Toms View of the World

The police are launching a national ANPR system (from Computing) - whilst this is a good thing to catch all those people who don’t bother taxing and insuring their cars - what we really need is more police out on the streets, acting as a visible deterrent, but also there to catch the idiots who can’t be caught using static cameras - those people who drive with their front-fog-lights on in good conditions, their hand-held mobile phone up against their ear, those who don’t indicate, hog the middle lanes, block junctions with inconsiderate parking, drive up bus lanes, consistently fail to indicate at junctions and lane changes, ignore electronic signs on motorways, and of course, the idiots who drive along narrow lanes in roadworks at speeds considerably in excess of the posted limits with no regard for their own safety, that of the workers on the site, or other motorists.

Cameras are not the answer to everything - yes there are some common offences which can be caught by them, and they can provide critical video evidence in situations where officers are looking for idiots as well as waiting for the cameras to identify the speeders, but they can’t replace the officer on the beat, or in his car.

Driving standards in the UK are IMO falling dramatically, despite the driving test getting harder - what will bring drivers back into line with the law - that’ll be police, in brightly coloured, visible cars actually out there catching the people whose driving is dangerous or inconsiderate.

With my ongoing frustrations at making no progress with the WeightWatchers diet plans this time round (I did lose around 3 stone last time I used the scheme, but put it all back on again - so I’m not saying it won’t work for you) I am now giving a new weight-loss system a try - in this case Paul McKenna’s I Can Make You Thin (Book and CD) and the accompanying I Can Make You Thin 90-Day Success Journal.

This is far less about what I’m allowed to eat, and counting calories, or scoring food up to a daily limit - it basically follows a series of “rules” about eating - which hopefully I’m ready to start following.

The biggest difference in what I’ve read and seen so far is that this helps you deal with the “comfort/depression/boredom” type of eating, where you are eating out of habit, or for the comfort “emotion” that food gives through having low self-esteem, rather than because your body actually needs the fuel.

We’ll see… (yes, I’m a sceptic, but I’m giving it a try)  I think the hardest part is going to be dealing with other people as my eating patterns should change, and “eat what you want when you want” could be a problem at work - but I’ll give it a try.