Monday, January 17th, 2022 – Safeway
The week started dry and cold. It is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and traffic was light. We found eight Mike’s Hard Lemonade cans on the hill today and started the week well with some money.
Not much, only a beat-up penny, but it will keep us from getting shut out.
Not on an official walk, but yesterday we were picking up some trash and found a bong in the bushes.
It was a nice, unbroken one and will make a good addition to our collection.
Starting the week off with more car parts.
A hubcap in very good shape. This is forty bucks to replace on Amazon. This appears to be the replacement for a custom Ultra Motorsports wheel.
Almost $300 dollars per wheel. I guess if you can afford $1200 for special wheels, you can afford a replacement hubcap when it falls off. Of course, you may want to know why it fell off.
This is kind of weird.
We found two half-full cans of Reddi Wip whipped cream about a half mile apart on Juanita-Woodinville Way, but nobody would be cooking on a road. There are a lot of non-cooking whipped cream activities on the Internet including some that are sexually-oriented like these from Cosmopolitan Magazine. WARNING: Cosmo has really changed over the years. Anyway, we tossed the cans.
Farther down Juanita-Woodinville Way, we found a discarded pair of pants.
Unknown if they are related to the whipped cream.
Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 – Park-and-Ride
This morning was dry and warmer at 45°F (7°C). It was very nice and we got a honk from Erin, the school teacher. But we found no money. We did find three more Mikes’ on the hill, but that is not like real money, or any money at all.
The walk today was uneventful. At the park-and-ride, where the busses park were five strips of packing paper and a large cardboard box.
Okay, looking at the photo, they did not look big, but like the mirror message “things may be larger than they appear,” they were. It took five minutes to wad up the paper and carry it all to the bus stop trash can.
And this is upsetting. Last Friday, we found a shoe.
It was a kid’s shoe on the left. We took a photo of it but did not publish it. Chuck ended up tossing it in the garbage. Today, four days later, we find it’s mate in the bushes. We could have donated them to GoodWill. Chuck will never hear the end of it from Janet. “You need to keep shoes and gloves for several days!” Yeah, yeah.
During our traverse of the park-and-ride, we picked a bunch of trash.
Then at the end of the lot was a truck that looked suspiciously like a metro worker’s truck. We didn’t get close enough to check, but the driver better not have been waiting for us to clean up the park-and-ride for him.
And we have not seen this guy for a long time.
When we first started walking over five years ago, we wore some light runner’s vests. One morning, in 2018, as we were walking through the park-and-ride, this truck pulled up and said he had trouble seeing us and gave us a couple of vests.
At first, Janet thought it was not her color. However, five years later we are still wearing the vests and proudly advertising Salinas Construction, who we consider our sponsor. However, the vests are starting to show some wear and tear. We may need to flag him down for another pair, but we would need to convince him that it was a good investment.
Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 – Safeway and 100th Ave NE
Today was much like yesterday, but it was Wednesday. No, you are not going to sneak anything by us.
Surprisingly, we found yet another whole egg nowhere near where we found the last hard-boiled egg a week or so ago.
This one had a hairline crack in it that allowed the contents to escape. So, this was really an eggshell. In retrospect, we should have been walking on eggshells, but we didn’t. It would have been harder to pick up.
Ack! When we arrived at the beer bus stop, we found a mess.
There were five Bud Light cans, that we expected. However, it looked as if someone purposely trashed the bus stop with food wrappers, Goodwill tags and food. The temporary metro stop marker was now in three parts instead of two. We recycled the lighter one.
So, another point, several weeks ago, we entered a request to remove the temporary bus stop markers at two stops. One eventually disappeared. This one is still here. Great customer service.
Near an auto repair facility, there are five or six cars in the parking lot that never appear to move. One morning we noticed that one had the engine running like someone was sleeping inside, keeping warm.
Today we found this in the parking lot.
A condom and the engine was not running, so perhaps they found another way to keep warm. Hopefully he was not alone and playing it safe.
Thursday, January 20th, 2022 – 160th to 124th Street
Today was a relatively warm morning with light rain at 50°F (10°C), relatively comfortable, and we got a honk from Erin the schoolteacher. Nice.
And we found more money.
Six cents together at the park-and-ride and a dime in the ditch along 100 Ave. Sixteen cents today. Woot!
We picked up a bag of hats.
Mostly. Six cold weather hats, a woman’s top and a single glove. It’s always one glove – as suggested earlier, we will keep it for a few days. Goodwill will be thrilled.
And, at the park-and-ride, a box of three condoms.
One used and the other two still sealed. Come on buddy, give it another try or two. The first time can be a bit awkward. Don’t give up.
Friday, January 21st, 2022 – 100th Ave NE
This morning was dry, but moderately cool. We warmed up by moving fast. Well, relatively fast. We are getting older.
We did find another penny today.
Hey, it all adds up.
Another wheel cover.
It was in fair condition but was scuffed up on the front. We recycled it.
While running errands, we saw what looked like a large piece of plastic.
We picked it up today. It was a 3 foot by 10 foot piece of very light fabric. With a little work, we were able to get it wrapped into a manageable roll.
We saved a duck from drowning.
It was teetering on the edge of falling through the grate into the water below. Oh, wait, it is a rubber duck. When we got it home and got a closer look, it appeared to be pure evil with those beady eyes. We should have let it fall.
It’s Friday and time to check on what has accumulated in Chuck’s vest pocket.
Another unused dog poop bag, an unworking pen, and an unmarked key card. There was a snap ring and a small piece of metal with a serrated edge, possibly from a tape dispenser or a mouse guillotine. Also, three Postmates promo cards, two used gift cards (we checked) and a business card from an army recruiter. No thanks, been there and done that.
Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 – Riverside Drive
It was cold and foggy this morning. As we started out the temperature was 34°F (1°C), and when we arrived home three-and-a-half hours later it was 32°F (0°C).
For the second week in a row, we found another tennis ball that didn’t make it down Brickyard Road hill.
One would think that once a tennis ball got any kind of movement down the hill it would be difficult to stop, but evidently not. Guess that’s how the ball bounces.
Hey! Someone else is picking up trash.
Guess not, someone dumped this, bag and all.
We found more car parts today.
A lug nut on a wheel stud that snapped off.
A locking gas cap nowhere near a gas station.
A lot of good the lock did.
We have wondered when this would happen. At the apartments on Woodinville Drive, there are many cars parked along the street. It is also one of the most prolific littering areas and we pick up a lot of trash around the cars. We look like we are checking the cars out with our flashlights, but we are very careful not to shine our lights into the cars. This morning, a person drove down the apartment driveway, stopped, and watched us for a few minutes.
He then parked a few spaces down the road and continued to watch until he figured out that we were not breaking into cars. One day, though, we suspect the police will get called on us.
Also across from the apartments, we saw this.
It looks like someone siphoned some gas. Maybe the locking gas cap belonged to this car. Anyway, it wasn’t us, honest. We have an electric car.
At the freeway offramp someone took out a sign.
And left some car parts. We left the car parts hoping whoever fixes the sign will take them. Notice the tire tracks. After the car struck the sign, it narrowly missed the fence and continued. Not seen in the picture, the tracks turned right on the street. That is a rough way to avoid a stop light.
And the sign?
There used to be a third turn-ahead arrow sign. Guess he can’t use the excuse that he didn’t see the sign.
We didn’t find any money today, so our totals for the week are,
- $0.18.
- Five car parts
- Twenty Mike’s Lemonade cans on Norway Hill.
- One evil duck
Trash Walking 