Wednesday, April 10 2019

Lois and I have now emptied the largest of the 3 wooden bookshelves in Sarah's old room - the books have all been donated to the Red Cross charity shop. With a lot of difficulty (and the risk of falling down the stairs and breaking legs etc or something worse) we manage to gently manoeuvre the bookcase down the stairs, out the front door and into the garage, as part of our downsizing mini-project.

Afterwards, we decide to throw out some worn or faded pictures, and hang up some others which have somehow taken up residence at the bottom of various wardrobes, our aim being to freshen up and beautify our 2 "guest rooms" – which are actually our 2 grown-up daughters’ old rooms. Both rooms look much more spacious now.

Alison, our elder daughter, plus Ed and their 3 children, plan to visit us on Easter weekend, and we want to make their bedrooms as pleasant as possible.

Sarah's old room, where Alison and Ed will sleep

Alison's old room, where Ali and Ed's 3 children will sleep

13:00 I hurry into the kitchen and make 2 servings of lunch: lightly poached eggs on two pieces of toast, and grilled tomatoes - yum yum! Afterwards we go to bed for 3 hours - and I read 10 pages of my current bedtime book: Ben Elton's "Brothers" (Danish version).

16:30 Lois starts making dinner in the kitchen - pork chops - yum yum! Meanwhile, I see a little television, the second part of the third season of a Danish television thriller series with the English title "Follow the Money".

I had tipped off our U3A Danish group members that the BBC would start airing the third season last Saturday with episodes 1 and 2, because I know that the group members (apart from Lois herself) are very into Danish TV shows that feature a lot of sex and violence – my god, what madness !!!!

Our U3A Danish group will be holding its regular meeting here tomorrow at 2:30 pm, and it may be that some of the members will want to discuss these first two episodes, so I am eager to see them before the meeting takes place: I saw the first episode last night, so this afternoon I settle down in the living room to see the second episode.

So far, the series’s plot seems to revolve around two main characters, one of them a 90% good guy and the other a 90% bad guy:

(1) young Nick, a 90% bad guy who has the ambition of controlling the majority of the illegal substances being imported into Denmark. But he also has a softer side - he misses his young son whom the authorities have taken away from Nick and his depressed partner, and placed with an elderly couple (an uncle and aunt).

Nick, 90% bad guy – drug-smuggler with a softer side. He loves his little son,

who has been taken from him and his partner, and adopted by foster parents

(2) Thirty-something Alf, a 90% good guy, a member of the narcotics squad  'task force Nørrebro’, which patrols and investigates drug trafficking in one of Copenhagen's less pleasant neighbourhoods. But he also suffers from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and insomnia, and in this second episode we see him buying extra-potent sleeping pills from a street drug dealer - yikes, Alf, you're supposed to be a cop !!!!!!

Alf, a 90% good guy, drugs-officer in the city's "Task Force Nørrebro".

He is a little nervous and suffers from PTSD post-traumatic stress reaction, and sometimes

becomes so desperate that he himself buys drugs on the street from a drug dealer

- my goodness, what a crazy world we live in !!!!!!

Alf is having an affair with a work colleague, Isa, who is the police's local law expert, but unfortunately Isa is married (to Lars) and the couple have small children.

In this second episode, we see Alf enduring a lot of regular disappointments in his efforts to see more of Isa. They make desperate plans to meet up in her office late in the afternoon to have sex again, but…..

… but when Alf turns up full  of anticipation at Isa's office door, one of Isa's team members tells him she's gone for the day - she apparently had to look after her children to cover for an unscheduled absence by her husband, Lars.

Poor Alf !!!!

Alf in happier times: in bed with Isa a few days ago

Alf and his team (the so-called “Taskforce Nørrebro”) continue to investigate the drug smuggling and money laundering operation that the other main character in the series, Nick, is one of the organisers of.

But the most important new development in this second episode is the addition of a new main character, Anna, line manager in a bank, who gets overlooked when the local branch manager's job becomes vacant: one of Anna's subordinate employees gets promoted over Anna's head, which Anna is not too happy about to put it mildly.

