There's never any sensible reason why anything like that happens Santana, and having friends and family around then is what always counts. My thoughts are also with them.

Thanks all. Your concern and wishes are much appreciated.

Her family is coming back to France on Saturday, but authorities won't release her body for at least ten days, so she won't be repatriated until the end of next week. It's a kind of a surreal time, and they will find it hard to be back here without her. At least they will be surrounded by friends and family here and won't feel so alone.

Today's 'high': I brought my young son to the pet store to replace his goldfish, and we ended up choosing a beautiful siamese fighting fish. I've never kept one before, but they seem to be peaceable things, and certainly very spectacular in both colour and shape of fins. Hopefully we'll manage to look after him well. Thankfully there are lots of good informative sites on the 'net.

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend, Santana.

I'm sorry to hear your bad news, this must be such a shock to everybody.

I wish you joy with your beta, though. They are an exceellnt easy fish, much better than a goldfish in my opinion, and not any more trouble. Every now and then you can put a mirror up to the bowl, and when he sees himself he will think it is another male, and go into his aggressive stance. Don't leave it too long, though, he'll tire himself out.

We're already in love with "Bruce". He seems to have settled in, and is slowly making himself at home in his new, bigger environment. (I felt sorry for him in the store as he was being kept in a large jam jar). He has a little hidey-hole in a treasure chest we put in the aquarium, and an artificial plant to rest in when he feels like it. I like the idea of putting a mirror up from time to time, but I'll give him a few days to settle in here first We've had goldfish on and off for about ten years now, and I am glad to change. The kids were more inclined to go with the goldfish again, but I insisted on my own way for once. I'm not going to feel guilty about it either. Eldest son prefers "Bruce", youngest son is happy with any and all animals, and eldest daughter is still mad at me, but somewhat appeased when I bought her a fancy folder decorated with horses in compensation. Anyone who knows us knows that my #1 child loves horses.

For two years we had a beautiful purple beta, who lived in a little bowl over next to the coffeemaker in the kitchen. Grape Ann's untimely end came as we got home one day to find the two cats playing hockey with her in the living room. She was a good fish, and I remember thinking at the time that 'she'd been one of the few people who always seemed glad to see me'.
[ obviously a low point in my life, understand...]

My husband had betas when he was in high school, and successfully bred them, selling the young ones to a local pet store. Breeding them is a little challenging, but amazing. When he is ready to breed, the male builds a bubble nest on the surface of the water, where the eggs are laid. The female is removed from the tank, and he tends the eggs till they hatch. About 36 hours after they hatch, the babies must be removed from the tank, since the male may try to eat them after they are free swimming.
A high today - my husband is finally on his way home! He, his brother, my son, and a friend left here in Pennsylvania last Friday to ride their motorcycles cross country, something he had always dreamed of doing and had planned for about a year. By Monday night they had reached a relative's house in western Montana, then took the 2-day "scenic" route (via Yellowstone and Old Faithful) south to Las Vegas, where his brother lives. They stayed there all day yesterday, and today started for home, where hopefully they'll arrive on Monday night. I'm sure they'll have many stories to tell!

Before I begin I just thought I'd say that I like the new feature of automatically jumping to the first unread post as it saves that extra step for me, but just now I checked in to catch up on the latest and instead of going to the first unread post it took me to Santana's post regarding her friend's body being repatriated. talk about shock! I didn't even get to read the bit about her being taken off life support so I was dumbfounded to learn that she had passed on. I went back and filled in all the blanks and now I'm posting...

Santana, to you I'd like to say how very sorry I am to learn of this. Death is such a terrible thing to have to endure already but when it happens to someone so young and vital it just seems even more uncomprehensible. I sincerely regret learning of this as it was just so quick. Her family must be suffering from emotional whiplash at how things just reached this point so quickly. Hopefully her pain was minimal and her death peaceful.

