Rain and Thunder

The Summer suddenly disappeared today - torrential rain, flooding and thunderstorms - and on a day when I was driving up to Dorking and Mary was supposed to be having her sports day at school. Before leaving for work I raised the French flag to mark Tom and his schoolmates being in Normandy. Despite the poor weather I still arrived in Dorking at a good time - 9.15 a.m. Today was a day of paperwork - such things as expenses returns, mileage and fuel returns - both my own and authorising others. The day was punctuated by a brief telephone meeting in the morning otherwise it was head down at the desk all day. The weather was terrible all day. I lunched with my peers - a cheese baguette and soup - when we discussed the state of the company. The stock market is poor again today and recession seems to be getting ever deeper. The news in the Financial Times is depressing. The main news of the day was that Wacko Jacko's funeral took place in Los Angeles and a memorial to those who died in the 7.7 London Bombings in 2005 was dedicated by Prince Charles. It does seem strange without Tom - no rows with his sister - uncannily quiet. Sara is obviously missing him a lot as she does seem to be a little unhappy at the moment. Tonight I tackled the task of approving and signing my company's accounts to send back to my accountant in Somerset for filing with Companies House and HMRC. Klynn apparently caught the wrong train this evening at Waterloo and announced it to all and sundry on Facebook. If I were him, I'd keep that sort of thing quiet! We all have senior moments but I do know which train to catch when I want to leave London! My one and only time of doing the same was when I was much younger and had four or five Guinnesses inside me. Then it was not my fault. They should have woken me up before they uncoupled the train!

A Quick Fit?

I think I had about one and a half hour's sleep last night. Sara was so concerned about oversleeping and missing Tom's bus for France that she kept waking up and disturbing me throughout the night to check on the time. She clearly had no faith in our alarm system - two mobile phones which penetrate their message of dawn. In hindsight, I should have slept downstairs or in the family room. At 2 a.m. I woke up and went downstairs and watched some trashy TV show entitled "Snog, Marry or Avoid" that frequents the channels at that time of night. It was either that or watch the inhabitants of the "Big Brother" house snoring contentedly leaving me to feel envious at the their nocturnal success of entering that longed for state of unconsciousness. I did consider reading some law reports but that would only remind me of work and stress me out further! Instead, I toddled back to bed to be woken again by Sara lovingly bringing me a cup of tea at 4.30 a.m. or some other unknown hour! Tom was successfully dispatched off to France and I drove my car to the Mercedes garage for its service and then to the office for a 9 a.m. meeting. The day was largely uneventful, broken by lunch with Sara, but the weather was extremely changeable with some torrential rain in the afternoon just at the time when I decided to venture out of the office to the post office to buy some stamps! Returning drenched, the Mercedes garage announced that my car was ready but that they had discovered a deep cut in the nearside front tyre which needed immediate attention. I was fortunate to find that Kwik Fit on Southampton Road close to the Mercedes garage had some of the required tyres and could fit one this evening. When I arrived at Kwik Fit there was only one other person there and I thought that I would be in and out in a flash. No such luck. Although they had the tyre, the fitters and no queue an hour of my life passed in that tyre shop. I used the time profitably by reading some the BRF literature I had on me and when I had read that I was stimulated by reading "Tyres and Tyre Fitting Monthly" or some such publication which gave long detailed articles about the merits of certain rubber products. The only thing of any real interest was an article on the use of nitrogen filled tyres (mine was so filled!) and rubber sustainability - I guess that was a bit of research for Stop the Traffik! Both Sara and I were so exhausted that I spared Sara the need to cook a meal and brought in a Chinese takeaway from Porton. This evening Sara went up to bed at 9 p.m. and I am writing this blog at the unheard of time of 9.20 p.m.. It is not usually written much before midnight. I might just watch an episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads before I turn in.

