I offer my thanks to Ian at the office for pointing me in the direction of something that had me gnawing through the leather restraints with my teeth.

Mums in burger backlash over healthy eating

TWO mums are organising junk food runs to a South Yorkshire school - because they don't agree with its healthy eating policy.

Julie Critchlow and Sam Walker deliver fish and chips, pies, and burgers to hungry kids at Rawmarsh Comprehensive every day.

They say they have started the food runs because pupils are turning their noses up at the 'low fat rubbish' served up at the school.

And they are angry at a recent ruling by headteacher John Lambert that pupils can't leave at lunchtime to visit the local chippy - and should eat pasta, salads and sandwiches.

The two mums say demand is so great they have had to start using an old supermarket trolley for their lunchtime deliveries.

Sam, of Monkwood Road, Rawmarsh, said: "This is all down to that Jamie Oliver. Well I don't like him or what he stands for - he is forcing our kids to be more picky about their food."

Julie, also of Monkwood Road, added: "Kids need a bit of fat in their diet - there is nothing wrong with burgers and chips. At school they only get chips once a week if they are lucky.

"The school have objected to what we are doing and they have even threatened to call in the police. But we will carry on - the kids just won't eat the food they are given at school."

But the two mums have angered local healthy eating campaigners who say they are trying to sabotage the school's new healthy menus.

Rotherham Council healthy eating campaigner Jill Adams said: "What these two women are doing is shameful. I don't believe they think they are doing the right thing by the kids. There have been numerous studies which show that children are not only healthier if they cut junk food out of their diet, but they learn better as well. We fought hard to get Turkey Twizzlers, chips and other fatty food off the menu and now we have some parents campaigning against healthy food - it is staggering."

Headteacher John Lambert said: "All the freshly prepared food now served complies with the government's healthy eating guidelines, and I can't imagine why the children want to go elsewhere. The food that these two parents are handing out is not part of that healthy eating diet and on top of that I have to question the morality of delivering it."

(Source: Sheffield Today, 15 September 2006)

I would also like to quote a piece from the Daily Mirror (16 September 2006) Critchlow stated "This all started when the kids went back to school after the holidays. A new rule banned them from leaving the premises at lunchtime. It meant they couldn't go to the local takeaways. I started doing the food run for my children and a couple of their friends. But every day more and more wanted to join in. We go up at 11am break time and take the the orders talking through the school fence. Then we go back at 1pm to deliver the food and give the children their change. We're now delivering around 50 to 60 meals a day. We don't make a penny on it, we just want to make sure the kids are properly fed. They don't enjoy the school food and the end result is that they're starving. Even the teachers go down to the local sandwich shop or take their own lunches. But the kids don't have that choice."

Wow, children don't want to eat their vegetables? Hold the headlines, we've got a scoop. The issue here is that the government has taken on board a suggestion to provide nutritious and healthy food to children, instead of mass-produced processed mass foodstuffs, they are fulfilling the duty of care through the schools to protect children from health problems, and now a small band of parents have decided to oppose the ruling and provide junk food to children.

Do the parents have a right to do so for their own children? I suppose so, as they would have to pay for the meals one way or another, but it is undermining to the discipline of the school and is in effect causing potential health hazards. Whereas legally they maintain this right, surely it is more moral to allow the school to feed the children what it and experts see as right for their health, and if they wish to corrupt this health they can do so outside of school. The school is attempting to give you longer with your children by keeping them alive, after all.

Do the parents have a right to do so for other children? Not without the other childrens' parent consent, who have entrusted their children with money to buy their school dinners knowing what is going on with the nutritionists, the children do not explicitly have the right to choose beyond what the money has been intended for, and will likely more often choose 'fun' food than that which is intended. How are parents to trust children if this temptation is there, and if other parents are willing to lead them astray.

There is an underlying problem in that the parents have to pay for school meals and as such retain a choice on how that money be used, if the government actually paid for school meals for all children and could ensure that special dietary requirements be met, then they could make on-site meals compulsory - I also think they could make use of pre-booking for sandwiches/packed lunches for children who prefer cold snacks as opposed to full meals. Removal of the choice from parents ensures that nutrition is met and the governments duty is fulfilled, but ensures a choice for children as to how they make use of the scheme.

