# Weird Covid walks that pay me



## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

So here where I am in the GTA we have been in varied lock down levels since March 2020.

In the early days of this covid mess dear wife was scared to even pass someone masked on the sidewalk when we were out for exercise walks in our residential neighborhood.

Well one thing Mississauga does not lack is gobs of roads with just industrial businesses on them. And in lock down very few vehicles even if no sidewalks. So we drive there, and go for a walk and never come near another pedestrian.

We started to notice all sorts of deposit return cans on the side of these roads, plus things like discarded car batteries that net cash at the scrap yard.

So our walks evolved to shopping bags too grubby to buy groceries in any more, and a remote grabber thing of the sort elderly/disabled folks use to pick up things otherwise out of reach.

We bring cans and bottles home, leave for a few days in the back yard in case someone with Corona was last to touch it, then squash and sort to prep for a redeem for cash. 

Also drive to where you saw scrap when walking and load it into the car once your walk gets you back to your vehicle. 

Old beer cans and scrap yard runs are not for every body, but we are 10 months in and up over $1500. Yes, the car has cost for this, but we drive a Volt on electric range in our outings and the recharge cost for that is worth peanuts..


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

^ Did you meant to say that you were able to pick up at least "50 empty cans per day", each day, for the past 10 months? Boy either Mississauga is a bad litter-bug area or just have alot of lazies.


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## like_to_retire (Oct 9, 2016)

I can't even come up with a good comment here. Seriously????????????????


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

A guy was doing that last night on our garbage night. He was riding a bicycle in the snow and had saddle bags.

I asked the wife what she thought he was collecting and she said "pop cans". So the guy is taking pop cans right out of the recycling bins.

Doing it that way........he can probably make some good money.

We have others who come along in a van or truck and grab old furniture being thrown out.

I set up a basement pantry and desk area with shelves and cabinets for storage that were on the side of the road for pickup.


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## like_to_retire (Oct 9, 2016)

sags said:


> A guy was doing that last night on our garbage night. He was riding a bicycle in the snow and had saddle bags.
> 
> I asked the wife what she thought he was collecting and she said "pop cans". So the guy is taking pop cans right out of the recycling bins.


Oh for sure. We have a guy that has been doing that for years in my neighborhood, known as the "Can Guy". He's homeless, and does his rounds through various neighborhoods and picks up all the cans on recycle day. It's amazing to see him loaded down at the end of a run.

But I never envisioned CMF member Poderling as a "homeless guy" who picked up cans as a living.

Is this a consequence of the pandemic?

ltr


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Well I have found an industrial unit a few bands rent that yields about 50 or more cans and bottles every time I fish their dumpster as well as a cross border shipper that would dump damaged or undeliverable that was a very rich honey pot spot til they moved. 

Best days were in march and april - had all of last winter and no bottle or can returns at start of first lock down. There were days of 300 cans found back then.

Road to the cement kiln is always tons of cans, worth a walk every 4 weeks or so. It just blows my mind what we find some days, and the collection is not an every day thing.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

I'm not homeless, just sick of working from home.

So a walk when there is daylight to get out of the house; heck I might as well be with a bag in my hand to gather what catches my eye, and leave the world a little less littered.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

_that was a very rich honey pot spot til they moved. _

That made me laugh and think about when I was a kid some 60 years ago.

I used to visit my grandparents house and they were at the end of a street in the city with an empty field across the road.

The local kids told to come with them, and we waited until a truck came along and dumped a big pile of candy onto the ground.

It was a truck from McCormicks factory where they made all kinds of cookies and candies. It was a big goobly mess of goodness.....lol

It was our "honey pot".


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

wow, that’s amazing of $1500 in bottles. My friend had a deal with his wife to buy a fancy new tv. it was a little challenge that he had to come up with 1/2 the money outside of their budget. So he decided to collect empties. It took him almost 2 years to get $1000 in bottles and all of his friends family saved his Bottles for him. 

It interesting hearing about the side hustles people startled doing during the pandemic. Some just out of boredom or lost of jobs.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

sags said:


> A guy was doing that last night on our garbage night. He was riding a bicycle in the snow and had saddle bags.
> 
> I asked the wife what she thought he was collecting and she said "pop cans". So the guy is taking pop cans right out of the recycling bins.
> 
> ...


A pop can is worth maybe a cent as scrap. No way you can collect enough to make it worthwhile to collect them. It would have to be a (strange) hobby or an act of desperation for someone unemployable.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Ponderling said:


> Well I have found an industrial unit a few bands rent that yields about 50 or more cans and bottles every time I fish their dumpster as well as a cross border shipper that would dump damaged or undeliverable that was a very rich honey pot spot til they moved.
> 
> Best days were in march and april - had all of last winter and no bottle or can returns at start of first lock down. There were days of 300 cans found back then.
> 
> Road to the cement kiln is always tons of cans, worth a walk every 4 weeks or so. It just blows my mind what we find some days, and the collection is not an every day thing.


People parking in abandoned industrial lots for socializing?


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

actually the best was a small woodlot near my place, and about same distance from a pair of hi rise public hi rise. 
So someone from either spots must have lost their normal hang out, because that was 60 or more cans twice a weekend for the first two months or so until they started taking returns at a select few beer stores. 

And yes, behind industrial businesses where there was evidence of groups of cars of people congregating and a lot of beer cans coffee cups and fast food wrappers. 

