Tuesday 18th April 2023

Alarm at 0730. Descended to the restaurant for breakfast. Walked in to the city centre to hook up with a couple of members of the Coastal Housing team at their modern office in a rather impressive city centre redevelopment scheme, largely inspired by the Housing Association. I was given a couple of contacts, and set off on foot for a long morning of external and internal inspections. Broke for lunch in a trendy little city centre cafe, but the fish finger wrap was disappointing...it badly needed some tartare sauce. I did an internal inspection at a city centre flat...the tenant buzzed me in. I found a lady in her fifties, maybe, with an arm in a sling, and an oxygen mask on...she told me she was dying, and would have gone a long time ago if it wasn't for the effort she'd put in to maintain her flat! Got back in the car mid-afternoon to complete a day's inspections. Too tired to venture far for dinner, so strolled across to La Braseria, opposite the Premier Inn. Very friendly Spanish Maitre D...reckoned he used to run a restaurant in Borehamwood. Food was very ordinary, though. I had a spicy lamb kebab, but it tasted more of soap than spices!