Exciting Wimbledon Final

Woke up at around 7.00 a.m. this morning but had a bit of a lie in as no urgency to go anywhere today except to the 9.30 a.m. Family Eucharist at All Saints which, this morning, was presided over by Elizabeth. The theme for the day was "Listening" and she conducted a really interesting and different style of service. Her especial care in blessing those who didn't take communion and her general "bedside manner" makes her a true asset to the team. I am sure that it won't be long before she will be a firm favourite of the youngsters and that those involved in youth worship and study will find her a really good resource. I don't think that Tom was quite so keen on the service and he has, all day, been rather anxious about being ready to go to France tomorrow. Sara and Tom went into Salisbury after church leaving Mary and me at home. Mary tidied up her bedroom whilst I mowed the front lawn and the bank in the searing heat. Following the gardening I took the crab which had been defrosting overnight and dressed it ready for a light lunch. Apart from Sara and me, nobody else ate any of it so I enjoyed most of it myself as Sara only picked at the white meat. A nice cool glass of chardonnay washed it down well! I spent some time joining up to the network site "LinkedIn" following an invitation from Simon at Stop the Traffik. This is a great professional networking site and I think would not only be useful for Stop the Traffik work but also for expanding Complex Services Limited. At the end of the day I had two new "connection" - Sara and Klynn! Oh well, at least it's a start! This afternoon was spent sorting out cases and clothing for Tom. Sara bought him a small digital camera too which will probably work out much cheaper than buying him a 35 mm camera or disposal one. He will be able to download his French photographs directly onto his laptop. We needed to ensure he had a watch, any books and playing cards, toiletries, changes of clothing for wet, dry, windy, cold weather, gloves for sand yachting, a kitchen sink! Whilst all this preparation was going on Roddick and Federer were battling it out on Centre Court at Wimbledon - the final of the Men's Singles going to 5 sets and 30 games in the final set. Federer won 16 games to 14 in the final set which lasted 95 minutes! I spent a lot of time folding laundry and generally tidying up whilst at the same time watching the match. some powerful and really great tennis. The stamina of the players must be exceptional in such heat and over such a long period. Roddick simply wasn't going to let Federer win that easily. Federer has now won more Grand Slam titles than any other tennis player. He now has 15, overtaking Pete Sampras's 14 today. Sara cooked us a roast chicken dinner this evening although it was still hot outside. She also finalised Tom's packing whilst I washed up. We need to be up in the morning at 4.15 a.m. to get Tom to Stockbridge for the coach. They sail from Portsmouth at 8.30 a.m.!

Nets!

I awoke at 7 a.m. and Sara and I had a little time to ourselves before the kids awoke. I hoisted the USA flag as today is Independence Day and made tea for us. Having had so much trouble yesterday with trying to connect to the office Internet remotely, I decided to go into the office for an hour to download my emails so that I would not have too many to deal with on Monday morning. I had a black pudding breakfast and got into the office at 10 a.m. The weather was already hot by then. At 11 a.m. I left the office and visited two banks to pay some money in - what a nice thought! - and then drove up to Amesbury to interview a prospective candidate for freemasonry who had been referred to us by the Provincial Grand Secretary for Wiltshire. He was at home with his three children whilst his wife was out shopping for a new cocktail dress for a military ball tonight (she is a Sergeant in the Army). Why is it that women always have to have a new dress for each occasion whilst us men are quite content with our dinner jackets or tuxedos as they are called in the US. We never mind looking the same as all the other blokes! Another of life's mysteries I'll never understand. He seemed enthusiastic about joining us and I left some literature with him. I drove back to Salisbury and visited Sports World and John Eadie's to buy cricket bat, gloves and stumps as promised Tom. After a lunch at home of chicken noodle soup Tom, Sara and Mary went into town to get Tom's haircut and some Euros changed for his trip to France next week. I stayed at home did some tidying up and online finances and watched some tennis and a programme on Prince John. At 6 p.m. Tom and I went up to Barry's Fields to try out our new cricket equipment in the nets up there. My batting isn't bad but my bowling is terrible and I'll need to get in some practice. Tom bowled a ball straight on to my ankle and I've now got a massive bruise where this missile landed. Cricket balls are lethal! It is years since I last played any serious cricket and it certainly showed! Klynn and Samuel came around later. They had been up to Barry's Fields to look for us to join in but we had left by the time they arrived. Klynn stopped for a glass or two of wine and shared supper with us. We all watched Sister Act - the Whoopi Goldberg film. Sara and I also watched some of The Untouchables starring our old friend Kevin Costner, and Al Murray Live at the Apollo.

