Ponderings on waste

I vaguely worry about becoming a fanatic, a zealot that noone listens to but it seems to me that my views on life are reasonable... maybe crazed fanatical zealots feel the same way.
Here are some of the thoughts I have had recently that seem to be out of the ordinary...

• I expect people to do the job they are paid to do without me having to get all threatening...why is it that from panel beaters to the ombudsman it seems that most people simply will not do the job they are paid to do unless there are several follow up phonecalls and a nasty letter. Most service providers seem to think it is ok for them to vaguely agree-ish to something in principle- accept money for it and then do bugger all about it- if you are lucky- if you are unlucky they will do the exact opposite you are paying them to do and then charge twice as much as they quoted! Is it cranky and old fashioned of me to expect the paid professionals to do their job and a better job of it than I would do?

• I think loo paper from virgin wood should be illegal or at the very least taxed like cigarettes so that it is prohibitively expensive.. for goodness sake we have plenty of paper to recycle so that the poor trees can at least be used twice- not just grow a dignified oxgyen producing physical being so I can wipe my bum on it and then flush it away to the ocean... I am not a fanatical greenie but c'mon people- growing trees just to wipe your bum at least we could print some facetious drivel on it- read it, then wipe our bums on it!

• People are too wasteful these days, I was watching an old Scrapheap Challenge tonight and we were amazed at the apparent "Scrap" in the heap like you know, those pesky old tractors that still fire up and drive...sure I know that the show is a setup and the tractors are likely planted but it illustrates my point about waste! I read on forums about people thinking they are cutting things to the bone because they have a five year old Corolla and a ten year old kitchen and only one and a half bathrooms. People!!!! a Five year old Corolla is a lovely car to have.. I have several (for my business), kitchens used to last a lifetime and when I was growing up having two loos was a luxury only for the very upper middle class and rather indulgent. when I lived on the Gold Coast council cleanup time was amazing and I got some amazing stuff that needed one screw or a light bulb or a wash but was fine apart from that... hundreds of dollars worth of gear... you could also buy a car that was roadworthy from the council auctions for about $200...they had been left on the side of the road....some of my best finds have been from the inside of abandoned vehicles we have bought... such waste! No wonder we are "all" poor and the planet is choking in "stuff".

• The Australian poor... I no longer believe in it. We live well of the equivalent of benefits whilst our business is building and I have had my time on student allowances... Poor choices such as spending all your money on drugs, alcohol and video games tends to be the reason most people are poor.. can't afford school shoes but McDonalds five times a week and always beer for the week. Easy handouts have created a multigenerational class of Bogans who expect to be spoon fed and given all they desire when they whinge and swear enough....

Ahhhh. that feels better.
A good vent.
I shall return much less angry next time.
Or perhaps I will have remembered more things that drive me so very batty!