This post from Neil Gaiman's blog is so much like me it's uncanny.

And it's not just tea. I'm an English teacher and a running joke in my classes between me and my students is how often I lose board pens, erasers, papers etc. I can have a pile of papers in my hand but when I come to hand them out I can't find them and the observant students will notice me surreptitiously looking around, trying to notice if I've left them on my desk, or near the computer, or on one of their desks, or on the window sill or occasionally in the bin.

I have occasionally made the remark that I can sit at an empty desk with just a sheet of paper and a pen and that if I blink my eyes I will lose the pen and the paper. If I blink twice I might even lose the desk.

With me it's the TV remote control. I sit to watch TV on a two-seater settee and put the remote control on the empty cushion beside me. When I want to change channels it has almost always disappeared. It slides down the gap between the two cushions, or between the cushion and the far arm of the settee, or the cushion and the back. If I've got up at some stage it will quite likely have jumped onto the floor. Often, when I just want to avoid the commercials, they will have finished by the time I've found where the remote is lurking.

I did try putting the remote on the coffee table nearby instead for a while, but kept forgetting, so, after searching the settee throughly, I would eventually find it there after I'd given up.

Perhaps the odd socks have been taking things from the gremlins.

I've always thought they should make TV remotes with a button, much like on our cordless phones, where you can press something on the TV and the remote will start to beep. If that hasn't been invented already, and I am sure it has, I could make a mint on it!

Bob, in your friend's Blog, what is a "proper cup of tea" in contrast to a "sort of camomile bedtime thing?"

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Originally posted by Kalleh:

Bob, in your friend's Blog, what is a "proper cup of tea" in contrast to a "sort of camomile bedtime thing?"

I'm pretty sure that Neil Gaiman (author of the new movie Coraline, the magnificent kids' The Graveyard Book and the sublimely wonderful Sandman graphic novels) has never heard of me. Seems a nice enough bloke though so if he's in my neck of the woods and fancies a pint I'll happily buy him one.

"a proper cup of tea" is tea made with tea rather than tea made with any other herbal preparation such as camomile

I should probably fashion a lanyard to hang the remote on, so that I can hang it round my neck. I'd probably arrive at work with it still there, though.

In "Being There," Chauncey Gardener is about to be mugged by a gang of ruffians, so he aims his TV Remote at them and tries to change the channel.

Maybe that would work for you, arnie, and provide a good reason for wearing it on a lanyard around your neck.

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I've always thought they should make TV remotes with a button, much like on our cordless phones, where you can press something on the TV and the remote will start to beep. If that hasn't been invented already, and I am sure it has, I could make a mint on it!

There are some TVs and Remotes that come with this feature, and I've never understood why they all don't. My mother-in-law had one that did that, and it was great. Ours never have, and one year for the Invention Convention, Simon fashioned one from a remote doorbell rig. It was far too bulky for us to actually use, but it was a cool idea that should already be standard. My boys are forever misplacing remotes, although the last time we lost one, we ended up finding Si's lost cell phone during the search, so it was very beneficial!

I follow Gaiman on Twitter, Bob, and read his blog occasionally - he's quite delightful. I am also currently reading The Graveyard Book, as it's gotten great acclaim and recently won the Newbery Award .

It's an unfortunate title for a children's book. I can't see myself buying it for a niece or nephew, and yet it gets a great review.