Bargain - B&Q carrier bags only 5p each . . . .

[Andy Hall]

Only if you're a master baiter.......

[Paul Mc Cann]

Regardless, plastic bags are a litter nightmare as they 'never' degrade (At least not in my lifetime, nor yours). They haven't been freely been given out in German supermarkets for many years. Charging for them, as they do in Ireland, has resulted in a huge drop in their usage. People adapted very quickly to carrying their own re-usable cloth bag, usually supplied cheaply by the supermarkets.

If only steps were made to reduce the amount of packaging used. Out of curiosity we once removed all the packaging from a weekly shop and the results were amazing. The pile of products were dwarfed by the pile of packaging materials.

[T i m]

How stupid .. ;-(

My brother in law is a builder and so are his sons.

One of the sons put up a new paneled fence and took the old one to the tip on the little tipper truck, where he was promptly refused.

Them: This is commercial waste

Him: This is MY fence from MY house and this is MY tip

Them: You cant dump it here, its's commercial waste.

Him: Ok, this is a tipper. Either you let me put it all in the skip or I'll just tip it on the floor and you can go what you like with it.

Them: I'll take your reg number and call the police:

Him: I'll *give* you my address and phone number if you wan't

Them: Ok, put it in the skip, but only this time .....

What should he have done .. load all the stuff onto the roof of his car, when he has a nice truck sitting there? What if you hire a van to take your stuff to the tip .. you are in a commercial vehicle?

Ok, realistically how would they know that this was his own domestic waste .. difficult .. but if they get too ancy, some of this stuff will just end up on the side of the road, costing the local Council even more to collect?

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

Oh no .. here we go again .. ;-)

T i m

[Mary Fisher]

Son has had exactly the same experience while restoring his 'new' house. None of the waste could be carried on his scooter so he used the firm's van and has had no end of arguments. No tipper, sadly, it's a posh new but large van - with the firm's name (not a builder) on the side. If there had been a tipper I'm sure his reaction would have been the same as yours.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

I wouldn't drink German wine unless it was sent cod.

[Mary Fisher]

In fairness, some do, they're specially designed so to do.

When you pull them from the bag of carriers you seem to acquire whether you want them or not and keep for putting rubbish in you find them full of holes .. :-(

Mary

[T i m]

Erm .. I think I'll pass on that one if you don't mind Geoff!

Ok, so you need some plasterboard so you go buy an 8 x 4 sheet and use say half of it. You are now left with a 4 x 4 sheet of brand new, unused pasterboard 'spare'. I would find it very difficult to just throw it away because:

I might need it It's new It would be a shame It will add to our landfill problem It cost me

I would happily give it away but just can't throw it away (well I do in the end of course..)

So, the loft is full of boxes containing things like ETI mags (I still need to make a wiper delay for the 78 based kit car), empty boxes for goods that I might sell (makes it easier to sell safer to pack / post etc), radio control planes / boats, Star Wars figures collection etc etc.

It does amaze me when I see these shows on TV where they take a 'lived in' house and turn it into a show house. It's ok if you just like to entertain or go on holidays in Spain where you lay on the beach for two weeks but what if you actually *do* stuff? When they hit these houses on the TV you see all their everyday posessions going into carboard boxes then into the loft / storage etc .. what uses is that (apart from to sell the house that is)?

To *do* things, you often heed 'kit', be it sports or DIY and this kit needs storing .. if the whole family do this then you need a familys worth of kit and where does it all go?

We enjoy (as a family) archery, power kites, cycling, camping, motorcycling, RC sailing boats / cars, PC's, crafts, boating etc but only live in a 3 bed Victorian end-of-terrace house (and don't want / cant afford to move). That's not including the tools needed to DIY ('never a lender or bororrer be') most of which are in the 20' x 10' garage / workshop / store.

So, this means that we don't have a show house but a place to live / sleep that reflects that we like to do 'things' .. ?

All the best ..

T i m

Currently shuttling between home and the charity shop .. (*mostly* taking stuff *from* the house ..) ;-)

[Mary Fisher]

Hurrah!

A grandchild: "My mummy says Grandma has a mucky house because she's old."

How do you explain to a six year old that Grandma and Grandpa have a mucky house because they has a life?

Mary

[Harvey Van Sickle]

On 04 Nov 2004, Peter Parry wrote that "Mary Fisher"wrote that Peter Parry wrote;

-snip-

I have the same feeling about the tears shed over big bookstore chains knocking out traditional small independent bookshops -- "they just want to shift blockbusters; no interest in books as books; don't know what's published or isn't published".

My experience of them was that common-and-garden small bookshops had a limited range of poorly-displayed titles, knew bugger all about anything outside particular hobby-horses of the owners, and relied on the publishers' price-fixing cartel to make a living -- not, as now claimed, to underwrite their "specialist stock and knowledge".

I don't lose any sleep over the closure of small bookshops.

[Bob Eager]

I have no patience with our local large bookshops.

