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Jigjag

Our binmen are not worthy of any 'thank you' gifts. They don't do anything bad as such, but they do everything by the rules.

I'd leave the binmen to deal with the empties themselves. I'd hope they'd put the £2.40 - and any other gains they've made along the way (!) - in the first available charity box. I certainly wouldn't want the empty cans back, I hate the smell of beer, dregs of beer.

Malone

I appreciate your advice. I will ask them to do what they want with it. Our binmen are very conscientious. Although we re-cycle carefully, they stand at the side of the wagon (on the road) checking everything, without a care for their own safety.

Occasionally they give us a note such as "Please put shredded paper in a separate bag - not in with the box for paper" and attach a copy of the regulations with appropriate underlining. I am surprised they bother to do this and we are pleased to give them something at Christmas.

I was delighted to read on another thread that your father-in-law uses "wireless" in the sense I do. Does he use "mobile" as I do? I am fed up with people asking me if I have a mobile. I usually reply "Yes I do. It is hanging in the hall and makes a delightful sound." They never seem to understand me.

Jigjag
Your binmen sound quite efficient without being 'jobsworths' - highly commendable!

Glad you liked hearing about the 'wireless', a real step back in time. He also talked about buying my husband, many years ago, a 'transistor' for Christmas. My children were totally baffled by this, of course.

I think context is everything with 'mobile'. If, say, you had ordered something in a shop and they said they'd let you know when it was available, the 'do you have a mobile?' question is perfectly valid and sensible. If you're accosted by a random stranger at a bus-stop and he says, 'do you have a mobile?', feel free to tell him about your dangly thing on a string. We have to be realistic - to the younger generation, 'mobile' is totally normal. For many of them, it is the only version they know of a phone. 'Mobile phone' seems a bit unnecessary most of the time - I'm imagining shouting through to my sister in the next room, 'your mobile phone is ringing'. H'mm, I don't like that.

Currently, the programme "Pointless" is being beamed to our television set through some kind of wireless technology. The lady member of the team first to be sent home started every sentence with the word "so", liberally sprinkled it, unnecessarily, in the middle of sentences and, most inexplicably, ended several sentences with that same word. Can you guess what her day job is? English teacher. I give up.

Skyewalker, I used to assure myself that I'd never turn into a grumpy old woman - but when I'm confronted with stories like yours, it's very hard not to get incensed!

skyewalker

So I agree with you so much or even more so. It really does sound so awful.

Jigjag

I think you are overdoing the re-cycling. I put plastic, cans and bottles in one bin and paper in another. There cant be more to it surely?

Malone

I am glad you don't answer your sister's portable telephone. I don't know the etiquette on this, but it must be right to leave it to the owner. I have never answered Mrs J's and when she berates me, I tell her that she has never instructed me how to do so. I have sometimes picked it up and said "Hello" but nothing happens.

Friends insist I should have one, but why. I am always at appointed places on time and I expect them to be. If there is an emergency and I cannot get there, I will send them a telegram.

Jigjag

Thanks for your discourse. I feel your terminology could lead to confusion. A 'portable telephone' could just as easily be the cordless telephone many of us have, as well as the mobile telephone many of us have. I'm quite happy with the word 'phone', by the way, but thought I'd stick to your usage.

I wouldn't dream of answering anyone's phone unless they'd expressly asked me to - that's happened about twice in the last decade.

I couldn't imagine life without my mobile (phone/telephone) now. I like to be able to contact people if my train or bus is delayed, for example - and that's a relatively common occurrence. Another instance ... I like to be able to check my library reservations - easily done online - before I get off the bus and go home. This saves me going out again. I like getting calls from my sister to say that 'Marks are selling off mince pies for 10 pence. Do you want any?'

This may come as a shock, but the telegram service stopped a few decades ago.

My village has not had a bus service for two years, but we will soon be able to "Dial-a-Ride". Oh, yeah? Dial???

The ONLY way you will be able to get a ride (which will cost £3.50, bus passes not accepted) will be to use an app on a smart phone. I don't have such and don't intend to get one.

Grunger

I am afraid that you haven't lived. A few weeks ago, Ray Cycle, chief binman, gave me a list of items to be re-cycled into the following categories.

1. Plastic bottles and tin cans
2. Newspapers and magazines
3. Other paper (excluding tissues/kitchen roll)
4. Glass bottles and jars
5. Compostible garden waste including small branches
6. Food Waste
7. Un-opened food boxes
8. Metal and wood including large branches
9. Small electrical appliances (no larger than a toaster)
10. Larger appliances
11. Batteries
12. Mixed textiles and paired shoes (bagged, no charity bags please)
13. Unpaired shoes
14. Shredded paper (bagged)
15. Paint in tins
16. Paint (other)
17. Cooking oil (in an appropriate container)
18. Engine oil (in a sealed container)

Anything else is "household waste". All the above have to be kept separate. I am not sure what "Paint (other)" means, and I have no engine oil to re-cycle. Does anyone? I try to stick to the list but where do you get all the bags and appropriate containers.