This is a kind of a turning point in Anna's career. Her performance in the past has been impeccable, but now she turns to a life of financial crime, to take revenge on her bank's board of directors. Yikes, Anna, a bit of an overreaction ??????  !!!!!

And so revenge is why Anna becomes involved in illegal activities, initially by illegally unlocking closed accounts for a money laundering company, just in order to help her husband's company avoid a liquidity crisis and escape bankruptcy. 

But she's on a slippery slope now – that’s for sure !!!

Anna, a previously respectable and impeccable line manager in a bank,

turns to a life of financial crime after a disappointment in her working life.

Here we see her making contact with a suspicious business-man, Rune Jensen:

the couple flirt a little at a restaurant, when he thanks her for her illegal intervention

Yikes! What a crazy world we live in !!!!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening listening to the radio, an interesting programme in the series "Thinking Allowed", which deals with issues in the sociology world, and related areas. The programme host is the charming Laurie Taylor.

Interesting programme, but at the same time slightly disappointing, and does not fulfil all the promises in the Radio Times magazine (see above), to put it mildly.

And Lois and I sometimes think that the "Thinking Allowed" series, despite being about topics of general interest, is targeted at sociology specialists: from time to time we hear technical terms that Taylor does not explain. Tonight for example, "fordism", which Lois and I have never heard of before.

[“Fordism is a term used to describe work organisations with a high degree of specialisation and centralisation. The term "fordism" derives from the American industry leader Henry Ford's assembly line production in the early 1900’s; a principle developed to supply a mass market with general products” - Ed.]

Taylor asks if there is really anything special about top CEO's such as  Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, and ... Donald Trump (?).

Some typical inspirational maxims of  the type top  CEO's come up with:

Lots of companies don’t succeed over time; what do they fundamentally do wrong? They usually miss the future! (Page of Google)

Move fast and break things! Unless you are breaking stuff you are not moving fast enough! (Zuckerber of Facebook)

Whatever your goal is, you’ll never succeed unless you let go of your fears, and fly ! (Branson of Virgin)

Life is not fair, so get used to it! (Bill Gates of Microsoft)

There’s no such thing as an unrealistic goal. Just unrealistic time-frames!  (Donald Trump of USA Inc)

"How and why have CEO characters assumed such a powerful position in society?", Taylor asks, becoming role models that symbolise the pursuit of innovation, wealth and success, figures that demand respect, and (almost) worship.

Taylor speaks a little with the Open University's Peter Bloom, one of the two authors of a new book, "CEO Society: the Corporate Takeover of Everyday Life".

Peter Bloom, the American academic, now at the Open University

Bloom says that in the 1950’s and 1960’s CEO's were actually quite remote characters, out of the public eye, and with slightly boring and conventional personalities, and not the kind of men people would not necessarily tend to worship or idolise, to put it mildly. The change towards the CEO's  having their current superstar status arose in the 1960’s and 1970’s, he says.

They quickly became characterised as heroes, visionaries, etc., and at the same time as this, there arose the idea that top CEO’s and other directors deserved gigantic pay checks, because they were the key to whether or not the organisation was successful.

And we are all happy to consider these top CEO’s as heroes, because it allows us to believe in a fantasy of meritocracy, says Bloom, and to believe that anyone can achieve this status if you work hard enough and are visionary enough, etc. The idea also allows us to believe that individuals can change or mould history, even though we ourselves feel like powerless people who have virtually no ability to change or mould our own lives and history.

Taylor and Bloom also discuss the concept that we all need to import CEO-like approaches into our daily lives, if we want to make our personal lives a success: that is, we all have to be like CEO’s. Be the CEO of your life, be the CEO of your own body, or be the CEO of "you" - and if you do, all things become possible. Make the cost-benefit analysis in your everyday life ha ha! And don't forget to live up to all the clichés the top CEO’s have come up with (see above ha ha!).

Bloom thinks that CEO's are mostly interchangeable when it comes to the value they add to their companies. He believes that it is more often a matter of luck or coincidence, whether the company is successful or not. But CEO’s can also turn quickly from being super-heroes to being super-villains sometimes, if they screw up - and then we make the mistake of focusing mainly on the CEO’s faults, even when sometimes there is something wrong in society that needs to be fixed - we get distracted by our dissatisfaction with the CEO, and don’t look at society’s failings.

