Wednesday, March 13 2019

09:00 Today, the classic 4-day Gold Cup horse race festival is in its 2nd day and it’s wet and windy, due to the latest international storm, Storm ("Uncle") Gary, named after a difficult wedding guest.

However, the staff inspect the pitch this morning and decide that the festival can go ahead as planned. And Storm Uncle Gary actually turns out to be much less intimidating than expected, and the wind speed is only 20 mph and not the threatened 40, which is nice. It may be that the storm went astray and hit Scotland instead of us, but that’s something we are not totally sure about - the jury is still out on that one.

Storm Uncle Gary: yesterday's warnings - 

a little exaggerated as it turns out today.

10:00 Lois wants me to design 4 photo books made up of photos from the last 3 months. She finds these kinds of photo books very useful when visiting friends who are curious to see recent photos of our children and grandchildren. I plan to design the photo books within the next few days and order them from the Snapfish website, next time there are some special offers on. I'm so tight with money ha ha ha!

Some recent photo books I've designed -

they measure 8  x 6" and contain about 20-25 photos, so the books are ideal

to stick in a handbag when Lois visits "other" old crows like us ha ha!

11:30 I hop up on my exercise bike and cycle 6 miles.

12:00 We have lunch and nap a little earlier than usual, because we have planned to drive over to Bishops Cleeve in the afternoon at about 2 pm, while the horse races are on, so we can avoid the traffic jams that you meet in the mornings and evenings during Gold Cup week.

14:00 We arrive in Bishops Cleeve and pop into the local Longfields charity shop to donate even more unwanted belongings we came across when we were clearing up our youngest daughter Sarah's old room. Sarah left a lot of unwanted belongings with us when she moved to Australia in December 2015 with Francis and their little twins, Lily and Jessie.

Longfield's, Bishop Cleeve’s largest charity shop

We donate a child's dress, also one of Sarah's old classic posters, plus a metal tray that Sarah used to put cups and other crockery on, and also Sarah's wedding tiara: ​​we believe the tiara came from her first marriage, that ended in divorce.

Afterwards we swing by the local hardware store to buy new electric bulbs for the ceiling light fixture in our dining room. The old bulbs gave off a very harsh light, and I noticed the other day that it says on the bulbs’ packaging that they are not to be used for domestic lighting - yikes! I hope I'm not nearly going blind - yikes (again) !!!!

our existing (dangerous?) bulbs

Cleeve Supplies, the village’s largest (and only) hardware store

I ask the assistant about the new GE "flickering" bulbs for abandoned sanatoriums that could potentially save us money in our 2 guest rooms (our grown-up daughters' old rooms).

The assistant, however, says he hasn't heard of them before, but he adds that the store is expecting a fresh delivery next week, and he will find out and text me if he sees one. Later in the day, I check the relevant Onion News article,and I notice it was only 8 months ago. Progress is a little slow in villages like Bishops Cleeve, evidently!

flashback to last July: it was Onion News,

my go-to news site, that broke the heartwarming news

14:30 We come home and relax with a cup of tea on the sofa. We have succeeded in exploiting the so-called "quiet period", when the horse races are in progress and the neighbourhood suddenly becomes quiet and peaceful, and almost deserted, which is nice, to put it mildly.

And we have broken the psychological blockade, where we tend to feel under siege because of the Gold Cup traffic jams and the like. Hurrah!

I listen a little to the radio, an interesting programme in the series "The Age of Denial " (2nd part of 5), which is all about the humanity’s  ability not to acknowledge  something that’s clearly in existence. The host of the programme is the charming journalist Isabel Hardman.

Isabel Hardman, the programme's charming presenter

Yesterday, in the series's first part, we heard about the Norwegian ski resort where residents never talk about climate change, despite the fact that the resulting lack of snow threatens to destroy totally the resort’s economy.

I think sometimes that from time to time I myself prefer to just not think about Brexit, and about our stupid politicians, but in my opinion this is partly because the Brexit-madness has lasted so long and the details of the process are so boring, and our stupid politicians are also so boring - I suppose, however, that their stubbornness and stupidity are things they cannot do anything about - the poor things !!!!!

I am also quite sure that those Norwegians feel just a little powerless too, like me.

