Starting the day working Pete and Daniel to finish laying turves on the games lawn until Nigel visited for a chat about property investments which he feels will reduce further in value and I appear in two more local papers this week about ‘what local personalities are doing on Boxing Day’! Flights from The London Dockland Airport are suspended due to lack of air traffic controller cover after two near misses, the Israelis have been brutal within the Gaza Strip to quell demonstrations, unrest in South Korea after protesters seize a ballot box stuffed with forged papers
Slept well after a late night, but was not too tired when I woke up this morning. Spent time over breakfast persuading Daniel that he should help with the turf laying and then I decided to help both him and Pete get the job done. I donned an older pair of jeans and jumper, wellington boots and rubber gloves and proceeded to drive both Pete and Daniel along at a far greater pace of work – probably twice or three times the rate. By mid-morning we had done a quarter of the area remaining and so had a rest and drink. Then Daniel and I ‘stacked up’ Pete with turves and went to prepare our lunch ((we were fetching the turves from Willow Close and Pete was laying them). The weather was warm, still, and dry today, which aided our task, but the ground and turves were still very soggy. The problem was that the damp turves had been deeply stacked and were deforming and sticking together the longer they were left. We had to finish the task today.
This afternoon I had agreed with Daniel a system whereby I would work for an hour and three quarters, then he would work to complete the job. I worked my spell, moving a large number of turves, and then stayed a while whilst Daniel came out. He had been doing a couple of hours revision. Then Nigel came round to see about my latest land interest and I broke off so that we could have a pot of tea together. He also thinks that land prices may well fall further. Back out as the ‘duo’ were getting behind again and I worked us all to a frazzle, but the job was finished by dusk. Just the spare turves to unroll, the paths to clear and everything to put away, which we did. A quiet evening reading the papers and writing up my journal, before an early night for a change. No chance to do my history again today. The Public Enquiry into the death of Tira Hindly has reported that disorganisation and incompetence in the Lambeth Council procedures led to a step-father beating and biting the 4 year old to death. The Council forgot that they were the legal ‘parent’ under a place of safety order. Fears about air traffic control cover have suspended all flights from the London Dockland Airport to Paris, which is most of the use of the airport. Because of lack of cover, pilots have had to rely on visual observation and last week there were two near misses. The underlying problem is a shortage of air traffic controllers and it may be 1990 before traffic control is integrated with Heathrow and Gatwick. Ivan Boesky, the crooked US ‘arbitrageur’, successfully convicted of insider dealing and financial crimes, has been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. He had been given a light sentence because of his cooperation with the authorities and revelations about Guinness, amongst other situations. The Israelis have continued tough action against Arab demonstrators in the Gaza Strip, which has been brutal in its approach to demonstrations. The protestors have continued with stones and petrol bombs, with Israeli troops responding with live rounds. More unrest in South Korea, as protestors seize a polling box stuffed full of forged ballot papers. Election officials did not authorise an investigation and then the guardians of the box were overpowered by police with teargas. More Gulf problems, as Iraqi warplanes hit a British-managed tanker. Then Iranian armed speedboats attacked other tankers twice in succession. British Petroleum has bought a large %age of Britoil and is now making a full takeover. The government, however, has stated its intention of retaining its overriding ‘Golden Share’ to outvote all comers and the final position is unclear. The Liberals and Social Democrats have published their new draft constitution for the formation of a new merged party. I am in the local papers twice this week, once about the success of the response and today with a photo and mention in the ‘What local personalities are doing on Boxing Day’ section. Daniel and I end the day counting turves.