Highlights of the Year 2013

Even though there have been some difficult and heart-breaking times, the overall feel is that it's been a good year.Here are my highlights:

1) I was devastated when we were forced by the Management Committee to find a new home for our beloved cat Dyson, who was needing quite a considerable amount of care. Several friends offered to take him in, but it was Steve and Lois and their family who gave him a wonderful new home, the freedom to live out his remaining months in comfort, free to come and go as he wished, and a respectful burial when his time came.

Dyson quickly made himself at home

2) Early in the year I decided there were three acts I would like to see live during 2013; Piff The Magic Dragon, Audacity Chutzpah and Frisky and Mannish. I almost made it!

Piff (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rey_FNWQx-8) brought his 2012 Edinburgh show to the Soho Theatre in March which was even funnier than I expected, so I was happy to take a couple of groups of colleagues/friends along to see the "work in progress" for his 2013 later in the year, and then the final version when it returned to the Soho Theatre in October. He's an entertainer who really works with his audience so anything can happen, and it's his witty, dry reactions that lift his act out of the ordinary. Well, that and Mr Piffles, the World's First Levitating Chihuahua (TM). And Miss Amy Sunshine, his assistant, aka The Girl with the Dragon To-Do List. I'm glad I got to see him when I did - tonight he opens in Rose. Rabbit. Lie at the Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, where he'll be for a year.

I almost got to see the brilliant burlesque character, Audacity Chutzpah (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLzlIjF4PIM), but not quite - she was scheduled to appear at an evening that I could just about make it to, but a quick tweet revealed that she was no longer appearing, so I didn't have to rush from the dentist. I've since learned she is pregnant/has had a baby, which would account for a much-reduced performance schedule ... next year, perhaps?

I was very lucky to see Frisky and Mannish as part of London Wonderground in the summer. They did almost no shows together (both have engaged in separate projects), but brought their last three Edinburgh shows to London for one night each to film them. The full shows are now on Youtube, thanks to a Kickstarter project I was privileged to help with, so I'll let their talent speak (and sing) for itself:

• School of Pop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqjQrwVS0e4&feature=c4-overview&list=UUgD0qbUhpqOAfT2slNZMeUQ
• The College Years: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fov4LubwXBA&feature=c4-overview&list=UUgD0qbUhpqOAfT2slNZMeUQ
• Pop Centre Plus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmfO9iBj4BM&list=UUgD0qbUhpqOAfT2slNZMeUQ&index=3

 

 3) I had tremendous fun on 4th May. Not only did I get to work the door for Alexa de Strange (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lli_oQxtckE), but I ended up travelling home late at night, by public transport, completely hidden by a silver Whosuit ...

Not me (obviously) - but it gives an idea of how I was disguised

4) I made a good friend of a colleague I have known for some years. She still drives me nuts at times, but it is a friendship that I value greatly.

5) I was thrilled - not to mention honoured - to attend the baptism of my God-daughter's daughter. I am inordinately proud of my three God-children (far more than I have the right to be), and what made this baptism very special was that my God-daughter had all of her own God-parents present.

Elizabeth with her parents and God-parents, including my three God-children Helena (second from left), Felicity (the mother, holding Elizabeth) and James (far right)

6) We've been to a variety of places and met many people with the reptiles this year - for which I continue to be grateful - but in April, while visiting a centre for teenagers in south London, I think I started to make a young girl understand that being "different" doesn't mean being "wrong". Everyone's different in some way, so being different is normal!

Bruce - just hanging around!

7) I re-started blogging. It's not as frequent as it was, and my style has changed a fair bit (I think), but my creativity is definitely having a resurgence.

8) I had an amazing week at Phobophobia! Unlike anything I have ever done before, it was scary, funny, hard work and exhilarating! It was also warm and dry ..... I got to meet some wonderful people and make some new friends. Who cares if I had less than five hours sleep per night for a week?

Kirsty having fun at The London Bridge Experience

9) I received credit and genuine thanks for a particular piece of work I was given in November. It was a big thing, or technical, but it was very important and very urgent, and I delivered. And my contribution was recognised. 

10) Fun and great food with Gingerline for the Nokia MI1020 promotional event!

My first course awaits!

11) And finally! Luc surpassed himself with some amazing Christmas gifts, some custom made, all very precious.

Hallowe'en Part II - The Best Nightmare Ever!

So for eight evenings straight over Hallowe'en (Saturday to Saturday), we were at Phobophobia, The London Bridge Experience, with the reptiles.

Our usual rules didn't apply: here, our job was to make people face their fears - or even scare them. For once, people had to approach the reptiles and go past if they wanted to carry on; we weren't going to step back and keep them out of their way! After all, the public weren't going to say to the actor chasing them with a chainsaw "I'm frightened; please take that away" ....

We were in two areas - lizards, millipedes and one small snake in the first room, Brownlow, with one handler, and the bulk of the snakes (including at least one Burmese python) in Romans, an "encampment", a little further on with two handlers. The idea was that Emma and I would take alternate night to be alone in Brownlow, joining Luc in Romans on the other nights. Emma did the first night and half of the third, but it became clear that lizards and millipedes weren't behaving for  her, so from mid-way through the third night I kept them in line .....

Yes, I had people trying to decide if I was human or a mannequin; I even had one person stroke my arm. One man, trying to scare his friends, said "Just you wait, she's going to move any second" - and when I did, he screamed! "I didn't think you would! I only said it to frighten the rest of them!"

But I also had people thrilled to meet them. One person told me he'd always wanted to see a real live snake, and that afternoon he'd been to the zoo and seen one - at a distance, behind glass. Now he had the chance to touch one. And every night I had people who were very frightened, who touched a snake for the first time and realised it wasn't anything like what they expected.

Bruce the bearded dragon received a lot of attention and was generally loved - but as it was pretty dark, he held onto my shirt and slept through it all.

In fact, faced with a Royal python, a bearded dragon, and a ten-inch millipede, it was the millipede that most people were scared of.

But what really made the week for me was the acceptance we had from the London Bridge Experience staff. It would have been very easy for them to think of us as outsiders - we were, after all, brought in as a self-contained team just for the week - but we were welcomed, made to feel at home, befriended, and looked after.

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And, of course, I was working (more or less) full time Monday to Friday - the more or less bit being that my boss agreed to me taking half a day off spread over the five days, so I was able to leave work about 40 minutes early each day. But still, I was getting up at 05:45, feeding the cat, checking and responding to emails, leaving home before 07:00, working until 16:00, arriving at TLBE at 17:00, starting the sessions there at 18:00 (earlier on certain days), working until 22:30 or later, packing up the animals, driving home, arriving home some time after 23:30, checking the animals and putting them away, then going to bed, to start all over again a few hours later .... And I loved it! I'm hoping for a repeat booking in 2014.

Hallowe'en Part I - The Nightmare Turns ....

Yes I know Hallowe'en was almost two months ago .... and I'm actually going to start at Easter!

Over the last couple of years, we've worked with the reptiles in conjunction with a children's funfair over many of the school holidays. It's mutually beneficial; for the funfair it brings people in, and for us it gives us a wider audience. Also for us, it gives us a modest income in the spring and autumn when we wouldn't otherwise have much on. Sometimes we charge the public a token amount to hold the animals (no charge for touching or stroking), and at other times (including this Easter) the funfair is paid entrance so we do not charge but the fair pays us.

So we worked with the funfair over Easter.

And didn't get paid.

The owner of the fair arranged meetings - and failed to show up.

He stopped answering our calls.

