'ello ello 'ello

I'll start this blip with a question: Do I look like a terrorist?

Obviously, only those people who know me in the 'real' world will be able to answer that one.

But I hope my virtual friends will agree that my blips have not given the chaps at GCHQ too much cause for alarm over the past 167 days - even the one about searching for hidden caches.

(It was a game called geocaching, OK guys? It's a bit like orienteering. It's got nothing to do with arms or, in my case, actually finding anything.)

Anyway, you might wonder why I am asking the question.

Well, it's amazing what can happen when you take a 20-minute break for a Starbucks and decide to slip in a quick blip while you're at it.

There I was admiring the mirror-effect windows of a new office block as they reflected the blue sky and photogenic cumulus clouds.

'That will make a perfect image,' I thought to myself before shooting (oops, maybe not the right word in this context) taking a couple of photos.

Thirty seconds later, a police car swept up beside me and the gentlemen from Avon and Somerset Constabulary started giving me the third degree.

Why were you taking photos of that building? Name? Address? Why do you have two addresses? Date of Birth? Yes, it was my 50th birthday last week, officer. Where do you work? Reporter? What's the website? You said foto with an 'f'?

'So, are you going to be pursuing this, whatever it is?' I asked.

'Only if we find you are al-Qaeda.'

Looks like I'm okay, then.

Seriously, though, I couldn't help but think 'George Orwell' while this was going on. And it was quite scary for someone who doesn't even take library books back late to be challenged by the police.

But then a part of me thought that maybe this sort of thing was actually reassuring.

It's not going to stop me taking pictures. And I'm secretly hoping I have two new fans. Especially as I've included them in my photo.

I hope you like the swan picture I told you about, chaps!