The Dad who works with a Bunch of Fairies - post 6

Hello again,

I have been waiting for Dan and Kristen to send me the news of the villains that I heard they were chasing.   I haven't heard anything from them so I guess the villains got away?   We still have Mike's Methane Man though - see post 5 of this blog.

So what are we going to do with Methane Man?   Geraldine phoned to say she had seen Mike's Methane Man and she was impressed.   It takes a kid with guts to capture such a bad fellow.   Doug came in with a bit of support for Methane Man, he suggested that there could be good reasons for not showering for donkey's years (we all know Doug doesn't believe in shampooing his own hair and with that in mind we should understand the real reasoning behind the argument here) -  and that methane wasn't necessarily bad per se.   He also defended Methane Man's hat, he remarked it would be quite 'fetching' if worn at a 'jaunty angle'.   Umm, do you remember what Doug wears for everyday work, see picture on the right - gosh, wouldn't we all like to work like that?   But what I want you to notice is the way he dresses?   Doug's idea of day-to-day wear...not smart, would be one way of describing it.   Note the odd socks but at least both are a shade of blue, not the same shade but still - blue.

Anyway although Methane Man is destructive he has not yet stopped all the air traffic over Britain as the erupting volcano in Iceland has done a couple of weeks ago.  If you click on the link there are some amazing pictures.   I discovered that volcanoes don't seem to add too much to the methane in the atmosphere unless they are erupting mud volcanoes or on a planet called Titan.

As much as I'd like to think Methane Man is the villain I have to report that he is NOT the only villain.   In fact I have discovered a whole village of villains.   This is very disturbing because the villains did not know they were villains.  That is a bit like Methane Man - who, incidentally doesn't recognise himself as a villain.  

Now, I don't mean we have a village full of unwashed adults so disgusting that they make the local flys vomit, oh no, it is much more subtle than that.   Like all crimes the clues are right beneath our noses and so obvious it is hard to notice them.  Here are the clues that I found:

1. Mothers hurrying in the morning to get kids to school and get to work themselves.
2. Mothers and Fathers coming home in the evening after a busy day at work and a trip to the supermarket too some days.
3. Children pulling snacks and drinks from the fridge when they came home from school and then leaving the crumbs and left-overs lying around.
4. Parents too busy and too tired to sort  out the recycling properly.

Are you beginning to see the problem yet?

I think the causes of the villains' behaviour are three other little 'villainous inflictions' - known as Ignorance, Apathy and Fatigue.   Most of us have suffered with one or the other at sometime in our lives.   Here is a picture of what I imagine they might look like if you could see them...trouble is we can't and we have to get to know them by how we feel.

Uh-oh...look how dark it is getting, I have to lock up the hens and chicks so foxy can't have them for his dinner.   JP loves to help me, he believes this is one of his most important jobs of the day.

I'll tell you the rest next time, and how Dad manages to put everything right; night-night.

The Dad who works with a Bunch of Fairies - post 5

Some suspects are unearthed by Mike and Dan.

The first one was found by Mike.   Frankly, I never knew such a monster existed and I am still uncertain how he produces more methane than the rest of the world put together, unless it is because he hasn't showered in donkey's years.   He is so revolting that even the flys vomit.   Goodness, Mike did you catch this rascal?   If you did please get him showered before we interrogate him.

I look forward to hearing about Dan's villain.   This is very exciting and very dangerous.  Be careful boys.

We will have to set up a proper investigation to see if this is the cause of the problem at the AD Plant.  

Thanks Mike - your lead is invaluable!

The Dad who worked with a Bunch of Fairies - post 4

Hello,

Trouble at the PLANT

Have you found the villain for me yet?   Remember I asked you last time to tell me who you thought the villain would be, I hoped you would be very good detectives.   Please put your brains to work quickly it is becoming urgent.

 

There is trouble at the plant.   Things have gone wrong and Dad is very worried.   He is working extra long hours there to try to find the trouble.   His bunch of fairies are grumpy and quarrelsome.   They appear to have not enough work.   The dustbin lorries arrive intermittently and the fairies complain that the lorries are not the right size which makes the off-loading of the waste difficult.

People in the towns and villages near the plant complain that it smells awful when the wind blows their way.  They complain to Dad that they didn't EVER want an AD Plant near them even though they understand that, generally speaking, AD Plants are a Very-Good-Thing.   Dad says they are known as NIMBYs which is a really neat acronym meaning that the people do not want an AD Plant near them or "Not In My Back Yard".    They moan and mutter it is all very well when it works well but now look at the mess, the smell and the RATS, especially the rats.

There are a lot of rats too.   Very big, very fat rats - the kind you see more commonly round the Motorway Services where there are generous throw outs from MacDonalds and the like.  You know, where travellers eat half their Big Mac and shove the rest in the bin?   That is wonderful for the rats.   Many people do NOT like rats.   It is rather unfair because the rats do a very good job cleaning up our throw aways and rubbish.   However, if we throw out too much the rats do get bigger, fatter and more and more plentiful.   In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the rats didn't feel rather bloated and sick from living on a diet of too much junk food and not enough balanced diet.   It is unkind to hate rats just because they are rats.  You would like them if they were sweet rabbits or  cute panda bears - but they are rats and the best little dustbin work force we could have only something has gone wrong even here.  There are too many of them sitting around looking decidedly scabby and unwell.

Everyone is blaming everyone else for all the bad things.   The media - that is the newspapers, radio and television stations, blame anyone who they think will make a good villain and newsworthy story.

The politicians are blaming each other as usual.   No one is really listening to them except the media people when they think the story will be gruesome or dramatic enough to broadcast or print.

The Fairies are blaming the dustbin lorries and the local councils.

The villagers and townsfolk are blaming the AD Plant.

But who - oh WHO is the real villain here?

Poor Dad, he has to check everything.   Everything except the politicians that is.   He knows he has a very special Fairy whose job it is to make sure the politicians are given just enough of the right information to keep them from blaming the AD Plant.   That would be bad for everyone, but nevertheless Dad is extremely worried about the AD Plant.   It just isn't working properly.

The methane is gathering and not being used up to make the plant's electricity.
The waste is not being delivered properly.  So it is not being processed correctly and fetiliser is not being made.
The farmers want fertiliser to put on their fields, especially now in the spring, when they plant their crops.

It is a very unhappy situation.

Come on children - we need you to help us find the villain who has put us in this dreadful pickle.  I think you still have one more week of your holiday to help Dad solve the problem.

The picture on the right is NOT one of my fairies, I found her on the internet, even though she hasn't got pink hair I think this fairy is a fake...what we need is a detective to help solve the problem!