Today it's exactly 47 years since I
got involved in a car accident that I can't remember, due to post-traumatic
amnesia - yikes scary! I was driving along Oxford's northern bypass when a
truck turned off a side road and collided with me. I had minor head injuries
and arm injuries, and spent a few days in the hospital. But I quickly recovered
from the injuries and Lois and I got married 3 weeks later (no connection ha ha
ha!).
09:30 Lois and I talk a bit on
whatsapp with Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, also with Francis, and
with Jessie, one of their 6-year-old twin daughters. Jessie shows us her new
white ballet dress: the new term of the girls’ ballet classes has just begun, so Jessie is ever so excited. How cute she is!!!!
we talk a little on whatsapp with
Sarah,
our daughter in Perth, Australia
Today, unfortunately, we only
have a short time to talk because Lois has to go to Tewkesbury to attend her
sect's two services taking place today in the town library. And today I have to
drive her over there because she has back pain and can't drive herself.
It's nice that I can help Lois by
driving her to Tewkesbury when she has back pain, but the downside to it is
that it significantly reduces my Sunday alone time, which I tend to use to cross
tasks off my mile-long to-do list.
The first of the two worship
services starts at 10:30 am. At the sect's recent business meeting, a majority
of members voted to continue to start the first service at 10:30 a.m. and end
the second service at 1:45 p.m., with a 45-minute break in the middle, allowing
members to eat their lunch packs.
The so-called "dog-owning faction"
wanted the first service to start earlier and the second service to end earlier,
so that they could go home earlier, have lunch at home and be with their dogs, but this proposal
was rejected at last Wednesday's business meeting. Good grief, what a crazy
world we live in !!!!!
11:00 I come home and relax with
a cup of coffee on the couch. I watch a little television, the first episode of
a new season of the Danish thriller series, "Below the Surface".
It's
my only opportunity to watch these Danish TV series, i.e. when Lois is out of the
house, because she doesn't like the occasional violent scenes. I do not like
them myself, but this does not stop me from watching them: it is a good
opportunity to hear real Danish being spoken, and also the members of our U3A
Danish group will no doubt watch the series and will start discussing the plot
during our next group meeting: that’s
why it is my duty to see it too ha ha ha!
The plot revolves around a Danish
cop or detective, Philip, who is in the middle of a long work break - is it
because he suffered some kind of breakdown? (I missed the first season because
Lois and I were vacationing in Australia, on a visit to Sarah, our daughter in
Perth, and her family).
Philip's wife, Beate, a
psychiatrist, is very anxious for Philip not to go back to his old job in the police.
The couple seem to have a good sex life – and their morning “sheet gymnastics”
are so loud that their little son, Asger, needs to turn on one of his computer
games to muffle the sounds they’re making - how crazy!
Unfortunately, Philip gets
involved in a police case without really wanting to (or is it actually the
opposite – is he eager for it really?).
A young woman, June, has returned
from Syria with a video proving that Danish soldiers have been involved in the
war against ISIS. She sends the video to Philip initially - she does not know
that he is not currently working for the police any more.
Unfortunately several groups are now
out to get June for what she’s done: a bunch of young Arab guys in a red Audi
kill a random Danish lady and kidnap June: at the end of the episode they are taking her by
ferry from Helsingør to Sweden, where they have been paid to deliver her to somebody, either a
criminal or a terrorist or a spy - I'm not sure exactly who or which! Damn !!
Philip, the ex-cop, manages to trace the
movements of the Arab guys with the help of a friend who can find out the
location of the cell phones the guys are using. Philip drives to Helsingør and makes
the ferry by the skin of his teeth, after jumping a frighteningly massive gap
(15 feet ???) between the ferry and the quay, just as the ferry starts edging
away from the quayside and sailing off to Sweden.
Philip, the ex-cop, jumps the gap (15 ft or more?) and just makes the ferry that
the kidnappers are on - what, no security checks ????
It is nostalgic for me to see
Helsingør and the ferry again. Lois and I travelled on the ferry on December
26, 2015 with our daughter Alison, her husband, Ed, and their 3 children -
although we were going in the opposite direction, i.e. from Sweden to Denmark.
Flashback to December 2016: the GPS in
Ed's car:
we drive north in Sweden, from Lund to Helsingborg, and then ferry to Denmark
We board the ferry
on board: our daughter Alison (right), with two of
her 3 children:
Rosalind (then 8) and Isaac (then 6)
But the Arab guys are not June's
only problem - Denmark's military intelligence services are also looking for
her. They want to put a news blackout on the country's involvement in the
Syrian war. And to do so they are working with a creepy woman from the Russian
Embassy, all trying to find June – my god, what a sick world we live in !!!!
