Monday, March 27th, 2023 – Safeway
This was a great way to start our walking week. It was 32°F (0.0°C) with a slight breeze making it very uncomfortable. Come on, it is almost April and we’re still playing with freezing temperatures? You’d think we were still in Idaho.
But it was kind of worth it. Janet’s Monday, Wednesday and Friday excursions to the service stations and fast-food drive-throughs are paying off.
Three dimes and a penny for thirty-one cents. So, is it worth frostbite in a couple of digits? Probably.
As we passed the KinderCare we did not find anymore severed doll heads which is good. However, we saw the reason.
They have instigated a harsh timeout policy. Like being taken behind the barn, but a tree instead. “And no smoking!”
Janet found an abandoned Safeway shopping basket.
But Chuck got to carry it back to Safeway. Go figure.
On Norway Hill, we found a wrapper for a ten-pack of Fireball bottles and a condom.
Okay, this goes back to the “Liquor’s quicker” side of the argument, but the prophylactic had a redish tint to it. So, were some kind of fireball condom shots involved?
Tuesday, March 28th, 2023 – Park-and-Ride
Today it nicely warmed to 44°F (6.7°C) with only a slight breeze which made for a more comfortable walk. And at a bus stop, we found yet another dime.
So far this week, we have four dimes and a penny. We can live with that. One dime at a time.
At the corner where the guitar player sits, someone gave him a care package.
It contained a neatly-folded pair of socks and a Quaker Chewy energy bar. We could understand the socks. Perhaps they are small and he has big feet, but the Quaker Energy bar? Perhaps he doesn’t like Quakers. Or maybe we are missing something. Last week, we found a bag of unopened Panera potato chips and Janet ate them. Today, Chuck asked her if she wanted to eat the unopened Quaker bar. Her answer was no and gave Chuck the infamous give-me-a-break eye-role. Maybe she doesn’t like Quakers either. Life’s mysteries.
Someone lost some plumbing parts.
A Kohler Air-Gap kit, $23 at Home Depot, and Dishwasher Installation kit, $32 at Home Depot. The Dishwasher kit was in very good condition, the Air-Gap plug, not so much. It was plastic and had been runover. This is counter intuitive, but the Air-Gap had way too many air gaps to be useful. However, as Chuck has learned over the years, every plumbing job requires three trips to the hardware store. So, this guy was just being proactive.
Wednesday, March 29th, 2023 – Safeway and 100th Ave NE
Today was another nice walking day at 44°F (6.7°C). We found no money but did remove a roadkill rabbit from the street. Well, most of a roadkill rabbit. Okay, not most, but some. It had been well travelled for a couple of days, so that should count, right?
We may have found another roadkill, but it was totally unidentifiable.
Janet contended it was an animal with a curly tail. Chuck thought it was as a sponge of some kind with a loop to hang up to dry. After due consideration, Janet said, no, it was a tail. After due consideration, Chuck decided to agree.
Okay, no money and questionable roadkill, we did find a tool.
Another socket. It was probably a 10mm, but it was rusty and hard to tell.
But we did find this.
After some searching, we found it was this: “Colorful Wacky Track Toys Relieving Stress and Anxiety Snake Puzzles Smooth Surface Snap Click Fidget Chain Toys with 48 Knots and 24 Track Blocks.” Okay, we don’t know about the “Wacky” claim, but we do know the seven-buck price would not aid in relieving stress or anxiety.
Thursday, March 30th, 2023 – 160th to 124th Street
The weather today was cooler at 41°F (5.0°C) but other than removing a roadkill rabbit, we found nothing of interest. Well, there were two 14-Hands Wine cans but nothing like the amount of cans and bottles we’ve found before and we did not take a photo. We returned home with the usual amount of trash, but no photos. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Friday, March 31st, 2023 – 100th Ave NE
Today’s weather was much like yesterday, but with added light rain and a breeze, but we were rewarded with no roadkill and some money.
First at the 7Eleven, Janet found a dime and two pennies. Then she found nothing at the her first mining spot, the Shell station, but the drive-through, name not to be mentioned, three dimes, a nickel and two pennies for a total take today of forty-nine cents. And yes, Chuck remains a kept man.
We did also find a tool.
A very nice bungee cord, not run-over at all. The label states “Do Not Remove this Label” in several languages. We don’t know what else it stated because it did not tell us to read it. But it was probably written by a lawyer. So, oh well.
Across from the Safeway, we found a tossed shopping list, evidently for a party.
It includes,
- Four tablecloths.
- Forks.
- Serving utensils.
- Cocktail napkins[?] Or recipes[?]
- Pickles[?] for Mary
- Cups.
- Balloons.
- Wine glasses, of course.
What kind of party is it? At the top of the list is a scribbled out note that seems to say, “How do people sit in 777.” We didn’t know what this question was about, so we consulted ChatGPT. Its answer:
“The seating arrangement in a Boeing 777 can vary depending on the airline’s configuration and class of service. However, the most common configuration is a three-class layout, including First Class, Business Class, and Economy Class.”
And proceeded to explain all the details. So perhaps Mary, the party person, is retiring and they are sending her on a trip and they are determining what class to send her? Or maybe we should just have sent the entire note to ChatGPT.
Today Janet came across two discarded Starbucks cups and this sign.
Perhaps we need to find some new walking routes.
