David and the Dragons...

So, on Monday, I sent a letter out, thanking someone very dear to me though I have not had the pleasure of meeting them in person. I thanked them for inspiring me to be a better person, educating me and ultimately leading me to discover my passion for bearded dragons.

I sent two identical photos of said dragons, one blank, and one with a little information about each lizard on the back. (And a compliment from Tsam). I must have caught him at home, because I was surprised to see an envelope with my name on it so soon.

Lo and behold, Sir David Attenborough has (incredibly kindly) sent back the spare photo with his autograph on! How awesomesauce is that?! Hehe, Sir David Attenborough knows what my lizards looks like and their names...

I can't get over giggling at how cool that is!

Interesting thing of the day: "Micromort".

Ronald A. Howard, a risk analyser, coined the term - a micromort is a one-in-a-million chance of death, and it's a handy probability calculator as well as risk definer.

Smoking 1.4 cigarettes or living 2 months with a smoker is one micromort. Other one micormort units include living for 15 years within 20 miles of a nuclear power plant (cancer from radiation), drinking seventy pints of beer per year, and even dying from black lung disease after spending one hour in a coal mine...

Bad luck if you live in New York - just two days there is also equal to one micromort too.

Apparently the average price of a micromort in 2009 was $50 - the amount people are willing to pay to add extra safety features, on things such as driving a car, to reduce their micromort rating by one.

Furthermore, there's such a thing as a "microlife": that's 30 minutes off your life expectancy. Smoking two cigarettes has a cost of one microlife, as does every 5 kilograms over your ideal weight...

You can calculate your micromort probability rating for a variety of things here: http://www.deathriskrankings.com/MortStats.aspx

More fascinating insights on micro- lives and morts are available here: http://understandinguncertainty.org/microlives

Box-eyed Beardies...

Tsam has been watching Sir David Attenborough 's Ice Planet on Eden Channel with utter fascination.

Every time a new scene catches his attention, he twitches slightly as he adjusts to get a better look at it. The worn boulders in the ice field worried him slightly - he wasn't sure what it was.

All the lizards like watching David Attenborough's shows - they can see the TV from their tanks, and I can confirm they pay more attention to his programmes (particularly the Life series) than any other!

Haha! As I'm typing this, a different show came on. Tsam has realised it is no longer Sir David presenting/narrating... and he has lost interest! He has snuggled up on my shoulder to sleep now his favourite programme has finished!

Lawl! He started kicking me until I turned this other chap off... Funny sod.

Sir David Attenborough , I hope you're flattered - these dragons have declared that you are the best. They're also sending you a letter!