So over the summer - when he had earlier promised us six weeks work - we sorted out our own programme, and did well enough. In fact our own bookings took us into September, which was good news. And then they carried on into early October, which was even better.

But we knew we needed something for the half-term week in late October. We faced the fact that we were going to have to call the funfair and ask if we could work with them (but this time make sure we were taking our own money). We agreed to make the call the next day.

That afternoon we got an email from someone asking if we were available for the half-term week, from 18:00 to 22:00 every night, in central London, and how much we would charge for a variety of snakes, lizards and millipedes and two handlers.

We looked up how much we made with the funfair for that week the previous year and quoted that. We knew we could have asked more, but we aren't out to make our fortune by way of the animals and, besides, it was indoors! Out of the wind. And rain. And snow.

Being evenings, it also meant that neither of the two of us who have other jobs would have to take time off work to do it.

Our quote was accepted and we started discussing details. They wanted us in two locations - snakes in one room, lizards and millipedes in another. We explained this meant three handlers - if either Burmese python is being used we insist on having a second person present "just in case" (not that we've ever had any problems with either Citrine or Alexa, out two Burmese, but should they get spooked they both have the potential ....).  But since we didn't ask for extra money, that didn't call for renegotiation.

Which is how we came to be part of The London Bridge Experience's "Phobophobia" event over Hallowe'en.

They also asked if we would be able to take part in a Press Night a week before, which we agreed to do. That simply meant being in the foyer with a few snakes (neither of the big girls) and millipedes, and talking to people.

When I went to put it in the diary, we already had a booking that night. And it was one that the booker had already postponed once.

Ok, we needed to find one of our other volunteers who can drive (I can't) to pick up the reptiles and me, take us to London Bridge, talk to people about the reptiles for a couple of hours, then bring us home.

We had two potentials. I contacted them. One wasn't available. The other (who was ideal for the job as he's quite theatrical - no, what do I mean "quite"?) was available and quite keen to help, but was already in London that day and wasn't going to have time to get home, collect his car ....

We couldn't do the Press night ... unless ....

I suggested that, if we multi-boxed the snakes for travel, I could take them up by train.

It was more straightforward than it sounds. I was to go to work for the morning but take the afternoon off. I would leave work at 12:30 and be home by 14:00 which would give me time to bath, change, have something to eat, pack up the animals and support equipment, and leave home at 16:00, arriving at TLBE by around 17:15 to set up. Simon would join me by 17:45 (I'd given him directions and told him to call my mobile when he was close by), and the event would kick off at 18:00. As I said, pretty much straightforward.

That morning there were delays on South Eastern Rail and my train train was delayed by 20 minutes. Not an issue as I had extra time built in, and the signalling problems were sure to be fixed by lunchtime.

Wrong.

That day, rail transport going through London Bridge (so everything out of Charing Cross, Cannon Street and Waterloo East) came to a complete stop. Except the staff at Charing Cross weren't saying this - they were only talking about "delays" ...

After an hour, they suggested I went to London Bridge and caught a train  coming out of Cannon Street. I went to London Bridge. I was told that there were no trains at all on my line, and that staff at Charing Cross were saying anything they could to pass the problem on to other stations.

I 'phoned home, but there was no way Luc could drive the animals up to me in London Bridge and be home in time for his other booking.

In desperation, I tried to think of other routes I could take that might not be so badly affected. I found there was a train going to East Croydon in a few minutes (not covered by my ticket, but who cares?), and East Croydon is a 20 minute bus journey (also not covered by my ticket) from home.

45 minutes later I was home.

No time to wash my hair. No time to eat. Wash, have a coffee, pack up the animals, and leave. I had no idea if the reverse journey would work, but it was the only option I had.

I was now trying to look inconspicuous, travelling by bus back into Croydon, wearing logo'ed Reptile Handler uniform, carrying a rolled up 2 metre banner, and with a wheeled back containing five "bagged" snakes (bagging is something we don't normally do), their stacked display boxes, two giant millipedes, antibacterial hand gel, clean-up kit, insurance and Performing Animals License, and some A5 flyers.

The return journey to London went far better than I could have hoped, and I arrived early at TLBE, where I was met by the owner who did a fair job of hiding his concern when I explain that, no, the animals weren't coming separately; they were in my smallish bag. I was shown - well, as it was in pitch black, make that led - to the green room, and unpacked the snakes. A few minutes later the owner came through and looked equally amazed and horrified (I later found out that he doesn't like snakes) to find me with a stack of boxes containing two cornsnakes, two Royal pythons, two giant millipedes, and a two-year old reticulated python.

Next problem. I'd asked Simon to call my mobile when he was close, but I was hidden in a building under a railway arch with no signal. A quick call on TLBE's landline explained the issue, and a word with the front of house staff had this sorted.

And it all went unbelievably well! And Jade, the reticulated python, made a special friend of one of TLBE's rather tall actors.

And, yes, I AM standing up in this photo!

Secret Service

Wednesday evening. The tweet I saw read "Top secret agents required. Your first mission sign up gingerline.co.uk/nl1020 to win hot tickets to #MI1020 spy event. Til midnight spies!!"

I was intrigued, so clicked on the link and found a sign-up page for a spy-based secret dining event. Well, I've always liked the idea of secret dining but have ever done it, and the website said the location would be near to a station on the East London railway line that runs less than five miles from home .... and I never win anything anyway .... so I signed up.

Thursday afternoon, I'm at work. My mobile rings, and I'm asked if I'm available the following evening as I've won tickets!

Friday, after work, I start to make my way New Cross Gate, which is about the middle of the line. I'm still on the train from London Bridge when I receive a text: AGENTS! THIS IS THE SPYMASTER. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO ...." and then the details of where to go, what to look for, and the password. It also gives a deadline of one hour to get there.

40 minutes later I walk into the entry of an aquarium supplies showroom in east London, and am greeted by a secretive young lady in a white lab coat. Having given the password, I'm informed I'm in group 3, and told to look around until someone makes contact.

Photographs by Seánan Forbes (www.seananforbes.com)

Within a few minutes a gentleman - also wearing a white labcoat - approaches us. "It's good to see you again! And I'm so sorry about that mix-up when I accidentally wiped your memories, but I'm glad you made it back safely. Are you ready for another mission?" We confirm that we are, and are instructed to take a photograph representing camouflage and tweet it with the hashtags #nothingtoseehere and #MI1020. 

Photographs are taken and tweeted. A little while later, we are given another mission - to tweet a believable, but totally untrue, explanation of the last tweet with the hashtags #whereiamtonight and #MI1020.

Soon after this, Group 3 is assembled (eleven of us in total), we're issued trilbies, photographed, given three Nokia Lumia 'phones between the group, shown how they work, and led back to the entrance to start our group mission. We're each given a sealed envelope marked "Confidential". It's raining, so we're given bright yellow umbrellas.

One of the 'phones rings, and a message tells us to make our way to the canal at the end of the street and make contact with the spy under the bridge. We will be greeted with the words "The moon is very bright tonight", to which the reply is "Far brighter that I would have expected". We head out into the night.

We find the spy quite easily - well, she's not that hard to find, despite being hidden in a bin! Passwords are exchanged, and she asks us to take a group photograph with her. When she looks at it, she asks to zoom in on something on the wall behind her - and there's a message "Phone Val". We're told there's an old-fashioned call box round the corner, and there may be something there to give us Val's number. We find the call box easily enough, but there's a slight problem; it's in use! And the lady inside is somewhat taken aback at eleven people in trilbies trying to read the number from a flyer stuck to the inside wall of the box .....

We make the call, and a recorded message tells us to follow the map that appears on the Nokia phone. It will lead us to a burger van, where we are to ask Frank for his specials.

