A day of recovery from the floods as the water drained away, nearly all of the local roads were open again and our grounds were recovering. The government will press ahead with the BP sale, despite Back Monday and today’s early stock exchange recoveries deteriorating into more panic selling after lunchtime. I was transcribing and printing out the Mrs Shepherd interview tape and taking Debbie riding before her parents evening at The Kimbolton Prep where we were pleased to hear that she was getting on well in all subjects but disappointed to hear of her not being streamed for Maths in the top set. There is good progress in the superpower arms talks to eliminate nuclear weapons but the Iranians have attacked the Dubai supertanker oil terminal in the Gulf
Earlier to bed and a better night’s sleep. Awoken by Diana’s new clock/alarm and looked out to see the river gradually draining off of the games lawn. Local Cambridgeshire radio broadcast a much more encouraging picture – only the Offord to Buckden Road was closed in the enlarged county, though much and partial flooding on many roads still makes them dangerous. An overnight scare of flooding in Huntingdon & Godmanchester, but the river hit a peak in the early hours and then started to slowly drop. Up, washed and showered, ready for breakfast of croissants and wheat flakes and I was at the table early enough to have the meal with the children. Took a look at Debbie’s mathematics homework and got her to correct a few mistakes, as it is going to be assessed for the sets for maths. I hope that she is in the top maths set, as it seems to affect their entire progress through the school and to fail to make the break would be the first time she has had to admit to being second best.
Once the children were gone, I put on my boots and jumper and went out to see the riverside gardens. A good level of silt everywhere, but no serious problems. The summerhouse and Bill’s shed were under, but the main shed was only damp. Pete arrived and I kept him away from the mess until it dries out and got him cleaning the windows. Early optimism on the London and Wall Street stock exchanges soon turned into more panic selling after lunchtime, but the government is determined to press ahead with no delay in the BP sale. To my office to transcribe the rest of the Mrs Shepherd interview tape and then print it out, whilst keeping a continual eye on the stock exchange. Di’s Mum came round this afternoon to look after Daniella, whilst Di went to her keep fit. The two went for a walk on a sunny and still day, if quite chilly. Later, I completed the Shepherd print out and, after our tea, took Debbie to horse riding. She had Tango and, by all accounts, succeeded in falling off, but I did not see it as we made arrangements to go to her school tonight to meet her teachers. A local taxi driver collected her for us and she was asleep when we came home. Teacher meetings are always a problem and tonight’s was made more difficult by delays in getting to see them. The prep school tried hard by serving wine and cocktails & snacks. We met Mr Jerome, who currently takes Debbie and the top set for maths, only to be told that she was not in the top set (!) Mrs Lee was rather uninspiring as a teacher, but the recorder teacher was good. At least we heard that Debbie is half way up her class in all subjects and that must be good enough, when so many children failed to meet the entrance requirements. Home quite late and tired from the exertion to find Daniel had not done much work, but was at least honest enough to admit it. The main news is of good progress in the superpower arms talks to eliminate nuclear weapons and an agreement seems on the cards. Both the UK and US stock exchanges closed lower, as the stock market slump continues. The FT100 was 110 down at 1833 and the Dow Jones 77 at 1950. Additionally, the New York stock exchange has cut 3 hours from trading on the next three working days, ‘to let dealers catch up on transactions’. At the moment, the BP share issue looks a dead duck, but the government will not postpone it. In the Gulf, the Iranians have attacked the Dubai supertanker oil terminal and the US markets also fear armed conflict as well as economic policy uncertainty.