KATZEN und ICH

David A.P. Butcher

Click here to see the first recorded images of me as a baby (351 Kb, sound card required).

Shortly afterwards, I was born in Nairobi (Kenya, East Africa) on 26^th October 1957,


and was caught on film with my Mum, der Perserkatze 'Fluffy' und meinem ersten fahrbaren Untersatz (dem Kinderwagen, nicht das Goggomobil). Lass mich fahren, Mammi!
I later attended St.Mary's School at Westlands in Nairobi (as did my father with the singer, Roger Whittaker) between 1963 and 1968 - first as a day-bug, and later as a boarder (when my parents moved away from Nairobi). This meant that, on the half-term breaks, I got to fly (with my younger brother, Robert) on Dakota DC3s and Fokker Friendships from school to home and back. For the main holiday breaks, we used to travel on the overnight train - over 12 hours on what must be one of the finest railway journeys anywhere, as the Beyer-Garratt 59 Class (the most powerful steam locomotives in the world), often in tandem, struggled to pull the trains up to one-mile in length across the East African Rift Valley. On a number of occassions, I got to travel in the cab of the '59 monsters (because my father was a Civil Engineer working for East African Railways & Harbours), fulfilling every schoolboy's dream of being a train driver at a very early age (and realising that stoking a boiler is not a very desirable job at all).


My passion for speed on four-wheels developed when, seven years after my first trip in a Goggomobil (on the way back from Nairobi Hospital), I finally got to sit alone behind a steering wheel and race around in a 197cc. Villiers go-kart in January 1964. Haben nicht die besten Fahrer so angefangen?

   
Mein jüngerer Bruder, Robert, hat auch das Go-Kartfahren gelernt, and my father, Peter, worked as a Civil Engineer for East African Railways and Harbours, so weekends saw us racing around disused areas of the railway marshalling yards and workshops in Nairobi.

When my father was posted to Mombasa, we sold the go-kart and bought a speed-boat, behind which we all learnt to slalom water-ski (in shark-infested waters, under instruction from various National Champions including Tony Dickinson).

From Mombasa, we were posted to Kampala, where we lived at 13 Prince Charles Drive, Kololo Hill, and our next-door neighbour was a middle-ranking officer (serving in the Ugandan Army) by the name of Idi Amin!


Der beste Weg, durch die Tierparks in Uganda zu kommen, ist dieser Hillman Minx mit primitiver 'Klimaanlage'.
We also used to go on regular trips into the Game Parks in a Morris van that my Grandfather had converted into a camper - this was in the days when it was not unusual to wake up at dawn with a herd of over 200 elephants, or 50 rhinocerous, wandering around outside the van.
In mid-1968, my parents decided to move to England, for a number of reasons - principally so that Robert and I could attend secondary school in UK, and to be nearer to my grandparents (who by now had retired and settled in Wimborne Minster, near Bournemouth on the south coast of England), so I lost touch with my first 'girlfriend', Marzia Mauro. I believe that she moved with her parents and younger sister, Patrizia, back to Italy at about the same time, and have subsequently heard that she now lives in Australia.

I then had to attend a primary school for a year - required simply so that I could sit the 11+ examination. This was a selection process between Comprehensive (generally more practical) and Grammar (more intellectual) secondary education streams. I must have passed, because I then attended Peter Symonds' Grammar School in Winchester (Hampshire) until I sat my Oxford-board GCE 'O' Level exams in July 1974 (9 passes, two fails - in Chemistry and History, both bunk).
At this time, 'Peter Pips' was restructured into a sixth-form College, so I was amongst the first batch to attend Peter Symonds' College from September 1974 until July 1976, when I took three Oxford-board GCE 'A' Levels (all passed - Mathematics, Physics and Geography).
During my spare time, I learnt to fix various appliances to raise money to pay for trips to various motor races; one of my best friends, Alan Wesson, had an ancient Renault 10, which he used to throw sideways around corners and roundabouts on the way to or from Brands Hatch or Silverstone race circuits.
I also learnt that an electronic flashgun stores a lot of charge, and gives a very nasty kick if you get your fingers across the terminals of the tube when the capacitors are charged up!

