EVER HAVE ONE OF THOSE GOOD AND BAD DAYS?

 

Ever have one of those good and bad days?  I had one of those today.  

I decided to try to pick up trash for five hours on Saturdays and Sundays and stop going out after work.  My job has been so stressful lately, I just don't have much time before it gets dark.  So off I went.

I found this little pink hippo backpack in the ditch. I started to throw her away, and then I thought maybe I could wash her up, so I put her under my trash bag.  When I got home I threw her in the washer.  She cleaned up really well . . . unfortunately, she was not washable!  Who makes a child's toy that's not washable?  That's crazy!

When I pulled her out of the washer, she was empty.  Her seams were split in five places!  And all her stuffing was in my washer!  Yikes! What a mess!

I pushed all her stuffing back inside, and then got out my needle and thread and sewed her up.  That was a lot more than I bargained for when I rescued her from the trash!

I started at the exit and entrance ramps at Route 8 and Wilbeth Road.  I picked up 1,285 pieces on all four corners.  What a mess!

The last time I was here, I didn't clean the entrance ramp northbound, because there was too much traffic.  Today, I was able to climb over the guard rail and pick up as much as I could stuff into my trash bag.

I left my trash cart at the corner, and it was exhausting to climb over the guard rail a dozen times, but way safer than walking on the road.  Unlike the exit ramp, vehicles are zooming past me at 55 mph!

There's so much crazy stuff at exit and entrance ramps.  

Today, I found an oven mitt!  Who throws an oven mitt out of their driver window as they're getting on the freeway?

I racked my brain and could not think of a reason someone would do that. 

Then it came to me.  Maybe they were going to a picnic with something hot, and it spilled all over the oven mitt, so they got rid of it?  Think that's what happened?

My trash bag was so full!  

So was my recycle bin, and my bucket.  My car was parked two blocks away.  I didn't think I was going to make it.

I thought since I was washing the hippo, maybe the oven mitt could be saved too, so I didn't throw it away.

I'm such a sucker for not wasting stuff.  I guess it was the way I was raised.

I've found bottles and cups in the bushes before, but I never boxes in the trees!  Good grief!  Why?

People have too much time on their hands.

Trash goes in the dumpster, not the trees!  Duh!

I heard a loud clap of thunder, and that's when I realized it was going to rain.  I was so busy today, I didn't notice the clouds turning black.

I raced to my car, but I only made it as far as this tree.

My car is WAY OVER THERE!

I stood under the tree until the rain slowed.  I got wet, but not soaked.

So much for picking up trash for five hours.  I was out for three hours, and I picked up 2,774 pieces, so that was good enough for today.

I found nails and screws, most of these on the bridge over the freeway.  

People were blowing their horns at me today, and I saw one of my customers who was stopping by my house to pick up her order, but nobody knows how much more I do.  Who wants to get a flat tire just as you're getting up to speed on the freeway?  Not me!

I've picked up 658 nails, screws and bolts so far.

I've swept up 1,209 piles of broken glass.

I'm at 783,555 pieces, almost to 800,000.  

I hope to be at 800,000 by the end of the month, so I'm right on track.

The oven mitt washed up really well.  It looks brand new.

So I got caught in the rain, and the hippo exploded in my washer, and I didn't stay out for five hours, but it was still a really good day.