(It's only now that I realise that Val and Frank are my mother's and father's names!)

We find the burger van, and Frank, and ask him for his specials. His first special is a cup of mulled wine for each of us. Then he directs us to look at his specials board, and there's a line of writing too small to read at the top - but a photograph and the zoom function on the Nokia make it easy to read our next instruction.

Two doors up the road we knock on the door and give the password "Frank is sexy". 

We're let into an MOT-style garage under the railway arches, where a large man in overalls and carrying a breaker bar decides we're here to unblock the toilet. We're advised to remove our coats, and they're hung up for us. We're shown into ... well, the toilet ... but it has room for all of us, then the back wall open up and we're in a massive dining area! This is the Research and Tasting Facility. The end walls are painted white, onto which are projected various electronic screens, clocks are set to assorted time zones (including Roswell), the book shelves contain spy fiction, and there's a rather dodgy lab-type area where a couple of people seem to be undergoing some kind of thought transfer process ....

We're shown to our tables, and offered drinks - cocktails, spirits, wine, beers, soft drinks, whatever we want. They appear, and shortly afterwards a rather excitable young lady (lab coated, of course) explains to us to look out for double agents, what to do if we spot anything suspicious, etc. Next to come to us the gadget man, who demonstrates (and gets us to practise with) some of his latest inventions. These include the laser bream, which helps to find targets underwater ....

We open the Confidential envelopes we were given back at the aquarium to find some enlarged microfilm which is, of course, the menu.

We wait for all the groups to arrive and settle, then suddenly a group of white-coated people enter the hall carrying piles of small yellow cases. There is a strong smell of wood smoke. The cases are put on the tables between each pair of diners, and we open to find - well, smoke - and the first course.

 

 

The evening progresses. The food is excellent, the drinks are plentiful. There are urgent messages from the SpyMaster projected onto the walls, and various challenges.

Then, just before the dessert arrives we realise - WE'VE BEEN INFILTRATED! One person on each table turns out to be a double agent, and there's a bit of a chase. My group feels somewhat betrayed by the charming young man we had accepted as one of our own, but we console ourselves by eating his dessert ....

A few days later, after Gingerline had run five days of the event, they released this wrap video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd_LViPjkpY

A great night! I have every intention of attending one of their regular dinners in the coming year.

A Few Days in December

Firstly, an apology for failing to write for a while. A combination of events caused this; firstly some dark days (that I have no intention of writing about at present), and secondly some brilliant times which kept me rather too busy.

I will come back and fill in some of the gaps in the coming week or so, but I'm going to start with a few days from the week just gone.

Saturday
This was always going to be busy. After a hectic time out with the reptiles up until the start of November suddenly things went quiet, so a school fair in Catford meant us struggling to think of the things that we normally do as routine. Bags and boxes had to be checked and rechecked; newspaper, clean-up kit, anti-bacterial gels, hi-viz jackets, snake skeleton, flyers, collection buckets, stretchy snakes and lizards, pictures for children to colour in .... we remembered almost all of it. In fact we only forgot two things. Unfortunately those two things were rather important - our insurance certificate and Performing Animals Licence - but luckily neither was needed. In other words, we got away with it.

I have to say, the children were wonderful; respectful of the animals and each other, polite, patient, brave. We had no screaming, no pushing the animals into each others' faces - but gentle encouragement for their friends. "It's not scary really. If I can do it, you can too". A real delight.

Which meant we were able, once we got home, simply to drop the animals off quickly without needing to check them over for damage before heading out again.

Still Saturday
We have a small number of volunteers who have helped us out quite a bit throughout the year, so it was a pleasure to invite them to join us for a Christmas meal. We chose a location that was reasonably central, and a restaurant that is normally an Asian buffet, but for December had made a few additions to its menu, so we had mixed plates of Indian starters, Thai curries, Chinese stir-fries and duck, Japanese sushi, Italian-American pizza, and British roast turkey with all the trimmings. We also had great company.

Saturday brought to an end
A year ago, we struck up an attachment with our local amateur dramatic society, The Matchbox Theatre Company, when they borrowed one of our snakes for their production of "The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)". I should make clear that the snake they borrowed was a toy one, although they did audition some live ones, which they have written up here:  http://matchboxtheatre.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/snakes-in-a-play-part-ii/. Having dealt very effectively with The Bard, this year they took on "All the Great Books" so, from the restaurant, four of us went straight on to a side-splitting whistlestop tour of 89 books in 108 minutes, performed by four actors. And a dog. But no snakes. There was an opportunity for some snakes to infiltrate, but it was missed. But we have hopes for future productions, as does at least one actor ....

And, finally, home, check over animals, put them away, and bed.

Sunday
Our corporate Christmas cards had arrived, so time to write them. A couple of weeks previously, Luc had made the discovery that Topaz, our young albino Royal python, really does not like tinsel.

Tuesday
No, I haven't forgotten Monday, much as I'd like to .....

One of the actors we worked with at Hallowe'en is appearing in The Jungle Book at The Lion and Unicorn, Kentish Town http://www.lionandunicorntheatre.com/thejunglebook.php so I planned a trip up there after work. Which would have been easier if I hadn't left my Oyster card at home. So suddenly my "I have 90 minutes for a 15 minute journey, supper and to collect my ticket" became "I have 90 minutes to walk somewhere that's vaguely north, but I don't have a map and I've never been before, supper and to collect my ticket".

I'm not famed for my navigational abilities. But I made it ok.

And the show was magical. Simple but effective set, simple but beautiful costumes, simple but ... no, I didn't mean that! Small but talented cast,and amazing animal behaviour. And @gonnasolvethis was as charming as ever. was as charming as ever.

Wednesday
In the evening, someone I follow on Twitter mentioned a competition to win tickets for a mystery dining event, based around a railway line that's not too far from me. I registered and expected not to hear anything more.

Thursday
15:30 - 'Phone call to say I'd won tickets for a mystery dining event the following evening! But that's another story ....

Hell hath no fury like a cat unfed ....

For reasons I won't go into, our cat Snowball is fed three times a day; firstly at 06:00, then small feeds at 18:00 and 22:00. She also has a hopper of dry food she can help herself from at any time (if she deigns to eat dry food).

Last night she  appeared in front of me at exactly 18:00 (you've heard of a watchdog? Well Snowball's is a clock-cat!), but scarcely ate any of the food she was given. So, when she graced me with her presence at 22:02 I pointed her to the earlier food, and the dry food, but did not give her anything new. After a bit of flouncing around she disappeared back upstairs - and I was pretty sure she would make her way back down if she felt hungry later on.

I was wrong.

As I said, Snowball is a clock-cat, and this also manifests in her waking me about 90 seconds before my alarm is due to go off in the morning.

I wasn't, therefore, too surprised when I was woken by a small but persistent tap on my cheek. I fussed her for a few seconds, then said "I'll be up when the alarm goes off" .... but it didn't.

A couple of minutes later, there was a rather more urgent tap on my forehead. Again, I fussed her a little, and waited for the alarm to go off. Once again, it didn't.

A few minutes past, and I felt the presence of a claw on my ear. A little more fuss, and I checked the time.

It was 01:57.

This is nowhere near my time to get up.

But I'm guessing Snowball was hungry.

Well, I wasn't going to give in. She still had dry food downstairs is she wanted it, so I pulled the duvet over my head and went back to sleep.

Snowball left it a few minutes before stomping down the bed, across my ankles (taking great care to stamp on my ankles with each paw), and went and bothered Luc.