My father (Peter John Butcher) is a retired Civil Engineer, and my paternal grandfather (John Edward Butcher) was a Mechanical Engineer (he was the General Manager of General Motors in Kenya when he retired, but long before then, was one of the Research & Development team developing the automatic gearbox for a renowned sports car manufacturer in Coventry), and both used to compete (very successfully) in a number of motor races and rallies in East Africa - including the Jumamosa Rally (which has since been watered down into the Kenya Safari Rally), when they beat Stirling Moss (he was driving a works-prepared Mercedes 190, they were driving a self-prepared Morris Minor). They also raced in the Goggomobil and a Fiat 2300 - and these 'rally' cars had to double as the family daily shopping buggies!
Hence I was under a lot of pressure to study Engineering, and soon had to choose between Acoustical Engineering at Southampton University and Mechanical Engineering at City University (in Central London). Although I was most interested in the former course, it was somewhat of an unknown career choice, so I went for the 'safe' option, and dreaming of following in my grandfathers' footsteps by getting a job at the Jaguar Vehicle Research Centre, left home for the 'smoke' in September 1976.

Unfortunately, all the stories that I had heard about the fun (drinking, deborchery and more drinking) aspect of life at 'Uni' seemed to pass me by completely! I worked, worked, and worked flat out to meet the deadlines for countless assignments, and had to commute 12 miles each way from my digs in Muswell Hill (North London) by bicycle every day. When I failed the exams at the end of the first year, I then spent the entire summer holiday swatting even harder, and managed to scrape through the re-sits at the end of August 1977. My course tutor then pointed out that the end-of-second year papers did not have a re-sit option, and suggested that I took a year off, to reconsider my career choice. I didn't have to think about this for very long!

I (narrowly?) failed to get a job at Vickers (shipbuilders) at Barrow-in-Furness as a Technical Author (your loss, guys), and in the same week that a place on an Officer Selection Course for the R.A.F. at Biggin Hill came up, BBC Television offered me a job as a Technical Assistant. After the introductory three-month residential training course at the BBC Engineering Training Centre at Wood Norton (near Evesham, Worcestershire), I was assigned to 'Network Department' at Television Centre, Shepherds Bush (West London) in May 1978, where I completed the on-the-job section of the training (interspersed with further residential stints at Wood Norton) until I qualified as a Broadcast Engineer (EESI Chapter II) in July 1981. The Network Department carried out a varied number of roles, and my job ranged from vision and sound mixing the continuity links (the bits leading into and out of the programmes) or live feeds from sports events (such as the tennis at Wimbledon - if I made a mistake then, only a few hundred million people worldwide would see it), to lining up the incoming feeds from any events all over the world, or calibrating studio cameras (we had two small 4-camera studios, one for the daily weather forecasts, the other for programmes such as 'Ask Aspel' or 'The Money Programme'). The ancient Marconi Mk.7 cameras were replaced at this time with Link 110s - these were technologically way ahead of their time, but were not particularly reliable, the gold-plating on the edge-contacts of the PCBs was so thin that it rubbed off after pulling the cards in and out only a few times!

Hard as it may seem, I began to want a more demanding job (or one that would pay the bills - I also worked as a minicab driver on my frequent days off - a condition largely imposed by the landlady, who threatened to evict us at the end of every month), and when I found that my fiancee (Karen Sonnenberg) also had a part-time activity (which involved another bloke called, appropriately Nigel - do you remember the chart hit in the early '80s by XTC, it must have been written about him), I decided to run away from the problems - so when British Forces Broadcasting Service offered me a job in September 1983 which involved working overseas, I jumped at the chance. I was originally scheduled to go to Mönchengladbach in Germany, but Typhoon Ellen took out the mast and transmitter in Hong Kong, so after a one-day training course at Pye/Philips in Cambridge, I flew off to get the Radio station at Sek Kong (in the New Territories) back on air.
A brief visit developed into a 21 month stay, during which time I adopted two lovely kittens ('Yat' and 'Yee'), but they seemed to grow up very quickly, especially when I realise how few pictures I took of them when they were tiny!


