Thursday Thoughts # 61

from Make Me, the latest Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child

"He set the alarm in his head for six o'clock in the morning, stretched once, yawned once, and fell asleep."

from The First Third by Will Kostakis

"It was a moment. And when you put all the moments together, the letterboxes, the speed limit signs and the condiment bottles, you got a sense of how chaotically awesome it was to have Sticks as a best friend."

 

Today's Thoughts

I've tried to do that Jack Reacher stretch, yawn, sleep thing and I've got the stretch part right, and the alarm in the head is something I've always had, but I can't sleep after just one yawn. Even with deliberately slowing my breathing, (another thing I've always done), I still get a half dozen yawns.  Unless I'm super exhausted. Then I lie down and wake up several hours later.

A little excitement in the city last Tuesday. I was on my way home after going somewhere, because I do that sometimes, and the bus driver announced we'd be taking a detour as a section of city was blocked to traffic because of a fire. First thing every passenger did was look out the window to see if they could spot smoke. And there was plenty. 

I texted my daughter, who has better internet skills than me and she got back to me really quickly with news of a fire in Hindley street. It appeared to be the Grand Chancellor Hotel. I watched the news later Tuesday evening to find it wasn't the Hotel, but a pile of rubbish and old mattresses had been set alight deliberately behind the Win Chung Academy, (Wing Chun?) behind or beside the Grand Chancellor, I'm not sure where it is exactly.

These old mattresses and boxes etc, were used by quite a few homeless people to sleep in at night. These poor souls now have to find somewhere else to shelter from the cold.

Anyway, we detoured our way into the city, along with every other bus and car, as we crawled past the Hindley Street end I looked down there and saw four fire engines, a bit later two ambulances came along, several people were treated for smoke inhalation and of course there were police cars everywhere with their lights flashing. 

An article in the newspaper last week about our rubbish collections caught my eye too. Apparently there’s some talk of people having to pay for each piece of rubbish they throw out. The mind boggles. Each bagful? Each individual used tissue?

Clearly that’s a blanket statement, I can’t see any government official, no matter how lowly,  going to every bin in Australia and counting rubbish items. 

Further investigation, (listening to the news) reveals this is more about what people, are or are not, putting in the recycling bins. 

Too many people are putting recycling materials in their regular landfill rubbish bins. 

Too many other people are putting regular landfill rubbish in their recycling bins.There may be fines for this in future. (i.e. the government wants more of our money and will get it any way they can.....)

Now, I have a problem with this recycling caper. 

In theory it’s a great idea. In real life, it doesn’t work so well. 

According to those in the know, it only takes one wrong bin load to contaminate an entire truck load of recycled rubbish. 

Which then goes to landfill. 

So three hundred people do the right thing and one doesn’t and all their good work is for nothing. 

My own problem here, in the flats, is that we have one recycle bin to be used/shared by the tenants of four flats. 

I do the right thing, crush my empty boxes, wash my empty cans and jars, take them to the bin only to find it is already overflowing with uncrushed boxes, dirty containers and other rubbish that should be in the regular bin. I’ve seen two litre jugs of curdled milk, cake boxes with mouldy cakes or doughnuts in them, filthy clothing, last week the bin had discarded bedding and curtains. 

They simply do not understand the system, or more likely do not want to understand the system. 

So I’m (unwillingly) giving up on recycling, unless there is room in the recycling bin. 

I’ll still crush and wash, because I don’t want my bin stinking and attracting wildlife. But more of my discards will now be going into my regular landfill bin. 

If “they” want to fine me for that (highly unlikely) I’ll state my case as written here.