Once while working a route at my previous employer I jumped off the truck and approached the first can. I ripped the lid off the top to see placed neatly atop the trash, a bag containing water and a goldfish, still swimming mind you.
You know the kind, you make a ping pong ball land atop a saucer and you win the fish in the bowl below it?
I was baffled. what do you do? Stop and collect the fish and take it home? Risk being the new guy with a tear in his eye who pisses off his partner only to have the bag rupture in the front of the truck while finishing the route?
Memories came back of a fish my Mom and I had in the small standard plastic bowl (the kind you get with the fish at the pet store) that had gone forgotten for years behind the kitchen curtain. Only to discover amid our negligence the fucker had adapted/evolved to living on the algae and muck that had accumulated on the walls of the bowl. We then, feeling terrible, cleaned the bowl and the fish promptly died.
I couldn't imagine the scenario that would prompt someone to place the fish in the garbage can as opposed to flushing it down the toilet to fend for itself among the alligators, snakes and mermaids.
My guess was that the little guy/gal was asleep in the back seat when they got home from the fair and figuring that he/she would not remember daddy winning the prize they would later name and mourn, they placed the fish in the trash to fend for itself amongst the rats, maggots and bulldozers.
Imagine that...
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Items found and kept
Money, paper and coin- totaling around $11.00
Green lamp- currently in use in the living room.
Chair- currently getting wet in the back yard.
Bikes- i see so many yet have only gone back for one, a Schwinn that is just my size and in pieces in the garage. go figure.
a GBH record- had to let that one go, my partner was a jazz fan.
Photos- I tend to let thos stay in the trash, I had a problem with photos in the past.
A Bluetooth headset- brand new-ish, worked/great, I just have to deal with looking like a cyborg or a black dude at Ikea.
Clothes- a North Face Fleece, Work Pants, etc.
Cell Phones- Usually not the best conditions, but if they have a sim card i test em out.
Books- Cathcher in the rye, Johnny got his gun, Collected poems of Edgar Allen Poe and so forth.
Bad magazines- FHM, Blender, Playboy (good articles), Maxim (real bad articles).
Tyvek envelopes- in the hundreds. If you need some let me know, i can hook you up.
Paper clips in promotional magnectic container shapped like a house to promote health insurance.
Green lamp- currently in use in the living room.
Chair- currently getting wet in the back yard.
Bikes- i see so many yet have only gone back for one, a Schwinn that is just my size and in pieces in the garage. go figure.
a GBH record- had to let that one go, my partner was a jazz fan.
Photos- I tend to let thos stay in the trash, I had a problem with photos in the past.
A Bluetooth headset- brand new-ish, worked/great, I just have to deal with looking like a cyborg or a black dude at Ikea.
Clothes- a North Face Fleece, Work Pants, etc.
Cell Phones- Usually not the best conditions, but if they have a sim card i test em out.
Books- Cathcher in the rye, Johnny got his gun, Collected poems of Edgar Allen Poe and so forth.
Bad magazines- FHM, Blender, Playboy (good articles), Maxim (real bad articles).
Tyvek envelopes- in the hundreds. If you need some let me know, i can hook you up.
Paper clips in promotional magnectic container shapped like a house to promote health insurance.
What you dont see on the outside
If only it had been done in red, perhaps one would be more inclined to listen.
I feel like chicken tonight
This is what one encounters when collecting food waste.
How long do you think it takes to amass 96 gallons of chicken leavens?
The good thing is that it is made into a paste that is then "digested" and used to power up to 1500 homes.
I suppose it's worth it...
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Two great tastes?
Seriously?
I mean I am a fan of the Sheen/Estevez acting team and the double threat of Emilio writing and directing this 1990 gem, but when you edit it down add some Timex Social Club you have possibly shat upon my memories of years gone by.
Its kind of like dying and an angel who guards the gates at purgatory replays your life and shows a clip of you losing your virginity at age 14.
On a similarly alarming note there are videos on YouTube of edited tv shows (Lost, Buffy, etc.) that have been paired with music by The Smiths.
Perhaps I am the only garbage man that digs The Smiths...
ZA-HAM-BIE! BIE! BIE! BIE!
Tenderloin, in particular Mason and Eddy streets at around 4am toward the end of a shift that started the night before at 9:30pm started to look a little bit like the video for thriller.
You want 'em, we got 'em.
You can do it!
At my previous employer i was working recycling where the rich folk reside, i.e. Jerry Rice etc.
