A “Tail” of Four Puppies

October 7th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

Today was another pleasant walk, dry with a high overcast and 51 F.  The forecast shows the temperatures will fall to 32 F or below toward the end of the week.  We need to get out the hand warmers.  We removed a medium-sized raccoon from the center of Juanita-Woodinville Way.

We found no money, but did find someone’s wedding band.  We will again attempt to find the owner.  This is the second one we’ve found on our walks and were unsuccessful in locating the owner.  Hopefully we’ll be more successful this time.

We saw a tennis ball in the ditch.  When we pulled it out, we found it was a Tuff Ball, not a tennis ball.  It looked like a tennis ball.  This would be embarrassing to a tennis player.  “Dang, I forgot to bring a ball.”  “No problem.  I have one… oops.”

Another BMW emblem.  We’ve found a few of these.  BMW needs to find some better adhesive.

Another dogs for sale sign. Mini Eskimo Puppies.  So are these puppies raised by a small Aleut?

A boat fender.  It looks like someone’s planning to moor their boat on Juanita Woodinville Way.  Not sure the City of Kirkland will go along with it.

A lost hotel key card.  The Semiahmoo Golf Resort in Blaine Washington.  Whoever lost this must have a heck of a swing.  He probably used a 000-wood.

Janet found a lei that she is very proud of.  Celebrating with a beer.  Cheers.

Some tossed the wrapper for a “Live to Hunt” decal out the window. He probably put it next to his “Live to Litter” decal. 

At the Tolt Pipeline, several Q-Tips and other litter. 

There was also a Hollister tote bag with something inside.  

When we got home, we sorted out the contents.  Mostly it was pot and vaping paraphernalia and wrappers.  All empty.  Note the empty bottle of Clear Eyes as discussed last week.

 

October 8th, 2019 – Park-and-Ride Route.

This morning the temperature dropped to 47 F which wouldn’t normally be too bad, but it was also wet with a brisk breeze.  We wore our rain jackets.  We got a honk from the SUV what may be Mr. Handyman, but that’s just a guess.  No money and didn’t find any roadkill.  Well, we did find what looked like the wing of a crow, but the rules state that at least 50% of the roadkill (by weight) must be remaining to count as an official removal.

While waiting to cross the street at the freeway, we walked a little way down the off ramp picking up a bunch of cigarette butts, as usual.  But someone locked their car and threw away the key.    The person must have hated the car.  The key had been run over several times to the point we can’t even tell the make of the car.  So this is the “No Name Key.”  [groan]

A word from our sponsor.  This walk is brought to you by the number 3.

 

We found a plastic shovel in a ditch outside a backyard fence.  A kid probably used it to tunnel under the fence and got caught, so he’s probably in “the hole” now.  He should have kept the shovel.  We tossed it back over the fence so he can try again.

We found and empty engine lubricant bottle.  Engine Restorer.  $12 on Amazon.  Looking around the Internet, the reviews appear to be mostly good.  This is the 8-Cylinder Formula.  Wonder how it differs from the 6-Cylinder Formula.  One reviewer used it on a lawn mower and said it worked great.  Zero to 60 in seven seconds.

Many, many years ago, we had a used 1967 Cougar XR-7 similar to this one.  Baby blue with a Landau top.      We really liked the car and it ran great around town.  Then we took it on a road trip from San Jose to Disneyland in Anaheim, then to Ft. Lewis to visit relatives and back to San Jose.  We used 32 quarts of oil on that trip.  It didn’t smoke and didn’t leak, we don’t know where the oil was going.  We bought an additive that was supposed to reduce oil consumption.  It looked like honey as we poured it in.  It didn’t change a thing.  Well, the exhaust may have smelled a bit sweeter.

Rescue of the day.  A lost flag.  It’s drying in the garage and, as usual, we will dispose of it properly.

Good deed of the day.  A few months back, someone took it upon themselves to put up a container for crosswalk flags.  However the weight of the flags caused the can to tilt, sometimes dumping the flags on the ground.  Today, we remembered to bring some zip-ties  and secured the can.

 

October 9th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

Today was 35 F but calm and dry.  It was more comfortable than yesterday.  We found no money and did not come across any roadkill, but we did wave to the Happy Jogger.

As we came out of our driveway, we were greeted by a Lime Scooter.  The position of the wheel was such that it perfectly reflected the flash back at the camera.  Guess it didn’t like its picture taken.

At three different places on our walk we picked up the residue of fender benders.  Most were small pieces that fit easily in our bags.  However, the pieces on the right were one to two feet long.  We left them at the bottom of Norway Hill and picked them up with the car later in the day.