One closed strip club parking lot one day yielded like 200 cans, and three car rads, and a dumped ac condenser that came to over $50 at the scrap yard.


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)

I like this, I hope you are also picking up some genuine trash along the way as well and not exclusively items for Cash. The tidying up of the neighborhood and the physical fitness activity during your hour excursion is worth more than the $5 from recycling materials of dubious environmental impact (recycling is rather an iffy endeavour - better to just have properly managed landfills).


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Cant get it all. If a garbage can is part of the route, yes, pick all sorts.

If not we prioritize - squash the cans and gather glass containers on the first pass

Next walk in the area might be with a bigger bag to snag all the discarded water bottles. If there was ever a product that needs a deposit to keep them out of being tossed it is water bottles.

Last gathered is paper coffee cups - macd's and timmys usually. They almost decay after a winter but the plastic lining leaves a goo with paper pulp stuck to it, and the lids fall into little flakes with enough uv exposure.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Our landlord owns blocks of rentals and has a crew going around picking up litter all the time.

There are also some older people who walk along picking up stuff.

What amazes me is when I see pictures of US cities and the garbage piled up everywhere. Nobody picks up anything down there.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

I was damn cold today, not so bad temperature wise, but the breeze this afternoon made things feel quite a bit nippier. Well at least when you are squeezing aluminum beer cans so more can fit into the bag you have at hand. 

Stopped by one usually fertile picking spot yesterday, to find only about 12 can and a few bottles. Oh well, in this crazy pass time there are no guarantees. 
At least it was when we were out to the weekly grocer and SDM run- about the only permitted outings these days.

Swung behind an arena on the way back where we often can find dumped cans. No cans, but three bags of dumped serviceable clothing. I guess the thrift store drop off was not open so someone just dumped it there instead. We sorted what is donate-able and washed it last night, and this morning. Most will get to Value Village some afternoon this coming week. Some will get donated to the local community theatre costume vault.

I had the itch to get out today, so I just went to the one fave dumpster was checked out again.

Today the well held more water... 13 bottles and 70 cans. Likely this will be the sole big picking spot for me for the next 8 weeks or so until the snow melts away. Then we can get to the bottom of a roadside ditch without the pleasure of getting a soaker when you break through the packed snow covering the water under it. That turns a nice walk into a crumby trudge back to the car real fast.

-


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

andrewf said:


> A pop can is worth maybe a cent as scrap. No way you can collect enough to make it worthwhile to collect them. It would have to be a (strange) hobby or an act of desperation for someone unemployable.


I guess various groups didn't get the memo as I regularly have them ringing the door bell to ask for cans and bottles.
The Florida trailer part association collected them year round and the local school runs collections yearly.

Then too, if one is already there for another reason - what's the extra cost to collecting them?


Cheers


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## Zipper (Nov 18, 2015)

I can see picking up deposit beer cans and wine and beer bottles but as Andrew said non deposit stuff is next to worthless.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I mean, you would have to be picking up cans by the shovel to earn a living wage. No harm as a hobby or act of civic service to clean up litter.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Well finally a nice enough day temperature wise, and no fresh snow or ice to deal with so I did a dig at my musician's pals rehearsal dumpster this morning. 

Out the door and back in less than half and hour at 7:30am , and then 15 minutes as an afternoon break to hit the beer store, for $27 in that one picking. 

The weak sun is slowly melting the snow banks , and perhaps my fishing the ditches clean of garbage can start again in a few more weeks.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Snow all gone from ditches, and only modest rain so far, so ditch and field picking is not too muddy. Out last 2 weekends for a total of 8 hours- the returns for this period is still a respectable $200. 

Surprised it is this good with most areas I was picking also cleaned by me about 9 months ago at most. I thought folks were staying in, but I guess I am wrong on that front. 

Oh, and a working 700W power invertor for the car, and a pair of 4 bay UHF tv antennas.

And my wife has 17 full mcdonalds free coffee cards at the moment from their cups I gather in the ditch and drag home, and then we use the coated cardboard part to start fires in the fire place.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Very busy in the past month. Best hunting time before the green foliage comes in. Last week the clerk at the beer store I make my returns at asked me where do I find all this stuff. 

I have been weekly turning in at least $25 of product. Plus I found partially corroded away old cast iron flat roofi drain covers in a hvac dumpster that were heavy to hoist, but went straight to the scrap yard the next day for $35

I told him just put on my mind of when I was about 23. 
You have a good chance of regular access to a car, but not as likely not an apartment, a posse of pals, and not the free cash to hit the bars every night. And this year no bar to go to with the pal of C-19 on everyones' back. 

So you get with your pals, and hang somewhere where others are not likely to bug you. Shoot the ****, have a few beers, some doob maybe. But somewhere so if the police or security guards wander by there is place to toss the cans/bottles that do not point directly back to you. So steep ditches where grass grows high in the summer, or better yet a fence to toss over.

So put on a long jacket and thick jeans, boots and thick socks and a stout hat because between buckthorn and risk of ticks you are going to work a bit. 

But one industrial line of warehouses backing onto a highway, well the highway side of that fence yield 450 cans from two 1 hour picks from that. The second day was because I ran out of bags to pack them in. 