Dies war 'Yat' im Jahre 1983, als er gerade auf dem Sofa in Hongkong so tat als ob es etwas zu jagen gäbe.


Und Du hast gedacht, Katzen hätten Angst vor Wasser! Jedes Mal, wenn der Schlauch zum Pflanzen begiessen oder zum Autowaschen zum Vorschein kam, versuchte 'Yee' das Wasser zu fangen. Wenn er dann vollkommen nass war, versuchte er den Schlauch mit seinen Pfoten zuzuhalten. Dieses Photo wurde 1984 in Hongkong aufgenommen.
Übrigens nannte ich die Katzen 'Yat' und 'Yee', weil dies Kantonese für Eins und Zwei ist.

I was eventually posted from Hong Kong to Germany in July 1985 (but not before I had visited Brunei to set up a radio outside broadcast from their annual Military Tattoo, and enjoyed several short holiday trips to the Phillippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and China).
Once back in the TV world at JHQ Rheindahlen (near Mönchengladbach in West Germany), I spent the next three years rushing around Germany, as part of a two/three man crew filming, and then editing the material together, for a weekly magazine programme on whatever the British Forces were up to - I was even lucky (?) enough to spend a fortnight in Northern Ireland, and another two weeks in the Falkland Islands, for our Christmas Special programmes in 1986 and 1987.


Dies ist dann schon eher Arbeit. Dieses Bild von John Dunlop (Kamera) und mir (Ton) wurde 1987 bei Temperaturen weit unter 0°C irgendwo in Norddeutschland aufgenommen und wurde in einer Zeitung als Wettbewerb veröffentlicht, welcher Leser die besten Untertitel dafür erfinden konnte. No, I don't know what the winning caption was!


Dies macht schon mehr Spass. Slalomfahren auf einem Baggersee in Maaseik, Belgien 1987.


"Ich kann nicht mehr lange lächeln, das Vieh leckt sich schon die Lippen, drück den Auslöser jetzt, oder ich hetz Dir die Schlange auf den Hals." Aufgenommen in Mombasa, Kenia 1986.
Meine dritte Katze hiess 'Sam' (richtig geraten, Kantonese für Drei! Da er jedoch eine deutsche Katze war, hätte er eigentlich 'Drei' heissen müssen). Er wurde - wie 1985 Yat und Yee - von einem Auto überfahren (1987), so dass ich entschiede, zukünftige Katzen nach Autos zu benennen.

Unfortunately, towards the end of 1988, my boss (sitting in his warm cosy office just west of London) decided that his staff should be moved on every three years, so I was informed that I should depart soon for an extended tour (i.e. at least 12 months) to the Falkland Islands. I decided that it was time to part company with BFBS, and chance my luck on the local German job market.

Hence I moved to Bavaria in November 1988, where I worked initially as a 'Bildtechniker' (Vision Engineer) for peanuts (sorry, ARRI TV) in Munich. Shortly afterwards, the ailing 'Eureka TV' was bought up by the Kirch Empire, who renamed it PRO.7 TV (there was already the first network, ARD1, the second network, ZDF, RTL4, TV5, and although the next in sequence would have been PRO.6, pronounced PRO SECHS, this could have been misconstrued). Eureka TV had tried to stay on-air using a selection of freelance Engineers, but Pro.7 were looking for a full-time Senior Engineer and offered me the job, so I started there on April 1^st 1989.

A year of being on-call (single-handedly holding a TV station on-air 24-hours every day, with equipment rescued off the Ark), combined with the attitude of the Bayern civil servants, and the long drives back to visit Andrea's relations in the Cologne area, soon became too much, so we decided to move back to the 'real world', and I accepted a job as a 'Field Service Engineer' with Quantel in Bonn, starting on April 1^st 1990. I had always worked for a broadcaster, so did not plan to stay long with a manufacturer, but soon realised that there are worse employers than Quantel out there. Just as I was beginning to get itchy feet, I was unexpectedly promoted to 'Service Manager' in July 1992, and a similar pattern followed in September 1996 with a move to 'Product Support Manager', so the departure planned in the second half of 1990 has not happened yet!


