What Did We Urn this Week?

June 17th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

Another nice day for a walk.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman and flung a squirrel.  Traffic seemed very heavy for a Monday.

The week got off to a great start. After picking up coins in three places for 92 cents on Saturday, today we found a whole dollar! Nobody driving by spotted it.  We are so tuned into trash, we’re sure we would have spotted driving by at 35 mph.

Of course, to bring us back down from our euphoria, we found another rubber glove. It was in the usual place behind the bus stop.  Maybe the busses are really dirty so a passenger always puts on a rubber glove.  But why only one?  Oh, maybe we don’t want to know.

We found more stolen mail. It was all from the same apartment complex on Riverside Drive for different apartments.  Later in the day, we put them on top of the apartment mailboxes.

Another bungee cord in good condition. We are getting quite a collection of them.  Most have been run over, but still usable.  Visit The J&C Found Litter Store.  Website coming soon.

It looks like our Gatorade guy has permanently switched to Monster. And this one was in a ditch, not Gatorade Gully.  He’s had a “life changing“event.  Well, maybe not, it was still filled with cigarette butts.  More of a beverage-changing event.  Maybe Monster pays more royalties?

Someone tossed out a YMCA frisbee.  But whY would someone do that?

We walked down to the end of Juanita Woodinville Way and were on our way back on the other side of the street.  Across the street, where we had already walked, we saw new trash. Within 30 minutes, someone tossed their Starbuck’s cup out the window.  Hope it was because the drink went down the wrong windpipe.  It’d serve them right.

Finally a truthful dime bag. Biohazard symbols.  Maybe they are trying to convince the state to legalize dope.  Oh, wait, they already have.

We did find a pair of no-liner socks folded together.   Really?  You fold mismatching socks together.  This is a cruel litterer’s joke.

Sign Pros. Hey guys, here’s a helpful pro-tip:  Pick up your damn Sign Location Markers when you’re done.  It detracts from the sign.

A Gamer lost his key.  The key had been run over and not able to be identified with a manufacturer.  However, after some Googling, we determined this is a lanyard with a Destiny video game theme.  On Amazon, for $9 you get the DESTINY Video Game Logo ID Holder LANYARD Keychain w/ Logo Charm.  It had a detachable ID card holder.  We can attest to its detachability because it was missing.

Then we came upon some carnage.  Warning: Not suitable for younger viewers. Dismembered balloon animals.  Some were still alive and we had to gut them.  We felt very bad.  Oh, well.

Finally, to make us feel a lot better, in the Seattle Times news brief email this morning was this teaser:

Upon checking the Rant & Raves,

This is our third Rave we have received in the Seattle Times.  Much appreciated.  Thank you very much. – C & J.

 

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

This morning was warmer, about 58F, but there was a very light mist that felt fine.  As the walk progressed, though, the mist got less misty and more light-rainy.  Still, it wasn’t too bad.  We waved to Salinas Construction and got a very enthusiastic honk from a white SUV.  We flung some roadkill.  We are pretty sure it was a weasel, at least we will count it as that.  We tried to ferret  it out, but couldn’t.

As we crossed the busiest intersection on our walk, Juanita-Woodinville Way at the freeway, we crossed with the light in the crosswalk and a driver making a right turn stopped for us.  Chuck reached the sidewalk with Janet a few steps behind.  We got another honk and automatically waved.  But it was an angry honk at the driver who stopped for us.  Really?  That guy’s definitely on our No-Wave List.  This stigma will live with him for the rest of his life.  Or maybe he won’t notice.  Maybe we need one of those obnoxious air horns.  We can get angry too.

At the bus stop, we found a rubber glove. Naturally.  Where else would it be?

A syringe cap. Courtesy of King County.

Then a half-bottle of water. Probably needed the water after using the rubber glove and the syringe.

Also at the park-and-ride, we found these. Another Relaxing Station card and a pair of cheap reading glasses.  Trying to read the card and lost his glasses after getting too relaxed and falling asleep?

We found a rare pair of matching gloves. They were found on different streets and about a mile apart.  Goodwill will be so happy.

Mo Money!  Another quarter for our money jar.

Free wood. Looks good.  Wonder if they’ll split it for that price?

As we approached home, we came across this. More stolen mail.  This was also from the same apartment as yesterday.  It was soggy and all junk mail, so got recycled.  When we delivered the mail yesterday, we noticed that they were not locking boxes.  Time to change with the times.

 

June 19th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

Cool weather and no rain today. We got a honk from Mr. Handyman and two cars flashed their lights.  Lots of waves, of course.  We flung a small mouse and saw the Happy Jogger and his dog whom we haven’t seen in a while.  We also got an out-the-window verbal “thank you” from a random passerby.

Early in our walk, we saw a scrap of paper down a mown ditch.  Once down there, we found more bits and pieces of paper and ended up pulling two Redfin signs from under the weeds. There’s a lot more to come, folks.  We didn’t want to carry these all the way home so we stashed them at the a location we pass near the end of our Saturday route.