Sunday early I hit my musician pal warehouse dumpster for 270 cans in 20 minutes of picking. I was actually out to hit a Timmys where a dumpster is the end of the news dealer route. So friday I find the tues, wed and thursday papers in a bundle, and Sunday has the fri,and sat papers. We gather the crosswords, sudukos, and jumbles, as well as scan the globe, financial post, sun, star and Hamilton spectator. 

Yes, not mainstream, but it works for me.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

This week's find is a bunch of like new housewares - 45 decorative pillows, queen comforter with cover and bed skirt, twin bed of same, 10 area carpets. about 5 shams,set of 7 new bath towels, a few nice blankets, etc. I stopped to talk to the crew filling this bin. 
A house staging company of a leading local real estate bunch has a warehouse near my musician pals. Well the new rent is set at 130% over that of the old lease. So they are downsizing decorative stuff usually rented to fluff a house for sale that does not turn as fast in their inventory. Then they will move.

We have absorbed what suits our house, and will donate the rest to community theatre groups we work with in the GTA. 

No new stuff in the bin tonight, but the bin is pretty full. Still at least another week til month end, so maybe a fresh dumpster will arrive for more bones to pick next week. 

$30 in beer returns Sunday afternoon, then off the pick a cross border shipper bin. They got me started at this in earnest 2 years ago, then moved about 11 months ago. Their truck split warehouse is not shown on the web site just their consumer depots. So I stumbled across them again about 3 weeks ago at their new site. This one i good because it dumps no good address or damaged in transit goods. I was not the first one here this time though. Just 4 cans of flavored instant coffee, a big jar of pho soup stock base, and about 8 hatch back struts that went to the scrap yard.

Oh and $35 at the scrap yard this am and 50 cans at the dumpster I pick the newspapers from on the way home from the scrap yard.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

...just getting around to reading this thread...

Ponderling - you my hero!!☺


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

as a side note....
B.C.(before covid) I made enough profit by buying low, then re-selling higher, guitars on kijiji, so that I could take the profits & buy 2 guitars that literally ( not figuratively!) cost me $0.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

So since last post, a chair from the home stagers dumpster is now in our bed room. The HVAC company dumpster on my route was good to me and 4 good sized dead motors/pumps combined with other bits went the the scrap for $103. Saturday turned up a bag on new clothes presumably from an estate. Yielded three t shirts and a top and capris that fit my wife. Tuesday after the long weekend turned up $ of bottles in one dumpster behind professional offices, so that the beer store run last night was good for $48. 

Found a pair of grungy looking leather sneakers looking poorly in my size. Soak in mild detergent, scrub up, spray out interior with hose. Hang to dry a few days. Re-glue fabric to foot bed. Rub down with saddle soap to put oils back into leather to make it supple again, add shoe polish, re lace, add dr scholes insole and a pair of shoes for me and likely $100 not spent at shoe store for the same end result. 

Yes it is a bit nuts, but bit by bit it adds up, and keeps me from seeing too many judge judy reruns when I head out after dinner these days. And the side of the road gathering slow down with tall grass obscuring things, and ticks currently in high season


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

I'm waiting for your YouTube channel now.

Seriously, aren't you afraid of "bed-bugs" with your finds? Especially furniture or old clothing stuffs.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Beaver101 said:


> I'm waiting for your YouTube channel now.
> 
> Seriously, aren't you afraid of "bed-bugs" with your finds? Especially furniture or old clothing stuffs.


The pillows etc came from a stagers warehouse and likely never saw a bed without a sheet of plastic set under tit to separate from the matress. The shoes after a detergent wash sit in the sun hanging from my line. The clothes go though the washer set on hot as soon as they come into the house. 

So far the only bugs I have found near the house are the ticks you feel climbing up your leg disturbing the hairs there if you did not brush them all off after being near tall grass this time of year.

Oh, and snails in beer bottles found in the ditch - it is not uncommon to find quite few in the same bottle


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

So I stopped by home stagers at month end as they were clearing out their old space. 4 club chairs, quite comfy, and 4 nice sleek looking adjustable height bar chairs. Helped them load few things for them onto their pickup truck.

The club chairs complement the ( curb found) L shape couch that is used as our patio furniture. I could not fathom the price of 'outdoor furniture.' enough to spend retail on it. There is a $30 tarp that is easily pulled over it and now we just nestle the chairs against the couch when shower or rain is in the forecast and pull the tarp over them.

The bar stools are likely going to replace three other bar stools we have now. 

Oh, and the nice new shape 2 drawer horizontal file cabinet. A file cabinet I had been on the lookout for. My son needs one to organize his papers. Lots at retail are quite flimsy. This is a nice likely 20 yer old Steelcase.

My son brought home rotted off 4x 7' long 4x4 PT fence posts. We have cut the rotted part off, driven the sawzalled off nail stubs below the surface. I stained them last night. I still need to tar the top and bottom.They will be used to support speakers I have placed around the patio. Their existing posts are rotting, and now are too short.

We had our neighborhood recycle market last Saturday. It is an annual thing usually just before no limit garbage day. We set out the surplus to us cushions and towels and draperies and they were all picked up within the first half hour. 

We brought home a light fixture that turned out to have a blown ballast and got 2 good 4' t8 tubes so now the old bulbs in my garage that were flickering are replaced. Not a big thing, but with retail locked down in COVID times a nice find. 

Also brought home a bunch of current novels that we found in a box. We used them to restock the little library housings in the neighborhood where we found them a bit empty. 

