Packing, day three

So, last night Richard packed three boxes with books from one bookcase in the dining room, and I packed a box of ornaments. We didn't have much newspaper for wrapping, so I used jiffy bags. Every time I order DVDs from Play.com, they arrive individually in jiffy bags and I never throw them away so I have dozens - more than sufficient for the relatively small number of ornaments we put on display.

Richard then attacked the TV/hi-fi shelving. We packed a box of DVDs and a box of CDs. Since the TV died a few weeks ago, and the video player about a year ago, he put them out by the dustbins. We also decided to get rid of the two non-working scanners, so they too were put out for the dustmen. Along with an old satellite receiver thing that never really worked. Alas, there is no useful recycling centre here where we could deposit the items knowing they would be taken to pieces, and any valuable parts re-used.

I wasn't actually sure if the dustmen would take any of them, but we thought it possible some passer-by would acquire some or all of our cast-offs. Nobody seems to break into houses here - burglary is very rare - but anything left out on the driveway, other than cars, is considered fair game for picking up. People sometimes lose bikes that way, and years ago when we discarded a broken microwave, it vanished before the dustmen came. A few nights ago we left out an old and broken fan, and that too had gone by the following day.

This morning all the equipment was still sitting there (rubbish is collected on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays so we knew the dustmen wouldn't have taken anything yet) but when we got back from our weekly supermarket shop, the TV, video player and satellite receiver had all vanished. The two scanners are still sitting there. Possibly we should put the power supplies out too, rather than putting them in a bin-liner, to encourage someone else to acquire them. Of all the equipment, the small scanner is the most likely to be able to work although it was increasingly unreliable.

I suppose this is the nearest we get to recycling in Cyprus.