The March Toward Spring

Monday, March 17^th, 2025 – Safeway

The week started nicely with a temperature of 40°F (4.4°C), cool with no rain and no wind, so we were comfortable. On the other hand, we didn’t find much to write about except for a urine bottle.

Yeah, we’re off to a great start.

We did cross paths with some police activity.

At the intersection of Juanita-Woodinville Way and 100^th Ave NE, a car was stopped in the turn lane with two cop cruisers, lights flashing behind it. We figured it could be a mechanical issue, or a stop for cause. However, in a few minutes, everyone was gone. No handcuffs, reading of rights or anything. A real nothing burger.

The walk wasn’t a total waste, though, someone lost a doggie bag carrier.

It still had a half-roll of poop bags in it, and for once we found unfilled poop bags!

That was it for our walk, but later in the evening, we went to a local pub for a beer, and another patron recognized us from picking up trash. He said he sees us a lot on his way to work and gave us a gift card to show his appreciation.

We don’t count gift cards in our money finds, and we don’t publish the value of the gift cards we receive. We appreciate all the cards we receive; but this is the largest valued gift card in our ten years of walking. We will make good use of it.

Tuesday, March 18^th, 2025 – Park-and-Ride

This morning was a bit more uncomfortable with the temperature dropping to 34°F (1.1°C), but still no wind and dry. We removed a roadkill rabbit from the freeway off-ramp and found some money on the other off-ramp.

And they looked like they had been on the off-ramp for a while. Still, it’s legal tender and we’re two cents richer. We could take a few snips of copper wire, pound them with a mallet and make pennies just like these. Well, except ours would contain more copper.

And we found more tools.

Another 10 mm wrench and an air nozzle. the air nozzle is $42 from Napa Auto Parts. However, this one also has a quick-fit connector, but we’ll still let it go for forty-two bucks. Make it forty bucks to keep it simple, but you pay shipping.

Here we go again, ranting about apartment dwellers. Most are solid citizens, but there are those that have the attitude that they pay their rent and any problem outside their apartment should be taken care of for them. That would make sense unless, of course, that person is the problem.

We continually find items discarded outside the three apartment complexes we pass on our walks. They are mostly on the one on Riverside Drive, but this was on 112^th Ave NE. We are certain that this is a broken air conditioner, but why dump it in front of your apartment? Private homeowners don’t do that. They would dump it down a hill somewhere away from their home. And yes, we find those too.

In the park-and-ride, we removed a condom.

Oddly, there is a green tinge to it and last night was St. Patrick’s Day. Perhaps a leprechaun got lucky. It may be due to a nearby green traffic light, but it’s more likely the leprechaun story. We’ll probably find another pregnancy test in a few days. A green one.

At the park-and-ride, we picked up another set of keys.

They appeared to be keys for a roof rack, nothing trackable or important. And the icon didn’t appear to be upset. They went into our lost key jar. Metro should put up a bulletin board for lost keys. Then they could add one for lost earrings and another for lost condoms, and…

Yesterday, we heard that some neighborhoods were the recipients of a wild hailstorm. We didn’t have any at our home, but we saw the remnants this morning on the other side of Norway Hill.

The march toward Spring in the Pacific Northwest:

We think we are now in the second winter.

We found a small cleat this morning.

It is only about 3/8th inch long: Golfer Vance on the course, “Dang, another slice. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

Then we had a bit of a saga this morning. A week ago, we noticed that someone hung a lost moving blanket on a fence at the freeway off-ramp, presumably to let it dry out. Today, we found it had been blown off the fence by the gusty winds, and even though the temperature was above freezing, the exposure to the clear skies had frozen it.

We made several attempts to retrieve it with our pickers to no avail. Finally, Chuck decided to hop over the concrete barrier to attend to the blanket.

The barrier is four feet high, and “hop” might be too strong of a word. It was more of a slow slither. Not like a snake or slug, more like an old guy slithering over a four-foot barrier. Slugs would leave a slime and Chuck did not. At least as far as he knew and Janet didn’t say anything.

Since Chuck was over the wall, he walked down the off-ramp picking the odd beer cans and other trash. Eventually, he slithered back over the barrier to agilely land on the off-ramp. Not like a slug, more like a snake, maybe.

Wednesday, March 19^th, 2025 – Safeway & 100th

Today was a little warmer and more comfortable. We found no money but did remove two roadkill, a rat and a crow. Crows are scary to pick up because another crow might observe you doing it and think you killed it. No crows were around, though.

We picked up a very large lug nut leaving our neighborhood.

At least this one was not lost on the freeway on-ramp. It was only lost in front of a school.

Great, the McUrine cups continue.

McDonalds needs to open their restrooms earlier. Chuck calls these McUrine cups. Janet prefers the term, pee cups, but the term sounds like a ginormous bra to Chuck.

On Norway Hill, we found this piece of material.

There was a label on it that pointed us to the Premier Kites website. It is a “SoundWinds Reflective Sail Recumbent Bike Flag – Tropical.” So, this was a recumbent flag for a recumbent bike. The list price is $56.50, but that price includes the flagpole that we did not find. However, we have found several antennas and poles that would work as a flagpole. So, we’ll let it go for $25 and toss in a pole. As an added benefit, the flagpole will be able to receive CB traffic if you have a CB radio. Just think of the advantages, “Breaker Breaker, Laid-back Rider here.” Or your handle could be “Bicycle Handle.” You would be very popular at truck stops.

