09:15 Lois and I drive over to
Leckhampton to donate 4 bags of unwanted books to the local Red Cross charity
shop. We cross our fingers that this means the end of the 1st phase
of our downsizing mini-project - unwanted books. I just hope we don't come across any more unwanted books as we progress more
and more into the less well-known and less well-explored areas of the attic.
The project’s 2nd phase - the
unwanted board games and jigsaw puzzles that I've found in the attic - that phase is about to
end: there are now two piles in the garage, the first pile set aside for our daughter
Alison and her family, and the 2nd pile, we’re going to donate to the Longfield
charity shop in Bishops Cleeve.
Attics – don’t you just love ‘em???!!!!!
In fact, the world's attics are
one of the few remaining "final frontiers", according to a recent
study carried out by Cornell University researchers, reported in an article on
my go-to news website, Onion News.
Describing the large, undisturbed regions as one of the last true frontiers
on the planet, a report published Tuesday by scientists at Cornell University
has found that at least 79 percent of the world's attic space remains
unexplored.
According to the report, the little-understood lofted chambers of most
homes worldwide have not been studied beyond a radius of approx. an arm’s
length from entrance hatches, leaving what remains in their further reaches a
matter of pure speculation.
"Apart from a small region illuminated by a single incandescent
lamp, we know very little about attics", said the report's lead author,
Professor Neal Hutchison, who noted a lack of data on both the size and content
of the elevated enclosures. "Although we suppose there might be some kind
of insulation up there, maybe along a wall or roof line, we have not yet been
able to travel sufficiently far inside to confirm or deny that."
"Currently, most of our explorations involve climbing a stepladder
or a built-in pull-down stairs, and sticking our head inside there and returning
with almost no new information," Hutchison continued. "Even after all
these years of retrieving Christmas tree stands right next to the entryway, the
darkest recesses of the planet's attics remain a complete mystery to us."
Although scientists have for years been embarking on specialised
missions by directing flashlights into attics
and waving them around in different directions, the report stated that they
have never penetrated more than a few feet beyond the already well-documented
zone near the top of the ladder.
Many previous expeditions into the deeper recesses of uncharted attics
have been reportedly forced to turn back due to dust, poor ventilation, and
evidence of potential spiders. Sources confirmed that a recent attempt to
explore a un-mapped attic near the university was aborted due to atmospheric
conditions described as "thick" and "musty".
My goodness, what a crazy world
we live in !!! But it is nice to know that there are still a few challenges left for our fine
young people to take on, now that
Everest and many other mountains have been conquered, I have to say!
10:00 We pop into the local Red
Cross charity shop, and hand over the 4 bags of unwanted books that we have decided
to donate to them. Then we swing by the nearby CookShop store to buy some
low-fat ready-meals, and take the opportunity to get a cup of coffee and a
toasted tea cake at the on-site café.
While we sit and drink our
coffee, I get an sms from Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia. Today was
her first day at her new job, in the Consolidated Energy company's financial
department in Balcatta, one of the northern suburbs of Perth, so not so very far from
the family home in Ocean Reef.
Her first working day is now
over, she says, and it went well. Now, however, she is very very tired, so I
recommend her to relax and wind down. She will call us later in the week to
give us a more detailed picture of her new working life, colleagues, boss, etc.
We get a cup of coffee and a toasted tea cake in Cookshop's
café
On the way back to the
parking lot, we pass by the famous local pub,
“Sup’n’Chow”, the
former “Old Brown Jug”.
A small sign on the door publicises an
interesting exhibition of hat photos,
collected by "Lois" (no
relation!), but unfortunately we do not have enough time to see it
today and must miss out on that one: it will
have to wait for another day
- damn!
13:00 We come home and have lunch.
I get a text message from Lois's cousin Brian and his wife Ruth. They are
staying for a couple of days with Gill, Ruth’s sister-in-law, who lives near Bath, and
Ruth and Brian would like to visit us tomorrow. So I invite them for morning
coffee and lunch with us.
Ruth and Brian always have a habit of coming either unexpectedly or with almost no warning – good grief!
We'll have to clean up a little in the house tomorrow and also go around the
corner to the local convenience store (Burgage Stores) to buy something more
tempting for lunch - no doubt about that.
I haven’t the faintest idea why
Ruth and Brian don't have the ability to plan ahead. They are quite the opposite of Lois
and me - we have a habit of planning everything so that we can give people
plenty of notice, I have to say.
