Monday, September 28th, 2020 – Safeway
Another nice day for walking with clear skies and no rain. Also, no money. Not a good way to start a week, folks. Let’s be a bit looser with the change. Money doesn’t grow on McDonalds cups, after all.
We did find a nice long USB cable, not those three-foot cables we find all the time.
But, of course, it had been run over and the connector was smashed. We put it in our electronics recycle box with the rest of the three-foot cables.
We found this golf ball.
Way too happy for 5:45 am. So, what’s the story with this. It is supposed to make you feel better when you fish it out of the water hazard at the golf course? We guess a lot of these get tossed back in.
So, does this count as distracted driving?
“Ma’am, I’m citing you for distracted driving.” “But officer, my teeth are so white, and my breath is so fresh. Here, smell.” “And for not wearing a mask.“
People, it says “Clothes and Shoes.”
Not outdated child seats, plastic file holders and broken furniture. You’re supposed to put those items on the curb with a “free” sign on them. Learn the rules.
We found a Husky-brand flashlight.
At first, we only found the body without batteries or the endcap. After some searching, we also found the endcap. We have found several flashlights, but this was the only one opened with no batteries. It’s a heavy-duty one, $20 at Home Depot. When we got home, we put new batteries in it, and it was very bright. Score! The next day I was showing it to a friend and the batteries were dead. Well, now we know why they tossed it.
More partying on Norway Hill.
We’re pretty sure this was not the slugs.
Tuesday, September 29th, 2020 – Park-and-Ride
Another nice day, and you guys responded with money!
It wasn’t much, only a penny. And it was in the turn lane for the freeway onramp and in bad shape. Anyway, thank you. Kinda. We’re fairly sure it’s a penny, though.
We also removed a roadkill rabbit from the street. It was also in bad shape. We couldn’t tell if it was one or two rabbits, but it/they came off the road as one.
Overall, this was a very boring day. Sure, lots of normal trash, but nothing interesting.
We played it safe. <Educational mode>The safety glasses on the left are safe to use.
The ones on the right are not safe. And neither was the wearer. </Educational mode>
We said it was a boring day. We could hold a Zoom meeting on the safety glasses if you wish. Let us know so we can pull the bad ones out of the recycle bin.
Wednesday, September 30th, 2020 – Safeway
The smoke is back, but much diminished from a few weeks ago when the Air Quality Index reached 230. Today the AQI was a mere 63, barely into the Moderate Range. However, for whatever the reason, it is having an effect on the appearance of the sun.
We arrived at the top of Norway Hill as the sun was just appearing over the Cascades.
We watched as the sun rose from behind the mountains into the smoke.
Other than the smoke, it was a nice day. On the plus side, no roadkill, but on the other hand, no money. Things are looking bleak this week.
We did find a couple of tennis balls.
The one on the left was outside the KinderCare and we tossed it back over the fence. The one on the right had no obvious home, so we put it in our ball collection. It was pretty ratty. We should have kept the first ball and tossed this one into the KinderCare.
We picked up another empty dime bag.
These bags seem to have death symbols on them like the skulls and crossbones. Perhaps the Surgeon General forced the drug dealers to put warning messages on the bags:
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Drug use can also lead to an addiction. An addiction is a long-lasting brain disorder. People with an addiction can’t stop taking drugs on their own. They continue to use drugs even when they know that bad things can happen.
But it wouldn’t fit on the bag, so the Drug Dealer Industry agreed to death icons.
In the middle of the street on 145th, we found these items together.
Both had been run over multiple times. The item on the left is the top of a “weed grinder.” We picked up one of these before. It was only the top; we didn’t find any sign of the body of the grinder. By the way, MariJ’s Highway Pot Shop shows permanently closed on Google. Wonder why?
Probably another victim of the pandemic.
More amateurs.
A piece of furniture with no “Free” sign. The center drawer had initials carved in it.
“AV.” We’re not sure what AV stands for, but it could be the initials of Amleto Vespa, an Italian mercenary and secret agent in the early 1900’s.
Or not.
