Steve was up first and made the breakfast and then helped me progress the Paxton Princess wiring but he was distracted and worried about his problems at home and wanted to get back, so I took him to the station. Late today Iraq offered to withdraw from Kuwait but a string of unacceptable conditions was attached. I tackled Mr Lincoln about leaving logs in the drainage ditch and got an earful of abuse and then threats from his younger colleague.
Steve was up first and made the breakfast. He was a bit scathing on the lack of any cooker at the bungalow and we had to settle for Oat Bran Flakes. It was back to work again, but Steve was understandably distracted with wanting to get back to tackle some of his problems. He is another casualty of the recession; with the sale of his house in jeopardy and job lost through redundancy, which is a shame. By now, I was expecting Diana and the girls to be coming up to join me on the boat for a few days but, with the dyke and river iced-up and weather freezing cold, she was opting to stay at home and watch over the builders working on the Hall/Utility area. It was intended that Steve be able to borrow her car to get back for the weekend, but I took him to Wroxham to catch the train home instead.
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Our first activity today was to try and wire up the alarm key-switch on the bridge console and then the bridge instrument panel lights whilst we had the console apart. These had never been connected before and Steve helped me to work out what to do and then I completed the job on my own later. I was also boggling over the task of inserting a 1/4in Calor gas shut-off valve into a 1/2in gas pipe which the boat is fitted with! Local chandlers do not sell fittings to bridge this change in dimension as boats systems do not usually have pipes this thick fitted. We also worked on installing the magnetic alarm contacts into the access door and hatch which was quite a business to achieve neatly.
The late news today was Iraq offering to withdraw from Kuwait but early hopes of an end to the war were dashed when it became apparent that a string of conditions was attached. I tackled Mr Lincoln today about his leaving logs in the drainage ditch and received an earful of abuse and profanities, followed up by a threatening visit from his younger colleague, which I refused to respond to. I foresee trouble ahead with what they are doing and will try to organise a formal complaint.