Working on landscaping my moorings until a sewage overflow at the pumping station flows out of my outfall which means I must call the District Council to fix it and then watering plants later as the ground is rock hard. More Reagan revelations about illegal support for the Contras, Sikhs massacre more Hindus in the Punjab and a petrol tanker crashes in Germany killing many people.
An early night and then slept soundly until 7.00am morning tea, then quickly shaved and dressed so as to get out and working by the river before breakfast. I was setting in and levelling the paving stones at the lower moorings, and also smoothing the earth as a seeded lawn. In at 7.45am for a family breakfast, then out again to continue the task. The sun was hot, but the air a little fresher than of late and so I managed to work on until lunchtime. An incident this morning as the sewage pumping station overflow began to run. I knocked up Eddy and Stella, we phoned the District Council and a van and two men arrived an hour later to fix the pumps.
Eddy and I complained bitterly to the supervisor about the lack of regular inspection and maintenance that could lead to such sewage outfalls into the river. They used to inspect the station daily, but now it is only done once a week. We are to write to complain formally. Finished levelling the paving stones by lunchtime and went in to make myself a cheese salad lunch. Sat in the lounge eating a couple of pears afterwards and watched a fascinating documentary about a man who makes natural flower and insect models out of porcelain. Then to my office and paid some bills and telephoned to arrange a visit to Thormaid for next Tuesday. Also resolved a couple of other queries by phone before being called to tea. This evening, back out to finish levelling the downstream moorings lawn, watering it well to encourage the seeds to grow. Also watered the other plants on the bank, as the earth is very dry and as hard as concrete. In to watch the news, chuck out Daniel’s friend Jason and lock up the house. News today led on the testimony of Colonel Oliver North, former Nation Security Council member and Reagan aide, about how much the US President knew on the diversion of money to the Contras. He had assumed the President knew, but learned later ‘that he did not’. A second massacre has taken place in Punjab, when more than a score of Hindus were again murdered by shooting in a bus by Sikh extremists. This makes a total of three bus attacks. The SDP National Organiser, Mr McGowan, has resigned to lead the campaign to win support for the SDP/Liberal merger. A spectacular disaster in Germany as a petrol tanker crashed into an ice-cream parlour, exploding and setting fire to several buildings. They are still counting the dead. The Midland Bank sells off its Clydesdale and Northern banking subsidiaries to an Australian bank, to become more solvent in the wake of Latin-American debtor defaults. More warm weather forecast, but the air is much more bearable and less humid.