What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever found (and kept)?
I wouldn’t say that anything I have found has been inherently cool, but one item I found in Amsterdam was definitely considered cool by my oldest daughter.
We were on holiday in Amsterdam and walking along the bank of the Amstel River. We came across this bedraggled looking teddy bear that had been put on top of a wall. My daughter immediately felt sorry for it because it was abandoned and wanted to take it with us. My wife said no, but I had felt the same as my daughter so we hung back slightly and I went back to pick it up! I had to make sure that my wife didn’t find it or it would have been thrown out, but luckily we got it back to England without detection.
The teddy bear was put in with the washing from the trip and it turned out to be a rather lovely looking pink bear which my daughter named Amstel. As she and her sister had such a large collection of cuddlies only my daughter and I knew that he was that bedraggled item we saw in Amsterdam. At the moment he is in our loft, but when my daughter gets properly settled I am sure he will once again take his rightful place in her home.
What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?
I have a morning routine of sorts, but it’s the nighttime routine that is the most important. It’s what has given me the opportunity to relax and get a better quality of sleep. I listen to the Calm App, specifically the Daily Jay every night unless I have a trip to a play or a concert. When I listen, one of two things happen. Either I take the three centering breaths and go straight to sleep or I listen to Jay Shetty’s reflection on the subject of the day and often get a lot out of it.
Can I skip it? Well, yes I can if I have to as I said, but it isn’t ideal. I use the Daily Jay to prompt me to take my cholesterol tablet each night so it has a twofold effect. If I don’t have the Daily Jay I have to really concentrate on the tablet when I get home. I am off to see Wet Leg at the Royal Albert Hall with my daughter tomorrow so I will not have my Daily Jay then. Mind you, it’s going to be worth it, that’s for sure.
Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?
There was a time when I was an avid autograph hunter. I was pretty successful at it as well, collecting about 200 over the years, mostly by writing letters to the celebrities and sports people I wanted to add to my collection. Now, it’s more difficult as a letter is much less likely to result in a signed photo. As a result, you often have to go to the conventions in order to secure the signed photos you want. However, in the course of my hobby I have met 5 people who will be instantly recognisable to any fans of Doctor Who – the UNIT family.
I started at the very top with the Third Doctor himself, Jon Pertwee, who I met backstage at the revival of Scrooge The Musical in 1992. I took a poster along featuring a print of the artwork from the Radio Times cover for Day of the Daleks. Jon signed it and I genuinely thought no more about it. Then I found out that Nicholas Courtney was signing in London in 1995 when I was in the vicinity so I went to a very small convention – they weren’t as well publicised back then – and met him. He was an absolute pleasure to talk to and he too signed my poster. It was then I decided that I wanted all five of the regular cast of the time to sign it.
Fast forward to 2005 and I was at the Stamp Centre on The Strand which used to have regular signing sessions. First of all I met the lovely John Levene who played Corporal Benton (later promoted to Sergeant) and was the loveliest person to talk to. A few months later, Richard Franklin who played Captain Yates signed there and I had four out of five. The only one missing was the lovely Katy Manning who played Jo Grant. I, along with many others, had a king sized crush on her as a child!
I found out that she was signing on a day in 2007 where I had a two hour window of time between teaching lessons. I sped to the Strand and was faced with a huge queue which was moving very slowly indeed! As time ticked on I realised that I was almost certain to miss my chance. I explained my predicament to the person who was giving updates to the queue and showed him the poster. He asked me to give him 5 minutes, which was about as long as I had before I needed to be leaving. A couple of minutes later he said that Katy had asked if I could queue jump so I was whisked in. She was so lovely and I was so completely overwhelmed to finally be meeting her that I am sure I was babbling away like an idiot! When she saw the poster she was really excited and she put the finishing touch to it with a huge smile and a flourish of her signature. My thanks were heartfelt and very quick as I needed to be back in the classroom, but I was walking on air for the journey back to the centre.
My wife had the poster framed and it has had pride of place in our lounge ever since. Every time I look at it I smile with the memories of five lovely people who helped me complete my very unlikely quest.
What is good about having a pet?
Albus has been with us 8 years now and is proof positive that cats are not these aloof creatures of popular imagining. Pretty much from the time we adopted him from Cats Protection he has been my companion, silent sounding board and occasional guest teaching assistant! He wants to be where people are, well people he knows anyway, and he is the most affectionate soul you could imagine.
Now that I am no longer commuting to London I spend far more time with him and he isn’t bored of my company yet! My daughter works from home most of the time, and my wife has a hybrid working pattern that means she doesn’t go in until later, but every so often it’s just me and Albus and you will find him either on my lap or near me most of the day. He has me as his personal butler, feeding and watering him on demand. When he wants to go out at night he scratches at the carpet which nearly always wakes me up, but I don’t mind. It’s an endearing trait as far as I am concerned, but my wife and daughter don’t agree!
My life has been so much richer for Albus being here. It’s more fun, filled with affection and I would recommend it to anyone.
Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).
In terms of the proportion of an item’s cost compared to my wages at the time, the most expensive item I ever bought was a ZX Spectrum 48k computer back in 1984. Clive Sinclair’s company was at the forefront of the early home computer industry.
At the time, the way to access computer games was through a connected cassette player which made a lot of high pitched beeping noises! I remember a few of the games, pool, golf and an early version of a combat game where you were flying a plane to attack an enemy which bore some resemblance to the Falklands War about 18 months earlier. I was absolutely hopeless at all of the games, as I have been ever since! The coordination needed to play anything like that was beyond me with my dyspraxia, but I think it was a good way to practice my fine motor skills and I did notice some improvements.
The Computer lasted about 9 months or so until I went into the RAF. I am not sure what happened to it. In those days it would probably just have been binned, maybe when I left home. It was, by the standards of the time, a hugely expensive purchase. It was close to £200 at a time when I was earning £300 a month before tax! I have never spent a bigger proportion of my salary on one item before or since. On balance it was a complete waste of money! I would love to say it was lesson learned, but I have to admit it took a long time to be more careful in my spending!
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 