Pease be with You

Monday, May 27^th, 2024 – Safeway

Today is Memorial Day, a time to honor the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation. Reflecting on the dedication of the Greatest Generation, we may find ourselves wondering if, faced with similar circumstances, our nation could rise to the challenge again. Honor them.

Today’s walk was very good. The weather was cool and cloudy with no rain, we did not need to contend with any roadkill, and we found money.

A quarter in the gutter of Juanita-Woodinville Way. What more can you ask?

Today was also the day of the Seven Hills of Kirkland bike ride. The route includes Norway Hill which we walk opposite the flow of the bicycles, but it was early, and we did not see any riders during our walk. So, we can claim that we reached the top of the hill before any of the participants.

And there was much rejoicing.

We found another lost house key.

Yes, we could go to the nearby homes and try the locks to see if we can find the owner, but with all the doorbell cameras, we would end up on social media with the caption, “Suspicious people tried to open our front door.” Gunshots and helicopters would also be involved. Of course, if we could find the owner and return the key, we would be heroes, but nobody would post anything about that.

We found an ant bait container in the middle of the road on Norway Hill.

Luring ants into the middle of the road hoping they will be run over is a strange way to eradicate ants. Why not just use ant poison?

Tuesday, May 28^th, 2024 – Park-and-Ride

Last week, our weather app stated that rain was expected at 4 pm and we walk in the early morning, so no problem and we did not wear our rain jackets. Of course it rained on us. Today, the weather app again showed rain at 4 pm, but as the saying goes, Fool me one, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. So, we delved deeper into the weather app and the weather map and probability chart both showed rain around 6 am, the middle of our walk. We donned our rain jackets and headed out. Of course, there was no rain and we overheated in our rain gear.

We removed a roadkill rabbit but at least found a little money.

A very little money, a corroded penny at the park-and-ride. But we did find a tool along the way.

We could not find an exact match, but this is a diamond drill bit for drilling holes in glass or tile.

As we started our on our walk, we passed a car for sale.

The car looks to be in excellent condition and the sign lists the major maintenance done. Almost three-hundred-thousand miles. Try doing that with a car today. The price for this car in 1990 was about $15,000 and they are asking $3,400. Sounds like a deal to us.

We picked up another urine bottle in the park-and-ride.

But when we emptied it, we noticed a small hole near the top, so it may actually be a home-made bong and the water color may be due to marijuana residue, but we didn’t smell it to check.

So much for adult games, now onto kid’s games.

An Old Bone card deck, eight dollars at Walmart. It is not very interesting looking to us. There were no jokers or wild cards and probably did not require an ante.

We picked up a sweatshirt on Norway Hill.

The restaurant is in Bellevue and promotes Love, Hope, Support and Acceptance. We left it hanging on a sign where it can be readily seen.

We have been neglecting Chuck’s vest pocket and it is overflowing.

On the left are the pieces-parts of the credit cards we found and as far as we can tell, none are expired. In the past, we tried to call the bank to let them know we found it, but it was usually a waste of our time going through the robot levels to find that it had already been cancelled. Now we just shred them. However, the second one from the top is not broken, but folded over. We found it on the freeway onramp and the last name was one of our neighbors, but we did not recognize the first name. We asked our neighbor about it and found that it was their daughter’s name, but she goes by her middle name which was not on the card. Small world.

In the second row is a card for a hair stylist, several of which we picked up at the freeway intersection. The weird website URL is not yet set up, so we could not check it out. But we could not figure out the image in the upper-left.

Definitely not our style, and especially not Chuck’s for a couple of reasons.

Next was a give-away pocket notebook from Morningside Bank & Trust in Sioux City Iowa. The notebook states 1912-1992 80 years and they are still in business. There was nothing of note in the notebook, but we will add a note to contact them for a newer notebook for the 110 years from 2022.

Then there were some random football and baseball cards, a lone ear bud and coaster from McMenamins. No big deal, we have one in Bothell. But this one’s from Hillsboro Oregon, 200 miles away. That is some serious bar hopping.

At the top again, a fake poinsettia, some writing implements, and four AA twelve-step coins. It must have been a bad week at AA meetings. A keychain book with Pray for us in Spanish on the binding, a broken key and several kids’ stickers and toys.

Back to the top, the typical hair bands and a slip of fortune paper.

On one side was Learn Chinese – The day before yesterday followed by a line of Chinese which, if we knew Chinese would tell us how to learn Chinese The day before yesterday. Also, the normal unlucky numbers. On the other side was the fortune, Actions speak louder than talks. Something got lost in translation.

Then there was the note.

Both sides of the note have the same basic message, but not if you read them literally.

Finally, there is the mystery note that we often find.

