A slow start on a gloriously-sunny morning and I cancel the next day's appointment to give me time to catch up on a backlog of messages and calls before off to Comart at Little End Road to pick up a repair and talk to John Lamb as Thatcher fields criticism for her Asian tour the bill to abolish the GLC is in the Commons
Rather groggily awake and morning tea on a gloriously sunny morning. A warm bedroom for once as I read the FT and then the morning post. Breakfast of cornflakes at last and then a shower, shave and wash. Out a little late to the birds and 8 eggs from the ducks, who are missing their regular rations. To the office and a daunting desk full of mail and journals to sort through. I get Di to cancel my Oxford appointment tomorrow to give me a chance. Then phone calls to Owles Hall and Nigel, but could raise neither and so spoke to Martin Isherwood, who was not able to enlighten me on the response to our circular canvassing membership. A long exercise sorting my mail into action and reading piles and, after grabbing a quick cup of coffee, back to work out my Barclays bank account balance and try to pay a few bills through Homelink. Unfortunately, due to lack of time, I abandoned the process at 12.10pm and whisked Diana off to Comart at Little End Road to collect my repaired VDU keyboard. We ran into John Lamb there (nearly literally) and had a pleasant chat before leaving. Down the A1 to Biggleswade and arrived just in time to buy a couple of sacks of layers pellets for the ducks.
Next to the Happy Eater for a pleasant lunch and Daniella is beginning to eat more bread and butter than she throws away! After, to St Neots and I balance my bank account and withdraw a total of £500 cash to make sure of my silver auction tomorrow. I drop the baby and Di off at the village hall for a jumble sale (Debbie had her first day back at school today) and then return to the office and manage to balance all my bank and investment accounts and pay by Electronic Funds Transfer my most urgent bills. We will appreciate the £120 odd thousand soon, as our reserves of ready cash are at an all-time low with the investments I have been making. A good feed of the ducks tonight at last. An evening getting Daniel to retrieve a lost house key and then reading. News tonight of changes in South African apartheid law so that black/white mixed marriages will be allowed. The changes are received as going not far enough by the liberals and too far by the reactionaries. The SA government are also to retrieve the last of their troops from Angola. In the TGWU, there is now a good chance of a re-ballot following alleged voting irregularities before. Tomorrow, Thatcher faces the opposition onslaught on her Asian tour and several Conservative MPs are also critical of the schedule and of its effect on domestic politics. Sterling rises again by a large margin against other currencies. In the House of Lords, the government’s Metropolitan Council Abolition Bill attracts a large number of speakers, due to its unpopularity and visibility on broadcast television. The US space shuttle astronauts are preparing an attempt to salvage the dormant satellite. After a fine, but sharp day, more sunny, dry weather is forecast for the next few days.