Just a short note at the end of what was a busy week but at least I learned a new skill. I am now incredibly adept at putting printed documents into poly-pockets.
I'm like a magician with them, sleight of hand and they're in there and that's after I'd bought up the entire supply of poly-pockets from the local Morrisons.
The laptop, storage drives and printer was set up on the dining room table, which soon creaked under the weight of archive boxes and then Emily, my youngest, asked why I was three boxes deep on such a small table and proceeded, by unlatching things and pulling on the ends, to extend it to about twelve feet long. How was I supposed to know it did that?
I then spent a wonderful three days walking up memory lane from 2000 to 2023. Ofttimes I'd get lost reading the old dive logs or emails between the telly people. Long forgotten names and personalities were brought to mind and pictures of us all looking young and fresh were bittersweet but by the end of it I'd assembled several large ring binders of what I'd been asked for and lugged them to a conference with many learned legal minds who, having absorbed it in that incredible, read it once and memorise the lot, sort of way that only these people can pull off, then whisked it away for copying and set about doing their thing.
Obviously I can't go into what was said but suffice to say it's been fed into the juggernaut and it's just going to have to run its course, which could take years. But the following Saturday we all sat in the workshop drinking tea asking the same questions.
It's completely baffling as to why we're having to mess about like this and, secondly, how can such a win-win and noble endeavour be fettered to this extent by what's happening and how can that be fair and just? It's mad.
It's not as if we want to hide the boat away like some illicit art treasure and it's not as if it's ever been finished to the famous, close as possible to how it was on the morning of the 4th January, condition either, though it's now pretty close and we can see a day when that is finally achieved. We've always said we want it displayed in the Bluebird Wing and there's no shortage of evidence that the public, whom all parties ultimately serve, would like to see it run on water and that we are the best people for that job. There's widespread support for compromise, for talk and agreement, another thing for which we have pushed very hard, not to mention equally widespread condemnation of the current situation so what's the problem, people ask. We don't know.
What is even more puzzling is it's obvious that with everyone working towards it, agreeing something wouldn't take long, wouldn't cost money and would see the boat on display in fairly short order.
This week it was set out most succinctly by David Tremayne so for anyone who may have missed it.
Wise and balanced words. No doubt there will be further twists and turns in the coming weeks and months and I'll inform everyone as far as I can but this coming week I have many jobs to catch up on, not least of which is a dining room table to shorten.
Bill