12:00 I go out into the front
yard and mow the lawn in front of the house. Afterwards, I have lunch and then
I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap.
13:30 I drive over to Tewkesbury
to pick up Lois after the sect's 2nd service. We come home and relax with a cup
of tea on the couch.
15:00 I start reading the next 2
pages of Anna Grue's crime novel, "The Further You Fall" (pages 65
and 66 in the digital edition, to be exact). I've decided to try reading 2
pages a day and compiling two separate vocabulary lists, one for each page, to
save group members from looking up the difficult words in a dictionary. I am so
thoughtful ha ha ha !!!
Anna Grue's crime novel, " The Further
You Fall " which is
our U3A Danish group's current project
Dan, the hero of the novel, is an
advertising consultant in a large Danish advertising agency. One of the two
cleaning assistants working in the bureau in the evenings has been murdered, in
fact, garotted, and Dan finds he can't resist the temptation to investigate the
murder, even though his best friend, Police Detective Flemming, is not very
happy that Dan is butting in on things: it's actually Flemming who is
officially in charge of the police investigation, and this clash leads to a
couple of problems in the two men's relationship, to put it mildly.
(from left to right) Inspector Flemming, Marianne
(Dan's wife) and Dan
I read today how in a quiet
moment, Dan is beginning to fantasise about his possible future as an amateur
detective.
In a few days, he thought, he would have his pockets full of
ziplock bags for hair, sweet papers and pipe ‘dottle’, and if he did not watch
out, a meerschaum pipe would start growing out of the corner of his
mouth.
It's weird, but if you study
foreign languages, you will also learn new English words, which is nice. I did
not know the English word "dottle", although Lois knows the word from
all the historical romances she likes to read. The word means tobacco residue
that can be scratched out of a pipe (after the smoking obviously ha ha!).
I take my smartphone and read on
the web that in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Holmes had a habit of clearing out
all the day’s dottle from his pipe onto a corner of his mantelpiece last thing at night, and then smoking
it the following day. My god, madness !!! But I do secretly admire thrift in a private detective, I have to admit!
Sherlock Holmes (left)
with his friend dr. Watson
And Lois also knows what kind of
pipe a meerschaum pipe is. My goodness, how stupid I am !!!
What a woman !!!!
a typical meerschaum pipe
A meerschaum pipe is a pipe made
of the mineral sepiolite, also known as meerschaum, German for "sea
foam". It is sometimes found floating on the Black Sea and resembles sea
foam (hence the origin of the word).
Good grief, what a crazy world we
live in !!!!!
16:00 I go out into the back yard
and mow the large lawn immediately behind the house.
18:00 We have dinner and spend
the evening watching some television. An interesting documentary is on, all about
Egypt's top 10 archaeological sites, according to the views of the programme's host, the charming historian Bettany Hughes.
Top of Bettany's list is the
Great Pyramid of Giza, which for 4000 years was the tallest building in the
world, erected to contain just the one corpse (Pharaoh Khufu, plus his soul and
spirit of course ha ha ha!) – my god, what madness! !!!
Lois and I did not know that
scientists have recently discovered, using the latest scanning techniques, that
there is a previously unknown void inside the pyramid, surrounded by masses of
solid rock: the space is quite large, at least 30 meters long, and it is possible
that it contains the Pharaoh's treasure - who knows? But no one is going to
find out any time soon if the treasure is there or not – there’s no doubt about
that.
My goodness, isn't Egyptology
totally fascinating? Who would want to study anything else ????
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz
!!!!!!
Danish translation: søndag den 4. august 2019
I dag er det nøjagtig for 47 siden jeg blev involveret i en bilulykke,
som jeg ikke kan huske, på grund af posttraumatisk hukommelsestap – yikes
skræmmende! Jeg kørte langs byen Oxfords nordlige omkørsel, da en lastbil
drejede ud af en sidevej og kolliderede med mig. Jeg havde mindre hovedskader
og armeskader, og tillbragte nogle dage på hospitalet. Men jeg kom mig hurtigt
skaderne, og Lois og jeg giftede os 3 uger senere.