So I suppose that Snowball will continue to be fed three times a day, even if she hasn't eaten much of her earlier meal (although her evening meals may be smaller). Whatever made me think I could get away with dropping a meal for the princess?

When the screaming stopped

As well as making me both sad and angry, the death of Nutty the leopard gecko (see last post) also left us with a problem.  We were book for a child's birthday party two days ago, and the little boy had specifically requested a leopard gecko.

We do have another leopard gecko called Albus, but he's more commonly known as Screamer, or referred to as "that little monster", which indicates the problem.

If I open his vivarium he screams, curls his tail over his back like a scorpion, and throws himself into my face! This has been going on for a year .....

So on Friday night I decided I had to give him one final chance.

I put on some kevlar gloves (he may be only 10cm long, but I'm not taking any risks), opened his vivarium, and put my hand in.  Albus screamed. I was not going to let him win quite that easily, so kept my hand in the vivarium. After five minutes or so he stopped screaming, so I waited a little longer and removed my hand on my own terms.

Twenty minutes later I tried again. No screaming, but he hid in a corner.

Several tries later, I was actually able to pick him up! Still wearing Kevlar gloves, but I actually held him!

So on Saturday morning, early on, I opened his vivarium and found him sitting on top of his coconut. I looked at him; he looked at me. Neither of us screamed ....
Two hours later, with no gloves in sight, he was sitting on my hand to meet a very happy nine-year-old and his friends!

I think we've managed to tame each other.

A very special gecko

My lovely leopard gecko, Nutty, died in my hand last night.

Photo: http://www.yellow-teddy.org.uk

It wasn't unexpected, and I'm glad that he didn't just slip away alone in his vivarium for me to find later, but today I'm angry.

Like almost all of our animals, Nutty was rescued. When he was given to us (by another rescue centre) we were told he was brain-damaged - hence "Nutty Norman", which I never actually liked as a name. We didn't know how old he was, just that he was adult when he came to us.

Getting to know him over the first few weeks, I started to doubt if he was brain-damaged or just rather stressed. The shaking he originally had lessened considerably, and although he often held his head to one side, I know several people who do the same, and no-one doubts their mental capacity as a result!

So Nutty and I had several happy years together. I say Nutty and I because - for no reason I was ever able to fathom - Nutty growled at Luc every time he saw him. Until about three months ago.

At the same time that Nutty stopped growling at Luc, I notice the lean of his head was more common, and a greater angle. He also started going round in circles occasionally. A couple of weeks ago, he turned so far round on himself that he actually flipped himself over. His last shed was poor. He's never been any easy feeder, but then last Saturday he had difficulty eating his usual food, but managed something smaller. Then he stopped eating altogether.

There's a genetic flaw in leopard geckos called the Enigma gene. Some animals may carry it without ever exhibiting symptoms, but when they are present, among the most common effects are:

• Neurological or balance disorder;
• "Star gazing";
• Inability to feed itself;
• Circling behaviour, especially when startled;
• "Death rolling" (think of crocodiles);
• Inability to shed without assistance.

So now, taking into account a few other factors as well, I'm pretty sure that the "brain damage" that Nutty had was, in fact, the Enigma gene.

So why should I be angry? Because the Enigma gene is being deliberately bred for financial gain, producing animals that - to a lesser or greater extent - suffer as a result.

When the "Enigma morph" was first bred in 2006 (three years before we were given Nutty) it was considered "exciting" as it introduced new colouration and also less obvious "banding". As a result, entire Enigma lines have been purposely bred, and sometimes crossed with other colour morphs. A number of breeders continue to do this, with any hatchlings exhibiting clear signs of "Enigma Syndrome" being euthanised and the others being sold on or kept for further breeding.

Enigma is a dominant gene.

I can only hope that Nutty didn't suffer too much in his final few months, but had I been aware of this genetic mutation earlier I would probably have taken steps when his condition started to deteriorate at the start of the summer.

Machine vs. Man

I'm on a training course tomorrow (which is more than likely to prompt another blog post, trust me), so when I arrived at work this morning I printed out the joining instructions and map, checked my journey, and then checked my Oyster card to see if I had enough credit for the travel. I didn't, so I decided that I would go out at lunch time and add some funds.

Ten minutes later, our computer system started running slowly (a problem we've been having on and off for the last week, since the last system upgrade), so I reported it to the Help Desk (again). Twenty minutes later it stopped working altogether.

I decided to make use of the down time by going to the nearest underground station to top up my Oyster then, rather than in my lunch break, and decided £5 would be adequate. I don't believe in keeping large balances on something I only use two or three times a month.

In my handbag I had a bank coin bag of 20 pence pieces, which I was pretty sure was exactly £5, so I took that, my Oyster card, my building pass and - just to be on the safe side - a £2 coin, and headed off round the corner to Goodge Street station.

All went well with the first couple of stages of the operation. The machine read my card. It asked my what I wanted to do. I selected Top Up. It asked how much? I selected £5. It asked if I was paying by cash or by card. I selected cash.

Then I started putting my 20 pence pieces in ....

I had got to around £4.20 when it said I had used too many coins, and cancelled the transaction. It then returned my money. Except that it didn't return my money - not my 20 pence pieces .... no, it gave me 10 pence pieces instead.

I tried again, more out of desperation than hope. The machine read my card. It asked my what I wanted to do. I selected Top Up. It asked how much? I selected £5. It asked if I was paying by cash or by card. I selected cash.

I started by putting the £2 coin in, then my remaining 20 pence pieces. When those ran out, I switched to the 10 pence pieces. I had got to around £3.60 when it said I had used too many coins, and cancelled the transaction. It then returned my money. Well, approximately my money. I'm grateful that it did, at least, give me back a £2 coin.

So then I went to the ticket office, and gave the coins to a human being, who topped up my Oyster.

I returned to the office. The IT system still wasn't working.....

Isn't it wonderful how machines can make everyday life so easy?

A tale of coincidences

We were out at a music festival today with the reptiles. We had all the usual gear with us, including the infamous "blue bag" which contains all our paperwork, hi-viz jackets, clean-up and first aid kits, antibac, etc. The actual hold-all was bought at a local charity shop, and bears the crest of one of the local schools on one end panel.

During the afternoon, three girls aged 10-11 were having a fond encounter with my lizards when one of them glanced down and saw the bag under the table, printed end visible. "Where did you get that bag?" "It's from one of our local schools, but we bought it in a charity shop". "I think it's Langley" "It could well be, that's not far from us". "I'm starting there in September - I've just got my uniform."

A couple of hours later, the same girls were back, continuing their blossoming friendship with Bruce (bearded dragon) and Slinky (Berber skink), when a woman of my age came over. She didn't want to touch or hold the animals, but was interested in them, and was very impressed with the girls' bravery.

I can't remember exactly why, but the woman mentioned that she teaches at Langley. I told her that one of the girls was starting there next term, and she replied "That would be Langley Girls; I teach at Langley Boys".

A small bell rang at the back of my mind; I had heard that one of my school friends was teaching at Langley Boys a good ten years back. So I asked "One of my friends used to teach there, but I can't remember her married name. Do you know J**e F***g****e?"

"Yes, I know her very well; I was at school with her. How do you know her?" 

"I was at school with her as well!"

At which point we exchanged maiden names and remembered each other!

So if it hadn't been for the blue bag, and the three young girls, I would .... well, I would have met, but not been aware I had met .... Shirley, who I last saw when she changed to another school in 1974!

Hotter than July?

It was hot today.

Very hot.

So three of us at work decided we'd like an ice cream break this afternoon.

