The person who used to live in our house apparently liked to drink, as he left behind several bags of “recyclables.” Kory told Kaleb he could take them to the store and turn them in for the deposit. I felt a little funny about it however… being Christian and all… and having our kid schlep a trunk full of alcohol containers off to the store. Had I known how much money he would get, I would have nixed the idea for sure and done the task myself, but today was the day to clean out the garage.
Inside the grocery store is a vending looking machine set into the wall. Behind the wall is an entire recycling center. There is a circular opening in the middle of the machine that goes all the way through the wall so you can see into the back of the store. You set the bottle or can into the hole onto a little conveyor belt (and it has to have the opening facing toward you or it gives a nasty alarm, as we found out), and the can or bottle gets sucked back into the machine onto another conveyor belt where it is spun around until it’s barcode is read. If it’s a large pop bottle, it goes straight on through and sets on some conveyor belt behind the machine. If it’s an aluminum can, or small plastic bottle, an arm comes down and sweeps it into a bin on the left. If there is no barcode or if it can’t read the barcode because the can is squished so that it can’t spin on the conveyor, then it is rejected. A metal arm swings down and sweeps it to the right where it is returned back to you at the bottom of the machine. Kaleb soon figured out that if the can was squished and got rejected, he just needed to set the can in with the barcode showing on the top so the scanner could read it. The machine tallies up all the credit and spits out a paper ticket that is then taken to the cash register and turned in for cash. It took Kaleb quite a while to process all those bottles and cans, but it was not what I would call “work” as he had so much fun doing it. Each can is worth one kroner (20 cents), and each pop bottle, fifty cents, so he made over fifty dollars! What a deal. And outside the store, we were told, were all the recycle bins for metal, plastic and glass (they pick up all the paper in a special bin at your house on garbage day.) We took the wine and whiskey bottles that were left in the garage to the big recycle bin outside and put them in there, only to realize a moment later, that it was a bin to recycle clothes and shoes for children and there was no way to get them back - oops. (We later found where the smaller bins used for metal and glass were located so that shouldn’t happen again.) Uff da.
Our next stop was the bank, and only after looking all over the car for my wallet, did I realize I had set it inside my canvas shopping bag (they charge 50 cents for each plastic grocery bags here) and left it on the floor by the recycle machine! It had about $300 cash, all my credit cards and driver’s license. We made a quick u-turn and went back to the store. Someone had picked it up off the floor and set it on the nearest vacant check-out stand. Everything was in my wallet, untouched, which got me to shout HALLELUJAH! today.
Kory and Kaleb spent all afternoon over and Odd and Turids. Kory helped Odd lower the ceiling in his basement to cover up some electrical wires. (That Kory is a handy guy to have around and there are no other carpenters in the family so I think he might be busier than he planned to be while we are here.) Kaleb spent the time playing with Hege and making “bolle” (bread rolls). I stayed home and had a good nap, got my desk organized, and spent time writing. The house was so quiet with the boys gone - what a treat.
I love how close we are to family here. There hasn’t been a day go by that we haven’t seen at least one of them. The picture today is Odd (pronounced Ode), Turid (Turrey), and Hege (Hay-ga), on their balcony just after dinner around 10 pm Tuesday night. They have provided our “home away from home” every time we come to Norway. Turid manages our condo and does our taxes for us every year too so I hope while we are here we can do enough things to even the score. They all have a heart of gold- for which we are ever so thankful.
Inside the grocery store is a vending looking machine set into the wall. Behind the wall is an entire recycling center. There is a circular opening in the middle of the machine that goes all the way through the wall so you can see into the back of the store. You set the bottle or can into the hole onto a little conveyor belt (and it has to have the opening facing toward you or it gives a nasty alarm, as we found out), and the can or bottle gets sucked back into the machine onto another conveyor belt where it is spun around until it’s barcode is read. If it’s a large pop bottle, it goes straight on through and sets on some conveyor belt behind the machine. If it’s an aluminum can, or small plastic bottle, an arm comes down and sweeps it into a bin on the left. If there is no barcode or if it can’t read the barcode because the can is squished so that it can’t spin on the conveyor, then it is rejected. A metal arm swings down and sweeps it to the right where it is returned back to you at the bottom of the machine. Kaleb soon figured out that if the can was squished and got rejected, he just needed to set the can in with the barcode showing on the top so the scanner could read it. The machine tallies up all the credit and spits out a paper ticket that is then taken to the cash register and turned in for cash. It took Kaleb quite a while to process all those bottles and cans, but it was not what I would call “work” as he had so much fun doing it. Each can is worth one kroner (20 cents), and each pop bottle, fifty cents, so he made over fifty dollars! What a deal. And outside the store, we were told, were all the recycle bins for metal, plastic and glass (they pick up all the paper in a special bin at your house on garbage day.) We took the wine and whiskey bottles that were left in the garage to the big recycle bin outside and put them in there, only to realize a moment later, that it was a bin to recycle clothes and shoes for children and there was no way to get them back - oops. (We later found where the smaller bins used for metal and glass were located so that shouldn’t happen again.) Uff da.
Our next stop was the bank, and only after looking all over the car for my wallet, did I realize I had set it inside my canvas shopping bag (they charge 50 cents for each plastic grocery bags here) and left it on the floor by the recycle machine! It had about $300 cash, all my credit cards and driver’s license. We made a quick u-turn and went back to the store. Someone had picked it up off the floor and set it on the nearest vacant check-out stand. Everything was in my wallet, untouched, which got me to shout HALLELUJAH! today.
Kory and Kaleb spent all afternoon over and Odd and Turids. Kory helped Odd lower the ceiling in his basement to cover up some electrical wires. (That Kory is a handy guy to have around and there are no other carpenters in the family so I think he might be busier than he planned to be while we are here.) Kaleb spent the time playing with Hege and making “bolle” (bread rolls). I stayed home and had a good nap, got my desk organized, and spent time writing. The house was so quiet with the boys gone - what a treat.
I love how close we are to family here. There hasn’t been a day go by that we haven’t seen at least one of them. The picture today is Odd (pronounced Ode), Turid (Turrey), and Hege (Hay-ga), on their balcony just after dinner around 10 pm Tuesday night. They have provided our “home away from home” every time we come to Norway. Turid manages our condo and does our taxes for us every year too so I hope while we are here we can do enough things to even the score. They all have a heart of gold- for which we are ever so thankful.
1 comment:
Hei, hei! How fun I found your blog! I've bookmarked it so I can keep up with your great adventure. Can't wait to hear how school goes for Kaleb--I'll be praying for you all in this transition.
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