Here I am (with my ex-wife) at a ball in 1988 (we haven't aged a bit since this photo was taken!)
We decided at the end of 2003 to go our separate ways - so if you are looking for me, I am available again !!!

    
Dies ist das Haus, dass ich mit Minnie teile, ca. 30 Min. von Köln oder Bonn in Deutschland und neben einem Birkenwald gelegen, in dem sich die Katzen die Zeit mit der Jagd nach Mäusen und Vögeln vertreiben.


We adopted two cats in August 1990, "Minnie" and "Morris" - "Mercedes" und "Benz" klang etwas albern (obwohl nicht ganz so albern wie "Taxi" wie ein Freund meiner Eltern seinen Dackel nannte - man stelle sich vor, wie er dasteht und nach seinem Hund ruft.) So viel Katzen, so ein kleiner Stuhl.


(Auto) Persennings sind tolle Hängematten - wenn gerade keiner hinsieht.


Der schwarze Teufel, Minnie, wurde von unserem Tierarzt im August 1995, für todkrank erklärt. Angeblich hatte er nur noch wenige Wochen zu leben, da er ein grosses tumorartiges Gewächs auf der Zunge hatte. Eine Haustiersendung in England zeigte eine Katze mit einem ähnlichen Problem, welches durch eine Allergie gegen das Reinigungspulver der Spülmaschine hervorgerufen wurde. Seitdem wasche ich seine Teller per Hand und der Tumor wird immer kleiner. FERNSEHEN RETTET LEBEN!


Despite being black, Minnie loves sitting in direct sunshine! Perhaps this is why his fur seems to be fading to more of a rusty colour?


"Schalt' den PC ein und wärm den Monitor für mich auf." Wenn die Heizung nicht eingeschaltet ist, wird nach alternativen Wärmhaltemethoden gesucht.


"OK, ich habe es gefangen, Ihr könnt es jetzt für mich kochen." Nachdem er vergeblich versucht hatte, den Vogel durch die Katzenklappe hineinzuzerren, kam Morris von der Terasse ins Haus und stolperte über die Türschwelle, bevor er seine Beute durch das Wohnzimmer ins Badezimmer schleppte.


Over the Christmas break in 1999, we heard a faint cry outside; when we opened the living room door, a lump of bone and matted fur fell into the house, and over the next month he decided to adopt us (and wasn't eaten or attacked by Morris and Minnie either), so we nursed him to good health. We were too scared to total up the vet bills that came flooding in, but he occasionally answers to the name of "Austin", and we seem to have an addition to our family in 2000.


Only one year on, Austin sits on his favourite mound of grass, full of confidence and Lord of all that he surveys.


Time to catch up with some sleep on the sofa.

Unfortunately, Austin's kidneys were severely damaged during the time that he was living rough, and he lost his fight when they failed and the vet had to put him to sleep peacefully on 10^th November 2001. He will be sadly missed, not just by ourselves, but by our entire neighbourhood - his extremely friendly and trusting nature won him many friends (and a lot of extra food and fuss!)


In winter, the warm marble shelf above the radiator is an ideal place from where to watch the world go by ....


.... until it becomes too much like hard work.
Sadly, Morris also suffered from kidney failure and had to be put to sleep by the vet in February 2004, when he was almost 14 years old.


Hier ist meine Doppelgarage in Spalding, Ost-England zu sehen (mit Haus nebenan) - photografiert an dem Tag, als ich den Vertrag unterschriebe, 30. Januar 1998 ....


.... and again, on 7^th January 2003.
Wenn Du eine Immobilie in der Gegend kaufen willst, so können wir Allison Homes empfehlen. Obwohl wir in Deutschland leben, funktionierte der Kauf und die anschließende Vermietung sehr gut. Es spricht für die exzellente Arbeit von Judy Gordon, Christine Wood, Dawn Adams, Debbie Dobbs und dem Rest des Teams. Please visit the Allison Homes Web Site.

