Taking Di and Della to the new to Neots Gateway Supermarket on a milder but wet day as my back improved and I was able to archive my Little Paxton reference material and then back to learn of Daniel’s Maths success and elevation to the 1st set as UK political leaders tour the world trying to look statesmanlike for the expected General Election and news emerges of Terry Waite being held hostage as a ‘suspected US Spy’ whilst the US is intent on keeping open the Straits of Hormuz in the Gulf and record numbers of UK nurses are leaving because of poor conditions
A sound night’s sleep and then my back was further improved by the time I was awoken to my morning tea. I sat out in the bedroom chair, drinking my tea again, and then got smartly showered and dressed to be early for breakfast. I teased Di and then Dan about them being late, ratty, and having got out of bed the wrong side (though, of course, they hadn’t), but they took this in good part, as I am rarely so early to breakfast. Daniel off to school, and then Debbie, and I repaired to my office, as Di took Della to St Neots to shop for the first time at the new Gateway supermarket.
I spent this morning listing the reference material collected for my Little Paxton history and filing it separately in a lever arch file of its own for storage and reference. Di returned to make me another sandwich lunch and we were all (Di, me and Della) very good in eating wisely. This morning, I had a phone call from Paul Salvadori and he had arranged for the Elm Leisure builders to come and complete the enclosure of our pool boiler. They had started and were well under way before lunch and were soon finished afterwards. This afternoon, I telephoned three unit trust managers and initiated ‘sell’ transactions for certain of the unit trusts held on behalf of the children, to take advantage of their annual capital gains tax exemptions. Then to clear up and, when Daniel returned home, we went out to check the ‘Little Lady’ for any cabin leaks in today’s rain. In the event, it had been completely weather-tight. Tea of pork chops and then I got Daniel to go through his school work and then we went out to fold up the boat trailer and store it in the outer garage. I was pleased that we could use its winch to secure it on its side, so as to avoid any chance of it falling over. Today, we had to put up with the large truck constructed by the boys yesterday and we made Dan and Debs take it apart this evening. At 8.00pm this evening, Mr Petty (Kimbolton’s Head of Maths) phoned to confirm that Daniel had achieved an average of 58% in his mock GCE maths exam and will join the first set next term. For the next month’s holiday, he has to work through old maths papers to further catch up. The news today is of the Thatcher posturing in her election preparations, by running from France to Germany, before her visit later this week to Russia to meet President Gorbachev. The Labour Party leaders are also travelling to visit US President Reagan and tried to see Gorbachev this week as well. Tory Chairman, Norman Tebbit, waded into the Alliance again today and the Alliance express delight that the Conservatives see them as such a major electoral threat. With the Alliance reaching credibility, there could be a bandwagon effect. The government has revealed that it is considering ending unemployment benefit for school leavers who are not accepted on YTS schemes. Iranian radio has said that Terry Waite has been kidnapped as an American spy. The ‘Revolutionary Justice Organisation’, which has close links with Iran, is said to be holding this Envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The US has declared its intention of keeping open the Straits of Hormuz in the Gulf, which could lead to armed conflict, if Iran seems like using its new missile acquisitions on the shipping. The government is considering asking all pregnant women to volunteer for AIDS screening tests, according to Health Minister Norman Fowler. Meanwhile, a record number of nurses are leaving the profession, or being attracted abroad to the US, because of cutbacks and lack of career opportunities in the National Health Service. After a mild and wet day (11 to 12degC), more wet weather is forecast tomorrow and then colder conditions will move in to make us start shivering again.