The best find I thought was a 12 year old Sony 46' LCD tv, that still has a bright screen and good backlighting. These KDL line of Sony's have a known weakness, the tuner board craps out, and wont scan new channels after loosing power. I have a smaller one that has the tuner died the same way. Well, with an external tuner box with HDMI output that sells for $60, its not the end of the world. So I still need to move it down to the man cave on a rainy day. Not 4k, not a 'smart tv' ( that is what I use the apple tv box for) but good enough for me at the price.

And yes, the beer returns wandering goes on. I was at the beer store twice last week. Up $55. It seems someone in lock down is having house parties and their bottles and cans have end up in a professional office dumpster on my route.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Since last post four more trips to make beer store returns. Up $80. 

Slower gathering this weekend - maybe since more bar patios are re-openned now where I live, which would actually suit me fine if there was less trash to contend with.

I picked up an old split system a/c from a hvac contractor dumpster area as part of my usual trolling route. It had already been vaccummed of coolant, after a squirrel ate through a small coolant line.
Took it home, dis-assemble to isolate motors, compressors, wire, copper tubing, aluminum copper heat transfer panels, and steel panels then take these to the scrap yard for $125. 
So worth it for the two hours taking it apart, and half hour scrap yard trip.


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

Ponderling said:


> The best find I thought was a 12 year old Sony 46' LCD tv, that still has a bright screen and good backlighting. These KDL line of Sony's have a known weakness, the tuner board craps out, and wont scan new channels after loosing power.


I didn't realize TV's still had tuners.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

MrMatt said:


> I didn't realize TV's still had tuners.


LOL, yeah.... what is "channels"? 

/s


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

MrMatt said:


> I didn't realize TV's still had tuners.


I have an antenna in my attic, works great for the whopping 4 channels it gets.


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

Spudd said:


> LOL, yeah.... what is "channels"?
> 
> /s


Well when a Youtuber wants to have videos and playlists of a particular theme, they put them together in a "channel".


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## nathan79 (Feb 21, 2011)

MrMatt said:


> I didn't realize TV's still had tuners.


I know you're joking, but they legally can't call something a "TV" if it doesn't have a tuner. That would basically be a monitor with built-in speakers. 

A few years ago, Vizio brought out a tuner-less product called a "home theater display". I don't think it was very successful, as it created a lot of confusion among shoppers.

Lacking a tuner would be a problem if you wanted to "cut the cord" and use an antenna to pick up local HD broadcasts. You would have to buy a set-top box to connect your antenna, and then connect the box to your TV with HDMI.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Yes, cans gathering still going on, but slowing. Grass and weeds are so tall right now, and load of ticks, so I will leave the ditch gathers for the fall when the cans are easier to see. Dumpster can finds continue.

I did bring home another curb find TV over the week end. If they turn out dead the go to the scrap yard. It is usually a five minute task to diagnose them.
This week is a LG 47" circa 2009 flat screen. I speculate it appears it was tossed because the remote was not working?

I pulled the remote gently apart, and wiped all touch pad switch and button rubber down with rubbing alcohol and a few q tips. Gobs of oil and munge was removed, and viola, reassemble and now the remote works. Am I the only person who ever does this?

I also found another Ikea suspended cable lighting system. I already have one in my office that has 5 aimable MR16 lamps. So this one with its 9 lamps, with four still new in box was nice to find.

I am planning to spurge on Amazon for LED MR16 form factor lights, and then break the rules and install it outside hung over the patio and hot tub


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

So quiet here for a bit, but still gathering cans. Averaging about $20 a week, just from dumpsters and garbage cans in city parks and carpool lots. Grass is too tall, and corn flower plants stab though socks even on the side of the road gravel so roadside gathering will wait for the foliage to die back in the fall. 

Big find from past weekend was a dumpster I regularly hit for day old buns. Found a overseas uni student was moving back home and dumping the stuff they had bought here. 
Hand held kitchen mixer. Mixer paddles and dough paddles. 
Coffee maker in original box with $250 rice tag on it. 
Micheal Jordan sneakers in great shape that fit my son; he says worth $340. will wear after sanitizer spray has soaked out. 
Standing table to allow you to stand at desk to use laptop.
Art portfoliio carry case. 
Set of art brushes and acrylic and water paints worth about $200 per my son who paints after art school in high school.
Digital kitchen scale. 
North Face wind breaker fits younger son. 
Case of pens, markers, technical and art pencils. 
Desk protector pad so nice to use pen on a hard desk top.
Contents of a medicine cabinet with lot of unopened packs. Aloe gel jar new about 1kg,4 packs eye drops.
Power bar with usb ports, wireless charging points, u ground power bars x2,
Curling iron my wife says is worth $100. 
Four big new Calvin Klein towels
Two nice new condition clear plastic storage bins, about 80l size.

Compressor at hvac dumpster that will go to scrap yard. Estimate value will be $40-60.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

So big find friday am- two overflowing recycle bins at the nearby ball diamond mostly beers cans after a ball game the night before that was really warm. Then musicians dumpster. So one week haul, no weekends included was $40 at the beer store. Then load for scrap yard - compressor yielded $23 on its own and net scrap yard haul was $88, plus need for pain killer that night after hoisting 100lb compressor into and out of the trunk


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Weirdest find yet - 17 Grinch That Stole Christmas costume suits. 8xl, 7L, 2s adult sized. All have busted zippers, but that is quite fixable. 

