Bin men

I would guess that regarding the high salary as only 6 replies to the survey, they were taking the michael.

Our bin men are quite good.

With regard to stuff left next to the bin I can understand that, suppose they lift it up and the bag rips, its not their fault and they don't have time to pick it up, I know what its like, I have had our bin bags rip more than once, but that said, I did put up a notice last year asking them to take the bin bags, it said

"Please take bin bags as we have no bin because you dropped it in your lorry last week"

2 weeks the sign stayed up for, but they did take the bags.

 

I still think we should burn one on a stake though...set an example :D

 

I'd give up my job tomorrow for a bin man job. Get the work done early and have time for myself and a decent salary. Can't be bad.

Even better (assuming the salary is comparable) would be to work at one of the recycling centres (used to be called 'tips'). Whenever I go there to get rid of some rubbish, I can't believe what some people are chucking/have chucked. You can't take any of it, its against the rules, but you can bet the workers take what they want.

Years ago when I had an allotment, I built a large greenhouse, and a big shed, all out of stuff I'd scrounged from the tip before they became 'recycling centres' and had ever present staff.

 

One crew of binnies had the idea of making their work easier by dropping off a member of the crew who would proceed to reduce the number of bins to empty by taking rubbish from some and stuffing it into others, very often resulting in bags falling apart and spewing (other peoples') rubbish outside homes, which they left.

And on the occasion when the truck broke down whilst this was happening other peoples' rubbish was left in bins for a few days, and when another crew eventually came to collect they left 'overfilled' bins which were stuffed high with bags by the other crew. I got that practice stopped. Another one I got stopped was the recyclers getting the rubbish crew to dispose of carefully separated stuff whilst the recycling truck driver was off somewhere else doing something he shouldn't.

 

Frequently asked questions

snip:
Can site staff sell items that are left at the recycling centres?


The contractors who operate all our recycling centres have salvage rights over any waste that is deposited at these sites. This income is put towards the day to day running costs of the centre which means costs are kept down for the County Council and council taxpayers.
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we can buy anything we fancy for cheap at our local tip/recycle centre .... even if it is one of the skips ... ask a worker and he will climb in and remove it for you

lawn mowers cost £10 .... bicycles cost £15 .... garden tools cost £1 .... they even sell complete lounge suites for £20 (in good condition)

my best buys so far were 2 folding bicyles (they were american and called bike friday) ... sold the 1st one on ebay for over £600 and the second fetched over £400 .... I paid £30 for both .... I sold them too cheap .... here is a site with prices of used ones:
http://www.bikefriday.com/bicycles/pre-loved

I bought a pair of hifi speakers .... Rogers LS3/5a BBC speakers .... the old guy was unloading them, asked him if they still worked, and he said they were in perfect condition, and that he had owned them from new .... had a quick word with the tip manager (governor) ... paid a tenner for the pair ...

these are highly sought after, and some fetch well over £1000 a pair on ebay ... many people use them in home cinema setups .... I had my pair french polished and have them stored in the loft

I personally know the manager at the tip as he lives nearby and drinks at my local pub .... He once told me that an old lady brought a brass horse carriage with brass figurines and brass horses to the tip ... He placed it in his office, and a few weeks later took it to his local auction .... it fetched over £3000 .... the brass carriage had a makers name from Bond Street London

They have a large shipping container where they place good items such as chests of drawers, dining room tables/chairs, antiques etc

whenever the container is full, they place all the items in the local auction house .... if you are after something, they will open the container and you can have a look and make an offer

you will be amazed at what people throw away .... most of my garden tools and mowers were bought from the tip

 

We have our own recycling system in my street; anything which is left outside the house for more than five minutes disappears. You never see the going of it.

 

Dim wrote ..
I personally know the manager at the tip as he lives nearby and drinks at my local pub .... He once told me that an old lady brought a brass horse carriage with brass figurines and brass horses to the tip ... He placed it in his office, and a few weeks later took it to his local auction .... it fetched over £3000 .... the brass carriage had a makers name from Bond Street London
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Thats a sad story 'Dim' .. she may have been confused as she was elderly, and may have had dementure .. probably a family heirloom.. your mate should really have given it back to her .. thats what i would have done Micky

 

good point, but that is merely one example .... people throw away many items of great value, and that cannot be blamed on the people who work there

its the same as carboots .... I used to trade on ebay full time .... you get to a stall, and someone is selling an item that is worth £300 .... you ask a price and they say £10 .... you haggle them down to £7 and they accept your offer? ....

sad, but thats life and thats business ... sometimes you are lucky, and sometimes not

the exact same when I bought the speakers .... I knew exactly what they were as one of my hobbies is hifi ...

never look a gift horse in the mouth is my saying

thats what makes antique trading such an enjoyable hobby/proffession ....

 

I know that is business, only I could not do it myself, thus I am a worker and broke

I had an old Aunt who was an Antiques dealer, She found a Lalique crystal car ornament, a full sized Hawk that glowed green when the alternator was charging the car battery, she gave the old dear at the boot sale a £1

Sold it in London for £1.5k, and was upset when she saw it had been sold in Bahrain for £4k Not half as upset as the old lady if she knew I bet

My soft self I would have taken it, then returned and given the old dear Half :-),
Where a really honest person would have said excuse me dear but that is a Lalique and worth a lot of money

Jack McH

 

Not soft Jack - honourable is the word that I would use.