Friday, 24 May 2019

Thursday 23 May 2019


Lois stays in bed for a couple of hours. She still has a very bad cold, and I am just about to cancel our plans to drive to Leckhampton this morning, when she shows up in the dining room and says she is ready to "go for it", which is a little surprising: she think the exercise and the fresh air will actually help her. Let’s hope so.

10:00 We drive to Leckhampton and donate our unwanted old LP records and cassette tapes to the local Red Cross charity shop. Afterwards we slip into the local post office and its associated newsagents-stationers to buy some folders. Finally, we swing by CookShop and buy some low-fat ready meals. We come home again and relax with a cup of coffee on the sofa.

Charities and fundraisers are in the news a lot nowadays, and celebrities get very much involved in the business, now more than ever, which is nice. The famous pop star Lada Gaga hit the headlines a few years ago when she attended a typical local fundraiser event (source: Onion News).


GOTHAM CITY - Supervillain Lady Gaga brazenly abducted  Commissioner James Gordon from a charity fundraiser Tuesday, leaving police baffled and Gotham citizens fearing for their safety.

The criminal madwoman, known for her outlandish costumes and geometric polygonal hair, made a daring escape from Arkham Asylum last week and has been taunting  the authorities by interrupting television broadcasts ever since. 

"If you ever want to see Commissioner Gordon again, you will do exactly as I say," Lady Gaga said from her secret lair, adjusting her yellow, angled Tyvek and spandex dress, as henchmen danced menacingly around  the bound commissioner. 

Although the kidnapping took place at stately Wayne Manor, home to playboy jet-setter Bruce Wayne, the eccentric billionaire has so far not been available for comment.

My goodness, what a crazy world we live in. But it is nice to see celebrities getting involved in charities, even though it sometimes seems to be more about the publicity, and more about hitting the headlines than anything else, I have to admit.

11:30 I start mowing the rest of our lawns - it's hot and I soon get tired and a little sweaty. I myself have a cold, but I’m not sure whether it’s not fully developed yet, or if I have come down with a milder version - the jury is still out on that one.

13:00 We have  lunch and afterwards I go to bed and  take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3:30 pm and find that Lois is still labelling, and sorting into our brand new folders, all our piles of outdated tourist brochures, and our tons of souvenirs of our 2 daughters’ school work when they were students in an American school 1982-1985.

These are all sheets of paper I came across the other day in our attic, the attic I’d like to get into order, and in the long run to empty - something which is the most important element in our current downsizing mini-project.

Lois comes across a composition that our daughter Sarah, then at the age of 7, wrote about me - "My Dad", which I find incredibly touching to put it mildly.

Flashback to 1984: a school composition our 7-year-old daughter Sarah wrote about me

me and Sarah in 1984 -  riding in a horse and buggy past the fields 
outside Quebec City, where General Wolfe fought the French in 1859
(Battle of the Plains of Abraham)

1984 autumn: Sarah's 5 cent cold drinks-stand 
in front of our house in Columbia Md

1984: all of us on vacation in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia

1984: with Lois' parents (right) in the living-room of our house in Columbia

1984: Alison (left) and Sarah with my sister Kathy, outside our house

Happy times !!!!

17:00 We walk round to the neighbouring house two doors away to water the vegetables and flower beds, while Stephen and Frances are on holiday in Canada. On top of having a bad cold, Lois has unfortunately strained her back, so today it is me who is doing the watering, under her guidance.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television - the E4 channel has decided to devote  the whole evening to the very last episode of the very last season of the Big Bang Theory sitcom, which is nice.



Lois and I started to watch this sitcom from its second season, approx. 11 years ago and it was a programme we always looked forward to seeing every Thursday night. We also got into the habit of watching  re-runs at 6 pm and 6.30 pm every evening, when we used to sit down in the living room to eat dinner on trays.

It has been a refreshing change to see a sitcom revolving around intelligent people, for once, and many of the sitcom's funniest scenes and most iconic episodes have imprinted themselves on us for life, I have to say.

Initially tonight, we see "Leonard" (Johnny Galecki) and "Penny" (Kaley Cuoco) giving a nostalgic review of the show's 12 seasons, a review that is surprisingly touching - this finale is the end of an era for the show's entire cast as well as for us, no doubt about that.

Afterwards we see the very last double episode where Sheldon and Amy win the Nobel Prize and travel to Sweden to attend the ceremony, along with all their friends from the show.

In the opening scenes of the episode, when Sheldon and Amy are sitting at home waiting for a phone call from Sweden to tell them whether they have won the physics prize or not, it is nice to see one of our favourite characters from the show, Barry Kripke, popping up on the screen again with a scam call to the couple.






When Sheldon is writing his acceptance speech, he plans to lambast many figures from his past, including school teachers, university colleagues, etc., all the people in his life who had told him that he would never succeed. He wants them all to "rue the day". Amy tries to discourage him, however.








We're going to miss this show, that’s for sure. Now we have nothing to look forward to on Thursday nights – sob sob!

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


Danish translation

Lois bliver liggende inde i sengen i et par timer. Hun er stadig meget meget forkølet, og jeg skal lige til at aflyse vores planer om at køre i formiddag til Leckhampton, da hun dukker op i spisestuen og siger, hun er klar for at ”gå for det”,  hvilket er lidt overraskende: hun mener, motionen og den friske luft faktisk vil hjælpe hende.

