I took a walk on Friday and found this pile of stuff in an alley. I think it had been there a while. There were lots of old records but they were all frozen together – unless they were put outside when wet they must have been sitting there since the last thaw.
The garbage truck doesn’t come down this alley, so unless someone brought it to the curb it’s probably still sitting there.
I found a few things of interest:
This piece of art (titled “Riyadh” and coated in a small amount of snow) is by someone named Paul Rose. I liked it and stashed it along a fence a bit further in the alley to make sure it didn’t go to waste. I may go back and see if it’s still around!
I also like the old door in behind.
The tag on the back of the art. Translation: the artist wants the power to put this piece on display in the future.
A wire candle holder featuring an elephant and two bells. Pretty cute right? I enjoyed the sound of the bells dinging for the rest of my walk.
A ship’s wheel. It’s missing a spoke but it still looks cool as a decoration. It looks fairly old.
Finally, some old electronic stuff. I don’t know specifically what these would do. Let me know if you do! I figure that even if they’re not practically useful they could still be good for an art project.
Most of those electronics are capacitors. The could be tested with an advanced multimeter, but are better off being used for art.
I have seen ads about books being dumped outside Atwater library on Wednesday mornings.I live in NDG,but work in downtown.On the Wednesdays that I am not working(every now and then),I have followed up on the ad and went outside Atwater library to pick up good books for my house library.I found a lot of coffee table books for decoration for my home once and took home a dozen,the second time I found a lot of good novels and took about 15,the third time I saw a lot of French books and books on religion/spirituality—-not my favorite topics,but I took 6 or 7 to give to a relative.Unfortunately,my schedule does not permit me to go to Atwater Library most Wednesdays.Could you encourage your friends to go pick up a few dumped books on Wednesday mornings?Many books they discard are very good;if they do not have much resale value,they still give pleasure in an apartment library.Despite the Craigslist ad about book-dumping,many fine books ,I was told,are not taken by anyone and go in the truck for destruction/recycling.
The electronic parts are mostly capacitors and most should still be fine. Most are ceramic or mica, which generally don’t go bad. At a glance, only the black one is dubious. There are also some resistors towards the bottom of the pile, which are also something that doesn’t go bad.
The puzzler is that there were only these parts. If someone has those, there should have plenty of other parts. That time I found about 200 exotic connectors, it was because there were more mundane electronic parts more visible. That time I found the Sony shortwave receiver, in pieces, there were some vacuum tubes and other parts with it. That time I found the soldering iron, there was a 60gig iPod with it, clearly someone had intended to change the battery (it needed one) but had given up on the idea.
Michael
Nice finds.
Alas, the only Paul Rose I could find in Quebec is the sovereigntist terrorist (born October, 1943)
For the “electronic stuff”, you may want to check and see if there is a H.A.M. Radio club in your area. You may be able to sell them to someone. Good luck!
I like the wire candle holder that you photographed but would not take it—I do not like candles at home.However,I would have taken the vinyl records that you saw abandoned in a laneway.February is one of the months when the least garbage gets put out.Few people move in winter,it is too early for spring cleaning and it is after Christmas—so few people are redecorating by buying new stuff and throwing out old stuff.I live in Westmount on Sherbrooke street and see little good stuff being dumped this month.