Slugfest

Monday, August 7^th, 2023 – Safeway

Today was uncomfortably warm and humid. Not Mississippi humid, but Seattle humid. We found enough trash, but it was not very interesting. No roadkill and no money.

We did find an old tennis ball and thought we found another ball in the gutter.

But it turned out to be a tomato. It was in very good condition, but we wouldn’t play baseball with it.

“Get this patient to the ER, stat!”

“And no stopping at Starbucks on the way.” Guess a morning coffee could be considered an emergency.

Someone lost a bicycle pedal.

How can anyone lose a pedal and not realize it? Okay, it could have been an electric bike, but still.

Wonder what the story is here?

Does karma sutra mean getting even with an ex-lover?

As we passed the farm on Norway Hill, this bearded animal watched us pass by.

It was probably thinking, “Look at those two old goats.”

Tuesday, August 8^th, 2023 – Park-and-Ride

This morning was a better walk. We removed a roadkill rabbit and we found money.

First, on the freeway off-ramp, someone tossed a handful of coins: two quarters, two dimes, a nickel and two pennies. Then, we picked up a nickel on the freeway overpass and another quarter at the 7Eleven. A total of $1.07, more than we found all last week.

We found a screwdriver.

The tool, not the drink. It’s in very good condition, not like last week when we were screwing around with run-over bungee cords.

In the middle of Juanita-Woodinville Way, a pair of men’s underwear.

This reminded us of a period of time when we kept finding men’s underwear within couple-hundred feet of an intersection of this same street. In all, we found over twenty pair at that location, then they just stopped appearing. We should keep track of the eras of our TrashWalking: the Wine Bottle Era, the McLitterers Era, and Tightie-Not-So-Whitie Era.

At the southbound on-ramp, we saw several silver cylinders that turned out to be batteries.

We also picked up a small circuit board.

Using the markings on the board, RYO18, we were able to track it down to a Ryobi tool battery pack. We tried to understand why we did not find any other plastic parts in the debris, but we were as powerless as the guy who lost the battery pack.

Also on the on-ramp, a screen door.

We haven’t had any tornadoes here recently, so it probably came off a vehicle. It could be an RV, but if so, it’s a bad design if they come loose at freeway ramp speeds. And who would put a screen door on a non-RV? Not so fast. Here is an article about a Ford patent to put screen doors on a Bronco. You’re camping, the evening is hot, and the mosquitos are vicious. Climb into the Bronco, open the doors and deploy the screen doors. Problem solved. Wonder if they have a patent for a campfire in a Bronco?

At the park-and-ride, a couple had a romantic dinner.

A bag of trash from Jack in the Box. “Great,” she thinks, “this guy’s a loser.” Then there was the dessert, a bong. “Okay, I can overlook a minor character flaw.”

We found a discarded photo book.

It contains about a dozen photos of a couple horsing around between late 2021 and early 2022. One of them tossed the book which probably means the relationship is over. The title of the book?

So, finally, we have a definition of “Forever.” We’ve been waiting like, forever, for this.

Wednesday, August 9^th, 2023 – Safeway and 100th Ave NE

Today was a warm walk but with some cooling rain. We could live like this. Yesterday, on an errand we saw a roadkill squirrel on 112th Ave NE, but this morning it was gone, possibly removed by a crow or a coyote. A zombie squirrel?

We did find more money.

A penny by the 7Eleven and a dime and penny at the gas station. Not as good as yesterday, but we’ll take it.

We also found another tool.

A run-over hose spray head. Not as good as yesterday, but we’ll take it.

A Bud Light can.

When we picked this up it was obvious something was in it. After a lot of shaking, we counted thirteen slugs. They were not moving, so they were either suffering from a kegger hangover or dead. It must have been quite a slugfest.

We’ve written a lot about Janet’s ability, or lack thereof, to toss things over fences. Today it was Chuck’s turn.

We found several toys and other items outside the KinderCare and were tossing them back over the fence. There were some measuring spoons. Janet didn’t want them, so Chuck tossed them back over the fence, but a tree intervened.

Let’s check out Chuck’s vest pocket where all the news that’s not fit to print ends up.

Starting on the left, a tag for a piece of art for the Northshore Senior Center Fine Arts Show. The title of the piece is “Coontry Road.” Yes, we also thought it should be “Country Road” but it is definitely “Coontry Road.” We didn’t attend, but it could be a picture of some raccoons crossing a road. The artist could even add a roadkill raccoon for some realism.

A parking ticket for expired plates. We don’t know if they paid it or if they just tossed the ticket, but unpaid tickets, unlike current bank accounts, accrue interest over time.

An irrigation backflow valve testing report for the years 2019 thru 2023. So, the guy just tossed the old tag and started another. Remember the name, folks in case you want a tag tossed on your property every five years. And it is laminated, so it won’t degrade.

The usual sunglasses pieces, a razor blade and another of the little vials we find.

We were able to track it down on Amazon. You can purchase a lot of 50 for $6.80. According to description of this bottle,

• Sealing keeps moisture away from the food inside.
• Allows food to stay fresh longer. Safe, secure and convenient packaging.
• The food storage jar is good for storing dry food, can be used as a plastic coffee jar, tea storage canister, sugar jar, salt and pepper container, candy Jar and more.
• Absolutely a good storage accessory for households.
• Made of high-quality material for long time and durable use.

So, it’s a one-inch-tall food container. “Lunch time, Jake. What’re you having for lunch?” “The little woman made me macaroni and cheese. I just need to open these fifty little bottles.”