A quick discussion as to price, speed and variety followed, and we headed off to the nearest supermarket, mid-afternoon. There was a corner shop closer, but we reckons they wouldn't have such a good selection, and would be more expensive.

There was, however, one thing we hadn't considered.

As we entered the supermarket the fire alarm went off. So the shop was evacuated.

I'm guessing it was just a little hotter than we believed .....

But I'm happy to report that the corner shop had a fair selection.

Reading between the lines

To my great regret, I don't read nearly as much as I used to.

It's not deliberate and, bearing in mind that I make a 40 minute train journey twice a day, I can't really claim that I don't have the time.

I appear simply to have lost the habit.

As a child I read extensively. Having said that, I could be (and remain) quite stubborn over my reading. When I was at primary school, my teacher announced to the class that every girl should read Little Women, Black Beauty and Jane Eyre. I made up my mind I would never read the first two, and was decidedly miffed that I had already read the third. Jane Eyre remains the only one of those three books I have read.

I remember that I read The Lord of the Rings before I started secondary school (I must have read it in the weeks before and after my 11th birthday), and in my early teens I read Nevil Shute, Isaac Asimov, Nancy Mitford, alongside Dickens, Hardy, Bronte, Shakespeare .....

As I became older my reading became more sporadic, but remained fairly wide ranging. I would (and will) read everything I can get my hands on by a certain author, and then read nothing for weeks, or even months. Authors have included Primo Levi, Terry Pratchett, Sergei Lukyanenko, Jeffrey Archer, Josephine Tey, Donna Leon, John Wyndham, Naomi Novik .....

I wish I could get myself into the habit of regular reading, but I doubt that I will do so without falling into my usual pattern of "binging".

These musings started when I tried to decide my three favourite books. For the record, they are:

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Giorgio Bassani). Sort of (auto)biographical, Bassani takes a minor role as he relates the lives of the Jewish community in Ferrara at the start of World War II. This made a massive impression on me when I first read it in my mid-twenties. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garden-Finzi-Continis-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141188367/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375294378&sr=8-2&keywords=garden+finzi+continis.

 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot). An intensely moving book, easily readable despite its medical/scientific subject, telling the story of the woman whose cell-line became the foundation of much medical research without her consent, or any recompense for her or her descendants. It was the start of medical ethics, but recent developments (since the book was published) have unfortunately shown there's still a way to go. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Immortal-Life-Henrietta-Lacks/dp/0330533444/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375294693&sr=1-1&keywords=henrietta+lacks

And then I get a little stuck. I've chosen two serious books, so would like the third to be humorous. But which? I adore Terry Pratchett, but I can't really choose "The Complete Works of ..." (or even "The Complete Discworld". If I had to select my favourite Pratchett book, it would be Soul Music, a book which builds throughout to a punchline it alludes to, but never actually states. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soul-Music-Discworld-Novel-Novels/dp/0552140295/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375295589&sr=8-1&keywords=pratchett+soul+music

But ....

If I'm limited to individual works, then there's one book that had me laughing out loud on the 07:16 train and, when there was a fire drill at work, my immediate thought was that I'd have extra reading time. Comic "Flashman in Space" with every science fiction allusion you can imagine, I offer you Space Captain Smith (Toby Frost). http://www.amazon.co.uk/Space-Captain-Smith-Toby-Frost/dp/1905802137/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375295947&sr=1-2&keywords=space+captain+smith And the good news is that the fourth book in the series is out in less than two weeks!

Campaign for Something-Less-Than-Plain English

I work with some very bright people. Many of them are very bright scientists. However, this can sometimes lead to problems; if they believe the understand how something works (and they are wrong) they cannot start to comprehend any explanation of how it actually works.

No, they understand it, so therefore what I'm saying, if it differs from their understanding, is as a matter of course incorrect.

The only way I can get my message across is by not talking about the actual issue, but by using an analogy and leaving them to apply it. Which they invariably do, very rapidly. Well, they are bright, after all.

For example ....

The scientists/ researchers fill in forms in en electronic system, which come through to me for validation. A major update of the system worked only on forms started after the update (i.e. forms they had started filling in beforehand were still in the old format even if they were finished and submitted after the update). However, some months later we were still receiving "old" forms, which shouldn't have been the case. It dawned on me that they were using a past "successful" application, then just over-writing the parts that related to the new application.

They were, however, insistent that this was a new application.

"You must have used an old form".

"It's a brand new application!"

"But did you use a previous form?"

"I've already told you, I only started it last week!"

Ok, this isn't working. "Imagine you have a twelve year old piece of paper with writing on it. You take an eraser and rub out the writing, then write something new on it. How old is the piece of paper?"

"Oh! ....You mean I should have gone with "Start new submission rather than one I did four year ago!"

And again.

They are applying for permission to conduct research at NHS sites, and have to list the legal entities responsible for those sites on the application form. Frequently they list the actual sites, which means that the software will not work properly, so I ask them to correct it.

"But I'm not doing my research there".

"No, but that's the legal body responsible for the research site, so that's what you list".

"But I'm doing my research somewhere else!"

Ok, here we go again. "Imagine your child is going on a school trip. They bring a consent form home from school, and you sign it to say they can go. That doesn't mean that you're going on the trip!"

"That makes sense now. Thank you!"

But the one that my colleagues like best (so far) escaped from my mouth earlier this week.

The system that the researchers use is not the same one that I use, but a gateway system. This means that they can prepare forms, upload documents, etc., in their system, but until they actually press the "Submit" button, I can't access them.
On a particular submission, I had asked for particular documents three ties, explaining each time that they had to be uploaded and submitted, and by this point the researcher was getting as frustrated as I was that I was still asking for them.

"But they're in the public area. You should be able to see them."

"But I don't have access to that system. You need to transfer them from your system to mine".

"But I've already uploaded them!"

Ok, how to explain this. "Imagine you've written a letter. You put a stamp on it, and put it on your hall table. If you don't put it into the post box, when is it going to reach me?"

Five minutes later, the documents transferred across.

So the moral is - don't talk to scientists about what they think they know; talk to them about their home lives.

Or, to put it another way: imagine a researcher is a human being ....

The tale of Snowball's ear

As mentioned in my previous post, our cat Snowball has had health problems lately.

Snowball, as her name implies, is pure white. This means that her ears and nose are at risk of damage by the sun, and we have to put high factor sun cream on her when she goes outside. This doesn't go down to well with Her Majesty.

It's now over ten years since we adopted her, and she's approaching 15 years of age. She's intelligent, loyal .... and stubborn. The first time we went on holiday, leaving her in the care of friends, she stayed in the room she last saw us until we returned two weeks later.

When I say the first time we left her I do, of course, mean the only time. By the following year she had a passport, and came with us to France.

The only trouble with taking her on holiday with us, even if only to France, is that the weather is better.

Four years ago we took her to Brittany. Several times a day we put sun cream on her ears and nose. And several times a day she immediately licked it off and went out into the garden. The result was that she got quite badly sunburnt.

A few months after we returned, we noticed brown discolouration on the edge of one ear. we took her to the vet whose thoughts matched ours - skin cancer. He explained that the standard treatment was to remove the whole ear but suggested that, given her age, we should monitor it and only take action if it either spread or caused her distress.

For a few years there was no change.

Then earlier this year I thought I noticed a change. After a few days I mentioned it to Luc, and he replied that he thought the same.

She went back to the vet - now a different, younger vet - who again said that the standard treatment was the removal of the ear. We were reluctant to proceed, but started keeping a photographic record of the marking on her ear.

Five weeks later we 'phoned the vet and arranged to bring her in for surgery the next day.

