09:39 – Barbara is meeting her sister after work for dinner and then making a supermarket run. Colin and I will have leftover gloppita and watch Heartland reruns.
Friday is my least-favorite morning. We get garbage pickup on Friday mornings. The garbage truck periodically compresses the garbage and then drips garbage juice the whole way down the street. Trying to walk Colin is about useless because he insists on pulling his way down the street, snout to the pavement, tracking the garbage truck. What’s worse is that he isn’t content to sniff; he licks the wet spots on the pavement. Colin lives to track, and he doesn’t care what he’s tracking. Any thought of doing what we’re actually out there for couldn’t be further from his mind. So on most Friday mornings, I have to walk him at least twice as far as usual before I can get him to do anything. And he’s slower than usual because he’s sniffing constantly. His first walk on a normal morning takes maybe 15 minutes. This morning, it was 40 minutes.
In my area, garbage trucks are not allowed to have any liquid or solid leave the truck. If it does it is considered an environmental spill and a HazMat protocol is executed. Quite the scene, especially when testing shows something really nasty and the folks in the containment suits show up. In some ways overkill, IMHO.
We are very fortunate to have garbage men/women who are conscientious as well as a company (Waste Management) that operates well maintained equipment. I know in some areas Waste Management has a less than stellar reputation, but not here.
Our trucks leave both solid and waste scattered on the streets. I don’t think it presents any real hazard.
Incidentally, for all people say about city employees being lazy, the guy the picked up our garbage this morning did so literally on the run. I had Colin out when I saw the garbage truck a block down the street. This guy was rolling one of the big bins the city provides to everyone for garbage. We were down near Kim’s house when he came running toward us, pushing cart. We followed him down the street as he stopped at the bin in front of each house (on both sides of the street), pulled out their bags and added them to his cart, and then proceeded at a dead run to the next cart. Every few carts his bin would be filled, so he’d transfer what was in his cart to that cart and then run with his empty cart to the next bin. The truck followed behind him, stopped at each overflowing cart to grab it and dump it into the truck. The guy driving the truck couldn’t keep up with the guy running.
Up in these parts, so that the upper management and owners can squeeze more pennies from their operations, they have the garbage trucks running with just one guy; he drives and then stops at each site, jumps out, runs back to throw it in, jumps back in the truck and so on. I haven’t seen them trailing waste on the street behind them but I used to see that back down in MA and the trucks were also scuzzy with garbage, grime and grease back then and they had three or four guys doing the gig. They’d throw stuff all over the place, too, half of it falling right back into the street. Unionized to the hilt.
Summers here, and presumably most other Murkan towns, we have the lawn mowing cycles; one guy does his and then everyone else follows in quick succession. And this summer it’s been so wet, alternating with sunny days, that we’re all doing it three times a week. I’ll be back out there shortly, but it’s a third beautiful day on the bay and Mrs. OFD should be winding her way, for five hours, back from MA and southern NH.
Hey OFD, are you going to get snow next week?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/07/10/poor-mans-polar-vortex-to-make-shocking-summer-return-in-eastern-u-s-next-week/
We had the ein man truck for a while. The guy never sat down as he configured the seat out of the way and stood to the side as he meandered through the neighborhood. The dude was drenched by the time he got to my house and that was usually by 9 am. He told me that he loved working by himself and did 12 hour shifts. He was skinny as a rail.
A number of jobs like that will pay the employees for their full 8 hours no matter how early they get done. So, the faster they move the sooner they’re done. I know a guy that delivers for the local Dr. Pepper distributor and he starts at 5AM, runs around like crazy, and it usually home watching TV by 10AM. He gets paid his full 8 hours either way. Local electric company meter readers have the same set up. They have to read so many meters a day. If they’re done by noon and go home and chill out for a few hours and then come back and clock out, then that’s fine. Basically, if they bust their ass to get done they can frequently work 20 hours a week, for example, and get paid for 40. Not a bad deal and certainly an incentive to move fast.