A sticker to support your local Bandidos, a local motorcycle club, and this post-it note.

It explains that Aileen is trying to enroll her two kids into Emily’s Hip-Hop class but was having difficulty using Studio Director. In our opinion, Studio Director was doing the right thing, but that’s just us.

A clothes tag for a XXL Rib Cami and a mystery candy that we haven’t opened and probably never will.

More hair bands but without any hair this time, a couple of stickers, and a McDonalds Happy Meal toy, the Littlest Pet Shop Buttercream Sundae bunny. Please take a look at the link because we want you to waste as much time investigating this as we did.

Then there’s this note.

It’s about Nikita and appears to be a series of dates with the codes, B, D, R and F. The dates are all in the future, but we don’t know what the codes mean. The last line is “Spay” with no date. First, we hope this is their pet and not one of their kids. Either way, it’s torture to list “Spay” with a date of X hanging over the subject’s head.

Thursday, August 10^th, 2023 – 160th to 124th Street

Today we found more money.

A very beat-up nickel on the freeway on-ramp.

Also, on the on-ramp, someone lost their water jug.

A 64-ounce beverage bottle, $31 on Amazon. It’s aptly named, Iron Flask. Even without the water in it, it was heavy. It’s a bit scuffed up, but still usable. We’ll wash it and put it in the Goodwill pile.

Today’s walk was okay, but it was no picnic.

Give us a break, we can only do so much with the material we’re given.

Another full can of beer.

It was pretty battered up, so we decided to dump it out for the slugs.

At the intersection of NE 160^th St. and 124^th Ave. NE, we encountered an impatient driver.

Patience, young grasshopper.

Friday, August 11^th, 2023 – 100th Ave NE

Today seems to have returned to the cooler weather in the morning with clear skies and warmer in the afternoon. We saw a lot of rabbits, but no roadkill, and we found more money.

A penny at the gas station’s air pump and a quarter in the driveway. Then near the McDonalds driveway, a nickel and finally a mined quarter at Janet’s favorite drive-thru. A total of fifty-six cents. Not bad, but some folding money would be appreciated.

We also picked up some tools.

A tie-down strap in useable condition and a scrench. That is what Stihl calls their three-in-one chainsaw tool. Sixteen bucks on Amazon. The marketing copy needs a bit of work: “This heavy-duty three-in-one tool features a wrench on one end and a screwdriver on the other.” That sounds like a two-in-one tool.

This is considerate. One of our neighbors bought flowers for the mailman.

Of course, the mailman had to deliver them.

Whew, we thought we would miss a week.

But no, we found another urine bottle. We normally blame the Amazon drivers, but this was found on the new construction project on 100^th Ave NE and we haven’t seen any porta-potties installed yet.

What? Really?

Two days in a row, another picnic table. And today’s walk was more like a picnic.

As we neared Safeway on Juanita-Woodinville Way, we saw a sign for peaches ahead. That sounded good.

Three blocks later was another sign pointing back for the peaches. Peaches? Peaches? We don’t need no stinking peaches.

And there were no peaches to be had. Or badges for that matter.

At the construction site on NE 100^th where they are removing trees, we saw a pile of debris smoking.

This may have been a case of spontaneous combustion, or it may have been a construction worker on a vape break.

Saturday, August 12^th, 2023 – Riverside Drive

Another beautiful day for a walk, and after a rather blah TrashWalking week, today was more interesting. We removed a roadkill snake and rabbit and found more money.

A quarter on Woodinville Drive and a penny on Brickyard Road. The quarter is in good condition for being almost sixty years old.

We also found a tool.

A nice diagonal cutter in good condition, twenty bucks on Amazon.

It’s now week six and still no action on the trash we reported.

King County could learn something from the City of Bothell.

Someone tossed a drink mug in a ditch by the bus stop on Brickyard Road.

A 34-ounce Bubba mug, twenty-nine bucks on Amazon. Yes, that’s expensive, but it has a bottle opener in the handle, so that’s worth something.

We found another cell phone along Riverside Drive.

A 20-year-old Samsung SCH-A670 from 2003 and it looks to have been buried fifteen of those years. This is the eighteenth cell phone we’ve found since we started keeping track, and no, we did not try to track down the owner.

We picked up a discarded bag of clothes.

We tossed some of the items and will wash the rest to be sent to Goodwill.

Two weeks ago, we found a package of very rancid chicken on the freeway on-ramp. We dumped the chicken in the bushes and decided to let the package air out before discarding it into the bus stop trash. Today we checked it out.

Okay, perhaps next week.

At the park-and-ride, a car with a window smashed.

We don’t know the story, but we have seen the vehicle here before. We saw some clothes inside but kept our distance. It would be just our luck to be peering in the window one of Bothell’s finest drive ups.

Also, in the park-and-ride was an iHome Bluetooth speaker.

Normally when we find these items, they are damaged and useless. However, we charged it, paired it with our phone and it played a Frank Sinatra playlist from Amazon. No, we’re not quite that old, but we do enjoy the music. By the way, this costs thirty bucks on Amazon.

With that, we wrap up our TrashWalking week. Our take:

• $2.06. No big finds, but not bad for 38 miles and 20 hours of walking.
• 31 Mike’s Hard Lemonade cans.
• 9 Balls.
• 7 Pairs of underwear.
• 4 Tools.
• 3 Roadkiils.
• 2 Picnic tables, small.
• 1 Flip phone, old.
• 1 Urine bottle.
• 1 Slugfest.
• 1 Spontaneous combustion.

Have a great week and remember ten cents an hour is not bad pay for a TrashWalker.