Recently in Bizarre Category

Both these photographs were taken, 04/06/08, after the tank lid had been replaced and the fish had made it's remarkable recovery...

It appears that one of Evelyn's fish has tried to make a desperate, and near terminal, bid for freedom this morning...

I was enjoying a lie in, this morning (or was trying to), when Jilly appeared at the bedroom door telling me that one of our goldfish was missing! Still a little bleary eyed, I went downstairs expecting to find the goldfish hiding in the dirty water (we agreed before we went to bed last night, that we ought to clean out the fish today)...but it really was missing.

As a scratched my head in wonder, I found myself staring down at the perfectly motionless body of the missing goldfish. Somehow (and I can only begin to image how), it had made it's way out of the water (a good 2.5cm from the surface to the top of the tank) and across a 5cm gap into a neighbouring bowl full of shells. Gently picking the goldfish up by it's tail the fish began to wriggle about. Obviously a little shocked (the goldfish must have been out of the water for at least 5 minutes, and may have been out all night). I picked the goldfish up and quickly put it back in the tank.

Initially, it seemed to just float (though it's gills were moving), and started to swim weakly (bumping into the water pump, and then the tank itself). Things seemed a little bleak for the fish (Jilly suggested we flushed it down the toilet to put it out of it's misery), but I thought I would give it a chance while it was bobbing about with it's gills flapping, and now, quite miraculously, I think, the fish seems to have made a full recovery. Quite how long the fish was out of the water, we will never know, but it certainly seems to have been able to breathe air for some time.

Fantastically, Evelyn was only interested in seeing the fish while it was out of the water, and didn't seem at all worried that the fish might die. Unlike Jilly and I...I might add!

It seems daft not to make reference to an event like this one. I was in bed when the earthquake occurred. It was really quite worrying as the shaking of the house woke me. Typically, Jilly slept through it, and can't remember anything this morning. Quite exciting really, but a sober reminder of how absolutely terrifying it must be to be caught up in your actual 'hollywood' earthquake. I've copied the report from the BBC web-site directly into Gingatopia as it will, inevitably, disappear before long...

The biggest earthquake in the UK for nearly 25 years has shaken homes across large parts of England.

People in Newcastle, Yorkshire, London, Manchester, the Midlands and Norfolk and also parts of Wales, felt the tremor just before 01:00 GMT.

A man suffered leg injuries when a chimney collapsed in South Yorkshire.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the epicentre of the 5.3 magnitude quake was near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire.

Bev Finnegan, who lives in the town, said: "I was terrified to be honest. The noise was really, really terrifying... it was so deep and rumbling.

"It felt like the roof was going to fall in. There were people coming out in their dressing gowns wondering what it was. It was quite an experience."

"It's the third earthquake I have felt and by far the strongest" - Adam Wilson, Cotgrave, Nottingham.

A Lincolnshire police spokeswoman said the force had received dozens of calls from residents but there were no reports of anyone in the county being injured.

"There is slight structural damage, cracks and a couple of chimneys damaged. There's nothing serious at present.

"Mostly people were distressed by it so there were a large quantity of calls coming in."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7266136.stm - Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 08:32 GMT

So...having left my full-time position at Infoserve (a company which, incidentally, has (allegedly) just made a third of it's Head Office staff redundant, as well as closing the Rawdon sales office) and starting a part-time job at Huddersfield Technical College, it has become apparent that I need to be earning more money.

Jilly has found, what she considers, the perfect part-time job for me...

Now, let me think...RELIABLE (OK, so far!), CHEERFUL AND GOOD WITH CHILDREN? Ah!

What was she thinking?

Jilly has also mentioned applying to Tesco's and McDonald's; talk about kicking a man when he's down!

Jim and Helen [Wassocks!] have been generous enough to share, with the population of Gingatopia, a basket of the tastiest organically grown vegetables [and an impressive and varied selection we get, too!]. A little less tasteful, though, was this carrot. Make up you own mind...

OUTRAGEOUS!

Just for Jim and Helen...I've taken a few shots of the 'monster' I told you about at work. You know, the one we discussed after our reminiscing about the bull terrier and it's massive 'nads.

Go on, treat yourselves... <<CLICK HERE>>