Rubbish We Say...Rubbish!

Are you ever dumbfounded by how something that should be so simple is made to be so incredibly complicated?  That's what garbage (or as we say here "rubbish") collection in Scotland is like.  Don't get us wrong, we recycle and think that everyone should, but this is so ridiculous that it could be material for Robin Williams.  (Unfortunately for you, our telling of this probably won't be that funny :).

Here's the rundown:

There are grey bins, green bins, blue bins, brown bins and red bins.  We have one of each. The grey lidded bins are collected weekly.  We're fairly clear on what goes in the grey bins as they are listed as "food" bins.  The collection calendar states that they are picked up weekly.  That's it...just "weekly."

The green "household" bins and brown bins are collected every two weeks, except in winter when the brown bins are collected only monthly.  They are collected on alternate Thursdays from each other, not on the same Thursday. The green bins are for "general" rubbish - we're really not sure what that means in light of what goes in the blue and red bins.  However, we're pretty clear on the brown bin and the garden waste. 

The blue bins are for glass and metal and all food tins and drink cans must be flattened first. However, "crisps or sweets packets" are not allowed.  Paper also goes into the blue bin, but not if it is an envelope or a food wrapper.  You are allowed to put textiles in the blue bin, but only if the sheets are cleaned first...oookaaaay.  Of course the textiles have to be placed in the orange textiles bag before they can be put in the blue bin.

Is your head spinning round and round a la Linda Blair yet?  Wait...there's more to come...

Now, the red bin is for cardboard, cereal boxes, greeting cards (can we put the envelopes here?) and plastic bottles (without lids, even if they are plastic).  But, if we like, we can also use the clear plastic bags for the bottles as long as we secure them so the bottles won't fall out - no mention is made as to if the clear plastic bag then goes into the red bin.  The red and blue bins are collected on alternate Mondays from each other, not the same Mondays on alternate weeks.  

The homeowner's advice to us?  Just see what the neighbors are putting out and follow their lead.

What Happens When Something Happens

When people find out that we are house sitters, they usually have at least a few questions for us.  One of the questions we hear most frequently is "what happens if something happens while you are house sitting?"  That "something" being serious - an accident or injury for us or an emergency at home.  Well, we've just had "something" happen, so it seems like a good time to do a post on that subject!

The day after arriving in Edinburgh to begin a month long house sit, Colleen slipped off of the curb and broke a bone in her foot.  We had just stepped out of our hotel to check bus schedules for our trip out to meet the homeowner and we hadn't even put our phone in our pocket!  Yes, it's a rookie mistake...one we probably shouldn't admit to, but it's the truth.

Enjoying some of that rare Scottish sunshine.

So there we were standing in the rain, no phone, Colleen couldn't walk, and we were too far from the hotel for her to hop back.  Every cab that passed by was occupied.  It just wasn't shaping up to be a good situation.  Fortunately, a very kind and thoughtful woman came to our assistance. She called a cab for us and explained that there was only one hospital emergency room and that it was on the other side of town.  We were so very grateful for her help.  

The emergency room staff at the hospital were equally helpful.  It was a busy Saturday for them, but they worked us in and Colleen was  x-rayed, put in a cast, and on crutches within a couple of hours of our arrival.  Incredibly, the service was provided free to us.  We didn't pay for anything.  The hospital staff explained that for the first visit the same health care coverage that is provided for citizens is extended to visitors.  Coming from the US where health care is extraordinarily expensive, this was amazing to us. 

So how did this "something" impact our ability to house sit?  It didn't.  For the simple reason that there are two of us - an advantage that a single person house sitting doesn't have. While Colleen is recovering, Rick is able to take care of the house and so we're able to meet our responsibilities and fulfill our commitment.  Had Colleen been doing this on her own, she would have been in the very unfortunate situation of having to cancel on the homeowner.  

Our house sitting as a couple has also been an advantage in the past.  At one point, Rick injured his knee and was unable to walk well for several weeks.  Another time, sadly, there was a death in our family.  We decided that only one of us would fly home for the funeral and one of us would continue house sitting and caring for the owner's pet.  Of course we hope that these types of situations don't occur.  But they do and our saving grace has been that there are two of us.   

Sad to say, but we won't be seeing much of Scotland on this trip and our posts will likely reflect that.