Today's second part in the radio series deals with the denial that comes from our fear of modern technical developments, including the driver-less car that excites us but horrifies us at the same time - some months ago there was a fatality in the United States involving a driver-less car.

People in the past were just as afraid of technological developments, and many of their fears seem ridiculous now, for example, the fear of the then "new-fangled" "dangerous" trains that travelled at 7 miles per hour.

Isabel Hardman, the programme's charming host, speaks a little on the phone with the American technological journalist, Michael Specter, who wrote the book about "Denialism". They discuss the difference between ordinary ‘denial’,  and the so-called "denialism".

Ordinary denial can be a useful psychological  tool enabling us to cope with a sudden difficult situation or crisis that has hit us. It is important, however, that we drop it as soon as we can, and face up to things.

However, “denialism” is something else – it’s where we construct a completely false reality to explain something  we do not want to acknowledge the real reason for. Ordinary denial is often something completely private, which mostly happens inside our heads, but “denialism” is something more public, for example things that politicians and demagogues advocate, often with ulterior motives. Examples of “denialism” in our attitudes to scientific developments include doubts about climate change and doubts about the benefits of vaccination programs, and that kind of thing.

However, "denialism" is not limited to stupid (or wicked) politicians or (stupid) (or wicked) ordinary people. It took doctors and surgeons decades in the 19th century to accept the idea that it was important to wash their hands between visits to each patient – my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

16:00 Lois and I relax with a cup of tea on the couch and we discuss the programme. Denialism is a bit of a hot topic, it seems. I have received an interesting email from Steve, my brother-in-law, about Peter Brugman's article in the Harvard Business Review, all about the methods we use to “deny” negative feedback.

Everyone loves feedback. .. .... as long as it is positive, says Brugman. Nevertheless, all feedback, positive and negative is an essential and valuable gift, he says. We need to know when we do things that don’t get the reaction we planned, and when our impact differs from our intention. And the best way – and often the only way - to discover this gap, is through feedback.

However, the chances are that we actually fight against any negative feedback. And Brugman lists 13 ways we deny feedback.

13 ways to rationalise or ignore feedback, according to Brugman

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching some television. An interesting documentary is on (part 2 of 5), all about the history of London. The programme hosts are the charming Dan Jones, Suzannah Lipscomb and Rob Bell.

This episode starts with the newly built Westminster Abbey (i.e. in the 1060’s) and ends with the plague that hit London in 1665. At that time, in the 1660’s, official reports used to list the city's deaths (and the causes) each week in "Your Deaths This Week".

The 1664 Christmas edition listed only 1 death from the plague, but the numbers rose sharply week by week. During one week in August (1665), 470 people died of the plague, and in the last week in August, the number was 6988 - yikes, scary!

the Christmas 1664 edition of "Your Deaths this Week" lists

only 1 person who died of the plague

by August 1665 the weekly death toll had risen to 470, and then shortly afterwards

 to almost 7,000 a week, by the end of the month - yikes!

But were there politicians even then  in the 1660’s, denying the plague as fake news, and resisting demands that the government respond?

22:00 We go to bed - I read approx. 20 pages of my bedtime book, Ben Elton's "Two Brothers" (Danish version), before I drift off to sleep - zzzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation

09:00 I dag er den klassiske 4-dages Gold Cup hestevæddeløbfestivals 2. dag og det  blæser og regner, på grund af den nyeste internationale storm, stormen (”Onkel”) Gary, opkaldet efter en vanskelig bryllupsgæst.

Personalet inspicerer banen i formiddag imidlertid og beslutter, at festivalen kan gå fremad som planlagt. Stormen Onkel Gary viser sig faktisk at være meget mindre skræmmende, end forventet, og vindhastigheden er kun 20 miles/t, og ikke den truede 40 miles/t, hvilket er rart.  Det kan være, at stormen farede vildt og ramte Skotland i stedet for os, men det er vi ikke helt sikre på – det er juryen stadig ude om.

Storm Onkel Gary: gårsdagens advarsler: lidt overdrevne, som det viser sig i dag.

