Wednesday October 20, 1982

 Wet and dark morning. Ally didn't want to climb out of bed and I had to run her bath, and boil her eggs before she stirred. Just her nose was peeping from under the Oasis quilt.

To the YP. Upstairs at 11;00 to the theatre where Bernard Welch and two SOGAT representatives saw us. Carol went off to the optiticians and only Sarah, Margo and I attended. Sarah seemed to be the spokesperson. We do not stand a chance. We cannot drop out of the union, and if we tried to do so at this particular time it would be madness, they say. I cannot afford to pay 90p a week and when I say I am only on a mere £90.68 a week they laughed, one saying that I'm 'well off'. Ludicrous. After an hour we came away agreeing to continue paying up and they say they will help us to be up-graded. The sixteen year-old girls in the Mail Room are taking home the same money as me and I resent it. 'Whose fault is that?’ asked the SOGAT rep. Left at 12, home at 1.

Looked at the book 'Royal Lists' by Brown and Cunliffe, a gift from Bob Cockroft. A bearded boy in 'Hush Puppy' shoes came at 2 to assess the roof for a council grant and asks if we need anything else doing too. He looked at the stone walls outside and suggested that they might need re-pointing, and after making a detailed plan of the house he went away with a broad smile on his face. It will be a few weeks before we hear anything. Phoned Ally and gave her the basic details before they have time to fade from my memory. Derek [Jenkins] has not had a colostomy, as we thought. Phoned Lynn. They have a buyer for the house. Said hello to Frances. John has been working on Teesside. Middlesbrough, I think. The house is abysmal without Ally, and it isn't warm despite the central heating until she comes home.

Burgundy pâté followed by a liver goulash. Ally tired early. Horribly pale. We went up to bed and she fell soundly asleep, like a doormouse.

-=-