Monday, October 11th, 2021 – Safeway
Today we had a cool morning, no money, and a dead rabbit. Not a good way to start the week.
We periodically find shopping carts along our route. If they are from Safeway which we pass, we will roll them back to that store. They are normally near or close to a bus stop. Today we found one that was a full mile from Safeway.
We rolled it back to the Safeway carts. And yes, one wheel wobbled the entire way.
We picked up a lot of random trash, but not much of interest. We picked up a couple of dog balls that we tossed back over the most obvious fences. We did pick up a small basketball.
But it was a basket case.
On the top of Norway Hill, we have not seen the Zombie Cat for a while. When we first saw it, it was dark and all we saw was a pair of eyes roaming the lawn.
So, it was an honor to be there on its inaugural run of the season. We think it is meant to chop up and collect the leaves, but it is not doing a very good job so far. Actually, we heard from a neighbor that this is the second Zombie Cat. The first accidently got run over by an Amazon delivery person. Does that make this one a Zombie-Zombie Cat?
On our way back down Norway Hill, we met a neighbor and his dog, Misty, a ten-month-old malamute.
Misty is still a puppy and thinks nothing of standing and putting her paws on us. When she does this, she is taller than Janet. But fortunately, she is more interested in our trash bags than us old bags.
Tuesday, October 12th, 2021 – Park-and-Ride
This morning was a record low temperature for October 12th at 36°F (2°C). We suited up in full cold weather gear each with two shirts, a lined vest, a rain jacket for cold, not rain, and a neck gaiter that we found. We also wore a cloth glove on one hand and used a “Little Hottie” hand warmer. We were comfortable but had a few cold extremities. We didn’t need those toes anyway.
Evidently the Lime Scooter folks decided to setup a corner for them on our route.
There were six of them all lined up and ready to roll. But they were sending mixed messages. Some stated “Do Not Step” on the back fender. Others stated “Step to Brake” but also, “Caution, Hot.” Okay, so in one case, you apparently have no brakes. In the other case, you have brakes, but you may get burned. We will stick to walking, thank you.
We found another tool.
Yes, another 8 mm socket. It is better than nothing, but not by much.
Near a church parking lot, we picked a bag.
It was a “patient belongings” bag filled with garbage. We hauled it home and sorted it out between garbage and recycle. There was a sticker on it with the patient’s name, and date of birth. Sixty-three years old. He should know better.
Wednesday, October 13th, 2021 – Safeway and 100th Ave NE
Today was a full 10°F (5.5°C) warmer than yesterday with no rain. Nice.
We thought we found some steel wool.
But it appears to be part of a wig. At least we hope it was a wig and not real hair.
Under a bush past Safeway, we found a ditched bicycle.
An Excitok Magna 21-speed, dual-suspension mountain bike. It is selling on eBay for $350. Twenty-one speed? It seems you would spend all your time shifting. Chuck still has his old twenty-five-plus-year-old mountain bike. It only has 14 speeds and cost $750 in 1994 which is about $1,400 in today’s money. Anyway, we rolled it down to the sidewalk near Safeway. Hopefully the owners will find it.
The scammers are at it again.
Whenever you see a sign like this, the first question you should ask is “If you are so good at making money selling real estate, why are you spending your time teaching others how to do it?” There is no acceptable answer to this. SCAM! Second, Google the telephone number on the Internet. If it does not show up on a website. SCAM! Finally, Google for the words Learn, Real Estate, Investing, Scam. You will probably find a lot of articles including ones from the Federal Trade Commission. SCAM! There are no easy, free lunches out there for us normal folks. It takes dedication, hard work and perseverance to succeed.
For some reason, we think these signs are not going to last long.
By the way, we are half-way through the week, and we have found no money. Yes, you should feel guilty. Or perhaps learn Real Estate Investing.
Thursday, October 14th, 2021 – 160th to 124th Street
Today the temperature was similar to yesterday, but we were in a constant light mist. We can and did live with that. We didn’t want to bring up the subject of money again, but we did not find any money today and we are two-thirds of the way through the week.
To make matters worse, Janet found ninety-one cents in a parking lot while running an errand. She stubbornly claims it cannot be counted toward our walks and belongs in her personal piggy bank. And the Rules Committee agrees. Of course, Janet is the Rules Committee.
We are on a crusade to clean up construction debris and have had a couple of back-and-forth emails with the city about left-over debris. They have been very responsive, but there is a cone at the freeway bus stop.
