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No rest for me as, despite my exertions from recent days, I had just a short time to review my mail and council papers before undertaking three press and radio interviews and hosting Percy and Sally to prepare for our afternoon Full Council meeting of the HDC which went well considering.
Once back, off again to make up the quorum for a re-scheduled parish planning meeting and then once home, a long call with Freda about her Redgrave Stores business and the need for proper accounts. Still no reply from Iraq and the bloody ground war seems less than a day or two way now.
There was again no rest for me as today I had to quickly plan and implement our party's contribution to the Full Council meeting of the HDC. Tired and late up from all of my exertions, I had the added problem of a body full of the muscular aches and pains to cope with. Furthermore, I have hands sore with scratches and scrapes that also need to recover. At least I am fitter and a little slimmer from the experience. A short time to review the most urgent of my mail; to undertake three press and radio interviews and the shortest of periods to review the council papers before Percy and Sally had arrived to join me for a group meeting to plan our afternoon. We worked out a good plan of campaign and then drove off together and had a pre-meeting lunch at Pathfinder House before the meeting began.
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A final hard-working day in Horning, breaking up the ice in the dyke to take the Paxton Princess to Barnes in Wroxham where I had located the Range Rover to be able to return to Heronshaw. The tiring task of draining the house water system to avoid burst pipes next time and then driving back home to Paxton for a quick turnround for a S.W. Cambs Executive meeting of the constituency Liberal Democrats in to Cambridge. We were still waiting for Saddam Hussein's response to the Soviet peace plan.
This was yet another full hard-working day, the last of my "working" holiday. I had stayed up late the day before to tidy up the boat and bungalow and so was reluctantly up early to start work this morning. The ice in the dyke was remaining stubbornly and so I had a major ice-breaking job ahead of me. I first loaded up the car with excess items that were not needed before starting the job. By use of a large timber for the thicker ice and an old oar for the thinner stuff, I first broke up the ice within reach of the boat and then started the boat engines to edge out backwards breaking the ice as I went. This was a very slow and ponderous business, and I enjoyed a welcome break when Jack came by and offered to give me a lift back from Wroxham after I had located the Range Rover there.
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Another full day working on Paxton Princess fitting the security alarm system ready for work at Barnes Brinkcraft the following day. IRA bombs explode at Paddington and Waterloo Railway Stations and so all London mainline stations were closed. Two US ships are holed by mines laid by the Iraqis in the Gulf.
Yet another full day at work on the boat, with no need to leave the property. I commissioned the gas valve properly after yesterday's trial and it was still working well. Then I wired the circuits for the rear bilge pumps and the external security loop and removed all of the cupboard linings for access that was quite revealing. I left these areas accessible so that Barnes could strengthen the davits anchorages and so that R&J would also be able to install the auto-pilot gear properly. I checked by telephone with Barnes today and they are still expecting the boat in for the work tomorrow for a couple of weeks.
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After another hard frost, I worked all day on the boat alarm and monitoring system and learnt that Della’s new teeth were forming. Iraq's Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz, arrives in Moscow for talks over a new Soviet peace plan just as the Royal Air Force had to admit that some of its bombs fell into civilian areas
There was another hard frost again last night, but this reverted to a slow thaw today. I achieved the commissioning of the engine-room sensors, front bilge level warning and gas/vapour detector and then plumbed in and tested the gas valve cut-off and was pleased to see that it was working perfectly. During my telephone call home tonight, I learnt that Della's "sticking-out tooth" had fallen out today which is the first step in allowing her remaining teeth to straighten nicely. One compensation with the loss of trees next door is that my cellular telephone reception is much improved, and I am therefore better able to keep in touch with the outside world.
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