20August1997

Wednesday 20 August
My dear folks,

There’s a strong sense of deja vu in the air, of cycles & circles & seasons. Not a lot has happened in my life since last I wrote; not that this is any reason not to write again. The next trip to Portugal is planned but still 3 weeks away; London remains wretchedly muggy & uncomfortable; Mavis is stretched out in some cool corner; the study fan is doing its best to keep a breeze going & classical music favourites from the films filling the apartment.

I got a note from Mr Sainsbury informing me that his store would be closed over the coming weekend to accommodate the Notting Hill Carnival. I’d forgotten about the carnival & shuddered at the tumult to come. I shall be working nights & hope to miss the worst of it. But I can already hear the fans drifting down the street, shoulder to stylish shoulder in their smart coupes, mega-speakers deciblasting the houses & my precious sleep. Esta vida!

As to Mr Sainsbury – who now issues customers with loyalty [ie.discount] cards & has their details on file - he will be taking the opportunity to revamp his store & would be delighted to welcome me as a valued customer when he reopens. His invitation went into the [paper recycling] crap bag together with the rest of the junk mail that pours through the door in an unending torrent. The banks & finance houses go through forests of it with their constant glossy invitations to take out a loan or change your mortgage. I have only to see the dreaded words “free gift” to hurl the envelope at the bulging crap bag. Mind you, it’s not the junk mail I resent so much as the junk faxes that come through on the dedicated fax line. Whenever there’s an address on them, I post them back to the sender in an unstamped envelope. I wish there were the fax equivalent of Internet flaming the bastards!

I worked overnight, got off to sleep under a sheet with the cooling assistance of the bedroom fan & woke gritty eyed at lunchtime. A second kip on the chairs in the lounge has restored me. I’m actually feeling rather good. Am off Thursday & then begin 5 nights in a row on Friday. The weather is forecast to change over the weekend. With any luck, God may send a little shower to dampen Notting Hill. I wonder if he would listen to any prayers for a carefully directed local flood. After all, there’ve been enough of them in other parts of the world this past month, Germany included.

My spare time has gone in organising various projects for “my flats”, including the redecoration of a house up the road. It’s being done single-handed by the relative of a Greek family in the basement. Problem is communicating with the tenants who tend to be away before he arrives & to return after he’s left in the evening. There are times when they need to leave windows open to be painted, something they’re naturally reluctant to do in view of the danger of being burgled while there’s scaffolding outside. Is going slowly but surely. The owner, Geoff, brought a beautifully crafted emboia front gate, that he’d made himself, over from RSA in the plane & spent several hours mounting it. Looks superb!

Mother, many thanks for your fax this a.m. Details noted. I hope to have the next draft over with you by mid-September. Likewise, Cathy for your phone call. Will email a copy of the missing letter to Rolf & chat to you soonest. I look forward to a blow by blow account of the last few weeks. The travel agent, Jones & I have been caught up in a welter of emails, faxes & phone calls in my efforts to sort out my September visit. There is very little availability & it’s a question of getting the BBC & the airlines to work in harmony, complicated on this occasion by our desire to meet one of Jones’s family in Lisbon. I think we’ve got it sorted. Jones I have faxed two AFPOP recommended hotels in Lisbon with requests for a brochure & details of AFPOP (Association of Foreign Property Owners in Portugal) discounts.

Blessings for now
T