Thursday, October 1st, 2020 – Park-and-Ride
Today was like yesterday with some mild smoke. As we started our walk, the full moon was on the horizon.
It was dark orange because of the smoke, but the iPhone camera overexposed it, so it looks white. We will try again tomorrow if the weather cooperates.
As the morning progressed, fog set in and we were unable to see the sunrise. We removed a rat from the roadway on Norway Hill.
On the way to the park-and-ride, we saw some balloons.
They looked a little deflated. Yes, we felt the same way.
In a church parking lot, a tree fell over.
Embarrassing. I was probably planted on sinking sand.
Whoa! About a block up 100th from 145th, we found the rest of the weed grinder from yesterday.
When we arrived home, we unscrewed the body of the grinder and found a nickel! Our week’s take just increased by 500%. Who said pot is bad? It made this guy forget his nickel. Ka-Ching!
Friday, October 2nd, 2020 – Safeway
We were ready to get a better photo of the smoke-red moon, but there was a light fog so no moonset and no sunrise. And we might add, no money. We removed a very roadkill rabbit. It was so roadkill, it needed two trips, but we won’t go into the details.
At the location where we found Amleto Vespa’s desk, the desk was gone.
In its place was a portable heater or air conditioner or air purifier. Whatever it was, we’re sure it didn’t belong to Amleto.
For some reason, we started seeing a lot of spider webs this morning. We think it may have been due to the fog, but they were very evident.
A spider condominium. In this photo, there are at least five webs in this small tree. Wonder what the rent is?
The high point of our walk was finding a bungee cord.
It was in very good condition unlike most we find.
We found several postings on Norway Hill.
“Entering multiple residents’ homes for food, shelter and pets.” So, is this the proverbial cat burglar?
It would look a lot more intimidating without the clown neck ruffle.
Saturday, October 3rd, 2020 – Riverside Drive
Saturday morning was a lot like yesterday with mild temperatures and fog. We finally found some more money.
Eleven cents. An extremely battered dime and a bright shiny penny. We wish it were a shiny dime and a crusty penny. A day of reckoning with the bank is coming and we would prefer to have shiny high-denominations coins.
We did see another nickel. We saw it while we were crossing the busy NE 160th Street but it was half imbedded in the tar and we had to leave it. Next Saturday, we will be better prepared.
We also needed to remove a rabbit and a snake from the road. Unlike the rabbit, the snake was in very good condition.
It looked to be a Common Garter Snake. But after some Internet investigation based on this article, we think this is a Ribbon Snake. They are different, but not in a major way. A major difference would be if they are dangerous to us. No in both cases.
Someone tossed a Craig lightning cable for Apple devices.
It was braided and bore a slight resemblance to the Ribbon Snake. $13 on Amazon.
Under the freeway, we found a plug that described in great detail how to turn the appliance on and off, how to test the short circuit safety features and how to reset it.
We don’t think it matters anymore.
More drug paraphernalia.
A needle and cotton balls. The cotton balls are used to filter the heroine before injecting it.
This was one big cherry.
Actually, a big rubber ball. We left it. It was too big to carry and we didn’t want to pop it.
Someone was a few parts shy of a plumbing job.
An 8-inch piece of brass pipe and a Honeywell Thermocouple for a hot water heater. Both had been run over but are in reasonable condition considering, only slightly bent. We’ll let them go cheap.
Another set of lost keys.
Unfortunately, they had been run over and the key fob was destroyed. But fortunately, there was a gym membership card on what was left of the keyring, and we were able to contact the owner.
This is worrisome.
A lost lug nut and a trailer hitch pin. We’ve picked up forty or fifty lug nuts during our walks but only a dozen or so hitch pins, linch pins and the like. Losing a hitch pin can be very bad.
Finally, in the park-and-ride, someone left us three-quarters of a bottle of body mist.
Victoria’s Secret Glitter Hustle. Let’s see, 24K Caramel, Vanilla Kiss and Night Fever? They had us going until Night Fever. Sounds like yet another COVID-19 symptom.
It was a bit strong for us, but it did make the garbage bags we carry smell better.
Trash Walking 