Friday January 10 2020

10:00 Lois and I tumble out of the shower cubicle, a little later than usual, but we have no appointments this morning. I start putting in order our garbage and recycling waste, and afterwards I sit down with the computer to browse through my emails and I get a bit of a shock to put it mildly.

In an email, "Which" consumer magazine reminds me that Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7 later this month - next week, in fact. Damn! We have a desktop and a laptop that use Windows 7 - yikes !! "Old crow syndrome" strikes again!!!! I've taken my eye off the ball when it comes to this question, no doubt about that!

"Which" tells me that from January 2020, PC’s running Windows 7 will be vulnerable to online threats, and “your data will be at risk, especially when you have an online bank account or shop online“.

Yikes !!!! I decide to send an email to Mark, our friendly local IT expert, to ask for his advice. We'll have to see!!!!

12:00 We have lunch and afterwards we relax with a cup of coffee on the sofa.

QBD, our windows and doors company, calls me. They say Mark will swing by shortly to finish repairing our windows. He came at the end of October to reinforce them but he could not replace the strips of protective plastic strips that were coming loose from the windows and repeatedly hitting the window panes. The new strips he had brought were not the right colour, he explained. My god, what madness !!!!

It was our neighbour, Bob, who had initially discovered the problem. As a temporary reaction, I had pushed the worst strip back into its crevice, and stuck some small pieces of duck tape over the strip to anchor it, hoping for the best: do-it-yourself has never been one of my more obvious talents, to put it mildly ha ha ha!

lashback to October 2019: I stick a piece of duck tape over the strip

to anchor it - yikes, do-it-yourself is not

one of my most obvious talents to put it mildly !!!

I knew that those wretched pieces of duck tape wouldn't last long, I didn't have any illusions about that. But they would be relatively cheap to replace with new pieces (quote from Colin's "Do It Yourself" manual) ha ha ha!

13:30 Mark swings by and starts replacing the plastic strips. Meanwhile, Lois goes around the corner to the local library to help the library staff manage the weekly "Baby Bounce & Rhyme" session for local mothers and their young children. Mark finishes the work at 2:30 pm or so, and at long last I can go to bed and take my usual gigantic afternoon nap. Lois comes home again at 4pm and we relax with a cup of tea and a piece of Christmas cake on the couch - yum yum!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching some television, a fun series all about the trials and tribulations of a local drama group.

Lois and I give the group’s performance of this compelling legal drama tonight a cautious "7 out of 10": and “a good effort”, given that the group had so many problems that were not strictly their fault.

It was obvious from the beginning, that the courtroom scenes would be hampered  by the small size of the set, but ignoring the practicalities, Lois and I are impressed that we see normal legal procedures being followed to the letter, except that there is only space for 3 of the 12 jurors - the others have to wait outside, where they can’t hear anything unfortunately.

An MP, Angela Inwood, and her lover Jack are charged with murdering her husband Nigel. 

Angela is forced to admit the affair after the prosecutor reveals that she has discovered text messages between the two lovers. She then duly shows the text messages to the three jurors. The whole conduct of her case is based on correct and normal procedure, as far as Lois and I know.

at this point the courtroom begins to fade, to make room

for a flashback bedroom scene between the two lovers

The flashback sex-scenes are treated sensitively, Lois and I think, despite the so-called "bedroom" being unsuitably furnished (more like an office or lab - but it's not entirely clear which) and the unexpected absence of a bed makes the two lovers, Angela and Jack, look a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed, to put it mildly.

But apart from the above, the scene works very well, we think.

the so-called "bedroom scene" - sensitively handled

despite the logistical problems, Lois and I think

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

Danish translation: fredag den 10. januar 2020

10:00 Lois og jeg vælter ud af brusekabinen, lidt senere, end normalt, men vi har ingen aftaler i formiddag.  Jeg går i gang med at ordne vores affald og genbrugsaffald og bagefter sætter jeg med computeren for at bladre igennem  mine mails, og jeg får lidt af en chok for at sige mildt.

I en mail minder ”Which”-forbrugermagasinet mig om, at Microsoft holder op med at støtte Windows 7 senere på måneden – snarere næste uge. Pokkers! Vi har en desktop og en barebære, der bruger Windows 7 – yikes!!   ”Gammel krage-syndromet”slår til igen!!!! Jeg har taget mit øje fra bolden når det komme til dette spørsmål, ingen tvivl om det!

