Monday October 21 2019

09:00 We spend the morning clearing up and vacuuming all over the house, because our U3A Danish group is holding its regular fortnightly meeting here at 2:30 pm. We changed the day of the meeting from Thursday to Monday (only for this week) because Joy has another appointment on Thursday, but unfortunately it turned out later that Scilla cannot come today, which is a bit of a shame, but never mind:  you can don't please everyone ha ha!

It's sometimes hard being a group leader sob sob!

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap. I get up at 2 pm and prepare for our group meeting. Members arrive, and we read another 5 pages of Anna Grue's novel, "The Further You Fall," which is the group's current project.

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

our U3A Danish group's current project

The novel's hero, advertising man Dan Sommerdahl, is trying to solve a murder that occurred the night before in the kitchens of his advertising agency - Lilliana, a cleaning lady was garrotted, and the local police are in the process of interrogating all the agency's staff, one by one. Many of the staff members have come out of the police's interim interrogation room in tears: the police are taking a hard line apparently.

Dan seems to be a happily married man, but he admits that he has a bit of a mega-crush on the boss’s secretary, Elisabeth Lund. He claims however that he has no intention of acting on that crush.

However, our female group members have their doubts about this, including Lois. I've noticed that Lois is very adept at predicting what is going to happen in the next few seconds or the next few days in novels, TV dramas, etc. I feel a bit like a stupid idiot sometimes. She says that writers are forever laying down clues and hints for the receptive reader, but these clues are usually all wasted on me, I have to admit.

This time, though, even I can see the signs: “Dan stayed sitting with Elisabeth a little longer, and indulged in a little small talk with her. He was all the while busy admiring Elizabeth's fine features, her elegant, slender nose, her vaulted eyelids over her clear, green eyes .... and enjoying the sight of Elizabeth's regular, brilliant white teeth revealed in the twinkle of her smile, while her delicately drawn, soft lips shaped one word after another. And if anybody had asked Dan what the conversation had been about, he would have been unable to answer."

Yikes - I foresee trouble brewing here ha ha ha!

Our female members mumble "typical man" - they suspect it was probably Elizabeth's appearance that got her the job as the boss’s secretary, but I weigh in here, saying I that I doubt that - such things rarely happens nowadays, according to what I’ve read in the media.

I remind them about Kristin Petrie, a local woman who recently hit the headlines, after commenting to reporters that her co-workers had always accepted her for the woman she was (source: our go-to local news site, the influential Onion News) .

In a world often filled with hatred and intolerance of those who are different, 23-year-old Kristin Petrie is accepted for who she is: a natural blonde with a dazzling smile and a spectacular body.

“I don't know how to describe it, but Kristin has this special magnetic quality, "said Ron Angelo, Petrie’s boss at ExecuTech, a local headhunting company where the slim beauty acts as a recruiting agent. "When Kristin arrived here, she had zero recruitment experience. But did she let that stop her from landing the job? Absolutely not.  Kristin is determined not to let her shortcomings prevent her from succeeding. And you know what? They rarely do that. "

Petrie has been able to overcome numerous setbacks since joining the ExecuTech team, including frequent flawed reports.

"Kristin tends to be a little harsh on herself when she makes mistakes, but we always say, 'Don't worry about it - you’re doing great!'" said her colleague Brett Graves, who has never verbally acknowledged Petrie's 22-inch waist or pert, C-cup breasts. "After all, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and it's important to live with that."

Graves was referring to an incident in June in which Petrie mistakenly recommended the wrong person for a senior position at Revlon cosmetics.

"It was very unfortunate, yes, and Kristin was very upset," Angelo said. “But she wasn't really to blame for it. I admit I gave her more than she could handle. The file folders we handed her were too similar-looking. Fortunately, she acknowledged the error when she received a call from Revlon people asking why she had sent the wrong person, and she immediately began putting right what could have been a catastrophic situation. Again, I think it's part of that special quality she has, that nobody can quite put their finger on. "

ContinuedAngelo : “Kristin was practically in tears and said that if I wanted to fire her, she would understand. But I said we wouldn't have hired her if we didn't think she had the talent to succeed. When it comes to people, you have to learn to take the good with the bad. We are all different, but it is these differences that make us all special."

