Tuesday, March 12 2019

08:30 Lois and I have a bath, and after breakfast, I carry on clearing up our daughter Sarah's old room. I scan and label the photos she took in 1995 in the first part of her great African safari (the East African part), as the next stage in our mini-downsizing project. Afterwards I jump up on my exercise bike and ride 6 miles.

Meanwhile, Lois starts on cleaning the bathroom thoroughly as part of another of our projects: the annual spring clean. Busy Busy Busy!

Lois and I like to carry out our spring cleaning projects only in the spring - call us traditionalists if you like !

A local man Justin Buntz recently hit the headlines when he admitted to local journalists (source: Onion News) that he did not like to let dust and mess collect for too long and that he always gave his one-bedroom apartment a thorough cleaning, once every relationship.

"I like to maintain a fairly regular cleaning plan, so every time I start getting together with a girl, I set aside a solid half hour to give the apartment a good and thorough makeover," explained the 28-year-old graphic designer to local journalists. .

He commented that, after emptying the refrigerator of expired food, wiping his worktops off and throwing his sheets into the wash, he could then leave his apartment untouched for "as long as it lasts between us".

"I swept the whole apartment when Kelly and I started dating in 2012. Then I touched it up and refreshed it just before Alison saw it last spring. However, I must admit that I’ve been running a little late with it recently, so I just head over to Jessica's apartment every night to avoid having to deal with it."

Buntz added that his shower curtain only needs replacement once every six relationships, which is a bit of a comfort. Poor Buntz!

For my part and Lois's part, this week is a good chance to work on projects at home. Today is the first day of the annual 4-day Gold Cup horse racing festival, and the streets around the house will soon be crowded with cars, taxis, buses, limousines and pedestrians. Damn!

Spring is on the way, so for our spring-cleaning, the timing could not be more perfect, which is nice.

12:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3 pm - Lois has popped in at the neighbours’ (Bill and Mary) to talk a little with Mary who suffers from dementia.

I have some alone time and start watching the 7th episode of the Danish drama series, "Ride upon the Storm", starring the famous Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen, as Johannes, a provost (archdeacon) with problems - to put it mildly. First of all, an alcohol dependency, and then a tendency to have affairs - his most recent relationship was with his church's lovely grave-digger, Ursula, but Johannes's wife, Elisabeth, discovered the affair and forced Johannes to fire Ursula, which was a bit of a shame.

Johannes is a leading "provost" or archdeacon in the Danish Lutheran national church. The series revolves around Johannes's personality, as a very dominant figure, both in the churches he is responsible for, and also within his own family. He dominates everything, and he tends to throw a tantrum when he doesn't get his way.

He loves his wife (Elisabeth) and his 2 sons (Christian and August), but at the same time as loving them, he dominates and crushes them all. Elisabeth, Christian and August are afraid of him, love him and hate him, all at the same time.

In last week's (6th) episode, it was Good Friday, and Johannes's wife, Elisabeth, had sex for the first time with her friend Liv, a Norwegian violinist, upstairs in the bedroom in the matrimonial bed, while Johannes was downstairs, supposedly overseeing an evening party he had organised for his staff  "to improve their morale".

Unfortunately, the party became a bit of an orgy: Johannes’s  deanery staff had too much absinthe, and started taking off their clothes and frolicking in the garden, riding around naked on Johannes's ride-on lawnmower, causing damage to the value of Kr. 90,000 (taxpayers' money because the Lutheran Church is the country’s national church). And the weirdest thing is that Johannes just stood and watched all this madness as if he were in a trance. He is a strange character, no doubt about that.

 Johannes’s  party on Good Friday for his staff in the deanery office.

The staff had too much to drink and took off  their clothes, while Johannes just stared at them.

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

Also during the evening, Johannes happened  to walk up the master bedroom to chase after an annoying wasp, when he saw his wife, Elisabeth, and her girlfriend, Liv, asleep and naked face down side by side on the matrimonial bed. And again, Johannes just stood at the bedroom door and stared, as if he were in a trance – my god, what madness !!!!

