Failed Firewall

Monday, May 5^th, 2025 – Safeway

Cinco de Mayo! We celebrated by having Mexican left0vers for lunch, but that’s another story. This morning was cool and dry which made for a comfortable walk. We removed a rat and a rabbit from the road but picked up a penny at the drive-thru.

Remember, a penny saved is a penny for your thoughts. We heard that somewhere.

We cleaned up the remains of an Xfinity set-top box.

A scientific study proved that destroying a set-top box can be caused by the frustration of finding and not finding anything interesting. Okay, this is one of the older models. Perhaps 4K versions of the 834 cable channels will be better.

This was fun to watch.

We came across a crow continually dive-bombing a seagull sitting on a light pole. The crow probably has a nest in the area, but the other bird was squawking, “I’m a seagull, you bird brain!”

Last week, we reported on a laptop in a tree. Today, it was still there so we decided to take a closer look.

It was a Dell laptop and had been set on fire along with a sweatshirt. Yep, the firewall failed.

A dumped load of carpets and carpet padding.

In the movies, murderers roll their victims up in carpets to get rid of them. This could be a mob hit, but we didn’t check. We’ll report it to the city and let them sort it out.

Tuesday, May 6^th, 2025 – Park-and-Ride

We had another nice morning today, we found no money but removed a small roadkill bird from Juanita-Woodinville Way. However, we find a tool.

A screwdriver drill socket bit. We have a jar of these bits.

We picked up a bear.

A McDonalds Mine Craft toy. This is the second one we’ve found. We may collect the complete set and never need to eat a Happy Meal.

Have you ever been following a logging truck loaded with logs and felt uneasy about following too close?

Your fears are well founded. This was on the freeway off-ramp today. This is taking not tying down your load to a whole new level. Wonder if he logged this incident in?

At the park-and-ride, we picked up a bag of used cooking utensils.

The perfect date night at the park-and-ride, no need to do the dishes. However, we didn’t find any of the usual condoms around, so perhaps someone was a bad cook. There was no dessert.

Then, at the park-and-ride, something happened that made our TrashWalking so rewarding. A lady was parked waiting for someone.

She struck up a conversation saying that she sees us when she is out running and sometimes also picks up trash. She said we are famous and have a following on social media and that we are appreciated. We get a lot of waves, light flashes, and horn honks when folks drive by, but when someone stops and talks to us, it is special.

Wednesday, May 7^th 2025 – Safeway & 100th

It was 55°F (12.8°C) this morning and we made the mistake of wearing our rain jackets anyway. We don’t know, habit, perhaps. We did not find any money and needed to remove a roadkill mole and rabbit from the streets. Also, yesterday was unseasonably warm and the KinderCare let the kids run wild. We tossed five ball, two bean bags, two hoops, and several other items back over the fence.

We found a nice bandana.

It was clean and dry unlike most of the knotted and sweaty ones we usually find. We’ll send it on to Goodwill, like the sweaty ones.

Arrgh!

Another laughing gas canister. This one was smaller, 750g, than the large ones but the canister was at least a couple of pounds. Yeah, we’re still not laughing. There was a price label on it, $39.40. The users are also not laughing.

As we passed Safeway, the crow and seagull were still going at it.

The Seagull was still sitting on the light pole and the crow was on a roof. Before we could snap the shot, the seagull took off with the crow in hot pursuit. That seagull must really be attached to that light pole.

We found a ribbon for maternity.

Who knew maternity was a competitive sport? So, what are the events? Fastest midnight snack run, most creative baby name, or maybe longest heavy sigh?

Someone gave us an arm and a leg for picking up trash.

And a rabbit gave us an unlucky rabbit’s foot.

Thursday, May 8^th, 2025 – 160th to 124th Street

Today, we removed a squirrel and a rat from the roads and found a dime.

It was lying in the gutter along NE 160^th St.

There was a downed sign on 116^th Ave NE.

We guess the guy didn’t see the turn either.

