New Year’s Day Bank Holiday – An open house for our neighbours to enjoy our fare and a views of the property before I worked on the security system all day until an early bedtime as more trouble brews under Murdoch in Fleet Street and the Westland Helicopter affair continues such that UK shares fall. This as violent turmoil ensues in The Lebanon
Another restless night. The heating system was making a whining sound, Debbie kept getting up with a cough, and I was too hot after spending time outside with my alarm wires yesterday. I also had a dream that Diana had died which amused her as she brought me my morning tea. Up presently to finish writing yesterday’s journal, have breakfast with the family and then wash and dress. After, to my office again where Debbie comes to join me and writes her diary as well – she started by noting her advent calendar objects and now writes a phrase for each day. Then time to feed the ducks and doves, bring in logs, and have a coffee break before preparing for our neighbours, who had been invited to new year’s day drinks. I light the sitting room fire and at 11.30am go in to await our guests.
First to arrive was Pat and John, with daughters Annie and Katherine and we chat about builders, because they are also having alterations and are doing the decoration themselves. Next come Yvonne and her 12 year old daughter, Claire, and lastly Marilyn with David and Caroline. We all had drinks and chatted until I suggested they stretched their legs and we took them for a conducted tour. They liked the house and were relieved that the new windows did not reduce their privacy too much. The kitchen was again the salient feature. By 1.00pm they had all gone and we settled down to eat the leftovers for lunch. Then to change and spend the afternoon playing with my alarm system. I tested out my self-activation unit and confirmed that the company had supplied the wrong one. Then the power alarm switcher, which seems ideal to flash the outside lights in the event of the alarm triggering, whilst also giving a 30 sec. light delay whilst leaving the building. Unfortunately, I could not see any easy way of connecting in to the best lighting circuits, now that the utility room plasterboard ceiling is in place and so must wait to talk to the electrician. Eventually, I settled to the PA circuit and spent the rest of the afternoon laying the wires through the floors and lofts and was nearly finished by teatime. Sausages etc. for tea, which the children found a bit boring and then back to it. I secured the cables and then drilled through one wall and channeled through the plaster on two others until the wires were trimmed to the right length. Then came the fun of connecting them up and they all worked well. Unfortunately 9.30pm by this time and Diana wanted an early night and so time to lock up and go up to bed. News tonight is of yet more trouble in Fleet Street, with Robert Maxwell yet again threatening to close the Mirror – this time for 18 months, until a new print plant is operational – if the NGA do not agree to a staff of 298 rather than 328 in the composing room. Reagan & Gorbachev duly hold their TV broadcasts in one another’s countries and it is hailed as a further strengthening of their Geneva accord. More turmoil in Lebanon after the limousine attack and also an Israeli raid there on South Lebanon to disable a rocket launcher. The GEC/Plessey and Westland/Sikorsky sagas continue and I am sure all these courtships, without a sound industrial logic, will end in tears. I am having nothing to do with new stock exchange investments and am sticking to gilt edged securities. After the recent improvement, Kode fall back 10p to 110p and may not be realisable, after all, for my tax payment. The Chancellor keeps harking on about the level of pay settlements and still prefers the control of inflation to the creation of jobs. Not much fun in all that for 1986.