Monday 19 March 2012

back to work

MrsM is having coffee with her friend
who is from 'Another Department'.
They are comparing trials and tribulations.

MrsM's Friend
"I have put together a rota for the reception
but the problem is that one of the team
brings her tortoise to work every day
and it is not ideal
to have a free-range tortoise
trundling around the reception area."


MrsM chokes on her latte.

MrsM's Friend
"To be fair...
it wouldn't be a problem in the winter
because she keeps it in her fridge."


MrsM says faintly "in her fridge??"

MrsM's Friend
"Yes, apparently it is ideal conditions.
She looked at me very oddly when I asked
why she kept her tortoise in the fridge
so I didn't dare ask any more questions."


MrsM is speechless.

13 comments:

  1. I knew I should have worked in academia and this just confirms it.

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  2. I thought this post was hilarious and then read Zephyr's comment...... too, too funny! Am sitting thinking about "Blue Peter" and how they used to pander to the tortoise in Spring.... they were reaching into a straw lined box though........

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  3. One of my best mates has a tortoise in her fridge. They can't hibernate in centrally heated conditions, it seems.

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  4. I thought it might be to do with hibernation. I didn't think there would be enough air in a fridge though.

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  5. Oh Toffeeapple! Now I have visions of the tortoise in the fridge but with a straw running from inside its shell up to the top of the door and out to ensure sufficient air suppy.

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  6. What's wrong with leaving them outside as they do here, I wander.
    What a sad thought the poor thing locked in a fridge ...

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  7. gives a whole new meaning to chilling out ...

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  8. And just imagine if someone mistook it for a pork pie.

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  9. Okay so this is probably information overload but here goes. One of the main reason's that tortoise's don't survive hibernation is the temperature fluctuations. It warms a little, they start to wake, bowels start working, gets cold again and they fall asleep with lots of yucky stuff inside them! So a fridge is perfect to mantanin temps during hibernation, apparently old drinks cooler fridges are perfect.

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  10. All right . . . it's Monday, and I am not up to dealing with the idea of a tortoise in the fridge. While I try not to think about it, I can't help imagining all sorts of scenarios, from mother's visiting and screaming at the discovery, to so many questions from those under six, those older than six would try to ignore it to show they were . . . worldly, I'm sure, to the people who would never again eat at my house after such a discovery. I spent ten minutes trying to decide if that would be a good thing . . . Ok, back to NOT thinking of the tortoise in the frigde.

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  11. I thought some of the academics I knew were eccentric but I never had a tortoise in a fridge - though we frequently had dogs and cats in the office! (Had one (academic) who was very patial to the hand raised pork pies from the local market - could have caused confusion when snatched from the fridge in a hurry!).

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