I bloody love the tip. I go into full geezer mode. "Alright mate, cleared out the old Steve Calridge this morning, where can I chuck this old lion's lair?"
I don't think I'm fooling anyone, but I can't help myself.
Thanks for reading, mate. Good to hear yet more positive tip feedback - feel I've been missing out all these years. Ha - reassuring to know it's not just me with the accent thing... we've had a workman at our house this week and fear I've been very much guilty again.
Also... wanted to say thanks as I got a load of new subs from your recommendation recently. Hopefully will return the favour with a few from my end to you.
Brilliant as usual Andy, loved this and the drill incident!!
I have a friend who is always going to the tip and there was a point it seemed like an addiction. She lives in France so I'd dismissed it as a special French thing, but having read your piece, I'm wondering if there's some sort of universal attraction to it - I need to get onto this!
Like a few other commenters, I love some good tip chat.
Last summer, my parents sold their house and made a big move. So they had a massive tip delivered to the bottom of the drive and we had a massive clearout. And I just LOVED chucking stuff in there really aggressively. We probably should've tried to recycle a few of these things, but in the US, that's easier said than done. I was taking old baseball bats and bashing the hell out of computer monitors before throwing them. I was whacking old furniture and odds and ends, shattering them into pieces. Launching things from as far aways as possible, cringing when they fell inches short, shattering all over the drive. It was good, clean underrated fun. And it gives you a decent arm workout with all the launching of heavy stuff. 10/10, highly recommended!
Thanks for reading, Daniel! Haha - the chucking has absolutely got to be done aggressively. Forget mindfulness etc., therapists should just direct their clients to the tip with a bunch of old computer monitors.
I don't mind a bit of "Tip chat". I had to do so many runs to the tip when I was clearing my parents' house that I became an expert. Had an occasional panic that I'd tossed in a bag that was meant for the charity shop and thought how aghast my mum – who could not throw anything away – would have been.
Love your flounce over the drill misunderstanding!
Brilliant. I love a good tip trip. It's like giving your house and/or garden a colonic.
Have you ever been to the special, secret section? We hadn't, until we had to get rid of some asbestos - the 'good' kind, not the nuclear fall-out stuff - and learned that we needed to go to the 'other' tip.
We pulled in, wound down the window and explained to one of the staff what we had in the back. He was a tall dude with the brightest, breeziest, loudest, most approachable manner. He clearly loved entertaining the people as they sat in their cars, waiting to unburden their vehicles. But when we said the 'A' word, he lowered his voice, leaned in and told us to pull into the dark, hidden corner on the other side. There, we had to deposit our contraband in a scary container and sign a special book so our names were captured for posterity.
When we'd finished, we turned the car around to find that every tip-goer in the queue was staring at us, fearing for their lives. We drove past them on the way out of the toxic corner and watched them all recoil at our proximity.
It was such an eye-opening adventure, I was almost sad to have run out of asbestos.
Hahaha. Excellent! I am very much a tip novice - I had no knowledge of the secret section. Don’t plan on dumping any asbestos anytime soon but that is good knowledge to have in the bank. Ha.
Andy, is this coincidence or is this an entry to my Kaleidoscope Project writing challenge. If it's not, please pretend that it is, and always was, because it fit's so brilliantly.
Anyway, I love this, so relatable, we're obviously not too far away geographically (North Yorkshire) and I too had to make a trip to the tip because the bin men didn't empty our bin.
Also, what is it with going deep with the accent when around people who "work for a living", Builders, Binmen, Bartenders, Blokes with tattoos. I don't talk like that in the office, so why when presented to a salt of the earth, hard working bloke do I insist on going full Yorkshire?
A man at a kids party needs purpose. That's a great "tip" too, I usually volunteer to "go in with the kids to supervise" which means I get to pretend to be 5 again and see if the equipment can hold 15 stone!
I loved how you went full circle at the end. You might end up getting a taste for it, there's nothing quite like hoying an old wooden side table into the back of the bins like it's a shotput and seeing it smash as it lands.
Hilarious! Especially your comparison to getting into a nightclub underage re approaching the tip for the first time - and the cocktail-party chit chat that got no response. How often have we all tried that around people we don't know too well. Your wife also bakes a terrific party cake.
Going to the tip...one of my absolute things to do, I LOVE throwing things away. But so scary, all those grumpy men telling you you're putting things in the wrong place. Last time I had a pile of perfectly good dinner plates that I wanted to put in the recycle shed, but for some reason was made to carry them to a skip called hard-core!
I bloody love the tip. I go into full geezer mode. "Alright mate, cleared out the old Steve Calridge this morning, where can I chuck this old lion's lair?"
I don't think I'm fooling anyone, but I can't help myself.
Thanks for reading, mate. Good to hear yet more positive tip feedback - feel I've been missing out all these years. Ha - reassuring to know it's not just me with the accent thing... we've had a workman at our house this week and fear I've been very much guilty again.
Also... wanted to say thanks as I got a load of new subs from your recommendation recently. Hopefully will return the favour with a few from my end to you.
I feel like I've got a whole piece about accents. Specifically my parents' eternal battle over mine and my siblings when we were kids.