09:30 Lois og jeg taler lidt på whatsapp med Sarah, vores datter i
Perth, Australien, også med Francis, og med Jessie, en af deres 6-årige
tvillingedøtre. Jessie viser os sin nye hvide balletkjole: den nye semester af sine
balletklasser er lige begyndt. Hvor er hun dog sød!!!!
vi taler
lidt på whatsapp med Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien
I dag har vi desværre bare kort tid til at snakke, fordi Lois skal til
Tewkesbury for at deltage i sin sekts to gudstjenester, der finder sted i dag i
byens bibliotek. Og i dag skal jeg køre hende derovre, fordi hun har smerter i
ryggen igen, og kan ikke selv køre bil.
Det er rart, at jeg kan hjælpe Lois med at køre hende til Tewkesbury,
når hun har rygsmerter, men ulempen ved det er, at det væsentligt reducerer min
søndag alenetid, som jeg har for vane at bruge til at strege opgaver på min
mile-lange gøremålsliste.
Den første af de to gudstjenester starter kl 10:30. På sektens seneste
forretningsmøde, stemte et flertal af medlemmer at fortsætte med at starte den
første gudstjeneste kl 10:30 og afslutte den 2. gudstjeneste kl 13:45, med en
45-minutter pause i midten, så medlemmerne kan spise deres madpakker. Den såkaldte ”hundejende faktion” ønskede at
have at den 1. tjeneste starter tidligere og den 2. gudstjenester slutter
tidligere, så de kunne gå hjem tidligere og være med deres hunde, men dette
forslag blev afvist på sidste onsdags forretningsmødet. Du godeste, sikke en
skør verden vi lever i !!!!!
11:00 Jeg kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen. Jeg
ser lidt fjernsyn, det første afsnit i en ny danske thriller-serie, ”Below the
Surface”. Det er min eneste lejlighed at se danske tv-serie, når Lois er ude af
huset, fordi hun ikke kan lide de lejlighedsvise voldsomme scener. Jeg selv kan
ikke lide dem, men dette stopper mig ikke i at se dem: det er en god mulighed
at høre ægte dansk blive talt, og også medlemmerne af vores U3A danske gruppe
vil uden tvivl se serien og vil gå i gang med at diskutere plottet under vores
næste gruppemøde: derfor er det min pligt at se den også ha ha ha!
Plottet kredser om en danske politimand eller detektiv, Philip, der er i
midten af en lange arbejdspause – er det fordi han led et slags sammenbrud?
(Jeg gik glip af den første sæson, fordi Lois og jeg var på ferie i Australien,
på et besøg hos Sarah, vores datter i
Perth, og hendes familie).
Philips kone, Beate, en psykiater, er meget ivrig efter, at Philip ikke
går tilbage til sit gamle job i politiet. Parret synes at have et godt sexliv –
deres lagengymnastik er så højlydt, at deres lille søn, Asger, behøver at tænde
et af sine computerspil på for at overdøve lydene – du godeste sikke et
vanvid!!!!
Desværre bliver Philip involveret i en politisag ikke med sin gode vilje (eller er det faktisk
det modsatte?). En ung kvinde, June, er kommet tilbage fra Syrien med en video,
der beviser, at danske soldater er blevet involveret i krigen mod ISIS. Hun
sender videoet i begyndelsen til Philip – hun ved ikke, at han i øjeblikket
ikke arbejder for politiet mere.
Nu er flere grupper er ude efter hende:
et bundt unge arabiske fyre i en rød Audi dræber en tilfældige danske
dame og kidnapper June: de er nu i gang med at tage hende med færgen til
Sverige, hvor de er blevet betalt for at aflevere hende til enten en forbryder
eller en terrorist – jeg er ikke helt sikker på, præcis hvem.
Philip opsporer de arabiske fyres bevægelser ved hjælp af en ven der kan
finde ud af beliggenheden af de mobiltelefoner, fyrene bruger. Han kører til
Helsingør og når færgen på et hængende hår, ved at springe over en skræmmende
massiv spalte (15 fods???) mellem færgen og kajen, da færgen begynder at kante
sig væk fra kajen og sejle af sted til Sverige.
Det er nostalgisk for mig at se Helsingør og færgen igen. Lois og jeg
rejste med færgen den 26. december 2015 sammen med vores datter Alison, hendes
mand, Ed, og deres 3 børn – selvom det var i den modsatte retning, dvs fra
Sverige til Danmark.