Was in bin outside a local mall that is redeveloping a bunch of stores to turn part of the mall into a sales center for what will be a bunch of mixed use 6-9 storey buildings. Plans I know of will put retial on first floor, professional service/med/dental etc offices on second floor, and condo residential on the upper floors.

On idea I have is to donate them to a local theatre company we are involved with. That would let them sing and dance in costume as a group in the local Santa Claus Parade to raise the profile of going out to see community theatre again- that there i life beyond a Netflix weekend.

Yes, cans and bottles gathering is ongoing.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Ponderling said:


> I pulled the remote gently apart, and wiped all touch pad switch and button rubber down with rubbing alcohol and a few q tips. Gobs of oil and munge was removed, and viola, reassemble and now the remote works. Am I the only person who ever does this?


Good point. Isopropyl alcohol can work wonders for electronics. I do the same thing you describe, using cotton swabs.

@Ponderling you've had some amazing finds lately, I'm really surprised to hear about all this. Free TVs, Michael Jordan sneakers!

Watch out for those ticks though. Very dangerous. A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, it's very difficult to even diagnose.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

So I am waiting for the tall grass to die back, so mostly just cans in dumpsters. 

Looked into one of the in ground recycling bins at a baseball park near work, now that I am back to work at my office. Mulocks or something like that they are called. 

Well I felt like I was working a cooling pool at a nuclear reactor, with my 6' long weeder with three tines down the top hatch and arm fully extended pulling beer cans and wine bottles out one at a time on a Wednesday at noon.

But in 30 minutes I did fish 8 wine bottles and 60 cans. Good arm work out. This week same day of the week cans closer to top this time so first batch used grabbers and so same quantity in only 15 minutes. 

Then last weekend the find was 24 cans of various types of beer in a box in front of a clothing donation bin. Thought they would be skunky, but they are not. Today a full bottle 750ml still sealed bottle of _Jägermeister_ sitting beside an empty one on the side of the road. Weird finds will never end. 

Scrap metal piles up bit by bit. Last trip was for $103, with half of that from a turned in cache of brass tap parts found as kitchen and bath renos get put to the curb or found illegally dumped in dumpsters over the course of about 4 months.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Cooler weather, grasses on roadside drying and getting brown and laying down, revealing all the summer worth of cans hiding among them. Too cold for ticks now that frosts in am upon us. Find I am grabbing these finds with a pair of found bbq tongs, since getting the frost on you fingers makes then wet and damn cold too in short order.

This morning was the first Sunday in standard time, so sun came up at 6:30am for me. Timmy's where I find the day okd news papers had fewer editions then usual, but over 25 cans in the adjacent dumpster. Gym bin had a bag of kids workout wear that will be donated to a Thrift. Musicians bin was like manna. Over 60 beer bottles and 120 cans. Hit the beer store and am now $44 up.

Yesterday on a trip to visit with my mom spotted lawn edging in a driveway beside yard waste bags. It was still there on the way home and I stopped and loaded it to the car. Drive out the rusty 10" spikes that held it in place for many years, and I end up with about 30' of extruded aluminum, which translates to over $10 when I hit the scrap yard.

Last weekend I found 2 pair of high viz orange pants that are my size with splits in the *** seam. Well I have sewed them up on the sewing machine that I keep for such sort of repairs. Now when I hear out to pick highway off ramp ditches clean of cans in the spring I will have the full deal to look official. High viz jacket, pants , work boots and yellow hard hat.

Last week one day at noon while out can gather wandering I saw someone in the distance in front of me stopping and placing a garbage bag on the curb of the highway service road . When I walked up to it I took a peek, and found it contained 4 still frozen and cellophane sealed commercial kitchen prepared party trays of baklava treats. So they came home to feed kids lunches as treats over the next few months. And then the next day I sent a nice note the person whose details were found in admail also in the same bag to them on Linkdn that it is not nice to litter like I saw you do. 
I see from looking back I have not mentioned the two Yamaha av receivers I found a few weeks ago. Both have blown power amp sections, (that i might fix some day) and no remote. But I can use one in the garage at preamp as an fm tuner and bluetooth receiver switcher via pre-existing amp I have to drive the 70V line level that feeds the patio speaker system.

Other one will digitally video process video, svideo, component and hdmi ins to HDMI out, so ideal front end to the Sony KDL that has the screwed tuner in my basement man cave. And I can digital audio link out to a digital input on an older Denon AV amp that is too early to deal with HDMI, but has a very solid real 90w per channel 5+1 power am section. I can talk to both with universal remotes. Damn sad to hear that they have stopped making Harmony remotes.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Warning, I was picking up some tick meds for my cat this morning and the vet tech told me that the ticks are really bad at the moment. (southern Ontario, between Toronto-Belleville).


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

So I found another honey pot. Someone who buys about 8-10 cans at the lcbo every second day , and it looks like it is on their way to work, because almost always earplugs of some sort in the same bag. Looks like they clean the car out of empties to the same dumpster every friday or saturday. 

This am it was 40 cans. Then a microwave on the side of the road, and a large rubber wiper of the sort you would use to tar your drive way that had a partially torn blade. Good hardwood broom handle even if the blade is not salvagable. Then a roll of muti colour mini outdoor Christmas lights that turned out to be 50' long. First plugged in only 10' lit up. Then moved bulbs around and now 30' lights up. Now strung in the cedars down by the hot tub. 