”Which” fortæller mig, at ”efter januar 2020 vil pc'er, der kører Windows 7, være sårbare over for onlinetrusler, og dine data vil være i fare, især når du har et onlinebankkonto eller shoppe online. ” Yikes!!!!  Jeg beslutter at afsende en mail til Mark, vores venlige lokale IT-ekspert, for at bede om hans råd. Vi får se!!!!

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter slapper vi af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

QBD, vores vinduer og døre-firma, ringer til mig. De siger, Mark vil smutte forbi for at afslutte reparationen  af vores vinduer. Han kom ved slutningen af oktober for at forstærke dem men han ikke kunne udskifte striberne af beskyttende plastikstrimler, som var revet sig løs fra vinduet og var i gang med at ramme gentagende gange vinduesruden. De nye strimler han har medbragt var ikke den rigtige farv, forklarede han. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Det var vores nabo, Bob, der oprindeligt havde opdaget problemet. Som en midlertidig reaktion havde jeg skubbet den værste strimmel tilbage i dens sprække, og stukket nogle små stykke gaffertape over strimlen for at forankre den, og håbet på det bedste: gør-det-selv har aldrig været én af mine mest iønefaldende talenter, for at sige mildt ha ha ha!

tilbageblik til oktober 2019: jeg stikker et stykke gaffer-tape over strimlen

for at forankre den – yikes, gør-det-selv er ikke

én af mine mest iøjenfaldende talenter for at sige mildt!!!

Jeg vidste, at de der elendige stykker gaffer-tape ikke ville vare længe, det havde jeg ikke nogle illusioner over. Men de var forholdsvis billige at udskifte med nye stykker (citation fra Colins "Gør det selv" manuel ha ha ha!

13:30 Mark smutter forbi og går i gang med at udskifte plastikstrimlerne. I mellemtiden går Lois rundt om hjørnet til det lokale bibliotek for at hjælpe bibliotekets personale med at styre den ugentlige ”Baby Bounce & Rhyme”-sessionen for lokale mødre og deres små børn. Mark bliver færdig med sit arbejde kl 14:30, eller deromkring, og omsider kan jeg gå i seng og tage min sædvanlige gigantiske eftermiddagslur. Lois kommer hjem igen kl 16 og vi slapper af med en kop te og et stykke julekage i sofaen – yum yum!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, en morsom sitcom, der handler om forestillinger af en lokal dramagruppe.

Lois og jeg giver dramagruppens præstation ”7 ud af 10”: godt forsøgt, i betragtning af, at gruppen havde så mange problemer, som de ikke var skyld i.

Det er åbenbart fra begyndelsen, at retsalsscenerne vil være forhindret af salens lille størrelse, men hvis man ignorerer de praktiske aspekter, er Lois og jeg meg imponeret over, at normale juridiske proceduerer bliver fulgt til punkt og prikke, bortset fra, at der kun er plads for 3 af de 12 jurymænde – de andre er nødt til at lytte udefra.

Den anklagede, Angela Inwood, er sigtet i af myrde sin mand, efter hun var påbegyndt en affære med sin svigerbror. Hun bliver tvunget til at indrømme affæren, efter statsadvokaten afslører, at hun har opdaget sms-er mellem de to elskere og så viser statsadvokaten sms'erne til de 3 jurymænd. Det hele er korrekt og normal procedure, så vidt Lois og jeg ved.

retssalen begynder af fade, for at giver plads

til en flashback-soveværelsescene mellem de to elskere

Og flashback-scenerner er behandlet følsomt, synes Lois og jeg, på trods af, at det såkaldte ”soveværelse” er blevet indrettet forkert (som et kontor eller laboratorium – det er ikke helt klar hvilket), og fravær af en seng får de to elsker, Angela og hendes svigerbror, til at se lidt utilpas og pinlige ud, for at sige mildt.

Men bortset fra det overstående virker scenen meget godt, synes vi.

 den såkaldte ”soveværelse-scene” – følsomt behandlet,

Lois og jeg synes

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!!