Hey, I'm worse off than all you folks complaining about your garbage pickup; the bins you can/can't use; rules about what can/can't go in said bins. At least you all
have garbage pickup!!
At 3:00 this afternoon I bagged up all the usual trash in the house and put it by the front door in preparation for throwing it in the wheelie bin and taking it to the end of the driveway. (Garbage is picked up every Friday, and recycling is picked up every other Friday - one wheelie bin for each).
At 3:01 my phone rang. It was my waste management company leaving an automated message for all customers in my area: they are unable to service our route tomorrow, and there will be a delay. This has happened occasionally before - usually a delay of one day. I understand these things happen; just roll with the flow.
BUT NO - this time they are delayed for
one week - they cannot service our route until
next Friday, 8/12!!
No explanation was given; profuse apologies were relayed in the message, and "thank you for your patience and understanding" etc. was included. I will say this - the poor guy who recorded the message sounded absolutely knackered, and I suspect that he is dealing with short staffing/sick employees etc. as so many places are right now. I could
hear the exhaustion in his voice. Sadly I'm sure he will be hearing from lots of irate customers to boot.
I live in an unincorporated part of the town (no city taxes, yea!) but this means my neighbors and I all contract with a private waste management company for trash pickup. This has worked perfectly well for the 23 years I have lived in this house; no real complaints. The company always leaves messages about any holiday delays, etc. Several years ago I did have my wheelie bin stolen - apparently this is quite common. People steal the bins and use the service without paying for it.
They delivered a brand new bin a couple of days later at no charge.
Recycling is provided by the county and that will be picked up as normal tomorrow.
Back to today: August in NC. Daily heat indexes of around 103-105. I have a cat. Hence, my trash contains plenty of kitty litter unmentionables. Not to mention the usual food garbage, etc. All of which will now sit out in the wheelie bin (double bagged) for the next seven days.
So all you guys who will have trash pickup this week, consider yourselves lucky!
On the plus side:
1. I hadn't yet rolled the bin down the driveway - all 60 feet of it.
2. I live alone, so my bin is not even half full, let alone overflowing like my neighbor's (family of five).
3. I used to have four cats. Now I have one. Do the kitty litter "math."
Obviously #3 is not really a plus
frown
, other than in the "scale" of the waste issue this week.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled peeves.
I think I'll go move the wheelie bin a little further downwind from the house.