Danskcolin: Tuesday October 22 2019

06:00 I get up early. I roll quietly out of bed so I don't disturb Lois, and I have a look at Facebook.

I have the habit of logging in and logging out of Facebook as quickly as possible early in the morning, so that my "Facebook friends" in Australia or on the US west coast do not have any opportunity to start a "chat" with me on Messenger. I'm so ruthless ha ha!

This time I linger a little too long on the site, and Rod says hi to me. Rod is Sylvia's partner in Melbourne - and Sylvia is Lois's cousin. Rod says he and Sylvia plan to drive over to Perth next year when Lois and I are staying there with our daughter Sarah and her family.

My god, what madness !!! Melbourne is over 2000 miles from Perth! But it will be nice to see Rod and Sylvia when we are in Perth. Rod has a relative (a sister?) in Perth too, so he can hit two flies with one THWACK, as the Danes say.

Sylvia, Lois' cousin, and her partner Rod, plan to drive 2,000 miles

from Melbourne to Perth while Lois and I are over there - what madness !!!!

Rod says he and Sylvia are also planning to visit Iceland and the UK next September and they want to spend a few days with us at some point during the holiday, which will be nice.

Flashback to April 2016 - we visit Lois's cousin Sylvia (left) in Melbourne

Flashback to September 2018: Rod and Sylvia visit us in Cheltenham -

the backyard of “The Plough”, a local pub:

Lois (left) with Sylvia and Rod

me (right) with Sylvia and Rod, on a canal boat

at the Black Country Museum near Birmingham

Rod and Sylvia in the little Cotswold town of Broadway

08:00 Lois and I tumble out of the shower cubicle and after breakfast I start working on a Hungarian vocabulary test, which I want my friend “Magyar” Mike to take when he shows up for our weekly “Hungarian hour” ". I try to make the test as simple as possible because Mike has aged a lot recently and he often does not remember the most basic Hungarian words.

10:00 Mike calls at the door. As usual, I am struck by just how much he has aged: he is slightly bent over nowadays and his voice is weak, and he is constantly complaining about the roadworks and traffic jams he has faced on his journey from Nailsworth. Good grief! He says there are so many places on his route that are currently embroiled in serious roadworks that he is considering postponing our next "Hungarian hour" until the new year - good grief (again) !!!!!!

"Magyar" Mike in happier times (2002): in the small border town of Sopron,
close to the Austrian border - (from left to right) "Magyar" Mike, Lois,

"Magyar" Mary (Mike's wife) and our Hungarian friend, Ibolya,

standing in the car park in front of the town’s theatre.

me in 2002, later on in our Hungarian holiday: I come across

a Turkish sultan (Suleiman the Magnificent) sitting on a bed
in one of the underground tunnels

in Eger Castle, which was a bit of a surprise to put it mildly.

I break the news to him that the war of 1526 is now finally over ha ha!

Flashback to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (second left)
in happier times - relaxing in his harem, back in Turkey

11:00 Mike has to leave. Lois and I relax with a cup of coffee on the couch. We both feel very tired today, and Lois’s back and hip are hurting - damn!

12:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 4 pm and we relax with a cup of tea and a couple of pieces of bread with homemade gooseberry jam - yum yum!

Lois says she has decided it would make sense if she stays at home tonight, and does not take part in her sect's weekly Bible seminar, which takes place every Tuesday night in Brockworth library. It will be nice to have her company for once, because the television is mostly a bunch of crap on Tuesday nights to put it mildly - good grief!

18:00 We have dinner and snuggle up on the couch. We see the latest episode of "Motherland", which I recorded last night on our YouView unit: the programme goes out at 10 pm, which is a little past our bedtime - we are normally tucked up in bed by 10 pm at the latest.

"Motherland" is a fun sitcom revolving around Julia, a mother of 2 children, who is also trying to juggle a stressful job, mostly without much success.

Julia's best friends are the down-to-earth Liz with the lugubrious face and voice, and the useless, wimpish, "papa latte" stay-at-home-dad, Kevin.

The stressed-out Julia (left) with her best friends,

the lugubrious Liz and the useless wimpish papa latte stay-at-home dad, Kevin

Julia, a public relations consultant, has left her former company to work independently from home, but she finds that if she is at home all day, she is constantly disturbed by phone calls, visitors, workmen, and requests from her useless husband to do some domestic task or other for him.

She decides to work instead at a local cafe, where she gets to know Nick, another PR consultant, in the same situation as herself, and working independently. He offers to answer her mobile for her one time, to tell the person on the other end of the line that she is currently unavailable.

But soon Julia is beginning to ask Nick to order coffees for her, or pick her up a takeaway lunch.

Later, she gets Nick to swing by her house to talk to a repair guy who has come to investigate a problem with one of her chimneys. My god, what madness !!!!

Finally, their relationship breaks down, when she threatens to "fire" him. Yikes, what a crazy world we live in !!!

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

Danish translation

06:00 Jeg står tidligt op og se på Facebook. Jeg vælter stille og roligt ud af sengen, så jeg ikke forstyrrer Lois.

Jeg har for vane at logge ind og logge ud af Facebook så snart som muligt tidligt i morgen, så mine ”Facebook-venner” fra Australien eller USAs vestlige kyst ikke har lejligheden til at påbegynde et ”chat” med mig på Messenger. Jeg er så nådesløs ha ha!

