Monday, April 1 2019

08:00 For the second day In a row, Lois and I cannot stay in bed, despite the fact that we have not got used to our clocks being on BST (British Summer Time) now, and to the fact that we have lost an hour somewhere along the way.

I have an appointment with our new doctor’s surgery, scheduled for 10 am, when I have to take a blood test and supply a urine sample. And we have planned to go by bus, partly to test the route and travel time. I do a little research on the web, and I find that unfortunately we have to take the bus that comes along at 9:15 am if we want to be absolutely sure to reach the surgery in time, which is a bit of a shame.

09:15 We board the bus. In the distance we see one of our neighbours, the one we call "policeman”, running towards the bus stop, but not fast enough - and the bus speeds up and disappears around the corner. Poor "policeman" !!!!

Recently, I read on my go-to local news site that another local man failed to catch a similar bus - it is very important to get to the bus stop in good time, or so it seems to Lois and me at least. But we live just across the road from the bus stop, which is nice.

Passengers aboard a local northbound number 67 bus were reportedly filled with joy and delight Monday, when they saw a fellow resident running helplessly after their fast-moving bus.

The endlessly uplifting and entertaining chase that took place between 8:23 and 8:25 am, began shortly after a  local bus departed from its Priors Road bus stop. According to the passengers, it was then that they first noticed a large unidentified man in a business suit, running in complete desperation in an effort to catch up with the bus.

"He was actually moving incredibly fast," said Donald Schoemeyer, one of about a dozen passengers whose mood was lifted by the hulking, heavily sweating man. "Even when it was clear that there was no way he was going to make it, he continued to run after us."

"I suppose he really needed to get that bus," Schoemeyer added, with a faint smile forming on his lips.

Reports suggest that a number of factors contributed to the overall sense of joy in those who were fortunate enough to witness the spectacle. Among them was the fact that the man was not in very good physical shape, an indication that running was probably his final option; the black briefcase that the man was carrying during his entertaining chase, which not only added weight to his already cumbersome frame, but also suggested that he was trying to be on time for some important business meeting; and finally, the growing unlikelihood that the man would ever catch up with the speeding bus.

"His face turned all shades of red," said local resident Roberta Washington, who was sitting inches away from one of 15 stop-request buttons, and saw the whole hectic pursuit from the comfort of her seat. "You could tell he was shouting something from the way his mouth continued to move and how he was waving that one arm around."

Those sitting on the bus were not the only ones cheered by the sight of the increasingly exhausted man. Pedestrians and motorists along the road also got a brief moment of joy after seeing the man panting for breath and stumbling momentarily, spilling his coffee on the sidewalk and looking up in despair as the bus sped  further and further away from him.

Lois and I noticed when we read the article that the business man in question happened to spill his take-away cup of coffee on the pavement, while running after the bus. And today, when our bus stops for a few minutes in the middle of town, because it’s running ahead of schedule, a young man in a business suit climbs aboard, with a take-away cup of coffee in his hand.

Lois and I have never been able to understand the current craze for buying take-away cups of coffee. Where is the pleasure in drinking whilst walking down the street or sitting in a car or a bus? Why not sit down at a table and enjoy the coffee right there in the cafe, in peace and quiet, like someone who is not completely crazy?

But when it comes to it, Lois and I are just a pair of old crows living in the past – that’s for sure !!!

09:45 We get off the bus and go around the corner to the doctor’s surgery. The nurse gives me a blood test and I hand over my urine sample bottle, complete with contents. 

We walk into town. We pop into the Paterisserie Valerie café, where we drink a cup of coffee and eat 2 warm fruit scones with butter and jam, to recharge our batteries. Afterwards, we swing by the Frederik Allen jeweller’s shop, so that I can get my 3 non-functioning watches repaired or supplied with new batteries, as appropriate. Then we take the bus home.

12:30 We have lunch and then go to bed for 3 hours – my god! We get up at 5 pm and I start to leaf through the next 2 chapters of Njal’s Saga, written in the 13th century in Iceland, although the saga itself and the events are much older. This book is the U3A Old Norse group's current project. The group will be holding its next meeting on Wednesday in the town’s Everyman Theatre.

Another 2 very exciting chapters. The feud between the two women, Hallgerd and Bergthora is in full swing. In each round of the feud, Hallgerd gets one of her employees to kill one of Bergthora's employees. Bergthora then follows suit and revenges herself on Hallgerd by getting one of her employees to kill one of Hallgerd's employees.

The two women originally quarrelled because of a fight over the seating plan for a dinner - what madness !!!!

Hallgerd

Bergthora

Hallgerd and Berghthora's feud originally stemmed

from a fight over the seating plan for a dinner

The piles of dead bodies are accumulating. Before long, the entire population of Iceland, which was not particularly numerous in the early Middle Ages, will all be dead, that’s for sure!

In these 41st and 42nd chapters, Hallgerd decids on her next victim: she decides it's going to be Thord, one of Bergthora's employees - Thord is currently having an affair with Bergthora’s housekeeper, the lovely Gudfinna, who is expecting Thord’s child.

