Regressed back to bed again after a promising start but followed by a very badly organised visit to the doctor that ended up with me being left outside in the freezing cold dusk and then suffering headaches and feverish flushes as dumping of nuclear waste becomes a ‘hot’ issue, rape crimes will be treated more harshly, new terms for the takeover for British Leyland would still lead to more than 1.000 job losses, French trawler men die off of the Hebrides and more than 30,000 blacks demonstrate in Alexandra
A good night and woke in better condition than yesterday. But I still had a persistent cough and this perpetual headache. I tried resting with the light on and the curtain closed after breakfast, and also took a couple of Disprin, but could not shake it off. Sitting in bed this morning, caught up with yesterday’s journal and then read the paper by lunch. Mushroom soup, then I got up and washed, showered and shaved and dressed, readying to spend the afternoon quietly in the lounge and the trip to the Doctor.
I sat there with the children until they get too boisterous and then started Daniel on a new job – cutting out and sticking my past press cuttings into the heritage album. Di warms the car up and we go to St Neots and the Doctor, Swaincott. Hardly any time to wait, but the consultation a great disappointment. No communication between him and the Doctor who advised Di on the phone and presented the drugs and no results yet from the urine test, as samples taken yesterday would never be ready until the following week. In short, I have to come back again then and today’s trip was a waste of time. Out quickly to find Di had gone off and I had to spend 15 minutes in the freezing dusk waiting for her to return. This did me no good at all. The rhyme had stayed on the trees from last night’s freezing fog all day and it must have been -3/4degC again with clear skies. Home, and, after checking up on a few things to make sure Di didn’t forget, I went back to bed feeling headachy and flushed again. I had to wait 10 minutes for Di to dither about making the bottles again. When I got there, I took my temperature again, 100.5degF, a level at which it stayed during the evening as well. Some day! But at least no tummy or back aches and Daniel did make a decent job of the album. He obviously tried very hard. An evening watching TV with headache and temperature, drinking tons of orange squash. Main news today is of another radioactivity leak, this time at North Wales nuclear power station, where 15 tons of radioactive gas was accidentally discharged. Amidst more assurances about the lack of risk, it was revealed that one worker received a spot of dust on his nose and the roof was contaminated. Also today, three new sites were announced as potential choices, with Elstow, for long-term dumping of nuclear waste. Food eaten by families close to Sellafield will be analysed by inspectors, in some more safety tests. The Lord Chief Justice spelt out new harsh sentences for rape cases, after recent criticisms of judicial leniency. He recommends a min. of 5 years, or 8 years for gang rape, or 15 years for rapists organising repeated offences. The women’s societies are unimpressed. The Metropolitan Police have mounted a new investigation into the ‘Transit Van’ attack on innocent youths. The government has set up a Cabinet Committee to review the sell-off of various parts of BL and also relaxed the March 4th deadline, but it was learnt today that GM were offering £230 million, with £40 million allocated for redundancy costs. This would equate to 1000+ job losses. Neil Kinnock visits Land Rover today and declares the workers want to remain independent and British. James Bothwell, a retired Naval Officer, appeared at Bond Street on spying charges. Tragedy as 17 French trawler men are feared dead after a boat sank 360 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. In South Africa, 30,000+ blacks appeared in a rally in Alexandra and Bishop Tutu told them that the authorities were not willing to withdraw security forces. In the West Indies, England were bowled out for 139 in another batting collapse. Another hard frost forecast and it will remain below freezing all day tomorrow.