Thursday 8 August 2019

09:15 We drive over to Staverton to throw out our daughter Sarah's old unwanted VHS tapes for recycling at the Dundry Garden Centre, the only place in the Cheltenham area still prepared to accept VHS tapes for recycling – my god , what a sick world we live in !!!!

Sarah left a lot of unwanted belongings with us, including 30-40 VHS tapes, when she moved to Australia in December 2015 with Francis and their (then) 2 and a half-year-old twins, Lily and Jessie.

Unfortunately, there are huge traffic jams on the way to Staverton - damn it! But finally, we get there and throw the VHS tapes into one of the garden centre's vhs recycling bins.

Afterwards, we pop into the garden centre's tiny café to have a cup of tea and a piece of cake, to recharge our batteries.

We recharge our batteries in the garden centre’s

tiny cafe: a cup of coffee and a piece of cake - yum yum!

It's a bit of a shame to have had to throw out Sarah's old VHS tapes for recycling, including several Tarantino films, but we recently read on our go-to news website Onion News that many of these films are not from the director's best era.

A local man, Charles Knox, recently hit the headlines when he revealed that most of Tarantino's best work came from the earlier stages of his career.

Charles Knox, a local Tarantino fan

Despite being a fan of the visionary director's entire movie catalogue, local man 29-year-old Charles Knox admitted on Tuesday that he prefers Quentin Tarantino's work from his early days as a assistant in the local Video Archive movie rental store.

"I'm really into his pre-Reservoir Dogs stuff when he was shelving VHS tapes, working the register, doing the inventory once a week and just completely killing it," Knox said, arguing that from the mid to late 1980’s Tarantino was "at the absolute top of his game."

“People could go in there at any time of the day and he would refer them to the new releases, while talking a mile a minute about why Rio Bravo is the greatest western ever made. That to me was classic Tarantino. "

Knox added that he is also a big fan of the work James Cameron did in his early 20’s as a South Korean-based truck driver.

Lois and I don't know much about film directors, so it's always helpful to get this kind of expert inside commentary from a local man who has really studied the big names like Tarantino and Cameron and knows them like his own pants pocket, as the Danes say - I have to admit that!

10:45 We head out of the cafe and drive on to Ursula's house. Ursula is a member of Lois' sect - she is relatively immobile, and Lois feels sorry for her: this week her daughter Rachel in Witney and her local caretaker, Jay, are both away on vacation, so Ursula has nobody dropping in to see her. Lois is so warm-hearted - if only I could be more like her.

In fact, after we arrive, we discover that Jay came back from vacation yesterday and she drops in at Ursula’s while we sit and talk to her, and starts cleaning and making us cups of tea, which is nice.

Ursula is very much into her religion, and she reads the Bible and the text of psalms as hre main entertainment. Her conversation revolves around which of her relatives, friends and acquaintances are members of the sect and which are not – good grief, what a madness !!!

But despite all that, she is a surprisingly sweet and cheerful person, I have to admit, and I find it very easy to divert her attention from religious subjects and talk about something else, which livens the conversation up a bit, to put it mildly.

11:30 While sitting and talking to Ursula, our daughter, Australia, in Australia, calls me on my smartphone, a strange call, in part to give 6-year-old Lily the chance to talk to me and say she can now tie her own shoelaces – my god, how cute she is !!!

But I can sense that Sarah herself is a little upset. Francis, her husband, had an appointment with a specialist this afternoon (Perth time), and the specialist told him the prospects are not very good for his many physical problems: especially his back and knees.

Francis is also understandably upset, and he is afraid that in the future he will have trouble looking after the twins when they are at home, ie, outside of school  hours. Sarah is an accountant and the family breadwinner, and has a very demanding job - she doesn't need to have any extra problems at home at the moment, to put it mildly.

My goodness! Lois and I worry a lot about Sarah and her little family, so far away from us on the other side of the world where we can do a little to help them.