She's quite an old lady, and was very badly treated in her youth, so I was very concerned about her, but was relieved to get the 'phone call saying she was recovering from the anaesthetic and could be picked up at around six that evening.

She looked pitiful. It hadn't crossed my mind that he would need to shave part of her head, or just how thick the fur on her head was. Just about all of the ear was missing, and the dark stitching really showed up against her white fur. And to add insult to injury, her right foreleg had also been shaved for the anaesthetic and drips, and was now covered by a blue elasticated tube bandage.

The only good point about this was that the bandage was bothering her more than the ear. For the next 24 hours, all was well.

At six o'clock the following evening, she managed to remove the bandage; I don't know how. But without this distraction, she immediately became aware that something was wrong with her ear, and started scratching it, so we had to put a cone collar on her.

Not good!

Within a few seconds she was finding it stopped her going through gaps she normally used, and when she tried to work out what was happening it caught on the ground.

She promptly went upstairs to sleep on it. Which she couldn't do because of the collar.

After two hours she came back downstairs. Pausing in the doorway, she surveyed the lounge and then took a route that knocked over just about everything possible.

Some time during the night (Luc keeps odd hours) she made enough of a nuisance of herself to have the collar removed. I woke up at 05:30 to find her sleeping next to my pillow as usual.

Luckily, she appeared to understand what behaviour had led to the collar, so she didn't scratch again. I did say she was intelligent.

Five days after the surgery, we received the results from the histology. It seems she had a rare and very aggressive carcinoma, that would have rapidly spread through her body, most likely going to her lungs next. However, the excision was clean with good margins, so we have every hope that it has been wholly removed before it spread.

Two weeks after her surgery she had a post-op examination and was declared to be making excellent progress. The loss of her ear does not appear to be causing her any distress, and she's now grooming normally; if anything, her behaviour shows less sign of anxiety than before the operation. And the fur on her head is starting to grow back, although there's still some way to go.

And, for which I am very thankful, she doesn't seem to be holding any sort of resentment towards us.

She remains my bright, beautiful and brave angel.

"May you live in interesting times!"

It's been quite a week. Aside from work, that is - which is always "quite a week".

On Saturday, we were booked for an event we've never done before, in a place we've not been. We ran the route through Google Maps, and it estimated 35 minutes, so we allowed around 50 minutes.

Google Maps didn't allow for both the M25 and the M20 to be at a standstill.

We took to the country roads, which would have been more fun if it weren't for the packs of cyclists riding two abreast at low speeds, only speeding up when we came across horses. Not really helpful.

Arriving 20 minutes after the fair had started obviously meant that we couldn't take the car onto the showground, but had to unload in the car park and carry everything across. I dropped off the first boxes of snakes at our appointed pitch and went to get the next batch - only to be told on my return, by the man from the pitch next door, "You'll have to move those! My wife won't have them near her!" Of course, it was too late to switch people round, so all we could do was move to the far end of the pitch, and suffer angry looks from the pair of them all afternoon - especially as we were busy all afternoon and they had very few customers.

Sunday started out warm, which we were pleased about, as we had a big show. Unfortunately it turned out to be hotter than we had expected, which led to problems with some of the reptiles and made for a somewhat stressful afternoon. You'd think that South American, African and Australian animals could cope with 20 degrees ..... And on Bank Holiday Monday we were back at the same event, with the similar concerns.

Tuesday as a University Closure Day - an extra day off work - which I rather needed. Added to which I looking forward to seeing The Piff the Magic Dragon Show at an intimate little theatre with a friend I haven't seen for over a year and three of her friends, who I didn't know. The two of us had had tickets to see Piff (www.piffthemagicdragon.com) back in March, but at the last minute she wasn't able to come so her ticket had gone to waste, and I was looking forward to treating her. Until I got a message from her in the morning to say she was too ill to come so, once more, her ticket went to waste.

It also meant I had tickets to hand over to three people I didn't know, wouldn't recognise, and couldn't actually contact .... Not the most relaxing of starts. The show was great fun though, although it didn't go exactly to plan ....

On Wednesday I was back at work. Well, physically I was, but my mind was with my poor, lovely cat Snowball who was at the vet having surgery to remove her ear as the "probable cancer" that started to show some time ago has now suddenly spread. She's an old girl - around 14-15 years - so I was quite concerned how she'd handle the anaesthetic, and also the loss of her ear. In fact, she did very well. It was the following evening when we had to put on a cone collar to stop her scratching her wound. For the first 20 minutes she appeared confused and frustrated as the collar stopped her going through gaps, caught on the ground, and generally made life difficult for her.

It must have taken all of 90 minutes for her to work out how to knock the most things over and cause such absolute chaos that her collar was taken off again after just a few hours. Luckily, she seemed to understand why it had been put on her, and she's left her ear alone ever since.

Then today we learnt that, although we have made our own bookings for next weekend, someone we work with quite frequently has assumed we're available to work with him and advertised it widely. So now we're trying to arrange another team ...

I've seen the future (I hope) ...

In the last eight days we have taken our reptiles to fairs at three Church of England primary schools.

The first (last Saturday) was St Margaret's in Lee, south London; the second (last Sunday), was Hunton, a rural village outside Maidstone; and today's was at Seal, near Sevenoaks, so somewhat suburban.

At each we were welcomed enthusiastically.

At Lee, we were placed in the library (and wished we had had time to explore it, as it looked amazing), with a parent on the door taking entry money. This is clearly a multi-cultural area, and the children had obvious respect for each other and for the teachers (although the opportunity to throw wet sponges at one of the teachers drew a number of them from us for a short while) - in fact, as we entered the school building, the first thing we saw was a hand-written book outlining the responsibilites of all members of the school.

At Hunton, we were allocated a superb wooden gazebo in the playground, and set up with one table and the gazebo benches. This was a smaller school, but past pupils (some of whom feature in our signage) came back to take part in the day, and were clearly proud to be associated with it, and to look out for the younger children.

Because of traffic issues (the M25 was closed) we arrived slightly late at Seal so did our simplest and quickest set-up - no gazebo or seating, just two tables in a V-shape in the open air. Here there were more "external" stalls, but these were specialist; a wood-turner, archery, and some lovely owls (which the organisers had very thoughtfully placed both at a distance and out of direct line of vision from us). Our audience here was more families than unattached children, and also staff and governors of the school - but noticably not the two CPSOs, who kept well clear of us.

What was common to all three schools was:

• Politeness and manners.
• Patience when others were holding the animals, and also a willingness to say "your turn now".
• Respect for the reptiles as living things, not toys.
• Intelligent questions about them, and a willingness to listen to the answers.
• No complaints about paying to hold them - an understanding that, if you want something you don't just take it (or scream until you get it).
• And wonderful home-made cakes!

If these children, up to the age of eleven, are representative of their generation, then we have a bright future. If they are identifiably the product of Church of England schools, then I think the education authorities need to learn from them, as these three at least are clearly doing something right.

Alter Ego

There are some things about which I think "I wish I had an excuse to do that".

Of course, there are plenty of things which I do without an excuse, but some are just a little too silly, or particular circumstances are required.

Last night, an excuse and the right circumstances collided  .....

The first time I discovered morphsuits/whosuits I thought "That looks like fun" - but:
          1) When would I wear one?
          2) They're rather expensive; and
          3) It wouldn't look good on someone (i.e. me) who's two stone overweight.

Then the wonderfully-talented Alexa de Strange (http://www.alexadestrange.com/) announced that the launch gig for their new single "If Only" was going to be Star Wars-themed fancy dress. That's not enough of an excuse.