That's great to hear. I finally punted my Stack on social media, and a lot of people came over. Glad to hear they've explored my recommends.
Brilliant as usual Andy, loved this and the drill incident!!
I have a friend who is always going to the tip and there was a point it seemed like an addiction. She lives in France so I'd dismissed it as a special French thing, but having read your piece, I'm wondering if there's some sort of universal attraction to it - I need to get onto this!
Haha, thanks, Faith. Yep, reading the comments, seems I'm not the only one who loves it - defo something therapeutic about it!
What a fiasco with the tip!
Like a few other commenters, I love some good tip chat.
Last summer, my parents sold their house and made a big move. So they had a massive tip delivered to the bottom of the drive and we had a massive clearout. And I just LOVED chucking stuff in there really aggressively. We probably should've tried to recycle a few of these things, but in the US, that's easier said than done. I was taking old baseball bats and bashing the hell out of computer monitors before throwing them. I was whacking old furniture and odds and ends, shattering them into pieces. Launching things from as far aways as possible, cringing when they fell inches short, shattering all over the drive. It was good, clean underrated fun. And it gives you a decent arm workout with all the launching of heavy stuff. 10/10, highly recommended!
Thanks for reading, Daniel! Haha - the chucking has absolutely got to be done aggressively. Forget mindfulness etc., therapists should just direct their clients to the tip with a bunch of old computer monitors.
I don't mind a bit of "Tip chat". I had to do so many runs to the tip when I was clearing my parents' house that I became an expert. Had an occasional panic that I'd tossed in a bag that was meant for the charity shop and thought how aghast my mum – who could not throw anything away – would have been.
Love your flounce over the drill misunderstanding!
Thanks for reading, Wendy.
Glad you’re a fellow tip fan. Haha, I genuinely had a good time. Nice, friendly atmosphere and there’s something therapeutic about chucking stuff!
Brilliant. I love a good tip trip. It's like giving your house and/or garden a colonic.
Have you ever been to the special, secret section? We hadn't, until we had to get rid of some asbestos - the 'good' kind, not the nuclear fall-out stuff - and learned that we needed to go to the 'other' tip.
We pulled in, wound down the window and explained to one of the staff what we had in the back. He was a tall dude with the brightest, breeziest, loudest, most approachable manner. He clearly loved entertaining the people as they sat in their cars, waiting to unburden their vehicles. But when we said the 'A' word, he lowered his voice, leaned in and told us to pull into the dark, hidden corner on the other side. There, we had to deposit our contraband in a scary container and sign a special book so our names were captured for posterity.
When we'd finished, we turned the car around to find that every tip-goer in the queue was staring at us, fearing for their lives. We drove past them on the way out of the toxic corner and watched them all recoil at our proximity.
It was such an eye-opening adventure, I was almost sad to have run out of asbestos.
Hahaha. Excellent! I am very much a tip novice - I had no knowledge of the secret section. Don’t plan on dumping any asbestos anytime soon but that is good knowledge to have in the bank. Ha.
Thanks, Sarah!
Ey Up.
Andy, is this coincidence or is this an entry to my Kaleidoscope Project writing challenge. If it's not, please pretend that it is, and always was, because it fit's so brilliantly.
Anyway, I love this, so relatable, we're obviously not too far away geographically (North Yorkshire) and I too had to make a trip to the tip because the bin men didn't empty our bin.
Also, what is it with going deep with the accent when around people who "work for a living", Builders, Binmen, Bartenders, Blokes with tattoos. I don't talk like that in the office, so why when presented to a salt of the earth, hard working bloke do I insist on going full Yorkshire?
A man at a kids party needs purpose. That's a great "tip" too, I usually volunteer to "go in with the kids to supervise" which means I get to pretend to be 5 again and see if the equipment can hold 15 stone!
I loved how you went full circle at the end. You might end up getting a taste for it, there's nothing quite like hoying an old wooden side table into the back of the bins like it's a shotput and seeing it smash as it lands.
Ah, cheers, Mark! Reassuring to hear it was relatable. Genuinely looking forward to my next tip trip - I had a blast.
As for the writing challenge, as we said, what a great coincidence?! Ha.
Hilarious! Especially your comparison to getting into a nightclub underage re approaching the tip for the first time - and the cocktail-party chit chat that got no response. How often have we all tried that around people we don't know too well. Your wife also bakes a terrific party cake.
Thanks, Gillian! Great to hear you enjoyed it.
She is a terrific cook - this was first time in ages she’s tried baking and it came out perfect!
Going to the tip...one of my absolute things to do, I LOVE throwing things away. But so scary, all those grumpy men telling you you're putting things in the wrong place. Last time I had a pile of perfectly good dinner plates that I wanted to put in the recycle shed, but for some reason was made to carry them to a skip called hard-core!
Thanks for reading, Sarah. Haha, it seems I’m not the only one who is a tip fan! It is very satisfying, isn’t it?
Ah, that is just irritating. Why?! Fortunately, the guy helping me was in great spirits. Hope he’s working next time I go (hopefully soon!)
🤣!