I was dead to the world this very blustery and windy morning after a very late bedtime last night and then took calls from printers who persuaded me to adopt a smaller book page size to save £1000 in cost. The rest of the day adjusting my book copy to accommodate this plan and to incorporate comments from the Norris Museum. Journalists have exploited security weaknesses at Heathrow and Gatwick, but a mining tragedy was averted by actions of the pit manager. I have chosen to retain large cash balances, earning good interest rates, even though the stock exchange is rising.
I had gone to bed very late indeed last night and was dead to the world when was time to get up this morning. I came down to breakfast in my dressing gown and then was quietly showered etc. afterwards. I settle down in my office intending to spend the day’s effort on my book. The day started with two of my three short-listed printers contacting me and I was glad that they did because they convinced me that I should alter my book’s page size to the smaller dimensions and save close to £1.000. The trouble was, I then had to spend a tiresome day adjusting margins, formats and styles to try to design a layout that looked good but still packed a lot into a reduced amount of space. By the end of the day, I had worked it out and started to reformat my first chapters again.
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I also had the comments on my early history sections from Bob Murdoch of the Norris Museum and Library and incorporated them as well. I had more phone calls from journalists today on the local environmental issues and was finding the time at a premium. I still spent some time in my conservatory with my fish, having eaten lunch there after preparing it for myself. Di was out shopping in Bedford today and bought herself a shopping handcart. Contractors using a miniature digger to lay a large gas pipe along the Hayling’s for the new house next to Carisbrooke. The weather was very blustery and windy which made feeding the ducks and doves very unpleasant. The news today was all about airport security after tabloid newspaper journalists embarrassed everyone by penetrating security as cleaners at Heathrow; and fireworks were set off at Gatwick. There was happy ending for the serious mining disaster after a pit roof fell in. The pit manager ‘threw away the rule book’ and risked his life to bring the 10 men to safety by climbing through a gap in the rubble before the pit was shored up to reach them and taking them to safety. The stock exchange keeps rising in defiance of economic logic, but I am happy enough retaining my large cash deposits earning high interest rates. The city news is all about one ridiculous takeover after another and actual management and performance seems to matter little.