Saturday 25 May 2019

Lois has a lot of back pain in addition to her bad cold - the poor thing. But we hop into the shower cubicle as usual, because it helps her back to have hot water running  down it.

Despite the problems, our downsizing mini-project continues unabated:  Lois checks out her father's old cassette tape and decides to throw the majority out. I browse the documents connected to my mother's death in 2011, her will, the sale of her house, etc. And to solve our overflowing letter-rack problem, I throw all outdated documents out of our filing cabinet to make room for more recent documents - "Simples"!

flashback to last Monday and "Operation Shredder":

a rough sketch, made when the operation was still in the planning stage

 Part of the operation scene:    key -

A: The shredder strategically placed on a chair

B: the overflowing letter rack that sparked  the crisis

C: the drinks cabinet

D: the filing cabinet

E: approximate route, the “confetti” took from the shredder to the compost bin

(only the first 15 feet of the route shown)

F: Piano (not shown)

The next stage is to buy new office supplies and equipment. I have for many years been keeping an eye on all the new products that have come on the market, using my go-to news site Onion's office supply department, and I suspect now is the time to buy, while the prices are still on the low side.

(1) A good day-planner is an office essential - Mead's new model is recommended:

Rating: two onions

Flashback to the 2016 news-site report: LAKE ZURICH, IL – In an effort to provide customers with a more practical product that better fits their typical usage, office supplies manufacturer Mead released a new realistic day planner this week, containing only entries for those first couple of weeks after the purchase.

"We wanted to make sure our products are in line with our consumers' current needs, so the new line of day planners we launched for this holiday season only includes dates during the first half of January, and after that it's blank," said Mead brand-manager Philip Walden, who added that as a precautionary measure, the daily planner has 14 date entries despite many consumer surveys showing that most people used only those seen on their day planner’s  first page.

"We also included entries for March 11 through 13, as well as a few random days in April and June, in case our customers suddenly feel guilty at random times of the year and try to take another shot at organising their life. The rest of the pages can be used for doodles, shopping lists, or just as scrap paper."

Mead spokesmen confirmed that the realistic day planner was also specifically designed to fit seamlessly into any existing pile of clutter.

(2) Sharpie's new Twin-Tip double-sided permanent markers: despite mixed reviews,

they are still head and shoulders above their competitors.

Rating: no onions

(3) 3M Accordion-style post-it notes – deeply unpopular but relatively inexpensive.

Rating: 1 onion

Flashback to the News website's 2003 report: HARTFORD, CT  -  Four days after the arrival of a shipment of office supplies from Staples, P&K Insurance office manager Patty Hildebrandt, 41, remains ambivalent about Sharpie's new "Twin-Tip" double-sided permanent marker.

"Putting a fine tip and a broad tip on the same marker is very convenient, not to mention cost-effective," Hildebrandt said Tuesday. "Still, neither of the twin tips really works as well as a single-ended marker, probably because they're sharing the same ink."

Hildebrandt recently took a strong stand against 3M's accordion-style post-it notes, calling them "an abomination to the Lord."

It's a bit of disappointment how few office supplies are of high quality nowadays, but you just have to make the best out of a disastrous situation here, I have to say. Just cross your fingers for me, okay? Sometimes you just have to take your courage in both hands, order something and just close your eyes.

11:45 Lois and I go for a short walk on the local football field - walks help Lois' back.

12:30 The sun is shining, and we have lunch out on the terrace, which is nice. Afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:30 I get up and we relax with a cup of tea and a biscuit on the couch. Afterwards, I walk round to the house two doors away to water the plants, vegetables and flower beds, plus greenhouse  - Stephen and Frances are currently on holiday in Canada for 3 weeks. Afterwards I water our own plants, etc. Lois' back problems mean that she is currently unable to handle these kinds of tasks, unfortunately.

While I'm out in our backyard, Lois has a little chat with Neil and his wife. Neil is the son of Bill and Mary, our immediate neighbours, and he tells Lois the latest news about the couple: Bill, who, as we knew, was recently diagnosed with a terminal cancer, is apparently still in the hospital, and Mary, who suffers from severe dementia has now been moved into a nearby nursing home about a mile from here.

