They didn't have blogs or the internet forty years ago, so here are 31 things I didn't digitally publish at the time. To help you get your bearings I was 20 and October was the start of my third year at university. I apologise for skipping September which would have included tea at the Royal Festival Hall, sandwiches on the ramparts of Southsea Castle and a bar of chocolate atop Mount Snowdon.
Tue 1: It's the warmest October day on record (29.4°C in Cambridgeshire) [a record that won't be broken until 2011]. Our nextdoor neighbour cuts his hand on some glass and my Mum drives him to hospital to get five stitches. Wed 2: Sausages and beans for tea. My brother rings from Portsmouth and we hear how his first week at university is going. His landlady is due to give birth soon. Thu 3: Spend the day (between 7am and 7pm) making a list of every record played on Radio 1 to see if I can unpick how the playlist works. Stevie Wonder's Part Time Lover and Billy Idol's Rebel Yell must be 'A List' because they're played four times, roughly 3 hours apart. Scritti Politti's Perfect Way breaks the pattern with two plays within 1½ hours. Exactly one third of the 147 records are oldies. Fri 4: The tabloids are busy exposing the private life of former Blue Peter presenter Michael Sundin and full of salacious details about Rock Hudson who's just died from an AIDS-related illness. 1985 was not a tolerant year. Sat 5: Fish fingers for lunch, inspired by it being the 30th birthday of the fish finger this week. Saturday evening TV includes The Tripods (series 2 episode 5 - Will and Fritz arrive at the City of Gold) and the Late Late Breakfast Show (Noel Edmonds hosts a mower-based Lawn Prix). Sun 6: A special roast beef dinner (with grandmother present) before I head back to university. A bottle of wine is opened (or probably unscrewed, given how infrequently we had a bottle). There are significant riots at Broadwater Farm in Tottenham. Mon 7: Head into Watford to buy a new kettle. Then present it to Mum and Dad as a 24th wedding anniversary present [which means I get to take the old one with me to university]
Tue 8: Mum drives me back to university with Dad crammed in the back between the boxes. I have a brilliant room this year because I was near the top of the accommodation ballot. Someone has already been in and filled my cupboard with balloons. By the end of the day they'll be hanging from my ceiling by static. Wed 9: I forgot to bring a tea strainer. My pigeonhole is already full of careers-based communications, because it turns out that's what the third year is all about. Everyone comes round to my room to watch the last ever episode of Minder (and inevitably pop all the balloons). Thu 10: Pick up my grant cheque for the term. [I know people are amazed/shocked/appalled that students used to get paid to go to university, rather than being indebted, but £339 to tide you over until Christmas wasn't exactly generous] Fri 11: Two years ago as freshers we were all invited to a small subject-based drinks do to meet our fellow students. This year it's my job to host the event, mainly because my room's got the best balcony. I've stocked up on sherry, beer and Twiglets. I've chosen Scritti Politti's Cupid and Psyche for the background music in an attempt to confirm how cool I am. [mostly successfully] Sat 12: Continue my hunt for a tea strainer. Selfridges don't have any, nor Argos, and Debenhams have sold out. Eventually track one down in Boswells for 95p. It's the Freshers Disco tonight so head down once it's got started. An excellent playlist including You Spin Me Round and Uncertain Smile. Even Iris the cleaner joins in on the dancefloor. Sun 13: I've already had 86 visitors to my room this year, not just because I have a great balcony but because I have a busy kettle and a rare portable TV. I've got room 41 this year, so I've been busy and made this colourful graphic to stick on my front door.
Mon 14: Lectures restart, except one's been cancelled so instead four of us go off and sign up for a course to learn Fortran. It's not our subject but computers are the future. Buy some vinegar and Smarties in the basement Co-op. Spend the evening playing The Great Game of Britain and listening to short wave radio. Tue 15: College bills this term are £194, leaving £145 for all remaining fripperies. Nip to Our Price and buy the new Depeche Mode singles album (£6), also some more coffee because the way my room's become a hotbed of socialising means I'm going to need it. Wed 16: The biochemist in the room nextdoor comes round to complain about the noise. [There'll be sixteen more such complaints before the end of the year, including "Can you be a bit quieter doing that please?", "How many times do I have to tell you?" and "WILL YOU SHUT UP OR BLOODY PLAY SOMEWHERE ELSE?!"] Sorry Julie. Thu 17: Lectures in the morning, additional computer course in the afternoon, struggling with early coursework in the evening, bed at 1.45am. Fri 18: I have a friend who was also high on the accommodation ballot and selected room 43 after I picked room 41. She keeps knocking on the door and coming round, and perhaps I'm just socially magnetic or perhaps she's chronically lonely but the obvious objective conclusion is that she's interested and hopes I am too. I'm not, which means it could be a very long year. Sat 19: A friend from not-university comes round, admires the unique decor in my room and says he's changed his name. We go in search of a pub but it's Saturday evening and they're all packed so we end up in Wimpy. Hideous mistake. [I'll never see him again and he now lives in New Zealand]
Sun 20: I'm missing my Dad's birthday. [I claimed at the time to be too busy to ring, but I see I had time for a water balloon fight on the balcony so belated apologies]. Mon 21: A bit late in the year for wasps isn't it? A letter arrives from my brother saying his course is going well although the economics lectures are stuff he already knows. He's already been to a couple of football matches and the landlady's had her baby. Tue 22: Some enterprising second years are producing a weekly newssheet and posting it up in toilets around the college. I reckon I could do a good spoof of that, so I find a sheet of A3 paper and make a start. Wed 23: Buy a pack of Woodland Happy Families because that'll be quite the game to play over mugs of communal coffee. At the Fortran course I'm starting to make friends with students in the year below as well as learning how to do a bubblesort. Thu 24: I'm still counting visitors to my room and have created a certificate to mark milestone totals, in part to make the point to my neighbourly stalker that she's coming round too often. She is not pleased to receive the '200th visitor' certificate, which joins a collection including 1st, 3rd, 10th and 111th. Fri 25: Finish off my spoof newssheet and stick it up in our top floor toilet. Biochemist Tim says it would be hilarious if I stuck it up in all the toilets around college in place of the real one, and perhaps it would.
Sat 26: Walk home in the dark from The Fishes after several pints of cider, seemingly stepping on the odd hedgehog. Develop hiccups half an hour from home. [it was a nightmare] Sun 27: The extra hour in bed is very welcome. Captain Scarlet is being repeated on ITV. We're all struggling somewhat with the latest batch of questions that have to be handed in tomorrow. And the 225th certificate. Mon 28: Watch the total eclipse of the moon from my balcony. Dad's sent a letter saying he got slippers and gloves for his birthday, my card arrived a day late and he enjoyed the special trip round the Ascot Road sorting office. Tue 29: One of my subject options this term is proving embarrassingly hard, another is thankfully more doable. Hang 22 cardboard bats around my room for Hallowe'en [still got them, they still go up]. Jim'll Fix It are filming across the street, hence some really bright lighting. Wed 30: All the cleaners come round to see my bats. I'm making good social progress with the second years and am invited to a party on Saturday. And the 250th certificate. Thu 31: OK, I photocopy lots of spoof newssheets and go round all the toilets in college swapping them for the latest edition. It might have looked a bit strange but I think I got away with it. [Spoiler - it did not go down well.] Spend the evening working by Hallowe'en candlelight [unaware there's an official letter of complaint in my pigeon hole saying "the editors are a little upset, would it be possible to have this week's copies back..."]
