09:00 Lois and I tumble out of the shower cubicle. The
weather girl has said it will rain heavily most of the day, so again there is
no possibility of gardening - damn!
I spend the morning reading the next 9 pages of a Danish
crime novel, Anna Grue's "The Further You Fall", which is our U3A
Danish group's current project. I also compile a vocabulary list for each page
- consisting of all the "hard" words on each page. This will help the
group members understand the text and the plot - I am so warm-hearted ha ha ha!
Anna Grue's novel, "The Further You
Fall," which is our
U3A Danish group's current project.
A cleaning lady about whom no one knows anything (not
even her last name) has been garrotted in the kitchens of a large Danish
advertising agency while she was working there late on Monday night.
It is now Wednesday morning and Detective Inspector Flemming
Torp and his team are holding a conference at police headquarters. Twenty four
hours after the crime was committed, they are still without a single clue about
the murder and identity of the killer, and totally blank about the motivation -
yikes!
Flemming Torp (left), the local Detective Inspector,
who 24 hours after
the murder is "totally clueless"
on the identity of both the victim and the killer
- yikes, poor Flemming !!!!!
The mood of the conference is tense and characterised by
anger and frustration, to put it mildly, and Flemming has a very public row with his
deputy, Lone Willumsen. After the
conference, Flemming pulls her aside and yells at her, which she is not
happy about to put it mildly. She "looked for one moment as if what she
most wanted was to headbutt [her boss]".
I ask Lois if she thinks this tension between Flemming
and his deputy, Lone, has an unspoken sexual component and whether the two
could end up in bed with each other, but we're just not quite sure: the signs
are ambiguous, we think. Flemming recently divorced his wife, which could be a
clue to his mental and emotional state.
My main problem is in trying to understand the very
colloquial cursing and swearing, and violent language that the detectives use
to yell at each other. Let's hope Flemming and Lone hook up soon, and maybe
begin to dampen down their swearing at each other a little. Or could it be that a sexual
relationship would just aggravate their filthy language? Well, we’re neither of
us quite sure - the jury is still out on that one.
Sexual tension in the workplace can be very annoying for
all those who work there, apart from the couple themselves - this syndrome is
well known. But less well known is that a lack of sexual tension can also turn
into a bit of an issue, as our go-to local news site, the influential Onion
News Local, recently hinted.
Calling it "impossible to ignore," Burton
Consulting employee David Shannon, 29, confirmed Monday that the palpable lack
of sexual tension between him and his colleague Lindsey Weis, 27, was driving
him crazy.
"The complete
absence of mutual attraction is there - you can cut it with a knife,"
Shannon said, explaining that the look in Weis' eyes alone revealed her
complete lack of interest in him.
"It's torture.
Every time we talk, there is this subtext of her total indifference to me that
I don't know if I can handle for much
longer. I mean, how am I supposed to concentrate when this neutrality between
us seems to be filling the entire room?"
Shannon added that
if the current situation with Weis persisted, he would be forced to seek a
transfer to a new department, before nothing happened between them.
My god, what a crazy world we live in !!!
But Lois and I both sympathise with Shannon, a local man
- he's basically a warm-hearted guy who sometimes lets his apathy run away with
him. We just hope he gets transferred soon - this kind of atmosphere, if it lasts
too long, can play havoc with a department's morale and productivity - Lois and
I have both experienced that kind of crisis many times in our working lives, no
doubt about that!
12:00 The postman delivers a letter from the county
police - they warn us that there has been a burglary in the neighbourhood and
advise how best to protect one's property and the like. I discuss the letter
with Lois, but we feel that our house is not a likely target for criminals for
a variety of reasons. Yikes - complacency strikes again (as we discover later
in the day !!!!!) !!!!!!
12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a
gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3 pm and Lois and I relax with a cup of tea
on the couch. She tells me she has been visited by Miriam, our neighbour
opposite on the other side of the road, who says it was actually hers and
John's house that had been burgled - yikes !!! Lois and I hastily try to
imagine reasons why our house is more impregnable than John and Miriam’s –
yikes (again) !!!!
15:00 Our neighbours
from a few doors away, Frances and Stephen, ring at the door. They plan to
visit their daughter in Eastbourne for 5-6 days, starting from tomorrow, and
they have brought contact numbers, instrucions on how Lois and I should look
after their house, and the like.
They stay sitting in our living room for 90 minutes, and
by the end of the conversation, I've almost lost the will to live - Frances is
in top form, dominating the conversation, as she often does. Her problem is
that if she tells a story, she includes even the smallest details. She told us,
for example, that she recently painted the woodwork in their entrance and
stairs: the staircase, the door frames and the like. But she gave us all the
details about the process and the different areas she painted etc, it took about 15 minutes on this one topic alone.