12:30 We come home and have lunch. Afterwards, I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap. I get up at 3 pm and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

16:00 I start reading 2 more pages of Anna Grue's novel, "The Further You Fall", which is our current U3A Danish group's current project. I am currently trying to read 2 pages a day, and compile a vocabulary list for each page, to save our group members from having to look up the difficult words in a dictionary. I am so warm-hearted ha ha ha !!!!

Anna Grue's novel, "The Further You Fall",

our U3A Danish group’s current project

Police Detective Flemming Torp is currently investigating the killing of Lilliana, a mysterious cleaning assistant who is murdered (garrotted) while working late into the evening in the kitchens of a large Danish advertising agency.

Police suspect the killer is someone who also works for the same agency as Lilliana. So Flemming has asked his best friend Dan Sommerdahl to help him with the investigation, because Dan is an advertising executive at the agency and obviously knows the bureau's staff well, i.e. "who’s sleeping with who" and the like.

Police Detective Flemming Torp (left) along with

his best friend, Dan Sommerdahl and Dan's wife, Marianne

The mysterious Lilliana - no one knows her last name - shared a seedy apartment with another mysterious woman of the same age: Sally, an African woman who unfortunately disappeared without trace at the same time as her roomie, Lilliana, got garrotted, which is strange .

Today, Flemming and Dan are in the process of searching the two women's apartment, their wardrobes and underwear drawers, etc., to try and discover clues to the two women's identities.

They immediately notice that the two women had vastly different tastes when it came to style in clothing and underwear. The one (Sally) chose colours and styles that immediately attracted people's attention, while the other (Lilliana) wore the plainest clothes and underwear possible,  as if trying to make herself invisible – my god, fascinating!

Lilliana had had in her possession a large box of condoms, bought a few days before her death, but already half used.

Sally had had in her possession a pack of birth control pills - which her doctor had supplied to her directly, i.e. not from a pharmacy, which was a little odd to put it mildly, as Dan commented.

My goodness, what a mystery, the whole thing !!!!

17:00  I jump up on my exercise bike and cycle 3 miles. I have become a little worried that nowadays I never seem to have time to use my exercise bike, because of the length of my mile-long to-do list.

In fact, I am currently considering whether it would be better to jump on it several times during the day, if only for 5 or 10 minutes at a time, for example, and in this way try to cover a decent number of miles before I collapse into bed at night. But I'm not entirely sure that this plan will work. The jury is out on that one until I can test it properly  – that’s for sure.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching some television and listening to the radio a little. We are feeling a little unsettled tonight - we are eager to hear more about our daughter Sarah's problems tomorrow: hopefully we can talk a bit more with her, and discover more about her husband Francis's condition - his back and knee problems, etc.

She doesn't really have anyone over there in Perth who she can really talk to when she's got problems. That is the downside if you move to the other side of the world where you have no close family.

And besides all that, Lois is still waiting for the results of her own recent blood test.

Yikes – problems problems problems !!!!

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

Danish translation: torsdag, den 8. august 2019

09:15 Vi kører over til Staverton for at smide vores datter Sarahs gamle uønskede vhs-bånd ud til genbrug hos Dundry-havecentret, det eneste sted i Cheltenham-området, der stadig er klar til at modtage vhs-bånd til genbrug – du godeste, sikke en syg verden vi lever i !!!! Sarah efterlod en masse uønskede ejendele hos os inklusive 30-40 vhs-bånd, da hun i december 2015 flyttede til Australien sammen med Francis og deres (dengang) 2,5-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie.

Desværre er der gigantiske trafikpropper på vej til Staverton – pokkers! Men endelig når vi dertil og smider vhs-bånderne i et af havecentrets genbrugsspande.

Bagefter smutter vi ind i havecentrets lillebitte café for at drikke en kop te og spise et stykke kage, og dermed genoplader vores batterier.

Vi genoplader vores batterier i havecentrets

lillebitte café: en kop kaffe og et stykke kage – yum yum!