Flashback to April 2017, and Ruth and Brian's
last visit to us
But all in all, it doesn't bother
me so very much to have to vacuum and clean up the house. I recently read that the
more you occupy yourself with the household chores, the more likely your brain
is to stay younger.
The British media outlet The
Guardian has published an article in which they write that the little household chores,
like cleaning, keep your brain young. That’s an addition to the evidence
already indicating that even the smallest form of exercise can make a
difference.
Lois and I have to keep our
brains young today, because tonight on television is the final of the TV quiz “Only Connect”. Once again we would like, if possible,
to put all the young participants to shame by answering one or two questions
faster than they do.
My other preparation will be to
drink a strong gin and tonic at 5 pm, as researchers from the University of
Queensland recommend: if you generally like bitter things, the evidence suggests
that you have a bigger brain than those who don't. That’s some new research
from down under, which is nice.
14:00 I go to bed and take a
gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3:30 pm and resume reading chapter 44 of
Njal’s saga, written in the 13th century in Iceland, even though the saga itself
and the events in it are much older. This saga is the local U3A Old Norse
group's current project. The group will be holding its next meeting on Wednesday in the town’s
Everyman Theatre.
In chapter 44 the feud between the two women,
Hallgerd and Bergthora, is still in full swing. In each round of the feud, Hallgerd
gets one of her staffers to kill one of Bergthora's staffers. Bergthora does so
in return and revenge at Hallgerd by getting one of his staffers to kill one of
Hallgerd's staffers.
The two women originally quarrelled
over a simple fight about the seating
plan for a feast - what madness !!!!
Hallgerd and Berghthora's feud
originally arose
from a simple fight about the seating
plan for a feast- what madness!!!!
The piles of dead bodies are
beginning to accumulate. Before long, the entire population of Iceland, not particularly
numerous in the early Middle Ages, will all be dead - yikes!
However, the two women's
husbands, Gunnar and Njal, are still best friends, and they are determined not
to let their wives' bloody feud destroy their close friendship. The two men
have so far also continued to enjoy a good sex life with their respective quarrelsome
wives, which is nice.
Now, however, the shadow of their
wives’ feud has finally begun to cast a shadow over the physical side of both marriages, which is likely to be the last straw for all four of them, I would
imagine.
In chapter 44 we see Njal hopping
into bed with Bergthora, his lovely wife, and he is just about to snuggle up to
her, when the sound of an axe can be heard against the other side of the wooden
panelling by their bed.
My goodness, what a crazy world
we live in !!!! During the almost 47 years of our marriage Lois and I have never,
or almost never, heard the sound of an axe striking the wall behind us while we
are in bed, I have to say.
Njal and Bergthora in bed - unfortunately
they are disturbed
by the sound of an axe coming from the
other side of the wooden panelling
which must have been annoying, and also a bit frightening, to put it mildly.
Njal decides to investigate
immediately who or what has struck the wall behind the couple's bed with an axe,
and what the reason was, which to me sounds sensible, to put it mildly. You cannot relax in
bed if you are afraid that a crazy axe murderer might be running around the
house somewhere. My god, what madness !!!!
Njal jumps out of bed and goes
out into the backyard. He finds his son Skarphedinn, armed with sword, axe and
shield. Njal asks his son what he is doing, and Skarphedinn, a little
embarrassed perhaps, explains that some sheep have gone missing, and he has
decided to go out and look for them.
Njal does not believe Skarphedinn's
explanation, and he asks him why he is so heavily armed. Skarpheddin says that
if he and his brothers do not find the missing sheep, they will go to the river
and try to "catch some fish instead". In the middle of the night, too, I hardly think so !!!!!
My goodness, Skarphedinn's
explanations are becoming more and more incredible - I have to say! And I
suspect that an axe and a sword are not the best tools for catching fish with -
although I'm no expert, to put it mildly. I do not know that much about fishing. But we'll see. I'll
read on a bit further tomorrow if there's time.
What a saga !!!!
18:00 We have dinner: roast lamb with home-grown mint sauce,
roast potatoes and green beans - yum yum, my favourite! Then we see a little
television. The final of the TV quiz “Only Connect” is on. The host of the programme
is the charming Victoria Coren-Mitchell.
Lois and I are always happy if we
can answer occasional questions that the participating "brains" strike
out on, I have to say. But tonight, our performance is a bit pathetic, to put
it mildly. We can come up with a few correct answers, but almost nothing
that the participating "brains" cannot answer also, which is a little
disappointing, to put it mildly.
