Monday, July 5th, 2021 – Safeway
Today was the observed Independence Day holiday, so there was little traffic. We did not find any money but did remove a very dehydrated squirrel from the road. Dehydrated is a TrashWalking term for flat and no longer alive.
Today’s walk is brought to you by the letter “D.”
The Independence Day fireworks were much tamer this year due to a ban because of the high fire risk. However, there were still some fireworks to be heard on Norway Hill.
First, on the left, at the bottom of the Tolt pipeline, someone set off some very tame fireworks. If this was all anyone ever set off, there would be no problem, unless of course, they left their debris like these guys did.
Then, in the center was a side yard where someone set off a bunch of fireworks, several of them illegal even without the ban. This is a heavily wooded area.
Finally, on the right was evidence of a different type of fireworks. The package is labelled “Large Size Condoms.” Well duh, what else is a guy going to buy? Do they even sell a small size?
We did find a tool.
A nice drill screwdriver bit. Not much of a tool, but it counts.
Finally, a real sign that the pandemic is coming to an end.
Exercise equipment set out for the taking.
Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 – Park-and-Ride
Another nice day, but no money. Meanwhile, we continue to pick up roadkill, a bird and a rat today.
We picked up a lot of random trash, but mostly boring stuff like a Starbucks reusable cup that someone decided to not reuse.
And like some random household items that someone did not want.
This is mildly interesting.
A metal Egypt emblem. Okay, maybe not that interesting.
There is a gully on Norway Hill that we look down and see cans that were tossed. When we can see five, we climb down to retrieve them.
There are always more than were visible from the road. Today there were a total of ten, par for the course.
Wednesday, July 7th, 2021 – Safeway
More nice weather. We removed a roadkill rabbit from the road and again, found no money. In fact, this would have been a very boring walk except for this guy.
Soon after we started our walk, we spotted an Opossum in the street.
It was wandering around, walking in circles. As we approached, we expected that it would run away, but it seemed to ignore us. We now suspect the opossum was blind because it seemed oblivious to us.
At one point we tapped it on its side with our trash grabber and it reacted in a defensive, teeth bared.
When there was no more activity from us it continued in its circular walking, nose to the ground. We think it was blind and searching for food. At one point, a vehicle came down the street when the animal was in the way, and we made sure the car saw it. Continuing its circular pattern, it eventually, wandered off the road and we moved on.
There was a pickup truck parked across the road with a young couple in it. Janet spoke to them. They had been watching the opossum for about fifteen minutes. They asked if we were from PAWS, probably because of our vests. Later in the day, we drove down the street and were glad there was no roadkill Opossum.
We picked up a cell phone battery.
Normally, we pick these up with other pieces of the cell phone, but not this time. We had not heard of Coolpad, but they are a Chinese company that sells cheap cell phones. No thanks. They probably have TicTok preinstalled.
As we approached home, we found another McLitterers bag.
It was standard with clean platters, cups, used tea bags and unused condiments and utensils.
Thursday, July 9th, 2021 – 160th to 124th Street
This morning, we removed a rat and a frog from the road. Normally we do not show photos of roadkill, but this reminded us of a the roadrunner and coyote cartoons, but with a frog.
Like this.
But there was no boulder.
We did find a tool on our walk.
Only an Allen wrench, but at least it is not another socket.
We found two unopened beverages left for us.
An Agave Spiked Pineapple Seltzer. We understand why this one was unopened. And a Rockstar Sugar Free can, leaking its contents.
We came across a “Clue” game tally sheet.
We are thinking it was Colonel Mustard with the Rope in the Library?
Or, it could have been Mrs. Peacock with an overdose in the billiard room?
Or perhaps Miss Scarlet with a chainsaw in the kitchen?
It might make a good movie, “The English Manor Chainsaw Massacre IV.”
Friday, July 10th, 2021 – 100th Ave NE
This morning was a perfect day for walking with clear skies and a temperature of 55°F (12.8°C). We did remove a roadkill rat, but we did find a penny.
We were getting worried. This is the only money we found this week with only one walking day left. We really dislike getting shut out in a week without a cent to our name.
Someone purchased a can of Car Scents La Jolla Lemon car air freshener.
Then promptly tossed it out. We understand why. The scent seems to be somewhere between oranges (Janet) and vanilla (Chuck), neither of which we want our car to smell like. And, evidently, not La Jolla Lemon either.
Dog treats!
“Sit! Good dog, here’s a treat for you.”
“Shake! Good dog, here’s a treat for you.”
“Roll over! Good dog, here’s a treat for you.”
“Litter! Bad dog, no treat for you. And bite your master.”