Neil hopes Bill can be discharged on Tuesday - Bill has said he wants to stay living at home as long as he can. The plan is that day-carers will drop in on him 2-3 times a day. He will sleep in the couple's current living room (ie on the ground floor). Neil asks Lois and me if we would drop in and visit Bill occasionally, which of course we are more than happy to do. We can also visit Mary at the nursing home. But all this is pretty much the end of an era, though, no doubt about that.

18:00 We have dinner and settle down in the living room. Iris, Lois's cousin, calls us from her nursing home in Southport. We plan to visit her next month if possible.

Lois' cousin Iris calls us from her nursing home in Southport

- we hope to visit her in June

20:00 We see a little television, an interesting documentary, the second episode in a new series about some of Britain's historic cities. This second episode is about the city of Bristol, particularly in connection with the so-called Georgian era, which covers the period from 1714 to 1830, and the reigns of the four Hanoverian kings: George I, George II, George III, and George IV.

The programme host is Alice Roberts, a university professor in her 40’s and mother of 2 children, but who likes to dress up as a biker chick, but I’m going to let that one slide, because she is a good-hearted soul, which is the most important thing ha ha ha!

An interesting programme, especially for me, because my parents moved to Bristol in 1960 when I was 14 years old. They stayed living in the city until 1968 when they moved again, that time to Oxford.

Flashback to summer of 1960: me (aged 14) in my school uniform

with my little sister Gill (2) in the backyard of the family house:

our parents had just moved south from Manchester to Bristol.

We’re pictured here with the old wooden horse, “Dobbin”, which my other sister Kathy

and I had played with in the late 1940's – happy times!!!!

Bristol was a very well-to-do  city in the Georgian era, and became the country's second largest city. Unfortunately, its wealth was based on the slave trade: it was one point of the notorious tragic triangle - Bristol, West Africa, the Caribbean and / or American colonies.

The city's richest citizens lived in newly built houses high up on the hills in the suburb of Clifton, overlooking the river and the ships that had made them rich.

a typical Georgian street in the well-to-do suburb of Clifton

Lois and I did not know that it was in Clifton that, for the first time in the UK, houses were given house numbers because of the long rows and rows of uniform facades – my god, what madness !!!

21:00 We continue to watch television. An interesting documentary is on in the series "Great Art": this episode is about all the pictures of gardens painted by artists from Monet to Matisse. The programme host is the charming Tim Marlow.

The programme is based around  a recent exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. And we see a lot of lovely paintings tonight - these artists loved their gardens, no doubt about that.

Lois and I suspect, however, that they did very little actual gardening themselves. It would be nice, we think, to see a programme all about "Great artists' gardeners".

We see a lot of lovely flowers, which mostly dominate the paintings, which is nice. But there are also one or two actual people who also appear in the paintings, if you make the effort to look for them.

Look, for example, at the Spanish artist Sorolla’s study of hydrangeas - a man that Lois and I like to call unofficially "Gary" (just a nickname, not his real name!) "painting-bombed" the picture, along with his charming dog. We wonder who the man was. But still, his fame will live forever now, thanks to this painting, the pig ha ha ha !!!!

Spanish artist Sorolla’s study of hydrangeas,

painting-bombed by the man Lois and I like to call "Gary" 

(nb. not his real name!!!)

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

Danish translation

Lois har meget ondt i ryggen udover sin onde forkølelse – staklen. Vi hopper ind i brusekabinen, fordi det hjælper sin ryg, hvis varm vand løb ned af den.

Ikke desto mindre forsætter vores downsize mini-projekt: Lois tjekker sin fars gamle kassette-bånd, og beslutter at smide flertallet ud. Jeg blader igennem de dokumenter angående min mors død i 2011, hendes testament og salget af hendes hus osv. Og for at løse vores overflydende brevholder-problem, smider jeg alle de uddaterede dokumenter ud af vores arkivskab, for at give plads til mere nylige dokumenter – ”simples”!

tilbageblik til sidste mandag og ”operation makulator”:

en rå skitse, lavet, da operationen (”Operation makulator”) var i planlægningsstadiet

En del af operationsscenen: nøgle –

A: makulatoren strategisk stillet på en stol

B: den overflydende brevholder, der førte til krisen

C: drinkskabet

D: arkivskabet

E: omtrentlige rute, konfettiet tog på vej fra makulatoren til kompostholderen

(kun de første 15 fods af ruten vist)

F: klaveret (ikke vist)

Næste stadie er at købe nye kontorartikler og kontoudstyr. Jeg har i mange år overvejede alle de nye produkter, der er kommet på markedet, ved hjælp af mit go-to nyhedswebsted Onions kontorsforsyningsafdeling, og jeg mistænker, nu er det på tide at købe, mens priserne er meget sænkede.