A heart-warming local story, and one that shows how far we have come in the last 50 years when it comes to the position of women in the workplace, and the like. While reminding the group members, especially the female ones, of Kristin's experiences, I try to pick up on clues as to whether or not they are convinced, but I am rubbish at picking up unspoken clues and signals, so the jury is still out on that one. I make myself a mental note to ask Lois for her reactions after members have left.

16:00 The meeting ends. Lois and I can relax with a cup of tea and a slice of bread with homemade gooseberry jam - yum yum! We are completely washed up, as usual after a Danish day. My god, we're ageing fast, no doubt about that - yikes !!!!!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching some television. Two TV quizzes are on,  "Only Connect" and "University Challenge".

As usual, Lois and I, the two old crows, are doing our best to compete with the fresh young brains taking part in the quizzes, and we have a reasonably successful evening, I have to say, and Lois in particular.

In "University Challenge" we come up with a lot of correct answers, plus also 3 answers where the healthy young brains strike out completely, which is nice. Our tiny triumphs are as follows:

1. "Levant States" was a name given to a French mandate after World War I. They consisted of which two countries, which became independent in the 1940's ?

2. Who is this? Born in 1891 in Indiana, he was president of the Yale University Glee Club, and reportedly served with the French Foreign Legion during World War I, where he entertained his fellow soldiers with a portable piano. As composer and copywriter, his works included "Begin the Beguine", "Love for Sale", and "Night and Day".

3. Which British National Park is the venue for the "Bob Graham Round", a 24-hour racing challenge over 66 miles and 42 mountain peaks?

The final score: healthy young brains 0, old crows 3 ha ha.

So Ovid was right after all, all those years ago haha.

21:00 We continue to watch some television, an interesting documentary, the first episode of the latest (and last ever?) season of "Great Canal Journeys", in which two elderly actors, Timothy West, and his wife, Prunella Scales ("Sybil Fawlty" of  "Fawlty Towers") travels by canal boat here and there, up and down canals all over the country.

dementia

Unfortunately, Prunella now suffers from severe Alzheimer's, although she seems perfectly normal most of the time. In this episode, one of their sons speaks privately with his father about how things are going with her. Sounds like it's a bit lonely for Timothy, but he is doing his best in the circumstances.

Lois and I often joke about whether we are starting to show the signs of dementia. Our hope is, that joking about  it makes it less likely that one day we really will suffer from it.

But has this theory ever been tested in any kind of exhaustive clinical trial? I make a mental note to contact the BMA (British Medical Association) to get their opinion ha ha ha (if I can only remember to do so ha ha - again) !

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

Danish translation: mandag den 21. oktober 2019

09:00 Vi bruger formiddagen på at rydde op og støvsuger overalt i huset, fordi vores U3A danske gruppe holder sit regelmæssige fjortendagsmøde kl 14:30 hos os. Vi skiftede mødedagen fra torsdag til mandag (kun hvad angår denne uge), fordi Joy har anden aftale, men desværre viste det sig senere, at Scilla ikke kan komme i dag, hvilket er lidt af en skam, men skidt med det : man kan ikke behage alle ha ha! Det er nogle gange hårdt, at være en gruppeleder ha ha!

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 14 og forbereder mig på vores gruppemøde. Medlemmerne ankommer, og vi læser endnu 5 side af Anna Grues krimiroman, ”Dybt at falde”, som er gruppens nuværende projekt.

Anna Grues krimiroman, ”Dybt at falde”,

vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende projekt

Romanens helt, reklamemanden Dan Sommerdahl, er i gang med at løse et mord, der fandt sted aftenen før i køkkenerne af hans reklamebureau – Lilliana, en rengøringsdame blev garrotteret, og det lokale politi er i gang med at forhøre alle bureauets personale, én efter én. Mange af personalemedlemmer er kommet ud af politiets interimistiske forhøringsrum i tårer: politiet tager en hårdt linje tilsyneladende.