Typically, one orders a book and is told it will be 3 to 4 weeks arriving 'from their warehouse'. I go to the independent, knowledgeable bookshop down the road (tiny, but well stocked) and they usually have the book for me by the following afternoon.

[T i m]

I think the threat to the small bookshop may be more from the Internet than the bigger bookshops?

I *would* buy a book from one of the big shops in the city but for less money and a couple of clicks get it delivered to my house / work (often for free) the next day?

After all, you don't generally need 'support' with things like books (with good search engines) but you can't beat a good bookshop for just browsing .. ;-) (especially if it's raining!)

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

You can't .. and you can't hit it for being 'cheeky to it's elders' now (doh) ;-)

There are limits to 'mucky' though ..

It's quite difficult .. .. like with the social stigma re cars .. not only the general condition of your car but what make / model you drive ..?

It seems it's not that easy re cars n kids? My 14 yr old daughter is happy to be taken to school in our (currently tatty but being worked on) kit car / jeep looking thing .. her mates think it's kewl (apparent'y 'wicked' is out now), or the ever tattier Sierra estate. If we go in the fairly tidy 1.4i Astra or Rover 218SD she insists being dropped round the corner from the School?

When (male) mates come into our house they act like kids in a toyshop .. tekky stuff, tous, gadets everywhere .. she just sees it as 'stuff' and should be elsewhere?

We did talk it over and came up with a solution.

We sell this place and buy a patch of land somewhere in the sticks (any vacant land near you Mary?).

We build a barn (about the size of Wickes will do) for me and all my stuff and a couple of portable buildings as the house bit (that I'm not allowed to bring my stuff into).

As long as I had a toilet, fridge, kettle and a broadband connection out there I probably wouldn't go in the 'dwelling' bit at all!

All the best ..

T i m

[Mary Fisher]

I never hit our own and don't intend to hit theirs.

But it's hard sometimes :-)

In this case it's not so much mucky as what we were talking about - littered. Crowded. Messy. Full.

And the colour for goodness' sake ... our vehicle used to be determined by how many beehives would fit in, now it has to be the right size for our boxes and leave room for the hen coop.

Yes, we have friends who think our house is wonderful becaue it's like a museum ... but it's not consciously like that. We don't have collections, just ... stuff.

I wish. We've thought about the same. Perhaps we could have a joint venture.

Sounds good to me. Although without all that stuff we could manage in our little caravan.

The broadband connection is high on the priority list. The toilet - we'd be happy with a hole in the ground. Fridge - or rather freezer - is a must for keeping whole animals. Kettle ... well you can boil water for tea in almost anything.

So. Do we need to separate your end of the barn from ours or can we overlap? Tell you what, the stuff which is duplicated could be sent to the local museum ...

Ah, pipe dreams ...

Mary

[James Hart]

Hey, no fair, I was going to do that joke but I didn't think I could pull it off

[Mary Fisher]

Is anyone else going to keep these balls in the air?

Mary

[T i m]

Never hit ours either .. but having the threat was handy .. ?

Yep ...

Practical solution to a problem. I've always had smal vans or estate cars and now just take the fact that I can move (pretty well) anything anywhere at any time for granted? I'm hoping that the trailers will cover where the Sierra leaves off

Well, we don't have 'collections' .. apart from my Star Wars figures and her Elephants .. ;-)

Could do .. ;-)

Ok, but I'm sure you would be more comfortable in one of the 'dwellings' and you could keep the van in the barn if you wanted to get away from your 'master' now and again?

'Long drop' .. I know ..

Fridge - or rather freezer - is a must for

We used to let ours into the lounge but whippets / lurchers aren't that big .. ?

Kettle ... well you can boil water for tea in almost

Except a sieve (I tried)

Nah, overlap .. more fun .. anyway, it would be more like a 'commune' or CoOp .. ? We could share 'everything' right? ;-)

Or charity shop then tip.

Where there's a will ... ?

All the best 'roomy' ;-)

T i m

[Pete C]

LOL, do you drag your shopping home? :))) If a plentiful supply of bags is at hand, try double bagging, with one inside the other. Also some newspaper or junk mail paper in the bottom of the outer one will help stop it getting split and/or the remains of fruit/veggies from oozing out.

cheers, Pete.

[Owain]

"Mary Fisher" wrote | "T i m" wrote | > You can't .. and you can't hit it for being 'cheeky to it's elders' | > now (doh) ;-) | I never hit our own and don't intend to hit theirs. | But it's hard sometimes :-)

Mobile phone down the toilet is quite a powerful threat.

I was slightly amused by the discussion on Question Time about the new English rules (no marks). If you know what you're doing you don't cause marks .

Shall have to rush out a best-selling book "Pressure Points For Pressured Parents".

Owain

[Mary Fisher]

Huh?

I don't think I expressed myself well enough OR you didn't understand OR you haven't been reading the thread ...

Mary