Friday, 14 June 2019

Thursday 13 June 2019


It’s raining heavily and the weather girl says the rain will continue most of the day - damn! And there won’t be much opportunity for gardening again.

Lois and I work in the house instead this morning - Lois cleans the kitchen, utility room and hallway, while I carry on shredding old bank account statements and throwing less sensitive financial documents into 4 large black plastic bags - all of which forms part of our current downsizing mini -project.


I shred a lot of ancient account statements, and put
less sensitive financial documents into 4 big black plastic bags -
part of our current downsizing mini-project

12:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3:30 pm. Meanwhile, Lois has been doing some gardening in the gaps between the cloudbursts, and she harvests the first raspberries of the year, but only the few that the birds have left us - damn!

Lois harvests the first raspberries of the year,
but only the few that the birds have left us - damn!

I decide to order a new laptop and a new printer from Curry’s. This morning Microsoft again warned me that support for Windows 7 is finishing  next January - my current laptop seems very slow now, even the keyboard has become a bit problematic to put it mildly: I need to press very very hard on the ‘o’ key, otherwise nothing happens. The situation has become so bad that I try to avoid using the letter "o" as much as possible – my god, what madness !!!!

Also, our printer has decided to chew up and demolish as much of our brand new paper as possible. Good grief, what madness!!! The machines are taking over, no doubt about that !!!!

16:00 We relax with a cup of tea and listen to the radio, an interesting episode in the series "Inside Science". The programme's host is the charming Gareth Mitchell, who is standing in for the series' usual host, Adam Rutherford.


An interesting episode. It turns out that, in spite of the numerous studies on links between technology use and health / well-being, there is actually no correlation between how long we spend in front of smartphones, etc., and our physical and mental health.

Previous studies have been dependent on questionnaires that users themselves have filled out, and a new study has shown that users' knowledge of how much time they spend with computers, smart phones etc., is significantly wide of  the mark.

A recent study used Apple Screen Time statistics to check how much time users actually spent looking at their smartphones and compared the results to what the users themselves had said, and they found massive differences. My goodness – how crazy !!!!

That’s why the researchers in question have now been able to report that there actually seems to be no correlation between how long we spend in front of smartphones, etc., and our physical and mental health, which is nice to know.

18:00 Lois and I have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television. An interesting documentary is on in the series, "Our Classical Century", all about the music of the period. This episode focuses on the 1980’s and 1990’s. The programme hosts are the charming Suzy Klein and the pop singer Alexandra Burke.




In the second half of the 20th century, serious composers more or less stopped writing the kind of music people want to hear, so it is quite natural that the focus of this episode is first and foremost put on film music, pop music with classical influences, and classical music in TV commercials.

But it's also nice to hear conductor Simon Rattle talk about the opening of Birmingham's new modern concert hall in 1991, part of a massive project to revive the city after the closure of many of the city's car factories. The concert hall is still Britain's No. 1, and still in the world's top 10, Suzy says.



Queen Elizabeth, along with a surprisingly fit-looking Philip,
officially opened the concert hall in June 1991.

During the opening, the Rattle invited the Queen to come to the orchestra's first concert. She said yes, but only on condition that they did not play Mahler. Mahler is a composer whom I and the Queen agree 100% on, it seems.

Rattle insisted, however, that they would play Mahler's 2nd symphony, known as the "Resurrection," in a deliberate reference to the city's regeneration following the collapse of the local car industry in the 1980’s. And that’s why the Queen sent Princess Anne instead ha ha ha!

Poor Anne !!!!!


In 2014, Lois and I attended  a "Proms" concert in the hall and heard a lot of old patriotic songs, including "Rule Britannia", "Land of Hope and Glory" and the like, which was a bit of a refreshing change.



flashback to 2014: Lois and I at Birmingham's modern concert hall

Happy times !!!!!

21:00 We continue to watch a little television, an interesting documentary all about "sugar baby dating" websites. The programme's host is the charming Tiffany Sweeney, who investigates the phenomenon, partly by herself signing up for a popular sugar baby dating site and offering her services to a bunch of potential "sugar daddies".


Tiffany also interviews various spokesmen from a bunch of sugar baby dating sites, who all claim that there is no connection between sugar dating and prostitution. But Tiffany's first customer thinks differently, it seems.



My goodness, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

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


Danish translation

Det regner kraftigt og vejrpigen siger, regnvejret vil fortsætte hovedparten af dagen – pokkers! Og ikke ret meget lejlighed til havearbejde igen. Lois og jeg beskæftiger os i huset – Lois gør rent i køkkenet, bryggerset og entréen, mens jeg fortsætter med at makulere ældgamle kontoudtog og med at smide mindre følsomme finansielle dokumenter i 4 store sorte plastiksække - det hele er en del af vores nuværende downsize mini-projekt.