    
I purchased my second house on 30^th June 1999. This was the Allison Homes Show House, hence the garage alongside was used as a reception area. In the second photograph, taken on 7^th January 2003, the garage can be seen.


Because Allison Homes offered me a good deal, I purchased a third house on 30^th June 1999.


The third house, photographed on 7^th January 2003.

Unfortunately, the after-Sales Service from Allison Homes on the second and third houses was somewhat disappointing, but all problems were eventually resolved within the first year at no cost to ourselves - and thanks to a lot of help from our tenants.


We then purchased our fourth Allison Home on 17^th March 2003 (this time, however, it was not a new home directly from Allisons, but via A.P. Sales).

Many thanks are also due to the exceptional efforts from A.P. Sales, Spalding (initially Rita Lawson, now Jill Kirby) in finding good tenants at such short notice. Please visit the A.P. Sales Web Site.

If you are in any doubt as to the advantages of investing in property, and with how small an initial outlay that you can get started, please click here and read the following article.

Simply because I live in Germany, most UK Building Societies and Banks refused to offer me a mortgage. Die Bausparkasse Melton Mowbray jedoch, bestand darauf, uns 2 % mehr als Standard für meine Hypothek abzuverlangen - eine skandalöse Diskriminierung, die nicht legal sein sollte. I subsequently re-mortgaged all four properties (with the assistance of Helen Sweeney from Mortgage Options) with the Yorkshire Bank in Grantham, who offered very favourable terms, and do not aggressively discriminate in this way against expatriates.

If you find yourself in Lincolnshire and fancy an excellent Italian meal, head for "Devitto's" Ristorante at 44 Double Street, Spalding (tel. +44-1775-760686). Owned and run by Joe and Kay Cifaldi (who used to rent my third house), I can personally strongly recommend the Funghi Fritti, Funghi Alla Crema and Pollo Romana - my mouth is watering already, just thinking about their delicious food!


Nein, ich schlafe nicht - ohne ein Stativ musste ich alle mir zur Verfügung stehenden Mittel nutzen, um eine unverwackelte Aufnahme der Küstenklippen aufnehmen zu können. Ich ware auf einer Zelttour in Schottland, Juli 1995.


Ist dies der verrückte Professor bei der Arbeit? Nein, ich modifiziere nur gerade eine Kupplungsausrückhebelmutter für die Cobra 289 Replika (ich wette, es tut Dir leid, gefragt zu haben).


Nun müsse ich nur noch die Zeit zu 1923 zurückdrehen und ich bin DM-Millionäre!!

Not to leave out the other members of the Butcher clan - my paternal grandmother was a concert pianist, my mother (Jean May Butcher, née Oswald) is a retired Secretary, my maternal grandfather was an Estate Agent, my maternal grandmother was a housewife, and my younger brother Robert is researching various projects in the Biochemistry field at Imperial College, based in Ascot, Surrey - but he is currently collecting moths from Queensland, Australia and the Cameroon Highlands in Malaysia, for later DNA analysis (no further questions, please remember that I failed Chemistry 'O' Level, and dropped Biology in favour of Music and Art at school).

So, having lived the first 11 years of my life in Nairobi, the next 7 years in Winchester, 7 years in London, 2 years in Hong Kong, and the last 20 years in Germany, I cannot say where 'home' is! I feel strongly British (but definitely not English), and am most comfortable in Germany, mainly because I have a beautiful house, an affectionate cat and many good friends there. However, I still struggle with the language, and enjoy any business and leisure trips back to England (to visit my parents and shop for those little items that are not available, or too expensive, in Germany - like Rover V8 engine parts). But the idea of retiring in Germany is unthinkable (too many burocrats, too expensive, and very cold winters). I'll have to wait and see which part of the world hasn't been wrecked in about 20 years, before deciding where to curl up.

Oh, and don't forget to have a look at my summary of all the various cars that I have owned, or currently own - under Cars, Past & Present.

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