Three rubber gloves. One of them was behind a bus stop, of course.

Even more money. Two pennies in two locations.  Come on, you cheapskates, ante up.

By the KinderCare, another errant toy. We tossed it back to the dinosaurs.

Someone lost their soul. Oh, wait.  That’s sole.  Phew, good thing.

Maybe it’s the same person who lost their fingernails. Yep, all five of them.  What six?   Weird.

We got a new tool for our collection. 7/16th socket this time.

We picked up an empty cardboard box with a label we could not decipher.  This has to be the worst label ever.  Earn up to $1,100 Month Large Random.  This makes no sense.

At one intersection, we found a bullet shell. A nine millimeter.  We’ve found several of these and, like dog poop bags, we don’t like it.  We’re not antigun, just against gun irresponsibility.

We found a discarded Coke can. Not remarkable in itself, but it was laying by the side of the road, unopened.  We used it to slake our thirst.

A bottle of water, a berry shake, a package of salami and a bag of M&M’s. Sounds like a square Meal to us.

We came upon a stoplight and waited for it to change. After a while, we figured it was broken, so we continued along our route.  We took it though.

This is probably the weirdest thing we have come across in our four years of walking.  Behind a bus stop, we saw this. Some artificial gold flowers, a red urn, and a tea kettle.  We left them in case someone stopped for a spot of tea to remember dear old Mum before getting on the bus.  If it’s still there tomorrow morning, we’ll collect it.

 

June 20th, 2019 – Park-and-Ride.

Today’s walk was cool and partly cloudy with a temperature of 50F.  We waved to both Mr. Handyman and Salinas Construction, our two main regulars and got a verbal thank you from a passing motorist.

Today we collected eight cents! A nickel and three pennies.  The first penny was found along Juanita Woodinville Way.  The second was the nickel near the 7-Eleven.  The other pennies were found near each other on the freeway offramp and that’s our two cents.   On last Saturday’s walk, you may recall we also found $0.92 at three locations.  We were hoping to find a dime to make the one-dollar mark.  Today would have done it.

We did find our quota of gloves. We found a pair of rubber gloves together.  The individual leaving them at the bus stop must have taken the night off from their activity, whatever that is.   The two work gloves were on Juanita Woodinville Way about twenty feet apart.  The heavy leather work glove was in the middle of the street near the freeway.  This one was probably accidently lost.  The others were litter.

“Happy Birthday”, he said deflatedly.

Another lost socket.  One rewarding thing about this is we are slowly building our toolset.  The other is thinking about the people who lost it, thinking, “What happened to my 3/8th socket?”  It’s the little things in life.

Yesterday, we found an urn and tea kettle.  Today they were still there, but had been disturbed. We bagged the items up and got it home.  We found that there was the urn, the tea kettle, gold flowers on a stand and a shoe.  The urn is very heavy.  Google found the urn sold on the internet for $35.

The teapot was a Copco brand.  The closest one Google found was a 1980’s pot on Etsy for $19.  If you really want this one, we will sell it for $18, but hurry, there’s only one left, and it’s heading for Goodwill soon.

The ladies’ shoe had artificial flowers decoratively placed in it.  

As we were picking things up, we found a 20 centavo Mexican coin. It had fallen out of one of the items, we’re not sure which.

It was a very esoteric collection of items. We were half wondering if there would be ashes in the urn, but it appears not.  What do you do if you find an urn with ashes?

 

June 21st, 2019 – Safeway Route.

This was a cool, breezy morning, but no rain.  Works for us.  We waved to Mr. Handyman and the Happy Jogger and his dog, except he was walking, not jogging.  There was nothing to fling this morning, which is good.

Yesterday a friend was discussing the amount of drug paraphernalia we find on our walks.  The number of needles has dropped with the increase in meth in the Seattle area. Today, we found,  another syringe.  It’s now in our needle jar.

While we were walking, a heron flew over us, made a sharp turn and disappeared over a bridge. When we reached the end of the bridge, we saw it calmly waiting for breakfast.  It might want to find a place with a bigger menu.

We found this. It’s way too early in the walk to throw in the sponge.

More stolen mail. The one on the left was an Amazon pack.  You’ve been to reunions and weddings where they recognize the person who travelled the farthest to attend.  The one on the right wins.  It travelled from the Philippines and wins the record for the 6,638 miles to be pilfered at the last minute by a petty thief.  We would like to catch the petty thief and send him 6,638 miles to the Pacific Ocean.  Nowhere near land.

Uh ho. Someone’s being sent to the Nurses Office. What?  Wait, shouldn’t that be the principal’s Office?  Boy, things have changed since we were in school.  Is this a backpack check?  Ok, creative use of fonts, but that isn’t a real signature.  Maybe the nurse should be sent to the Principal’s Office.

You spend $10 for a chance to win a $5 prize. Then you forget to leave the ticket? Sheesh!