Johannes stands and stares at his wife, Elisabeth, and her friend, Liv,

lying asleep and naked  on top of the matrimonial bed

- Good grief, what madness!

In this 7th episode, the Church conducts an inquiry into the party, and decides to put a news blackout on the whole event, to avoid scandals. Johannes signs a document asserting that the mayhem only broke out after he had left the party, and the church fired some of the staff involved: Simon, the deanery secretary, Mathilde, the choir-mistress, and Jens, the creepy new grave-digger.

Meanwhile, Elisabeth, Johannes's wife, takes her Norwegian lover, Liv, the Norwegian violinist, on a 2-day break. We see them pitching their tents in a nearby forest, where they bed down for the night.

Johannes knows about his wife's affair with Liv, and he is not very happy about it, to put it mildly. He goes on a binge with a bottle of something strong that he has hidden in the grass in his churchyard. He empties the bottle and collapses in the grass. He begins to have hallucinations in which his head is being caressed by his bishop, the lovely Monika.

Eventually he loses consciousness, staying lying in the grass as it gets dark in the cemetery, and he isn’t discovered till the following day when a group of children on a walk through the churchyard with their mothers stumble over him. The mothers call an ambulance and Johannes is taken to the emergency room. His heart stops but he is revived by the hospital staff using their state-of-the-art equipment, thank God.

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

Meanwhile, we see Johannes‘s son August, who is also a Lutheran priest, instructing a class of about 15 young people, all candidates for an upcoming confirmation. One of them by the name of  Caroline asks to speak privately with August after a teaching session. She confesses that she recently got very drunk and had sex with an older schoolboy at a party.

Later we find out that she has actually got pregnant. She does not want to share the problem with her mother, so she confides in August about the pregnancy instead. Later, she persuades her doctor to prescribe some abortion pills, which she takes in August's house so her mother does not find out about it all.

What madness !!!!!!

Monika, the diocese’s lovely bishop, finds out about both Johannes’s deadly flirting with alcohol poisoning, and also August's collusion with the underage Caroline and her abortion pills. I am expecting her to fire them both, but she decides to give them a second chance, which is nice.

And the episode has a positive ending when bishop Monika agrees to let the young August become a so-called "street priest", helping young people with problems. He seems to have a talent for understanding them and their problems, and he always seems to have good chemistry with them.

All in all, a heartwarming episode without a shadow of a doubt!

17:30 We have dinner a little earlier than usual, and afterwards we have to go out. Speaking personally I really don't want to get involved in tonight's traffic jams following the end of the first day's horse racing, but Lois feels she can't miss the bible seminar which her sect has arranged in Brockworth  library. The subject is "The Gospel of Isaiah's Book: God's Witnesses (2), the Messiah (2), a lesson from history". Unfortunately, I cannot persuade her to miss out on the weekly seminar for once, which is a bit of a shame to put it mildly, but such is life!

Bible Seminar Timetable

scene from a typical recent seminar at the library

We choose a route through the town centre and we manage to avoid the worst of the traffic jams, though unfortunately there are hundreds of boisterous racegoers on foot everywhere in the streets, heading for the town's pubs, crossing the streets as and when it suits them, which is a little annoying - damn!

19:00 I come home. I have a little alone time which I spend listening to the radio, an interesting programme in the series "Inside Health". The host of the program is the charming Dr. Mark Porter.

An interesting edition. The first feature of the programme is about so-called CBD oil, a cannabis-based product that you hear and read many extravagant claims about, saying that it can help ease a lot of painful states (these claims do not appear on the bottle labels, however, which tells us something).

In fact, there have been insufficient studies and insufficient evidence that it is either effective or harmless, says Mark, the programme's charming host, and his team of experts. Because it exists in nature, does not mean that it is harmless, he says. Good grief, what madness !!!

Another feature is all about gout. I did not know that this is a very frequent problem: in the United Kingdom there are 1 million people suffering from it. There is actually a connection with so many foods in the "fish and red meat" categories, that in my opinion one can forget about making special efforts to avoid it !!!! When it comes to alcohol, beer is the most dangerous drink, spirits are in the middle, and wine is the safest – good grief, what madness !!! If it hits me then it hits me, I don't care!!!!! Old age and overweight are also factors, however.

