July 2000

1 - 13 July 2000 : I am going to take a quiet vacation for a few days so no diary updates until I return.

14 July 2000 : Hey! I'm back from my holidays. I stayed in Lillipo Minor for one whole week and enjoyed the company of Rebecca and the Giant Dogz. We explored the coast line at Lillipo M and had some fantastic picnics with some of Rebecca's distant cousins. Nothing more has been heard of Big Bertha and the pirates. For the second week of my holiday I went to Lilliput where we spent several days scouring the area around the old castle to see if we could find Rob. Sadly we found no trace of the little hero either.

15 July 2000 : During my stay in the Lilliputian Islands, one or two visitors from the Lilliputz Website emailed me to say that the terrible Twins (Tony and Tintin), were up to some sort of  mischief on the More Stuph Page. I will need to look into that on my return to the UK. For the final four days of my holiday I decided to go along to the LPRL Headquarters to help out with our next consignment of Miniaturez. Wow, there are some real nice Petz coming back with us this time. I think at the last count, we had prepared nearly 60 miniaturez for re-homing. There are still stories coming through that the Lilliputz are still being rounded up by some ruthless, unknown people who are still selling them off to be eaten as delicacies!!  The authorities will not remove their culling order on the petz, because they are still concerned that the numbers of small dogz and catz roaming the streets will increase to unmanageable numbers, so we must carry on our work to save as many as possible.

16 July 2000 : Today was rather hectic, but that usually is the case when we are getting the Miniaturez ready for their journey to the UK. They were all very excited, but not quite sure what to expect. All the staff at LPRL H.Q have worked very hard this last month. All the petz have had their normal veterinary checks and will be ready for re-homing immediately we land. The catalogue page has been prepared and will be displayed at the Website today.

17 July 2000 : I am so amazed at the amount of adoptionz requests we received yesterday from the website!! I spent all day and evening dealing with the requests. In the first day we fulfilled 55 requested Lilliputz adoptionz, with now only 10 left to go. I was so busy, that the peoples details against the adoptions had to be left out temporarily, so that I could deal with all the emails. Will have to update their details over the next few days. Seems like Lilliputz are getting very popular now. I think I will have to return to Lilliput faster than I thought to find more little petz who need good homes.

18 July 2000 : Well there you go, just a couple of petz left on the Consignment 4 Page this morning, but by 5 p.m all petz were adopted. Apologiez to anyone who did not get a Lilliputz this time, but the response was tremendous. However, we will be back again!! Just a few days required now to catch my breath again, and then it's off on my next expedition to Lilliput. 

19 July 2000 : Now to business. Have you seen what those terrible twins have got up to on the More Stuph Page? Couldn't quite make up my mind whether to pretend I hadn't seen it, or give them a good talking to. In the end I threatened to send them back to Lilliput - hehe - that scared 'em!! Anywayz, I suppose they haven't done much harm putting the MicroPet up for download. Trouble is, I wonder what they'll get up to next? Oh - I think I'll turn a blind eye to it for now. I expect they were just having a bit of fun, and that's what Petz is all about really. Don't you agree?

20 July 2000 : Just about caught my breath back today after the hectic number 4 consignment. Things happened so fast that I did not have enough time even to keep the 'requests wording' up to date on the page. For the last couple of days I have managed to update quite a few, and still some to go. I would like to finish this before I fly off to Lilliput again, so that anyone running Lilliputz Showz can check out the page for registration numberz and owners details!

21 July 2000 : Had lots of nice letters from you guyz out there about your Lilliputz etc, and it is so nice to be appreciated. We have received several emails containing the WScript/Kak.worm.bat virus, which fortunately we have been able to trap before opening the mail. It seems that this virus is starting to become widespread in the Petz Community again.  I have tried to let the senders know where possible, but some mail we have been unable to open because of infection risk. It seemed like a worthwhile thing to delay the Consignment 4 updates and provide a page explaining about the kak virus and one way to get rid of it from your computers. If anyone wishes for more information, or you think you would like to check if your machine has the virus - CHECK OUT THE PAGE HERE.

22 July 2000 : The updates are now completed on the adoptions page, so I can soon make a decision about returning to Lilliput to find out what is happening at the LPRL Headquarters. I heard that they already have a few Miniature petz waiting, but several more will be required to make up a full consignment. I just have to make some transport arrangements, and then it will be off to the Lilliputian Islands again, but I may have some time to help judge the first Official Lilliputz Show with Alex at UK Petz before I leave.

