Today proved that spring has not quite sprung. Biking around was slightly uncomfortable again. I figure one more week and we’ll be seeing consistently high temperatures, and then real “spring cleaning” will begin and garbage hunting will be awesome.
On Tuesday I came across this pile of stuff outside of a big apartment building on Papineau. I talked to the intendant and he said that it was all from an older tenant who moved out, likely to a retirement home of sorts. I didn’t find much – a lamp (which I still have stashed away), a nice glass and a glass container – but there was some nice furniture. The table top leaning against the back was a nice vintage piece. I saw someone checking it out and I helped him find all the pieces for it (which the intendant had helped me find; he was a cool guy). I would have liked it, but I was far from home and on a bike. I’m just glad someone else got it.
I saw the guy come back as I was leaving, so I hope he took home some of the other furniture too. There was a nice set of drawers and four matching dining room chairs.
I’m not sure this nice vintage set of drawers (in an alley behind Rachel) was as lucky. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with them. I found a 50 cent Euro piece in the top drawer.
Back to today. I saw this leather couch in an alley next to Parc behind a used / vintage furniture store between Villeneuve and St Joseph. I talked to the owner once and he said he always had too much stuff, which I could tell just by looking at the store. Regardless, that means that this couch was likely fine. It wasn’t in perfect shape, but definitely good enough to use (especially for students). You can always throw a blanket over it or something.
I was going to put a curb alert out for it but forgot. I think I’ll add this location to my dumpster diving map though!
I found this in an alley going adjacent to St-Denis. It’s funny how after living here and doing this so often there are still spots I’ve never bothered to check out; this was one of those.
There was some odds and ends in the bags. Some kitchen stuff, a pillow, and a bent up “for sale” sign that indicated that someone might have sold their place.
I scavenged some kitchen stuff. The stainless steel pot is nice, even if one of the handles isn’t in perfect shape, and I’ll probably give it away as I don’t really need it. There were a lot of knives, none of which are particularly special or sharp. If anyone in Montreal wants this stuff let me know! If not I’ll put it on Craigslist in a couple of days.
There were a few modern-looking silverplate kitchen utensils. The hinges are a bit loose on the tongs but they’re definitely still usable. One of them is marked “zinc alloy silver” and also “silverplate” which seems like a contradiction; zinc alloy can refer to nickel silver, which is a silver plate impostor probably made up by some alchemist.
I spotted these funky looking shoes in this trash can not far from the furniture store. I took them because I never saw a shoe that pointy before, and because my instincts told me they were of good quality.
They’re Jo Ghosts, which seem to be a pretty expensive shoe if Ebay is to be believed. That means my eye for value is getting pretty good! They have a bit of wear but I don’t think it’s anything a little shoe polishing can’t fix.
They actually fit me pretty well. Not sure they’re my style, but it might work if I wear a funky suit to go along with it. We’ll see! If not I may see if I can sell them on Ebay. It’s definitely harder to sell them used, but not impossible.