(1)    En god dagplanner – Meads nye model er anbefalet:

Rating: two onions

Tilbageblik til nyhedswebstedets 2016-rapport: LAKE ZURICH, IL-I en indsats for at give kunderne et mere praktisk produkt, der bedre passer til deres typiske brug, udleverede kontorartikler producent Mead en ny realistisk dagplanner i denne uge, der kun indeholder poster for de første par uger efter købet.

"Vi ønskede at sikre at vores produkter er i overensstemmelse med vores forbrugers aktuelle behov, så den nye linje af dagplanners, vi lancerede for denne feriesæson, indeholder kun datoer i løbet af første halvdel af januar, og derefter er det tomt," sagde Mead brandmanager Philip Walden, som tilføjede, at som en forebyggende foranstaltning, har dagplanneren 14 datoindgange trods mange forbrugerundersøgelser, der viser, at de fleste kun brugte dem, der ses på deres dagplanners første side.

"Vi inkluderede også indlæg for 11. marts til 13, samt et par tilfældige dage i april og juni, for det tilfælde af, at vores kunder pludselig føler sig skyldige på forskellige tidspunkter i året og forsøger at tage et andet skud på at organisere deres liv.

Resten af ​​siderne kan bruges til kruseduller, indkøbslister, eller lige som skrotpapir. "Mead-talsmænd bekræftede, at den realistiske dagplanner også var specielt designet til at passe sømløst ind i en eksisterende bunke af lort.

(2)    Sharpies nye Twin-Tip dobbelt-sidede permanent markør: på trods af blandede anmedelser, rager de stadig langt over dens konkurrenter.

Rating: no onions

(3)    3Ms accordeon-stil post-it sedler – upopulære, men forholdsvis billige.

Rating: 1 onion

Tilbageblik til nyhedswebstedets 2003-rapport:  HARTFORD, CT–Four days after the arrival of a shipment of office supplies from Staples, P&K Insurance office manager Patty Hildebrandt, 41, remains ambivalent about Sharpie's new "Twin-Tip" double-ended permanent marker. "Putting a fine tip and a broad tip on the same pen is very convenient, not to mention cost-effective," Hildebrandt said Tuesday. "Still, neither of the twin tips really works as well as a single-ended marker, probably because they're sharing the same ink." Hildebrandt recently took a strong stand against 3M's accordion-style Post-It notes, calling them "an abomination."

Fire dage efter ankomsten af en forsendelse af kontorartikler fra Staples forbliver P & K Insurance-kontorchefen Patty Hildebrandt, 41, ambivalent over Sharpies nye Twin-Tip-dobbeltsidige permanente markør. "Det er meget bekvemt at installere  en fin spids og en bred spids på den samme pen, for ikke at nævne omkostningseffektiv," sagde Hildebrandt tirsdag. "Ikke desto mindre fungerer ingen af de to spidser lige så godt som en single-ended-markør, sandsynligvis fordi de deler samme blæk." Hildebrandt tog for nylig et stærkt ståsted imod 3M's accordeon-stil Post-It sedler, og kaldte dem "en vederstyggelighed til herren."

Det er lidt af en skuffelse, hvor få kontorartikler er af høj kvalitet nu til dags, men man må få det bedste ud af den dårlig situation her – det må jeg nok sige. Kryds fingrene for mig her, ok? ha ha ha. Nogle gange må man bare tage mod til sig og lukke øjnene ha ha!

11:45 Vi går en kort tur på den lokale fodboldbane – gåture hjælper Lois’ ryg.

12:30 Solen skinner, og vi spiser frokost ude på terrassen, hvilket er rart. Bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:30 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te og en kiks i sofaen. Bagefter går jeg rundt til huset to døre væk for at vande deres planter, grøntsager og blomsterbede – Stephen og Frances er for tiden på ferie i Canada i 3 uger. Bagefter vander jeg vores egne planter osv. Lois’ rygproblemer betyder, at hun for tiden ikke kan klare disse slags opgaver.