Lunch in London

The weather seemed a little cooler this morning when I awoke although it was still quite muggy. Having slept in my own bed last night made me feel more refreshed than I had over the last few days. I made tea for Sara and me and showered. I raised the Confederate Battle flag in memory of those who died in the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Tomorrow we will raise the Stars and Stripes - the flag of the Union - to commemorate USA Independence Day so both sides will have had their flags displayed. Sara later reminded me that I was probably being unpatriotic as Andy Murray was playing the American Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon Semi-Final. At least it wasn't the more recognizable Union flag. I tried to work at home first thing this morning but spent all my time unsuccessfully trying to connect my office laptop to the company's system through my wireless router. It simply wasn't having it and I was equally unable to connect using the dial up system. I spent a good 45 minutes talking to a help desk operative somewhere on the Indian sub-continent. Amazing, I can talk to somebody in India but I cannot access a computer system 8 miles away in Salisbury! The problem was not solved so by the time I left to catch a train to London I had accessed not one single email. I guess every cloud has a silver lining. I caught the 10.57 a.m. train to Waterloo from Grateley and chatted to a guy who was going all the way up to Preston in Lancashire to collect his children from his ex-wife and bring them back down to Hampshire. How sad that he has to do that to see his kids. On arrival at Waterloo I took the Underground to Temple and called in at 4 Pump Court to be taken out to lunch by the barrister and his clerk I am using for some international work in the Isle of Man. We had a delightful lunch at Chez Gerard in Chancery Lane - a restaurant Sara and I had been dined at by our other good barrister friend Michael. I had a fantastic "panache" of mussels, monkfish, prawns and scallops with mash potatoes and french beans washed down by an excellent Sauvignon Blanc. I wasn't sure what a panache was but the finished article was rather like a creamy garlicky soup. Saying my farewells to my hosts after the leisurelymeal I caught two incredibly hot Underground trains to Lambeth North and my meeting with Stop the Traffick. I spent an hour and a half with Simon in The Hub discussing the latest propositions and ideas. We had a good exchange of ideas and will continue to liaise on the question of funding, budgets and initiatives. I returned to Grateley on another full and hot train. I was just lucky to catch it as I boarded it one minute before it was due to pull out of Waterloo Station. When I got back to Grateley I listened on my car radio to the fourth and, as it was, final set of Andy Murray's Semi-Final and returned home just in time to see him lose the tie breaker on TV. He has made a brave challenge for the Wimbledon title and at age 22 still has time to get it before his career ends. He has equalled Tim Henman and no doubt Andy Murray rackets and sportswear will be on display in most sports shops.

