Freecycle Sucks...

...at times. What? Rob hates freecycle? That wonderful program that allows you to get rid of things you no longer want or need or find great items? No. Rob still loves the free cycle. Just some of the folks who use it make me so angry. I recently put a love seat up on free cycle. I got a response. I even put a link to a pic of the love seat. The guy who responded, I shall call him "Jerk" to protect his anonymity, agreed I would leave it on the front yard and I would cover the cushions with garbage bags. Well I went to work came home, he had written a note that it smelled. Well now really, he wanted a new love seat??? B.S., It may have smelled of pets or even cigarette smoke (remember I quit some time ago) but you take off the cushion covers and wash them.. I am not going to do it for you, Jerk. So off it goes into the truck to the thrift store! They loved it and I asked them to smell it. It was fine according to the attendant at the thrift store. So I am glad I found a way to recycle it. But it galls me that people will agree to take something on the freecycle and then get all uppity. Hey, Shithead- it's a free love seat. Apparently they didn't have anyone tell them not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I don't mean to get on a rant here, but if you use freecycle don't expect new things. Period. And take what you agree to take. I still love freecycle, but will be more careful of what and whom I deal with.

Side of the road finds!

I was driving to work and saw a sign around a pile of treasure junk that said FREE on it. You know the truck automatically stopped and looky what I got- A metal headboard that I will use as a trellis for the garden, some Chevy Hubcaps, and a set of skis that I am thinking a funky outside chair project! I love free stuff!

This blog post is linked to:

2nd Time around on "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words blog"

Finders Keepers- The Weekly Challenge Update

Another busy week- one were I get to work the weekend :(

I don't mind working weekends, but I feel like I get disconnected from friends and family and my community when I work so much.

On the bright side going to work today I say some junk along the side of the road with my favorite words on a sign "Free Stuff" so it wasn't a complete bust!

Sharon's Independence Days Challenge Year 3, week 27
1. Plant something: Bok Choy, Chard, radishes, carrots
2. Harvest something: Some golden plums
3. Preserve something: Froze some plums using the new method I found
4. Waste Not: Found some treasure for free on the side of the road on my way to work- some old snow skis, maybe a chair project and a Metal Headboard that would be perfect as a trellis for runner beans!
5: Want not: Bought a solar shower at REI - have wanted one for awhile.
6. Preparation and Storage: Solar Shower for TEOTWAWKI. If not I like to shower outdoors and now have a camping shower.
7. Build Community Food Systems: Trying to get a meeting of the community garden board to go over the August 22 Kitchen Garden Day Celebration, which we are now doing it a week later on the 29, to meet with folks schedules.
8. Eat the food (cook something new): Microwave Jam;

Garden Challenge: Extreme Evangelist Edition-found a Metal Headboard for free that would be perfect as a trellis for runner beans!

FREECYCLE @ WORK!

About a year ago, I did a post on how someone at work had started a free corner- In essence making their own little free cycle group at work. Well now those great folks at Free Cycle and Intuit have teamed up and introduce Freecycle At Work, basically a freecycle site that allows your corporate entity to become a free cycling group, promoting reuse at the office.

HOW IT WORKS

Simple- You just post things you wish to give away.
What can you post? Anything you wish: household items, kitchen goods, lawn care, tools, office supplies, electronics. When you're done using your stuff, give it away. Others will feel differently and give your old stuff a new life.
You may choose to repurpose office equipment that your team isn't using. An unused file cabinet or printer may be needed by another team. You can mark items as personal or company owned to differentiate between them.
Anyone interested in your stuff can easily contact you through the application. From that point, it's a matter of you bringing your stuff to work and then having your coworker pick it up.

Sounds pretty easy, yes?I see many great benefits- you get to find like minded folk at work, an advantage over regular free cycle would be not having to drive to get an item- the item is "car pooled" to work and then to it's new home.

A new use for free cycle. I see this catching on. I am off to sign up!

Freecycle strikes again!

