6May1997

6 May 1997
My dear folks,

Sun & showers & spring temps. They’re welcome all. I stuck a hottie under my back when I went to bed last night & another between my feet. Slept like a bird till 0700 when Mavis popped up to invite me to serve breakfast, his i.e.. After some strong coffee, I spent a couple of hours reviewing developments in my latest computer mags & making notes before cycling down to White City (200m from TV Centre) for an interview re News Online. It went okay. There were just two bods there, from personnel & from Online (I knew the latter). I did most of the talking about the project as I saw it & the way ahead. ‘Twas all very informal. Now we’ll see. All that’s at stake at this stage is an attachment….no promotion or permanent job.

I have to rack my brains to remember what happened to yesterday; it seems so far away. I finished the last of 3 overnight shifts at 0800 & returned to the multi-storey car park with a colleague whom I occasionally drop off – to find the Rocket with a flat tyre, the 1st I can recall in its 17 year history. There are bad times to get flats & worse ones. I didn’t need it at the end of a shift. Still, these things happen. Colleague (a Canadian girl who lives around the corner) hung around while I dumped the contents of the boot on the ground, dug out the spare & did the necessary. Back into the boot went all the junk & home I came to sleep. Mave was waiting in the hall where he’d elected to spend the night. I was zapped. In the afternoon I went for my usual trot but found both the health food shop & greengrocer closed. Monday Bank holiday! Cullens had to do.

In the evening I drove over to Islington for supper with Penny & Richard. He is working flat out in his high-powered ICI job. I took a look at his computer files. The amount of email flying around ICI is scary. Hundreds of messages were lined up awaiting attention under all kinds of headings. In his shoes I think I’d be tempted just to pretend they weren’t there & play patience instead. Penny prepared the starter with the kind of dramatic utterances she’s liable too when the salad won’t lie down or oil heats up too fast. Delicious of course! So were the lamb goodies that Richard followed up with (sorry Anita) & the desert from Penny (more utterances when it didn’t look or behave the way she’d expected). She’s working hard towards the conclusion of an academic course. I took a glass or wine or two as it would have been churlish to refuse, especially such a fine wine as Richard offered. Otherwise, I remained on the straight & narrow. I’ve hit a plateau at 85/86 kgs which I have to break through. My BP seems to be back to normal…hallelujah!

Hats off to the new chancellor, Gordon Brown. After a little post prandial nap, Mave & I awoke to news that Mr Brown had given the Bank of England control of interest rates – in effect, making it an independent central bank. In spite of the enviable records set by the German & US central banks, Britain’s politicians have until now held on to the reins themselves (in the name of parliament), often for narrow political purposes. Today’s announcement came as a complete surprise. It wasn’t part of the Labour manifesto. If the new government carries on this like, I could get to like it. I was delighted too to see Labour’s man arrive in Brussels with the declared intention of working with Britain’s European partners rather than frustrating them. I’d become heartily sick of the xenophobic rantings & flag waving of the previous lot, protesting about the sovereignty of the pound. There’s wasn’t much sovereignty evident when George Soros was stripping it naked & Norman Lamont was wetting his Chancellor’s pants in the City. It was an episode that cost me dear & there was none more pleased than I to see ousted MP Mr Lamont looking for a new job last Friday.

The Conservatives are in the throes of their own campaign to elect a new leader. It’s looking messy. The only one of my Tory “nasties” to retain his seat, Michael Howard, is among the runners. I half hope he wins. He’s such a thoroughly repulsive character that he’ll bury the party for good & all.

Lots of publicity here about the huge losses suffered by the Canadian mining co. Bre-X as a result of the scam around the so-called Borneo discovery. We had pix of angry investors & of the Bre-x chairman rushing to escape the horsefly media. I thought he might be sharing my Canadian brother’s dislike of journalists, given the outrage of his denuded shareholders & the difficulty of explaining who perpetrated the “salting” fraud of the century. Hoo boy! The guys who creamed it must be chortling over their champagne in the Bahamas. Talk about the South Sea bubble.

Since we’re on things Canadian, let me express my pleasure in receiving your lengthy fax Ann. I’d feared that you’d long since succumbed to writer’s cramp. All the greater delight then in catching up on your lives. I’m grateful for your guidance on the wedding (why didn’t Penny just wear the dress back from Chicago & avoid paying any duty on it?) I’ll let you know that I still possess several suits from my correspondent’s days. Not only do I possess them, the chances are that I could just about get into them again. They’ve been mouldering up in the cupboard these last 10 years. I’ll see if I can find a guide on the Internet on dinner dance etiquette. Lord knows when I last attended one of those. Which foot does one put forward? Good luck for Alan’s matric & Mark’s theatre diploma course. Sounds like your racing drivers could use a little luck as well. My own memories of Australia echo your reflections. Somehow I liked Canada much more.

My dear Jones, I hope the French are now reconciled to their move. The election & subsequent budget have forced Tim Franks to cancel his July booking. I’ve re-advertised & told him that we should be able to fill the vacancy. No progress yet on my own attempts to get down at the end of May. I’ve left several messages to which I may find some response when I return to work tomorrow night. Work Wed/Thur nights & am then off until Tuesday. The forecasts showed huge showers moving your way. I guess you’ve had a wet day. (Sun has come out here for the evening & the wind has gone away!) A colleague has asked to buy my “old” computer. He’s due around to inspect it on Saturday. With any luck I’ll get the new one on Monday.

Cath, you have been a busy little bee. I was glad to hear better news of Rolf’s job & to catch up with your growing up daughters. Don’t let them grow up too fast, Mavis wouldn’t be pleased. Ouch for Anita’s finger. How on earth did she get it caught in the bread machine? And is it better yet. Gives me the wobbleys in the gobbleys. Hope your dental problem has been sorted out.

Since I began this letter, I’ve taken the car around to Kwikfit & had the puncture repaired. There was a great big wicked nail through it. They didn’t even charge me. I gave the bod who fixed it a healthy tip & brought the car home via the health food shop. I confess that there was a small loaf of fruit bread in the car when I left the shop that wasn’t there when I got home. I was ravenous. The fridge is stuffed full of Mr Sainsbury’s best micro-wavables – as I stopped over there on my way back from the Beeb this p.m. I settled down in the TV chair at 0200 to listen to the World News & woke exactly an hour later feeling refreshed. Mave must have been pretty refreshed as well.