There has been an abandoned truck on the street for several months. It had a rear license plate with no stickers on it and a “please don’t tow” sign in the window.

It got tagged with a parking violation. The inconsiderate officer. Now we can’t read the note.

We found an empty Covid-19 vial in the gutter.

It was a little jar of memories, all bad. Learning how to wash our hands, spraying down vegetables, Zoom happy hours, and trunk trick-or-treating. It belongs in a time capsule with the home-made mask and roll of toilet paper.

Friday, May 9^th, 2025 – 100th Ave NE

We found money scattered about today.

A dime at the food truck, a penny at drive-thru, and fourteen cents as part of a single spill in the gutter. We also picked up a dime along NE 145^th St, but it was Canadian, so only about seven cents, so a total of thirty-two cents.

We also removed a squirrel and a rat from the streets, but there was also this on the sidewalk.

It was a dead raccoon with leaves stuck to it and may have been one we removed a while ago. Some critter may have dragged it out of the bushes. Either that or it’s a zombie raccoon. We put it back. Again.

We also found a tool.

A lowly socket bit.

Someone’s in for seven years of bad luck.

And the first bad luck was breaking his mirror. At least he doesn’t need to worry about objects in the mirror being closer than they appear.

Someone has it in for bus stops. Last week someone built a fire in one, and a few weeks ago the glass of one was shattered.

Then, they came back and finished it off. Miscreant.

Saturday, May 10^th, 2025 – Riverside Drive

This morning, we removed a roadkill rat and a bird from the streets, and we found more money.

Janet finds most of the money and found a penny near the apartments on Riverside Drive. But then Chuck found a dime by the side of the on Riverside Drive followed by a quarter on NE 160^th St. while picking up the pages of a run over book. So, Chuck felt pretty good about things. Then, when Janet was in the park-and-ride, she approached Chuck and said, “Top this.”

A crisp twenty-dollar bill. Chuck was bummed, but later he found sixty-one dollars on 112^th Ave NE.

But it was a school’s reward play money, so Janet found the most money. Again.

We picked up the pieces of a pair of sunglasses.

Panama Jack’s sunglasses pricing in the mid twenty dollars. Well, not this pair, but new ones.

According to Google, this is part of a grill.

We didn’t know Honda produced barbeques. They probably last thirty years and don’t smoke.

We found this in front of the apartments on Woodinville Drive.

The parents should be charged with abandonment of a baby buggy.

As we mentioned earlier, we picked up the remains of a book that was scattered over two blocks and down the freeway on-ramp.

The book was “Bodies of Evidence” with a preview on Google Books. It is about how forensic science solved crimes of several famous murderers. So, we spent about fifteen minutes collecting pictures of the likes of Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy and Lee Harvey Oswald. And it was such a lovely day for it.

We found this dog toy in the middle of Brickyard Road.

Chuck was not amused. Especially since this week, he heard that many people refer to potholes as chuckholes. He thinks those people are a**holes.

That wraps up another TrashWalking week. Our inventory,

• $20.83.  A banner week even without the twenty-dollar bill and Canadian dime.
• 11 Balls including one Cricket ball.
• 12 Roadkill including a zombie raccoon.
• 8 Flying carpets.
• 3 Body parts, arm, leg, and unlucky foot.
• 2 Tools.
• 1 Comcast set top box no longer receiving a 834 unwanted cable channels .
• 1 Birdbrained crow.
• 1 Squawking seagull.
• 1 Dell computer with a failed firewall.
• 1 Truck that could have dropped a log.
• 1 Set of cookware, slightly used.
• 1 Gas container, laughingly small.
• 1 Maternity winner.
• 1 Parking violation.
• 1 Vial of vile memories.
• 1 Vandalized bus stop.
• 1 Honda BBQ.
• 1 Abandoned baby buggy.
• 1 Murderous book.
• 1 Irritating dog toy.

Have a great week and remember, it’s pothole not chuckhole.