The day started with a concerted effort for two builders to re-model our house hall/utility area and they made good progress and then, after Di had gone to Cambridge, I prepared the information for Percy’s membership drive and then drove to Huntingdon and achieved good progress on the HDC Policy Committee.
The Gulf War bombardments are excessive and cutting off Iraq’s force in Kuwait. The possibility of Pegasus taking over On-Site Training has receded and with it my £30,000 investment.
The builders started work on our hall/utility area today and we had prepared the area for them to get down to work. I had moved the fire break-glass alarm out of the way and Diana had emptied the broom cupboard etc. They did quite well, really. We have essentially a two-man decorating partnership on the job who are flexible enough to do the bits and pieces as well. They demolished and removed the broom cupboard and the old tiles from the boiler position; cut back, keyed in, and then built up a new dividing block wall, ready for the fitting of a new door carcass, and fitted a new tumble-drier vent to take the hose when this machine is re-sited.
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I called the plumber, and he came round this evening with an old butler sink that we will use for the outside facilities and this is to be placed upon brick plinths ready for him to plumb it in. I was somewhat distracted by all of the activity and did not achieve a great deal today. Diana had gone to Cambridge and left me to make my own drinks and lunch. I did prepare all of the material and letters etc to organise Percy's latest membership canvass campaign and dropped them round to him later.
This evening, I went to Pathfinder House for an HDC Policy meeting which was quite rewarding. I put up a good effort to get certain things discussed and there was actually a journalist present which was quite something these days. I particularly hammered what I felt to be the inadequacy of the forthcoming year's spending plans given the amounts that we are allowed to spend by government and the little that we are doing. Also had a good chance to pick up information from the other councillors which was very helpful, given my plans for next May's elections. Home via Percy and to bed late, after Diana had already retired.
The Gulf War air bombardment is reaching a key stage with raids on more and more infrastructure targets. This effectively reduces Iraq's ability to wage war but also attracts criticism from Arab and non-aligned states who say that the action is going much further than that intended by the United nations resolutions. Figures for Iraqi military and civilian dead are not properly reported as it is in the interests of both sides to keep this from the people of the world. With all this, it seems that the "Coalition" (US-led forces) are deliberating on the timing of the land war and, with the movement of key decision-makers to Saudi Arabia, I see this as starting next week. They will aim to overwhelm and cut off the Iraqi forces in Kuwait, now that many of the bridges and supply lines have been taken out.
I had been waiting today to hear whether the company Pegasus were going to agree take-over terms for the purchase of On-Site, but the answer was a disappointing "no". This means that company (and our £30,000 investment) will soon be in receivership and liquidation. The weather has been getting very cold this last couple of days with eastern winds straight from Russia and it is forecast to get even colder later this week with very cold weather indeed.