Speaking of car parts, we found a cap close to the Safeway gas station.  It didn’t look like a radiator, oil or fuel cap.  Perhaps windshield wiper fluid?  It doesn’t matter, it ended up in the recycle anyway.

Someone left us their leftovers.  No thanks.  No, we didn’t open it up.  We have good instincts about food, especially if it’s left on the road for us.

Another eButt.  

These are getting more common, but they may become scarce.  The State of Washington had placed a 120-day moratorium on the sale of flavored Vapes.  They are allowing the Tobacco-flavored vapes.  We’re not sure that makes sense.  Are the Tobacco-flavored ones less harmful?

Someone dropped a key at a bus stop.  It was a Ford key.  Perhaps the Ford wouldn’t start so they tossed the key and took the bus.  Sounds like a good story to us and we’re sticking with it.

Another sole shoe. Not a pair and did not look very comfortable, so it got recycled.  Speaking of shoes, our sixth pair since we’ve been walking currently have 817 miles on them.  This is double the recommended limit.  New ones are on the way.

We found a happy flower.  It turned out to be very versatile.  It could be a hair beret or pinned on the tyke’s clothes.  Then, again, it was on the ground.  Perhaps they need a third method, we’ve had good luck with duct tape.

At the top of the Hill, we found a glass bong to add to our collection. It was probably part of the paraphernalia we found a couple of days ago.  It’s broken, but it can probably be fixed.  We have a nice collection.  We should open a pot supply store.  We just need a catchy slogan.  How about, “All the Pot that Nobody Wants?”

Also on the Hill,  another Taco Time litterer.  It has been several weeks since the McLitterers have made an appearance, and they have been supplanted by the Taco Time Litterers.  They may be one in the same, but we don’t know for sure.

For a nickname, one of our readers suggested the “Taco Time Tokus“.  Tokus is Yiddish for rump or ass.  Fitting.  What is Yiddish for “hole?”

 

October 10th, 2019 – Park-and-Ride Route.

This morning was dicey.  Two of our weather apps showed it was 32F and one was 31F.  As we’ve stated before, we do not walk in weather below 32F.  We decided to go for our walk.  It was not too bad at all.  Our fingers were cold most of the time despite of our “Little Hotties” from Costco.  Get your mind out of the gutter, the hand warmers, not the cute cashier.

We waved to the Northwest Medical truck driver, got honks and a headlight flash on Norway hill.  We also got a verbal thank you from a passing car.  People seem to become more sympathetic when it is cold.  Then again, if they were really sympathetic, they would offer us a ride.  Of course, if the circumstances were switched, we wouldn’t pick up weird-looking people like us either.

At the beginning of our walk, we found a wrecked Toyota 4Runner parked by the apartments on 112th Ave NE.  

Following the trail of radiator fluid, the vehicle came down 112th to this spot then backed p to its present location.

Later, on Juanita Woodinville Way, we found an oil spill and debris from a fender bender.    So, the accident probably happened here and the driver drove the car around the corner to the apartments for storage.

On Juanita Woodinville Way, we found more NO2 canisters.  We couldn’t have missed these, so they are new.  However, we didn’t find any at the top of Norway Hill.

Another bungee cord for our collection? No.  It had been run over too many times.  We could have spent some time unbending the hooks, but it was cold.  Sorry.

Okay, this is suspicious. We have only seen a few “Dogs for sale” signs in the past.  In the past few days, we’ve found three.  Teacup Havanese and Maltese, Mini Eskimos and Toy Aussies.  Searching for the phone numbers we found a bunch of images from the Seattle Times classified ads.  Is someone in the area trafficking  in mini-hot dogs?

 

October 11th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

This morning was about five degrees warmer than yesterday but seemed colder for some reason.  At the end of Juanita Woodinville Way, past Safeway, we got a wave out the window from a person setting at the stop light.  Then, at the Safeway parking lot, we were hailed by a lady who told us how often she sees us, how much she appreciates us and wanted to know our names. A nice warm-up for our walk.

We found this device that looked like one our grandkids’ transformer toys.  It turned out to be part of a Joby smart phone camera mount.  It may come in handy one day.

Someone left half of a Think bar.  “I think I’ll try one of these think! bars. Whoa who eats these things?”  Out the window.  Thanks, but we don’t eat them either.

Another tool candidate for our tool collection.  A sawzall blade.  It was dull, rusty and well run-over.  It didn’t make it into the collection.  Recycled.

