So it seems that the trading standards Institute, a government department, is calling for a ban on online knife sales. Frankly I don’t get it. Are we to believe that knives sold online are substandard? The departments remit (taken from their own website) is:
The Trading Standards Service enforces a variety of consumer related legislation as determined by central government. This legislation is vast and always evolving.
In view of this changing environment, the Trading Standards Institute is dedicated to engaging with central government and other proposals, displayed in our responses to the various consultations which concern consumer protection issues and/or the Trading Standards profession.
So how is their call to ban the online sale of knives protecting the consumer? It isn’t is it? As a consumer of knives my choice would, if their proposals are passed be limited. What consumer related legislation (determined by central government) are they seeking to enforce? No, I can’t see any either.
I can only conclude that trading standards have overstepped their brief. Their role of protecting consumers is not what this is about, it’s about a government funded body lobying the government for a change in legislature, not about something related to their remit but presumably because the government want press attention focused on the issue of knives.
Fine, if the government want a discussion about the availability of knives lets have one, but be bloody honest about the remit and stop treating us all like a bunch of morons who need to be fed propoganda through non related government outlets to mould policy.
On Sunday 9th August the fleet of circa 300 entries to the 2009 Rolex Fastnet race cross the start line in a race which marks the 30th anniversary of the infamous 1979 race which ended is disaster.
The race takes place every two years over a course of about 608nm starting off the Royal Yacht Squaron start line at Cowes travelling westbound past The Lizard and on to round the Fastnet lighthouse on the southern tip of Ireland then back to east to Plymouth.
The idea for the race was dreamed up by British Yachtsman Weston Martyr and the first race had just 7 competitors. The winner was the gaff-rigged pilot cutter Jolie Brise owned and skippered by Evelyn George Martin.
In 1973 the International Offshore Rule, basically a boat handicapping system was introduced to the race allowing different classes of boat to compete for an overall fleet position (adjusted by the IOR) and this lead to the rise in commercial sponsorship of both boats and crews for the event.
TRADGEDY
In 1979, the 28th Fastnet race, the fleet set out in weather conditions of F6 (21-26 knts) gusting F7 (27-33) with forcasters predicting this to rise to F8 (34-40 knts). With winds like these records were set to tumble; but that wasn’t to be. By the following day 25 of the 306 starting boats had either sunk or been rendered un-sailable by “Mountainous seas”. Royal and Irish Navy ships, helicopters, lifeboats and a Dutch warship picked up 125 yachtmen between land’s End and Fastnet during the rescue operation over the 13th and 14th August. The fleet had been caught in Force 11 conditions (56-63 knt’s). The Beaufort scale only goes to Force 12 which is the official definition of a hurricane. The rescuers which included tugs, trawlers and tankers had to wait until early morning 14th August until the winds receeded back to severe gale force 9 before it was safe enough to start the rescue. 15 yachtmen lost their life over those two days. The time corrected winner was later declared as the aptly named Tenacious, owned and skippered by Ted Turner the man who founded CNN. 69 yachts failed to finish the race.
MORE HISTORY
The 1985 race drew further attention when Simon Le Bon, the lead singer of the pop band Duran Duran suffered a capsize of his co-owned maxi yacht Drum. He and five other crew members were trapped under the upturned hull for 20 minutes until they were rescued by the Royal Navy.
GOAL
Keep it a secret, but despite, and perhaps even because of the history of the event it is one of my ambitions to compete in it. I don’t have to compete as an owner, and, although I’d bust a gut to place as high as possible I don’t harbour a need to win. I just want to take part in the event so I can say I’ve done it.
Ok, I’m writing this pretty much to put something in the public domain that I hope I can use as a motivational tool. The theory is once I’ve gone on record that I’m working to a weight goal I’ll be shamed into making it happen rather than letting it fade into dim and distant memory.
As a child I was always active being both a swimmer and a runner. I used to go to the city Judo club with my dad every Monday night where we would run around the City Memorial Park with other club members and then do sprints and piggy back sprints and such like before returning to the club to either do Judo on the mat or to continue working out in the gym. I also did a lot of running with the school competing well in all distances from 100m to cross country so from about 11 to 16 I was incredibly fit. At 17 I left home and brought my first house and my feeding and exercising regime changed for the worst. I started eating bad food in big portions and supplementing it with beer and wine. Back then mostly beer. In adulthood I was still pretty active until I had a fall from my horse and damaged my back by slipping a disc. I’ve not really been able to run since other than on a treadmill which is simply not the same as proper running and so my activity declined whilst my food and alcohol intake continued as before.
In gaps between work I get to the gym in quite an agressive fashion. At the begining of this year I had a couple of months without much work so was for a period of 6 or 8 weeks in the gym virtually every day. Typically I’d do an hour of cardio work and then push weights until I could push no more. I can pack muscle on quite quickly and can see my strength increasing in addition to my cardio performance improving but once work became busier I couldn’t maintain the committment to get to the gym. Even whilst at the gym my gross bodyweight didn’t move that much. Sure, I was probably carrying more muscle and a little less fat but my weight didn’t move that much.
So, because of work committments I can’t rely on getting to the gym so my only other option is to change my diet for better eating and to cut the alcohol consumption. I’ve been eating well since the weekend with very little in the way of alcohol. My starting point is 14st 9llb and I’m going to weigh myself every sunday morning for the next few weeks to see if I can get down to 13st 6llb. I’ll also update this post on a weekly basis with my progress
STARTING WEIGHT 14st 9llb