Det er lidt af en skam at have måttet smide Sarahs gamle vhs-bånd ud for genbrug, inklusive flere Tarantino-film, men vi læste for nylig på vores go-to nyhedswebsted Onion News, at mange af diss film er ikke instruktørens bedste værker.

En lokal mand, Charles Knox, ramte for nylig de lokale overskrifter, da han afslørede at størstedelen af Tarantinos bedste arbejde stammede fra de tidligere stadier af hans karriere.

Charles Knox, en lokal Tarantino-fan

På trods af at være en fan af den visionære instruktørs hele filmkatalog, indrømmede den lokale 29-årige Charles Knox tirsdag, at han foretrækker Quentin Tarantinos arbejde fra sine tidlige dage som en butiksassistent  i den lokale Video Archive filmudlejningsbutik .

"Jeg er virkelig til hans præ-Reservoir Dogs-æra, da han reolede VHS-bånd, arbejdede registeret, udførte opgørelsen en gang om ugen og bare dræbte det helt," sagde Knox og argumenterede for, at fra midten til slutningen af 80'erne var Tarantino "på den absolut top af sin karriere."

”Folk kunne gå derinde når som helst på dagen, og han ville henvise dem til de nye udgivelser, hele tiden mens han talte en mile i minuttet om, hvorfor Rio Bravo er den største western, der nogensinde er lavet. Det var for mig klassiske Tarantino ."

Knox tilføjede, at han også er en stor fan af det arbejde, James Cameron udførte i sine tidlige 20'ere som en sydkoreansk-baseret lastbilchauffør.

Lois og jeg kender ikke særlig meget til filminstruktører, så er det også nyttigt at få denne slags ekspert-kommenterer fra en lokal mand, der virkelig har studeret de store navne som Tarantino og Cameron og kender dem som sin egen bukselomme, som danskerne siger – det må jeg indrømme!

10:45 Vi vælter ud af caféen og kører videre til Ursulas hus. Ursula er medlem af Lois’ sekt – hun er forholdsvis immobil, og Lois har ondt af hende: denne uge er hendes datter Rachel i Witney og hendes lokale plejer, Jay, begge to væk på ferie. Lois er så varmhjertet – hvis bare jeg kunn ligne hende mere.

Faktisk opdager vi at Jay kom tilbage fra ferie i går, og hun smutter ind hos Ursula, mens vi sidder og taler med hende.

Ursula er meget til hendes religion, og hun læser bibelen og teksten til psalmer som underholdelse. Hendes samtale kredser meget om, hvem af sine slægtninge, venner og bekendte er medlemmer af sekten og hvem ikke er – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!! Men trods alt det der er hun en overraskende sød og munter person, det må jeg indrømme, og jeg opdager, at det er meget nemt at aflede hendes opmærksomhed fra religiøse emner og tale om noget andet, hvilket viser sig at være en forfriskende forandring, for at sige mildt.

11:30 Mens vi sidder og taler med Ursula ringer Sarah, vores datter i Australien, til mig på min smartphone, et mærkeligt opkald, delvis for at give den 6-årige Lily chancen for at tale med mig og sige, hun nu kan snøre sine egne sko – du godeste, hvor er hun dog sød!!!

Men jeg kan mærke, at selve Sarah er lidt oprevet. Francis, hendes mand, har haft en aftale med en specialist i eftermiddags (Perth-tid), og specialisten har fortalt ham, udsigterne ikke er særlig gode for hans mange fysiske problemer: i sær ryggen og knæene. Francis også er forståeligt oprevet, og han er bange for, at han vil fremover have svært ved at passe på tvillingerne, når de er derhjemme, dvs, udenfor skoletid. Sarah er revisor og familieforsørger, og har et meget krævende job – hun trænger ikke til at have nogle ekstra problemer derhjemme, for at sige mildt.