Then the band asked me if I would help them out by checking wristbands on the door. Ok, I'm now definitely attending, but that's still not enough of an excuse.

Oh look, Whosuits have a sale on, and they have a metallic silver suit (http://whosuits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_4&products_id=27) .... and I can always sell it on eBay afterwards and recoup some of the cost. Getting closer .....

Did I mention I've lost over 20 lbs since the start of the year?

So the next question is, having bought the costume and committed to wearing it, when exactly do I put it on? My journey to the gig involves a half-mile walk to the station, a thirty minute train journey into London, changing onto the underground at one of the busiest stations, a four-stop tube ride, and then a short walk to the venue.

Now, I'm really quite a shy and retiring type. Yes, honestly, I am. I just over-compensate for my shyness sometimes .... Ok, most of the time ....

But there was no way I was doing that journey in costume. That would be far too much of an embarrassment. I changed from jeans and a top once I reached the venue.

Working the door was a real blast! I had some great reactions, and even had my photo taken a few times.

The only slight problem was that my role ran on a little later than I had expected, but I still had time afterwards for a very quick (non-alcoholic) drink at the bar .... or did I?

Half way through my drink I realised that, if I was going to catch my last train home, I needed to leave NOW!

No time to change back into jeans.

So which looks sillier: a silver alien, or a silver alien wearing a raincoat? The raincoat, I think .... so I'll leave it off.

Now, there are different grades of "in public". A rock gig, when people have come for a good night out and have (probably) had a few drinks, isn't quite as "in public" as the open street back to the underground station. I got a few odd looks. And a bus driver tooted me.

I hadn't really noticed, earlier that evening, just how open the platforms of Angel underground station are.

For some reason, the woman sitting opposite me on the tube kept bursting into laughter.

Just how busy is London Bridge station at something past eleven on a Saturday night? And why do these people want to have their photograph taken with me?

If those four people are travelling together on this train, why won't two of them sit in the same group of seats as the other two .... and me?

*******
If you think I'm selling this costume on eBay, think again! This is WAY to much fun!

Geekdom will out

I have a slight issue with quizzes. Or rather, I have a slight problem with my participation in quizzes.

I try to tell myself that I'm not that competitive, but once things get going I tend to forget this .... I'm certainly not a professional quizzer, and I don't study reference books, maps, or that sort of thing, but I do seem to retain copious amounts of irrelevant information. (I'm not that good o anything useful).

Tonight, for the first time in several years, I took part in a quiz.

It was a friendly, social event, not to be taken too seriously.

I tried hard! Reaally I did!

Until the "Pot luck" round, one from the end.

Question Master: What was the name of the snail in "The Magic Roundabout?"

Me: "Do you want that in the English translation or the French original?"

Snakes on a plane?

Sunday afternoon. Sunny and warm, for the first time this year. Nothing particular to do.

Restful.

The 'phone rings.

"A friend of mine tells me you take in snakes that people can't keep".

"Yes, we do".

"I've got a milk snake and two pythons that I need to find a new home for".

"Royal pythons?"

"Yes".

Oh good; two more Burmese pythons would have been a little problematic seeing as they grow to 20 feet, but royals will stop at around four to five feet.

"Ok, we can take those. Where are you?"

"Cyprus".

Ahhh .... That's just a little out side our area. And, although I've looked briefly into the possibilities of intenational travel with reptiles I'm not entirely convinced I have the legal position right.

" .... but the snakes are in Croydon".

Phew!

On being different

Yesterday we (by which I mean www.reptile-events.co.uk) took part in an open day run by Bromley Youth Support Services at Streetwise Hub in Anerley.

It was a great day; the young people (ages 5 and up, but mostly young teens), staff and helpers were all wonderful, and the facility was amazing. What looked like a small cafe from the outside turned out to be a TARDIS; open area, kitchen and offices on the ground floor, gym, snooker room, computer room, recording studio, film editing suite and quiet room (which wasn't so quiet once it had a few snakes and lizards in there) in the basement, plus information and notices on drugs, knives, racial abuse, bullying and anything else that might affect young people in an urban environment, and I'm guessing that there were a number of trained counsellors among the volunteers and staff. The free burgers, hot dogs and pizza were extremely welcome too!

As usual, there were some people who came straight in to handling the reptiles, others who touched but took a while to decide they wanted to hold, and a small number (both adults and younger) who overcame fears - firstly to enter the room, then to touch, and finally to hold. Among these was a girl - I would estimate aged around 12 or 13 - pretty, but she didn't speak at all - just shook her head when I offered her to stroke the Berber skink I was holding.

About an hour before the open day finished, the fire alarm went off. We had been told that no drill was scheduled, so quickly boxed up the animals and started to follow the kids (not a word I like in this case as I think many of them were older than their years, but "young people" sounds pompous and p.c.) out, when one of the volunteers told us that we could stay inside safely. There was a legal requirement for them to evacuate the people in their care, but since they knew what had caused the alarm to go off, they also knew there was no actual danger. There was, however, some burnt pizza.

Once the kids came back into the centre, only half a dozen or so came back down to us, creating a very different, calmer atmosphere. People were sitting on the couches with a snake in their hands, just chilling out. And among them was the quiet girl, who was now holding an animal.

I can't remember was it was I said - to two or three of them in general - but she replied "I'm different". It was the first time in over five hours I'd heard her speak.

I didn't ask how she was different - this wasn't the place or time. Instead I replied "Everyone's different in some way or another. Sometimes it's easy to tell, and other times it's hidden, but almost everyone has something about them that's not "normal"". Then I explained that Emma was born deaf, although surgery has left her with reasonable (but not good) hearing, and she still lip-reads. And when Luc was born, he was so small that the hospital staff didn't think he would survive. And I was lucky to be alive at all, because my mother had a big operation less than two months before I was born.

The boy sitting next to her volunteered that he was dyslexic. I added "Brendan's dyslexic too, and Emma's dyspraxic". (Emma, Luc, Brendan and I made up the Reptile Events team yesterday. We have another regular volunteer, Greg. He's not normal, he's Silesian. Or Silurian. I forget which. Does it matter?)*.

"Everyone's different. Some are smaller than other, some taller; some may have a health problem; some may have one eye a different colour from the other. In fact, if you ever find anyone who's not "different" in any way, I'd say that's they're not normal!"

The quiet girl smiled. In fact I think she almost laughed.

I never did find out what made her "different", but I think I made her see that a difference just makes you normal.

**********************************************************
On a similar point, I was recently reading a blog post by someone who had major surgery at the age of 24 or 25. It was clear that this was his first surgery and, in fact, he was concerned over having a large scar that would be hidden by clothing most of the time. His question was this; when do you tell someone that you have a scar? Do you wait until it becomes visible - on a  beach, changing a wet shirt, or in a moment of intimacy, or do you say something before?

I suppose that, if you have nothing of that sort until your own body image is firmly fixed in your brain, it's likely to disturb you. That's not something I would know as I've had one surgical scar since well before I had a "body image", so it's never been new to me. I also have two later scars, each around 10 cm long, but these are visible most of the time so should never be a "surprise" to anyone else; having said that, people I work with usually don't notice them until I mention them.

I know that it's widely said that we judge on appearances, but do we? And, if we do, should we?If someone, on seeing me for the first time, decided that I was not worth knowing because of my height, or bad skin, or weight - well, I don't think I'd mind not getting to know them. I think of it as "self-selected bigotry".

And do should we judge people by their scars, over which they had little or no control (unless they self-harmed)? What about tattoos? Goth make-up and dress? This week, one police force has ruled that Goths are a recognised minority, and can be the victims of "hate crime".