10:00 Lois vil have mig til at designe 4 fotobøger bestående af fotos fra de seneste 3 måneder. Hun finder disse slags fotobøger meget nyttige, når hun besøger venner, der er nysgerrige efter at se nylige billeder af vores børn og børnebørn. Jeg planlægge at designe fotobøgerne indenfor de næste få dage, og bestille dem fra Snapfish-webstedet den næste gang, der er specielle tilbud. Jeg er så karrig med penge ha ha ha!

nogle nylige fotobøger, jeg har designet –

de måler 8”x6”, og indeholder ca 20-25 fotoer, så er bøgene ideelle

for at stikke i håndtasken, når Lois besøge ”andre” ”gamle krager” som os ha ha!

11:30 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og cykler 6 miles.

12:00 Vi spiser frokost lidt tidligere, end normalt, fordi vi har planlagt at køre over til Bishops Cleeve i eftermiddag kl 14, mens hestevæddeløbene er i gang, så vi kan undgå de trafikpropperne, man møder om formiddagen og om aftenen i løbet af Gold Cup-ugen.

14:00 Vi ankommer til Bishops Cleeve og smutter ind i den lokale Longfields-velgørenhedsbutik for at donere endnu flere uønskede ejendele vi faldt over, da vi ryddede op i vores yngste datter Sarahs gamle værelse. Sarah efterlod en masse uønskede ejendele hos os, da hun i  december 2015 flyttede til Australien sammen med Francis og deres små tvillinger, Lily og Jessie.

Longfield’s, landsbyen Bishop Cleeves største velgørenhedsbutik

Vi donerer en barnekjole, en af Sarahs gamle klassiske plakater, en bakke af metal, som Sarah brugte for at bære kopper og andet service,  og Sarahs bryllupstiara: vi tror, tiaraen kom fra hendes første ægteskab, der endte med skilsmisse.

Bagefter smutter vi ind i det lokale isenkræmmeri for at købe nye elektriske pærer til loftlyset i vores spisestue. De gamle pærer udstrålede en meget skarp lys, og jeg bemærkede forleden, at der står på pærernes emballage, at de ikke må bruges til hjemlig belysning – yikes! Jeg håber på, at jeg er ikke tæt på at blive blind – yikes (igen) !!!!

Cleeve Supplies, områdets største isenkræmmeri

Jeg spørger ekspeditøren om de nye GE ”flakkende” pærer til forladte sanatorier, der potentielt kunne spare os penge i vores 2 gæsteværelser (vores voksne døtres gamle værelser). Ekspeditøren siger imidleritid, at han ikke har hørt om dem før, men butikken forventer en frisk levering næste uge, og han vil tjekke og sms’e mig, hvis han ser én. Senere på dagen, tjekker jeg den tilsvarende Onion News-artikel, og jeg bemærker, det kun var 8 måneder siden. Tingene går lidt langsomt fremad i sådan en landsby som Bishops Cleeve, lader det til !

Tilbageblik til sidste juli: og det var Onion News,

mit go-to nyhedswebsted, som brød den hjertevarmende nyhed

14:30 Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop te i sofaen. Det har lykkedes os at benytte os af den såkaldte ”stille periode”, hvor hestevæddeløbene er i gang og nabolaget pludselig bliver stille og roligt, og næsten mennesketømt, hvilket er rart, for at sige mildt. Vi har sluppet udenom den psykiske blockade, hvor vi har tendens til at føle os under belejring, på grund af Gold Cup-traffipropperne og lignende. Hurra!

Jeg lytter lidt til radio, et interessant program i serien ”Fornægtelsealderen” (2. del af 5), der handler om menneskeheds evne til ikke at erkende noget klart og tydeligt eksisterende. Programmets vært er den charmerende journalist Isabel Hardman.

I går, i seriens 1. afsnit  hørte vi om den norske skiferieby, hvor indbyggere aldrig taler om klimaforandring på trods at, at den resulterende mangel på sne truer med at ødelægge byens økonomi.

Jeg synes nogle gange, at jeg foretrækker fra tid til anden ikke at tænke på Brexit og vores dumme politikere, men efter min mening er dette delvis fordi Brexit-vanviddet  har varet så længe, og processens detaljer er så kedelige, og vores dumme politikere også er så kedelige – jeg formoder imidlertid, at deres hårdnakkedhed og dumhed er tinge, de ikke kan gøre ved – staklene!!!!!

