Janet Makes a Friend

April 15th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

This was a cool, overcast morning with no rain, but it had rained over the weekend so there were relatively few cigarette butts.

We got a full bag of pancake mix. It was heavy and bulky, so we emptied it out in the bushes.  Then the bag was as flat as a, well, pancake.

Rubber glove. 

Safeway Monopoly. Employee Game Ticket.  A separate game for employees?  What are the odds?  Anyway, employees litter the same as the customers.

A hard-fought ball. It was buried in a bunch of thorny berry bushes.  We finally rescued the ball, but at the cost of blood and shredded gloves.

In the bushes near Gatorade Gully, we found a second stash of Gatorade Butt-Bottles. We were able to reach one, but another two were out of our reach and we were unwilling to risk further blood loss.

Someone lost their taped-on light lens. Next time they should use factory-recommended tape, not the cheap third-party tape. 

While we were on our walk, the McLitterers struck. It had the standard contents including the unused condiments.  This one was by the side of the road next to our house.  They are taunting us.

 

April 16th, 2019 – Park-and-Ride Route.

Another cool, rain-less walk this morning with a moderate amount of trash.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman and another white SUV.  Now that it is getting lighter on our walks we can see people waving at us which is satisfying.

The grass in the ditches is getting tall so we are surely missing a lot of trash.  The cycle every year is, the grass grows, covering the cans; the city comes by and mows the grass;  the cut grass still covers the cans; eventually the shredded cans surface for us to pick up.  Cans don’t mulch very well.

At the party corner of the park-and-ride, we weren’t disappointed. Five Bud Lights and a Red Bull.  Guess after chugging five beers you need a Red Bull to wake up for the drive home.

Also at the park-and-ride, another rubber glove. We took a picture, picked up the glove and went on our way.  While writing this post, we spotted something in the glove.  It appears to be a coin in the fingertip.  Unfortunately, today was garbage day and the glove is long gone, so we cannot verify this.  Wonder if the garbage company has a Lost-and-Found?  In August of last year, we found this. So, today’s could have been a coin.  Dang, we hate throwing money away.

However, on a brighter side, we did find a shiny quarter.

Another out-of-place Gatorade Butt-Bottle. It was on the same stretch of Norway Hill, but not in Gatorade Gully.

We saw this.  A sign post without a sign.  When we first started walking, we came across these abandoned sign posts and harvested them.  Then we realized they were new-home sellers that were using them only on weekends and started leaving them unless they were down.  Someone else must be harvesting them.  No, really, it wasn’t us.

Hmm.  We found this. A Gecko Growers marijuana package.  They don’t say what percentage of their blend is gecko.  Inquiring minds want to know.

Janet has a new friend.  While Chuck continued down the street, Janet met a guy at the 7-Eleven.  That’s Janet in the yellow vest.  This fellow’s company picks up trash at apartment complexes.  We both preached to the choir about people who do not know how to recycle and the out of control trash at the tent cities.

 

April 17th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

The weather was good like yesterday and we had a fast walk.  There was little trash to pick up.   We did get a honk from Mr. Handyman and a headlight blink and wave from and unknown driver.  We flung a rat that looked like it was out of one of those cheap zombie movies.  Fortunately, it did not come back to life while we were around.

Near the bottom of the Tolt Pipeline, we found a very nice lock.  It is $49 on Amazon.  Who could afford tossing a fifty-dollar padlock?  About ten feet away, there was a utility box with the same lock on it.  So the utilities can afford to toss expensive locks.  Okay, maybe they lost the key, but how did they get it open?  Also, why toss it rather than recycle it?  So many questions.  It’s now in the our recycle bin.

While we were walking, we started thinking about the word lock and it’s meanings.  A locking device, canal locks, locks of hair, etc.  It has a lot of diverse meanings.  Maybe it is a word with one with the most definitions?  Not even close.  According to the OED, the word Set has the most definitions at 430.  Lock is not even close to locking in the record.

Another tennis ball with no obvious home. It now has a home in our Ball Collection.

We found a very nice hub cap. Other than it was damaged such that it could not be attached to a wheel.  It had fake lug nuts, and a fake center hubcap.  The recycle bin we put it in was not fake.

We picked up a new type of can with a plastic “pop tab”. 

The top has instructions on it: “Open here” and “Drink here.”  We couldn’t figure out how to get it open more than a quarter of an inch.  Maybe that’s why it was about half full.  This may be a marketing trial. If so, it fails for usability.  It succeeds as litter.

 

April 18th, 2019 – Park-and-Ride Route.

Today was a bit warmer with some drizzle.  The traffic was moderate but the trash was light.  We as we crossed over to the park-and-ride, Mr. Handyman stopped at the crosswalk for us.  We waved but did not get a honk.  It’s bad form to honk at pedestrians in the crosswalk.  We cleaned out Gatorade Gully, but found only some random beer cans, no Gatorade Butt-Bottles.  We can’t take this change!  We did fling a rat, though.

By the apartments, someone left a portable stereo system.  

Later, we picked it up with the car and we haven’t checked to see  if it works.  If it’s operational, it will go to Goodwill.  If not, to the electronic recycle.  Our guess is it will be recycled.

We found a golf ball in the rough. This was in a ditch on Norway Hill.  The nearest golf course it about three miles away.  That’s quite a slice.

 

April 19th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

Today the weather was the warmest of the year at 52 F, but it was drizzling the entire time.  We flung another rat today in about the same area we flung one yesterday.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman.

Another McLitterer. This one was a little bit out off of our route but within sight of us.  The unused condiments were out of the bag this time.

We picked up a cup that was far from home. Santa Barbara, CA.  The Habit Burger Grill.  Hope they are not opening a location here.  We have enough people with habits around here.

Speaking of which, another syringe to add to the needle jar.  Most of the needles we find look like this.  It must be the brand King County provides. 

From a distance, it looked like Mr. Snuffleupagus of Sesame Street fame was stuffed into a garbage bin. But it was a pet bed.

At the top of the Tolt Pipeline, we spotted a food tray under a bush. We ended up pulling out a couple of lunches worth.  Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?

 

April 20th, 2019 – Riverside Drive.

The walk today was another warm one with no rain.  We got a couple of honks and several waves from passersby.  There was a lot of trash especially near the apartments, but nothing requiring extra effort, so the walk was fairly quick.

We found some car parts. Bearings and a brake pad, possibly from the same car.

Also a tool. Perhaps it was dropped by the person whose car is falling apart.

We found two coins along the way. A nickel and a penny.  Both were in bad shape, but went into the money jar anyway.

However, we found a ball for the ball collection. A tennis ball in pretty good shape.

The McLitterers left evidence under the freeway. It was the standard configuration but without the tea cups.  It did have the tea bags.

Parts of another syringe tossed out by a junkie. These are the only parts we found.  The rest of it were probably destroyed by passing traffic.

The ground cover is making it increasingly difficult to see the trash. It makes our job easier for now.

These were found near each other. An e-cigarette and a cigar lighter.  A burning e-cigarette probably tastes terrible.  Some people don’t understand e-cigarettes.  We don’t.