She has no sense of empathy - she is kind, intelligent,
and has a bachelor's degree in Russian. But she has no idea what details are going to interest others and which are not.
Good grief, stop the world, I want to get off ha ha ha!
18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening
watching some television, an interesting documentary about Vivienne Westwood,
the famous fashion designer.
The first word that always comes to mind when I look at
Westwood's fashion shows is "pretentious".
We watch a recording of her appearance on Sue Lawley's TV
chat show in the 1980’s, where the studio audience spontaneously burst out
laughing every time one of her models appeared on stage in one of Westwood's
latest creations, and I thought of Hans Christian Andersen's story about the king's new clothes, and the little boy who was not afraid to say that
the king was in fact stark naked.
21:00 We continue to watch a bit of television, an
interesting documentary (part 1 of 6) about train journeys in Australia. The programme's host is the
charming Michael Portillo, who 30 years ago was one of Margaret Thatcher's
ministers, but who has recently built a new career as a TV host.
Portillo has the habit of wearing very pretentiously coloured
and totally inappropriate clothes during his programmes. And it's nice to see a
bunch of Australian men on the train who aren't afraid to take the piss out of
him by staging a Michael Portillo lookalike competition. Michael's programmes
are also popular in Australia, it seems.
Michael is travelling today on the famous Ghan train
north to the port city of Darwin.
And late at night, Michael shows up at the bar to judge
the lookalike competition.
The Australian sense of humour always cracks me up, I have
to say: it is so incredibly dry.
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz !!!
Danish translation:
lørdag den 26. oktober 2019
09:00 Lois og
jeg vælter ud af brusekabinen. Vejrpigen har sagt, det vil regne kraftigt
hovedparten af dagen, så er der igen ingen mulighed for havearbejde – pokkers!
Jeg bruger
formiddagen på at læse de næste 9 sider af en danske kriminroman, Anna Grues
”Dybt at falde”, som er vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende projekt. Jeg
udfærdiger også en ordforrådliste til hver side – det består af alle de ”svære”
ord på siden. Dette vil hjælpe gruppens medlemmer til at forstå teksten og plottet
– jeg er så varmhjertet ha ha ha!
Anna
Grues krimiroman, ”Dybt at falde”, som er vores
U3A
danske gruppes nuværende projekt.
En
rengøringsdame, som ingen ved noget om (herunder sit efternavn) er blevet
garrotteret i køkkenerne i et stort dansk reklamebureau, mens hun arbejdede der
sent på mandag aften.
Det er nu
onsdag formiddag, og kriminalkommissæren Flemming Torp og sit hold er i gang
med at holde en konference i politiets hovedkontor. Efter 24 timer er de stadig
på bar bund om mordet og identiteten af morderen og totalt blanke omkring
motiveringen – yikes!
Flemming
Torp (til venstre), den lokale kriminalkommissær, som 24 timer efter
mordet
er ”på bar bund” om identiten af både offeret og morderen
–
yikes, stakkels Flemming !!!!!
Stemningen i
konferencen er anspændt og karakteriset af vrede og frustration, for at sige
mildt, og Flemming har en offentlig skænderi med sin vice-kommissær Lone Willumsen. Efter konferencen taler
Flemming privat med hende og skælder hende ud, hvilket hun ikke er glad for,
for at sige mildt. Hun ”så på ét øjeblik som om, hun mest havde lyst til at nikke [sin chef] en skalle”.
Jeg spørger
Lois om, om hun tror dette spænding mellem Flemming og sin vikar, Lone, har en
uudtalt seksuel komponent, og om de to kunne ende med at gå i seng med hinanden,
men vi er ikke helt sikre: tegnene er tvetydige, synes vi. Flemming er for
nylig skilt fra sin kone, hvilket kunne give et spor omkring hans mentale og emotionelle
tilstand.
Mit hovedlige problem
er at prøve at forstå de meget kollokvialle, stærke udtryk og skældsord, som detektiverne
bruger til at skælde hinanden ud! Lad os håbe på, at Flemming og Lone finder
sammen snart, og måske begynder at dæmpe deres skældsord lidt. Eller kan det
være, at dette ville forværre deres skældsord? Men det er vi ikke helt sikre på
– juryen er stadig ude om det!
Seksuel
spænding i en arbejdsplads kan være meget irriterende for alle dem, der arbejde
derinde, bortset fra selve parret – denne syndrom er velkendt. Men mindre velkendt er, at en mangel på spænding kan også blive til lidt af et problem, som
vores go-to lokale nyhedswebsted, den indflydelsesrige Onion News Local, for
nylig forklarede.
Fristet til at kalde det ”umuligt at ignorere”,
bekræftede Burton Consulting-medarbejder David Shannon (29) mandag, at den håndgribelige
mangel på seksuel spænding mellem ham og hans kollega Lindsey Weis, 27, var ved
at køre ham skør.