How can we, as a nation, look after the health of a nation, if people with a duty of care can take a damaging route to those in their care. Also, why povide chips, and not just a packed lunch with items theey'd enjoy - you know, kill your children in moderation.

Spent the day in Bristol, working out of the office up there. It's a shame, I have work there but it's so damn hot and much effort to attend, whereas Weston is easy but I have no work to pass the time.

My only slight grumble about the work is that it's seeming to increase with lazy problems. Issues like not being able to find the numbered tape, amongst the other ordered numbered tape in a dedicated cabinet, or not having the forethought to ask an IT query of the IT section and instead leaving it six months and then assuming it doesn't want to work. The sort of thing that makes me be sarcastic when I solve the issue in mere seconds.

I went into Virgin Megastore to use my vouchers after work, and managed to pick up on DVD Ghost In The Shell, Constantine - Special Edition, Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. It was tempting to get a few more while the prices were low, but I played safe.

The breeders outside Tesco were disgusting, with about five children from pram-size upwards, with an age gap of about 10 months between them. One of the runts was walking around in it's diaper, and the Waynetta mother warned it that if it soiled itself while shopping it wouldn't get changed until after they'd finished. Lovely thought that, huh?

It was sweltering, so I grabbed myself a strawberry milkshake from McDonalds. Ye gods, that was refreshing.

Last weeks episode of Doctor Who, though providing an interesting point of view and a fair few laughs, was a very weak link for taking the series. This was remedied with Fear Her, an episode that follows a few really basic suspense points that have always scored high: children are scary when they are strange; you don't need monsters to scare people; avoid the closet; and, you can scare people by foreboding music and slow movement.

Ok, so the story has some points that match the episode The Idiot's Lantern, this series' other suspense-filled episode. There is no physical enemy, it's all done by power. It takes place in a street during English celebrations, with flags waving outside. People get sucked away. Rose does some deduction. One of the TARDIS crew gets seperated by the power.

Not surprisingly, I liked both episodes, as two of my favourites in the series despite this slight repetition.

Any time there is evil/possessed/creepy children in Doctor Who you know it'll be good. Look at the happy, skipping girl in Remembrance of the Daleks, the teenage girls who were being evacuated in Curse of Fenric, the young gasmarked child in The Empty Child.

It does seem quite fundamentally evil in any medium too, look at The Midwich Cuckoos, Damien of The Omen or Anthony Freemont of The Twilight Zone's episode, It's A Good Life. The only thing usually more scary is inanimate or everyday items turning murderous.

Tuesday

Simon came to see me today in Bristol to give me my appraisal score for 2005/06 in my higher grade, and once again I got an undisputed top score. I'm chuffed, that makes it a consistent high score throughout my entire time in the Department - plus, extra money the higher the scale.

I was also chuffed to hear from Andrew in Taunton, who finally managed a holiday that didn't end in disaster. The guy usually vacations with the Four Horsepersons of the Apocolypse, everywhere he goes gets hit with hurricanes, tornados, civil unrest, food poisoning, anything...considering he was in the Caribean this time, I expected to hear his hotel was ransacked by a scurvy band of oversexed Johnny Depp lookalikes. He got himself a new job too, so I was really pleased he wasn't becoming a Battery Farm Phone Monkey Lemming.

We had some fun with Vonnie about making home visits, to which my contribution was "Next thing we know we'll get a call from your mobile, you'll be in a pit in the guys basement and he'll be going it puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again".

Wednesday

The train ride up was slightly interesting, in that it was half-term for schools and as an offshoot I happened to be on the train with the freakin' Midwich Cuckoos. This mother got on the train with her pristine young children, two young boys and a girl, who looked between 7 and 10.

They sat at one of the tabled sections and across from them were some young, rambunctious lads - who had, to amusing effect, been both young and rambunctious thus far in to the journey, if slightly vulgar. The cuckoos did not take too kindly, and with pressed and polished voices said things like "They shouldn't talk like that, should they mother?" and "It's not right to say those things", and when the lads laughed, the children were almost shooting them down with the look.