But many less successful CEO's, no matter how bad their performance has been, get a "golden parachute" and just move to their next job. Nevertheless, says Bloom, we tend to still believe in them despite their failures - we think they must have been successful at some point in their careers, and so they still have the potential to become successful again sooner or later in the future . Even after the 2008 banking crisis, it was the same figures that caused the crisis that we approached to save us from it, Bloom reminds us.

My god, how fascinating! Lois and I do not agree with everything Bloom says, but we have a lot to think about, I have to say. But not tonight - we are exhausted, as usual.

Some CEO’s are undoubtedly brilliant, but other are just brilliant at giving the impression that they are brilliant, we think.

Also, isn’t the Donald Trump phenomenon and the loyalty of his many supporters, plus the sidelining of alternative voices (Congress, the press etc) one of the biggest outcomes of our CEO-centred culture, dwarfing all the other outcomes? That's what Lois and I suspect, but it's something we are not completely sure about  – the jury is still out on that one.

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

Danish translation

Lois og jeg har nu tømt den største af de 3 træbogreoler i Sarahs gamle værelse – bøgerne er alle blevet doneret til Røde Kors-velgørenhedsbutikken. Med meget besvær (og risikoen for at falde ned ad trappen og brække ben osv eller noget værre) lykkes det os at bakse bogreolen forsigtigt ned at trappen, ud af hoveddøren og ind i garagen, som en del af vores downsize mini-projekt.

Bagefter beslutter vi at smide nogle slidte eller fadede billeder ud og hænge nogle andre, der har lejret sig i forskellige garderober, med det formål af, at forfriske og udsmykke vores 2 ”gæsteværelser” – i virkeligheden vores 2 voksne døtres værelser. Begge værelser ser meget mere rummelige nu.

Alison, vores ældste datter, og Ed, og deres 3 børn planlægger at besøger os i påskeweekenden, og vi har lyst til at gøre deres soveværelser så behagelige som muligt.

Sarahs gamle værelse, hvor Alison og Ed vil sove

Alisons gamle værelse, hvor Ali og Eds 3 børn vil sove

13:00 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver 2 portioner frokost: let pochede æg på to stykker toast, og grillede tomater – yum yum! Bagefter går vi i seng i 3 timer – og jeg læser 10 sider af min nuværende sengetidbog:  Ben Eltons ”Brødre” (danske version).

16:30 Lois går i gang med at lave aftensmaden i køkkenet – svinekoteller – yum yum! I mellemtiden ser jeg lidt fjernsyn, det 2. afsnit af af den 3. sæson af en dansk tv-thrillerserie med den engelske titel ”Follow the Money”.

Jeg havde givet en vink til vores U3A danske gruppes medlemmer, at BBC ville begynde at sende den 3. sæson sidste lørdag, fordi jeg ved godt, at gruppemedlemmerne (bortset fra selve Lois) går højt op i de danske tv-serier, der fremviser en masse sex og vold – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Vores U3A danske gruppe holder sit regelmæssige møde i morgen kl 14:30 hos os, og det kan være, at nogle af medlemmerne vil  have lyst til at diskutere disse første 2 afsnit, så er jeg ivrig efter at se dem før mødet finder sted: jeg så det første afsnit i går aftes, så i eftermiddag sætter jeg mig til rette i stuen og se det 2. afsnit.

Seriens plot synes hidtil at kredse om to hovedfigurer, den ene 90% good guy og den anden 90% bad guy:

(1)    unge Nick, en 90% ondskabsfuld figur, der har ambitioner om at kontrollere hovedparten af de ulovlige stoffer, der bliver importeret i Danmark. Men han har også en blødere side – han savner sin unge søn, der er blevet fjernet af myndighederne fra Nick og hans deprimerede partner, og anbragt hos et ældre ægtepar (en onkel og tante).