As for everyone's fish tales - I too have two Siamese fighting fish, which I purchased on a whim for my son who happened to catch me at a weak moment. I immediately began to think "Oh, brother, what I have done?" I have a six year old and four cats to take of and now this? What was I thinking?" That was about two months ago and now I just love these guys. They are so amusing to watch and they get all excited when they see me coming, they even wag their tails and dance around in their little tanks. I seem to enjoy even more than Eric! He calls them "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" - I call them Vyvyan and Rick but sometimes think I should call Rick Neil as he doesn't seem to flare up as much as Vyv (I assume he's a pacifist)

I would be interested in hearing how to best transport them tomorrow. We will be taking about a six hour car ride back to the 'Burgh with cats and fish in tow and I worry that I won't "package" them correctly. Should I put them in small containers and put them in a dark box to keep them from the sunlight? I could do that or I thought I could use a half or whole gallon jug (for each fish) and fill it 1/2 to 2/3 up, poke some holes at the top and place them on the floor where they won't fall over. I do plan on driving with the air on for everyone's comfort - is it safe for the fish?

This is my first time ever having to transport fish so I'm a newbie....

BG, I once tried transporting my pet fish to a friend to be cared for while I was on holiday. We put them in a half-full aquarium, but it was disastrous. By the time the 5km journey was done we were thoroughly soaked (from the splashes). I think using a part-filled plastic bag would work much better. Here's a method I found on the 'net: "use a leak-proof plastic bag closed with a rubber band, place it in an outer bag of similar size to prevent accidental leakage, then into a sturdy container, such as a Styrofoam picnic cooler.
The plastic bag/Styrofoam cooler method is advantageous in stabilizing the water temperature for up to 48 hours. When transferring them to the container, remember that fish need air, and fill the container or plastic bag only about one-third full of water. Use the water from the aquarium.
Add the fish (don't overcrowd) and close the top. Open the container or plastic bag every four or five hours to freshen the air supply." Good luck!

[With guilt, I will interrupt the 'fishes' conversation for just a moment ; just for a moment, though...]

I just had a mostly staggering "high" for today! For those who have followed any of my trail of misadventures you will recall the underlying theme of sibling combat that has blinked in and out of these modern times in Gatsbyland. Well, guess who just showed up at my door? My brother, his wife and his daughter. I was shocked that seeing them out there didn't rankle me at all (truth is, our exchanges bring out more discomfort in me than they ever did animosity - most of that being due to that I feel like the one person I actually should know better than any other in my journey [2 days old to nearly 50 is a long and formative time!] had become a brittle stranger and it was most difficult, if not flatly impossible, for me to get to know this new version ). As it went the visit was pure and unfettered bliss. He was just my brother again! No posturing, no fixation on life's not-so-pretty memories, no spitting and thunder about the fairness of this vs. the utter harshness of that. Somewhere between the last time I saw him (over 2 years ago) and today he grew back into his own skin. Gasp! I think he even has accepted the vulnerability and the patience that comes with being alive. This guy I recognized ! Naturally, me and my niece schmoozed after just moments (the kid kills me, really; she has somehow managed to emerge from this chaos the sweet and smart and unflappable soul that she was when she started - a few bumps in the road but, heck, she's only 16). It was a great visit, a fine few hours. Nothing is solved and nothing is perfect. Guess what? It never was when we were 21, either. But there's a continuum in place. And, for some reason and for someone like me who really needs some, there looks to be a shred of hope. That makes me very contented. And I like feeling that way without having to try so darned hard.

OK. Enough of that. The fish conversation was far more interesting than my prattling - or at least I thought it was. Carry on...

Wow, Gats! What a wonderful, wonderful high! I'm so happy you had this little bit of joy in your life today!

That is fantastic news Gatsby, I am so pleased.

That news became a High if the Week for me ,too, Gatsby, and for all of us as well, I am sure.

Wonderful news Gats!

That's great news Gats!

Oh dear oh dear oh dear... (yes, a low is coming). After 46 years spot free I appear to have come down with chicken pox. OK, I had German measles as well so have been extremely spotty, but after feeling tired since Monday, the spots appeared in full glory this morning. I'm not too bad, no fever as far as I know but after avoiding such an infection all my life despite regular exposure as a child it saved itself till now.
I won't be taking any photos of myself for the records somehow...

Oh dear, this is painful at your age, my ex-husband had it when he was in his early thirties.

When my children had chickenpox I put cornstarch in the bathwater, it stopped the itching.