You never know. I was looking on craig's list, etc for buckets- in particular 5 gallon buckets, more than my current "supplier" could do. After seeing them for prices like Just $1 each, and 30 miles away- it is a good thing I took a look at Recycle SWK, my local Freecycle site, as there was a gal giving away her Kitty Litter buckets! So I go them. And just a couple of blocks away! For Free! Help someone else keep them out of the waste stream. What am I gonna do with all them buckets?
Well, I have a plan to use them as garden planters. You will see. They will become my new garden beds. I plan to put them on a scrap piece of plywood or cardboard for a weedblock, and just fill them (after drilling drain holes) and put them up, side by side in a grouping. A lot easier than building one out of cement blocks, or wood. And in one spot in the front yard, They will be the liner for a planter I plan on building under my front window. And I could use a few of them for... well Kitty Litter- since I buy large bags of wood stove pellets to use as kitty litter- would make an easy way to store them! Wood stove pellets=Feline Pine. Same thing. At least it looks and acts the same. Anyway - Sammy poops in it!
SO how about you? Do you freecycle... and what's the best thing you got off of it? Poll Time:

New Old coffee maker

I needed a new coffee maker at work. Actually wanted a hotshot. But didn't want to buy anything new. I had an old Black and Decker "Brew and Go", minus the spiffy commuter mug needed to use it. So i started to think, If i put muggsly underneath the brewing opening, and put Muggsly's cap under Muggsly- It works just great! Now hot coffee and tea! Yea! No new products or nothing! Why couldn't this have come up during the Buy Nothing Challenge??? Cool thing is every cup is fresh and hot, it has a permanent filter, and shuts off automatically when done brewing. Hat Trick! Now to clean up old Windy (my old coffee pot) and put it on free-cycle

Free Cycling- Corporate Edition

I was walking around one of the main buildings at work, and I saw a sign"Free Corner" and on top of a small file cabinet there were Items that folks were giving to each other. Upon looking further, I noticed the items were not limited to office supplies, but rather to small items that folks were gifting to each other. I thought how cool- if you need a stapler, check this free corner first! My company has always been pretty good about their surplus items, We have big surplus bins on the loading dock that the company takes and resells. They use to have a surplus sales store that was very popular here for years. They closed that and now do mainly online auctions. But how cool to have a group do that at work on their own. This Free-Cycle thing is getting big! How about were you work? Do you have any type of free cycle or surplus program?

Dumpster diving and free-cycling- cute little kid edition

I love to dumpster dive. You find the best stuff. Just ask little Josie:
This is a cool Barbie Trycicle I found in a dumpster raid- No repairs or anything needed to make it ridable for my cousin's granddaughter Josie. She seems to like it. I never can understand how people throw out perfectly good Bikes and trikes. I got a Schwinn Varsity ten speed in the same dumpster last year.
Also, I found a childs chair on freecycle, that is perfect for Miss Josie… Love the color- goes with her outfit. Her Aunt Marcy is seen sunning with her on my cousin's front deck.I recently got five steel wheels on Freecycle. Had to have the tires removed at Les Schwab- I like them because they send them out for tire recycling. I am going to make some footstools out of the wheels. If I welded, I could make a table base out of three of them.

Do you dumpster dive? What's the best thing you found? Does it drive you crazy when people throw out perfectly good stuff with no effort to see if some one else would like it?

To Whoever threw away a perfectly good bike...

...Thanks!

I will use it greatly. It is a Schwinn Varsity 10 speed, a bike I drooled and mowed a lot of yards for when I was 13! Great condition!

FAREWELL OLD VIDEO GAME CABINET

You have served me well. Well at least you held and old computer and monitor.
YEA!!! Some one came and took the cabinet! WhoHooo! I hope they get much enjoyment out of it. I wonder if they looked at it and thought "Hmmm...That would make a good cabinet to put a computer in" That is the trouble with putting things out on the sidewalk with a free sign on them- you never know what the people intend for them! I hope they take it to the next level, hack wise that is.

CRUNCHY CHICKEN WOMMAN CHALLENGE DAY 3
This must be what quitting smoking is like. I have the basic urge to go and buy something. I had to go pick up a prescription at Bartell's today- I love that store. The nicely stocked shelves were calling to me - but I was good and said Get behind me evil consumer goods- I ain't buying! We'll see how the weekend goes <>. Luckily I have a car club meeting on Saturday, and my aunt and uncles 40th anniversary party/breakfast on Sunday morning and already have a gift for them. Thank god for re-gifting- the finest form of Re-cycling!!!

FREE VIDEO GAME CABINET!

Anybody looking for a unique computer cabinet? Here is one for free- It is an old video game cabinet - just put the CPU in the lower section of the cabinet, then the coin slots become the access door, and just put the monitor on the shelf and through the window becomes the monitor. Great idea for kids computer for gaming and such. Looks great in a rec room. Just contact me at robj98168@yahoo.com if you are interested.