You Look Like A Badly Lit Quaker

My daughter cried buckets when the Dalek died in Saturday's Episode of Doctor Who. That isn't to say she wasn't frightened by the rest of it; she sat on my knee for the whole thing occasionally burying her head in my shoulder but that is of course what Doctor Who is for. We asked her several times if we should turn it off but she insisted on carrying on and then as I said she bawled at the thought of the Dalek being alone and then killing itself. She also seemed intrigued by the Dalek questioning itself after absorbing Rose's DNA. I had to give a potted description of what DNA is as well. My wife says that the children have been chasing each other round the playground this morning shouting 'exterminate - exterminate' so things are exactly as they should be in the world. Wonderful! Oh! And 'Elevate' which is obviously homage to Captain Flack's command to raise the Trumpton Fire Brigade's mini Simon Snorkel. Well I like to think so anyway.

There is a tale to do with the Simon Snorkel as well. Some time before we were married, we travelled into town and were diverted slightly by a fire which was attended by a version of the aforementioned fire engine. When I said that it was called a Simon Snorkel, my wife (to be) laughed and said I was making it up. (The one we saw was actually a Bronto Skylift but the concept is the same). I printed out pictures from the Internet to prove it but she said I could have mocked them up quite easily. Proof was only accepted when we walked past the model shop in Bold Street in Liverpool which right at eye level had a beautiful Corgi Simon Snorkel fire engine (now clogging up our garage). Before any tank-topped, Fire Engine obsessives contact me, I do realise that Simon Snorkel really only refers to the hydraulic platform and that the lorry itself is a good old Bedford Chassis and Cab.

Which reminds of the joke - what is the difference between a Simon Snorkel and a Giraffe? Well one has Hydraulics and the other has high ... er ... doesn't.

It's thundering here now as it did yesterday. We were out in the park where our daughter was trying to cycle without stabilisers. When I heard someone mention lightning I thought that standing out in the middle of the park was probably not good.