”Det fuldstændige fravær af gensidig tiltrækning
er dér - du kan skære det med en kniv,” sagde Shannon og forklarede, at selve blikket
i Weis' øjne afslørede hendes fuldstændige uinteresse for ham.
”Det er tortur. Hver gang vi snakker, er der denne
undertekst af hendes totale ligegyldighed over for mig, som jeg ikke ved, om
jeg kan udholde meget længere. Jeg mener, hvordan skulle jeg koncentrere mig,
når denne neutralitet mellem os ser ud til at fylde hele rummet? ”
Shannon tilføjede, at hvis den nuværende situation
med Weis vedvarede, ville han blive tvunget til at blive overført til en ny
afdeling, før der skete ingenting mellem dem.
Du godeste,
sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!
Men Lois og
jeg sympatiserer begge to med Weis, en lokal mand – han er grundlæggende en varmhjertet
fyr, som nogle gange lader sin apati løber af med ham. Vi håber bare på, at han
bliver overført inden længe – denne slags stemning, hvis det varer for længe,
kan ødelægger en afdelings moral og produktivitet – Lois og jeg har oplevet den
slags krise mange gange i vores arbejdsliv, ingen tvivl om det!
12:00
Postbudet leverer et brev fra grevskabets politi – de advarer os, at der har
været et indbrud i nabolaget, og råder til, hvordan man bedst kan beskytte éns
ejendom og den slags. Jeg diskuterer brevet med Lois, men vi føler, at vores
hus ikke er et sandsynligt mål for kriminelle af forskellige grunde. Yikes -
selvtilfredshed slår igen (som vi opdager senere på dagen!!!!!) !!!!!!
12:30 Vi
spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk
eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15 og Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te i
sofaen. Hun fortæller mig, hun har haft besøg af Miriam, vores genbo på den
anden side af vejen, der siger, det faktisk var hendes og Johns hus, der blevet
plyndret – yikes!!!
15:00 Vores
naboer fra et par døre væk, Frances og Stephen, ringer på døren. De planlægger
at besøge deres datter i Eastbourne i 5-6 dage, startende fra i morgen, og de
har medbragt kontaktnumre, anvisninger om, hvordan Lois og jeg skal passe på
deres hus og den slags.
De bliver
siddende i vores stue i 90 minutter, og ved slutningen af samtale har jeg
næsten mistet viljen til at leve – Frances er i top form, og dominerer
samtalen. Hendes problem er, at hvis hun fortæller en historie, inkluderer hun
endda de mindste detaljer. Hun fortalte os, for eksempel, at hun for nylig
malede træværket i deres entré og trappe: trapperakværket, dørkarmerne og den
slags. Men hun gav os alle detaljerne omkring processen og de forskellige
områder, hun malede osv.
Hun har ingen
sans for empati – hun er venlig, intelligent, og har en bachelorgrad i russisk.
Men hun har ikke det fjerneste anelse om, hvilke detaljer ville interessere
andre og hvilke ikke ville det.
Du godeste,
stop verden, jeg vil stå af ha ha ha!
18:00 Vi
spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, en
interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Vivienne Westwood, den berømte
modeskaber.
Det første
ord, der kommer i tankerne, når jeg ser på Westwood’s mannequinopvisninger er ”prætentiøse”.
Vi ser på
hendes deltagelse på Sue Lawleys tv-chatshow i 1980’erne, hvor
studiepublikummet spontan slog en latter op, hver gang én af hendes modeller
dukkede op på scenen i en eller anden af Westwoods seneste skabelser, og jeg tænkte
på HC Andersens historie om kongens nye tøj, og den lille dreng, der ikke var
bange for at sige, at kongen faktisk var splitternøgen.
21:00 Vi
fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm (1.
del af 6), der handler om togture i Australien. Programmets vært er den
charmerende Michael Portillo, som for 30 år siden var én af Margaret Thatchers
ministre, men som for nylig har bygget en ny karriere op som tv-vært.
Portillo har
for vane at gå i meget prætentiætentiøst kulørte og totalt upassende tøj under
sine programmer. Og det er rart at se en flok australske mænd på toget, som
ikke er bange for at tage pis på ham ved at opføre en Michael Portillo
lookalike konkurrence. Michaels programmer er også populære i Australien, ser
det ud til.
Michael rejser
i dag med den berømte ”Ghan”-tog nordpå til havnebyen Darwin.
Og sent på
aften dukker Michael op på baren for at bedømme lookalike-konkurrencen.
Den australske
sans for humor morer mig altid gevældigt, det må jeg nok sige: den er så utroligt
tør.
22:00 Vi går i
seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!
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