Porch Pirates

January 28th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

This morning was cool but comfortable.  Traffic was light and we got a honk from Mr. Handyman.  There was a lot of trash so our walk took longer than usual.

We found a tennis ball to add to our ball collection. It was pretty ratty.  This was its good side.

We found another liquor bottle outside the KinderCare. Guess that’s one way to keep the kids calm.

We found a nice scarf. We scarfed it up and it’s headed for Goodwill.

And we found a not-so-nice dropping. An irresponsible pet owner.

We met the balloon family. It looks like the Mrs. bought a lot of milk from the milkmen.

We found two more pennies. We already used the two cents line.

We found this mess at the top of the hill. Someone let their kids run rampant.  Irresponsible kid owners.

Good grief! This throws our VooDoo Ranger count off.

And to round out our walk. Another standard McLitterers bag.  We have now found over 30 of these.

 

January 29th, 2019 – Park and Ride Route.

This morning was a cold 32F but clear and dry.  We also carried a hand warmer to help to keep our fingers warmer.  Except for cigarette butts and wrappers, today was a slow day for trash.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman and a random drive-by.  Because of the cold, we had our hoods up and when the random drive-by honked it sounded like a bird chirping to Chuck.  He turned around and shined the flashlight into the trees looking for the bird.

Another irresponsible pet owner. 

We found an empty Gatorade bottle and an empty vodka bottle together. We wondered if the person who dropped these was mixing them.  According to this site, there are several vodka and Gatorade drinks, but four with only Gatorade and unflavored vodka:

• Emerson #2 (Punch)
• Gator Tails (Cocktail)
• Get-n-Laid (Punch)
• Purple Dragon (Cocktail)

Who knew?

 

January 30th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

Today was again cold and clear with light traffic and light trash.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman.  Near Safeway, a car slowed down and pulled to the curb.  As has happened in the past, we thought they were slowing down to thank us. But they slowly rolled by and continued down the street.

Someone was trying to stress-test their label maker. 

This used to be the longest word in the dictionary, but a couple of others are now longer.

• Antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters) meaning against the disestablishment of the Church of England.
• Floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters) meaning of little value.
• pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters) a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust.

The last word was invented in the 1930s to imitate long medical terms.  We think it should be kicked out of the dictionary.

Yet another rubber glove (YARG.)

We found these very far apart on our walk. 

Remember that old Doublemint Gum jingle?

Then again, we also found double these. 

 

January 31st, 2019 – Park and Ride Route.

Happy Birthday Janet!  This morning was a bit warmer than yesterday and still clear.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman and waved to Salinas Construction.  There was quite a bit trash to pick up so the walk took longer than usual.

As we approached the park and ride, we started seeing scraps of paper. They were torn-up bus transfers and we picked up a lot of them on both sides of the street.  Maybe they missed the bus.

We did find three pennies. Two of them were close to each other near the park and ride.  The other was about a mile away.  Income is looking up.  Ka-ching!

We found a chain hook. But no pin for it.  Into the recycle.

We also found a paintbrush.  However, it was wasn’t in good condition so didn’t make it to our found tool collection.

Another hubcap. There were no markings to tell what kind of car it was from.  It was fed into a nearby recycle bin.

We almost witnessed an accident.  At this intersection, the white truck, with the right-of-way was turning left onto NE 145th St and the black car was turning right against a red light.  Ultimately the vehicles stopped and the white truck proceeded first.  Unlike the bus incident, we had no part in this.

On Norway Hill, another bag was left. This was the work of the Serial Irresponsible Pet Owner.

We took another trip into Gatorade Gully. Equal parts Gatorade Butt-Bottles and Bud Light cans.

There was also a large, white bag in the gully.  When we got home, we opened it. There were several other bags in them, all stolen from peoples’ porches.  On the Next Door website, someone got pictures of the thief holding the MadeWell bag.

 

February 1st, 2019 – Safeway Route.

Traffic today was very light and the trash was moderate.  It was a full 10F warmer than yesterday and we had a light rain for the entire walk.

We found two balls this morning. The one on the right was outside the KinderCare fence and was returned.  The one on the left is about the size of a softball but is hard.  We are not sure what kind it is, but it is now in our ball collection.

We found a sheet of paper that looked like some kind of scam. Turns out it is a score sheet from an educational board game called Cashflow.  Maybe we should take a look.  Our cashflow on our walks is not too good.

We rescued a small balloon from the berry bushes. It’s now in our garbage can.  Like going from the frying pan to the fire.

We uncovered another left-over election sign. It was thrown into the bushes by the opposition.  Grow up.

We found another pack of American Spirit cigarettes. Only a few missing.

Another McLitterers bag. This one was found close to home.  It had the standard unused condiments, but the two tea cups were inside the bag this time.

 

February 2nd, 2019 – Riverside Drive.

This morning was another mild morning at 45F and we had a little light rain at one point.  There was a lot of small trash, but nothing major and there were plenty of recycle bins left out.  It made for a relatively short walk.  We did fling a frog and a newt.

We met this fellow at the bottom of the hill. We think this is called a Dunn’s Salamander.  But it was dark and we aren’t experts on identifying salamanders.  It was still moving, so we didn’t fling it.

We found another unmatched glove. It ended up in our garbage can.

We found these in the gutter. A two-handed flosser?  Hopefully not driving.

And we found these at the Sammamish River Park. Two-fisted drinker?  He probably had clean teeth.

We found this sign on the road near downtown Bothell.  Ignore the bad grammer.Bothell allowed several apartments to be built downtown and parking is becoming a premium.

We noticed several cars parked overnight in commercial parking lots and the park and ride. We heard the apartments provide parking for the tenants but charge a lot for it.

We came upon a mattress that someone dumped. It’s taking up a parking spot.

We found a piece of jewelry. It had a string attached and some tape wrapped around it.  It had the initials, B.E.  Barbara Eden? Blake Edwards?  Both of whom we like.  But no.When we got it home and removed the tape, the inscription was BE KIND.  The person had the KIND taped over, so she probably just wanted to BE.  We found it on the Internet. It was a bracelet, Tibetan silver jewelry, stainless steel.  $8.11 on Etsy.

To round out our walk, we found this. Yes, another standard McLitterers.  This makes three this week.  They have been busy.  And hungry.