Dan synes at være en lykkeligt giftet mand, men han har lidt af et megacrush på chefens sekretær, Elisabeth Lund. Han påstår, at det ikke er hans forsæt, at gøre noget ved det.

Det har vores kvindelige gruppemedlemmer har deres tvivl om imidlertid, inklusive Lois. Jeg har bemærket, at Lois er meget dygtig til at forudse, hvad der sker i de næste få sekunder eller de næste få dage i romaner, tv-dramaer osv. Jeg føler mig lidt som en dum idiot nogle gange. Hun siger, at forfatterer altid er i gang med at lægge spor til fordel for den modtagelige læser, men disse spor er normalt alle spildt på mig – det må jeg indrømme.

Denne gang imidlertid kan selv jeg se tegnene: ”Dan blev siddende lidt og smalltalkede. Imens beundrede han Elisabeths fine træk, en elegant, smal næse, hvælvede øjenlåg, over klare, grønne øjne....han nød synet af Elisabeths hvide, regelmæssige tænder, der viste sig i glimt, mens hendes finttegnede, bløde læber formede det ene ord efter det andet. Havde man umiddelbart bagefter spurgt ham, hvad deres samtale havde drejet sig om, ville han have været ude af stand til at svare.”

Yikes – jeg forudser ballade i opsejling ha ha ha!

Vores kvindelige medlemmer mumler ”typisk mand” – de mistænker, at det sikkert var Elisabeths udseende, som fik hende jobbet som chefens sekretær, men jeg siger, at det har jeg tvivl om – sådanne nogle ting sker sjældent nu til dags.

Jeg minder dem om Kristin Petrie, en lokal kvinde, der for nylig ramte overskrifterne, efter hun bemærkedet til journalister, at hendes medarbejdere altid havde accepteret hende som den kvinde, hun er (kilde: vores go-to lokale nyhedswebsted, det indflydelsesrige Onion News.

I en verden, der ofte er fyldt med had og intolerance over for dem, der er anderledes, bliver den 23-årige Kristin Petrie accepteret for den, hun er: en naturlig blondine med et blændende smil og en spektakulær krop.

Jeg ved ikke, hvordan jeg skal beskrive det, men Kristin har denne specielle magnetiske kvalitet”,  sagde Ron Angelo, Petries chef hos ExecuTech, et lokalt headhuntingfirma, hvor den slanke skønhed fungerer som en rekrutteringsagent." Da Kristin ankom her , hun havde nul rekrutteringserfaring. Men lod hun det forhindre hende i at lande jobbet? Absolut ikke. Kristin er fast besluttet på ikke at lade hendes mangler forhindre hende i at lykkes. Og ved du hvad? Det gør de sjældent. "

Petrie har været i stand til at overvinde adskillige tilbageslag, siden han kom til ExecuTech-teamet, herunder hyppige fejlfyldte rapporter.

"Kristin har en tendens til at være lidt hård mod sig selv, når hun laver fejl, men vi siger altid: 'Vær ikke bange for det; du arbejder godt,' sagde hendes kollega Brett Graves, der aldrig mundtligt har anerkendt Petries 22-inch talje eller nuttede, C-skål bryster. ”Når alt kommer til alt har vi alle vores styrker og svagheder, og det er det vigtigt at leve med.”

Graves henviste til en hændelse i juni, hvor Petrie ved en fejltagelse anbefalede den forkerte person til en højtstående stilling hos Revlon kosmetik.

