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Poor Debbie had a rash today but it was diagnosed as an allergy and so was able to go to school as I was studying the financial markets in which the bottom fell out of the equity market, 10% on the London Exchange and 25% in New York all from fears about bank solvency with fears of the Gulf conflict escalating as US Forces attack at least two Iranian Oil platforms. In Wales over 4 ins of rain flood land and collapses a railway bridge. The Great Cello player, Jacqueline du Pre, died today of multiple sclerosis
A reasonable night, after getting warm by slipping away Diana’s hot water bottle when she was asleep. A little slow in my morning preparations, but the girls were still at breakfast when I arrived. Poor Debbie had a bad rash around her elbows, knees and on her body. Di took her straight to the Doctor this morning and he agreed with our view that it is probably an allergy. We suspect the pepsin ant-worm medicine (we’ve just taken our second doses) and her new pyjamas as well. She was allowed to go to school after her examination. Di also did her shopping in town. I stayed in my office, printing out the newly transcribed interviews, but also keeping a close eye on the teletext news of the Stock Exchange. With the markets closed, due to the hurricane on Friday, and continued day by day declines on Wall Street, today had to be a crunch day in the City. I had predicted a crash and it happened. With Hong Kong and Japan suffering record falls over night, the bottom fell out of the London Stock Exchange this morning.
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Visit of Charles and Norma after Di’s birthday and then time for some work on recent history interviews as more storms and torrential rain affects hundreds of homes in Wales with 2ins of rain in 24hrs whilst 300,000 homes nationwide are still affected by the Great Storm. Incinerator ship, Volcanus II, is harried by Danish fishing vessels
A restful night and was asleep when Di brought my morning tea, on another breezy, if dry, day. Up to shower, shave and dress in time for breakfast with the family and, in fact, with 10 minutes to spare for reading the Sunday paper beforehand. A nice fried breakfast, whilst poor Di had to be content with a plate of bran flakes because of her diet. This morning I finished reading today’s papers and then went out to feed the ducks and doves. A session afterwards on my history diskettes, before it was time for me to lay up our dining room table, with best china and silver, for our lunch with Di’s parents. They arrived at 12.30pm and Daniel, Della and I chatted to them in the lounge until Di had got the lunch ready.
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Di’s Birthday – Celebrating Di’s birthday on a much less eventful day, with the South of England slowly recovering from ‘The Great Storm’ as 500,000 homes remained without electricity and I also carried on working on my history project. Thatcher still remains embarrassingly isolated at the Commonwealth Conference, the remaining Tamil Tiger are ‘fighting to the death’ in the Jaffna Peninsula, and the tanker attacks continue in The Gulf.
At last, a reasonable night’s sleep, free from storms and other disturbances. I still had my cold, but put it out of my mind for the duration. Awake quite early, but still groggy for my morning tea. The mornings start dark at this time of the year, but there was enough light to reveal that the river flood level was still the same and well restricted to below a harmful height. Slowly and deliberately, I showered, washed my hair, shaved and dressed, getting to the breakfast table late again. Di was pleased with her birthday cards, but lacked presents as yet. She was quickly out, as her contact lens problems meant an early appointment in Cambridge. Fortunately for me, she took the girls along too, leaving me alone this morning to get on with my office work. I used the peace and quiet to sort out my stockbrokers tangled web of errors.
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Sleep disturbed by huge gales with hurricane force 100mph winds and torrential rain killing 13 nationwide in the worst storm for 300 years. This made worse for me by my cold as I intended to stay in and not join Di going to Bedford but I had to take Daniel and Debbie to school as the bus was not running. Calls from my parents and Freda and they were fine, despite local damage. The City of London was paralysed due to power cuts at the same time as by coincidence the US Dow had a record one-day fall, an Isle of Wight pier was destroyed and 500 specimen trees were damaged or destroyed at Kew Botanical Gardens
A very poor night again. First, I stayed up too late listening to the new HiFi and writing my journal, then my cold and ticklish throat stopped me from going to sleep and, finally, 100mph storm force winds and torrential rain woke me up at 3.00am and again at 4.00am. I feared for the boats and the stability of our pole dovecote, but both were secured adequately. This morning the rain and wind continued, my cold was worse, and so I decided to let Di go shopping in Bedford alone, whilst I stayed at home and looked after Daniella. Di dropped Dan & Debbie off at the bus stop for their school bus and set off, but the children were soon back, as the bus was not running. I phoned the school and then took them in by car myself and the roads seemed OK to me. Elsewhere, radio reports were of trees and telephone poles down, the whole of SE England without electricity and many deaths from the freak weather. It seems that the winds were 96mph in the London area, sheltered by buildings, which is the most since records began in the 1940s.