actually , im much more senior than that ... he began , but wasnt allowed to finish as zitha introduced me in rapid succession to a minotaur whod made a mint from futures , a salmon in a wheelchair whod inherited the biggest underwater farm ever , a tapir who wrote ever such difficult poetry , a phoenix big in insurance , a pterodactyl who was ever such a clever professor and many others who , before id had the chance to properly greet them or theyd had time to elaborate on zithas brief and sweeping descriptions , was superseded by another whose main claim to attention was that he , she or it was next nearest in proximity .