Scavenger Hunt!

Yesterday was the beginning of the weather "turn around"...still not near normal for early April, but the wind had died down and the sun was shining...with no game to work{one of only 3 days, besides Sundays in April} it was a good day to clean out the basement and garage of all the unwanted "stuff" and junk for this Saturday and the first of four pick up days the city sets aside in April.  Living on the far west portion of the City of Celina, we have the first Saturday in April as our day...usually the coldest of the pick up days and sometimes, more often than not, a wet one as well....you have a 72 hour window to package up your unwanted stuff and place it beside the curb for pick~up on early Saturday.

So yesterday I took about 3 1/2 hours, beginning at 11am to get it done...beginning in the basement and finishing in the garage, I had a nice collection of "stuff" to get rid of...and trust me, once you place the material out, like Radar, the Scavengers are on it like stink on a skunk....rooting through your nice neat pile, and turning it into rubble....note photo.

I tried to keep the appliances and other items, metal, etc separate, because the roving scavengers will pick that stuff up, never to see the landfill....sadly, even though I tried to tell them, "The stuff in the cardboard boxes is useless junk", they seldom listen, and as soon as I head back to the house, they rip through that as well....resulting in a mess.  At least it appears dry until the junk gets picked up on Saturday morning....and I still have more to toss, and I'm sure more scavengers will roam and pick through that.  There is a law on the books, totally ignored by city officials and the scavengers themselves that prohibits the practice....but alas!

I don't begrudge people taking the stuff, Hell I put out a couple of bikes, one that had been tossed in yard a decade ago and I hung it on the garage wall waiting for someone to claim it...never happened.  The other was the wife's Huffy Tandem, some 20 years old...Patricia wanted to trade it in for a new one...but looking at it yesterday, I decided to give it the toss...both were gone before I set the second one out...some young guy in a pick~up stopped and asked if he could have them...."Hell Yes" I said, and I helped him load them in his truck....I knew they wouldn't last....I still have some larger items that need to go, and will take care of them today and tomorrow, as time allows.

Once done with the junk thing, I headed up and grabbed me a nice cigar...an Acid "Blondie" Torpedo, and a six pack of dark beer, a variety mix...I settled down in the back yard sun in my lawn chair and
smoked and drank the afternoon away....That was my first Cigar since last October...and I've gotta tell you, I enjoyed the Hell out of it!!!

The Week That Remains and Beyond...

It appears it will remain dry, at least until Sunday and be somewhat warmer, 50s and maybe 60s by the weekend, before turning wet next week and colder by the end of next week...April!  What can you say?  At least I should get my games in, a varsity contest at Delphos tonight, another with Garry at Fort Recovery tomorrow, then a JV doubleheader here in Celina for Saturday at Noon...after that, it appears to be a crap shoot at this time.  Rain may play havoc, then again, when are the forecasters 100% correct?

Tomorrow morning I get up early and head for the Lima area to see the Cardio Docs and have the ultrasound readings "read" to me from the first year check up since my Carotid Artery Surgery last March...frankly I'm not too concerned, hopefully it's looking good, but if not, I will have to deal with it in my own way and with my own terms...after all, it's my life and my neck....only I can decide what, if anything I

would do if the results are somehow not what they should be....

Got some errands to run, bills to pay, etc....then more junk and baseball...Back Later>>>

Photos-My nice pile of "Junk" didn't look so nice after the scavengers got done with it...and only about half the stuff I put out was left..."One Man's Junk" as they say, is another's treasure....The best part of the day was sitting with "Blondie" and a nice dark ale...and tomorrow I will find out what has happened to my Carotid area since I had the stint put in 13 months or so ago....I really don't feel like going back through that again, frankly I've never felt completely back to normal since.