The big problem with donating items to Goodwill or Boys and Girls Club or whatever is that they don't accept a lot of stuff. Clothes are good, pillows, working lamps, etc, are OK, but no toys that have been opened, no baby gear, no beds, dear Dog no mattresses, no couches, no desks. Il est un pain.

Really? I wonder if it varies from place to place, because our Goodwill takes EVERYTHING. Especially toys.

Especially toys.

Our local thrift shop (not a Goodwill) has stopped taking toys, I think b/c of the whole lead paint thing, but I'm not sure.

Oh, I just drop and run. (Inside, at the designated drop off bin...) And feel bad on the inside if they end up throwing stuff away.

I have some seriously Obama-hating leftist friends. They are often just as irrational and tinhatty about it as the right wing ones.

Gotcha, I misunderstood what you meant. I only know one or two people who would fall into that category (not remotely Gar, for the record) so my mind didn't go there.

The Dearborn one? The selection was beyond crummy last time I was there, which was 2-3 weeks ago. It's gone downhill. You're better off doing Shoreline or Ballard or U District.

Huh, good to know. (heeeey, wanna go to Shoreline this weekend? ::nudge nudge::)

Some things Goodwill won't take for reasons like the lead issue, some things (I presume) because of bedbugs, and I think also they've just figured out that there are some things they will never unload and why should your problem become theirs. Can hardly blame them for that, I guess. They'll also evaluate the condition of stuff before they take it. If you drop stuff off okay, but if you need a pickup it's more complicated.

I pains me how off-putting the idea of used stuff has become to me. As it is, I am kinda twitchy even with stuff from stores. I need it heat-treated upon coming into the house.

Reminds me, I need to see if the clothing recycling folks will be at my greenmarket on Sunday.

I have a question. My FIL mentioned something about how a scientist that Al Gore quotes or uses or something, now is predicting a cooling cycle. I couldn't say anything about this since I didn't know anything about it.

Hmm - this is a variation on the standard "Global Cooling" line. So offhand I don't know which of the many versions your FIL is referring to.

The blog "A few things ill considered" on Science Blogs includes a good general refutation of one common version of this general point

[link]

If your FIL wants to give the name of the scientist or more specifics I will be glad to point you towards a more specific refutation. (I make a point of not reinventing the wheel on this. Denier talking points are so tired and endlessly recycled at this point that there is already a refutation of just about all of them already out there. So I just point appropriate places. As I say, send me some specifics, name of "one of Al Gore's favorite scientists" that sort of thing, and I'll link to an appropriate refutation. Note, I did not say if one exists. I'm absolutely confident that one does. )

Gotcha, I misunderstood what you meant. I only know one or two people who would fall into that category (not remotely Gar, for the record) so my mind didn't go there.

Yeah. I don't know *that* many, but OMG, are they ever loud about it. And, you know, sometimes the complaints are legit, but the signal to noise ratio on them is SO, so off.