Another hot and humid night spent with the windows wide open and then up early to tend the garden before a 9am meeting at Grove House with Online Training where I was presented with an investment opportunity. Then home to meet a British Gas man surveying the house for a new boiler and hot water system and then Di’s father Charles arrived and we took him to lunch in Wyboston.
We had a merry band of children in the swimming pool tonight; Della, Amy and Katherine, Rebecca and then cousins Natalie and Catherine who came over with Di's brother and stayed to tea. I typed a long letter to Mrs Ruff, trying to make up for not having asked her to do the deliveries this time. News that the security video camera at the Carlton Club being left switched off on the day of the blast which has embarrassed the club and Tory party.
A German company director has been jailed for 5 years for illegally helping Libya to build a poison gas factory near Tripoli. Khmer Rouge guerrillas in Cambodia seem to have resumed the offensive after 11 years of skirmishing. Former Energy Secretary, Cecil Parkinson, and Scottish Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, have both been heavily censured by the Conservative-dominated Parliamentary Energy Committee for making a non-competitive hash of electricity privatization and a complete mess of nuclear power.
This last couple of nights we have slept with the windows wide open to stay cool in hot and humid weather. I opted to get up earlier than usual today to tend the garden and things before a 9.00am meeting in Little Paxton. I also decided to water my bedding plants which were looking decidedly the worse for wear. Then I changed into my suit and got Daniel to drive me to Grove House. I had an appointment to meet Ian James of Online Training Ltd and a senior colleague from Mass Consultants who were approaching me with a business proposition. They need venture capital for an apparently-successful training venture which is being franchised around the country. Ideally, I would invest some money and be the non-executive Chairman to give advice and be a figurehead of known industry achievement. I did not rule out the idea as it is a good investment opportunity in my view, and have asked for them to prepare some further information for another meeting later.
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Once home, the British Gas man called to survey the house for a new boiler and hot water system and I spent some time with him getting the project off the ground. Then Di's father arrived and, after a morning coffee here, we got changed and then took him to lunch in Wyboston. A pleasant meal which we all enjoyed and then, once back here, and after chats with a number of callers, I got up to date with my journal. We had a merry band of children in the swimming pool tonight; Della, Amy and Katherine, Rebecca and then cousins Natalie and Catherine who came over with Di's brother and stayed to tea. I had finished my journal by teatime and then had the evening for more productive matters. I worked at a number of items of correspondence after updating my action list so as to keep up to date. Later, I typed a long letter to Mrs Ruff, trying to make up for not having asked her to do the deliveries this time. I still do not know why she was so upset and so I do not know whether my letter really addresses the problem, but it went like this:
Dear Mrs Ruff,
I was very distressed by your being upset over the latest FOCUS delivery arrangements and feel that your distress was possibly made worse by my not realising how serious you were. I felt that we had become such good friends that you would never imagine that I would do anything to hurt your feelings and so I genuinely thought you were pulling my leg when you 'phoned. I must admit that I am still puzzled as to how the misunderstanding arose as I value your delivery help very much.
Although I apologised several times during our short conversation once I realised that you were genuinely disappointed, let me do so once more and hope that you accept them as genuine. Please let me also explain what happened this time. I did not have anybody else that wanted to do the delivery and so I was not replacing you or trying to make you redundant. I had worked until 3.00am several nights running getting the last FOCUS typed, laid out and printed and then sorted into bundles with the inserts. It was the biggest issue we had ever done and, as well as the Paxton version, I had other editions for four separate areas such as Eaton Socon, Priory, St Neots, Buckden etc all with their separate local stories.
The process was several days late and I was going away for the weekend and had a few hours to get the batches out for delivery. I phoned down my list as usual and did not get a reply from your number, ran round the others and was left with your batch as the last to go out. By this time, I had no time to come and see you before I left and, with little time before the cover date and, with the weather hot and oppressive, I did not want to just drop them on your doorstep without asking you in my normal way. Your round is by far the largest (almost twice as big as some of the others) and I always feel that it is an undue imposition at the best of times. You have always agreed to do it for me, but I thought it was as a personal favour and I never realised that you enjoyed it or would be disappointed if I did not bring it round on one occasion. I went off to Norfolk and my wife Diana offered to take them even though she had already delivered a round of her own and was hot, tired and had to manage the children whilst I was away. This is something that she has done for all of my deliverers on occasion, as I am not always able to find them in etc and we always thought it fair to give people a rest anyway. She did not want to do it, and my daughter Debbie was made to help for being naughty whilst I was away. In the event, Debbie was badly bitten by a dog whilst trying to put one of your FOCUS's through the letterbox at No 3 Hayling Avenue, had to be taken to hospital on Sunday afternoon having lost most of the nail on the third finger on her left hand and the family was in crisis when you telephoned, fearing permanent deformity and in the middle of police interviews! She had to miss a party of a dear friend, could not go swimming, go and ride and look after her pony or continue her flute lessons.
Now that you have heard my side of the story, I hope that you realise how much of a misunderstanding it has been. Perhaps I was a little thoughtless and did make a mistake, but we are all human and I do hope that you will forgive me and be prepared to help again in the future.
Please contact me again soon to tell me that I am forgiven!
Yours Sincerely, David
The news tonight was of the security video camera at the Carlton Club being left switched off on the day of the blast which has embarrassed the club and Tory party. A German company director has been jailed for 5 years for illegally helping Libya to build a poison gas factory near Tripoli and evading tax on a large scale as well - an all-around bad guy if ever there was one! Khmer Rouge guerrillas in Cambodia seem to have resumed the offensive after 11 years of skirmishing. Former Energy Secretary, Cecil Parkinson, and Scottish Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, have both been heavily censured by the Conservative-dominated Parliamentary Energy Committee for making a non-competitive hash of electricity privatization and a complete mess of nuclear power.