Grumble Thread

[Old Grumpy]

Congestion charge is only for central London. We can get as far as Pimlico before it starts. May be ULEZ charge if they have a diesel car.

Yes, that was probably it - before the expansion of ULEZ

[Serial_Apologist]

Waste recycling is very similar here to what french frank describes in Bristol. Up until lockdown the regime was very "liberal" at the nearest local dump - assuming we're still allowed to call it that rather than "centre" - the location being a mere ten minutes' walk from where i live. Then during lockdown I was stopped at the entrance and asked to produce evidence of residence in Lambeth. The nearest centre for Southwark is six miles away, off the Old Kent Road. I said I lived ten minutes up the road. "Where?" I said tartly that I didn't carry mental street maps around in my head; the guy smiled knowingly and said "Sorry, I don't make up the rules". So I persuaded our Lambeth-domiciled gardener to bring his white van over. This time we were stopped on grounds that commercial business vehicles were not permitted access to any Lambeth recycling facilities. We now drove round the corner, walked our disposables to the facility in bags in three visits, and were accepted, without even a nod or a wink! Not long after, Southwark announced in its online seasonal samizdat that in future all visits had to be booked, online at that, using a system identical to the one quoted above by ff. Trying this out one day proved beyond my computer, which informed me that I had to register with the council. When I tried it told me there was already a registered entry code for this person (me) and address, but when I then tried to log on, it said this was an error and I would have to register! I spent half an afternoon on this, eventually giving up, totally stressed out and probably having foreshortened my remaining years, and it was only through the good offices of upstairs neighbours including me in with one of their own disposals - they have a car - that I was able to do the business. In the meantime the amount of fly-tipping in this neighbourhood has increased exponentially, nobody, especially the local councils should be surprised to hear.

[oddoneout]

Well I have to say I'm glad that FF related this tale. It prompted me to look to see when our annual hazardous waste day is this year( we can't dispose of paint at the tip any other time) and in the process discovered that a booking system for all waste is going to be imposed here in November. Which apart from anything else will mean that if the annual hazmat day is missed then presumably the option of making a round trip of close to 40 miles to the nearest alternative site will now not be possible as it is outside my council area and the booking system will presumably bar me.
My trips to the tip are always part of a series of errands that are all done at the same time to justify taking the car. Depending what the other errands are the tip visit is often left till last as it is almost always woody garden waste, and prone to be messy after being stored in large plastic bags outside until there's enough to justify a tip trip. The thought of having to coordinate several errands with an appointment at the tip, assuming I can even get a suitable one, is not one that does anything for my wellbeing...
And as for this

In January 2023, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) carried out a study to find if there were any links between recycling centre booking systems and incidents of fly-tipping. Surveys and interviews carried out with local authorities did not show a link between booking systems and fly-tipping.

from the county council FAQs, yeah right, pull the other one is my response. The weekend local paper I have has an agricultural supplement, and the issue of flytipping on farmland crops up regularly - but of course as that is private land that doesn't count as it isn't then the council's responsibility to deal with it...
It looks as if it's going to be single errand car trips in future, or perhaps I can see what the funny chappie down the road with his builders truck would charge. And before you pile in , he is licensed, a familiar sight at the tip and other recycling sites, and doesn't have a financial need to do it. He's always done it as far as I can make out and sees no reason to stop just because he's reached his three score years and ten - and some. It would almost certainly be cheaper than the council's garden waste bin and a lot less hassle - wheelie bins and mid terrace houses are not a marriage made in heaven.

[french frank]

Depending what the other errands are the tip visit is often left till last as it is almost always woody garden waste, and prone to be messy after being stored in large plastic bags outside until there's enough to justify a tip trip.

Having bought my five garden waste sacks this afternoon at our local library - grandly handing over a £20 note and inviting them to 'keep the change' as a donation to the library - I can say that the £2.75 also covers, in fact is chiefly for, collection from my front gate. That service is booked online, and I've never known my sacks not to be collected at the time booked. This will be on the next day that our street is done, usually within a week.

[eighthobstruction]

....Britons never never ne-ver has be slaves....

[Old Grumpy]

....Britons never never ne-ver has be slaves....

