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Back at home reviewing my investments, the work on finishing my new Games lawn and researching more Rolls Royce cars and ending up at loggerheads with Di as I wanted a 1920’s tourer and her the Corniche convertible! Then taking Debbie riding on a cold but sunny day and she looked very smart in her new riding gloves, boots and jodhpurs. Nurses strike for the first time in their history over salary cuts, an outbreak of Meningitis is down-played and more Secret Service memoirs are suppressed
Was rather restless last night, awaking early, and this cast a tired shadow over the rest of the day. Had a cereal breakfast and then, by radio broadcast, was conscious of the last two day’s stock market performances. The exchanges are so positive at the moment, when, by my instincts and judgement, they should be collapsing. The Japanese authorities have rigged the rules on institutional liquidity. It used to be that they had to value investments at the lower of cost or current value, but now it can be the higher, which is most risky. The result, of course, is that investors borrowing on the margin can stay in rather than liquidating, but the dangers are obvious. Out first to see Pete and brief him on the work on the games lawn. Two edges are now finished and he has now to do the other two. Then I scanned my City SEAQ data and phoned my stockbrokers with sell orders on British Aerospace and Bank of Scotland and spent much of the day fretting on the outcome. I also telephoned several Rolls Royce dealers about Corniche Convertibles and 20HP open tourers. I am getting more and more hooked on the latter.
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Grumbling at the morning drinks and breakfast buffet after which Di went shopping and I researched Rolls Royce and then visited two dealers where I loved the look of a 1920s 20 HP open tourer b ut settled on more modern Corniche models as a more practical desire. More shopping in the first day of Harrods’s sale but no agreement on cutlery and so the long drive home to collect the girls from Bar Hill on an increasingly stormy day which sinks small fishing boats off of Blackpool. More reports about the plight of the National Health Service with delayed operations, the Gaza Strip row continues with Gerald Kaufman having to intervene to prevent Israeli forces from detaining an ITV camera team whilst Thatcher is being condemned during her visit to Kenya for supporting South African apartheid.
Slept well in our hotel bed. It was wide and king size, so that I could stretch out easily. Di was the first to wake early this morning, so that she would not miss any time. I lay longer and was only truly awake when the morning drinks had been ordered and I had to get up to let the waiter in. We dressed and took our breakfast in the restaurant on the first floor of this, the Selfridge Hotel. It was the increasingly usual routine of being served drinks (coffee or tea) at the table and then serving yourself from a large server, displaying all the things you might want. Most people are keen on this idea, as you can take away croissants or quantity of food, risking not the embarrassment or restriction of having to voice ones desires. Diana is of this view, but I am not. I know what I want, have no problem in ordering it, and hate having to jump up and down, which I find anything but relaxing.
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Our journey to London to book into the 3rd floor of the Selfridge Hotel and then to review the Rolls Royce Corniche Convertibles in Jack Barclay’s Berkley Square showroom before seeing Charlton Heston star in ‘A Man for all seasons’ at The Savoy Theatre in The Strand to end an enjoyable day without the girls. Charing Cross Railway Station was a mess tonight as it awaits renovation. The Gaza Strip violence and David Mellor’s outspoken statements were critically featured in the Tory press but he and his officials are standing their ground and a senior Ulster judge has resigned, criticising lax security for the judiciary
Slept better last night and I appear to have regained my own thinner pillow, that made a great difference. Di was early awake this morning in anticipation of our trip to London, but I stayed in bed a short while listening to the radio. In fact, hearing the crockery jingling below in the kitchen, I joined the girls for an early cereal breakfast before showering, shaving and dressing, which experience is unusual to me. I was right ready to travel at 8.00am and checked my last minute packing. It is such a pleasure to use our new suitcases, as they are gusseted and most easy to pack.
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A dental appointment today, resulting in poor news, and then much of the day trying to find a Rolls Royce Corning convertible whilst also monitoring the markets for investment opportunities and then transcribing some more interview tapes later. More Israeli over-reaction in Gaza today which is condemned by our visiting minister David Mellor, who also condemns the squalor of refugee camps there and the Kurds have murdered a West German Diplomat at the Paris Embassy
Slept poorly last night and just lay restlessly between 4.00am and 6.00am, before I thought it was time enough to disturb Diana. She is a most unfriendly person before she has had her regular morning ‘fix’ of two mugs of coffee. Still, chatted a while about Daniella and getting her started on a number of learning processes, such as numbers and reading etc. Breakfast of cereal again, having been up and ready remarkably early for once. I fielded the post – some quite exciting cheques for once from our recent share sales – and then read the newspaper a little. Soon it was all out by Range Rover to see Mr Osbourne, our dentist in St Neots. A rather disappointing visit – I was told that I had lost a rather large chip off one of my back teeth and will need it drilled out, capped and probably pinned as well, which will be most uncomfortable. Di also needs another session with the hygienist. We did a chore or two in town (me paying in my cheques and then buying an Exchange and Mart) and then we went home, stopping off at Little Paxton Post Office on the way for Di’s Child Benefit. I had tried to get a Sunday Times from yesterday at all of these places, but they had already been sent back at the same time as today’s deliveries. I was seeking any means of finding out about Rolls Royce Cornish Convertibles.