Had their eyes chosen to glow at that time, the train screech to a stop, and the entire metal can torn apart and the lads get sucked out in to the countryside - or a cornfield, had one been conveniently available - I would not have been surprised.

Fairly long day in Bristol, dealing with filing again which really gets to sting the arms and legs after a while. Geez, highly developed psychic powers would have helped there, or failing that, child labour.

Andy asked me to help out in Bedminster next week for a few days in dealing with crate transfers.

Thursday

Managed to get a good deal of organisation done, and think I've convinced Vonnie on the effective use of boxes to make best use of space within metal cabinets (so files stand in packs and not lean against each other). Yay for my anal organisation that I only ever use when working, and never to keep my own stuff in order.

There was a guy on the train coming home that looked so much like johnwordsworth, except he was about half a foot short and had a short haircut, but the face and mannerisms were a dead spit for John, it took a moment to shake it.

Friday

Actually got round to training my successor in the Web Content Management System we use, I taught him everything that was needed to publish, which isn't everything about the system or anything technical, because that took years to get a handle on and wont be covered by him.

It seems a real shame that I took all the time and effort to build the site to the requirements of the investigators, negotiated nationally for services, liaised with so many parties, did all the design and about 95% of the publishing and it's summarised into a morning's handover.

It was such a glorious day weather-wise though, it seemed a shame to spend it all in work. So I didn't, I took the afternoon off.

Last night I got nailed, well, in fairness I've been getting nailed for the last few days and I'm regretting every event that led up to it. Damn nail.exe, Aurora and A Better Internet company. I truly dislike files that are adware that respawn when deleted, it's annoying - and I'm one of those bastards that checks licences for the 'third party' agreements. I wouldn't mind if it was a virus from a download, but nooo.

Today was trip to Taunton day. Woo-frickin'-hoo.

Tim came with me and we got an early train so that I could find my way when I arrived in Taunton, which actually turned out to be a good thing because I'm only used to the main High Street area and NCP car parks. Got on the Arriva at 10:18 and off it chugged, the ride was peaceful and relaxing with the background rhythmic grinding of the train wheels on hot metal tracks as our travel music.

We came up to Highbridge and Burnham station, where - as Tim put it - excited chatter changed slightly to squealing like piggies, the squeals joined with the grinding melody as we rolled out the station and were within moments joined with the faint twanging of banjoes as we approached Bridgwater station, and things went downhill. On board climbed the Bridgies, most notable among them the Bridgy family with the mother who looked like a farmwife gone urban wearing a new looking t-shirt for the video game Killer Instinct (yes, the game from 1994), the son who lumbered everywhere and the daughter who was the station's token cutie (if looking slightly androgynous).

After finally settling into their seat they decided to get up and wait by the door as soon as the first announcement for Taunton was made. Shortly after, Arriva lived up to being a train company and stopped dead in their tracks and the driver got off, cue sarcastic remarks from the brother and I about rail apologies and what was on the line.

Eventually we arrived at Taunton and I pulled out my handy-dandy map from the Medical Examination Centre, which usefully did not include where the station was located, however, signs pointed to town centre and I knew that Brendon and Quantock Houses were located there, so off we trotted. It wasn't long until I had the first proof that we were officially in the heart of Somerset (or "Zummerzet"), outside Taunton's swimming pool an announcement for The Wurzels marked back by popular demand!

Getting a bit confused by the maps orientation (the image was upside down to where we were coming from) we were given assistance from a local who incorrectly pointed us back the way we came, which was partially my fault for not being clear and him not looking at where my finger on the map was. We walked back, found it to be wrong and bumped into the guy again :

Taunton Guy : Did you find it?
Me : No, sorry, it was the wrong building, I was looking for Brendon Hou [inspiration hits]...the social!
TG : Oh right! Sorry, brain wasn't switched on...go [blah blah directional blah that confirmed where I was going originally]
Me : Ah, cheers.
TG : Good money to be made there, signing on and all...
Me : I can't, I work there... [meaning for the Government]
TG : And you don't know your way to the office?
Me : Well, I work out of Weston so it's my first time...
TG : No wonder it's so fucking slow.