Damn!
It is true that what we are watching
tonight is the quiz's final, so the participating teams are the best two in the
whole competition.
But I am especially disappointed
that I could not guess the connection between the 4 following things. In my
younger days I would not have had trouble coming up with the right answer - I
know that for sure.
The explanation is that, for
example, in the case of "envy" and "rail", the first letter
of the word "rail" i.e. the letter," r ", is 13 places
later in the alphabet, than the first letter of the word" envy” and so on
and so on, for all the other letters in the two words.
Good grief! And to think that I
used to know the positions of the letters of the alphabet by heart!
I am getting old, no doubt about
that. I will just have to spend more time vacuuming, and drinking even more gin and tonics (see
above) - I have no other choice now ha ha!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzzz
!!!!
Danish translation
09:15 Lois og jeg kører over til Leckhampton for at donere 4 poser uønskede bøger til den
lokale Røde Kors velgørenhedsbutik. Vi krydser fingrene for, at dette betyder
slutningen af den 1. fase af vores downsize mini-projekt – uønskede bøger. Jeg
håber bare på, vi ikke falder over flere uønskede bøger, som vi avancerer mere
og mere ind i loftets mindre velkendte og mindre veludforskede områder.
Den 2. fase – de uønskede brætspil og puslespil, som jeg har fundet i
loftet – er ved at være slut: to bunker i garagen – den 1. bunke sat til side
til fordel for vores datter Alison og hendes familie, og vi skal donere den 2.
bunke til Longfield-velgørenhedsbutik i byen Bishops Cleeve.
Faktisk er verdens lofter ét af de få resterende ”sidste grænser”, some
en nylig undersøgelse udført at forskere ved Cornell University klargjort,
ifølge en artikel på min go-to nyhedswebsted, Onion News.
Med en
beskrivelsen af de store, uforstyrrede regioner som en af de sidste sande grænser
på planeten, har en rapport offentliggjort tirsdag af forskere ved Cornell
University fundet, at mindst 79 procent af verdens loftsrum forbliver
uudforsket.
Ifølge rapporten er de lidt forståede pulterkamrene af de fleste boliger
verden over ikke undersøgt ud over en radius på ca. en armlængde fra
loftlemmen, hvilket betyder, at dét, der er tilbage i deres yderligere
regioner, drejer sig bare om ren spekulation.
"Bortset
fra en lille region belyset af en enkelt glødelampe, kender vi meget lidt om loftsrum",
siger rapportens lead-forfatter, professor Neal Hutchison, der konstaterede en
mangel på data om både størrelsen og indholdet af de forhøjede kabinetter.
"Selvom vi formoder at der kunne eksistere en eller anden form for
isolering deroppe, måske langs en mur eller taglinjen, har vi endnu ikke kunnet
rejse tilstrækkeligt indenfor for at bekræfte eller benægte det."
"I
øjeblikket involverer de fleste af vores udforskninger dét, at klatre op ad en trappestige
eller den indbyggede indstigningsstige, og stikker hovedet hurtigt derinde og
vender tilbage med næsten ingen nye oplysninger," fortsatte Hutchison.
"Selv efter alle disse år med at hente juletræstativer lige ved siden af loftslemmen,
forbliver de mørkeste krinkelkroge af planetens lofter et komplet mysterium for vores
vedkommende."
Selv om
forskere i årevis har påbegyndt specialiserede missioner ved at rette lygter i
loftet og vifte dem rundt i forskellige retninger, erklærede rapporten, at de
aldrig har trængt ind mere end et par meter ud over den allerede
veldokumenterede zone nær toppen af indstigningsstigen.
Mange
tidligere ekspeditioner i de dybere krinkelkroge af ikke kortlagte lofter er
angiveligt blevet tvunget til at vende tilbage på grund af støv, dårlig
ventilation og beviser for potentielle edderkopper. Kilder bekræftede et nyligt
forsøg på at udforske en ikke-kortlagt loftet
i nærheden af universitetet blev afbrudt på grund af atmosfæriske tilstander
beskrevet som "tyk" og "muggen".
Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!! Men det er rart at vide,
at der stadig er udfordringer, som vores unge kan trodse, nu hvor Everest er
blevet erobret, det må jeg nok sige!
10:00 Vi kigger ind i den lokale Røde Kors velgørenhedsbutik, og
afleverer de 4 poser uønskede bøger, vi er besluttet at donere til dem.