Our trash service is pretty automated. A truck with a single person pulls up, a hydraulic arm swings out, picks up our 96-gallon trash bin (provided by the trash service) and dumps it in the truck, and the guy in the truck never has to leave the cab.
Yeah, our recycling is like that and our trash is supposed to be. But recycling is done by a contractor and trash by city employees. Recycling is placed in a city-provided blue 96-gallon rolling bin, and is picked up only at the curb by one guy driving a truck with a grabber. Trash goes in a city-provided black 96-gallon rolling bin, and is picked up at the curb only unless someone has an exemption for age or disability. In that case, they still get back yard pickup, so someone has to go down to the back yard put their trash in a rolling bin, and roll it back up to the street.
We also have yard waste pickup, which goes in a city-provided green 96-gallon rolling bin, and is picked up by one guy driving a truck with a grabber. A lot of people don’t have yard-waste pickup because the city charges directly for it, something like $100 per year.
we have the lawn mowing cycles;
When I first moved into my house all I had was a 20″ walking mower (self propelled). It took me 7 hours to cut and trim the grass. I did that for one summer. Next summer I got a riding lawn tractor with a 40″ cut. Cut my mowing and trimming time down to about 3.5 hours. About 5 years ago I upgraded to a ZTR mower with a 50″ cut. My mowing time is now down to 1.5 hours including trimming. Having that ZTR mower really allows you to cut grass quickly.
http://www.cubcadet.com/equipment/cubcadet/zero-turn-riding-mowers/rzt-riders/rzt-l-50-kh
I have also migrated to an electric weed trimmer this year. A 40 volt model that has enough charge to allow me to do my entire yard. I don’t miss the noise, smell and vibration of the gas trimmer. My next purchase will be an electric leaf blower powered by the same battery system.
city charges directly for it, something like $100 per year.
We pay $8.00 a month added on to our water bill. We have no choice. You get water, you pay for trash pickup.
In Canberra we had the automated recycling (once a fortnight) and automated garbage (once a week). You had to mulch or otherwise dispose of garden stuff yourself. Here in Adelaide it’s the same, except there’s a garden waste pickup every fortnight too. All ‘free’, that is, I pay for it via my local government rates.
“…My mowing time is now down to 1.5 hours including trimming.”
Mine is about that, including the electric weed trimmer thang; cord is a minor PITA but better than the 2-cycle gas/oil PITA. Yard not big enough for a riding mower; had a Cub Cadet at our old place but it would do one mowing and then conk out, constant minor repair crap. Was probably ten or fifteen years old, though.
Any of youse Home & Garden tyros got a recommendation for a lightweight electric chainsaw? Just need it for minor limb lopping, nothing more than six inches, and trimming out brush and suchlike. I am not a professional tree dropper out in the woods with a mighty Stihl or Husqvarna need.
Also, any recs for a decent snowblower, to do a flat gravel driveway about fifty feet long by twenty feet wide and the usual short sidewalk areas?
Detcord is much more fun.
Any of youse Home & Garden tyros got a recommendation for a lightweight electric chainsaw?
http://www.worx.com/en-US/WORX-JawSaw-WG307.aspx
had a Cub Cadet at our old place but it would do one mowing and then conk out, constant minor repair crap.
Only problem I had was apparently some bad gas. Mower acted like it was starving for gas, choking was only way to keep it running. Replaced fuel filter and fuel pump before I realized it was bad gas. Drained tank but that left some still in the tank. Added treatment and just kept running the mower. After a couple of mowings the problem was resolved.
I do maintain it well. Drain gas from the system for the winter and run it until it dies. Change the oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs and grease all the fittings before each season. I also blow off any grass left on the deck after each mowing. Keeps the moisture out of the spindles.
I did have a problem with the front wheels coming off the rims at the recommended pressure. Fixed that by inflating those puppies to 30 pounds.
Biggest issue with ZTR is that when you are going down a fairly steep hill you have no steering. Going uphill is OK, downhill not so much.
