Diona and the Dalmation
Feb. 26th, 2014 10:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
todayiamadaisyLast week I reported that a half-tonne rock had been stolen from the National Rock Gallery, which would require a certain degree of dedication on the part of the robbers. Today I was going to report that Queensland's Big Mango has been stolen! Absconding with a ten-metre tall mango would also require organisation and planning by the thieves, and I was really taken with the idea that perhaps they were going to drive all the way along the Queensland coast stealing any Big Fruit they passed (there's a Big Banana and a Big Pineapple, I know; there's also a Big Orange, but I think that's in New South Wales). Perhaps they could take them all to a small town that doesn't have a Big Thing of its own, and make a Big Fruit Salad. Who wouldn't want to see that?
Sadly, that little fantasy isn't going to come true. The Big Mango has been found, cunningly camouflaged by blankets and branches, and it was all a publicity stunt by Nando's. Boo. My idea was better.
In other news, this weekend is the annual visit from the Detox Your Home mobile van, where you can take paint tins and batteries and suchlike for disposal. I don't have that many hazardous chemicals around the place, but I've been saving my batteries and compact fluorescent bulbs all year. So I went to their website and registered to drop my stuff off between 12 and 1 on Saturday afternoon, to which they sent a confirmation email listing all the things they accept. Please note, it said, we can no longer accept batteries and compact fluorescent bulbs. I checked their website, which said the same thing, adding that they could now be taken to one of their permanent disposals sites. I checked the list; the nearest one of them is two hours away. I'm not taking two light bulbs and a few batteries on a day-trip! Then I downloaded their PDF list of things you can take to the mobile van, which said you *can* take batteries and compact fluorescent bulbs. Mixed messages, what.
At this point, I handed matters to my mother, as we were going to take stuff from her house too, and she has ample free time during the day to ring businesses for clarification. She rang the Detox Your Home people and got a USELESS man (her word and emphasis). She told him about the contradictory advice on their website, and he said, no, you can't take batteries and bulbs, no indeed, you've got to take them to a permanent site. She explained that that was neither practical nor environmentally-friendly, and he didn't really have a solution. To be fair, what was he going to say? Oh, right, we'll open one in your town right away!
Then she rang the local council, who is responsible for bring the van down here, to say that we've always taken batteries and bulbs to the mobile van and now they're saying we can't and so she's going to have to put them in the bin and they'll go to landfill and the planet will die and it will be the council's fault, and the nice lady said, 'Oh, take them anyway, I'm taking mine.' So we're taking them.
This is the third time in about six months that my mother has rung the council. The first time was in winter, after I mentioned that I had slipped over on some grass clippings left on the footpath after the council had mown a nearby lawn. The second time was to ask them to remove a dead fox from the same footpath at the height of summer. Both times, the offending items were removed the following day. She's doing good work, but I think she needs a hobby.
Sadly, that little fantasy isn't going to come true. The Big Mango has been found, cunningly camouflaged by blankets and branches, and it was all a publicity stunt by Nando's. Boo. My idea was better.
In other news, this weekend is the annual visit from the Detox Your Home mobile van, where you can take paint tins and batteries and suchlike for disposal. I don't have that many hazardous chemicals around the place, but I've been saving my batteries and compact fluorescent bulbs all year. So I went to their website and registered to drop my stuff off between 12 and 1 on Saturday afternoon, to which they sent a confirmation email listing all the things they accept. Please note, it said, we can no longer accept batteries and compact fluorescent bulbs. I checked their website, which said the same thing, adding that they could now be taken to one of their permanent disposals sites. I checked the list; the nearest one of them is two hours away. I'm not taking two light bulbs and a few batteries on a day-trip! Then I downloaded their PDF list of things you can take to the mobile van, which said you *can* take batteries and compact fluorescent bulbs. Mixed messages, what.
At this point, I handed matters to my mother, as we were going to take stuff from her house too, and she has ample free time during the day to ring businesses for clarification. She rang the Detox Your Home people and got a USELESS man (her word and emphasis). She told him about the contradictory advice on their website, and he said, no, you can't take batteries and bulbs, no indeed, you've got to take them to a permanent site. She explained that that was neither practical nor environmentally-friendly, and he didn't really have a solution. To be fair, what was he going to say? Oh, right, we'll open one in your town right away!
Then she rang the local council, who is responsible for bring the van down here, to say that we've always taken batteries and bulbs to the mobile van and now they're saying we can't and so she's going to have to put them in the bin and they'll go to landfill and the planet will die and it will be the council's fault, and the nice lady said, 'Oh, take them anyway, I'm taking mine.' So we're taking them.
This is the third time in about six months that my mother has rung the council. The first time was in winter, after I mentioned that I had slipped over on some grass clippings left on the footpath after the council had mown a nearby lawn. The second time was to ask them to remove a dead fox from the same footpath at the height of summer. Both times, the offending items were removed the following day. She's doing good work, but I think she needs a hobby.