My daughter is on my mind today. It’s the 7 year anniversary of when we lost her in a few days time. She is often in my thoughts at this time of the year.
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- Thread starter Gutwrench
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I can’t imagine how hard it must be for your wife and you.
Just a little of what's going on in Buffalo NY - my driveway, taken from my garage surveillance camera:
That snow drift on the right is about 10 feet high. They needed a backhoe to dig me out.
That snow drift on the right is about 10 feet high. They needed a backhoe to dig me out.
Tomorrow is normally bin collection day - an event which takes place each fortnight.
However, this is Christmas, and, in our part of the world, this holiday is taken seriously, and I do not know whether bins shall be collected tomorrow, or whether they will schedule another day instead (which has happened in the past).
Worse, the company's website now features the collection calendar for 2023, and so I cannot confirm the Christmas collection timetable. Neighbours are no help, as nobody else's bins are out yet.
Well, First World Problems, I suppose; it could be worse.
However, this is Christmas, and, in our part of the world, this holiday is taken seriously, and I do not know whether bins shall be collected tomorrow, or whether they will schedule another day instead (which has happened in the past).
Worse, the company's website now features the collection calendar for 2023, and so I cannot confirm the Christmas collection timetable. Neighbours are no help, as nobody else's bins are out yet.
Well, First World Problems, I suppose; it could be worse.
Our bin day is every 4 weeks and has been for more than 5 years now. Apparently it’s to encourage more recycling and that is collected weekly. We’ve got council inspectors that go around checking general waste bins to make sure plastics and cardboard are not inside. You get a warning the first time but after that it’s a £100 fine.
This is the letter we got
Our bin is still being collected tomorrow. I put it out, but it’s hardly worth the effort. Less than a third full.
Here they collect the recycling wheelie bin one week, the rubbish bin the next. Garden waste (which you have to pay for separately) is collected fortnightly.Our bin day is every 4 weeks and has been for more than 5 years now. Apparently it’s to encourage more recycling and that is collected weekly. We’ve got council inspectors that go around checking general waste bins to make sure plastics and cardboard are not inside. You get a warning the first time but after that it’s a £100 fine.
This is the letter we got
Yeah we certainly get the worse deal here in my county. Fly tipping is a huge problem with beauty spots and lay-bys piled with dumped waste. I wish they’d go back to 2 weekly collections as my wheelie bin is often to the top. If the lid is sticking up they leave it which is why people dump it I suspect.
True, but you get free prescriptions and university places don’t you?
Well, tomorrow, my bins are nowhere near the top - in truth, if I miss a collection (especially at this time of year when the weather is quite cool), it is no great hardship; the bins themselves, as @Apple fanboy says, are probably close to, around a third full.
In the days when Mother was with us, well yes, they used to be quite full.
In the days when Mother was with us, well yes, they used to be quite full.
I couldn’t go 2 months in a 4 person household and especially this time of year where I am, as we produce more rubbish than at any other time of the year with Christmas and being off work for a week. Luckily our general waste was collected on the 22nd so the bin is only about half full until the next collection at the end of January. I’ll need to plan a trip to the local tip too to discard the 3 bags of plastic toy packaging and 2 bags of cardboard produced on Christmas Day. I think toy manufacturers should abide by a responsible packaging code as it quite ridiculous how much is used and sacrificial.
Fortunately, for us, bin collections here are (usually) fortnightly.
And, when my mother was with us, so was the carer, so at that time, it was a two person household, - occasionally augmented by my brother (Decent Brother on these fora), unless I was also at home, when it became a three person household, or four, if my brother had joined us.
However, these days, I am toute seule, which means a drastic difference, not least in the amount (or volume) of rubbish generated and collected.
Mine are usually collected on a Wednesday but this week will be Thursday. They stuck a sticker on my bin with the details. It's hard to miss so maybe they left one on yours? Might be worth a check?
Just the two of us here. We produce no more rubbish or recycling this week than any other fortunately. But I know what you mean. The amount of plastic and cardboard used in toy packaging is criminal. You’d think with the way things are changing, that they would start to adopt better practices. But I guess they want to attract the attention of kids on the stores etc.
Ah, all is forgiven.
They have just sent me a text message (I have just realised that the last time they had sent me such a text was exactly this time last year, i.e. the very first collection scheduled for immediately after Christmas) advising me that my bins - all three of them - will be collected tomorrow.
They have just sent me a text message (I have just realised that the last time they had sent me such a text was exactly this time last year, i.e. the very first collection scheduled for immediately after Christmas) advising me that my bins - all three of them - will be collected tomorrow.
Agree about the insane, and criminally excessive amount of plastic (often also horribly difficult to open) packages used by toy manufacturers (and others). It is so totally unnecessary.
I know why do there have to be so many twist ties and even worse zip ties. And why do some make AV cable with an easy rip open package. And some are super sealed with that thick plastic that you can't even cut. I always think of that one Goofy short about hooking up your home theater. He uses a hammer, jackhammer, blow torch and several other heavy duty tools, and the package is still unfazed.
Agreed.
An industrial strength scissors is insufficient for some of these wretched packages; they are an absolute trial and form of torture to open. Worse, the sharp edges (for when you do finally manage to cut through some of this fearsomely strong and thick plastic - not, mind you, that this will enable you to actually get at the product) can be really most unpleasantly sharp; I have cut myself more than once on them.
A sharp Stanley knife is usually safer than scissors. But agree packaging needs to change. Especially when most never sees the inside of a store anymore.
Something that should be used with great care, I should imagine.
Now, I do have not just the standard Swiss Army knives, - which I find excellent - but also possess a lethally sharp thing, a Wenger knife, that a former colleague with whom I worked in Georgia, (who had served as an officer in the Gurkhas, and who had a bit of a knife fetish) kindly gave me as a gift when my deployment ended.
But, that is so lethally sharp, that I am wary about using it, - and I am careful with knives - not least as I manged to cut myself twice with it (by accident) shortly after receiving it, the sort of cuts that you see (the results of) before you feel anything.
The trick with knives is the sharper it is, the safer it is. Don’t cut yourself on a blunt, or worse serated blade. That hurts a lot more!
As the son of a butcher I’ve always been ok around blades. How to keep them sharp and handle them etc.
Usually, yes, agreed.
That does sound like good training.
I simply wasn't used to the balance of that particular knife, - it never felt quite right held in my hand - but - these days - my knives (Japanese for preference) are nice and sharp.
Bins are out; usually, (especially during windy wintry conditions) I refrain from putting them out until morning; bins busily blowing down the road (yes, that has happened) are a sorry sight.
However, I have an odd feeling that they will be - or, may be - emptied quite early tomorrow, and the sound of the bin lorries winding their merry way up the road while I am still snug under a duvet would be too frustrating for words.
Yes I suspect it might be an early start and early finish for the bin men. Probably should just be grateful they are not on strike with the rest of the country right now.