‘Summer’ (DST) time

A writer in 1947 noted: “I don’t really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind.

“I even object to the implication that I am wasting something valuable if I stay in bed after the sun has risen. As an admirer of moonlight, I resent the bossy insistence of those who want to reduce my time for enjoying it.

“At the back of the daylight saving scheme, I detect the bony, blue-fingered hand of puritanism, eager to push people into bed earlier, and get them up earlier, to make them healthy, wealthy and wise in spite of themselves.”(Robertson Davies, The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks).

Safeguards for all

Not everyone fully realises just how stringent today’s laws are for any adult leader or trainer who may be involved in programmes which cover an array of activities involving children and young people.

Safety involves many things, but the highest priority is to insure the safety of the young people beyond the natural and physical dangers they may encounter.

The aim is to lessen the occurrence of child abuse, including sexual abuse, and other social dangers is a reality that should be prevented not because it is any more dangerous than the other hazards, but because it is one of the dangers that are perhaps more hidden and least understood.

Teachers, sports instructors, youth club leaders or even ministers and Sunday School supervisors are ordinary human beings whom you may consider, instinctively, would never even consider engaging in such behaviour.

But meeting this minimal standard is not enough: relations between all adults and children involved in should avoid even the appearance of any impropriety - that is they should conduct yourself at all times in a manner that protects both themselves and the children in their care from any unfounded accusations.

Reputations - theirs and the child’s - are important, and are built on trust, openness and transparency. By following simple procedures built upon these fundamentals, no one should ever have cause to doubt those who maintain the highest ethical and moral standards of conduct.

Those trusted leaders should not only act in the most honourable and respectful manner toward children, they should act as the child’s protector, by being alert at all times to any type of inappropriate activity that may be directed at a child by others.

These are some of the reasons why everyone who has anything to do with children, including those young adults who may have learning difficulties, now need to obtain the safeguard of a DBS check even though the initial fee is £63.

Words of wisdom!

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others! Never buy a car you can’t push.

Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on.

Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.

Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

The second mouse gets the cheese.

When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.

Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.

We could learn a lot from crayons: Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colours, but they all have to live in the same box.

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

Drive carefully... It’s not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.

If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

If you lend someone £20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

Height of fashion

I am mindful of today’s date when I report that the Italian dairy association, Assolatte, is encouraging fashionable beard maintenance, not with scissors, but with dairy!

Assolatte says that while beards are currently the height of fashion for men in Italy, as they have become in many other countries, grooming alone is not enough: they need nutrients for healthy, thick and strong growth.

And that means milk, yogurt, butter and cheese.

The association says that a beard-friendly diet should be balanced and varied, with the required amounts of amino acids to nourish the hair follicles, and vitamins (such as A, E, B5, B9 and B12), which help to synthesise proteins in foods, making them available to renew skin and hair cells.

Assolatte notes that dairy products are rich in all these substances.

Milk - for amino acids: Amino acids are the ‘building blocks’ of protein, and are important for the formation of keratin (the main component of skin and hair), and to feed hair follicles. And because the body can’t produce all the essential amino acids itself, they have to come from food.

Assolatte notes that milk contains all the essential amino acids, and adds that a beard with brittle or weak hairs can be a sign of cysteine and methionine deficiency, two amino acids found in milk.

Butter - for vitamins A and E: Vitamin A maintains and repairs skin tissue, which is needed for the growth of strong and healthy hair. When it comes from butter, Assolatte says, the vitamin is even more effective because it is easily absorbed and because of the synergy with zinc potentiates that reinforces effects on the skin and mucous membranes.

Weird!

Do you think the following looks weird? Believe it or not, you can read it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mind. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the first and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm.

This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Qiute Amzanig?

What deep thinkers men are...

“I mowed the lawn today, and after doing so I sat down and had a cold beer. The day was really quite beautiful, and the drink facilitated some deep thinking. My wife walked by and asked me what I was doing and I said ‘nothing.’

“The reason I said that instead of saying ‘just thinking’ is because she would have said ‘about what?’

“At that point, I would have to explain that men are deep thinkers about various topics which would lead to other questions!”

Things my father taught me

About crying - Keep on crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about.

About the circle of life - I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.

About humour - When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.

About justice - One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they all turn out just like you!

About time travel - If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!

About logic - Because I said so, that’s why.