The most important point that Mark emphasises is that doctors have changed their previous policy. In the past, they dealt with the problem by first modifying the patient's diet and prescribing only mild medication, and only later did they prescribed stronger stuff. Now they have decided to hit the problem hard with medication as soon as it occurs. In fact, gout can lead to much more serious problems: cardiovascular conditions, kidney problems, etc. so it makes sense to hit it hard from the start.

Gout is a treatable condition for the most part, though the treatment takes time and one has to be persistent in taking the medication.

22:00 Lois comes back - Mari-Ann drops her off in front of the house. I go to bed, but Lois needs to relax and wind down a bit after tonight’s stimulating Bible seminar, and she decides to watch some television. She doesn't wake me up when she jumps into bed at 11 o'clock. Zzzzzzzzzzz !!!!!!

Danish translation

08:30 Lois og jeg går i bad, og efter morgenmad, går jeg i gang med at fortsætte med at rydde op i Sarahs gamle værelse. Jeg scanner og etiketterer de fotos, hun tog i 1995 i den 1. del af hendes store afrikanske safari (den øst-afrikanske uger), som den næste fase i vores mini-downsize-projekt. Bagefter hopper jeg op på min kondicykel og cykler 6 miles.

I mellemtiden går Lois i gang med at gøre badeværelset grundigt rent, som en del af et andet af vores projekter:  den årlige forårsrengøring. Travlt travlt travlt!

Lois og jeg kan godt lide at gennemføre vores forårsgrengøring-projekter bare om foråret – kald os traditionalister, hvis du gerne vil det!

En lokal mand Justin Buntz ramte overskrifterne for nylig, da han indrømmede til lokale journalister (kilde: Onion News), at han ikke kan lide at lade støv og rod samle sig for længe, ​​og, at han giver sin 1-værelses lejlighed en grundig rengøring en gang hvert forhold.

"Jeg kan godt lide at opretholde en temmelig regelmæssig rengøringsplan, så hver gang jeg begynder at komme sammen med en pige, fastsætter jeg en solid halv time for at give lejligheden en god og grundigt makeover," sagde den 28-årige grafiske designer til journalisterne.

Han bemærkte at efter at have tømt køleskabet for udgået mad, tørrer han pladeborde af og smider sine lagner i vasken, kan han derefter forlade sin lejlighed uberørt indtil "så længe tingene varer mellem os".

"Jeg fejede hele lejligheden, da Kelly og jeg begyndte at gå på date i 2012. Så pyntede og forfriskede jeg den igen, før Alison så den sidste forår. På det sidste imidlertid må jeg dog indrømme, at jeg allerede er sent på den med at gøre det, så jeg lige skal Jessicas lejlighed hver aften for at undgå at skulle håndtere det. "

Buntz tilføjede, at hans brusebad ikke nødvendigvis kun skal udskiftes en gang hvert seks forhold, hvilket er lidt af en trøst. Stakkels Buntz!

For Lois’ og mit vedkommende er denne uge er en god chance for at dyrke projekter herhjemme. I dag er den 1. dag af den årlige 4-dages Gold Cup hestevæddeløbsfestival, og gaderne rundt omkring huset vil snart blive propfyldt med biler, taxaer, busser, limousiner og fodgængere. Pokkers!

Foråret er på vej, så kunne timingen ikke være mere perfekt, hvilket er rart.

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15 – Lois er smuttet ind hos naboer (Bill og Mary) for at snakke lidt med Mary, der lider af demens.

Jeg har lidt alenetid og går i gang med at se det 7. afsnit af af den danske dramaserie, ”Ride upon the Storm”, stjernespækket den berømte danske skuespiller Lars Mikkelsen, som Johannes, en provst med problemer – for at sige mildt. Først og fremmest en alkoholafhængighed, og en tendens til at have affære – hans nyligste forhold var til sin kirkes graver, Ursula, men Johannes kone, Elisabeth, opdagede affæren og tvang Johannes til at fyre hende.