Cider-drinking, haystack humper. But, irregardless we eventually got towards the centre when I realised that Taunton had it's own time zone just off GMT, in fact some 20 odd years off GMT. Taunton still has a frickin' Wimpy.

Wimpy is the member of the Burger family, alongside it's sisters McDonalds and BK, however it is that family member that has napkin rings, speaks in the queen's english and holds candlelight suppers with local parish members. They serve burgers on plates and have no idea of what to put as toys in kids meals. Wimpy should not exist anymore, it should have retired and bought a villa in southern France or Spain and be sitting around in a vest and long chain drinking gin and tonic.

Went to Yates's for lunch, which has a damn good cheese burger, so light in bite but very filling. Picked up some fresh cream doughnuts for Pete and Andrew, seeing as I was visiting their office and headed off to the medical.

The appointment was for 13:30 and lasted 2-3 minutes. What The Hell!? I had the day off and hours credited, travelled through Bridgwater and with Bridgies, got lost and tired and got dissed by a friggin' 'zetter, for 2-3 minutes of interview!? When I told Si, in a conversation that lasted twice as long as the interview, he almost blew it. The term 'fuck' sprang up a couple of times too.

The plus side is I dropped the doughnuts off while If You're Gone by Matchbox 20 was on, and I got to see the pickled bat that the guys have on their windowsill. Yeah, when they moved in there was a dead bat in the room, they put it in a coffee jar and pickled it...in apple juice...suffice to say, it's now in dark brown cider, stiff as a board and is only recognisable as a bat because it looks kind of bat-like from the right angle.

Walked back to the station, first noticeable person was an american woman in shorts with a midwest-esque accent asking the station staff if there were roadworks near the entrance, there were two entrances both with minor roadworks. I felt like pointing out it was England and she'd be hard-pushed to find anywhere without roadworks. There are county lanes that have been disused for 16 years with roadworks.

Then I saw the Bridgie family waiting for the same train as us, but when another train pulled in first after our trains announcement they hurried over. Amusingly it was a train that goes direct to Temple Meads, but that's Bridgies for you. Instead, we had a mother and her two children, racing around and getting under peoples feet while fighting and saying things like "Dino Daggers" or something, guess where they were going?

That's right, they stayed on the train until Bridgwater, where I watched with some amusement that the other Bridgie family didn't disembark, instead two chavvy looking girls boarded, leaving behind a topless guy with two cans of Special Brew and barely any teeth on the station. They proceeded to try to guess a smell on them (I say it was a top they were sniffing, Tim says fingers) and they left us at Highbridge. The rest of the ride was peaceful.

Oh, the conductor on the train was at least seven foot, bearded and with a stiff neck that kept his chin to chest. He looked like an unemployed Lurch who let himself go after Gomez gave him his papers.

My camera even worked, wish I'd used it more now instead of thinking "well, fuzzy pictures will remind me what I wanted to post".


When we got back to Weston I was impressed, the heat was still there and people were enjoying it. I would like to thank the following people :

• Louis Reard - the inventor of the 'modern' bikini;
• whoever created the look of bikini serving as under- and overwear;
• whoever chose bright pink as a bikini colour;
• the very hot girl who chose to wear it;
• everyone else bikini-clad today - you've made a young perv very happy horny...thanks a lot ::mutter::

Of course, it must be really hot, because on the way home there was a bikini top hanging from a shrub near the crazy golf.

Got my first order from Amazon through this morning, still waiting on the Madness stuff but got emails confirming them being dispatched.

My hair is all pulled back, but not long enough to look like anything more than a tied up tuft.

Oh, and apparently the American Chopper crew are going to be at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta this year.

I was going to bitch and whine about the kids and stuff throughout Weston today, especially the little sod who managed to smack me in the bollocks while waving and spinning in circles across the High Street from his dad - the kid just looked up at me and ran over to his dad, the dad looked quite sheepish as I glared at him and his waste of semen. However, the Tinkster beat me to it in her post So like.... Go read, nothing more to see here.