Derefter smutter vi ind i den nærliggende CookShop-butik for at købe nogle
fedtfattige færdigretter, og benytte lejligheden til at drikke en kop kaffe og
spiser en toasted tea-cake på butikkens café.
Mens vi sidder og drikker vores kaffe, får jeg en sms fra Sarah, vores
datter i Perth, Australien. I dag var hendes første dag på sit nye arbejde, i
Consolidated Energy-selskabets financielle afdeling i Balcatta, én af de
nordlige forstæder til Perth, så derfor ikke ret langt fra familiens hjem i
Ocean Reef.
Hendes første arbejdsdag er nu overstået, siger hun, og den gik godt. Nu
er hun imidlertid meget meget træt, så anbefaler jeg hende at slappe lidt af og
geare ned. Hun vil ringer til os senere på ugen for at give os et mere
detaljeret billede af sit nye arbejdsliv, kollegaerne, chefen osv.
Vi drikker
en kop kaffe og spiser en toasted tea-cake i Cookshop-butikkens café
På vej tilbage til parkeringspladsen går vi forbi
den berømte
lokale pub, Sup’n’Chow, den tidligere Old Brown Jug.
Et lille
skilt på døren publicerer en interessant udstilling af hatfotoer,
samlet af ”Lois”
(ingen slægtning), men desværre har vi ikke nok tid til at se den
og må gå
glip at den: det bliver til en anden dag
- pokkers!
13:00 Vi kommer hjem og spiser frokost. Jeg får en sms fra Lois’ fætter
Brian og hans kone Ruth. De bor i et par dage hos Gill, hendes svoger i
nærheden af byen Bath, og Ruth og Brian vil gerne besøge os i morgen. Jeg
inviterer dem så til morgenkaffe og frokost hos os.
Ruth og Brian altid har for
vane at komme enten uventet eller med næsten uden varsel – du godeste! Vi bliver
nødt til at rydde lidt op i huset i morgen og gå rundt om hjørnet til den
lokale nærbutik (Burgage Stores) for at købe noget mere fristende til frokost –
ingen tvivl om det.
Jeg har ikke den fjerneste
anelse om, hvorfor de ikke har evnen til at planlægge på forhånd. De er det
helt modsatte af Lois og mig – vi har for vane at planlægge alting, så vi kan
give folk masser af varsel, det må jeg nok sige.
Tilbageblik til april 2017, og Ruth og Brians
seneste besøg hos os
Men alt i alt gener det mig ikke særlig meget for at skulle støvsuge og rydde
op i huset. Jeg læste for nylig, at jo mere man beskæftiger sig med de huslige
pligter i hjemmet jo mere er der stor sandsynlighed for, at ens hjerne holder
sig mere ung.
Det britiske medie The Guardian har publiceret en artikel, hvori de
skriver, at små huslige pligter blandt andet rengøring, kan være med til at
holde din hjerne ung. Det er en tilføjelse til de beviser, der allerede peger
på, at selv den mindste form for motion kan gøre en forskel.
Lois og jeg bliver nødt til at holde vores hjerner unge i dag, fordi i
aften viser de i fjernsynet finalen af tv-quizzen Only Connect, hvor vi gerne vil kunne sætte
alle de unge deltagere til vægs ved at svare på spørgsmål hurtigere, end dem.
Min anden forberedelse vil være at drikke en stærk gin og tonic ved
17-tiden, som forskere fra University of Queensland anbefaler: hvis du generelt set godt kan lide bitre
ting, så er der noget der tyder på, at du har en større hjerne end dem, der
ikke kan. Det viser ny forskning fra University of Queensland – hurra!
14:00 Jeg går i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står
op kl 15:30 og går i gang med at læse færdigt kapitlen 44 af Njals saga, skrevet i det 13. århundrede i Island,
selvom selve sagaen og begivenhederne er meget ældre. Denne saga er den lokale
U3A oldnordiske gruppes nuværende projekt. Gruppen holder sit næste møde på
onsdag i byens Everyman-teater.
Fejden mellem
de to kvinder, Hallgerd og Bergthora er i fuld gang. I hver omgang af fejden
får Hallgerd en af sine ansatte til at dræbe en af Bergthoras ansatte.
Bergthora gør så gengæld og hævner sig på Hallgerd ved at få en af sine ansatte
til at dræbe en af Hallgerds ansatte.
De to kvinder
skændtes oprindeligt på grund af en simpel strid om bordplanen til en fest –
sikke et vanvid !!!!
