Gotcha!

Following on from my previous blog, Jon received an email today that again made his blood boil. He received a request to go and speak at a `Psychic Adventuring Conference` to be held up in Cumbria the weekend before the Weird Weekend. He would also have to cover all his own travel and accommodation expenses, and the other three speakers on the bill were people of whom Jon cordially disapproves. Apart from the fact that they were going to be holding it at a rather insalubrious venue (motorway services I believe) Jon wrote back declining as, of course, he would be rather busy with the run-up to our own annual conference. The young lady then replied saying that it didn’t really matter as they had been able to book a certain member of the big cat fraternity (who Jon had publically fallen out with recently) who was much better than he anyway. She wrote that “He seems a little bit more committed to things than you. You looked like you would be fun but he is a more serious researcher than you rather than doing it as a hobby or a laugh.”


Well you can imagine Jon’s reaction to this reply – he came ranting and raving into the dining room (where I was on the telephone at that moment to Shosh) and was most offended, as indeed, he had reason to be under the circumstances.


Richard F is staying with us at the moment, and he and Jon are busy putting together the film of the Russian expedition, which has had to be put on hold due to the enormous amount of other work we have had on lately. He came into the dining room at that moment too and Jon repeated his horror and disgust to him. I do not know quite what it was that sparked the remark, but Jon then announced very loudly, ‘It was you wasn’t it Richard?’ to which came the reply ‘Yes’, and Richard started to giggle.


So it seems that Richard played an April Fool a week or so early. He had used a made-up email address to send the communications to Jon and had managed to keep a straight face when Jon had read them.


Biggles could not really understand what was going on when Jon proceeded to ‘duff’ Richard up. From the look on his face and the uncertain barking with intermittent wagging of his tail, I don’t think he could make up his mind whether this was play or whether he was supposed to defend someone!