Wednesday, March 27 2019

09:30 Lois and I talk a little on whatsapp with Sarah, our younger daughter, who lives in Perth, Australia with Francis and their 5-year-old twins, Lily and Jessie. The twins want to wish me "happy birthday for yesterday". How cute they are!

Sarah is very stressed at the moment. She has two job interviews tomorrow, and has to drive 2-3 hours by car to reach the workplaces in question. She is very tired at the moment and her current job is being very stressful. One of the twins has picked up a bladder infection again, and the house is in a complete mess. My god, poor Sarah! We assure her that we are there for her round the clock any time she needs to talk, which she much appreciates, she says.

10:30 The call ends, and Lois and I drive to Leckhampton, a small suburb of Cheltenham, to donate tons of unwanted books to the local Red Cross charity shop.

Flashback to March 17th: I collect the books we have decided to donate

to a charity shop. I sort them by size and pack them in plastic bags,

which I store next to my exercise bike and child's DVD player.

We donate the books to the Red Cross bookshop, and then pop into Cookshop to buy some low-fat ready-made meals that we can eat whenever we are too tired to cook. Then we have a cup of coffee in the Cookshop café to recharge our batteries. 

Afterwards, we swing by the local Rowlands pharmacy to buy Lois a few pills. She has been suffering from a digestive problem again over the past few days, despite her daily walks. We drive home.

11:45 I jump up on my exercise bike and ride 6 miles (10 km).

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3 pm and we relax with a cup of tea on the sofa. We see a little television, an interesting documentary entitled "The Road to Brexit". The programme’s host is one of the country's top experts on the history of Britain's relationship with Europe, Sir Michael Squeamish.

An interesting programme, with a fresh point of view on this now cliché’d and frequently ignored topic of Brexit. Squeamish talks about a rarely mentioned taboo issue: the boredom and lack of things to do, when Britain was a member of the EEC.

Squeamish strongly criticises [Labour Party leader Jeremy] Corbyn for his campaign to attract one billion new immigrants to Britain over the next 6 years. But a quick informal poll among some of Squeamish's friends reveals a surprising level of support for Corbyn's plan.

We also hear a discussion about another rarely mentioned taboo issue: what will become of the many foreign au pairs, nannies and childminders who have become pregnant by their British employers.

All in all, a lot of refreshing new insights on this often overlooked but important taboo issue of  Brexit, Britain's often difficult relationship with the European continent, and its future outside the European Union.

Kudos, Squeamish!

18:00 We have dinner and stick our feet up in front of the TV. An interesting documentary is on, about Mars, the god of war in Roman mythology, and Ares his Greek counterpart. The host of the programme is the charming Bettany Hughes.

An interesting programme. Bettany emphasizes the importance of Mars in the Roman religion.

Romulus and Remus, the twin boys who grew up to found the city of Rome, were the sons of Mars and the priestess Rhea Silvia - Mars apparently had sex with Rhea Silvia during a routine visit to the sacred Italian grove dedicated to him.

Mars had sex with the priestess Rhea Silvia, and

the result was Romulus and Remus, the twins who founded the city of Rome

The poet Virgil called Rome “the city of Mars”.

And the first month of the year, according to the Roman calendar, i.e. March, was named after Mars. It was the most important month of the year because it meant the start of the military campaigning season - wars could at last begin again after the long winter break. A bit like the cricket season in England.

Bettany points out that Mars's Greek counterpart, Ares, generally had a less respected reputation in the Greek religion. He was considered a bit of an unreliable character: one of the pediments from the Parthenon Temple, now in the British Museum, which showcases the top Greek gods, does not include Ares - he had been downgraded to a sculpture depicting the B-list gods.

Ares was often ridiculed in Greek myths. According to the Odyssey, Ares took the opportunity to go to bed with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, when her husband, the handicapped Hephaestus, was out of town, over in Lemnos.

But Hefaistos had rigged the bed in advance, making it into a trap. A special golden net sprang up and kept the lovers locked in position, unable to move.

Hefaistos finally comes home, and flings his special golden net aside,

putting an end to Ares and Aphrodite's imprisonment

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

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

Danish translation

09:30 Vi taler lidt på whatsapp med Sarah, vores yngste datter, der bor i Perth, Australien med Francis og deres 5-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie. Sarah og tvillingerne ønsker mig ”tillykke med gårsdagens fødselsdag”.