Hallgerd
og Berghthoras fejde stammede oprindeligt
fra
en simpel strid om bordplanen til en fest
Bunkerne af døde
kroppe hober sig op. Inden længe vil hele befolkningen, der ikke var særlig
talrig i det tidligere middelalder i Island,
være død – yikes!
De to kvinders ægtemænd, henholdsvis Gunnar og Njal, er imidlertid
stadigvæk bedste venner, og de er fast besluttet på ikke at lade deres koners
blodige fejde ødelægge deres tætte venskab. De to mænd har hidtil fortsat med
at have et godt sexliv med deres trættekære kvinder.
Nu imidlertid er skyggen af deres koners fejde endelig begyndt at kaste
en skygge over den fysiske side af deres ægteskab, hvilkt sandsynligvis vil
blive til det bragte bægeret til at flyde over for dem.
Njal hopper forventingsfuld op i sengen til Bergthora, sin dejlige kone,
og skal lige til at putte sig ind til hende, da lyden af en økse kunne høres mod
den anden side af den træbeklædningen.
Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!! I løbet af de snart 47 år Lois og jeg har
været gift, har vi aldrig hørt lyden af en økse, der slår mod væggen bagved os,
mens vi ligger inde i sengen, det må jeg nok sige.
Njal og
Bergthora inde i sengen – desværre bliver de forstyrret
af lyden af
en økse, der kommer fra den anden side af træbeklædningen,
hvilket må
have været lidt irriterende, for at sige mildt.
Njal beslutter at undersøge med det samme, hvem eller hvad har slaget
væggen bagved parrets seng med en økse, og hvorfor, hvilket for mit vedkommende
lyder fornuftigt for at sige mildt. Man kan ikke slappe af i sengen, hvis man
er bange for, at en vanvittig øksemorder måske kan være i gang med at løbe
rundt i huset. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!
Han hopper ud af sengen og går ud i baghaven. Han finder sin søn
Skarphedinn, bevæbnet med sverd, økse og skjold. Njal spørger sin søn om hvad
han gør, og Skarphedinn, lidt pinligt, forklarer, at nogel får er faret vild,
og han har besluttet sig for at gå ud og lede efter dem.
Njal tror ikke Skarphedinns forklaring, og han spørger ham om, hvorfor
han er så stærkt bevæbnet. Skarpheddin siger, at hvis han og hans brødre ikke
finder de manglende får, vil de gå til floden og prøver at fange nogle fisk.
Du godeste, Skarphedinns forklaringer bliver mere og mere utrolige – det
må jeg nok sige! Og jeg mistænker, at en øks og en sverd ikke er de bedste
redskaber til at fange fisk med – men jeg er ikke nogen ekspert. Jeg kender
ikke særlig meget om fiskefangst. Men vi får se. Jeg vil læse videre i morgen,
hvis der er tid.
Sikke en saga !!!!
18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad: stegte lam, stegte kartofler og grønne bønner
– yum yum, min livsret! Derefter ser vi lidt fjernsyn. De viser finalen af
tv-quizzen Only Connect. Programmets vært er den charmerende Victoria
Coren-Mitchell.
Lois og jeg er altid glade for, at kunne besvare lejlighedsvise
spørgsmål, som sætter de deltagende ”hjerner” til vægs, det må jeg nok sige. Men
i aften er vores præstation lidt elendig, for at sige mildt. Vi kan komme med
en række korrekte svar, men næsten intet, som de deltagende ”hjerne” ikke kan
besvare, hvilket er lidt skuffende for at sige mildt.
Pokkers!
Det er sandt, at det, vi ser iaften er quizzens finale, så de deltagende
hold er de bedste to i hele konkurrencen.
Jeg er især skuffet, at jeg ikke kunne gætte forbindelsen mellem de 4
følgende ting. I mine yngre dage ville jeg ikke have haft svært med at komme
med den rigtige svar – det ved jeg med sikkerhed.
Forklaringen er, at eksempelvis , i tilfældet af ”envy” og ”rail”, er ordet ”rail”s første bogstav, ”r” 13 steder
senere i alfabetet, end ordet ”envy”s første bogstav, osv osv. Pokkers!
Jeg bliver gammel, ingen tvivl om det. Jeg må bruge mere tid på at
støvsuge, og drikke endnu flere gin og tonics (se ovenfor) – jeg har ikken
andet valg ha ha!
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!