Nick, 90% bad guy – narkosmugler med en bløde side. Han elsker sin lille søn,

der er blevet fjernet fra ham og hans partner, og adopteret af fosterforældrer

(2)    nogle og tredive-årige Alf, en 90% good guy, et medlem af narkopolitiets ”task force  Nørrebro”, der patruljerer og undersøger narkohandlen  i et af Købehavns mindre behagelige kvarterer. Men han lider også af PTSD (posttraumatisk belastningsreaktion) og insomni, og i dette 2. afsnit ser vi ham købe ekstra-potente sovepiller af en narkohandler på gaden – yikes, Alf !!!!!!

Alf, en 90% good guy, narkopolitimand i byens ”Task Force Nørrebro”.

Han er lidt nervøs, og lider af PTSD – posttraumatisk belastningsreaktion

og bliver nogle gange så desperat, at han selv køber stoffer på gade af en narkohandler

- du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!!

Alf har en affære med en arbejdskollega, Isa, der er politiets lokale juraekspert, men desværre er Isa gift (med Lars) og parret har små børn.

I dette 2. afsnit ser vi, at Alf skal udholde en masse regelmæssige skuffelser i sine indsatser for at se mere til Isa – de planlægger at mødes i sit kontor sent på eftermiddagen for at have sex igen.

Men da Alf dukker op forventningsfuld på Isas kontor, siger en af Isas holdmedlemmer til ham, at hun er gået for i dag – hun var tilsyneladende nødt til at passe på sine børn i det uforventede fravær af sin mand, Lars.

Stakkels Alf !!!!

Alf i lykkeligere tider: i seng med Isa for nogle dage siden

Alf og hans hold (den såkaldte Taskforce Nørrebro) fortsætter med at undersøge narkosmugling- og pengevask-operationen, som seriens anden hovedfigur, Nick, er en af organisatorerne  af.

Men den vigtigste nye udvikling i dette 2. afsnit er tilføjelsen af en ny hovedfigur, Anna, line-manager i en bank, der bliver overset, da den lokale filialmanagers job bliver ledigt: en af Annas underordnede medarbejdere bliver forfremmet over Annas hoved, hvilket Anna  er ikke for glad for, for at sige mildt.

Dette er en slags vendepunkt i Annas karriere, der før i tiden var ulastelig. Hun vender sig nu til et liv i financiel kriminalitet for at tage hævn på sin banks bestyrelse. Yikes, Anna !!!!!

Derfor bliver Anna selv involveret i ulovlige aktiviterer, i begyndelsen ved ulovligt at låse lukkede konti op af et selskab, der er pengevask-operationer, for at hjælpe sin mands firma med at undgå en likviditetkrise og slippe for, at gå konkurs. Men hun er ude på et skråplan - det ved jeg med sikkerhed !!!

Anna, en hidtil respektabel og ulastelig linemanager i en bank,

vender sig til et liv i financiel kriminalitet efter en skuffelse i sit arbejdsliv.

Her ser vi hende kommei kontakt med en mistænksom

forrentningsmand, Rune Jensen: de flirter lidt på en restaurant,

da de mødes til aftensmad.

Yikes! Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at lytte til radio, et interessant program i serien ”Thinking Allowed”, der handler om spørgsmål i den sociologiske verden. Programmets vært er den charmerende Laurie Taylor.

Interessant program, men samtidig lidt skuffende også, og udfylder ikke alle de løfterne i Radio Times-tidsskriftet (se ovenfor), for at sige mildt.

Og Lois og jeg tænker nogle gange, at ”Thinking Allowed”-serien, på trods af, at den handler om emner af generel interesse, er målrettet mod sociologi-specialister: vi hører fra tid til anden tekniske udtryk, som Taylor forklarer ikke, for eksempel ”fordisme” i aften, som Lois og jeg aldrig har hørt før.

[Fordisme er et begreb som bruges for at beskrive arbejdsorganisationer med høj grad af specialisering og centralisering. Termen «fordisme» stammer fra den amerikanske industrilederen Henry Fords samlebåndsproduktion af biler i begyndelsen af 1900-tallet; et princip udviklet for at forsyne et massemarked med generelle produkter – red.]