23 July 2000 : BAD NEWS TODAY!!... Word came from Lilliput that the LPRL H.Q. compound holding the Lilliputz for adoption has been broken in to. It was in the middle of the night. A truck was heard to be screaming away, and all the petz from the compound have disappeared. This was a daring robbery, which was carried out by some ruthless people. It must be connected with the same wicked people who sell off the petz to those disgraceful Lilliputians who eat them for delicacies.!

24 July 2000 : I now have to change my plans urgently so that I can get out to Lilliput to help. We must try to find the stolen Lilliput Miniaturez before they get sold off! I will get the first flight out to Lilliput, but that means I will have to bypass Lillipo Minor for the time being, so I will try to call there to visit Rebecca and the Giant Sheepiez before I return to UK.  

25 July 2000 : Arrived at Lilliput Airstrip early today and was met by the staff from LPRL H.Q. They have discovered that the truck which took the Miniaturez away headed up country towards the Lilliputz mountains. Four of the H.Q. team and myself immediately took a 4x4 vehicle up country and set up camp near the Native Village. We must act fast if we are to save the little petz before they are disposed of!  (Click map to see Lilliput).

26 July 2000 : We met the native chief, and explained why we are up here in the mountains, and that we urgently need to find the stolen Lilliputz. The chief said that they had seen no sign of the petz, but there had been a big truck passing through a couple of days ago. The last time we were up here, I remember was when we discovered the Giant Sheepiez at the old Sheepie hideout, and that was left deserted when we moved the Giantz to Lillpo Minor with Rebecca. Could the thieves just be hiding out up there!

27 July 2000 : Last night, after dark, we trekked up to the old Sheepie hideout. Got there around midnight. The moon was bright, but occasionally clouds overshadowed the moonlight, and so we were able to get very close to the hideout.  I was right! There were 3 men patrolling the area holding automatic weapons, and a large cage was placed beneath some trees. A fourth person was sleeping by the cage, and whimpering noises were coming from that direction. We had found the Liliputz, but how are we going to release them and save their lives?

28 July 2000 : I had a brainwave (OUCH!). We know that the natives from the village use blowpipes that shoot darts containing a sleeping drug. We can't get close enough to try to release the petz  without the risk of getting shot by the thieves, but if we could persuade the chief to send a few of his men up here with their blowpipes it might just help us. The chief was reluctant to help at first for fear of his men getting shot, but we promised to reward him greatly if he would help. He agreed, only if we gave him our 4x4 vehicle, and the guns that the thieves were carrying, but he settled on offering him the vehicle only. We will now try the rescue attempt tonight after dark.

29 July 2000 : It seemed like a long wait until dark came last night. We surrounded the clearing where three men were patrolling again, and we closed in as quietly as possible. The natives had been briefed to fire their darts at my command, and at the moment I shouted fire!, the three patrolling thieves fell to the ground in an immediate sleep. The fourth person suddenly appeared and shouted, 'I will shoot ALL the Miniaturez if you come any closer!'. It was a woman's voice, and none of us was surprised to discover it was Big Bertha!. Once again, she had survived from her last evil mission at Lillipo Minor when we thought perhaps she had drowned.

30 July 2000 : Bertha's gun had been pointed straight at the Lilliputz. We thought a disaster would follow, and we all froze. Then Bertha suddenly moved away from the caged animals and pointed her gun in my direction. She took one of the natives captive, and started off down the mountain trail towards the village. The petz were now safe, but what was Bertha going to do next? We tied up the sleeping men and bound them to a tree - then carefully followed Bertha's tracks down the mountain. By the time we reached the village, Bertha had stolen our 4x4 vehicle and made her getaway. The chief was furious and insisted we still owed him the vehicle, but I managed to calm him down by promising it would be his when we eventually found it again.

31 July 2000 : So Big Bertha escaped again, but we  managed to get in touch with H.Q. by mobile phone, and they sent up a rescue truck to collect us and the freed petz. The Miniaturez were all returned to the LPRL compound and checked over by our vet. None of them had suffered any thing more than a little shock from their adventure. Bertha had left the 4x4 on the outskirts of town and disappeared, but we kept our promise to the chief by sending the recovered vehicle to him. Fortunately, on this occasion everything turned out well, and now we can press on with our campaign to rescue more little petz for our 5th consignment.