A Day in the Employment Tribunals

The weather had turned cooler and it was drizzling when I awoke this morning. Yet another almost sleepless night - the heat in my room is dreadful and the bed so soft that I simply could not get to sleep until around 3 a.m. I then drifted in and out of sleep fitfully. I awoke properly at 6.16 a.m., made tea and had a bath - reading my daily readings in it. I had a light continental breakfast - the thought of a heavy hot full English breakfast simply did not appeal to me. We checked out of the hotel at around 9.30 a.m. and trundled our boxes and cases of documents over to the Employment Tribunals' offices about ten minutes trundling away. The case started promptly at 10.30 a.m. and all my witnesses' evidence was heard by lunchtime at 12.45 p.m. I was very pleased with their performance and as I prepared my cross-examination for the afternoon felt that the case was going as well as expected. The Claimant was only in the witness stand for about 35 minutes and this was followed by legal submissions. It was clear from the way the Judge was interjecting that he was far from happy with our case and felt that some procedures had been overlooked. When we adjourned at the end of the submissions I felt that we were going to lose the case and that if the tribunal gave a judgment today it would be against us. Our only hope was that they would reserve judgment and review the voluminous transcripts put in the bundle. We were called back in after around 10-15 minutes and I feared that we would be facing a judgment against us. We were given a glimmer (not a bright shining light I have to say) of hope when the Judge pronounced that they needed further time to deliberate and review the evidence. Our glimmer became a reality. I left Exeter, after three days of the place, at around 4.30 p.m. in heavy traffic and rain. Vicki accompanied me on the journey back. The temperature was a muggy 19 degrees Celsius. As we travelled further east the weather cleared (although it was a misty haze) and the temperature soared to a sweltering 29 degrees Celsius by the time we reached Salisbury. The heat was becoming unbearable outside and I was grateful for my air-conditioned car. When I got home at around 6.30 p.m. I found the kids messing about with the hosepipe the swimming pool out on the lawn with some water in it. I had a shower and then was picked up by Steve and Klynn to go to Maxime's for an evening meal. What a fantastic house she has! Massive room, lovely garden, swimming pool, wonderful conservatory. I can see why she is so happy in the house with its close proximity to Salisbury city centre. All of the luxury of her previous house in a more communal setting. She served us beef strogonoff, salmon, beautiful cheeses and trifle with Courvoisier. We talked about Food for Thought and Spring Harvest and in the lounge over coffee, bizarre stories of death including my signing of a French condolences book instead of a visitors' book. Tonight I am so tired after three consecutive nights of heat and little sleep. Off to London tomorrow for a luncheon meeting with a barrister and a meeting with STT.

Another Day in Exeter

Dominion Day and I’m stuck in Exeter for a second day. I found it really hard to sleep last night as it was so hot in my room – no air conditioning just a fan which seems to push hot air around my room. When I awoke I felt somewhat disorientated and then realised where I was and why I was there – a day in tribunal or not as we would find out when we visited the tribunal offices at 10.00 a.m. I made tea (after I eventually found the tea making equipment secreted away in cupboard cunningly disguised as a chest of drawers), had a bath and read my daily readings. Breakfast was a buffet affair with no choice of kippers as when I last stayed here. I had fruit and coffee followed by a light helping of bacon and mushrooms. I went over to the tribunal offices at 9.45 a.m. with the witnesses, Sara, Vicki and Belinda where it was confirmed to us that our case was indeed a “floater” and that the fixed case was almost certainly going to go ahead. We were shown to the Respondents’ room where we met the witnesses and counsel for the other case – Devon and Somerset Fire Brigade – who confirmed that their case was listed for the full day and that they would, indeed, be going ahead. We had met their opposition outside the offices, ironically having a smoke, as we entered the building earlier. We stayed at the offices for about an hour during which time I had an opportunity to discuss the case with my opposition and learn the basis of their claim that my company had acted unfairly and in breach of our own policy. Essentially they believe that natural justice was denied to their client in that certain statements were withheld from her and that a decision to dismiss was excessive in any event. Following our exchange of views on this, counsel on the other side and myself agreed that we could hear the case tomorrow and could finish our evidence, cross examination and submissions by around 4 p.m. if we put our minds to it. On the basis of this assurance, the employment judge agreed to hear it tomorrow. We did get a concession, however, in that our opposition reduced their claim by around £5,000 because they agreed that there had been no statutory breach of procedure. We all returned to our Exeter office and worked on the case all afternoon. On my way back to the hotel this evening I stopped off at Tesco’s to get a couple of new shirts and boxer shorts as I had only packed enough clothes from one night away. It remained hot as we returned to the hotel and tonight we visited my favourite restaurant in Exeter – the Thai Orchid by the cathedral. It was lovely to se ethe Thai flag flying from the roof of the restaurant building. Tonight I am sitting in the bar area writing this blog whilst also half-watching a programme about space travel followed by a programme with James May flying to the edge of space in a Lookheed U-2 – some 70,000 feet or 30 miles above the Earth’s surface – the highest humans other than those on the Space Station. A really fascinating piece of journalism. The U-2 is a wonderful flying machine – half jet fighter and half glider. The reason for all these space programmes is that we are approaching the 40th anniversary of Man’s first lunar landing. Other news today was that the East Coast rail company is being taken over by the government and Andy Murray won his quarter-final match at Wimbledon to go through to the Men’s Semi-finals. This equals Tim Henman’s “success”.