Cheap Trash
Yesterday, to my wife's delight, I finished tiling our upstairs bathroom. It wasn't a big job but I'd been taking my time and decided the bathtub in our living room needed to end its 3 month stay. As I was ending the job I realized I had accumulated a fair amount of garbage which needed to make a journey to its 'Holy Land', the dump.
I began to load up my gas guzzler with all the random odds and ends one collects on their lawn; when you don't have to worry about what the neighbors might think. I found: 1 toilet, 1 sink, 2 rusty old bikes, 1 broken shovel, 1 computer, 1 aluminum ridge vent, 1 captive air tank, 1 old wheelbarrow and finally 1 wicked big roof mounting TV antenna. To my wife's delight the yard is now less cluttered.
This morning after 6 or 7 inches of new snow I made my way to the Holy Land. I pulled in and unloaded all the junk, metal in one bin and the rest in another. It was pretty awesome watching the toilet explode after I heaved it over the safety bar and it found the ground. During this unloading it kept snowing and was cold; so on completion I rushed into the little house to pay the man. My glasses fogged and I wasn't listening carefully when he told me the price. I repeated back to him $30? To my shock he replied $3.
Now I am grateful it was cheap, but wasn't that a little too cheap? Where are they going to take that stuff for $3?
Tags: Enviornment, Questions, Story, Cleaning
Labels: Reflection
posted by jay baehr @ 1/25/2006
6 thoughts
6 Comments:
Going to the "Holy Land" are where great memories are forged. I like bringing my oldest daughter (5) with me on a Saturday morning. If nothing else, she likes to smash the glass jars as they are thrown into the recycle bin. For me, though it's the conversation.
We used to pay almost $70 per quarter for garbage service. Now I make a pilgrimage every three weeks with my two really large contractor bags stuffed with our discards and stinky diapers. The best part? When I walk into the little shed to pay, and say "Two Bags" at which point the reply comes "Two Bucks". Ah, but the memories of watching stuff smash to oblivion in the big dumpster with my daughter? priceless...
By the way, did you notice they have a new Amish-built shed there? Now you know where your $3 went!
streetwise...
It's all making sense....but I could have swore the amish charged more than $3. I think next time I go I'm going to make a donation.
Ahhh, this post is bringing back memories of going to the dump yard every now and then with my Dad. It was owned by the Huenefeld family in Freeport, IL - what a stinky place that was.
Kris,
You're right. I remember those days with my Dad. No recycling, no burying the garbage. Just a BIG pile that you added too. Those days are long gone now.
I'm finding that my trips have been productive. about 50% of the time, I've scored some pretty nice 'junk'. Most recently, I got a good condition wheel chair. Figured I'd re-direct it to Equip India when they have their next wheel chair drive...
jayb, noble in deed. They not only have to buy the shed, but they have to figure a way to keep it heated too..
I think you're cute when your glasses fog up.
By the sounds of it, your fitting right into our rurul culture. When you get a car or two on blocks in your front yard, you'll be offical.
BJB
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