24April1996

My dear folks,

My desk is in a state of confusion that extends to the surrounding study & back into the rest of the flat. I have the reassurance of a full day to do something about it. In fact, I’ve started; both the washing machine & the dish washer are grinding away in the background, making up for lost time. The scene compares with the piles of paper & God knows what that littered the desk of the GP I had to see briefly this afternoon. He was barely visible across the paper dump & his every action required a careful shuffling of the heap to retrieve the relevant object or document. All I needed from him was a note which he was pleased to give me, once he’d managed to find his pad.

I’d arrived at his rooms from the dentist who’d mined one of my back teeth to a depth that impressed even him. He is the gentlest & most reassuring of professionals, a man I could happily have met a lot earlier in my life. He began by placing a glass of cognac beside me - he always keeps a bottle handy for patients - & inviting me to take a swig. I declined, fearing I’d give the wrong impression to the GP. But afterwards, I succumbed most pleasantly to temptation. The cognac was the real thing, too. If only there were more such dentists. I return next week for him to complete the operation by installing a gold band. It’s one of those cases where the pain is nearly all financial.

I’d worked overnight & tucked away 4 hours sleep before having to rise at lunchtime. It was a good night as they go. The editor had asked me to revamp the lead package - on events in & around Lebanon & given me a relatively free hand. I had the luxury of 4 hours to examine the video elements - at least a dozen - scrutinise the wires, write a script & put the whole thing together. I was working with a VT editor who was a perfectionist, but fast working, & the pair of us were more than happy with the final result (which took 4 revampings of earlier results). So was the boss, which was nice. Morale at the office is low as the impact of the collapse of Arabic Service TV sinks in. The Saudi backers pulled the money plug when the reporting got too close to home! The financial consequences are impacting on us too. We’ve been warned that redundancies & cutbacks are inevitable! The only question is how many.

I had a welcome phone call from Conal tonight to say that his email was up and running at last. Note all: He’s tiger@fast.co.za & looks forward to hearing from you. He’s about to buy a printer as well, one of the HP’s you recommend Cathy. Truly, the guarantee you got was extraordinary, a replacement after 3 years! Speaking of which, Hambachers, that’s Calgary & Witbank both wired up, not to speak of Penny & Richard here in London. When are you going to follow suit? You’ll find the cost more than compensated for by the fall in your fax bills.

Jones, I posted off the photos to Sheela today. There’s a high moving your way which ought to give you sunshine until at least the end of the week. How looks my roof after its first test? After a couple of muggy days here, the weather has cooled. It’s been showery, with a mixture of sunshine & rain on the menu. Britain, ironically, needs rain really badly if it’s to stave off another series of emergency measures in the summer. If it’s nice tomorrow, I’ll take myself off for a walk somewhere. Beyond that, the day is going to be spent largely on a spring clean.

Blessings ever,
T