Saturday July 19th

I had to go into Easterby again today to get Mum a birthday present. I went with Dad at about twelve after a morning where I was sickened off totally about taking back that Stan Clarke record. During dinner, everybody kept saying that they thought the chances of me getting it exchanged were slight, so that eventually I felt utterly pissed off with the whole thing. To exchange it would be a humiliating experience, I was sure.

Anyway, I decided to try my luck, and I took the LP with me when I went back to Easterby with Dad at dinner-time. It took me ages to pluck up enough courage to go to the counter and ask. I stood for ages, pretending to flick through records, while all the time I was pouring with sweat.

Eventually though, when the counter area cleared a bit, I went and asked. What a relief! The bloke was really quite decent about it and said yes, I could go choose another record for the same price or above. I chose Jeff Beck’s “There and Back,” which was good (better than S.C’s effort anyway).

I embarrassedly went into ‘Boots’ and bought Mum what I thought was soap (it turned out to be bubble-bath stuff), which cost me £2.50, and after wandering around looking at posters, I came home.

Andrew had watched the Moscow Olympics opening ceremony, which was quite spectacular and colourful (or so he said). Mum told me that the “Protect and Survive” what-to-do-in-case-of-a-nuclear-attack booklet which I bought yesterday had been torn up by Dad this morning because he thought it had come through the door. He’s stupid sometimes, and he really makes me annoyed. If only he didn’t act so hot-headedly all the time. Mum gave me the price of it (50p), yet when Dad came home and I told him I didn’t even get a bloody apology! It rucked me did that – tears my bloody stuff up, comes home and blasts on in typical fascist manner and I don’t even get an apology.

I played records most of the evening (correction – all of the evening) and tidied up my bedroom (I can’t tidy it up properly because all Robert’s and Andrew’s records are in my bedroom – some 300+ LPs all together).