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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Yep. People just can't get enough of throwing stuff out, here, and you can do pretty well for yourself that way, if you want. Even eat.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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I thoought Mongo was where Ming the Merciless lived.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427
addict
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OP
addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427 |
Ok, so the name for this stuff really IS that straightforward, at least in British English. From that Wiki site: "Streetlamps are designed to illuminate the surrounding area at night, serving not only as a deterrent to criminals but more importantly to allow people to see where they're going." I guess they had to clarify that  Oh, and "mongo"?!? Love the name. Does anybody know where it came from? Thanks, everyone!
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
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Alex Karras was Mongo in my favorite movie, Blazing Saddles. I heard that Brooks is rewriting the script to Blazing Saddles to capitalize on the success of Brokeback Mountain.
TEd
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
>>at least in British English And apparently in American as well
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Is there really all that kind of stuff sitting around on the sidewalks of NYC? Constantly?
Yep.
How odd. Here, you only see that in the specific neighborhood(s) where it's junk pick-up week. Or maybe with the occasional eviction, but the city clears that up pretty quickly.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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It always makes me chuckle when I go up to London - there, the wealth means people are throwing away stuff that would be eagerly bought second-hand in poorer parts of the UK. The net effect is that the waste disposal medium becomes more valuable than the contents, so a skip in London attracts loads of other people's rejects whereas a skip in Cardigan gets emptied as fast as it's filled (literally often true!) This was beautifully observed in an episode of One Foot in the Grave - Victor is forced to splutter "I don't believe it!" when he finds that someone has put a complete car in his skip overnight... 
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
One foot in the grave.
That looks like a fabulous show. I'd have loved to see it. D'you think it's on the net somewhere?
Mongo
In Montréal, you have what is called "Le temps des grosses poubelles" - the time for big-garbage.
Generally, after moving day (July 1st) the city picks up all the stuff people threw out that they did not want to move.
During this week, you can see hundreds of guys driving around the city in pick-up trucks, sorting through the big garbage looking for some finds. Sometimes, they leave with everything.
Officially, you are supposed to keep the big items in your home until the week after moving day. However, if you have something big that you just can't keep around until moving week, you have to call the city and advise them that you have a big item so that they can send the appropriate garbage truck to pick it up.
Sometimes, somebody'll simply put something on the curb, but it can stay there for a couple of weeks until the regular garbage guys finally tell the head-office that a big-garbage pick-up is required.
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In Laval, the island right beside Montréal, where I live, you can put out big garbage any time and the city will pick it up withing the week. Generally though, if the item looks serviceable, somebody'll pick it up.
It's different than Montréal though because folks'll usually knock on your door and ask if they can take it.
The first time this happened I was really surprised. When I lived in Montréal, it was in an iffy neighbourhood - things'd get stolen right off of the front porch, so having somebody knock on my door and ask if I was really throwing away those shelves and was it o.k. if he took them really made me smile.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
...and then there was the story of the farmer whose zucchini plants had produced beyond all expectations. He put several on an old chair out by the road, with a "free" sign propped up. When he went out later on to check, he found the zucchini on the ground and the chair gone.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
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every monday, the NYTimes runs a column called the metropolitan diary.. one episode recounted was a couple (dressed to the nines) on their way home from a concert at carniege hall passed a dumpster (skip) and saw a cello peeking out of the top..
the husband climbed into the dumster, (in his tux) fished out the cello, and then found the case, and with a bit of poking, even found the bow. he handed all of these to his wife, then climbed out of the dumpster.
they desided the haul was too heavy to continue walking home with so they took a bus the rest of the way..
you find working TV's lamps (i have several mongo lamps), shelving. (my first apartment after my divorce, i got all my shelving for bookcases, (and a open kitchen pantry) from mongo. recently, i was disappointed to be in manhattan with out my car (i rarely drive into manhattan, public transportaion is so much easier) and missed out on some good stuff..
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