Johannes er en førende ”provst” eller ærkediakon i Danmarks  lutheranske folkekirke. Serien kredser om Johannes personlighed, som en meget dominerende figur, både i de kirker, han er ansvarlig for, og i sin egen familie. Han dominerer alting, og han har tendens til at have et raserianfald, når han ikke får sin vilje.

Han elsker sin kone (Elisabeth) og sine 2 sønner (Christian og August), men samtidig med, at han elsker dem, dominerer han og kvaser dem alle. Elisabeth, Christian og August er bange for ham, elsker ham og hader ham, alt på samme tid.

I sidste uges (6.) afsnit, var det Langfredag, og Johannes kone, Elisabeth, havde sex for første gang med sin veninde Liv, en norsk violinist, oppe på soveværelset i den ægteskabelige seng, mens Johannes var nedenunder, i gang med at overvåge en aftenfest, han havde organiseret til fordel for provstiets personale ”for at forhøjne moralen”.

Desværre blev festen til lidt af en orgie:  Johannes’ personale fik for meget at drikke, startede at smide tøjet og boltrer sig i haven, ridende rundt nøgne på Johannes’ ride-on græsslåmaskine, og forårsager skader på 90.000 kroner (skatteydernes penge, fordi den lutheranske kirke er landets nationale kirke). Og det underligste er, at Johannes bare stod og kiggede på alt det her vanvid, som om han var i en trance. Han er en mærkelig figur, ingen tvivl om det.

Johannes’ aftenfest på Langfredag til fordele for sine personaler i sognets kontor.

Personalet fik for meget at drikke og smedt tøjet, mens Johannes bare stod og stirrrede på dem.

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

Også i løbet af aftenen kom Johannes til at gå et smut op på soveværelset på jagt efter en irriterende hveps, og han så sin kone, Elisabeth, og hendes veninde, Liv, ligge og sove nøgne på maven side om side ovenpå den ægteskabelige seng. Og igen stod Johannes og stirrede bare, ved døren til soveværelset, som om han var i en trance  – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Johannes står og stirrer på sin kone, Elisabeth, og hendes veninde, Liv,

der ligger og sover nøgne omvendt og spejlvendt ovenpå den ægteskabelige seng

– du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

I dette 7. afsnit gennemfører kirken en undersøgelse om festen, og beslutter at mørkelægge det hele for at undgå skandaler. Johannes underskriver et dokument, hvor han påstår, at sjoven og balladen først brød ud efter han forlod festen, og kirken afskediger nogen af de personaler, der var involveret: Simon, provstiets sekretær, Mathilde, kantoren, og Jens, den uhyggelige nye graver.

I mellemtiden tager Elisabeth, Johannes kone, sin norske elskerinde, Liv, den norske violinist, med på en 2-dages ferie. Vi ser dem slå deres telt op i en nærliggende skov, hvor de lægger sig ned for natten.

Johannes kender til sin kones affære med Liv, og han er ikke særlig glad for det, for at sige mildt. Han går på druk ved hjælp af en flaske af noget stærkt, han har gemt i græsset i sin kirkegård. Han tømmer flasken og kollapser i græsset. Han begynder at have hallucinationer, hvor hans hoved bliver kærtegnet af sin biskop, den dejlige Monika.

Til sidst mister han bevidstheden, liggende i græsset, mens det bliver mørkt i kirkegården, og han først bliver opdaget den følgende dag af en gruppe børn på en tur gennem kirkegården med deres mødre. Mødrene kalder en ambulans, og Johannes  bliver taget til skadestuen. Hans hjerte stopper men han bliver genoplivet af personalet  på  hospitalet ved hjælp af deres state-of-the-art udstyr, gudskelov.

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

I mellemtiden, ser vi  Johannes søn August, der er også en lutheranske præst, styre en klasse af ca.15 unge mennesker, alle kommende konfirmander. Én af dem, der hedder Caroline, beder at tale privat med August efter en undervisning session. Hun tilstår, at hun for nylig blev meget fuld og havde sex med en ældre skoledreng til en fest.

Senere finder vi ud af, at hun faktisk er blevet gravid. Hun har ikke lyst til at dele problemet med sin mor, så betror hun August graviditetet i stedet for. Senere overtaler hun sin læge at ordinere nogle abortpiller, som hun tager i Augusts hus, så hendes mor ikke finder ud af det hele.