We found a small cup labelled “Pup Cup.”
After some research, we found that Starbucks serve Pup Cups. Great, now they are teaching dogs to litter. In a different way.
We picked up this.
It was only about four inches long. Perhaps it was a Sunday School project to make sheaves? Or a Halloween project to make a small witch’s broom? Or some guy’s first try at making a joint? Wrong kind of weed fella. We’ll stick with sheaves.
It’s Friday, time to check out Chuck’s vest pocket.
Starting at the top was a car part of some kind. It had a number on it that allowed us to identify it as a Floor drain plug for a 2005 Toyota Echo. Next to it was a filter of some kind, but we couldn’t identify it.
We found two cards, Juan’s Debit card and an Aslan Brewing gift card. We were able to find a phone number for Juan because he has a unique name. We sent a text message, then tried calling him twice with no answer, there is a message that his mailbox if full. Oh, well, into the shredder. Aslan Brewing is in Bellingham, about 80 miles north so we couldn’t check the balance, but we are guessing zero.
To the right of the filter is one of the new types of wire connectors, a square bead of the letter “Z” or “N”, your choice, and another earring. Part of a car emblem that could be “XS”, “SX”, “X5”, or “5X”, but the rest is missing which suxs. Next to it is a cell phone SIM card in the phone slot, but the phone is missing.
A small screwdriver, a fingernail, and a USB receiver for a Logitech 502 Mouse. Then more sunglasses parts. Three lenses and one earpiece. We thought the silver piece was part of another earpiece, but it is a tweezer. Half of a pair of Revlon tweezers.
Then, the kid’s section. A pink bunny, an infant’s mitten, a yellow flower, a yellow ball, and a hair band. Also, a small drink cup. This is part of some decorations you can purchase to adorn a pair of CROCS shoes.
We found this one online for $30. What a crock!
Saturday, April 1st, 2023 – Riverside Drive
This morning was a couple of degrees cooler than yesterday at 39°F (3.9°C) and breezy, but not too bad. We removed a frog, two rabbits and either one large bird or two small birds, it was hard to tell. We’ll go with one large bird. That’s a lot of roadkill, but money made up for it.
Near the trailer park on Riverside Drive, we picked up a quarter, then a folded dollar bill under the freeway. The last money and the sweetest was another dollar that someone accidently tossed with their trash. This was good, but we once found one better. On the road down to Riverside Drive, someone tossed a McDonalds bag full of trash in the ditch. Everything was soaked including the eleven dollars they accidently left. But they dried out.
On our way home yesterday, we spotted what looked like a candy wrapper in the ditch. This morning we pulled it out of the mud.
It was buried in the mud and when we worked it out we found it was something wrapped in plastic. We carried it with us until we got to the parking lot in Bothell where we opened it.
It contained three special-purpose circuit breakers selling for $45 each on Amazon, so they are worth $135. Well, not now, but before they became filled with mud.
Some car parts along the way.
Yet another Toyota wheel cover and a broken mirror.
This guy had some bad luck. No, even before he broke the mirror.
This is disgusting.
On Brickyard Road, a urine bottle, and under the freeway, a bag of human excrement. We are getting tired of the crap. Literally.
We found a paintbrush.
We wanted to tell the story about finding this brush, but we are running out of time and we would need to paint the story with a broad brush. And we’d still run out of time and end up painting ourselves into a corner. Broadly speaking.
Someone out there as a screw loose.
Actually, several screws loose scattered along 102nd Ave NE in downtown Bothell.
There was a lot of trash across from the apartments on Woodinville Drive, mostly cans, bottles and food containers. But there was also a suitcase.
Someone had tossed it deep into the bushes and we needed to wade about eight feet into them to retrieve the it. It was empty except for a pair of very moldy men’s pants.
There were also parts dumped from some electrical work.
We will notify the City of Bothell to pick this up. Yes, we admit it. We did add our newly-acquired suitcase to the pile.
A lost shirt on the freeway onramp.
It was waterlogged and relatively heavy. We wrung it out as best we could, bagged it, and carried it home.
Another downed sign on the offramp.
The strange thing is the sign didn’t have any signs of being hit, it appears to have fallen over. Nothing was broken and the bolts were all there. We took it to be a bad sign.
REUSE & RECYCLE – IT’S KEY. No, it’s a bag.
“Fill it. Use it. Use it again.” The fine print states, “This reusable and recyclable bag design has been tested to carry 22 lbs. over 175 ft during 125 uses. This design will hold 15 liters; is 2.25 mils thick and can be cleaned and disinfected.” And still, we find it tossed by the side of the road. But maybe someone already carried 22 lbs. 175 ft., 125 times and then tossed it. They would have followed the rules on the bag.
That wraps up another week. This week’s inventory,
- 3 Dollars and 16 Cents, and that is no April Fool joke.
- 26 Mike’s Hard Lemonade cans.
- 10 Balls, mostly returned to the owners.
- 6 Roadkill, maybe 7 if it was two birds.
- 3 Circuit breakers, muddy.
- 10 Fireball + 1 condom combination.
- 1 Pup Cup.
- 1 Sheaf, small. We brought it in.
- 1 Letter Z or N.
- 1 SIM Card, phoneless.
Have a great week and remember, if you are going to Bellingham, let us know. We have a gift card for you.
Trash Walking 