Filofax 1990
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30.09.90 / 01 / move again
Moved into new lodgings yet again. I had moved three times this year, seven times in two years. This time I would stay over ten years, but I didn't really unpack for the first five, because I always expected to have to move again at short notice.
26.09.90 / 01 / citizen kane
Saw 'Citizen Kane' for the first time at the Design Museum. It certainly seemed like the greatest film ever made.
30.05.90 / 01 / timesheets
A Post-It note in the diary to Bob, my boss:
Here for the records are vast numbers of timesheets. To save you going through them - I added up all my latecomings and long lunch hours since last autumn and found I owe you 33 hrs to end of Feb. Since then I’ve done 26 hrs overtime to date. If I lose a day’s leave that will take care of the rest. Is this OK?
Bob wrote on it: Yes. But what on earth was I doing?
I loved Bob, kept in touch for years. He was from Essex and his language was terrible, but he had a heart of gold. In the early 90s recession he was under terrible stress and close to overdose on painkillers, alongside chainsmoking cigars as ever. We feared for him. There were only five of us in an attic office, so we all became personally close.
26.04.90 / 01 / move again
Moved again, into the manse for a few months. Was quite an enjoyable time.
24.04.90 / 01 / court again
Rang the court again. I was trying to bring further pressure to retrieve the rest of my possessions, a warrant to go in and get what I knew was there. I was not successful.
21.03.90 / 01 / la dolce vita
Saw 'La Dolce Vita' at the Design Museum. A masterpiece, but in 1990 especially impactful as it seemed to be about the 80s - the Ray-bans, little black dresses, sharp suits, the conspicuous consumption, pursuit of celebrity and materialism. Wonderful.
13.02.90 / 01 / househunting
January and February househunting with a couple of friends. Property values were rising rapidly so we wanted to get a place, but the government raised interest rates to 15% to burst the bubble. People who had recently bought and had barely-affordable mortgages suffered. The economy went into recession, especially the property market and construction industry in the expensive south of England. The recession lasted until 1994. The term 'negative equity' became familiar, meaning people whose houses were now worth less than their mortgages and who were unable to sell or move.
13.01.90 / 01 / move again
First move this year.
04.01.90 / 01 / pre-trial review
Ring bailiffs. The diary trail goes cold here. At some point in the next couple of months my former landlord turned up on the doorstep with my belongings to try and end the pursuit. Unfortunately some of the most important and irreplaceable items were not returned.