The recycling is collected in small buckets that are placed curbside in numbers of anywhere from 1 to 8 buckets.
So as I jump out to grab the bottles and cans bucket i find a DVD player, granted this has both types of plastic and types of metals but hardly clasifies as recyclable. Its hard to decide who is to blame, the rich or their uninformed/uneducated "help".
I am sticking to the rich.
I am sticking it to the rich whenever possible.
Mostly in merging situations while driving or shopping.
I encourage you to do the same.
The recycling is collected in small buckets that are placed curbside in numbers of anywhere from 1 to 8 buckets.
So as I jump out to grab the bottles and cans bucket i find a DVD player, granted this has both types of plastic and types of metals but hardly clasifies as recyclable. Its hard to decide who is to blame, the rich or their uninformed/uneducated "help".
I am sticking to the rich.
I am sticking it to the rich whenever possible.
Mostly in merging situations while driving or shopping.
I encourage you to do the same.
Moons over my hammy
Often times there are small happenings in the job that redeem the early bed times, no sleep, lack of seeing/talking to friends, wearing high visibility gear, making any plans, or going to bed at the same time with my wife.
I am talking in addition to the weekly paycheck.
This one in particular was hanging off the back of the truck as we crested Telegraph Hill to see the sunrise over the Oakland hills, coloring the bay gold and orange. There was a time in my life (early 20's) that I had a hard-on for the occasional sunrise. I would take pictures, thank life for happening etc. now a days I am just "pumped!" to have a job of this caliber. I am also equally "pumped!" that this particular job can be so punishing on occasion because I lack motivation and self discipline and having the invisible drill sargent of responsibility in the back of my head places one foot in front of the other is a good tool for one such as myself.
"Pumped!"? you say?
yeah, I say.
I am talking in addition to the weekly paycheck.
This one in particular was hanging off the back of the truck as we crested Telegraph Hill to see the sunrise over the Oakland hills, coloring the bay gold and orange. There was a time in my life (early 20's) that I had a hard-on for the occasional sunrise. I would take pictures, thank life for happening etc. now a days I am just "pumped!" to have a job of this caliber. I am also equally "pumped!" that this particular job can be so punishing on occasion because I lack motivation and self discipline and having the invisible drill sargent of responsibility in the back of my head places one foot in front of the other is a good tool for one such as myself.
"Pumped!"? you say?
yeah, I say.
Stair Master
Picture this:
4:30 am (shift started at 2am), Chinatown, pissing rain, dressed head to toe in high visibility yellow rain gear with the occasional reflective strip, size 14 wide steel toe boots (less grip than one who spends $150.00 would assume, see below).
Coming down from the second floor of a SRO (single room occupancy) building whose stairs were lined with linoleum and nothing else (i.e. no slip griptape (for better backside grabs), metal edges, etc.)
and there is me, my partner watching in bemused horror as i slip/slide/fall/surf/stair dive down easily 25 steps with a full 90 gallon toter cascading garbage, almost wave like, over my head and onto the bottom of the aformentioned steps. Stunning visual you say? yeah. I Say. I live this shit.
4:30 am (shift started at 2am), Chinatown, pissing rain, dressed head to toe in high visibility yellow rain gear with the occasional reflective strip, size 14 wide steel toe boots (less grip than one who spends $150.00 would assume, see below).
Coming down from the second floor of a SRO (single room occupancy) building whose stairs were lined with linoleum and nothing else (i.e. no slip griptape (for better backside grabs), metal edges, etc.)
and there is me, my partner watching in bemused horror as i slip/slide/fall/surf/stair dive down easily 25 steps with a full 90 gallon toter cascading garbage, almost wave like, over my head and onto the bottom of the aformentioned steps. Stunning visual you say? yeah. I Say. I live this shit.
Occurances in garbage that can ruin any day
syringe
open condom
dirty diaper
panties (this has the potenial to go two ways)
some douches left over starbucks sludge splashed upon my person
whole fish (they seem to swim out of the can into the truck)
unidentifiable meat
tampon
bloody band aid
used toilet/tissue paper (any color)
baby rats
adult rats (i have had to toss both)
raccoon remains
open condom
dirty diaper
panties (this has the potenial to go two ways)
some douches left over starbucks sludge splashed upon my person
whole fish (they seem to swim out of the can into the truck)
unidentifiable meat
tampon
bloody band aid
used toilet/tissue paper (any color)
baby rats
adult rats (i have had to toss both)
raccoon remains
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