AlanHo goes AWOL

[AlanHo]

We are off to Cornwall again today until Sunday 3rd October. When we return there will be a couple of days frenzied activity because we have exchanged contracts on our house and have to vacate on the 6th October. We have bought another house - but the seller is moving into retirement accommodation and the developers of his apartment are dragging their feet on the legals - hence we may have to put our stuff into store for a week or two before we can move in. It will be an excuse for another holiday.

We have been steadily packing stuff and clearing out unwanted items for a couple of weeks. There are boxes everywhere and it is like living in a warehouse. We have so far filled 3 large skips with rubbish - two of which were to dispose of all the stuff cleared from the loft. This comprised old records going back years, carpet offcuts, spare rolls of wallpaper, spare wall and floor tiles, Christmas and other decorations, paintings, boxes of old photos that have never seen the light of day since the holiday they were taken, old school books, some venetian blinds, spare duvets, old curtains and an unbelievable amount of boxes and packing materials. For some years now I have bought all our major items over the internet and have saved the packing materials and boxes in the loft in case I should ever have to return the items for any reason. I have built quite a number of computers for various people over the past 10 years and that accounted for quite a few boxes originally for towers, monitors and other items. I had no idea the loft contained so much and it is a testament to the strength of the roof timbers.

The new house will keep me busy for a while. The kitchen needs modernising with new worktops, doors, wall and floor tiling which I will fit myself, new curtain rails to be fitted to all the windows in the house, the master bedroom to be made bigger by knocking out the wall between the adjoining bedroom and have new fitted wardrobes - I will remove the wall, buy the units and fit them myself. We will need a shed and greenhouse - guess who will erect them, the large double garage needs workbenches and cupboards for all my tools and paraphernalia and we are adding a conservatory - which I will floor tile. And that is just for starters. Dabbling on the internet is going to take a back seat for many months.

[artist]

Any charity shop would have made good use of all that stuff - some collect it too.......

[AlanHo]

Any charity shop would have made good use of all that stuff - some collect it too.......

We ran a ferry service to the local Charity shops - but they are now very fussy what they accept. Some stuff had to be disposed via Freecycle. It was only the tat and rubbish that ended up in the skips. Frankly - I have mixed feelings about giving to some Charities - especially Oxfam - because of the grossly inflated salaries paid to their executives, their frequent jollies to overseas venues and the small proportion of their revenue which eventually gets gifted to the needy. However - now that I am a husband again - I have to do as I am told............

Has anyone here used Freecycle?. It is a website for your local area which enables you to advertise (free) anything you are willing to give away to people who respond to your advert and will collect it. We have used it several times - but try to discriminate between the worthy causes and the parasites who are only after free stuff to sell at a boot fair.

Yesterday we gave away our sofa set and some other items destined to go to a young couple with baby twins who were trying to set up a home, but who were skint because the husband had been made redundant. Their parents were helping as much as they could and were the ones who contacted us.

[Alan2273]

I have used freecycle a few times, but only for small items, and you take a chance on who comes for the items.

Luckily we have a church organization who take all kinds of furniture and domestic goods that go to the needy, so no need to put any of that on freecycle.

From what you have said, it will be more than a few months of work for you, have fun. :lol:

[andsome]

I looked once at Free cycle and they wanted me to install Yahoo software. I had previously sworn never to do that again. We are lucky in that a local charity runs a worship that collects unwanted items and refurbishes them for distribution to the needy.

[AlanHo]

I looked once at Free cycle and they wanted me to install Yahoo software. I had previously sworn never to do that again. We are lucky in that a local charity runs a worship that collects unwanted items and refurbishes them for distribution to the needy.

You don't have to use any Yahoo software - merely have a Yahoo Email address which becomes your freecycle logon identity. You dont need to use the yahoo address for mailing - you can use any ISP of your choice. I use Hotmail rather than my blueyonder one to keep things separate.

[andsome]

I looked once at Free cycle and they wanted me to install Yahoo software. I had previously sworn never to do that again. We are lucky in that a local charity runs a worship that collects unwanted items and refurbishes them for distribution to the needy.

You don't have to use any Yahoo software - merely have a Yahoo Email address which becomes your freecycle logon identity. You dont need to use the yahoo address for mailing - you can use any ISP of your choice. I use Hotmail rather than my blueyonder one to keep things separate.

I will stick with the local charity. We recently refurbished the spare room and they were glad of everything in there except a forty years old bed, which went to the council tip.:)

[artist]

That wasn't a critism Alan - I know how hectis and frought it is when you move house - I was just saying.............

[AlanHo]

That wasn't a critism Alan - I know how hectis and frought it is when you move house - I was just saying.............

I didn't see it as a criticism at all - but simply a caring comment.

I just wanted to put your mind at rest - I always do my best to please the ladies - I have received many commendations over the years....

But unlike andsome - I never mention it................ :lol:

[Irene]

We have used Freecycle and disposed of some large furniture to a young couple who had moved to Derbyshire from somewhere in the North. They had very little of their own furnishings and were delighted to receive ours. it was very convenient - they collected everything, so we had no transport problems. :)

[andsome]

That wasn't a critism Alan - I know how hectis and frought it is when you move house - I was just saying.............

I didn't see it as a criticism at all - but simply a caring comment.

I just wanted to put your mind at rest - I always do my best to please the ladies - I have received many commendations over the years....

But unlike andsome - I never mention it................ :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol: