def serialize_everything(obj):
    """Convert objects to serialisable things. Used by JSON serialiser as a default when it encounters unserializable things.
    Just converts objects to dict. Try to avoid doing anything clever here when serialising spots, because we also need
    to receive spots without complex handling."""
    return obj.__dict__


def empty_queue(q):
    """Empty a queue"""

    while not q.empty():
        try:
            q.get_nowait()
        except:
            break