Progressing my history book and conservatory/pond projects, dealing with the problems of both and then attending Pathfinder House for a four-hour Poll Tax Seminar which was revealing its cost and complexity of introduction. The latest Ulster trial, this time of an extreme Protestant, the Gorbachev/Reagan goodbyes and more on the Edwina Curry ‘egg row’
I was awoken early this morning and responded well to the call, putting in half an hour’s work at my desk before breakfast. After this, I resumed work on the standard letter to be sent to the fifteen possible printers for my history book, whose names and addresses I secured from other similar books and yellow page directories. I was much interrupted by the antics of the builders. The tiler arrived to find the floor much too damp for timing. It seems that the brick planter on top of the far section had led to the dampness from the mortar permeating back into the floor. He had to go away to do another job and we are hoping that the floor will be dry and that he will be free by Friday so that we can get the job done then. I also spoke to Frost & Co to chase them up on the remainder of the work, but the fitters will not come to do the vent mechanism until next week.
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It is all getting very close to Christmas, but I hope to get the pond commissioned on Wednesday. I carried on working this afternoon, collating my printer Requests for Quotations and then it was soon time for an early tea and an evening at Pathfinder House. It was a four-hour seminar on the Poll Tax and the full extent of the problems as far as cost and complexity were concerned and laid out as a management problem. I got Diana to give me a lift there and councillor Mark Slater (Labour, Eynesbury) to give me a left home. I had a call from Paul Ambrose tonight and did a financial/character reference for him in duplicate and left it out. Also compiled a list of contributors of information and photographs for my history book so that I can write and ask for their formal permission to incorporate the material in the book in due course. Once that is all dealt with, I can get back to work on the actual task of the book itself! News tonight is of the trial of the Protestant extremist who killed three at the IRA Gibraltar funeral. Also of Gorbachev saying goodbye to President Reagan. The British Steel Offer for Sale settled down at a minute premium to the offer price. The government struggle over publicity as to whether eggs for human consumption are all infected with poisonous food microbes or not as the new Christmas drink/drive publicity campaign is launched.