Jeg makulerer en masse ældgamle kontoudtog, og putter
mindre følsomme finansielle dokumenter i 4 store sorte plastiksække –
en del af vores nuværende downsize mini-projekt

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15:30. I mellemtiden har Lois lavet lidt havearbejde i mellemrummene mellem skybrud, og hun høster årets første hindbær, men kun dem, som fuglene har efterladt os – pokkers!

Lois høster årets første hindbær,
men kun dem, som fuglene har efterladt os – pokkers!

Jeg beslutter at bestille en ny bærebare og en ny printer fra Currys. I morges advarede Microsoft mig igen, at støtte for Windows 7 er slut næste januar – min nuværende virker meget langsom nu, også tastaturet er blevet lidt problematisk for at sige mildt: jeg behøver at trykke meget meget meget hårdt på o-tasten, ellers sker der ikke noget. Situationen er blevet så dårligt, at jeg prøver at undgå at bruge bogstaven ’o’ så meget som muligt – du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!

Også har vores printer besluttet at tygge og fortære så meget af vores spritnye papirark, som muligt. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!  Maskinerne tager over, ingen tvivl om det !!!!

16:00 Vi slapper af med en kop te og lytter lidt til radio. De viser et interessant afsnit i serien ”Inside Science”. Programmets vært er den charmerende Gareth Mitchell, der vikarierer for seriens sædvanlige vært, Adam Rutherford.


Et interessant afsnit. Det viser sig, at på trods af de talrige undersøgelser om forbindelser mellem teknologibrug og helbred/trivsel, er der faktisk sandsynligvis ingen korrelation mellem hvor lang tid vi tilbringer foran smartphones osv, og vores fysiske og psykiske helbred.

Forrige undersøgelser er blevet afhangige af spørgeskemaer, som selve brugerne har fyldt ud, og en ny undersøgelse har vist at brugeres viden om hvor meget tid de tilbringer med computerer osv er betydeligt fejlagtig.

En nylig undersøgelse brugte Apple Screen Time statistikker for at tjekke op på, hvor meget tid brugerne faktisk brugt på at kigge på deres smartphones og sammenlignede resultaterne med det, selve brugerne havde sagt, og fandt massive forskeller. Du godeste – sikke et vanvid!!!!

Derfor kunne de pågældende forskere rapporterer, at der faktisk sandsynligvis er ingen korrelation mellem hvor lang tid vi tilbringer foran smartphones osv, og vores fysiske og psykiske helbred.

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm  i serien, ”Our Classical Century”, der handler om de seneste århundredes klassisks musik. Dette afsnit fokuserer på 1980’erne og 1990’erne. Programmets værter er de charmerende Suzy Klein og popsangeren Alexandra Burke.




I det 20. århundredes 2. halvdel har alvorlige komponister i grov træk holdt op med at skrive den slags musik, som folk har lyst til at høre, så er det helt naturligt, at dette afsnits fokus først og fremmest  bliver sat på filmmusik, popmusik med klassiske indflydelser, og klassisk musik i tv-reklamer.

Det er rart at høre dirigenten Simon Rattle tale om åbningen af Birminghams nye moderne koncertsal i 1991, en del af et massivt projekt for at genoplive byen efter lukninger af mange af byens bilfabrikker. Koncertsalen er stadig Storbrittaniens nr. 1, og stadig i verdens top 10, siger Suzy.



Dronning Elizabeth, sammen med en meget frisk-udseende Philip, 

åbnede koncertsalen officielt i juni 1991.


Under åbningen inviterede Rattle dronningen til at komme til orkestrets første koncert. Hun sagde ja, men kun på betingelsen af, at de ikke spillede Mahler. Mahler er en komponist, som jeg og dronningen er 100% enig om, lader det til.

Rattle insisterede imidlertid på, at de ville spille Mahlers 2. simfoni, kendt som ”Opstandelsen”, hvilket bevidst henviste til byens regenerering efter den lokale bilbranches kollaps i 1980’erne. Så derfor sendte dronningen prinsesse Anne i stedet for.

Stakkels Anne !!!!!


I 2014 deltog Lois og jeg i en ”Proms” koncert i salen og hørte en masse gamle patriotiske sange, herunder ”Rule Britannia”, ”Land of Hope and Glory” og lignende, hvilket var lidt af en forfriskende forandring.



tilbageblik til 2014: Lois og jeg på Birminghams moderne koncertsal

Lykkelige tider !!!!!

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om ”sugardating-sider”. Programmets vært er den charmerende Tiffany Sweeney, der undersøger fænomenet, dels ved selv at tilmelde sig et populært sugardatingwebsted og tilbyde sine ydelser til et bundt "sugardaddies".


Tiffany interviewer også forskellige talsmænd fra et bundt sugardatingwebsteder, der alle påstår, at der er ikke nogen forbindelse mellem sugardating og prostitution. Men Tiffanys første kunde mener anderledes, lader det til.



Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!

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