Nice People 12: Nice in Nice

neverdespairgirl

PasturesNew wrote: »

My water bill is two companies: Pay one to deliver it, pay the other to remove it.... but at least it's not a hassle..... I get water, I pay for it, end of

Kent's like that, at least the bit where my parents' house is. One company to pay for delivering water, a second for sewage.

PasturesNew wrote: »

channel 4 now - kirstie's cr4p free stuff in your house

OH and I watched a bit of that a few weeks ago - he said the last thing he wanted was the house filled up, a programme that emptied it would be far handier.

vivatifosi

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Kent's like that, at least the bit where my parents' house is. One company to pay for delivering water, a second for sewage.

Most of Hertfordshire too. We have waste water dealt with by Thames Water and incoming water from Affinity Water, which used to be Veolia and before that Three Valleys Water. It has changed hands a lot in the past couple of years.

PasturesNew

Just double checking how to dispose of a smashed fluorescent bulb. Of course they tell you that they're special and need taking to the household recycling centre yourself. For me, that's easy - but I doubt people who live 20 miles from one will bother for one teeny tiny bulb! They also don't tell you if there's a difference between a whole one and a smashed one.

Off to the tip in a bit; grass cuttings, standard waste (as I'm going there), tins and cardboard (as I'm going). Then I need to find a shed lock; I believe I am competent to source/fit one of these myself

These tasks are to avoid ... building the drawers.... I now regret the drawers as where I am going tomorrow sells drawers that are probably 10x easier to put together, and they're cheaper. Will be buying more drawers tomorrow.... since I'm there.

silvercar

Our local tip has now reinvented itself as a recycling centre, they refuse to take general household rubbish.

vivatifosi

Re lightbulbs. The new ones contain mercury, but in small amounts. You should take care clearing up, but not be unduly concerned. Good article here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7172662.stm
As it says, we've been using flourescent tubes containing mercury for year without people falling ill and you'd have to break several to be harmed.

May be worth phoning local council for disposal advice. Just don't leave your name in case you decide to do different.

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

Re lightbulbs. The new ones contain mercury, but in small amounts. You should take care clearing up, but not be unduly concerned. Good article here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7172662.stm
As it says, we've been using flourescent tubes containing mercury for year without people falling ill and you'd have to break several to be harmed.

May be worth phoning local council for disposal advice. Just don't leave your name in case you decide to do different.

It's lain, untouched, outside, since I dropped/smashed it .... as I knew it might be special in some way ... so it's just sat there.... I did use the toe end of a shoe a few days later to kick a few larger bits toward the main place where it'd fallen.

It's a low energy, flourescent, tube about 6" long, so not a biggun.

"rubber gloves should be used, and the broken bulb put into a sealed plastic bag - which should be taken to the local council for disposal."

I've got some rubber gloves.... and plastic bags (sandwich bags), so I'll do that.

bugslet

Clearing the garage out, which is a fairly epic event, I came across about a dozen tins of paint. The tip, sorry recycling centre, would not take them unless I phoned the council first.

I did and:

They only accept paint on a Wednesday - summer that is fine, but winter the tip shuts at 16.00, not much good for weekday workers

and a maximum of ten tins

Both the council lady and the tip lady reckoned that most people just threw the paint in their general waste bin.

PasturesNew

bugslet wrote: »

They only accept paint on a Wednesday - summer that is fine, but winter the tip shuts at 16.00, not much good for weekday workers

And they wonder why people accumulate it. For a regular full-time worker/commuter, that Wednesday slot's simply never going to be accessible to them unless they [a] take/waste a day's annual leave, or happen to randomly remember when they have (oddly) got a Wednesday off work, or are ill/whatever.

That's why people have it in sheds and garages.....

Just checked my place and they say "If paint has completely solidified, it can be disposed of in the normal refuse collection." - which means it's probably safe/OK for others to sneak a dry can in there ....

Here, I can take it to the household recycling centre on any day - and, for me, it's really close/handy/possible.

Generali

bugslet wrote: »

Clearing the garage out, which is a fairly epic event, I came across about a dozen tins of paint. The tip, sorry recycling centre, would not take them unless I phoned the council first.

I did and:

They only accept paint on a Wednesday - summer that is fine, but winter the tip shuts at 16.00, not much good for weekday workers

and a maximum of ten tins

Both the council lady and the tip lady reckoned that most people just threw the paint in their general waste bin.

Then they send round someone to spy on you using anti-terrorist laws so they can fine you £200 and stop you taking holidays to the US as you now have a criminal record.

The extent to which the state has its hooks into people as a matter of course deeply troubles me.

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

... stop you taking holidays to the US as you now have a criminal record..

About 10 years ago, somebody I know had a record for arson. It wasn't "bad" arson, but the sort that naughty boys get up to with a lighter.... don't know the details, but probably something like setting light to a neighbour's shed, or a rubbish bin .... not houses/life endangerment. He then applied, aged about 19/20, to be a volunteer at Camp America, school holiday camps for kids .... he got accepted and got into the US and out again without any trouble. I suspect he lied on his passport application, maybe, but he was never prevented from going to the US, nor being responsible for kids.