We found another CD.  The disc was damaged and the only thing that was playable was the disk directory.  It was a Led Zeppelin album Physical Graffiti.  Nothing was playable, which may have been a good thing.

We are getting close to Halloween, so we may have found more parts of costumes.  This could be part of a roaring twenties flapper’s headband.  Then, it did not seem to be that old.

Also, a skull and crossbones pendant.  At least we hope this is part of a Halloween costume.  “Hey, mom.  Look at the great necklace I bought!”  “Well, at least it’s not a tatoo.”

 

October 12th, 2019 – Riverside Drive.

This morning was clear and a comfortable 41F.  We received several waves from passersby but, again found no money.  We got shut out this week.

We found more trash than usual on our Saturday morning walks.  This is what we arrived home with.  This is certainly not a record, but more than normal.  We did get rid of the more cumbersome items along the way.  How did this happen?  Keep reading.

The first thing we found on our way down to Riverside Drive was another Taco Time bag full of wrappers. The Taco Time Tokus continues to make his mark while the McLitterers are a no-show.  It’s like Superman.  You never see Clark Kent and Superman at the same time.

A little farther down the hill, we found this mess. Someone ransacked a vehicle and dumped what they didn’t want.  The debris was scattered down a bank and we spent several minutes picking it up.  There were a lot of sprinkler parts, Silverado truck manuals, a Discovery Pass and some Jiffy Lube receipts, among other things. We left the items in a separate bag and picked it up on our way back up the hill.  Later, we called a telephone number we found on the receipts but have not had an answer so far.    

At the Sammamish River Park parking lot, another Sutter Home wine bottle, as expected.    

Also, the trash we left two weeks ago.  Bothell Parks department still hasn’t picked it up.  To be fair, we didn’t report it.  We’ll do that this week.  We probably have a reputation with the city.

We also have a reputation with King County.  We have reported trash people dump on the river access road that we can see from Riverside Drive.  This morning we noticed it had been cleaned up.  Then we saw this.  They blocked vehicle access to the road.  Guess they got tired of us reporting the trash.  Bet we will eventually find trash dumped behind the barrier.  Or worse, on Norway Hill.

We found some tools.  A nice screwdriver that had barely been run over at all that will do well in our tool collection.

And some clippers that won’t.  It’s a shear shame.

Some thoughtful person dumped a Lime eBike down a gully.  We’ve rescued these before but they threaten to call the police if you move them without unlocking.  Very ungrateful.  We decided to leave it and report it to the Lime organization.  Later, about an hour after we reported it, we received this email back:

“Hello,

Thank you for reaching out to Lime Rider Support. We appreciate your time and effort. We have dispatched our local operations team to retrieve this vehicle. If you see anything else out there, please let us know!

We are here to help.

Thank you,

Lime Support
France”

France?  Wow, Lime has a big support staff.  Merde!

On our way back on NE Woodinville Drive, sunrise occurred in a spectacular fashion. Ten minutes later it was grey again, but it was nice while it lasted.  

Under the freeway, we found a day planner someone tossed off the overpass.  Eccolo Dayna Lee Collection Pink “Her Greatest Power” Flexi-cover Journal/Notebook, Acid-free Lined Sheets.   It looked like it was used for planning a wedding. Guess the wedding’s off.  It was waterlogged and heavy so we left it in a recycle bin.

On the way up the hill, we found someone had tossed a bag of trash over the guardrail and down an embankment.  We pulled it out.  It was a mixture of recycling, garbage and compost so we sorted it out at home.  There were some notes that had been torn in half.  Whoa, Saturday October 12th is today.  TrashWalking helpful tip of the day for litterers:  use a shredder.

Now, this is exciting!  A new brand of cigarette trash.  It must be imported because we cannot find a local source for them.  They appear to be Brazilian based on their Instagram Page.

We found more marking paint tossed by a worker marking underground utilities.  The can still had some paint in it, so we spent a few minutes adding our own markings.  Just being helpful.

Finally, no more of this sissy toy, mini, teacup puppies. This is one is fit for a King!King Charles Puppies.  Aw, Jeez.  Really?

Toward the end of our walk, as we approached the apartments on 112th, a pickup truck sat idling in the driveway.  As we approached, the passenger asked if we drank coffee.  We replied yes.  Then the passenger said she wanted to give us a Starbucks card.  One of us said “Thank you, we’re good.”  I won’t mention which of us said it, but I’ve told her before, that if someone offers you a Starbucks card, TAKE IT!