Most of our practical work restricted on a frightful rainy and stormy day which rose the water level in the new swimming pool by an inch in half an hour but the boiler increased its temperature to 70degC and so I swam with Daniel after school before he was joined by his friends. This as thousands of job losses are planned for BREL in readiness for a sell-off, 3,200 further police are being recruited to quell civil unrest and Britain’s Commonwealth colleagues are unhappy with our tolerance of South African apartheid
Awake to my morning tea after a fitful night’s sleep for both Diana and I. Showered and dressed for breakfast of three croissants and some apple juice. I get my Ekins catalogue to hand and elected not to go to St Ives today, but to stay at home and work and liaise with the pool men. In the event, it was a most frightful day of rain and storm and I could not get very much done. I started to work on Bill’s shed, but the rain poured down and I was limited to the internal water connections and the start of the electricity installation. By the end of the day, I had only connected the water and returned the sink unit to its original position. Pete was also thwarted and spent the morning cleaning up and servicing the mowers. Still, at least my new water butt had filled up by the end of the day.
I checked the dove chicks today and kept an eye on their parents in all this rain. I had to put one ring back on a smaller chick, but all else was fine. The large chicks have divided one white and one grey, which is to be expected. The pool temperature up to 68degF by lunchtime and so I took my first dip before lunch, which was fine. This afternoon the landscapers came, installed the gate, and removed all of the building materials and swept the drives. I helped them a little and then took Debbie in for a dip. By this time it was 70degF and I stayed in to swim with Daniel when he arrived home from school. The heavens clouded over, so we had to have the pool light on to see and then the rain poured down in a stormy cloud burst, with thunder and lightning everywhere. The pool level rose an inch in half an hour. Tea and then the children returned to the pool with Gary and Stephen, as Flotsam and Jetsam watched doe-eyed. A long time tidying up today. News today is of thousands of job losses at the British Rail Engineering depots, even more than feared and the rail unions are bitter and angry. It seems the workshops are being ‘dressed’ for denationalisation and another target enterprise, British Airways, is offering thousands of free seats in a $6M competition to encourage US travelers back to the transatlantic routes. They are staying at home amidst a strong dollar and security worries and the BA privatisation timetable is being threatened. The national police force members are to be increased by 3200 officers, which is less than half the number the Police Federation says it needs. The Cabinet reshuffle is expected tomorrow, with Keith Joseph being replaced as Education Secretary. I hope the new GCSE exam system is deferred for a year by his successor. An opinion poll shows the Tory party now divided on Thatcher’s leadership style and a majority of Conservative MPs in favour of more public spending, as well as tax cuts. The South African raids on neighbouring states was condemned by Thatcher today, but she refuses to accept sanctions and Commonwealth leaders meet to discuss Britain’s line. At least one country is threatening to leave the Commonwealth due to Britain’s lack of physical support against Botha’s apartheid. Three children were killed today as a lorry ploughed through a column of parents and children walking home from school.