Bulky Item Collection

One of the things I do while at home during the day is keep an eye on our Cove for any possible burglars. Since our street is a dead end, I usually notice cars coming and going. This week was our Bulky Item Collection time when everybody puts out their junk for the city to take away. This always brings about the junk collectors who are looking for scrap metal, fixable items, parts from washing machines, grills, tables, etc.

We once had a broken gas grill disappear piece by piece until it was all gone at the end of the day. This was the same grill that the gas line burned through while I was cooking burgers for my 26th birthday party. I noticed a reflection of a flame in my watchband and peeked under the grill to see the gas line on fire. I quickly started turning off the burner knobs yelling "Holy $&*%!" while the party guests sitting close by scrambled off the porch to the back of the yard. I back peddled through the sliding glass door and into the duplex we lived in at the time, looking for cover in the event the grill and tank exploded into the side of the house. After a few minutes of nervous anticipation we deemed it safe to return and shut off the tank. I could have died on my birthday! The gas components were removed and it was converted to a charcoal grill. The base eventually got so corroded that it would not hold charcoal anymore - so out to Bulky Item Collection it went! And then went to several other places in pieces. I went seven years cooking on charcoal until I finally had the nerve to fire up a gas grill again.

This morning the bulky item truck came by to gather up the piles of stuff from the curbs. Normally they bring in a huge dump truck that has jaws attached for lifting the stuff into it. When I looked out the window today and saw just a normal garbage truck I thought to myself, "I guess they are going to come back for the neighbor's couch since it won't fit in there."

Boy, was I wrong! Check out this fun series of photos. After I realized they were actually going to shove that couch into the truck and crush it, I went running for my camera. The photo quality isn't the best as I shot it through my dusty living room window. I wish I had opened the window to hear the compactor eat it...