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reynardoWe have a council clean-up happening here, which means that the council will pick up large items that you leave on the kerb. Old beds, televisions, tree stumps - they're all appearing on kerbsides around the area.
When we first moved here, I hit Freecycle to find a washing machine. The one that came up was advertised as a re-offer, meaning the previous person hadn't picked it up. It was listed as "Medium capacity Simpson top loader in working order - just needs hoses" and the owner was adamant that it must be picked up or I would get a "no show" report, something you don't want in Freecycle.
So we had the truck to move the other gear around, and headed out for the washing machine. It seemed pretty dusty, and it had apparently been sitting in a garage for ages. We loaded it onto the truck (carefully - it was quite heavy), got it back to the house, unloaded it...
... then realised that the "just needs hoses" actually meant the outlet hose was perished right the way up to the tub. The inlet hoses were cracked and dried out, and would have collapsed if one tried to attach a new hose to them. The power cord was worn through, and there was no way I was even going to try plugging it in.
So we shoved it under the house and waited until the right time... the council pickup ... this week...
Today![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lederhosen and I dragged and walked the wretched heavy creaking foot-shedding oil-dripping thing up our driveway, barely avoiding back strain, and needing 4 breaks along the way. That thing was HEAVY. We got it as far as the nature strip, and made sure it was out of the way of the driveway. We also called it a few names that we shouldn't really use in public.
I thought I heard a couple of slight metallic bumps this evening, but they were very quiet and muted, barely enough sound for picking up a metal plate, so I ignored them.
Half an hour ago, I went out to put the rubbish in the rubbish tin - and the washing machine had flown. Gone. Vamoosed. Not even a flattened patch to show where it was.
They must have had a truck and be cruising the area looking for goods to grab. It is actually illegal to take stuff from a kerbside pile, so no wonder they were being circumspect.
But god they were quiet.
And what the hell are they going to do with it?
When we first moved here, I hit Freecycle to find a washing machine. The one that came up was advertised as a re-offer, meaning the previous person hadn't picked it up. It was listed as "Medium capacity Simpson top loader in working order - just needs hoses" and the owner was adamant that it must be picked up or I would get a "no show" report, something you don't want in Freecycle.
So we had the truck to move the other gear around, and headed out for the washing machine. It seemed pretty dusty, and it had apparently been sitting in a garage for ages. We loaded it onto the truck (carefully - it was quite heavy), got it back to the house, unloaded it...
... then realised that the "just needs hoses" actually meant the outlet hose was perished right the way up to the tub. The inlet hoses were cracked and dried out, and would have collapsed if one tried to attach a new hose to them. The power cord was worn through, and there was no way I was even going to try plugging it in.
So we shoved it under the house and waited until the right time... the council pickup ... this week...
Today
lederhosen and I dragged and walked the wretched heavy creaking foot-shedding oil-dripping thing up our driveway, barely avoiding back strain, and needing 4 breaks along the way. That thing was HEAVY. We got it as far as the nature strip, and made sure it was out of the way of the driveway. We also called it a few names that we shouldn't really use in public.I thought I heard a couple of slight metallic bumps this evening, but they were very quiet and muted, barely enough sound for picking up a metal plate, so I ignored them.
Half an hour ago, I went out to put the rubbish in the rubbish tin - and the washing machine had flown. Gone. Vamoosed. Not even a flattened patch to show where it was.
They must have had a truck and be cruising the area looking for goods to grab. It is actually illegal to take stuff from a kerbside pile, so no wonder they were being circumspect.
But god they were quiet.
And what the hell are they going to do with it?