Thord sitting with the lovely housekeeper Gudfinna, 

who is now pregnant with Thord's child

So a happy event for the couple is on the cards. What a shame, then, that Thord has been chosen to be Hallgerd's next victim in the long-running feud between the two households. Poor Thord !!!!

And we readers know that it is indeed now Thord's destiny to die, because he thought he saw a blood-spattered goat in a ditch, when he was out in the country on a walk with Njal, Bergthora’s husband. Njal can’t see the goat, only Thord, which is bad news for Thord, to put it mildly.

In those days, it was customary that one anyone who was destined to die saw some invisible animal as a kind of scary warning, shortly before he died. Yikes - creepy !!!

I hope that I never see any of those kinds of eerie, demonic visions, because I’ll know then that my number’s up. Let’s hope it’s not this year, at least – I’ve already got a lot on my plate right now!

Poor Thord (again) !!!!! [a "fey" man is a man whose doom is sealed, and a "fetch" is the animal the man sees as a portent of his doom - Ed]

Yes, Thord's number is up, no doubt about that.

And today I cheerfully took a blood test and handed in a urine sample. But it's difficult to get out of your head the fact that they could come back next week and say "Sorry mate!" (except in doctors' language), or something similar.

Luckily I didn't see any bloody goats on the pavement in town this morning, or on the bus, come to that (Rule 42: "bloody goats to be charged full fare if they take up a seat"), which probably means I'm going to be all right ha ha ha!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television. Monday night is TV quiz night at our house.  "Only Connect" and "University Challenge” are on. The host of the “Only Connect” quiz is the charming Victoria Coren-Mitchell.

In one question on "Only Connect", for example, participants must guess the connection between the following 4 things:

(1) Wimbledon champions SAMPRAS HEWITT,

(2) Letters in NATO phonetic alphabet QUEBEC HOTEL

(3) Oscar-winning films: AVATAR GOODFELLAS

(4) Countries: PANAMA LIBYA

The two teams are stumped for an answer here, and so are Lois and I. The solution in fact is that in each category there are actually 3 examples – with a third one is hidden “between” the two others:

(1) SAMPRAS HEWITT, also contains "ASHE"

(2) QUEBEC HOTEL, also contains "ECHO"

(3) AVATAR GOODFELLAS, also contains "ARGO"

(4) PANAMA LIBYA also contains "MALI"

"Unsimples" ! Devilishly difficult to put it mildly.

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

Danish translation

08:00 For 2. dag I træk kan Lois og jeg ikke blive liggende inde i sengen, på trods af, at vi endnu ikke har vænnet os til, at urene nu er på BST (British Summer Time), og at vi har i praksis mistet en time, et eller andet sted på vej.

Jeg har en aftale hos vores nye lægehus, bestemt til kl 10, hvor jeg skal tage en blodprøve og forsyne en urinprøve. Og vi har planlagt at køre med bussen, delvis for at teste ruten, og rejsetiden. Jeg gør lidt forskning på nettet, og jeg opdager, at vi desværre skal tage bussen, der kører forbi vores hus kl 9:15, for at være helt sikker på, at vi når lægehuset i tide, hvilket er lidt af en skam.

09:15 Vi stiger om bord bussen. I det fjerne ser vi en af vores naboer, som vi kalder ”politimand”, løbe mod busstoppestedet, men ikke hurtigt nok – og bussen speeder op og forsvinder rundt om hjørnet. Stakkels ”politimand” !!!!

For nylig læste jeg på mit go-to lokalnyhedswebsted, at det mislykkedes en anden lokal mand også at nå en lignende bus – det er vigtigt at nå busstoppestedet i tide, eller det synes Lois og jeg i det mindste. Men vi bor lige på den anden side af vejet fra busstoppestedet, hvilket er rart.

Passagerer ombord på et nordgående nummer 67-bus blev angiveligt fyldt med glæde og fryd mandag, da de så en tæt nabo, der kørte hjælpeløst efter den hurtigt kørende bus.

Den uendelige opløftende og underholdende jagt, som fandt sted mellem kl. 8:23 og 8:25, begyndte kort tid efter at den lokale bus kørte af sted fra sit Priors Road busstoppested. Ifølge passagererne var det da, at de først bemærkede en stor uidentificeret mand i en businessjakkesæt, der løb i fuldstændig desperation for at nå bussen.

"Han bevægede sig faktisk utrolig hurtigt," sagde Donald Schoemeyer, en af omtrent et dusin passagerer, hvis humør blev løftet af den kluntede, stærkt svedende mand. "Selv når det var klart, at der ikke var nogen måde, han skulle gøre det, fortsatte han stadig med at løbe efter os."

"Jeg antager, at han virkelig havde brug for at nå den bus," tilføjede Schoemeyer, med et svagt smil, der dannede sig  på læberne.

Rapporter tyder på, at en række faktorer havde bidraget til den overordnede følelse af glæde hos dem, der var heldige nok til at være vidne til synet. Blandt dem var den kendsgerning, at manden ikke var i meget god fysisk form, en indikation af, at dét, at løbe,  sandsynligvis var hans sidste option; den sorte mappe, som manden bragte under hans underholdende jage, som ikke bare gav ekstra vægt til hans allerede besværlige skikkelse, men også antydede, at han forsøgte at være i tide til noget vigtigt forretningsmøde; og endelig den voksende usandsynlighed, at manden nogensinde ville nå frem til den hurtige bus.