Near the end of Juanita-Woodinville Way, there were several pages from a book or magazine scattered around on both of our sides of the road.
After some research, they were pages from a Journal published in 1976, British History Illustrated. That was unexpected.
The Table of Contents were interesting.
Wait, the Indian Mutiny Part IV? Oh, okay, Indians in India. Not our Native Americans.
We didn’t know what this was.
Google Lens kept pointing us to shower/swimming caps, but it was only about five inches wide and not stretchy. After some very-shrewd research and intuitive thinking, we saw the label on the inside. It is a Viking Bug Cleaning Mitt to clean bugs off your car windshield.
We did find one ant that probably tried to cross the mitt and fell into a pit.
We doubt Viking will use this as an advertisement.
Yet another male enhancement pill.
And the FDA has already flagged it with containing sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, which they do not even declare in their ingredients. We wouldn’t recommend this until their translation gets better. “MAKE COARSE.” We have no idea what this means, but it does not seem good. “MAKE BIGGER.” Yes, okay, that is obvious. But then “pure Chinese medicine, take one together with the black pill 45 minutes before bed time with 12 Onces of warm water?” What is a black pill? And what about a “once of warm water?” Sorry, we cannot apply our Trashwalking Seal of Approval (TSA) on this product until they improve their translation.
As we were approaching home, we spotted something shiny in the bushes.
It was a brand-new Dodge Challenger.
We shined our flashlight down the hill to see if it was occupied. The windows were tinted, and it was difficult to tell, but it appeared to be empty. We called the Bothell Police Dispatch and explained the situation. The dispatcher asked about anyone in the vehicle, so Chuck climbed down the hill for a closer look. It was empty.
The dispatcher asked that we wait at the site until an officer arrived. A few minutes later, a police cruiser arrived, and the officer proceeded to call in the information about the car.
The officer explained that the car was registered to a person in Lynden, WA, about ninety miles north near the Canadian border and was probably stolen. Someone stole the car and was coming over Norway Hill too fast, missed the turn, wrecked, and abandoned the car.
In our six years of walking, this is the most expensive thing we have found. And they wouldn’t let us keep it!
Saturday, July 11th, 2021 – Riverside Drive & Brickyard Road
Today’s walk was not as exciting as yesterday, but few are. We removed a roadkill rabbit and found more money.
Two dimes and a penny. The dimes were a few feet apart so probably part of the same coin spill. We looked around but did not find any more. That makes twenty-two cents for the week.
We did find another tool.
Yes, yet another boring socket.
On our way down the hill toward Riverside Drive, we were rewarded with another visit from the McLitterers.
That makes two this week and two last week. They seem to be making a regular return. They keep us supplied with recycle bags.
Also down the hill was an unopened set of bedsheets and pillowcases.
They are Charisma Queen Sheets sold at Costco. They were heavy, so we will pick them up later with the car. We will donate them to Vision House.
We found a discarded Piggly Wiggly gift card on the freeway exit.
Chuck remembers a Piggly Wiggly Grocery store from his childhood in Wiggins Mississippi. And it appears to be still there, according to Google Maps. That is like, well over sixty years ago. So why did this guy discard the card. Well, the nearest Piggly Wiggly Store is in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, over 1700 miles away. Okay, we get it. But why do you have to toss it out a window, you idiot.
We found an empty discarded Fisher Price Baby Moves DVD case.
So, is one of the Baby Moves teaching the baby to toss stuff out the window? If you have the DVD, let us know.
Okay, I have an old BBQ grill. It is dirty, missing the grills and plumbing.
It would cost twenty dollars to recycle it. What to do? Oh, I’ll put it on the sidewalk and add a “Free” sign. Problem solved. No longer my problem. After all, I did my part for society. I mean, I could have dumped it without the “Free” sign. I took responsibility for myself.
We found an unopened repair part.
It was a five-dollar belt retainer. First, Chuck does not even pay five dollars for a belt. Second, we don’t know how this would help to retain Chuck’s belt. Then it could be worth it. It can be pretty embarrassing if one’s belt is not retained.
For the last few Saturday walks, Janet has been eyeing a bunch of trash in the middle of a bunch of thorny berry bushes and decided it was time to take action.
She gave Chuck a small pair of clippers she carries and sent him in to pull out the trash. It took about fifteen minutes clipping the way into the bush and using the trash picker to pass stuff out for Janet to bag.
We got a large bag of trash, including the bag, a 2018 license plate, and a pair of Nike Flywire shoes. The shoes had been suspended in the brambles by the shoestrings and were good condition. Chuck’s size, too.
Trash Walking 