Sarah er meget stresset for tiden. Hun har to jobsamtaler i morgen, og må køre i bil et par timer for at nå til de pågældende arbejdspladser. Hun er meget træt, og hendes nuværende job er meget stressende for tiden. En af tvillingerne lider af en blærinfektion igen, og huset er en total rod. Du godeste, stakkels Sarah! Vi forsikrer hende, at vi er der for hende døgnet rund, hvis hun har brug for at tale, hvilket hun sætter stor pris på.

10:30 Opkaldet slutter og Lois og jeg kører over til Leckhampton, en lille forstad til Cheltenham, for at donere tonsvis af uønskede bøger til den lokale Røde Kors-velgørenshedbutik.

Tilbageblik til den 17. marts: Jeg samler de bøger, vi har besluttet at donere

til en velgørenhedsbutik.  Jeg sorterer dem i størrelse og pakker dem i plastikposer,

som jeg sætter ved siden af min kondicykel og børne-dvdafspiller.

Bagefter smutter vi ind i Cookshop for at købe nogle fedtfattige færdigretter, som vi kan spise, når som helst vi er for trætte til at lave mad. Og vi drikker en kop kaffe i Cookshops café for at genoplade vores batterier. Bagefter smuter vi ind i det lokale Rowlands-apotek for at købe Lois et par lægemidler. Hun har lidt af et fordøjelsesproblem de seneste få dage, på trods af sine daglige gåture.

11:45 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og cykler 6 miles (10 km).

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15 og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen. Vi ser lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, med titlen ”Vejen til Brexit” – programmets vært er en af landets ypperste ekspertem om historien af Storbritanniens forhold til Europa, Sir Michael Squeamish.

Et interessant program, med et frisk synspunkt om dette nu klichéagtig og ofte ignoreret emne. Squeamish taler om en sjældent nævnt tabu-spørgsmål : kedsommeligheden og manglen på ting at lave, dengang Storbritannien var et medlem af EØF.

Squeamish kritiserer Corbyn meget stærkt for hans kampagne for at tiltrække en milliard nye indvandringer til Storbrittanien over de næste 6 år. Men en hurtig uformel meningsmåling blandt nogle af Squeamish’ venner afslører et overraskende niveau af støtte for Corbyns plan.

Vi hører også en diskussion, der handlede om endnu et sjældent nævnt tabu-spørgsmål: hvad skal der blive af de mange udenlandske au pairs, barnepiger og barneplejesker, der er blevet gravid med deres arbejdegivere.

Alt i alt en masse  forfriskende nye indsigter om dette ofte overset men vigtige tabu-spørgsmål om Storbritanniens ofte vanskelig forhold til det europæiske kontinent, og landets fremtid uden for den Europæiske Union.

Ros til dig, Squeamish!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Mars, krigsguden i romersk mytologi (Ares var hans græske pendant). Programmets vært er den charmerende Bettany Hughes.

Et interessant program. Bettany understreger vigtigheden af Mars i den romerske religion. Romulus og Remus, de to drenge, der voksede op for at grundlægge byen Rome, var sønnerne af Mars og præstinden Rhea Silvia – Mars havde sex med Rhea Silvia i løbet af et rutinemæssigt besøg hos hende i en hellig lund, der er blevet dedikeret til guden.

Mars havde sex med præstinden Rhea Silvia, og

resultatet var Romulus og Remus, der grundlagde byen Rome

Årets først måned ifølge den romerske kalender (marts) blev nævnt efter Mars. Det var årets vigtigste måned, fordi den betød starten af den militære felttogssæson – krige kunne begynde igen, efter den lange vinterpause.

Bettany påpeger, at Mars’ græske pendant, Ares, havde generelt en ikke så respekteret omdømme i den græske religion. Han blev betragtet som lidt af en upålidelig karakter: en af de frontispicer fra Parthenon-templet, der kan ses i British Museum, og som fremviser de toptunede guder, inkluderer ikke Ares – han er blevet degraderet til en skulptur, der fremviser de B-liste guder.

Ares blev ofte latterliggjort i græske myter: ifølge Odysseen benyttede Ares lejligheden til at gå i seng med Afrodite, elskovens gudinde, da hendes ægtemand, den lamme Hefaistos, var ude af byen.

Men Hefaistos havde gjort sengen til en fælde, og et specielle gyldent net sprang op og holdt elskernes spærret i sengen i samme stilling, uden at kunne bevæge sig.

Hefaistos kommer hjem endelig, kaster sit specielle gyldne net på gulvet,

og sætter dermed en stopper for Ares og Afrodites langvarige fængsling  

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

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!