I’m finally done with moving and the temp job. I needed a few days to recover and get back into my “garbage rhythm.” It’s great things are back to normal, or at least as normal as my life as a trash picker ever gets. I definitely feel much more free, determining my own schedule and doing what I love.
I had a yard sale yesterday which made me around 110$ and helped me get rid of some of my excess stuff. I still have some major room organization to do, though. I also can’t find my battery charger so for these pictures I had to use my much inferior cell phone camera.
I took a little walk last night in Outremont near Querbes, mostly just to relax but also to see if there was anything put out a bit early. I came across this big pile of old electronic equipment, including a few reel-to-reel players, an 8-track player, a few amplifiers, and a Beta cassette player. Fortunately one of my friends lives close by and with some help I dragged home the most of it that evening. Much of what we’ve tested so far has worked fine.
My friend and I went back in the morning, mostly to pick up a bunch of old tape reels. There was a nice carpet that we left behind the night before in hopes that we could pick it up with her car but by morning it had disappeared. Regardless, we took all the reels, some cassettes and some 8-track tapes – many of which were of old Greek music.
We explored Outremont by car a bit more after that. My friend found a working microwave, a chair, a pair of pants and some blinds, none of which I would have been able to save normally. We also saved a couple of spider plants from some black bags. Driving is an interesting change of pace. You’re definitely able to bring home bigger stuff and take a chance on electronics (the microwave, for instance) but generally I think you move around a bit faster and get a better feel for the trash while biking. It’s also a fair bit cheaper.
This picture was taken in the morning, long after we carried away the audio equipment. I don’t have pictures of any of the audio equipment at the moment but I can show you a couple of my favourite “other” finds.
I actually found this box full of old camera flashes at the same place last Thursday. They look pretty cool, as if they have steel wool inside.
I really like this Ingraham plug-in wall clock. It’s got some vintage appeal, that’s for sure. I might put it up in my room.
Once in a while I find something I have a special appreciation for. This little AM radio walkman fits the bill. I like how it has a built in speaker, which works quite well and is great for someone like me who doesn’t really like wearing headphones. I also enjoy the old-time sound of AM radio. I found a station last night, somewhere around the 1500 on the dial, which was playing oldies music. My friends and I listened to it for quite a while. I’m going to keep it, it might be useful for outdoors, or perhaps even to bring with my on trash runs.
When I found this it had a battery included, which must have meant that whoever owned it before used it recently, at least within the last few years. I wonder why this stuff was thrown out. I’m definitely going to keep my eye on this spot going forward.
I may take a little walk around the Mile End tonight. I have some work to do on my bike as well but I don’t anticipate that it’ll take too long. I also hope to track down that battery charger!