”Det var meget uheldigt, ja, og Kristin var meget ked af det,” sagde Angelo. ”Men hun var ikke egentlig skylden for det. Jeg indrømmer, at jeg gav hende mere end hun kunne klare. Filmapperne, vi rakte hende, var for éns-udseende. Heldigvis anerkendte hun fejlen, da hun modtog et opkald fra Revlon-folk, der spurgte, hvorfor hun havde sendt den forkerte person, og hun begyndte straks at løse, hvad der kunne have været en katastrofal situation. Igen tror jeg, det er en del af den specielle kvalitet, hun har, at ingen kan sætte fingeren på. ”

Så fortsatte Angelo: ”Kristin var praktisk talt i tårer og sagde, at hvis jeg ville fyre hende, ville hun forstå. Men jeg sagde, at vi ikke ville have ansat hende, hvis vi ikke troede, hun havde talenten til at være en succés. Når det kommer til mennesker, skal du lære at tage det gode med det dårlige. Vi er alle forskellige, men det er de forskelle, der gør os alle specielle. "

En hjertevarmende lokal historie, og én, der fremviser, hvor vidt vi er kommet i de seneste 50 år, når det kommer til kvindens rettigheder og den slags. Mens jeg er i gang med at mindes gruppemedlemmerne, især de kvindelige, om Kristins oplevelser, prøver jeg at samle spor over, om de bliver overbevist, eller ej, men jeg er elendig til at samlee utalte spor, så det er juryen stadig ude over. Jeg skriver mig det bag øret og beslutter at bade om Lois’ reaktion efter medlemmer er taget af sted.

16:00 Mødet slutter. Lois og jeg kan slappe af med en kop te og et stykke brød med hjemmelavet stikkelsbærmarmelade – yum yum! Vi er helt slået ud, som sædvanligt efter en dansk dag. Du godeste, vi ældes hurtigt, ingen tvivl om det – yikes!!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser to tv-quizzer, ”Only Connect” og ”University Challenge”.

Som sædvanligt gør Lois og jeg, to gamle krager, vores bedste for at dyste med de friske unge hjerner, der deltager i quizzerne, og vi har en rimelig succésfuld aften, det må jeg nok sige, og især Lois.  I ”University Challenge” kommer vi med en masse rigtige svar, inklusive 3 svar, hvor de friske unge hjerner er på bar bund, for at sige mildt. Vores småbitte  triumfer er som følger:

1.      ”Levant States” var et navn givet til en fransk mandat efter den 1. verdenskrig. De bestod af hvilket 2 lande, der blev uafstændige i 1940’erne?

2.      Hvem er dette? Født i 1891 i Indiana, var præsident for den Yale University Glee Club, og tjente angiveligt med en franske fremmedlegion under den 1. verdenskrig: han underholdt legionens soldater med et bærbart klaver. Som komponist og tekstforfatter, inkluderede hans værker ”Begin the Beguine”, ”Love for Sale”, og ”Night and Day”.

3.      Hvilket britisk nationalpark er venuen til ”Bob Graham Round”, en 24-timers løbudfordring over 66 miles og 42 bjergtinder?

Den finale score: friske unge hjerner 0, gamle krager 3 ha ha.

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, det 1. afsnit i den seneste (og allersidste nogensinde?) sæson af “Great Canal Journeys”, hvor to ældre skuespillere, Timothy West, og hans kone, Prunella Scales (”Sybil  Fawlty”) rejser med en kanalbåd her og der, hele landet over.

Desværre lider Prunella nu af alvorlig demens, selvom hun virker helt normal de meste af tid. I dette afsnit taler én af deres sønner privat med sin far, om hvordan går det med hende. Det lyder som om, det er lidt ensomt for Timothy, men han gør sit bedste under omstændighederne.

Lois og jeg spøger ofte med, at vi begynder at vise tegnene på demens. Vi håber, at dét, at spøge med det, gør det mindre sandsynligt, at vi en dag vil virkelig lide af den.

Men har dette teori nogensinde blevet testet i én eller anden slags udtømmende kliniske prøve? Jeg skriver mig det bag øret – jeg må kontakte BMA (British Medical Association) for at få deres mening  ha ha ha!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!