Give it away
Give it away - wow!
Charity update. Still had a car full of stuff from yesterday's failed attempt (three huge boxes of books - including one or two copies of Where Did It All Go Right? and Still Suitable For Miners, two of videos, a cat carrier, some Trivial Pursuit games and questions, other bric-a-brac) when I set off to buy some wood. I passed through Banstead for some Waitrose bits and pieces, and while I was there, on Tim Bowling's recommendation, I wandered down the High St to enquire about donations in the charity shops. There are two Cancer Research shops, which is a bit greedy, and I won't give to them as they test on animals (you've got to have some ground rules). I have no idea if Scope test on animals, but it's certainly not the bread and butter of the good work they do, and it's Richard Herring's favourite charity, so I was delighted by the response. Are you taking donations? Yes! The man at the counter called the woman from the back room, who called the manager, Alex, who told me I could park "round the back". I felt privileged. He and another woman even helped me unload the boxes and put them into the storeroom. They took the lot! With pleasure! I love Scope in Banstead.
Still have a few more boxes of videos and books, but we've really shifted a lot now. Thanks for all your suggestions. We might well try a depot for the next batch.
Incidentally, I was also successful in my quest for wood. I have decided to box in the pipes in the downstairs loo. This is a big deal for me. We are having new bathroom furniture installed by a local plumber. We had originally asked a decorating firm who also do basic plumbing and other work, but they couldn't fit us in until the first week of September, so we let them go. I asked the plumber if he could box in and he said he'd have a go if I got the wood for him. Well, I got the wood, but not for him, for me. I'll save myself some money and have a crack myself. I had the plywood cut to size in B&Q, Sutton, and once again praised that company for going out of its way to employ older people, who know so much more about these things. I painted the woodwork in the loo this afternoon, thus saving some more money.
Bloody hot, isn't it? Anybody else noticed that?
posted by Andrew Collins @ 4:36 PM
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10 Comments:
'Give it away - wow!'
Is that reference to that Red Hot Chilli Peppers song?
I now have an image in my mind of that 'Flea' character painted silver.
Glad you had more success today. For reference there is an Amnesty Bookshop in Bristol (not sure if there's one near you) which is a wonderful place and always seems to accept books of all kinds. I usually can't resist buying something though!
Good luck with the carpentry.
Did I imagine a post about your taps going wrong?
It was a RHCP reference, Clive, for which I apologise. Beth, there was a post about the taps, but I read it back and it was yet another moan about tradesmen and I deleted it in a fit of self-consciousness. I think the heat was getting to me. (Also, the satire about climate change didn't quite work. It could have been read as sincere, and I felt a bit silly. We all make mistakes.) No carpentry today, only painting. Carpentry will come after the plumber.
Between some studying I managed a Red Cross charity shop and we were always desperate for donations of goods but the things we would get!
I remember after a bag drop getting 25 bags delivered. The first one I opened was full of unwashed and dirty (and I meandirty clothes and underwear.
Another bag contained nothing but odd shoes (yet oddly not all right or left)
Another had jars of out of date baby food and tins of rice pudding.
Then amongst all those - a bag full of Dior clothes, all looking like new, some with tags.
If you need some advice on boxing in pipes, Mrs Thompson is a bit of a genius, and used to work as a handy-woman before young Edward came along. She has a really useful book of woodworking joints ... life's exciting here in Worthing.
Glad to hear you were able to drop off all the rest of your stuff in Banstead! A friend of mine used to work for Scope (at their "head office") and they are a very worthwhile cause.
B&Q, sadly, don't employ older people because they know what they are talking about (although this is a nice by-product).
They do it because older people work for the same rate of pay as surly hopeless teens, but are a bit more reliable, and therefore cheaper in the long run.
Anyhow, nice to see you introducing some paragraph breaks. One or two more per post, and I think you'll have got it!
Well, Spinster, you've shattered my illusions. But it is still nice to be served by older members of staff who've, like, done some DIY in their lives.
Paragraph break.
How's that?
I like big blocks of copy.
"There are two Cancer Research shops, which is a bit greedy, and I won't give to them as they test on animals (you've got to have some ground rules)."
Oh FFS Andrew.
Sorry, Ian, but are you questioning my principles? Surely I'm entitled to have them? We don't have to agree on them.
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