Du godeste!  Lois og jeg bekymrer os meget over Sarah og hendes lille famillie, så langt væk fra os i den anden side af verden, hvor vi kan gøre lidt for at hjælpe dem.

12:30 Vi kommer hjem og spiser frokost. Bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en kort eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15 og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

16:00 Jeg går i gang med at læse endnu 2 sider af Anna Grues krimiroman, ”Dybt at falde”, der er vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende projekt. Jeg prøver i øjeblikket at læse 2 sider om dagen, og udarbejde en ordforrådliste til hver side, for at spare vores gruppemedlemmer for at slå de svære ord op i en ordbog. Jeg er så varmhjertet ha ha ha!!!!

Anna Grues krimiroman, ”Dybt at falde”, vores U3A danske gruppes

nuværende projekt

Politidetektiven Flemming Torp er for tiden i gang med at undersøge drabet af Lilliana, en mystisk rengøringsassistent, der bev garrotteret mens hun arbejdede sent på aftenen i køkkener af et stort dansk reklamebureau.

Politiet mistænker, at morderen også arbejder for samme bureauet som Lilliana, så har Flemming bedt sin bedste ven Dan Sommerdahl om at hjælpe ham med undersøgelsen, fordi Dan selfølgelig kender godt bureauets personale, ”hvem sover med hvem” og den slags.

Politidetektiven Flemming Torp (til venstre) sammen med

sin bedste ven, Dan Sommerdahl og Dans kone, Marianne

Den mystiske Lilliana – ingen ved hendes efternavn – delte en snusket lejlighed med en anden mystisk kvinde i samme alderen:  Sally, en afrikansk kvinde, der desværre forsvandt sporløs i grov træk samtidig  med, at hendes roomie, Lilliana, blev garrotteret, hvilket er mærkeligt.

I dag er Flemming og Dan i gang med at ransage de to kvinders lejlighed, deres garderober og undertøjskuffer osv, for at prøve at opdage spor efter de to kvinders identiteter.

De bemærker umiddelbart, at de to kvinder havde vidt forskellige smage, når det kom til stil i tøj og undertøj. Den ene (Sally) valgte farver og snit, der tiltrak sig folks opmærksomhed med det samme, mens den anden (Lilliana) prøvede på at gøre sig usynlig – du godeste, fascinerende

Lilliana havde en stor kasse med kondomer, købt nogle dage før sin død, men allerede halvt brugt, og Sally havde en pakke p-piller – og lægen havde udskrevet dem ”til brug i egen praksis”, som der stod, hvilket var lidt pudsigt for at sige mildt, kommenterede  Dan.

Du godeste, sikke et mysterium, det hele!!!!

17:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og cykler 3 miles. Jeg er blevet lidt bekymret, at jeg nu til dags aldrig synes at have tid til at bruge min kondicykel, på grund af længden af min gøremålsliste.

Jeg er faktisk ved at overveje for tiden, om det ville være bedre at hoppe op på den flere gange i løbet af dagen, hvis kun i 10 minutter ad gangen, for eksempel, og prøve på denne måde at tilbagelægge en hæderlig antal miles før jeg kollapser i sengen. Men jeg er ikke helt sikker på, at denne plan vil virke eller ej. Juryen må blive ude om det, indtil jeg kan afprøve den – det ved jeg med sikkerhed.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad, og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, og lytter lidt til radio. Vi føler os lidt urolige i aften – vi er ivrig efter at høre mere om vores datter Sarahs problemer i morgen: forhåbentlig kan vi tale lidt mere med hende, og opdage mere om hendes mand Francis’ tilstand – hans rygproblemer og knæproblemer osv.

Hun har egentlig ikke nogen derovre i Perth, som hun kan virkelig tale med, når hun har problemer. Det der er ulempen, hvis man flytter til den anden side af verden, hvor du ikke har nogen tæt familie.

Og derudover venter Lois stadig på resultaterne af sin egen seneste blodprøve.

Yikes – problemer problemer problemer!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!!