Lest we forget this is a profit-making deal, We did find a dime.  It was close to the end of our walk, so finding this was a relief that our walk was not for naught.

We found a slightly waterlogged book near a bus stop. Not our genre, but it has high ratings on Amazon.  Its about a missing mouse who is a botanist.  It is probably a good read, but, hey, we fling mice.  To think one was a botanist?

A plastic flower. This is probably part of an earring.

A Pedicure file, $7 on Amazon. We walk about 35 miles per week, so this will come in handy.  The product description on Amazon is worth a read:

Are you tired of the dead skin build up on your feet? We brings [sic] you a perfect solution to your dried, cracked heels. Its large filing surface and light weight design works instantly, leaving youthful looking heels.

At our age, youthful-looking heels is the least of our worries.

 

June 22, 2019 – Riverside Drive.

This was another nice morning for a walk except there was a lot of trash.  A lot of buried refuse is surfacing.  We ended up with nine plastic shopping bags of trash, two large Redfin for sale signs and the bigger part of a traffic cone.  This doesn’t include the trash we dumped in people’s trash and recycle bins along the way.  Three drivers slowed down to thank us along the way and we flung two snakes and two rabbits.  We did pass a milestone of sorts.  Since we have been keeping records, we have removed over 200 roadkill-critters from the roads.  Wonder if there’s a Guinness World Records category for that?

BUT, did not find any money.  Not one red cent.

Along Riverside Drive, we picked up three of these. Automotive ignition coils.  Modern engines have one per spark plug, not like the old days with one coil and a distributor.  This guy not only tossed out his old coils, he also tossed out the box the new ones came in. The box was unique in that it was mostly printed in Spanish.  According to the label, these were made in China for a distributor in the U.S. then exported to Mexico.  Then, the box shows up on the street in Bothell.

We dug a battery out of the weeds. We were shocked someone dumped this by the side of the road.

Again, we only found one pair of gloves today. Same as last week on Riverside Drive.  Maybe people on Riverside Drive are not as sanitary as on Juanita Woodinville Way.

Sunbrella. 

We’ve not heard of Sunbrella before, so we thought this might be some sunscreen or lip balm.  But it was empty.  We accessed their website and found the sell fabrics for outdoor use.  We’re not sure what fabric could fit in this little tube.

We found a pair of socks about twenty feet apart.  Even though they don’t look like it, they matched.  Wonder what scared the people out of their socks?

Maybe it was the pair of snakes we found. These weren’t snakes-in-the-grass.  Perhaps if they stayed in the grass they would still be alive.  Why did the snake cross the road? To get to the other ssssssside.

We found a lost cat. You should appreciate this after the snake joke.

We found a page of someone’s math homework. Then we found the whole notebook.  The first page was titled Pizza Crust so we thought is might be a cooking class, but it looks like algebra or trigonometry.  It looks right, but, then again, they could have fooled us.

Tomb Raider. And Oberto?  Perhaps Lara Croft likes beef jerky.  On further research, Oberto is running a promotion with the makers of the Tomb Raider video game.  Inside the envelope, there is a game code that unlocks a game resource pack if you own the game.  We don’t, so it’s just more litter to us.

By our “favorite” trailer park we found a bicycle. This is a place that’s hidden from the road.  The kids from the trailer park play and litter there.  We have never attempted to clean it out.  The bike may belong to a trailer park kid or may have been stolen and dumped.  Or both.

We found some Mac ‘n Cheese while going after some Coors six-pack cartons. It was unopened.  The package says it is perishable and to keep refrigerated.  It’s probably been buried through the winter.  Does that count?

Back to the area the where the people living in the motorhome were parked for some months, we continued to clean up the mess, much of it buried.

We pulled out a vest.  We considered keeping it, but it was very dirty.  Besides, we are nicely vested courtesy of Salinas Construction.

We found a DVD. Big Ass Babes.   We think it was nominated for a Oscar.  It was either Best Costume Design or Best Story.  We can’t recall which. Anyway, it was a two-part DVD so wasn’t playable.

We also pulled out a red, lady’s backpack. It was in very bad condition and full of clothes.  It must have predated the motorhome.  The clothes were matted together and the only recognizable articles of clothing were a hat (Old Navy) and a jacket (Cherokee).  The rest was a rotted and unrecognizable.

People seem to be protesting everything these days. Wonder what this guy has against the Washington State Department of Transportation.   Increasing congestion by lowering speed limits to decrease the volume of traffic?  Designing the Bothell Braid to cause traffic issues throughout the day instead of only rush hour?  No, we didn’t paint this.  Honest.

After we passed the Securite Gun Club, two very nice cars passed about one minute apart. They were painted with the Securite Gun Club logos.  We’re not sure what the cars were, but you can bet they cost more than our Toyota.  And they sure sounded better then our Toyota.

As we mentioned above, we did not find any money today.  This broke a seven-day, money-finding streak for a total of $2.37.  It was disheartening to see the streak end.  Those guys with the cars could have tossed a few pennies our way.