10:00 Vi kører over til Leckhampton og donere vores uønskede lp-plader og kassettebånd til den lokale Røde Kors velgørenhedsbutik. Bagefter smutter vi ind i det lokale postkontor og dets sammenhængende bladhandlerforretning, for at købe nogle chartekker.  Til sidste kigger vi ind i CookShop og køber nogle fedtfattige færdigretter. Vi kommer hjem igen og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

Velgørenheder og fundraisere fylder vist nok utrolig meget i nyhederne for tiden, og kendisser er meget involveret i processen, nu mere, end nogensinde, hvilket er rart. Den berømte popstjerne ramte overskrifterne for et par år siden, da hun deltog i en typisk lokal fundraiser-begivenhed (kilde: Onion News).


GOTHAM CITY - Superskurken Lady Gaga kidnappede kommissær James Gordon skamløst fra en velgørenheds fundraiser tirsdag, hvorefter politiet blev forvirret og borgerne fra Gotham frygtede for deres sikkerhed.

Den kriminelle galning, kendt for hendes fremmedartede kostumer og geometriske polygonale hår, efter en dristig flugt fra Arkham-sindssygeanstalten i sidste uge har hånet myndighederne ved at afbryde tv-udsendelser lige siden. "Hvis du har lyst nogensinde til at se kommissær Gordon igen, vil du gøre præcis som jeg siger," sagde Lady Gaga fra hendes hemmelige skjul og justerede sin gule, vinkeldannede tyvek og spandex-kjole, da håndværterne dansede truende om den bundne kommissær. Selvom kidnappingen fandt sted på den statelige Wayne Manor, hjemsted for playboy jet-setter Bruce Wayne, har den excentriske milliardær hidtil ikke tilgængelig til kommentarer.

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i. Men det er rart at se kendisser involverer sig i velgørenheder, selvom det virker nogle gange, at dreje sig mere om publicitet, og dét, at ramme overskrifterne, end noget andet – det må jeg indrømme!

11:30 Jeg går i gang med at slå resten af vores græsplæner – det er varmt og jeg bliver snart træt og lidt svedig. Jeg er selv forkølet, men enten min forkølelse er ikke fuldt udviklet endnu, eller jeg har smittet en mildere version – det er juryen stadig ude om.

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15:30 og finder, at Lois stadig er i gang med at etikettere, og sortere i vores spritnye chartekker, de bunker af uddaterede turistbrochurer, også tonsvis af souvenirs af vores 2 døtres skolearbejde, da de var elever i en amerikansk skole 1982-1985.

Alt de der papirark faldt jeg over forleden i vores loft, som jeg gerne vil ordne og i det lange løb tømme, som den vigtigste del af vores nuværende downsize mini-projektet.

Lois støder på en stil, som vores datter Sarah, dengang 7 år gammel, skrev om mig – ”Min far”, som jeg finder meget rørende, for at sige mildt.

Tilbageblik til 1984: en skolestil min dengang 7-årige datter Sarah skrev om mig

mig og Sarah i 1984 – vi kører i en klapvogn forbi den kamp udenfor Quebec City,
hvor General Wolfe kæmpede mod franskmændene i 1859
(slaget ved Abrahamsletterne)


1984 efteråret: Sarahs drikstand foran vores hus i Columbia Md

1984: Hele vores familie på ferie i Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia

1984: sammen med Lois’ forældre i vores hus i Columbia

1984: Alison (til venstre) og Sarah sammen med min søster Kathy

Lykkelige tider!!!!

17:00 Vi går rundt til et nabohus  to døre væk for at vande grøntsagerne og blomsterbedene, mens Stephen og Frances er i på ferie i Canada. Udover dét, at hun er meget forkølet, har Lois desværre anstrængt ryggen, så i dag er det mig, der vander, under hendes vejledning.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn – E4-kanalen har besluttet at hengive hele aftenen til det allersidste afsnit af den allersidste sæson af Big Bang Theory-sitcommen, hvilket er rart.



Lois og jeg begyndte at se denne sitcom fra den 2. sæson, for ca. 11 år siden, og det var et program, vi altid glædte os til at se hver torsdag aften. Vi kom også i vanen med at se genudsendelser kl 18, da vi satte os i stuen for at spise aftensmad på bakker. Det har været en forfriskende forandring at se en sitcom, der kredser om intelligente mennesker, for en gangs skyld, og mange af sitcommens morsomste scener og afsnit har præget os for livstid – det må jeg nok sige.

Til at begynde med, ser vi ”Leonard” and ”Penny” give en nostalgisk gennemgang af showets 12 sæsoner, der er overraskende rørende – denne finale er enden på en æra for showets hele rollebesætning, ingen tvivl om det.

Bagefter ser vi den allersidste dobbelt-episode, hvor Sheldon og Amy vinde nobel-pris og rejser til Sverige for at deltage i ceremoniet, sammen med alle deres venner fra showet.

I episodens åbnende scener, hvor Sheldon og Amy sidder hjemme og venter på et telefonopkald fra Sverige, der vil fortælle dem, om de har vundet eller ej, er det rart at se en af vores yndlingsfigurer fra showet, Barry Kripke, poppe op på skarmen igen med et fup-opkad til parret.






Da Sheldon er i gang med at skrive sin takketale, planlægge han at skælde ud mange figure fra sin fortid, inklusive skolelærere, universitetskollegaer osv, der havde fortalt ham, at han aldrig vil være succésfuld, så de alle ville ”sørge over dagen”. Amy forsøge at fraråde ham det.








Vi kommer til at savne dette show, det ved jeg med sikkerhed. Nu har vi ikke noget at glæde os til hver torsdag aften – hulk hulk!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!!

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