After a lackluster week last week, we hope to pick up the pace. Well, not us, but our finds, especially the monetary aspect. If the income does not increase, we may be forced to get a second job.
We spotted in the grass what appeared to be a fishing rod tangled with flashy lures and feathers. We assumed someone had been urban salmon fishing, or perhaps lost their gear in a roadside tackle malfunction.
But we were wrong. After some untangling, we found a set of cat toys, complete with feathery distractions, furry puffs, sparkly streamers, and a bell.
Somewhere out there is either a cat who threw a tantrum and tossed their toy collection out the window, or a human who underestimated the wrath of a bored cat on a forced car ride.
A brand-new radiator flush and fill kit, unused, flushed out the window, and thoroughly run over.
Back in Chuck’s day, flushing and filling a radiator only required a garden hose and some strong language if the radiator was hot.
What are the odds?
Three unused lottery cards. Yes, we know, the odds are still not good. When we arrived home, we played one tedious card, which was a loser. Not a surprise. We will scan the other cards on an automated scanner. We’ll let you know if we hit the thirty-thousand-dollar grand prize. What did they say about flying monkeys? Or something like that. Spoiler alert, they were all losers.
Okay, someone else may have hit the jackpot. Or not.
Down a ravine, we found a used pregnancy test. The result has faded, but we assume someone’s week got either very exciting or very quiet shortly after. It could go either way.
Another free item along our route.
A marble cutting board. We would have taken it, but we gave one away two months ago. We were ahead of the competition.
Bijan’s Last Supper?
Bijan’s Olive Garden employee ID button with pasta-tude. “Pasta la Vista, Baby.” Obviously, Bijan left a party and won’t be coming back for seconds.
Number twenty-five.
We found our twenty-fifth cell phone today. Unlike most, this one was live but locked. It had several missed calls on the lock screen, but the latest was nine hours ago. By the end of our walk, we noticed a message that all calls were being forwarded by T-Mobile, which meant we would not receive a phone call from the owner. We made plans to take it to a T-Mobile store for them to deal with. However, while we were having breakfast, the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey… do you have my phone?”
“Uh, maybe. Did you call it?”
“Yes, great! Where are you?”
“Here, talking into your phone.”
“Right, but where is my phone?”
“I just checked. It’s still in my hand.”
No, that wasn’t the conversation, but there was some confusion. The owner lives nearby and retrieved the phone. This has only happened a handful of times. Usually, the phone is totally damaged or dead. If we can identify the carrier, usually by the SIM card, we will return it to the store. Otherwise, it gets recycled.
As we turned the corner from Juanita-Woodinville Way to NE 145th St, we spotted a tree with a bunch of crows perched in it.
As we looked around, we saw that there were many more crows in the trees and more flying in. We guessed that there were an excess of a hundred crows creating a cacophony of noise. Then we saw the reason.
It was a crow vigil. In the middle of the road, a rat had been run over. This crow evidently concentrated on the rat rather than the traffic. Some researchers believe the crows are not mourning, but performing a form of danger assessment or learning, like CSI, Crime Scene Investigation. Or, maybe Crow Scene Investigation.
The next day as we approached the same location, there were still crows hanging around.
Not nearly as many as before, but at least thirty or so. These must be the slow learners. Or perhaps they are those few who hang around after a funeral, crowing about old times.
And day three.
After further research, we found that crows remain in the area as long as the body is visible. We should have hidden it in the bushes.
We found a Slurpee car air freshener with no flavor listed.
It’s probably a good thing they tossed it. The mystery flavor could be Gravy Surprise or Buffalo Wing Blast. Imagine your car smelling like Thanksgiving leftovers.
At a bus stop, we spotted an empty water bottle and an unopened jar of creamy peanut butter.
The bottle said ‘Unclaimed Property’ and had a link to claimyourcash.org. It turns out, that links the Washington State Department of Revenue’s site for lost property. Apparently, you can turn in unclaimed property there.
Well, hey! Most everything we find is unclaimed property. Maybe we’ll start mailing the peanut butter to them and hope they will send us a check.
Beer cans and overturned furniture.
Obviously, the teen’s parents were out of town when he invited a few friends over for a party. Someone should make a movie about that. We picked up the beer cans but forgot to check the cushions for change.
About six months ago, a massage parlor opened on our route. We normally pass by it early in the morning when it’s still dark. It has a red neon sign in the window that reads, ‘MASSAGE.’ At one point, either the ‘M’ was blocked or burned out. It was later fixed. This week, we noticed it was turned off.
Today, we passed by in the daylight and found that their Certificate of Occupancy had been revoked due to unsafe structure and equipment, and multiple fire code violations.
They must have rubbed the inspectors the wrong way.
With that, we wrap up another TrashWalking week. Our inventory:
We found a penny on Monday, then we found reasonable change starting Thursday. We ended up with $1.18, a good week for no folding money.
Two tools. A monster pair of pruning loppers. It made us want to count our fingers when we picked it up. Also, a small rat-tail file. Why a rat would want to file its tail is beyond us.
And only urine containers. These guys are just not drinking enough beer.
- $1.18
- 9 Roadkill. Three rats, two rabbits, two crows, a bird, and a baby opossum.
- 4 Frustrated cat’s cat toys.
- 4 Balls.
- 2 Urine containers.
- 2 Tools, a monster lopper and a small file used by the rat with the sharp tail.
- 2 Discarded sofas from “Risky Business.”
- 1 Flushed flush and fill kit.
- 1 Discarded pregnancy test.
- 1 Last supper button.
- 1 Cell phone returned to its owner.
- 1 Herd of mourning crows.
- 1 Slurpee air freshener, unused and unwanted.
- 1 Piece of unclaimed property, not including the peanut butter.
- 1 Massage parlor out on its assage.
Have a great week, and remember, not all massage parlors are wholesome; some offer “other services,” like unsafe equipment, fire code violations, and a complimentary building evacuation drill.
Trash Walking 