My first job was… working in a corner dairy when lollies were a quarter or a half cent and cigarettes had just gone up to $1.89.
It taught me… that once a month, unsold magazines had their covers ripped off and returned for a refund, while their inners were thrown in the skip out the back. To my 15-year-old self's utter joy, this included the "top shelf" titles as well.
My big break came… in my ulna at intermediate, when a girl I foolishly loved pushed me from the top of the three-storey climbing fort.
The last job I quit was… Shortland Street in 1996. But they got the last laugh. Eleven years later, I went crawling back with a teenage daughter and a drug problem.
The most famous person I've ever met is… Queen Elizabeth II. Dame Cath introduced me at Government House. I wasn't that keen at first but then, there she was and it was remarkable. She has a laser beam focus that makes you feel so important and so very interesting and then, just as quickly, she rocks back a step, the eyes unlock from you and life is a cold and empty garden party.