Too early...


...Sept 14th, I believe

[oddoneout]

Having bought my five garden waste sacks this afternoon at our local library - grandly handing over a £20 note and inviting them to 'keep the change' as a donation to the library - I can say that the £2.75 also covers, in fact is chiefly for, collection from my front gate. That service is booked online, and I've never known my sacks not to be collected at the time booked. This will be on the next day that our street is done, usually within a week.

The eventual solution is to get my new shed in place so that I can have a garden shredder again. Not only saves tip trips but also increases the amount of mulch/compostable material to use in the garden. The hold-up is the shed as siting one in such a narrow garden as mine isn't straightforward.

[french frank]

....Britons never never ne-ver has be slaves....

My mother, When She Was Very Young, used to sing that, adding: "Well I'm a slave" at the end - her surname being Britton. Rebel.

[Serial_Apologist]

Well I have to say I'm glad that FF related this tale. It prompted me to look to see when our annual hazardous waste day is this year( we can't dispose of paint at the tip any other time) and in the process discovered that a booking system for all waste is going to be imposed here in November. Which apart from anything else will mean that if the annual hazmat day is missed then presumably the option of making a round trip of close to 40 miles to the nearest alternative site will now not be possible as it is outside my council area and the booking system will presumably bar me.
My trips to the tip are always part of a series of errands that are all done at the same time to justify taking the car. Depending what the other errands are the tip visit is often left till last as it is almost always woody garden waste, and prone to be messy after being stored in large plastic bags outside until there's enough to justify a tip trip. The thought of having to coordinate several errands with an appointment at the tip, assuming I can even get a suitable one, is not one that does anything for my wellbeing...
And as for this

from the county council FAQs, yeah right, pull the other one is my response. The weekend local paper I have has an agricultural supplement, and the issue of flytipping on farmland crops up regularly - but of course as that is private land that doesn't count as it isn't then the council's responsibility to deal with it...
It looks as if it's going to be single errand car trips in future, or perhaps I can see what the funny chappie down the road with his builders truck would charge. And before you pile in , he is licensed, a familiar sight at the tip and other recycling sites, and doesn't have a financial need to do it. He's always done it as far as I can make out and sees no reason to stop just because he's reached his three score years and ten - and some. It would almost certainly be cheaper than the council's garden waste bin and a lot less hassle - wheelie bins and mid terrace houses are not a marriage made in heaven.

In today's Southwark Council online newsletter:

"Veiola's Wonder Day returns on 14 September

Part of Open House London, come to the reuse and recycling centre for free fun activities for ll the family. Always popular, we suggest you book early!"

[oddoneout]

In today's Southwark Council online newsletter:

"Veiola's Wonder Day returns on 14 September

Part of Open House London, come to the reuse and recycling centre for free fun activities for ll the family. Always popular, we suggest you book early!"

The mind boggles. Book a slot and go home with a smaller family - my mind had turned to Grandma in the Giles cartoons when I read the item.

[Old Grumpy]

My mother, When She Was Very Young, used to sing that, adding: "Well I'm a slave" at the end - her surname being Britton. Rebel.

Must admit I'm tempted to answer (and sometimes do sotto voce) a resounding No! to the four questions posed in the first verse of Jerusalem.

[vinteuil]

Must admit I'm tempted to answer (and sometimes do sotto voce) a resounding No! to the four questions posed in the first verse of Jerusalem.

... and quite right too!

What a silly pome : have never been able to take Wm: Blake seriously...

.

[french frank]

What a silly pome : have never been able to take Wm: Blake seriously...

The legend of Joseph of Arimathea (uncle - in legend - of Jesus) as the man who brought Christianity to Britain and planted his staff in the ground at Glastonbury predates Blake by many centuries. All Blake is doing is posing questions about the legends. He writes less as an orthodox Christian, more as a visionary. I doubt whether he actually believed the legends himself.

[Nick Armstrong]

Ludicrous overuse of “devastating / devastated” to denote emotional upset.

That’s the grumble today.

[Pulcinella]

Ludicrous overuse of “devastating / devastated” to denote emotional upset.

That’s the grumble today.

I'm gutted to read that, Nick.