To Free, or not to free. That is the question

Hello and welcome to my first blog. I will be posting blogs about all sorts of random stuff, so without further adieu, here we go.

So this weekend, I decided to have a bit of a clean-out. I have a bunch of old junk that is just gathering dust, and I was about to shove it all into the car and take it to the local recycling depot.

I then remembered a website that my Aunty used to get a TV stand off, and thought "Eh, I'll give it a try". Freecycle.org

So I rummaged around the house for stuff I dont use/want anymore. Couple of candidates were:
- A Playstation 2, with Gran Turismo 4 which I haven't used in years.
- A polaroid 600 camera (previous owner of the house left it here and I've never used it)
- An old DVD player, I have a PS3, so there is no use for this anymore.
- A printer (I wanted to get rid of, because the cartridges require you take a mortgage out to buy)
- A VHS player, and a few more odds n sods.

I posted these up at around 7am Sunday morning, and by 7:30, I just decided to check my email Inbox, and sure enough, I had 3 emails waiting already! Excitedly, I opened the emails up, and I already had 2 requests for the Playstation, and one for the DVD player.


The main thing that then hit me was "Who do I give it to?"

You read their stories, and surely enough, they do tug at the heart strings. On the one hand, you have some illiterate person that didn't bother spell checking before hitting send, and the other person tells you their story about how their child has wanted a console for years, but couldn't afford it.

Moral Dilemma let me tell you. After feeling all charitable, I made my mind up and gave them a ring. They were over the moon that I'd chosen them, and it felt nice that I could put some of this old junk to good use somewhere.

About an hour later, the lady who wanted the printer and the DVD player for her son's room turn up. First thing that struck me immediately, I could tell that they didn't have a lot of money (if any). They weren't in designer clothes, nor in a fancy car. The car mind you, I was actually surprised it was moving, the thing was rattling so bad I thought I'd have to get a tow truck out to get it shifted off my driveway as it was about to pack up!

Afternoon rolls on, and within 6 hours of posting my stuff, it had all gone. Pretty productive day, I must say!

Had an early night, and woke up at the crack of dawn again this morning.

I went online to freecycle this morning just to have a nose about and see if any new offerings were put up, and someone was offering an M&S Rug (http://www.marksandspencer.com/Marks-and-Spencer-Godda-Chenille/dp/B0055VQG9I?extid=TP_2_FRO_T_MSF_ ). Valued at around £150 new, so its pretty nice. They said just needs a bit of a clean which is fine.

I thought, "lets see if I can be lucky and get this rug", as I've always wanted one, but the price has always turned me off actually going and getting one.

I had learned a thing or two about how to pull at people's heart strings from my productive day on Sunday, and I wrote a nice little email out to the poster asking if I could have it, as it would be a nice addition to my bare lounge (which it is). I left my phone number, and then hit send. I then stared at my phone for a good 5 minutes, but as the age old saying goes, "A watched pot never boils". Sure enough, the phone sat there staring back at me thinking I was a lunatic.

About 30 minutes later, my phone springs to life blaring out the bog-standard ring tone (I really do need to change it to something a bit more interesting), and frightened the life out of me.

"Hello?"

"Oh hi, I'm just responding to your email about the rug, and it is yours if you want it!"

"Oh thank you so much!"

She gave me the address that I need to go to later on today, and I must say, I feel stupidly happy, and can't wait to go pick it up later.

"This isn't just a rug, its a Marks & Spencer Rug..." :D

At least this rug wont end up on a tip along with all the other useful working stuff that someone else can use.

Think before you throw stuff out, there is a very high probability that someone would cherish that piece of junk you have in your hand. Less landfill, more happy people :)