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The council have this handy-dandy service that you can contact via a central telephone number - a local one to boot! By calling this number you can inquire about anything council-related, such as refuse collection and other public services.
When I got my new bed, I called them to arrange collection of my old one, as it was difficult for me to get it down to the city dump. They arranged this for me, but I was going to have to wait about a month; this was a PITA, but I knew I could manage.
So, last Tuesday evening, Rowan and I took the pieces of my dismantled bedframe and stacked them up inside the hut where our block's communal bin is stored. We then dragged the mattress upstairs and shoved that in there too ready for collection anytime from 7am the next day. When we left the following morning, the bedframe was still there, but the mattress was gone - "Fair enough!" thinks I, since I no longer needed it, and it wasn't in that bad a state if you can stand sleeping on a foam mattress.
On Thursday evening, the bedframe was still there, so I called the council again to remind them they were supposed to come collect it. Last thing I need is to be threatened with a fine for dumping stuff. So they noted it down and assured me they'd rearrange a collection. As of today, they still haven't come for it.
I was going to give them another day or so, but I got accosted by one of my neighbours (thankfully not in an especially hostile way) who told me the bin-men who came to clear out the block's green wheelie bin (for compostable waste and stuff that can't go in the recycling bags) refused to empty it because, apparently, I should have put the remains of my bed in there! Now bear in mind that it's a scandinavian pine double bedframe. There is no way I could have gotten the headboard, or the side-beams into the wheelie bin, let alone closed it afterwards as we're supposed to. So I told my neighbour - and the others that were nearby having a gossip - that this was in no way my fault, because they were supposed to have collected it last week - as my neighbour is well aware, since she came home when we were putting it all up there in the first place.
So anyway, I called the council again to tell them what had happened, and the guy at the call centre agreed with me that this was complete bullshit. He even told me that if he or his colleagues were to advise anything of the sort, they'd likely be sacked! Checking their records, he advised that the deadline to get it sorted is tomorrow, so we shall have to see.
Those stories plus, today is the rescheduled Sports Day at Rowan's school, and it's been looking promising despite some bad weather yesterday. But, of course, with only an hour and a half to go, what's just happened? Yep, you guessed it, it's raining! I called the school to check what's happening, and they were initially going to play it by ear as it was only a shower. But about two minutes later they called me back to say it was cancelled. Poor loves...
When I got my new bed, I called them to arrange collection of my old one, as it was difficult for me to get it down to the city dump. They arranged this for me, but I was going to have to wait about a month; this was a PITA, but I knew I could manage.
So, last Tuesday evening, Rowan and I took the pieces of my dismantled bedframe and stacked them up inside the hut where our block's communal bin is stored. We then dragged the mattress upstairs and shoved that in there too ready for collection anytime from 7am the next day. When we left the following morning, the bedframe was still there, but the mattress was gone - "Fair enough!" thinks I, since I no longer needed it, and it wasn't in that bad a state if you can stand sleeping on a foam mattress.
On Thursday evening, the bedframe was still there, so I called the council again to remind them they were supposed to come collect it. Last thing I need is to be threatened with a fine for dumping stuff. So they noted it down and assured me they'd rearrange a collection. As of today, they still haven't come for it.
I was going to give them another day or so, but I got accosted by one of my neighbours (thankfully not in an especially hostile way) who told me the bin-men who came to clear out the block's green wheelie bin (for compostable waste and stuff that can't go in the recycling bags) refused to empty it because, apparently, I should have put the remains of my bed in there! Now bear in mind that it's a scandinavian pine double bedframe. There is no way I could have gotten the headboard, or the side-beams into the wheelie bin, let alone closed it afterwards as we're supposed to. So I told my neighbour - and the others that were nearby having a gossip - that this was in no way my fault, because they were supposed to have collected it last week - as my neighbour is well aware, since she came home when we were putting it all up there in the first place.
So anyway, I called the council again to tell them what had happened, and the guy at the call centre agreed with me that this was complete bullshit. He even told me that if he or his colleagues were to advise anything of the sort, they'd likely be sacked! Checking their records, he advised that the deadline to get it sorted is tomorrow, so we shall have to see.
Those stories plus, today is the rescheduled Sports Day at Rowan's school, and it's been looking promising despite some bad weather yesterday. But, of course, with only an hour and a half to go, what's just happened? Yep, you guessed it, it's raining! I called the school to check what's happening, and they were initially going to play it by ear as it was only a shower. But about two minutes later they called me back to say it was cancelled. Poor loves...