Sikke et vanvid!!!!!!

Monika, bispedømmets dejlige biskop, opdager både Johannes dødelige flirt med alkoholforgiftning, også Augusts kollusion med en mindreårig pige og hendes abortpiller. Jeg forventer, at hun vil fyre dem begge, men hun beslutter at give dem en 2. chance, hvilket er rart.

Og afsnittet har en lykkelig slutning, da Monika aftaler at lade den unge August blive en såkaldt ”gadepræst”, der hjælper unge mennesker med problemer. Han virker at have en talent for at forstå dem og deres problemer, og han virker altid at have god kemi med dem.

I det hele taget et hjertevarmende afsnit uden tvivl !

17:30 Vi spiser aftensmad, lidt tidligere, end normalt, og bagefter skal vi ud. Jeg har ikke lyst til at blive involveret i aftenens trafikpropper, der følger slutningen af dages hestevæddeløb, men Lois føler, hun ikke kan gå glip af det bibelseminar, sin sekt har arrangeret i byen Brockworths bibliotek. Emnet er ”Evangeliet i Esajas bog: Guds vidner (2), Messias (2), en lektion fra historie”. Jeg kan desværre ikke overtale hende at gå glip af den ugentlige seminar for engangs skyld, hvilket er lidt af en skam, for at sige mildt, men sådan er livet!

et typisk nyligt seminar på biblioteket

Vi vælger en rute igennem bymidten og det lykkes os at undgå de værste af trafikpropperne, selvom der desværre er hundredvis af lykkelige fodgængere overalt i gaderne på vej til byens  pubber, krydsende gaderne som det passer dem, hvilket er lidt irriterende – pokkers!

19:00 Jeg kommer hjem. Jeg har lidt alenetid og lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program i serien ”Inside Health”. Programmets vært er den charmerende dr. Mark Porter.

Et interessant afsnit. Programmets første indslag handler om den såkaldte CBD-olie, et cannabis-baseret produkt, som man hører og læse mange ekstravagande påstande om, dét, at den kan hjælpe med at lette en masse pinefulde tilstande (disse påstande viser sig ikke på flaskernes etikette imidlertid).

Faktisk har der været utilstrækkelige undersøgelser, og der er utilstrækkelig beviser på, at den er effektiv eller harmløs, siger Mark, programmets charmerende vært, og hans hold af eksperter. Lige fordi det findes i natur, betyder ikke, at den er harmløs, siger han. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Et andet indslag handler om urinsyregigt. Jeg vidste ikke, at den er et ganske hyppigt problem: i Storbritannien er der 1 million mennesker, der lider af den. Der er faktisk en forbindelse med så mange fodevarer i ”rødt kød og fisk” kategorierne, at man efter min mening kan glemme om at gøre specille indsatser for at undgå den !!!! Når det kommer til alkohol, er øl den mest farlige drik, sprit er i midten, og vin er den sikreste – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!! Hvis den rammer mig, så rammer den mig, jeg er ligeglad med det hele !!!!! Alderdom og overvægt er også faktorer.

Det vigtigste point Mark understreger er, at lægere har forandret deres forrrige politik. I fortiden behandlede de problemet med at forandre patientens kost, og kun senere, ordinerede de piller. Nu har de besluttet at ramme problemer hårdt med piller så snart det opstår. Faktisk kan urinsyregigt fører til meget mere alvorlige problemer:  kardiovaskulære tilstande, nyreproblemer osv, så det giver mening at ramme den hårdt fra starten.

Urinsyregigt at en behandlelig tilstand for det meste, selvom behandlingen tager tid, og man må være vedholdende med at tage medikamenterne.

22:00 Lois kommer tilbage – Mari-Ann sætter hende af foran huset. Jeg går i seng, men Lois trænger til at slappe af og geare lidt ned efter aftenens stimulerende bibelseminar, og hun beslutter at se lidt fjernsyn. Hun vækker mig ikke, da hun kl 23 hopper op i sengen til mig. Zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!