Jeg er også helt sikker på, at de der nordmænd føler sig lidt magtesløse, ligesom mig.

Dette 2. afsnit handler den fornægtelse foranlediget af vores frygt for moderne tekniske udviklinger, herunder den chaufførløse bil, der begejstrer os men forfærder os samtidigt – for nogle måneder siden var der en dødsulykke i USA, som involverede en chaufførløs bil. Mennesker i fortiden var lige så bange for teknologiske udviklinger, og mange af deres frygter virker latterlige nu, som for eksempel, frygten for de daværende ”nymodens” "farlige" tog, der kørte i 7 miles p/t.

Isabel Hardman, programmets charmerende vært, taler lidt på telefon med den amerikanske teknologiske journalist, Michael Specter, der skrev bogen ”Denialism”. De diskuterer forskellen mellem almindelige fornægtelse og den såkaldte ”denialisme”.  

Almindelig fornægtelse  kan være et nyttigt psykisk redskab til at kunne klare en pludselig vanskelig situation eller krise, der har ramt os. Det er vigtigt imidlertid, at vi dropper den så snart vi kan!

Denialisme er imidlertid noget andet – hvor vi konstruerer en helt forloren virkelighed for at forklare det, vi ikke har lyst til at erkende.  Almindelig fornægtelse er ofte noget helt privat, der for det meste sker inde i vores hoveder, men denialisme er noget mere offentligt, som for eksempel politikere og demagogere  går ind for, ofte med ulteriore motiver. Eksempler på denialisme i vores attituder om videnskabelige udviklinger inkluderer tvivler om klimaforandring og fordelene til vaccinationsprogrammer.

Denialisme er ikke begrænset til dumme politikere eller (dumme) almindelige mennesker imidlertid. Det tog lægere og kirurger årtier i det 19. århundrede at acceptere idéen, at det var vigtigt at vaske hænderne mellem besøg til hver patient – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

16:00 Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te i sofaen, og vi diskuterer programmet. Denialisme er lidt af et hot emne, lader det til. Jeg har fået en interessant email fra Steve, min svigerbrog, om Peter Brugmans  artikel i Harvard Business Review, der handler om metoderne, vi bruger for at fornægte negativ feedback på.

Alle elsker feedback. ..  ....så længe det er positivt, siger Brugman. Men de fleste af os kan ikke lide negativ feedback så meget, at vi endda har ændret navnet - det er ikke negativt, det er konstruktivt.

Alligevel er feedback en uerstattelig værdifuld gave, siger han. Vi er nødt til at vide, hvornår vi laver ting, der ikke får reaktionen vi planlagde, hvornår vores indvirkning  adskiller sig fra vores hensigt. Og det bedste - ofte er den eneste, måde at opdage dette kløft på, er gennem feedback.

Ikke desto mindre er chancerne, at vi kæmper imod dette negative feeback. Og Brugman lister 13 måder vi fornægter feedbacket på.

13 måder at fornægte negativt feedback på, ifølge Brugman

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser et interessant dokumentarfilm (2. del af 5), der handler om historien af London. Programmets værter er de charmerende Dan Jones, Suzannah Lipscomb og Rob Bell.

Dette afsnit starter med den nybyggede Westminster Abbey (i 1060’erne) og slutter med pesten, der ramte London i 1665. Officielle rapporter plejede dengang at liste byens dødsfald (og årsagerne) hver uge i ”Your Deaths This Week”.

Den 1664-juleudgaven listede kun 1 dødsfald af pesten, men tallene stigede skarpt uge for uge. I løbet af en uge i august (1665) døde 470 mennesker af pesten, og i sidste uge i august var tallet 6988 – yikes, skræmmende!

jul 1664-udgaven af ”Your Deaths this Week” lister

kun 1 menneske, der døde af pesten

i august 1665 havde det ugentlige dødstal stiget til næsten 7.000 – yikes!

Men var der politikere i 1660’erne, at fornægtede pesten som fake news, og modstod krav om at regeringen reagerer?

22:00 VI går i seng – jeg læser ca. 20 sider af min sengetidbog, Ben Eltons ”To brødre” (danske version), før jeg glider over i søvnen – zzzzzzzzz!!!!!