There were very poor arrangements the swimming pool lessons today with many mothers queueing for more than three hours without success and so I have organised a protest. Lunch locally and then off to Cambridge to do some shopping this afternoon for exam textbooks and then to buy some monitors from St Neots and to choose a new bed for Daniel. A riverside barbecue with the law family this evening and time to complete my Council filing at last. A helicopter crash seriously injures two children’s TV presenters and a settlement to the postal strike is delayed
Slept well after a late night and then came down late to breakfast but I was still in time to see Daniel off to school who is desperate for a decent briefcase for his books. This morning, Diana went to queue up at the Ernulf Pool to get the girls into their next swimming lessons and had to queue up most of the morning. I stayed at home and, after feeding the ducks and doves, I tried teaching Della to learn to ride her bike. She was more enthusiastic than skilful, but it was the start. I tried to sort out more of my Council files without much success and I also spoke to one or two neighbours about the planning application behind Willow Close and then heard just how serious the Ernulf Pool queueing was. Mothers had arrived from 6:30 AM onwards for 10 AM booking session and the average wait was three hours. Even then, many came away without the places they wanted, and some mums were near to tears with anger and frustration at the end of it all.
Luckily the weather was warm and fine or the misery would have been complete. I drove over there myself and then tried to turn out the local papers to take pictures and make a report but could not. Later, I called Mike Pope to get him to write a letter to the papers about it for publicity and then Mark Slater for action at next week’s St Neots Pool management committee meeting. We went off to the A45 Happy Eater for lunch and then on to Cambridge to do some shopping this afternoon. We bought an A-level chemistry textbook and another for GCSE French revision and I tried to get some monitors for our micros but then drove back to St Neots and bought two small TVs instead. Also stopped by Britain’s to choose a new bed for Daniel. Once home, we had a nice barbecue with the Law family by the river, us both supplying the food. At dusk, just time to feed the birds and then to successfully sort my Council files out at long last and then to write my Journal before very late to bed again. Main news story today is of a helicopter crash with two children’s TV presenters being seriously injured. Hopes of a settlement in the postal strike are lessened by an adjournment of the talks until tomorrow. The Vietnamese diplomat who last week threatened demonstrators outside the embassy with a toy gun has been expelled from Britain as a result. A sunny and fine day today and I did find time this evening to mow the games lawn.