In his old age Heaviside became more and more eccentric. He was poor, and lived alone in a large house in Torquay that he could not afford to heat properly. He liked it when friends visited, but many people were put off because he could often be rude. He could not cook, and a friendly policeman regularly came to the house to bring him food. Because Heaviside was deaf and could not hear the knock on the door the policeman used to open the letterbox and blow his whistle loudly. The house and garden was in a terrible mess. He had lumps of granite in his house for furniture. He often put the letters W.O.R.M. after his name, just for a joke. He took to painting his finger nails pink. On at least one occasion he dyed his hair black and, while it was wet, he wore a teacosy on his head.