20March1996

My dear folks,

I’ve an active day behind me. It started badly in the middle of a working night with one of the alcohol-free “hangovers” I sometimes get from irregular sleeping patterns. Most unfair! Happily, I had an understanding editor who was happy to allow me to leave early & I crashed into bed at dawn. I woke middayish as Mavis hopped on to the bed to demand brunch. The rotund feline had been on the tiles overnight. He doesn’t like being left alone in the flat when I leave for work & waits anxiously at the door, poised to dash out the moment I open it. There was no sign of him on my return but soft-hearted Stef had found the shivering waif in the street mid-morning & let back him into the flat. I faxed a thank you before lunching on toasted peanut butter & honey sandwiches. Then I phoned Boots Chemists for an optician’s appointment.

Boots informed me that they could take me either in two weeks time or in 30 mins. I settled on half an hour - they’re a brisk 20 minute walk away. But I immediately got entangled in a Quinta phone call & then had to jog much of the way to arrive on time, something I managed, if somewhat perspirey & misty-goggled. So I wasn’t impressed at having to wait 25 minutes to be seen. I knew I’d need new glasses because of the difficulty I’ve been finding with small print - especially London maps. So it was. I ordered two pairs. The good news was that the frames were half price. The bad news was that the multi-focal, photochromatic lenses I require cost a bomb & were not. I worked out how much per day it would cost me to see properly & felt better.

On to the bank(s) & further brisking walking back home, just in time to run Stef & her dog down to the vet for a jab. It was a cold, grey, drizzly day & Stef was grateful for my offer. The dog however was not & promptly sicked up all over her handbag & the towel covering my back seat on the way home. As I told Stef, that’s why I keep the towel there. A wash will remove all traces of the damage to it. I’m not so sure about the handbag which I last saw being subjected to a dousing in the yard.

I’ve just put new Quinta ads in the BBC magazine & must have spent an hour talking to prospective clients. Jones my dear, Ruth Hawkins, Gillian Houghton & Sue Rayner have all hardened their bookings & I’ve strong interest from one Tony Morris for the large cottage end-Aug, start-Sept (the vacancy left by Ruth Hawkins when she cancelled the 7th Heaven booking). I’ve sent off bumph to other enquirers. You’re going to have a busy summer. I suppose we should be grateful.

Headline news here is the government announcement that a link has been discovered been Mad Cow Disease (bovine spongiform encephasomething) & the human equivalent, Jacob Kreuzfelt Disease. (The cows got it by eating meal made from sheep infected with scrapie - the ovine equivalent.) The humans appear to have got it from contact, eating or otherwise, with infected cattle products. The conclusion derives from a study of some 10 people, including several farmers, who died of the latter. Govt ministers hopped awkwardly from one foot to another at various news conferences throughout the day as they’ve spent several years denying point blank that any link was possible. The public, suspicious of such assurances, has been deserting beef in a big way in spite of remedial action the govt has taken. The beef industry, needless to say, is worried stiff. And with good reason.

I have a Quinta writing evening in prospect & I have allowed myself to open a bottle of wine to mark the occasion. Annie, how’s the computing going? & Cathy, how was your get together? All answers to Terry & Mave in London pse. XXXXXX T