'store an object and (optionally) event for zero-copy'

def store(self, obj, event=None):

    if (not self.is_alive()):
        if self._stay_down:
            return 0
        with self._lock:
            if (not self.is_alive()):
                self.start()
    tup = gcref(obj, event)
    theid = id(tup)
    self.refs[theid] = tup
    return theid
