Don’t Fence Me Out

Monday, April 29^th, 2024 – Safeway

Today we started the new week with a deluge. As we left our house there was a full-fledged rain in progress. This was not the normal Seattle heavy mist; we are talking real rain. Well, not like Mississippi rain, nor like a Mississippi mist, but in Seattle, it’s known as a deluge. When we walk in Seattle rain, we normally become soaked toward the end of our walk. Today we were soaked within the first half mile.

We removed no roadkill and found no money and early on we were tempted to return home to a warm fire and hot coffee. But we proceeded on to find the treasures ahead. We found this.

We should have yielded to temptation and stayed home.

Tuesday, April 30^th, 2024 – Park-and-Ride

What a difference a day makes. Today was still cool with a Seattle mist, but mostly dry. But we found no money, and the treasures were meager.

We found a nail of some sort.

It’s about three inches in length and looks like it could be a concrete nail. It is double headed which normally means it is meant to be temporary and be removed. But Google Lens failed to find a match. Another TrashWalking mystery, but we may have saved someone a flat tire.

We also found a cool card with a lenticular image.

When you change the viewing angle it shows a rose bud opening to a rose in full bloom. On the back was a message in Spanish, and Google translated it.

Words to live by.

Come on, guys, get your act together.

Does one hour make that much difference? Your government at work.

Wednesday, May 1^st, 2024 – Safeway & 100^th Ave NE

Okay, we are halfway through our TrashWalking week, and have found no money and no items of interest. Well, we removed a roadkill rat, a very flat roadkill rat from the street, but that isn’t really interesting.

We did find some blood on the sidewalk.

We looked around to see if there was a wounded roadkill nearby but didn’t find anything. We covered the blood with small twigs and leaves so nobody would have blood on their hands. Or feet.

Thursday, May 2^nd, 2024 – 160^th to 124^th Street

This morning was clear and cool. We again found no money and no roadkill. We didn’t even find any more blood. But we did pick up a couple of tools.

A screwdriver drill bit and a Stihl Combination socket tool to tension chainsaw chains. We already have a couple of these, they seem to be a favored item to lose.

A lost Bluetooth headset.

They’re about twenty dollars at Walmart, are in decent shape, and in working condition. They’ll be going to Goodwill.

Someone else cleaned their car out at the park-and-ride.

It consisted of random trash, a couple of golf balls, and a full bottle of Pacifica Glow Baby VitaGlow Face Lotion, eighteen bucks on Amazon. Also, half an energy drink, and two women’s tops.

More clothing for Goodwill. There was also a license plate.

It has not been registered since October of 2022. None of the database look-up sites have any record of it anymore, so we can’t determine the kind of vehicle it was. Too bad, we would like to return this stuff to the owner.

At a different place in the park-and-ride, someone left us some refreshments.

It was a bit early for us, and besides it’s Bud Light.

Behind a gas station was an oyster full of pearls.

Someone’s aquarium decoration. The pearls weren’t real. We checked.

Friday, May 3^rd, 2024 – 100^th Ave NE

The weather appears to be finally heading toward summer with no morning’s forecasts in the thirties. It’s about time. We removed a large roadkill rabbit from Simonds Road. At this location, we were on a strip of weeds, logs, and other obstacles about two and a half feet wide between the road and a retaining wall.

We had no choice but to toss the rabbit over the wall. We are certain nobody lives on the other side of the wall. Okay, fairly certain.

But we found the first money of the week.

Two pennies at Janet’s favorite drive thru. We’re afraid that motherload is almost mined out. If that happens, the only semi-reliable place to find treasures is the service station vacuum where folks clean out their car and drop stuff for free.

We picked up a tip jar.

It was more of a box, but you get the idea. There was a penny stuck in its door, so that made three cents for us today! The box had Velcro on the bottom, so we presume someone snatched the tip box from some drive-thru, grabbed the money and dumped the box. There are two espresso stands and a permanent food truck in the area. When we went out to do some errands, we showed the box to each of the establishments, but none identified it as theirs. We didn’t tell them about the stuck penny as it might sway their decision as money is wont to do. So, we are stuck with a tip box. Anybody who feels like tipping the staff can certainly do so now.

On 112th Ave NE, someone’s car window got smashed.

This is where an area high school students park during the day. So it could be that someone got upset that they were parked to close to the fire hydrant, or the student left something of potential value in plain sight. We are guessing the latter. Live and learn young Luke.

We found a string of balloons from some celebration. They were a bit anemic.

We gutted them so they would fit in our bag. Sometimes we need to sacrifice a few to save the herd. We agree that wiping out the whole herd is a bit extreme, but we would need to carry the bunch of full balloons home making us look happy-go-lucky. It would ruin our image.

Please Use Roadway.

Is this like telling us to go play in the street?

Another condom.

More recreating on Norway Hill.

Another lost hubcap.

And this is a real hubcap, obviously well-greased but badly attached.

Well, this is a Croc.

Janet’s world is crumbling around her. Her favorite drive-thru appears to be drying up, and now this.

The service station with the free vacuum is fenced off, getting ready for renovation. Janet’s in shock.

Saturday, May 4^th, 2024 – Riverside Drive

The temperature this morning is about ten degrees warmer than yesterday and overcast. Of course, about halfway through the walk, a drizzle started. You can’t have everything this time of year. We removed a roadkill rabbit from the off-ramp but found some money.

A very beat-up penny near the freeway entrance. That makes a total of four cents this week. At least we weren’t shut out, barely.

We also found three tools.

A rasp, a 10mm combination wrench and a Sawzall blade. This is the first rasp we’ve found in our years of walking. However, all was not happy in the tool department. Chuck carries a utility knife to cut up signs and such. Somewhere along the walk, he lost it. We backtracked to the point of last use, but we didn’t see it. It was one of several we’ve found on our walks, so we are not hurting for utility knives.

On our way down the hill to Riverside Drive, we found a piece of glass in the ditch.

It is unbroken and about the size and shape of an airplane cabin window. You don’t suppose… No, if it had fallen from that height, it would not have been in one piece. Also, they don’t use glass in the cabin windows.

Well, this sucks.

We picked up a large wheel cover along Riverside Drive.

The back was damaged, so we recycled it.

Another condom dropped by a parked car in front of the apartments on Woodinville Drive.

They moved from their apartment to their car when their neighbors complained about the noise.

Another pair of glasses making a spectacle of themselves.

Natasha lost her driver’s license and received a temporary license until the replacement arrived.

Then she lost it.

At the park-and-ride, we picked up some unopened beverages.

A Bodyarmor Lyte sports drink. Blueberry Pomegranate? We think we know why it was unopened. The other item is a BussBallz Biggies. 1.5 liters of Choco Chiller, 15% alcohol by volume. It is twenty bucks at Total Wine. We don’t understand why this was unopened.

Nearby was a thong.

We don’t understand why she left her undies. Now, if the BuzzBallz had been empty, we could understand.

That wraps up another TrashWalking week for us. Our take,

• 4 Cents.  A miserable week, but we didn’t get shut out.
• 6 Balls – 7 including the BuzzBallz.
• 5 Found tools, and one lost tool.
• 5 Mikes Hard Lemonade cans.
• 4 Unopened beverages.
• 3 Roadkill.
• 3 Items of clothing including a thong.
• 2 Hubcaps.
• 2 Condoms, used.
• 1 Cheap Bluetooth headset.
• 1 Tip jar, stolen.
• 1 Glass window.
• 1 Lost, lost license document.

Have a great week and remember to leave big tips, or tip boxes.