Mens jeg er ude i vores baghave, snakker Lois lidt med Neil og hendes partner. Neil er sønnen af Bill og Mary, vores naboer, og han fortæller Lois de seneste nyheder om dem: Bill, der, som vi vidste, for nylig blev diagnosticeret med en terminal kræft, er stadig på hospitalet, og Mary, der lider af alvorlig demens, er nu blevet anbragt på en nærliggende plejehjem, der ligger omkring 1 mile væk.

Neil håber, at Bill kan udskrives på tirsdag, og han har sagt, han ønsker at blive boende derhjemme, så længe han kan. Planen er, at dagplejere vil smutte ind hos ham 2-3 gange om dagen. Han vil sove i parrets nuværende stuen (dvs i stueetagen). Neil beder Lois og mig om, at smutte ind og besøge Bill af og til, hvilket vi selvfølgelig er mere, end glade for at gøre. Vi kan også besøge Mary på plejehjemmet. Enden på en æra, ingen tvivl om det.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og sætter os til rette i stuen. Iris, Lois’ kusine, ringer til os fra hendes plejehjem i Southport. Vi planlægger at besøge hende næste måned, hvis muligt.

Lois’ kusine Iris ringer til os fra sit plejehjem i Southport

– vi håber at kunne besøge hende i juni

20:00 Vi ser lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, 2. afsnit i en ny serie, der handler om nogle af Storbritanniens historiske byer. Dette 2. afsnit handler om byen Bristol, i sær i forbindelse med den såkaldte georgianske tid, som dækker perioden fra 1714 til 1830, og regeringstiderne af de 4 hannoverkongene:  Georg 1., Georg 2., Georg 3., og Georg 4.

Programmets vært er Alice Roberts, en universitetsprofessor i 40’erne og mor til 2 børn, men hun kan godt lide at klæde sig ud som en biker-chick, men det springer jeg over, fordi hun er godhjertet, hvilket er det vigtigste ha ha ha!

Et interessant program, i sær for mig, fordi mine forældre flyttede i 1960 til Bristol, da jeg var 14 år gammel. De blev boende i byen indtil 1968, da de flyttede igen, denne gang til Oxford.

Tilbagblik til sommeren 1960: mig (14 år) i skoleuniform

med min lillesøster Gill (2 år) i baghaven af familiens hus:

vores forældre var lige flyttet sydpå fra Manchester til Bristol

Bristol var en meget velhaver by i den georgianske tid, landets næststørste. Desværre var dens rigdom baseret på slavehandleren:  den var en punkt af den notoriske tragiske trekant – Bristol, Vestafrika, Caribien og/eller de amerikanske kolonier.

Byens rigeste borgere boede i nybyggede huser højt oppe på bakkerne i forstaden Clifton, med oversigt til floden, og de skibe, der var gjort dem rige.

en typisk georgiansk gade i den velhaver forstad, Clifton

Lois og jeg vidste ikke, at det var i Clifton, at huse for første gang i Storbritannien blev anvist husnumre på grund af de lange rækker og rækker af uniforme facader – du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm i serien ”Great Art”: dette afsnit handler om skildringer af haver, malet af kunstnere fra Monet til Matisse. Programmets vært er den charmerende Tim Marlow.

Programmet er baseret omkring en nylig udstilling på Royal Academy i London. Og vi ser en masse dejlige malerier i aften – disse kunstnere elskede deres haver, ingen tvivl om det.

Selvom Lois og jeg mistænker, de selv lavede meget lille aktuel havearbejde. Det ville være rart, synes vi, at se et program, der kredser om ”Store kunstneres gartnere”.

Vi ser en masse dejlige blomster, der for det meste dominerer malerierne, hvilket er rart. Men der er også et par mennesker, der også dukker op i malerierne, hvis man gør den indsats for at lede efter dem. For eksempel, den spanske kunstner Sorollas studie af hortensiaer, som  en mand Lois og jeg kalder ”Gary” (blot et øgenavn, ikke hans reelle navn) har ”fotobomberet”, sammen med sin charmerende hund. Vi undrer os, hvem manden var. Men alligevel kommer han til at leve i evig takket være dette maleri, svinet ha ha ha !!!!

Den spanske kunstner Sorollas studie af hortensiaer,

fotobomberet af manden Lois og jeg kalder ”Gary” (ikke sit reelle navn)

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!