It took a while to figure these out.

After some research, we found they are Valentines Day stacking pencils. The stacked group of three all are shaped like the blue one on the bottom and have a small piece of lead to write with. They can be used to write notes like, “I love you!” Or “Go Away.” It is a month past Valentines Day.

We found a lost toy, a WeGlow wand.

The photo on the left was taken when we got home, and it looks very ordinary. However, earlier when it was dark, it put on a nice display. However, it never changes, so it’s a one-hit wonder. “Hey, check this out.” “Wow! That’s really cool.” “Thanks. You wanna see it again?” “Nope.”

Thursday, March 20^th, 2025 – 160th to 124th Street

Today was another deceptively warm day at 44°F (6.7°C). But we had rain and a breeze that made it uncomfortable. We didn’t find much interesting today, but we did find a tool.

Another nice Phillips screwdriver in the gutter at the freeway on-ramp. Money would be better, but this works. We have a bunch of found screwdrivers, but lately, money is scarce.

As we were walking down NE 160^th St toward our turnaround point at 124^th Ave NE, on the opposite site of the road, we spotted a flashing light. We could have waited until we came back other on side of the road, but we decided to cross over and check it out.

It was a run over vaping device on its last legs. It reminded us of the last scene of the original Terminator movie.

Except that it’s a vaping device instead of the Terminator, and not near as interesting to watch.

On 116^th Ave NE, a group like AA recently vacated a building. They had a couple of containers outside for cigarette butts.

They didn’t litter the butts, but they littered the butt containers.

Friday, March 21^st, 2025 – 100th Ave NE

Today, scored another trifecta. No roadkill, but we found money at Janet’s favorite drive-thru.

A blurry dime bringing our earnings this week up to only thirteen cents, but there is still tomorrow.

Then we found a tool on Juanita-Woodinville Way.

It appears to be a STANLEY Pry Bar, Wonderbar, 12-3/4-Inch, ten bucks on Amazon. We carried it home in our bag, but what would happen if some cops stopped us? “Hello sir, we are investigating a incident of breaking-and-entering, have you seen anything suspicious? By the way, what’s in your bag?”

Then, another Urine cup, but this time it is a Starbucks cup.

Great, they are following McDonalds’ lead. They can call it, “Urine Luck Latte.” And that completes this morning’s trifecta in a negative manner.

Wow, this brings back memories.

A Harlem Globetrotters ball. We attended a performance over fifty years ago in San Jose and watched Meadowlark Lemon do his magic.

Saturday, March 22^nd, 2025 – Riverside Drive

Another trifecta this morning. We found no money but removed a roadkill snake from the street and found tools.

Two sockets, a 16 mm and a 1/2 inch. They were found near the freeway off-ramp about fifty feet apart. They could be part of the same spill, but they are different brands, so probably two different sources.

And, rounding out the trifecta, a urine bottle.

This was down a hill and had been there a long time. Well-aged for discerning tastes.

We came across six spoons, all different makes.

We’d better be careful; this could be the work of a cereal killer.

We always keep an eye out for lost change.

But it looks like someone has already combed through this area.

We found some drug paraphernalia.

First, under a car on Woodinville Drive in front of the apartments, we pulled out a washcloth with some scissors, straws, white powder, and pills. The car has not moved for months, and the tires are flat, so this stash has been there for a long time, and it looked like it. The other item is a drug pipe of some type found in the park-and-ride.

On the freeway on-ramp where some construction is underway, a half bottle of rye whiskey.

It was tempting, but it was early for us. We left it for the construction workers.

We picked up another credit card at the park-and-ride.

We had not seen this type of card before, a Cash-App Card with an expiration date of 12/29. It’s a VISA debit card with a companion app providing other features like sending/receiving money with other people.

The company also allows folks to design their own card like the one above. Based on the card design, this girl sees herself as a short, sweet angel who should be treated like a princess. Yes, we can interpret credit cards.

On the upper right of the card is this person’s username. By searching for that name, we found her on Instagram. Sure enough, she tagged it with her username, so we can send her money. We’ll get right on it. We shredded the card.

We found a hand-made sign.

Parking rage at the park-and-ride. The guy’s car must have been a Tesla.

That wraps up another TrashWalking week. The inventory,

• 12 Cents.  Exactly the same as last week.
• 7 Balls, including Meadowlark’s basketball.
• 6 Tools including a prying bar.
• 6 Spoons.  It would have been seven but one ran away with the dish.
• 4 Urine container including a Urine-Luck Latte.
• 3 Roadkill, including a snake.
• 1 Roll of unfilled poop bags.
• 1 Nice gift card.
• 1 Irritating A.C. unit.
• 1 Leprechaun’s  condom.
• 1 Slipping golfer.
• 1 Wall slither.
• 1 Recumbent flag.
• 1 Monotonous wand.
• 1 Terminated vape pen.
• 1 Custom debit card.
• 1 Case of parking rage.
• 1/2 bottle of booze. At least it wasn’t urine.

Have a great week and let us know if you hear of a pregnant Leprechaun.