To Cambridge today to look at our new Daimler seat space and headroom and then more shopping after a Copper Kettle lunch before reading to Debbie and taking her horse-riding to increase her confidence as Thatcher makes her combative and defiant Conference speech, San Salvador is devastated by a major earthquake and we make a killing with the TSB issue
Was very late to bed last night, feeling sorry for myself and watching the TV, and so did not want to wake up this morning. Had a lay-in, however, as Diana had forgot to set the alarm and I had to wake her up at 7.40am! Showered, shaved, dressed and down to a breakfast of two croissants. Then out to chat to Pete, who agreed with the idea of getting the JCB driver in for a day or two to level our games lawn area. Sat in the lounge reading our paper, waiting for the post and, when it arrived, I was pleased to see the TSB allotments.
Remarkably, I seem to have been successful in all but one of our 11 applications – even though it was supposed to be a 1 in 2 ballot – although the numbers had been drastically reduced and most of the application money returned. Set off for Cambridge with Diana in the Escort Estate and drove first to Simpsons Ropeworks, where I successfully collected my boat cover and 15 litres of re-proofing fluid. On to Marshalls to have another look at the Jaguars and concluded that there would not be sufficient headroom for me in a Daimler with a sliding roof. I must now leave it to Mr Hamblin to either obtain a Daimler without one, or make seating modifications to accommodate me. Then to the Red Lion car park, where we had surprisingly little trouble to finding a parking place. No coffee break as Di had had one at Marshals and they had also plied Della with orange juice, sausage rolls and crisps. I found Gerard Chadwick of Vintners out and so could not see him about the TSB return cheques for the trusts. We both did a little shopping around Cambridge and then met for a cheese ploughman’s salad lunch at the Copper Kettle. A little more shopping after and then the drive home. Rather tired and so sat in the lounge and watched Thatcher’s speech to the Tory Conference on TV. By enthusiasm and stage management, the applause broke all her previous records, after a negative speech slating the other parties. Time then to take Debbie horse riding. She is going through a difficult spell at the moment, holding on and declining to canter, but she did much better than last week and should canter on Emma next week. This evening, settled in early in front of a log fire and wrote my journal, before doing some reading, as Diana watched the TV. Read a Country Companion for Debbie and checked Daniel’s schoolwork. The news tonight is of a major earthquake in San Salvador, killing many people and devastating buildings. No doubt graphic pictures of the disaster will be on the TV tomorrow. Closer to home in Brighton, the bodies of two missing girls were found by a boy in Moulsecoomb. This was very close to where I studied for my degree at Brighton Polytechnic. There is a lull before the East/West Summit, as it is due to start in a day or so and they are preoccupied with their arrangements. The TSB shares opened at a near 100% premium this morning and then fell back a little as the institutions bided their time. I will not sell for a few days.