This topic was a gift from a blog I was reading earlier. It has to do with putting things out by your curb for removal.
When I replaced my defunct water heater some months ago, I stored it in my backyard for several weeks, waiting for "big trash pick up", a time when the city comes by and collects bigger than usual debris. About a week before the eventful day, I wheels the leaky water heater to the curb and went back for some palm fronds that had been cut, when I noticed a pick up truck speeding away with my water heater in the back. I tried yelling that it leaks to the would be felons, but they were long gone. I actually felt bad that they risked their reputation as clever thieves, committing a felony for a water heater that leaks, but "Oh Well"!
Another item that I wanted to get rid of, was a Weber Barbecue that had rusted through the bottom. It looked okay from the outside, but when you removed the lid, you could see your shoes. So I put it out by the curb and taped a sign to it that read, "FREE". That thing kept disappearing, but when I'd look in front of the neighbor's house, there it stood. The people that would take it would wait until they got away with it to inspect it and would determine that it was not worthy of the price...........FREE. They would just abandon it where it was and make me wheel it back home for the next passer-bye. Eventually, I must have come across a clever person that was willing to put a piece of sheet metal on the bottom, that's really all it needed.
The next thing that made it's way down to the curb was my built-in microwave oven that quit working. Now that's a losing proposition. They all cost more to fix than to replace with a brand new one, which is what I did. The old Mike took until sundown to make it's way to Microwave heaven, when it mysteriously disappeared. I feel bad for the people that take these items. they're so full of plastic that they don't even have any metal value.
Here is an item that took forever to get picked up by the trash collectors. In the old days, we used a diaper pale and although it had little baby decorations on it, it was still the same shape as a garbage can. Each week the trash collectors would pick it up, look inside of it and put it back down. I finally had to smash it to a new and different shape, to get anyone to think it was trash.
Eventually, I discovered why the trash men didn't show up at all on occasion. After being married for a short period of time, my new wife discovered my Playboy Magazine collection and decided it had to go. Women don't understand that sort of thing, particularly in the early 70's. Those things NEVER get thrown away, they improved with age. Well, she wasn't going to hear it, they were doomed. With tears in my eyes, I walked them to the curb, early one garbage day. I sat in the window and sobbed as my old friends were about to be trashed. I could hear the truck coming. With great anticipation, my stomach cramped up as I saw the truck coming in the corner of my eye. With the screaming of it's air brakes the truck came to a sudden halt and 2 trash collectors hopped off and grabbed a couple of the garbage cans, tossing theme into the back of their truck. Then suddenly, without warning, it was almost like God gave my girls a reprieve, all of the employees on that truck got off and then began to read my Playboys. They must have been there for 2 hours just sitting and reading and looking at the pictures. With me still watching, the magazines got stacked and put into the cab of the mighty truck. That's when I finally sighed a sigh of relief, because I knew my "girls" were going to finally getting good homes! My wife asked what's wrong as I walked bye and I replied, "Oh nothing"..
When I replaced my defunct water heater some months ago, I stored it in my backyard for several weeks, waiting for "big trash pick up", a time when the city comes by and collects bigger than usual debris. About a week before the eventful day, I wheels the leaky water heater to the curb and went back for some palm fronds that had been cut, when I noticed a pick up truck speeding away with my water heater in the back. I tried yelling that it leaks to the would be felons, but they were long gone. I actually felt bad that they risked their reputation as clever thieves, committing a felony for a water heater that leaks, but "Oh Well"!
Another item that I wanted to get rid of, was a Weber Barbecue that had rusted through the bottom. It looked okay from the outside, but when you removed the lid, you could see your shoes. So I put it out by the curb and taped a sign to it that read, "FREE". That thing kept disappearing, but when I'd look in front of the neighbor's house, there it stood. The people that would take it would wait until they got away with it to inspect it and would determine that it was not worthy of the price...........FREE. They would just abandon it where it was and make me wheel it back home for the next passer-bye. Eventually, I must have come across a clever person that was willing to put a piece of sheet metal on the bottom, that's really all it needed.
The next thing that made it's way down to the curb was my built-in microwave oven that quit working. Now that's a losing proposition. They all cost more to fix than to replace with a brand new one, which is what I did. The old Mike took until sundown to make it's way to Microwave heaven, when it mysteriously disappeared. I feel bad for the people that take these items. they're so full of plastic that they don't even have any metal value.
Here is an item that took forever to get picked up by the trash collectors. In the old days, we used a diaper pale and although it had little baby decorations on it, it was still the same shape as a garbage can. Each week the trash collectors would pick it up, look inside of it and put it back down. I finally had to smash it to a new and different shape, to get anyone to think it was trash.
Eventually, I discovered why the trash men didn't show up at all on occasion. After being married for a short period of time, my new wife discovered my Playboy Magazine collection and decided it had to go. Women don't understand that sort of thing, particularly in the early 70's. Those things NEVER get thrown away, they improved with age. Well, she wasn't going to hear it, they were doomed. With tears in my eyes, I walked them to the curb, early one garbage day. I sat in the window and sobbed as my old friends were about to be trashed. I could hear the truck coming. With great anticipation, my stomach cramped up as I saw the truck coming in the corner of my eye. With the screaming of it's air brakes the truck came to a sudden halt and 2 trash collectors hopped off and grabbed a couple of the garbage cans, tossing theme into the back of their truck. Then suddenly, without warning, it was almost like God gave my girls a reprieve, all of the employees on that truck got off and then began to read my Playboys. They must have been there for 2 hours just sitting and reading and looking at the pictures. With me still watching, the magazines got stacked and put into the cab of the mighty truck. That's when I finally sighed a sigh of relief, because I knew my "girls" were going to finally getting good homes! My wife asked what's wrong as I walked bye and I replied, "Oh nothing"..
Mel
6/27/08
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