I found a box of Mexican beers in a black bag on rue Esplanade.
Inside the box were five full beers! Most are Dos Equis and one is a bottle of Tecate (which I’ve never seen in Canada).
No idea why they were thrown out; even if they’re on the old side they’ll still be fine – just a bit funkier. Maybe they don’t like these Mexican beers.
Honestly: I probably won’t drink these. I’ve become quite the beer snob over the years and if I have a choice I’ll buy a good microbrew any day. Being Christmas and all I figure they’ll end up Christmas gifts from my roommate. They definitely won’t go to waste!
UPDATE: The beers were skunky but my roommate drank them anyways.
I pulled these dishes out of the bags in the picture above. I left it all (except the baking pan – I can use that) by a bus stop on St Urbain. Hopefully it gets a good home. There were a couple of nice plates, two bowls, some cutlery and a set of mugs and saucers for espresso. There was also a container of markers.
Finally – a working toaster. I found two bags on St Urbain that were full of food stuff. It all looked okay but there wasn’t really much worth bothering with. Inside the bag as well was this toaster and a little George Foreman grill.
I took the toaster; I had a feeling that it would work based on the contents of the bag. It seemed like someone just cleaned out the kitchen. I brought it home and it worked. It’s actually pretty clean too. I gave it a scrub after taking this shot so the steel is nice and shiny. It’s good timing because I haven’t had a toaster for a while and I’ve been getting sick of that state of affairs.
UPDATE: the timer is off on the toaster. I have to depress the lever three separate times to get a good piece of toast. Nonetheless I’m still pretty happy about it – it’s way better than using the broil on the oven.
That’s all for now!
Was that a gang of bent-up hula-hoops in the third pic?
Nice find with that toaster. The slots look big enough for bagels too.
That’s exactly it. I’m pretty happy about the toaster.
Bravo with the beer finds.You could have taken them and offered them to friends.The baking pan you took was very good.It is a great idea to reuse discarded cookware in good condition,but make sure to wash the baking pan in soap and hot water before using it.
Please keep making such finds over the coming weeks.If need be,take the metro and get off a different metro station,say Outremont,Sauve or Vendome.Then walk from there through the streets on trash pickup day and carry a bag slung over your shoulders and some plastic bags.If you find anything interesting,put it in the big bag or duffel bag.It is simply not possible to bike safely now.Don’t risk your life or neck.Don’t be macho or cool—just walk when it is not too cold.
I did take the beer, my friends will definitely drink it.
I’m not sure if I’ll go to many new neighborhoods until the spring. Spring is a better time for trash (spring cleaning is a real thing). For now I’ll probably stick to the Plateau / Mile End trash days, venturing out to Rosemont or Hochelaga if it’s nice out (as they’re relatively close).
MERRY CHRISTMAS
You too!
I’m amazed by the things you find that could have been donated. And you have spotted some beautiful things as well.
I check your blog every two days to see if there are new postings.In winter,less stuff is thrown out—but one can still check the street where one lives on trash pickup days.I live in St.Henri.I was just going out to put out my trash on Christmas eve.I saw an open box full of books in the back alley,but I did not take anything.On Christmas morning,I went out and checked —the box was still there.I still did not take anything,but was sure then that the books had been thrown out.Yesterday on Boxing day,I went out and checked .The box full of books was still there.I found and took excellent books from Chuck Klosterman,Stephen King,Robert Pirsig,Thomas Hardy,Hemmingway and a few cookbooks.I intend to keep them in my home library for reference and reading.There is more than a 50% chance that if I had not taken them,the books would have gone with the trash pickup.I do not take books left in back alleys if I think they belong to someone or if someone might have forgotten or lost them.But if books have really neen dumped or thrown out,it is great to rescue them.Bottle collectors and metal scavengers mostly do not touch dumped books.
Nice find! There’s definitely less in the winter, although I wonder if there willl be a bit more in the coming days as people replace old things with newer things they got as presents. I’m back in town tomorrow so I should be able to take a look to see if that makes sense. Either way – the end of the month is usually better as people moving out sometimes leave things behind.