Tilbageblik
til december 2016: gps’en i Eds bil:
vi
kører nordpå fra Lund til Helsingborg i Sverige
Vi kører
ombord på færgen
vores datter
Alison (til højre), og 2 a hendes 3 børn:
Rosalind
(dengang 8 år) og Isaac (dengang 6 år)
Men de arabiske fyr er ikke Junes eneste problem – Danmarks militære
efterretningstjenester er også ude efter hende. De har lyst til at mørkelægge
landets involvering i den syrianske krig. Og de samarbejder også med en
uhyggelig kvinde fra den russiske ambassade for at finde June – du godeste,
sikke en syg verden vi lever i !!!!
12:00 Jeg går ud i forhaven og
slår græsplænen foran huset. Bagefter spiser jeg frokost og går i seng for at
tage en kort eftermiddagslur.
13:30 Jeg kører over til Tewkesbury for at hente Lois efter sektens 2.
gudstjeneste. Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.
15:00 Jeg går i gang med at læse de næste 2 sider af Anna Grues
krimiroman, ”Dybt at falde” (siderne 65 og 66 i den digitale udgave, for at
være præcis). Jeg har besluttet at prøve at læse 2 sider om dagen og udarbejde
to adskilte ordforrådliste, en til hver side, for at spare gruppemedlemmer for
at slå de svære ord op i en ordbog. Jeg er så betænksom ha ha ha!!!
Anna Grues
krimiroman, ”Dybt at falde”, der er
vores U3A
danske gruppes nuværende projekt
Dan, romanens helt, er reklamekonsulent i et stort dansk reklamebureau.
Én af de to rengøringsassistenter, der arbejder i bureauet om aftenen, er
blevet myrdet, faktisk garrotteret, og Dan finder, han ikke kan modstå
fristelsen til at undersøge mordet, selvom hans bedste ven politidetektiven Flemming
er ikke særlig glad for, at Dan trænger sig på: det er faktisk Flemming, der officielt
står for politiundersøgelsen, hvilket fører til et par problemer i de to mænds
forhold, for at sige mildt.
(fra venstre
til højre) Flemming, Marianne (Dans kone) og Dan
Jeg læser i dag, et i et stille øjeblik begynder Dan at forestille sig
en mulig fremtid som en amatørdetektiv. ”I løbet af få dage ville han have
lommerne fulde af lynlåsposer til hår, karamelpapir og pibeudkrads, og passede
han ikke på, ville der vokse en merskumspibe ud af mundvigen på ham”.
Det
er underligt, men hvis man studerer fremmedsprog, kommer man også til at lære
nye engelske ord, hvilket er rart. Jeg kendte ikke det engelske ord ”dottle”,
selvom Lois kender ordet fra alle de historiske romantiske bøger, hun kan lide
at læse. Ordet betyder tobaksrester, der kradses ud af en pibe (efter rygning).
Jeg læser
på nettet, at i Sherlock Holmes-historierne havde Holmes en vane med at udtørre
alle prikkerne fra dagens rør på et hjørne af hans kaminhylde, og ryge dem dagen
efter. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!
Sherlock
Holmes (til venstre) med sin ven dr. Watson
Og Lois ved godt også, hvad
slags pibe en merskumspibe er. Du godeste, hvor er jeg dog dum!!!
Sikke
en kvinde!!!!
en typisk merskumspibe
En merskumspibe er en pibe fremstillet af mineralet sepiolit, også kendt
som meerschaum, tysk for "havskum".
Det findes undertiden flydende på Sortehavet og ligner havskum (deraf den tyske
oprindelse af ordet).
Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!
16:00 Jeg går ud i baghaven og slår den store græsplæne, der ligger
umiddlebart bag huset.
18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad, og bruger aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De
viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Egyptens top 10
arkæologiske lokaler, efter meningen af programmets vært, den charmerende
historiker, Bettany Hughes.
Tops på Bettanys liste er den store pyramide i Giza, der i 4000 år var
verdens højeste bygning, erigeret for at indeholde kun 1 lig (Faraoen Khufu, plus
hans sjæl og ånd selvfølgelig ha ha ha!) – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!
Lois og jeg vidste ikke, at forskere for nylig opdagede ved hjælp at de
seneste scanning-teknikker, at der findes et ukendt tomrum inde i pyramiden,
omgivet af masser af solid sten: rummet er ganske stort, i det mindste 30m
langt, og det er muligt, at det indeholder faraoens skat – hvem ved? Men ingen
kommer snart til at finde ud af, om skatten er der, eller ej – det er der ikke
nogen tvivl om.
Du godeste, er egyptologi ikke totalt fascinerende? Hvem ville ønske at
studere noget andet????
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!!
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