Fish and Chip Friday marked a momentous occasion in the Kimeera Calendar.

Following many discussions and debates, we finally decided that the time had come for an office pet to be introduced to the family and what ensued was more vote casting than even Hillary Clinton could poke a stick at!

Firstly we had to decide on the pet – dogs, stick insects and even Lemurs were suggested, but in the end it was a close call between a fish and a hamster.

We soon realised the temptation for some people (no names mentioned) to launch the hamster when it was in its ball, across the room or to start doing kick ups with it was so great, that a fish became the winning choice.

Next came the name! Rover, Goldie, Bob, John Fishanu and One Effin were all popular choices but there was a clear winner….. Tony Hadley!

The type of tank, gravel colour and what ornament we wanted was all decided and I went in search of a white Goldfish!

Not everything went to plan! We wanted a round bowl with a lid and magenta gravel. We ended up with a square tank with a magenta lid and pink stones! Close enough!

The really tough bit however was trying to find a white Goldfish. I was told that Goldfish can in fact change colour so it may not stay the same as when it was bought. Was this a ploy to get me to buy the really expensive variety of white tropical fish, who knows, but I took my chance with a white Goldfish anyway!!! After answering a whole GCSE’s worth of questions I was granted permission to have one but I didn’t want to split two friends up so I bought two!

So there I was laden with a tank, gravel, pumps, ornaments, plants and 2 fish when I realised that somehow I had to drive back to the office without spilling the fish in the foot well of my car! I am no Penelope Pitstop at the best of times but driving Miss Daisy must have sprung to mind for the people driving behind me but I got it all back without any spillages. Phew!!!!!

After trying to figure out how the pump worked (far to technical) and rinsing the stones with several thousand gallons of water to then having to change the water in the tank because it was still turning pink (bloody stones), it was time to introduce the fish to their new home!

Tony Hadley settled in well but his friend (we still hadn’t voted for a name for him) was not as happy. He was looking a bit peaky on Sunday and when we came in on Monday morning disaster had struck – John Doe was floating on the top of the tank (we are still awaiting the autopsy results). Tony on the other hand continues to swim happily around his tank and shows no signs of missing his buddy!

Charlotte