Rubbish

I feel like it was only yesterday when we were cleaning out our house in DC before moving to Basel. It seemed that every other day I was taking a carload of stuff to Goodwill or the local shelter to donate clothes, furniture, general household goods. Three years later, it's the same story. Don't ask me how we've managed to accumulate so much junk during our three years here in Basel! Naturally, nothing is quite as easy as it was when we were moving here, because now we're in a foreign country and new rules apply. You can't just put junk at the curb and expect the garbage men to pick it up. Only what fits in the small, official trash bags. Unlike in DC, furniture to be disposed of (or donated) doesn't just disappear when you set it out. By the way, who are these people in the US who cruise through neighborhoods in the dark of night to scavenge for other's leftover furniture?

So anyway, yesterday we had a guy stop by from a local Brocki (like a Goodwill) to assess what we have to donate. He took one look at our couch and said: "Rubbish". He is Swiss, but said it in English. I have hated this couch for a long time. It isn't even ours. The Americans who lived here before us sold it to us (along with lots of other household items) at a very low price. It was old and worn when they left it (they had 2 dogs and 2 cats) and it's even older and more worn at this point. I guess it's sort of funny that I blogged about getting a new couch back in August 2005... and we're still surviving with this ugly beast of a couch! I guess I figured I'd rather stick it out and buy a new couch back in the US where they would be cheaper and more my style.

Thankfully, the Swissy from the Brocki said he would take the couch for us, at a cost, so that they can "smash it away", meaning take it to the dump. Fine. I'm willing to pay anything just to get it out of this house! Fortunately he had no problem with any of the other furniture we're donating. That will all be sold at one of the second-hand shops. Phew.