Recycle? Freecycle!

We had some pretty rough mid-winter weather here in Perth last month but as a veteran of many British summers I am accustomed to bad weather. One storm loosened our TV aerial, causing it to bang around noisily so we paid a guy a hundred bucks to climb onto the roof and remove it. We use cable so we didn't actually need it. He said it was a good aerial, still in lovely condition but, no, he couldn't be persuaded to take it away.

This left us with a huge (2m x 3 m) antenna and a heavy metal pole in a courtyard the size of a pocket handkerchief. It had to go, but how?

As with so many of life's problems, the solution was to be found in the pages of the Reader's Digest. I had plenty of time to scrutinize the mag as I waited 45 minutes in the waiting room of the local quack. The answer to my problem was freecycle.org.

It's a Yahoo group. I joined (which pushed the total Perth membership to 4,901) and began to peruse the site. All I had to do was post a short ad on the site beginning' OFFER, Large TV Antenna' and the name of the suburb. Within an hour I'd had an enquiry and a firm offer to collect. I phoned him, left the antenna outside the house and now it's gone from my life forever. All that remained for me to do was to post a 'taken' message so that I wouldn't be emailed any further enquiries. A win - win situation.

All sorts of things were on offer. I was particularly tempted by the ad for a pair of old jeans, frayed and full of holes. They must have had a lot of sentimental value to the owner for him to think of advertising rather than binning them.

And, of course, I can use the site to ask for things I need that other people might have to give away. I'll let you know if I get a positive response to my request for a sack of used fivers.

Growing Old Gracelessly

It's confirmed. I came home from work today feeling old. I don't just mean that I came home tired and in need of a nap. No, today I realized that I have become surplus to requirements. If I disappeared (disappointingly) the place would not grind to a halt. Nor would I be missed by the majority who do not even know my name.

The people running the show at work now are very tall, very slim and VERY young. They listen to me with the half smile and polite deference usually reserved for elderly aunts and deaf grandmothers. Their enthusiasm and energy seems boundless and I admire them for that. I try to bite my tongue when 'new' ideas are put forward instead of saying "So the pendulum has finally swung and THAT'S back in fashion, is it?" but I can feel myself becoming more cynical by the day. It's a short step in teaching from cynicism to burnout so I'd better see if I can muster the energy to master the latest system. And if not then I'll just have to reconcile myself to becoming the old codger in the corner until I'm put out to pasture at the end of the year.