Taylor spørger, om der virkelig er noget specielt ved toptunede AD’er, som fx. Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, og .. Donald Trump?

Nogle typiske inspirerende maksimer af den type, toptunede AD’er kommer med:

Lots of companies don’t succeed over time; what do they fundamentally do wrong? They usually miss the future! (Page af Google)

Move fast and break things! Unless you are breaking stuff you are not moving fast enough! (Zuckerber af Facebook)

Whatever your goal is, you’ll never succeed unless you let go of your fears, and fly ! (Branson af Virgin)

Life is not fair, so get used to it! (Bill Gates af Microsoft)

There’s no such thing as an unrealistic goal. Just unrealistic time-frames!  (Donald Trump af USA Inc)

Hvordan og hvorfor har AD-figurer påtaget sig sikke en magtfuld stilling i samfundet, spørger Taylor, og er blevet til rollemodeller, der symboliserer jagten efter innovationen, rigdom og succés, figurer, der kræver respekt og (næsten) tilbedelse.

Taylor taler lidt med Open Universitys Peter Bloom, en af de to forfattere af en ny bog, ”CEO Society: the Corporate Takeover of Everyday Life”.

Peter Bloom, den amerikanske akademiker

Bloom siger, at i 1950’erne og 1960’erne var AD’er ganske fjerne figurer, lidt kedelige og konventionelle personligheder, og ikke den slags personer, som folk nødvendigvis ikke ville have tendens til at tilbede eller idolisere, for at sige mildt. Forandringen mode Aders nuværende superstjernesatus opstod i 1960’erner og 1970’erned, siger han.

Deres værdier kunne karakteriseres som at være helte, visionære osv, og samtidig idéen, at toptunet AD’er og andre direktører fortjente gigantiske lønsedler, fordi de er dem, der var nøglen til, om organisationen bliver til en succes, eller ej.

Og vi er glade for at betragte disse toptunede AD’en som helte, fordi det tillader os at tro på en fantasi af meritokratiet, siger Bloom, og tro, at nogen som helst kan opnå denne status, hvis man arbejder hardt nok og er visionær nok osv. Idéen tillader os også at tro på,at individuelle kan forandre eller støbe historie, selvom vi selv føler os magtesløse folk, der har næsten ikke nogen evne til at forandre eller støbe vores egne liv og historie.

Taylor og Bloom diskuterer også idéen, at vi alle er nødt til at påtage AD-rolle-lignende tilgange i vores hverdag, for at gøre vores personlige  liv til en succes: dvs, vi alle er nødt til at ligne AD’er. Vær AD’en af dit liv, AD’en af din egen krop, eller AD’en af ”dig” - og alle ting bliver mulige: gør cost-benefit-analysen i din hverdag ha ha ha ! Lev op til alle de klichéer, som de toptunede AD’er er kommet med (se ovenfor ha ha!).

Bloom synes, at AD’er er for det meste udskiftelige, når det kommer til dét, de forsyner deres selskaber med. Han tror, at det oftere gælder om held eller tilfældighed, om selskabet er succesfuld eller ej. Men AD’er bliver til ”vores skurke” nogle gange, hvis de fucker op – og vi fokuserer på AD’en, selvom der nogle gange faktisk er noget i samfundet, der skal fixes, men vi bliver distraheret af vores utilfredsstillelse med AD’en.

Men mange mindre succesfulde AD’er, uanset hvor dårlig deres præstation har været, får en ”gylden faldskærm” og flytter til deres næste job. Ikke desto mindre har vi tendens til at tro på dem på trods af deres fiaskoer – vi tænker, at de må have været succesfulde på et eller andet tidspunkt i deres karrierer, og derfor har de stadig muligheden for at blive succesfuld før eller senere i fremtiden.  Selv efter bankkrisen i 2008, det var de samme figurer, der forårsagede krisen, som vi henvendte os til, for at redde os igen, siger Bloom.

Du godeste, hvor fascinerende! Lois og jeg er ikke enige i alt, Bloom synes, men vi har meget at tænke over, det må jeg nok sige. Men ikke i aften – vi er udmattede, som sædvanligt.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!