Enough - I should possibly have had this as a second separate posting as there's much more I could say, and far much more I could ask.

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*Greg's Silesian. I knew that really. But it still doesn't matter.

Open Sesame!

I have an annual season ticket for my rail commute to work.

In September last year, the magnetic strip stopped working, so I had to find a member of staff to let me through the barrier every time. After a week, I tried the ticket through the turnstiles again - and it worked! ..... For about four days ....

It should have been easy for me to return to where I bought it and get it exchanged, except for one thing.

I didn't buy it.

My office did.

In Leeds.

200 miles from where I live and work.

Then a couple of days ago, my annual ticket expired, and my new one started yesterday ..... and I can make turnstiles open again!

..........

Sometimes it's the simplest of things that make me happy!

How to be confident ....

We currently have a 16-year-old volunteering with the reptile shows. He doesn't have the best of backgrounds or of educations; what he does have is problems and uncertainties. Earlier this week we asked him, just in conversation, how tall his father is. "I don't know" he replied "I've never met him".

What he also has is a level of loyalty and commitment that one rarely finds in anyone of any age, let alone 16.

We've noticed changes is him. When he's at a show with us, he's not "that kid" - he's "the young man holding the snake". We rarely have any idea who we're talking to at any given time, but what we do know is that the company director/GP/research scientist/Olympic athlete/whoever we're faced with is pretty certain that they couldn't do what "the young man holding the snake" is doing. They'd never be that brave.

He's paid attention to what we tell people about our animals, their biology and natural habitat, their care in captivity, and now delivers the same information with confidence to "the public". He tells us he's learnt more about science in five months with us than he has in five years at school. But that's only because he's wanted to learn; so why couldn't his school engage him? Why did they pretty much write him off?

Yesterday he left the security of our stage and walked around the open fairground, mixing with all nationalities and classes, waving and high-fiving people, having hugs from the children, and getting his photograph taken a score of times with complete strangers - and he did this without showing any anxiety or self-doubt.

Of course, being dressed as the Easter Bunny probably helped. But I'm still inordinately proud of the young man in the bunny suit.

What I did on my (Christmas) holiday

On 23 December last year, while we were basking in post-Christmas lunch stupour (my family's Christmas lunch at my mother's was two days early due to travel plans), Luc's mobile rang. Not his personal number, but the "snake 'phone".

"We are running a children's camp next week, and wondered if you would be able to come and do some sessions".

So Luc explained that it wasn't convenient to talk at the moment, but if they would like to send an email with all the details he would reply promptly. He also explained that every session we do starts with an educatioal element; it's not just "Who wants to hold a snake?"

That evening, we received an email setting out what they wanted, where and when. It turned out they had found us because we are educational; they were running a three-day school for children in the local community, and thought that having the reptiles to visit would be a great experience, but could still be classed as learning.

Now, we have a rule. If we're free, we do not say no. If it's something we're not too keen on, for whatever reason, we'll put the price up. If they're prepared to pay what we ask, then we accept the booking.

We did some quich internet research into the people making the booking, and liked the look of them. We were also impressed with why they wanted us in. However ....

The date wasn't ideal for us, and the booking was further away than we normally travel for bookings. So we gave them a suitably adjusted price.

Which they accepted.

And that is how, on Boxing Day, we came to find ourselves drving with a car full of snakes and lizards to a booking 135 miles away in a Sikh temple in Coventry.

My other car is a python!

First things first - I am NOT going to post a daily entry, but after two years away there's still a little updating to do.

My profile - brief though it is - is out of date. Firstly it says I have two cats, which is unfortunately no longer the case. Snowball is still with me, but Dyson has gone to a better place. Biggin Hill, to be precise. After some heated exchanges with the Managing Agents of the private estate I live on, Dyson had to be found a new home, so he's now rather nicely settled in with some friends. And with "the cat lady" a few doors down from them.

I do, however, have a few new animals, most of whom are rescued. There's Citirne, the albino Burmese python; Alexa, a "natural" Burmese python; Jade, a lavender reticulated python; Obsidian, a Sumatran Short-tailed python ... and around 22 other pythons, cornsnakes, boas, pine snakes, etc.

Then there are the lizards - probably around 20 in total, but the most notable are Bruce, Slinky, Binky, Nutty and Albus - a bearded dragon (or a breaded dragon, if I type carelessly), two Berber skinks, a "normal" ( and I say that under advisement) leopard gecko, and an albino leopard gecko.

My profile also says I'm interested in cars and motorbikes. I am, but I don't have much time for them these days. 15 years ago I used to help exhibit at car shows. Ten years ago it was motorcycles, trikes and sidecars. Now it's reptiles .... and not a single cobra among them! Apart from public shows, we take them to schools, youth organisations, retirement homes, hospices, Rotary meetings - in fact, pretty much anywhere that invites us. Including a Sikh temple .... but that's another story.

This time last year, Ctirine featured in a pop video for an upcoming band, Alexa de Strange. Tonight I'm goiing to Hard Rock Cafe to see that band play in the London final of Hard Rock Rising. I'm not taking the snakes .... they're going to Scouts.

Speak softly and carry a ....

A week ago this evening I was at one of London's smaller theatres, people-watching. This wasn't my main reason for being there but, for reasons too complicated (and personal to someone else) to go into, I had a spare ticket for that evening's performance, and was trying to spot someone that might appreciate it. This, however, was made considerably more difficult by the theatre's policy of not releasing tickets until 17:00 on the day of the performance, so everyone was coming into the Box Office to pick up the tickets they had already ordered and paid for, and trying to spot someone who actually wanted to buy a ticket wasn't easy.

It was also rather too cold to stand outside the theatre with the spare ticket on display, as I learned to do many years ago, for more than 15 minutes at a time, so at this precise moment I was standing in the doorway of the theatre bar, looking over to the Box Office, and trying to listen to snippets of conversation behind me in case there was any mention of "so if we can get another ticket ...".

A youngish man came out of the bar behind me then, recognising a woman somewhere to my right, crossed to talk to her briefly. I would describe him as unremarkable; probably in his early thirties, although his face looked younger, casually but neatly dressed, and although his hair was somewhat ruffled but he looked well-groomed, including his hands - which I could see quite clearly as he was holding something in his arms. He was not that tall (which, bearing in mind I am not quite five feet two inches and was wearing trainers, would probably be short to other people). His smile on seeing the woman was warm, as if to say "I'm glad to see you; you matter to me".

In fact, the only thing that made him in any way remarkable - and that also told me he wouldn't be needing a spare ticket for the show - was what he was carrying in his arms.

A small white chihuahua.

It was this, and only this, that identified him to me as the star of the show; the most amazing - and funniest - magician I have ever seen.

Welcome back, I've missed me

It's been over two years since I've written a blog entry.

I've been busy.

I've also been rather unhappy. Certain aspects of my life (well, one certain aspect) have not gone as I woud wish, and even though there have been some outstanding times in other areas, I haven't had the motivation to write. In fact, I've been feeling very uncreative, which is quite unlike me.

But since the start of this year I've felt better. That one aspect of my life still isn't good, but it's no longer over-riding. And for a week or so I've been thinking that maybe it's time to return to my blog. (I did, for just over a year, complete a daily "Thankful Challenge" on Facebook, but that doesn't count).

Then, yesterday, I found someone else's blog on line. It's not current - about eight years old in fact - but it's had me gripped. It's inspired me, and stirred me to action.

So you can expect a new posting from me in the next couple of days. I expect it will be a little different from my previous entries, because I am, but I hope I will still be recognisable.