OK, I actually have a high! As you will have seen if you have read my thread in Tips and Tricks, it looks as if I have a job. It is subject to references and a medical. The references wil be no problem, the medical, we shall have to wait and see. So at fifty-eight I am not totally on the scrap heap.

Latest high is one of my twin nieces got two firsts in accounting in her first year at Uni! Me and Mum are delighted! The other Twin is enjoying her job too!

Absolutely terrific news Sue. I look forward to reading the details!

Very well done Sue, we're all routing for you!

Totally unexpected high today, I picked up my post, and amongst the single item () was a surprise postcard from someone here!
It really made my day, it's not the first time I've had FT post but all the others were expected one way or another. It was similar to seeing my question in the challenge last week, totally out of the blue.

My highlight of this week as been a reception at Buckingham Palace.

About three months ago, I was asked to donate some money to my old school to go towards building new sports facilities. As I'm also a committee member of our local athletics club, where we have to travel 40 miles to Inverness to train on a all-weather track, I made a donation of £100 a month for the next five years. The School needs to raise £4 million to reach their target. Princess Anne is patron of the Gordonstoun Plus Campaign, which as well as raising money for sports facilities, also pays out for some school scholarships. To mark the reaching the £1 million pound mark in it's campaign after 14 months, we were invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace last Wednesday evening.

I took a taxi from where I was staying in Bayswater to the main gates. I arrived at about 17:20, but we were not allowed in until 17:45. There were about 30 people waiting when the the police at the gate let us in. Entry was by the door on the right hand side of the main frontage. Here we were met by a footman, who lead us up a stairway, that went round an elevator, and then out and along the passage that looks down into the main courtyard, and into the room where the reception was being held. I then realised that this was the balcony room, behind where the royal family always wave to the crowds. It was such a hot day that these windows were open. one or two of the guests ventured out for a peak, but we weren't really supposed to be out there. We were served various mixed beverages (including Champagne) from "ER" glasses, as well as a selection of canapés by the footman. These were served by footman, who were wearing there full uniforms, with long coats that looked so hot, on such a hot day. They were very attentive throughout the do, and seemed to keep my glass full. There were also some nuts and crisps on tables on the edge of the room, that we could eat if we wanted to. Probably about 70 to 80 guests in total. Their were also some police dressed surreptitiously, looking out for any of us who might be doing anything overly suspicious.

The Princess Royal arrived at about 18:15, escorted by the Gordonstoun headmaster Mark Pyper, where they came and stood just in front of the central window. The headmaster then gave a short speech, mostly extolling the wisdom of the princess's forebears in acquiring Balmoral 150 years ago. We were then treated to a short recital, by two girls, both accompanied on the piano, the first did three pieces on her flute, and the second sang four songs - one in Italian, one in French and two in English. When this had finished (Which we all stayed standing and remained silent for) The Princess Royal gave her short speech. Just when she was apologising on behalf of her other members of her family not being there, she turned to look out of the window, and said that her father would have been along, but that was him and the Queen just off to the Albert Hall.

After the speeches, the party got going again, with the Headmaster taking the princess around the room meeting us all. When it came to my turn, I gave her a slight bow and politely shook her hand (She was wearing black gloves actually, and while I'm still in these parentheses, I'll just say to the ladies amongst you, that she was wearing an attractive yellow patterned dress, and am sorry I'm not the type of fellow to notice any more), I introduced myself and exchanged a few short words, before she moved onto the next person. As far as I could tell, she got round everyone before she left at about 19:45. I don't think there were anyone there from my era, except for one teacher, which was perhaps the only disappointment. Although I did strike up a good conversation with one fellow who left in 1951, which I found very interesting. We were all supposed to leave by 20:00, so we left the way be had come, being let out by the armed policemen at the gate.

Loved every minute of it.

That sounds really special Mugaboo. I've never been inside Buckingham Palce, so it is facinating to me, to hear what it is like

That sounds great Mugaboo. I haven't been to Buckingham Palace but I have been to St James's Palace when my daughter collected her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award, I have also met the Princess Royal and think she is a super person, a hard working Royal - and yes, she wore black gloves when I met her too!

My high yesterday? Singing Happy Birthday to a certain person. The poor man sounded very confused, some stupid woman singing down the phone at him. I really enjoyed chatting to Gatsby, it really made my day.