Then tonight while wife was fussing over a cake she is decorating I retreated upstairs and revved up the old sewing machine and fixed torn seams on three pair of high viz pants I fished out of a dumpster a few weeks ago that are actually my exact pants size and length.

Now I have high vix pants and top, and a beat up looking yellow hard hat, So full highway worker look so less chance of being hassled picking up cans in the spring time along side highway off ramps.


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

I drink 100 cans of beer a month.
I have never returned a single can in my life.


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## Zipper (Nov 18, 2015)

Better have your liver checked regularly!🍺🤢💀


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## GL from QC (Nov 18, 2021)

KaeJS said:


> I drink 100 cans of beer a month.
> I have never returned a single can in my life.


You know, you could smash each can (great for stress relief haha) and then smelt them into something cool.  Maybe a random lump of aluminum, or something more artsy than that. You could become your local beer-artist.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

This weekend I noticed a new bin at the musicians unit that is part of my route for likely beer can finds. Seems they are doing some renovations and ripping out interior partitions. The first trip salvaged about 50 sq ft of acoustic wedge foam panels. My son wants to have a better sound when making videos and these will help. Presently they stink from cigarettes. So a strong dish-wash detergent solution in the bath tub and wash them about 12 tiles at a time, then stand them up on the tile floor and periodically wring the bottom. They take about a day to dry. So the washing is still being advanced.

Then the next trip with the car all configured for big cargo I bought back 6' to 8' long 2x4's, some that were nailed together and all that needed nails pulled from them. It took about an hour to get all the pieces apart and the nails pulled. Stored under a tarp. I want to build a bit of a lean to beside the garage s a spot to cache things destined for the scrap yard, so I am not fighting with tarps all winter long. This wood will go a long way to allowing that project to proceed. I priced the wood after on Home Depot web sit, and my hours effort paid me $34 plus tax in the lumber I salvaged. 

Plus found a pair of like new work boots size 13 in the regular beer can dumpster that I passed on to a pal last light. He wears size 12, by has diabetes so likes a size bigger to make room for two pair of socks. So fr for winter he only hs snow boots, and they are a little warm in the shoulder months when it is too cold for wearing his medical sandals.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

KaeJS said:


> I drink 100 cans of beer a month.
> I have never returned a single can in my life.


You would feel less like you'll never get ahead if you a) stopped drinking so much, and b) returned the cans when you're done. You need to buy more beer anyway, what's the hardship?


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Now on to the musical gear found.

Cable tester box, for everything RCA, 1/4", xlr, din, speak-on. 

Three condenser mics that needed new set screws to hold in the xlr plug in the bottom.

5 different mic stands..booms missing a screw or bolt, etc. Now up to 4 of them fully working.

5 different guitar effects pedals that need shaking down to see what is needed to fix them. 

Direct mini box that takes 2 xlr mic or line in and encodes and feeds out as USB stream to the digital side , c/w phantom power to let me test the condenser mics.

Behringer 5 channel and 2 mic dj mixer that is all analog. Looks like tossed since no usb like latest model, because this thing works fine.

Vox VT-100 Guitar amp, that appears at present to have CPU or DSP problems. I aim to check voltages, maybe swap filter caps for power rails that feed to the CPU board.
If that fails to fix the glitches, I will just patch an analog RCA input into the analog output stage and use it as a very nice self powered sub-woofer for the home theatre in the basement. Because the speaker case has 2x 12" long throw cones fitted with massive magnets The RCA path will be only if feeding analog into the effects return line does not work. Made in 2008, and dead as it sits right now. Pitty..


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

So off to Shoppers located beside a Longos grocery store with dear wife on Monday at 3:30pm to get the COVID booster. Plaza was busy so we parked a long way around the side to be out of the traffic flow. Ended up beside a dumpster. On the way back to the car I looked in and saw a flyer display case. A victim of COVID and digital advertising because the thing used to sit at the front of the grocery store with flyer pinned in the case, and tray below that held flyers for shoppers to grab. 

Dear kid had my car and did not get home til late, but this thing was still there when I got back to it at 10pm. Fished it out and with all the back seats down it just fit in the rear hatch. Stood it behind the garage while I was busy at work, and also bagged with the effects of the booster, and a bit of a plain old cold at the same time. 

Well today is a day off work for me and the sun was shining. So I took about half an hour to take it apart. I have not weighed the steel base or case backers, because shreader steel only pays about $07 per pound at the scrap yard. But I did separate out 17 lbs of extruded aluminum from a bunch of steel corner joiners, etc, and it pays $1.50 per pound. So yes a bit of run around for the money but worth it for likely $30 on my next trip to the scrap yard. 

On Thursday it was record warm and dry, so I went out at lunch from the office and picked a bunch of cans from between tall now dead brown reeds that grow along a drainage ditch. This is where adjacent arena parking lot drinkers toss them in the summer when the green prevents you from ever seeing them. 

Then found a car battery, 12 wine bottle empties and about 20 empty beer cans . Then best of all a still sealed 40oz st remy xo brandy on another little dead end road on the way back to the office. The brandy just finished the ongoing irrigating of my Christmas fruit cakes. They were baked (actually more steamed) back in the summer. I was cutting them up to get them up to ready them to go out as part of little gift baking boxes we make and give to friends. 