"Hans ansigt blev til alle afskygninger rød", sagde den lokale resident Roberta Washington, som satte centimeter væk fra en af 15 stop-request knapper og så hele den hektiske forfølgelse fra sit sæde. "Du kunne fortælle, at han råbte noget fra den måde, munden fortsatte med at bevæge sig på, og hvordan han viftede med den ene arm."

De, der sad på bussen, var ikke de eneste, der var opmuntret af synet af den mere og mere udmattede mand. Fodgængere og bilister langs vejen fik også et kort øjeblik af glæde efter at have set mannen snappe efter vejret og stuble øjeblikkeligt, spildte sin kaffe på fortovet og kigge op i fortvivlelse, da bussen speedede længere og længere væk fra ham.

Lois og jeg bemærkede, dengang vi læste artiklet, at den pågældende forretningsman spildte sin take-away kop kaffe på fortovet, mens han var i gang med at løbe efter bussen. Og i dag også, da vores bus standser et par minutter midt i byen, fordi den kører forud for tidsplanen, at en ung man i et businessjakkesæt stiger om bord, med en take-away kop kaffe i hånden.

Vi har aldrig kunnet forstå den nuværende dille for at købe take-away kopper kaffe. Hvor er glæden med at drikke mens men gå ad gaden eller sidder i en bil eller en bus? Hvorfor ikke sætte sig ved et bord, og nyde kaffen netop dér i caféen,  i fred og ro, som en, der ikke er helt vanvittig?

Men når alt kommer til alt, er Lois og jeg bare et par gamle krager, der bor i fortiden – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!

09:45 Vi står af busset og går rundt om hjørnet til lægehuset. Sygeplejrsken giver mig en blodprøve, og jeg overrækker min urinprøveflaske. Vi går hen ind i byen. Vi smutter ind i Paterisserie Valerie-caféen, hvor vi drikker en kop kaffe og spiser 2 opvarmede frugtscones for at genoplade vores batterier. Bagefter kigger vi ind i Frederik Allen-guldsmedsforretning, så jeg kan få mine 3 ikke-fungerende  armbåndsure repareret eller forsynede med nye batterier, som egnet. Vi tager bussen hjem.

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går i seng i 3 timer – yikes! Vi står op kl 17, og jeg går i gang med at blade igennem de næste 2 kapitler af Njals Saga, skrevet i det 13. århundrede i Island, selvom selve sagaen og begivenhederne er meget ældre. Denne bog er den lokale U3A oldnordiske gruppens nuværende projekt. Gruppen holder sit næste møde på onsdag i byens Everyman-teater.

Endnu 2 meget spændende kapitler. 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 strid om bordplanen til en fest – sikke et vanvid !!!!

Hallgerd

Bergthora

Hallgerd og Berghthoras fejde stammede oprindeligt

fra en 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!

I disse 41. og 42. kapitler bliver fejdens næste offer afsløret: Thord, en af Bergthoras ansatte. Thord, og Gudfinna, Bergthoras husholderske, dannede par, og Gudfinna var gravid med Thords barn.

Thord sidder med husholdersken Gudfinna, der nu er gravid med Thords barn

Men desværre har Hallgerd, Bergthoras svorede fjende, identificeret Thord som fejdens næste offer.

Stakkels Thord!!!!

Og vi ved, at det er Thords skæbne at dø, fordi han troede, han så en blodig gede, da han var ude på landet på en gåtur med Njal, Bergthoras ægtemand. I de der dage var det sædvanligt, at én, der var bestemt til at dø, så et eller andet ikke-eksisterende dyr, som et slags skræmmende varsel kort inden han kom til at dø. Yikes – uhyggeligt!!!

Jeg håber på, at jeg aldrig kommer til at se et eller andet af de slags uhyggelige, dæmoniske  syn – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!!

Stakkels Thord (igen) !!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. Mandag aften er tv-quiz-aften hos os. De viser ”Only Connect” og ”University Challenge. Programmets vært er den charmerende Victoria Coren-Mitchell.

I ”Only Connect” skal deltagerne gætte forbindelsen mellem disse 4 ting:

(1)    Wimbledon champions SAMPRAS HEWITT,

(2)    Letters in NATO phonetic alphabet QUEBEC HOTEL

(3)    Oscar-winning films: AVATAR GOODFELLAS

(4)    Countries: PANAMA LIBYA

De to hold er I bekneb for et svar her, og ligeså er Lois og jeg. Løsningen er, at i hver kategori er der faktisk 3 eksempler – og et tredje, der er skjult mellem de 2 andre:

(1)    SAMPRAS HEWITT, også ASHE

(2)    QUEBEC HOTEL, også ECHO

(3)    AVATAR GOODFELLAS, også ARGO

(4)    PANAMA LIBYA også MALI

Djævelsk svært, for at sige mildt!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!