Definitely not down in the dump

Freecycled chairI did something for the first time yesterday – I freecycled something!

For those of who you haven’t heard of it, it’s a way of getting rid of unwanted items that aren’t worth selling, but are too good to go to the dump!

Our local Habitat is closing down and by chance we went on Saturday to discover that the 4 dining chairs we’ve been toying with buying for almost a year were in the clearance sale at 50% off – bargain!

So what to do with the old, slightly creaky and wobbly set of 4 that aren’t actually that old? C was all for loading them into the car and taking them to the dump, but I’ve always wanted to use freecycle and now seemed an opportunity too good to miss.

So I posted my chairs on my local group and within 10 minutes of the post being approved, I had 4 takers.

I democratically chose the first person who replied (although that’s not necessary, according to freecycle guidelines) and at 9.30 last night, I proudly said goodbye to our old dining chairs and watched them driven away in the back of a van.

I feel good knowing they’ve gone to a good home and also feel environmentally satisfied that they were saved from landfill. Now, what else can I give away?

The things you learn in school

The Olympics reminded me of some long-forgotten nugget of totally useless trivia that I learned while studying for my A Level in Contemporary History.

My teacher for World History 1945- the present day was Robert Swann – a bearded chap who was obscenely intelligent. His knowledge was quite remarkable and he’d wander into the lesson without any notes and just talk to us about a subject for 45 minutes and expect us to make the relevant notes.

A bit like a University lecture, except that even at university many lecturers give you print-outs of the most salient points at the end.

Anyway, I digress. One of the things I remember being taught was how the modern Chinese Mandarin came to be written in Western (roman) script.

For most of the 20th century, Chinese words and names, such as Mao were transliterated using something called Wade-Giles. Thus for years, everyone knew the capital of China as Peking.

Then in around 1979/1980, it was decided – I know not by whom – to revert to something called Pinyin, the system developed within China to romanize the Chinese characters.

So now we know the capital as Beijing, although I’m not sure if we call the dish Beijing Duck any more.

Who needs the TV for the Olympics?

Beijing Olympics 2008I don’t know if you’d noticed but there’s quite a big event going on in China at the moment!

Yup, the 2008 Beijing Olympics are dominating the BBC’s schedules and it’s tough to listen to a news bulletin or open a newspaper without seeing some sort of report on the events.

In previous Olympic years, I’ve only been able to watch the action on the telly – let’s call it the old-school way of enjoying the action.

But 2008 is a different kettle of fish. Because I have a young daughter who’s obsessed with Peppa Pig, watching Olympic Breakfast on the BBC is out of the question.

So I’ve resorted to listening to Radio 5 Live with Nicky Campbell and Sheila Fogarty and it is dynamite coverage. I really makes you appreciate how difficult commentating without pictures is, but also how great it is listening to sport, rather than watching it.

I listened to both Nicole Cooke and Emma Pooley winning their respective medals, as well as some rowing coverage and boxing too. It totally transforms your opinion of the sport and is absolutely riveting.

And, of course, the other way I’ve been getting my Olympics fix is the internet. And the BBC’s coverage via the iPlayer has been fantastic.

Whether you watch it live, or catch up with highlights, it’s brilliant. Thank heaven for the internet!