Working with, and paying, the landscape gardeners and receiving builders working on their estimates for my house building, before composing and typing a whole host of industry correspondence and proposals on a rainy day as the coal industry reports record losses due to the coal strike and The Lords defeat the government on Top peoples pay with my PITCOM friend proposing the motion whilst in Africa unrest continues
Awake to my morning tea and, the newspaper roundsman delayed by torrential rain, I was quickly up, showered and shaved before breakfast. A meal of cereal, milk and fruit juice and then to withdraw to the lounge to read the paper from cover to cover. By 8.30am the landscape gardeners had arrived and began to lay the paving slabs on the new front garden. To the office and there I made out an interim cheque for £1,300 to ‘Gransden Landscape gardeners’ and then go out to review the job with Mr Tee and provide him with his first cheque. We agree the line of the second path in our old front garden and then pace out the crossed paths that we intend for the new riverside garden. Daniel had set off with his friends, Diana with the girls to go swimming and so I spent three hours at the office working on a variety of correspondence for the BMMG, composing and typing it out on the word processor. Despite the three press statements, I also wrote to STC/ICL and ACT to invite their participation in the LAN participants, letters also to OFTEL and DTI about VAN licensing and to Prof. Carsberg of Alvey to suggest a further meeting with the BMMG.
Mr Worley delivers and fits our remaining boat curtains and we are now ready to set off tomorrow. All the boys return to a hamburger lunch and behave themselves reasonably well. An afternoon finishing off the BMMG work and during the day receiving two more builders preparing their estimates. Tea as the rain begins to fall and then a rest in front of the TV. News today of the NCB’s Annual Report and their biggest ever loss was disclosed with a loss of over £2Bn, with over £1,750 million due to the coal strike, with as much again lost by the miners in unpaid wages. Scargill adds that the full cost to the tax payer is £4Bn with other contingent costs. In the Lords, the government today was criticised for insensitivity and the opposition is trying again to defeat them in a vote. The Lord moving the motion is no less than my companion for the PITCOM trip to Milton Keynes, Lord . The South African, Botha, has threatened to send home all foreign workers if the international sanction threats of investment withdrawal are not removed. He has turned down a request from Bishop Tutu for an early meeting. Uganda’s new military rulers were sworn in today and elections are promised within a year. British citizens have had their homes looted and many of the 900 left in Uganda are making plans to leave. The Soviet leader has offered to stop all nuclear tests for five months and the US has invited USSR observers to attend US tests, but everyone doubts the sincerity of both. The base rate was reduced by another ½ % as all four main clearing banks reduced their rates. A petition for winding up of Wolverhampton Wanderers was granted today, but there will surely be a successor organisation. The weather is forecast showery and cool for many days to come, which does not bode well for our planned boat trip. Late news tonight that the government lost the vote in the Lords over the top peoples pay review by 140 votes to 136.