Also some dead maple tree trunk-ish limbs dumped there after a wind storm last weekend. They fit into the car, and got cut up wit my chop saw as soon as they came out of the trunk when I got home, the hustled in to the hearth. They currently are warming the room as they slowly burn in the fire place. And there will be enough left after tonight for a Sunday am fire as well. 

Happy Holidays to all. Stay safe in the coming Omicrom fuss.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Down news- the musicians warehouse rehearsal venue is closing and building has been sold. Only up was a clean out of the canteen. Found 4 cases of assorted frito lay snack sized product in the bin, along with 4 case of gator aid.

Day before it was aluminum extrusions from a pair of dumped window frames. Once stripped down it will be $50 at the scrap yard. Then about 50' worth of stainless steel hallway corner protectors found in the same bin. Have not tried to price that yet. 

I will be stopping by here daily for a while. I have learned that when businesses clear out entirely useful items get tossed.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

So scrap yard with mostly Stainless, aluminum extrusion a small amount of steel, 5 gas heater induction fan motors, 3 car batteries. Ended up with $150. Hit the car park where I find wine bottles and there were 31 there to be collected. 

Has been +7C really warm, so today I went out to get to an area where the wild grass grows high in the summer in an area over a fence from a parking area behind a plaza that has an LCBO. Yes a big run on sentence. But by now the grass is all brown and dead, so you can see the cans and bottles. So I came out with 170 cans and another 6 cans from early December unopened with good beer in them. Then another dumpster held a ceiling fan motor, that is in the pending scrap yard pile.

That joins about 20 indoor Christmas tree light incandescent mini light strings I pulled a few days ago off of an 8' spruce that had been tossed while still decked in lights into an office dumpster. I estimate they will scrap for about $15. 

Everyone enjoy New Years Eve.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

So I have been 'ponderling' this situation. I found a broken hover board. 

Split aluminum casting on the standing platform. I tore the core bits out, and tossed the plastic. 

Now I have a good 36V lithium power pack, and kept the PCB that includes its charge controller. 

Then I also have two wheel assembles 

I do not need the position and velocity sensors circuit in them. 

But the three phase delta power winding, well now.

The wheels have good bearings, as long as they stay dry, and VERY powerful rare earth magnets. 

I have put a meter on the winding as I spun the wheel quickly, and it looks like they are good for maybe 4kW each.


So put a 6 diode bridge good for 10A each on the delta leads with a good heat sink, and you have up to 36V DC out, at up to about 15A. Then a DC to DC converter to spin out 13.8v to run my ham radio shack in an off grid situation? 

So I am thinking about either a wind turbine or belt connected to a pelton wheel to do micro hydro generation applications. 

The down side is I am in the midst of suburbia - wind is no a winner, and no viable streams around to exploit. 

So the pondering continues.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Ponderling said:


> Now I have a good 36V lithium power pack, and kept the PCB that includes its charge controller.


Just make sure the lithium battery is intact and not damaged. These things can be very dangerous if they have physical damage. Watch out for any bulging or other signs of battery problems, like if it has problems holding a charge.

Sounds like you found an impressive generator. Can you get them to charge a capacitor bank? Or look at the circuitry people use for "off the grid" solar power charging, maybe swap in your generator for the solar.

Or can the wheel generator be used to charge the lithium-ion battery? That would be neat.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Cold weather and a dump of snow with snow banks three feet tall and barely a shoulder from live lanes has the side of the road gathering at a stop. But I still have a dumpster shopping route at least once a week. 

Cold weather made industrial building owners call on the heating firm whose dumpster is on my route for no heat repairs . So 6 seized flue induction motors await their trip to the scrap yard in my side alley scrap storage bin. . 

Two weeks ago a Shoppers bin was a rich find. 

Seems to me a pallet of frozen food got damaged in transit and a ice cream container split and oozed sticky stuff onto adjacent items. So they got tossed. It was -5c or colder the whole week since the bin was last emptied so I was not worried the stuff all in date had gone off by thawing. 

So I fished out tons: a bag of frozen broccoli, three bags of frozen cherries, 4 boxes of breaded fish fillets, 1 box breaded chicken, 6 frozen all dressed rising crust pizzas, 6 lean cuisine type meals, 3 frozen pre-made kd meals , 2 frozen lasagna. 4 boxes chocolate ice cream bars, and 9 tubs of bryers ice cream. Yes the sticky syrup had to be rinsed off with a dish rag and some detergent and water. Then all was good.

So the recent grocery store shopping runs have been mostly eggs and fresh stuff as we eat our way though this frozen food find. 

Some of it lived a few day in the garage until enough space came free in the fridge and freezer. This time of year that space is as good as the freezer. With my electric car parked there it barely ever warms up. Just a bit when the batteries are keeping themselves warm after fully charged. 


Same dig - It looked like a box was put on another box while the lower box was just off the truck and cold. I found 6 large bottles of body wash all with the lids cracked in quite a similar way. Once I thawed them out they are fine - we just pour the cracked lid bottle to an empty one with a good lid and are using them up one at a time. Normally we stick to bar soap, so a bit of a treat. 



Next bin down is usually good for at least 30 beer cans on Saturday or Sunday. Found a few clothes each week and wash and donate to thrift stores. 