That jaw-saw gizmo looks interesting; we can use corded tools here no sweat G.I. due to outlets in the front of the house, so just out the front door for stuff out there, and on the back porch and in the shed/studio at the rear of the back yahd. I’ve got 50- and 100-foot cords and power strips ready to go. I really don’t wanna mess with yet another 2-cycle gas/oil engine here. Yeah, I know I just snarked about the Grid, but hey, when it goes down we’ll be back to saws and axes anyway.
And detcord.
“Were I President I would call the Mexican President and tell him that a delegation of his fellow Marines, unarmed, are coming in to visit him and expect to take him home with them; and if they fail in that mission, his whole regiment with whatever support it needs from the San Diego Fleet, will make another visit to that prison, and they will carry their weapons. And they will not leave Mexico without him. “The unarmed delegation leaves in one hour. I suggest you call the Tia Juana Federales and prepare them.” I suppose it’s a good thing I am not President.”
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/ukraine-iraq-and-the-real-war-hachetteamazon/
Jerry as President? Sure, in a hahtbeat! Then I would back off all my chit about how it’s best we keep the Obummers or Klintons in there to finish smashing the system up.
Or Bob, for that matter.
But sadly, none of this will happen; evidently they’re leaving that Marine to rot down there for some reason. But the deserter is back and hordes of diseased rabble are swarming across the border. Yep, sounds about right for Mirror World.
Hey kids! Remember our recent discussion of how and why the military shit-canned the 1911 for the 9’s? Here’s an interesting take on it:
http://www.guns.com/2014/07/02/why-the-u-s-military-made-the-right-decision-ditching-the-m1911/
But sadly, none of this will happen; evidently they’re leaving that Marine to rot down there for some reason. But the deserter is back and hordes of diseased rabble are swarming across the border. Yep, sounds about right for Mirror World.
Yes, sad, Mr. OFD. Watta country! I have to email some friends in San Antone to see if the cooties are free in the community.
Ah yes, Ye Olde San Antone; spent many a century there back in the day. Freezing in the morning and broiling by noon. With venomous reptiles out in the training woods. Where Ozzie peed on the Alamo.
We had an interesting person show up for our semimonthly training class today. He is an Iraqi process engineer who moved his family here from Babylon five years ago. His wife is an Ob-Gyn and surgeon who is working on getting certified here in the states. Now this is the type of immigrants that I love to see! Already educated and functional, ready to join our society here in the USA.
Heard Ozzie singing Iron Man on the radio this morning. I still like that song.
Babylon five
LOL! I know, not intentional.
I don’t know why, but The Ballad of Ira Hayes just popped into my head. Dang.
I’ve had cause on and off over the years to remember Ira Hayes and the song; my dad told me about him a long time ago. RIP Ira Hayes and RIP Johnny Cash.
Stihl over Husqvarna any day. The guy who sold us the Stihl in Strausberg, also sold and serviced Husqvarnas and said the latter were in the shop for repairs constantly. An Husqvarna came with the house, and it never worked more than a couple weeks before it went over to that guy for shop repair and finally replacement. Six years on the Stihl, and it was only in for a recall upgrade to the fuel feed system and the bi-yearly small engine service. Used every day of the winter to feed 3 wood-burning stoves in the house. Started with one pull in the coldest part of winters (which was just slightly below freezing).
ISTR that Stihl made MG-42 machine guns (AKA Hitler’s Buzzsaws) for the Wehrmacht and SS during WWII. Ironic, if so.
But yeah, unless things have changed a lot since the 70’s, I’d choose a Stihl chainsaw every time. I knew a lot of guys who heated with wood and others who were full-time tree cutters, and I remember noticing that every one of them used Stihl chainsaws.
We just need something light, preferably electric, corded is OK, for a small footprint house and yard here. Ain’t gonna be buckin’ up multiple cords of wood just yet in the deep dark northern forest. Kinda old for that chit anyway.