It was a tossed lodging receipt for a night for two at the Virginian Resort in Winthrop Washington on December 21^st of last year. That name sounds high-class, but not at $88.oo for two for the night. But it does look discreet.

Also, thank you for writing your Visa credit card number, expiration date and CVV code before you littered it. It will come in handy.

Wednesday, May 29^th, 2024 – Safeway & 100^th Ave NE

This morning was cool and dry and we found more money.

Only another penny, but also found another tool.

A reciprocating saw blade only slightly used. At this rate, we’ll never run out of saw blades for our Sawzall. We are thinking about a kitchen remodel. We can save some money by doing our own demolition. But with used blades, it may take longer.

Someone chalked some Peace Signs in the bus stop on Juanita-Woodinville Way.

Scratch that. They are Pease Signs. At least USA is spelled correctly.

Last week, we noted that a tree had fallen onto a fence that needed to be rebuilt anyway. Evidently we were wrong.

It looks okay to us.

Thursday, May 30^th, 2024 – 160^th to 124^th Street

The weather today was overcast and relatively warm with the emphasis on relatively. We found no money and removed no roadkill, but did find another tool.

A Phillips screwdriver in good condition, hardly run over at all. Our screwdriver drawer is very full. We need to do some sorting and culling.

Some car parts were on the freeway overpass.

We can understand losing the hubcap, but how do you lose floor mats? And yes, we’ve picked up several of them over the years. Unless they are in good condition, we put them in the trash bin. If they are in good condition, we give them to Goodwill who will put them in the trash bin.

This sign got old and fell flat on its face.

It happens. We reported it to the city.

Then, at the Brickyard park-and-ride bus stop on Juanita-Woodinville Way, we found a large plastic bag of trash. We hauled it home to sort out the recycling and found it was a bunch of needles.

We are talking a couple hundred needles. Our first thought was that it had to do with diabetes, but we started finding small cotton balls used for filtering heroin and rubber arm bands used as tourniquets to make the vessels more pronounced, and a list of rehab facilities. We can only hope the person is getting some help. Anyway, we now have a bunch of needles on our hands. In the Seattle area, there are a lot of places to turn in needles, but they require them to be enclosed in a sealed plastic container. So, if anyone has an empty, plastic, five-gallon mayonnaise jar to donate, let us know.

Friday, May 31^tst, 2024 – 100^th Ave NE

This morning was clear and cold in the lower forties. We removed two rats from the street and and found another penny.

This is turning into a very penny-ante week. Tomorrow is our last chance to make an impact, so anyone who wants to donate to the cause, feel free to spread some coins, and don’t be afraid of cash also. We prefer crisp crackle of bills over the jingle of coins.

Along 100^th Ave NE, we found a used condom.

Farther along, we found a pair of men’s underwear.

We have no solid evidence they were connected. However, it seems to be circumstantial evidence.

And to pile on, we found yet another needle.

It’s not what you were expecting, was it?

As we neared the end of the construction site on 100^th Ave NE, a large mobile crane approached followed by two semi-trucks. We waited while they proceeded to park.

When it was parked, we proceeded past. It was a large vehicle; the five sets of wheels came up to Chuck’s shoulders. As we passed, we told them it was a good parking job. The driver said he thought so.

Saturday, June 1^st, 2024 – Riverside Drive

This morning was warmer with light rain that stopped by the end of our walk. We removed a rabbit from the road and found more money. No, not another penny, this was real money.

We thought the coin on the left was a dime, but it was only a penny. The penny and the dime in the middle were on Brickyard Road. Two quarters and a nickel were in the park-and-ride turn lane and from the looks have been there a while.

We also found a tool.

Not a very exciting tool, but it counts.

We came across two hubcaps.

The BMW hubcap was in reasonable condition. The nondescript wheel cover, not so much. It got recycled.

This again.

At a trailer park on Brickyard Road, someone eats a lot of shrimp and tosses shells over the fence onto the sidewalk. We should carry a small whisk broom and sweep them back under the fence.

Someone working at the park-and-ride on Friday dropped some work items and headed home.

He is planning to come back Monday to pick up where he left off. Not if we pick them up first.

A lost bandana at the park-and-ride.

Another item for Goodwill. But why do they put protozoa on them?

With that, we wrap up another TrashWalking week. Our take,

• 94 cents. We couldn’t quite break a dollar.  Again.
• 4 Tools, one boring, one cutting, one screwing and one strapping.
• 4 Roadkill, two rats and two rabbits.
• 4 Balls.
• 4 Car parts.
• 3 Items of clothing including the protozoa bandana.
• 5 Credit card pieces.
• 1 Credit card number.
• 1 300,000-mile Car.
• 1 Mended fence, kind of.
• 1 Fortune lost in translation.

Have a great week, and remember, as you go through life, keep your fences mended.