne for et hurtigt 20-sekunders lur i deres prøveglas, inden de modbydelige forskere hentede det op og rystede det som en af James Bonds martinis, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på – juryen er stadig ude om det. Hvis du alligevel bare lever 60 dage, er en 20-sekunders lur tilstrækkeligt måske?

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

17:30 Vi spiser aftensmad, lidt tidligere, end normalt. Jeg spiser fiskepinder, kartoffelmos og ærter, men Lois spiser desværre bare en snack-version eller miniversion af min ret.

Stakkels Lois!!!!

Jeg spiser fiskepinder, kartoffelmos og ærter, men Lois spiser

desværre bare en snack-version eller miniversion af min ret. Stakkels Lois!!!!

19:00 Vi skal ud. Lois er blevet inviteret til at spise aftensmad på byens Beefeater-restaurant sammen med nogle af sin sekts andre kvindelige medlemmer. Hun har ikke vænnet sig til sine nye briller endnu, så defor har hun bedt mig om at køre khende derover. Jeg sætter hende af foran restauranten og kører hjem.

19:30 Jeg har lidt alenetid, og bruger aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn og lytte til radio. De viser et gammelt afsnit af Top of the Pops, fra den 5. juni 1987 – Lois’ 41. fødselsdag. Programmets vært er den charmerende Gary Davies.

Tidligere på dagen, havde Lois og jeg spist frokost på en af vores yndligspubber, Green Dragon, lidt udenfor landsbyen Cowley, for at fejre hendes fødselsdag.