If only there was a way to contact them. Okay, the last construction crew was not this company, so that is probably why they left it. We will try to contact AGS, but we do not hold out hope. Several months ago, we contacted a company, Big-D about a pylon that we noticed on our route and it was ignored. These look like minor problems until you want to get rid of them. They do not fit in our recycle can.
There are a lot of political signs out now and many of them have fallen over. We pick them up and set them in sight regardless of the candidate. When the campaign is over, we expect them to be removed and are not beyond harassing the candidates for signs left over a week.
Today there was a new, interesting, hand-made sign.
Bad4Woodinville.com. We are not in Woodinville so have not been involved in their politics. But, if you are interested, visit the site. It does sound like someone is stacking the council, but that is only one side of the argument.
Bonded!
Well not anymore. They need to use a better bonding agent than packing tape.
Friday, October 15th, – 100th Ave NE
Wow. No rain today and the temperature was 50°F (10°C), almost like walking in the summer. Except the streets were wet, there were leaves everywhere, and it was dark. But other than that, it was like summer.
As we said, it is dark when we start our walks, but we still wave at folks as they pass. We have no idea of their reaction, but we assume, like when it is light, about half the folks wave back. This guy was not taking any chances.
He lit up his cell phone and waved back. Talk about going above and beyond.
We found a couple of car parts. First, an emblem.
It was either “AIS or STI or STt”. It turns out to be a “STI.” It is for a 2011-2014 Subaru left front fender. Selling for $28. Damn, and we recycled it.
Then we found a decorative wheel spinner.
It was metal but bolted to part of a broken plastic wheel cover. It had obviously hit something and broke off. This was good, because on the back it was stamped “For off-road use only” and it was off the road when we found it. Then again, why would a fake wheel spinner be limited to off-road use?
Okay, for the young’uns out there, what is a wheel spinner? It is the way old sports and race cars secured the wheels to the car. They used a brass hammer to remove and replace the spinner. This reminded us of our most telling video of how racing has changed. Here is a video comparing a 1950’s pitstop with today. Or at least five years ago.
Chuck found some flowers.
They looked pretty good to him, so he put them in his recycle bag and waited until he caught up with Janet. When he presented them to her, she looked at him, then at the flowers. Then she told Chuck he could toss the flowers in the bushes and recycle the cellophane. So much for romance.
Saturday, October 16th, 2021 – Riverside Drive & Brickyard Road
This morning was warmer and dry which made for a nice walk. As usual, we picked up a lot of trash and spent too much time in the Bothell parking lot. But, on the last day of our walking week, we found some money.
A very beat-up penny across from the apartments on Woodinville Drive, a dime on the freeway onramp and a quarter at the bottom of the Tolt Pipeline. Thirty-six cents for the week.
We used to say that we’ve found everything on our walks but the kitchen sink. We cannot say that anymore.
In front of our favorite trailer park, we found a discarded kitchen sink, what looks to be damaged radiator cores and a discarded dishwasher. Too much for us to handle, so we will contact Bothell.
Then more illegal dumping.
At the Park-and-Ride, someone left a large bag of trash. It had holes in it with bits of paper around it. The crows tried to get it open and failed. We cleaned up the loose paper, but the bag was heavy. We left it for the metro guys to handle.
We have never seen a wheel damaged like this.
“Hey, Dave, shouldn’t we get the wheel fixed?” “Nah, that’s why they put an extra wheel on each side.”
On the freeway offramp, an unused condom.
At least they were pulling off the freeway to use it.
In some bushes, we found a keyring.
It had a single key on it with a Planet Fitness membership card and a Fred Meyer rewards tag. We found a set of keys once before that had a Planet Fitness card and we were able to track the owner down. We will drop by a Planet Fitness and see if the membership is still active.
More beer can archeology.
On the way down the hill, a beer can surfaced. An old pull-tab Schlitz 12-oz can. The pull tabs went out of use in the 1970s because of people pulling the tab off, dropping it into the can then accidentally swallowing it. They were replaced by the stay-on tabs in wide use today. So this can was probably tossed over the side sometime in the 1970s.
We have walked down this hill well over 200 times and only found it today. Shoddy work ethics.
While walking down the hill this morning in the dark, we heard some eerie noises.
We certainly did not stick around to investigate. It is getting too close to Halloween.
Trash Walking 
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