Denne gang dvæler jeg lidt for længe på webstedet, og Rod siger hej til mig. Rod er Sylvias partner i Melbourne – og Sylvia er Lois’ kusine. Rod siger, at han og Sylvia planlægger at køre over til Perth næste år, når Lois og jeg opholder os hos vores datter Sarah og hendes familie.

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!! Melbourne er over 2000 miles fra Perth! Men det vil være rart at se Rod og Sylvia, når vi er i Perth. Rod har en slægtning (en søster?) i Perth også, så han kan slå to fluer med ét smæk, som danskerne siger.

Sylvia, Lois’ kusine, og hendes partner Rod, planlægger at køre 2000 miles

fra Melburne til Perth, mens Lois og jeg er derover – sikke et vanvid!!!!

Rod siger, at han og Sylvia planlægger at besøge Island og Storbritannien næste september, og de har lyst til at tilbringe et par dage hos os på ét eller andet tidspunkt i ferien, hvilket vil være rart.

Tilbageblik til 2018: Rod og Sylvia besøger os i Cheltenham –

baghaven af den lokale ”Plough”-pub

på en kanalbåd i Black Country Museum nær Birmingham

i den lille by Broadway

08:00 Lois og jeg vælter ud af brusekabinen og efter morgenmad går jeg i gang med at udfærdige en ungarsk ordforrådtest, som jeg vil have min ven ”Magyar” Mike til at tage, når han kl 10 dukker op til vores ugentlige ”ungarske time”. Jeg prøver at gøre testen så simpel som muligt, fordi Mike har meget ældes for nylig og han ofte ikke kan huske selve de mest grundlæggende ungarske ord.

10:00 Mike ringer til døren. Som sædvanligt bliver jeg slået af, hvor meget han har ældes: han er lidt krumbøjet nu til dags, og hans stemme er svag, og han brokker sig konstant om det vejarbejde og de trafikpropper, han har stået overfor på sin rejse fra Nailsworth. Du godeste! Han siger, der er så mange steder på sin rute, der for tiden har seriøst vejarbejde i gang, at han overvejer at udskyde vores næste ”ungarske time” indtil det nye år” – du godeste (igen) !!!!!!

”Magyar” Mike i lykkeligere tider (2002): i den lille grænseby Sopron, tæt på

den østrige grænse – (fra venstre til højre) ”Magyar” Mike, Lois,

”Magyar” Mary (Mikes kone) og vores ungarske veninde, Ibolya.

De står på parkeringspladsen foran byens teater.

mig I 2002, senere på vores ungarske ferie: jeg støder på

en tyrkisk sultan på en seng i en af Eger-slottets underjordiske tunneller,

hvilket var lidt af en overraskelse for at sige mildt

tilbageblik til sultanen Suleyman 1. (den prægtige) i lykkeligere tider,
slappende af i sin harem, tilbage i Tyrkien

11:00 Mike skal af sted. Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen. Vi føler os begge meget trætte i dag, og Lois har ondt i ryggen og hoften – pokkers!

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 16 og vi slapper af med en kop te og et par stykke brød med hjemmelavet stikkelsbærmarmelade – yum yum!

Lois siger, hun har besluttet, det ville være fornuftigt hvis hun forbliver herhjemme i aften, og ikke deltager i sin sekts ugentlige bibelseminar, der finder sted hver tirsdag aften i byen Brockworths bibliotek. Det vil være rart at have sit selskab for en gangs skyld, fordi fjernsynet er for det meste noget lort om tirsdag aftener for at sige mildt – du godeste!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og putter os til hinanden i sofaen. Vi ser det seneste afsnit af ”Motherland”, som jeg i går aftes optog på vores YouView-enhed: programmet bliver udsendt kl 22, hvilket er lidt over vores sengetid – vi har for vane at være gemt i sengen ved 22-tiden.

”Motherland” er en morsom sitcom, der kredser om Julia, en mor til 2 børn, som også forsøger at jonglere et stressende job, uden succés for det meste.

Julia bedste venner er den jordnære Liz med bedemandsansigtet, og den unyttige ”papa latte” tøsedreng, Kevin.

Den stressede Julia (til venstre) med sine bedste venner,

den dystre Liz og den unyttige tøsedreng og papa latte, Kevin

Julia, en PR-konsulent, har forladt sit tidligere selskab for at arbejde selvstændigt hjemmefra, men hun opdager, at hvis hun er hjemme hele dagen, bliver hun konstant forstyrret af telefonopkald, besøgere, håndværkere og anmodninger fra sin unyttige mand om at gøre én eller anden huslig opgave.

Hun beslutter at arbejde på en café, hvor hun møder Nick, også en PR-konsulent, der arbejder selvstændigt. Han tilbyder at besvare hendes mobiltelefon, for at fortæller den person på den anden ende af røret, at hun ikke er til rådighed.

Men snart begynder hun at bede ham om at bestille en kaffe til hende, hente en madpakke til hende,

Til sidst får hun ham til at smutte til hendes hjem for at tale med en håndværker, som er kommet for at undersøge et problem med ét af hendes skorsten. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!