No thank you, I’m on a diet


NEVER in the field of human dieting combat has so much liberty been taken by so few to so little effect.

The women in question both tipped the scales at in excess of 20 stone – that’s nearly 130kg – but both were under 30 years... and both were hungry.

We’re told that obesity is one of the single biggest threats facing the NHS and, from what I saw that day, they may be right.

There was an almost desperate discussion of the menu before one left to put their order in at the bar, returning to join her companion in a tense wait for their plates to arrive.

When they did they were piled high with fried food which they gobbled – that is the right word – so quickly that the meal was swiftly reduced to dirty smears on two very big plates.

Perhaps a little sad yet these were actions both women had a perfect right to pursue, but it was the punch line which caught my attention because the final thing they each ordered to go with their meal was... a diet coke!

I have to ask, what was the point? The damage had been done and saving a few dozen calories on their soft drink would not offset the thousands they’d just eaten.

And they’re not alone. I love duck, belly pork, chocolate mousse and home-made apple pie with lashings of cream, it makes me gain weight and I accept that, but I do try to control how often I enjoy such food and I don’t make a habit of such largesse because it’s a treat. 

Make such meals available every day and the attraction wanes and the waistline waxes.

The problem for the NHS isn’t now but in the future when people who don’t watch their weight will almost certainly develop health problems related to that weight gain at huge cost to all our pockets.


Ice cream with a side order of sand 


DENTISTS are entering their busy period of the year in Weymouth as they repair mouthfuls of cavities and chipped teeth.

The damage has been self-inflicted by the early rush of unknowing tourists and unwise residents keen to pretend that the famous English summer is upon us.

So they promenade on the Esplanade, wrapped up warm so they can enjoy their ice-cream or sit down on a bench to consume their sandwiches.

The fact that they regularly get facefulls of sand is just shrugged off until the grinding of teeth on rock eventually yields its inevitable harvest, a visit to the dentist.

Once there the sufferer’s cavities are unbelievably filled with a derivative of the same quick-setting cement which is currently plugging the ferry terminal’s ailing harbour wall although I’m sure this cement hasn’t fallen off the back of  a lorry as a job lot for surgeries.

Anyone who has ever enjoyed an ice or a snack on the seafront should know full well that wind-blown sand often comes as part of the menu. If they didn’t then their gap-toothed grin shows that they do now!


Not worth the risk


WELL hacked off is probably a good way to describe the dog doing its best to sink its teeth into a pedestrian who had paused by the open window of a car.

The dog inside had clearly been given a chance to breath, but it was also taking its defensive duties very seriously indeed.

Every time the man tried to make friends with coaxing noises the dog just bared its teeth all the more and prepared to repel boarders.

It was a loud way of drawing attention to the fact that many dogs will die in coming months, shut inside baking vehicles by owners who couldn’t be bothered to take them away with them.

The RSPCA points out that if its just 22 Centigrade outside then it can still be 47C inside a car and, under the Animal Welfare Act, owners have a legal duty to care for their animal and could be prosecuted if they put it at risk.

So be sensible and either take the dog with you or, in the first place, leave it at home. It’s not worth the risk.



You never know when you might need RNLI


WE’RE well into the fundraising season and a recent plant sale was Weymouth RNLI’s biggest fundraiser of the year.

Dismal weather failed to keep supporters away and the event at Friar Waddon Farm was packed, a worthy – though less dangerous – match for all the times Weymouth’s lifeboats go out in something more challenging than a flat calm.

They are kept going by voluntary contributions and Weymouth is one of the best supported in the country as well as being one of the busiest stations.

You might bear that in mind when you’re tramping a shoreline, taking your boat engine cover off for that first putter of the summer or splashing about in the water as a swimmer, windsurfer or canoeist. 

You never know when you might get a life-saving return on those coins you put into an RNLI collecting box.

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