Yoo Hoo am I too Late for the Garbage

No lady jump right in, goes the punch line to the old joke about the woman dressed in curlers and robe running down the driveway yelling to the trash man.

I am reminded of that joke all the time.  Today was garbage day in my neighborhood. It was also bulk day, which is the first garbage collection day of the month.  So while I was out walking I did see more than the usual collection of offerings.  There was a sofa bed down the street,  the thought of hoisting that monster into the crusher made my back  scream  at the idea. Must have made the same impression on the garbage men, because they left it behind.  Even on bulk day a sofa bed is not going away.

There were some mattresses,  down the way some old tool boxes and yet further on there was what looked to be armoire of sorts.   But at most of the houses there wasn't even a can.  But at one house there was all manner of furniture, most of it dated. I know the house as the house of an older woman who I would often see walking in the early hours.  When had I last seen her ?  I could not recall, but in my mind it was not that long ago, had something happened to her ?  I hope not, she was always pleasant with her hello, unlike some others who don't even acknowledge your existence as they pass.  Maybe she was going to downsize and go to an apartment---I hope.  But something was up with her house.

I though that you could furnish and apartment with the offerings on bulk day, if you were up and out early and had a discerning eye and if you were 25 and just starting out with no money. Curbsiding  it is called.


Coming home from my walk with the dog, I saw  the neighbors across the street had a toilet out for pickup.  Hmmm, my wife has been suggesting that we replace the old toilet in our back bathroom, perhaps.......... the thought danced in my noggin for about  3 seconds and then I cracked up.  Could you imagine the reaction I thought.  I have a well defined sense of humor, my wife not so much. I thought broaching the subject of saving a few dollars on toilet acquisition would be fun, but then I pictured her reaction and decided that fun  is really subjective.  So I left the porcelain convenience sitting curbside across the way.  A  treasure for some other wayward husband seeking  to save a few dollars, one who values the savings more than his very life.

I noticed in my walkabout that the elderly lady down the street had no trash at the curb, I will need to watch for her presence over the weekend and if failing in that, I will have to see if the paper is picked up and if her car is moved and if failing that if she puts out her trash on Tuesday.  I notice  these things as I move about in the neighborhood like some watchman with dog.  Making sure nothing is amiss including the trash at the curb.

I do get to see and I do notice a lot. I do not know many of the neighbors in any sort of close way, but I do know that when the red car is parked in the driveway of the corner house that her mother is in for a round of chemo therapy, and the Subaru in the driveway at the end of the block tells me that owner's daughter has moved in after divorce.  And so it goes.  The red car is in the drive, as is the Christmas wreath, where it has sat for months. Garbage men won't take it, probably considering it vegative waste, suitable for special pickup only.  The homeowners probably can't understand why it remains each and every garbage day, but it does. The needles now brown and withered it no longer resembles a wreath, yet is remains.  When there is chemo in the house , there are more important things to consider.

Some people generate a lot of trash others not so much.  A couple of folks in my neighborhood have resorted to dumpsters to remove their accumulated mountains of stuff.  Others leave but a single dainty white kitchen bag at the curb.

But when I get home I see my next door neighbor heading out to drop Jr. at the Jr. High School and notice nary a bag or can curbside at their abode. I fully expect to see the car screech to a stop midway down the driveway and Jr. pop out run to the backyard and wheel the can to the curb.  But no, it does not happen and off they go.   Marking the fourth or fifth consecutive time that they have missed the pickup.  The pile in the rear yard is starting to , well be a pile.

It has been a cool summer so far.  Thank God.

Just last night , my wife remarked , Shannon ,our neighbor, must be confused because she just put her garbage out two days before garbage day.  No, it has been out  since the day before, garbage day. I countered with the garbage remained at the curb because the sanitation service did not pick it up. They wouldn't pick it up because they put a microwave oven at the curb. Microwave ovens must be picked up by special arrangement and if you put one at the curb they will bypass your garbage..  This is for real, folks.  Don't you remember when, a couple of months ago, we put a microwave at the curb. I was carrying that thing in and out every couple of days in the hope they would take it ?  Oh, yeah , her reply.  Shannon is not going to lug stuff in an out, she is going to try and wait them out. She will leave the pile of trash at the curb just to be obstinate.

Maybe the town will ticket her, oh, that would be so much fun, think I.  She would really get annoyed.  More annoyed than having to special arrange garbage pick-up of a microwave.

So she will have her garbage at the curb for awhile, as it festers.  Thank God it has been a cool summer I think as I head out the door to walk the pooch, Wave to Joe the Landscaper who is loading Eric's old propane grill onto his trailer, yeah the same grill that has been sitting curbside for a month.
Another failure to make an appointment for pick up.

It was a nice neighborhood when we first moved here, now with all the garbage on the street, I just don't know.