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A good start to this cold and windy day updating my financial summaries and ordering my security safes before Di’s parents visit in the wake of their Menorca villa sale and then a late evening doing more work on my alarms whilst listening to the fascinating radio coverage of Thatcher’s statement to Parliament where she admits that Leon Brittan made the leak on her own authority!
Slept well and started my day as usual and with toast again this morning. To the office fairly early and made a good start with the computer. Typed in the rest of my income and investment summary and then typed them out in three copies. As lunch approached, I also quickly knocked up a letter to Tann Security to order my security safes and accessories on an urgent basis. Lunch with Mr and Mrs Jackson, fresh from completing the sale of their Menorca villa and pleased to be visiting again. They want to buy each of their children (including Diana) a £100 present with some of their proceeds, but Di is trying to decline.
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A very busy and eventful day, personally and elsewhere whilst I interleave work in my office, with opportunistic forays into security wiring and also spending time with Daniel on his homework and with Della reading her Country Companion. This as the Westland affair goes ballistic with the DTI found to have leaked the letter which makes Leon Brittan culpable, Rupert Murdoch bullies his way to moving Fleet Street to Wapping, there are futile attempts to start talks in The Middle East and Group Lotus is lost to US owners
A good night’s sleep and then a chance to have a quick look at the newspaper headlines before breakfast. A meal of cereal and top of the milk for a change and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then to the shower room, where for once I had taken the toothpaste and my brush and so could complete my ablutions in one effort. Strange that I should be both fastidious and yet resentful at the time and effort taken to achieve it. Dressed and across to the office, where I start clearing up my tools from the floor and then turn to the task of reconnecting my computer. Some trouble with the latter, but eventually traced it to my having the VDU screen intensity set too low. The morning updating my investment file and then lunch with Diana of meat pie, carrots etc.
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A morning in my office reading and filing as the builders and BT engineer work on and I read ‘County Companion’ to Debbie and listen to the growing print crisis as the Unions take on Murdoch who intends to move Fleet Street to Wapping behind barbed wire, North Sea Oil prices drop below $20 per barrel and four Concordes fly splendidly in formation
A poor night and tired start to the day. Down to a breakfast and Diana had prepared boiled eggs for a change from our normal toast. All the family enjoyed them. Showered, dressed and then to start my day’s paperwork in the office. Spent the entire morning clearing my desk and reading a backlog of computer journals. By lunch time I had also updated my family financial summary and added up the estate, which is tantalisingly close to £2 million. Diana was back late from shopping in Bedford with Della and brought a poor sandwich for lunch, but I had some of my favourite bread and some pie and ice cream to follow.
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Full day working on my alarm system and tending my ducks and doves as the Anglo-French deal is signed for building the Channel Tunnel, Tories revolt in the Commons over raising Shire rates to rejuvenate inner cities, an Army coup in Lesotho with Chief Jonathan deposed and Sterling dives by 2cents as Thatcher now also has an economic crisis on her hands
A fair night and then a normal breakfast before quickly dressing and shaving, as I had already showered last night. A short read of the FT and then down to work. My project for this morning was to rewire the alarm system and tidy up all of the straggling wires, which I managed to achieve by lunchtime. This involved shortening some, lengthening others and taping them all together into neat bundles, before securing them to the wall and rafters with channels and clips. Diana was back from town with Della for lunch and had completed a number of chores. Out to the doves before lunch and they feed hungrily, after not getting fed at all yesterday. Funny to see how tame they become in these circumstances, as I could have caught any of them. Lunch of burgers and my seeded bread, with some pie and ice cream after and then back to work. By the time Daniel had come home, I was ready to pack it in and had secured everything together.