Last three week ends I have been replacing hardwood flooring in my kids bed rooms. Existing is 2" wide by 3/8" thick tongue and groove, too thin to sand without exposing nails, and 57 years old just plain worn out. 

Found a local flooring place with short quantities of laminates with good prices for the two rooms and landing amount I needed. Put 6mm cork in as underlay to increase sound isolation, since bed rooms is where kids live, versus where you only slept when the house was designed 60 years ago.

So lots of hands and knees work to counter no gym/swim time with the most recent lock down. Pulled about 3000 finishing nails in the process so some arm work out pulling nails. 

Nice side effect of replacing flooring is that it forces my 18 yo and 22yo to clean up their rooms and put clothes away. Youngest shifted a bunch of stuff he had outgrew to become thrift store donations.


Then what to do with the old flooring. I'm too cheap to hire in a bin for what is not a huge load of old flooring. Normally I would bundle it nd put it out for no limit garbage collection.

Where I live they cancelled winter no limit/oversize garbage this year allegedly as as a covid control move for the 2 man crews that do the removal work. 

It is maple, and in strips between 2' and 12' long. I set up the chop saw on my front walkway outside the front door, and cut it to length to optimally fit into empty copy paper boxes I have brought home from work over time and set aside in the attic of the garage. There are presently 14 boxes of this wood stacked in the dining room. 

When the weather is not too cold we are using this flooring as a step between kindling and larger logs in our wood burning fire place. So the wood pile behind the shed for the normal fire wood is shrinking at a slower rate.

Now we have learned to put it in the grate all aligned, and when we do this it burns slower, like it were a larger log as there is not a lot of air space between the strips when laid in in this manner.



A few months ago I found three packages of 24 pods each of Tide laundry pods on the side of the road. Not crazy about their perfume scent, but we are using them up when we are washing bath towels and socks and under wear etc.
Back to low internal air humidity in the house so now we are back to hanging it on drying racks to humodify the house and not pump warm air out by not running the clothes dryer. 


I clued in that for raising the alkalinity of the water in hot tub that old arm and hammer odor control baking soda boxes from past due duty in the fridge do the job fine. So I no longer buy the bottle of the stuff at the pool supply store.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Ponderling said:


> A few months ago I found three packages of 24 pods each of Tide laundry pods on the side of the road. Not crazy about their perfume scent, but we are using them up when we are washing bath towels and socks and under wear etc.


I'm amazed you find all this stuff. At the side of the road? You also found a microwave, and a sealed 750 mL _Jägermeister _at the side of the road.

Is this a special kind of road? I just don't understand why all of this stuff is being left there. Can you shed some light on this?

Also I really think you could make some money with a YouTube channel or something as @Beaver101 suggested. The way you find and fix up things, or re-use them, is really impressive.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Get on google earth and look up Oakville, Royal Windsor Drive, and South Service Road, This is the kind of area I typically pick. Busy enough roads, but with no curbs, and a shoulder so folks can pull off and stop. And no one around in terms of businesses that .you are dumping into their driveway or parking lot.

Ford Assembly complex is nearby and sprawling, and as private property they enforce right to inspect vehicles on it. So assembly workers know to drink on their way in and dump before they get to the employee parking areas. 

Then nearby just south is East Oakville, one of the most pricey swaths of residential detached real estate going. Kids here once 16 largely are given moms old bmw or mercedes as she upgrades and now they have their own wheels to get up to no good with.

So for now, even though still working just 3 days a week, I find I do not have idle time to ponder gearing up to do Youtube. What you see there is only half or less of the battle. Video editing and doing things twice as you set up cameras and plan shots in my opinion is most likely a huge time suck, at least for the first few years until you become proficient at it. .


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Ponderling said:


> Get on google earth and look up Oakville, Royal Windsor Drive, and South Service Road


Oh yes now I understand. I used to drive around there years ago...this makes sense.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Ponderling said:


> Then nearby just south is East Oakville, one of the most pricey swaths of residential detached real estate going. Kids here once 16 largely are given moms old bmw or mercedes as she upgrades and now they have their own wheels to get up to no good with.


This gives me an idea. Maybe you could find out what parks or green spaces they go to, nearby, to secretly drink and have little parties. When I was growing up, teenagers would gather in a small park with their illegal liquor and all kinds of food.

Since these are rich kids they probably have good food & drinks. The trick would be to park your car somewhere nearby and hide in the dark. Once you see that the kids have gathered and have their liquor out, turn on the car and point the headlines at them. Better yet, have a big flashlight or point a spot light at them. If they're anything like kids back in my day, they will quickly scatter thinking it's the cops.

And they might leave behind some food and liquor, which is when you can swing by and help clean litter from the park.

Of course some of the liquor may have an odour, so you'd probably want to load it into a garbage bag and place it in the trunk, out of reach.


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## fstamand (Mar 24, 2015)

Thank you for helping clean up streets.
I've found lotsa gems while walking (mostly tools)

How do you like your volt? Mine has been holding up very well, best car I've own so far.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

AS to the volt like th car very much. Low profile tires not so much. 8 tires in last 3 years, Some tires due to wear - lots of weight on the front end and in general. Others due to death by pot hole contact. 

Right now I am waiting on rims too. Have had 2 rims banged and not repairable from bad potholes.


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

Not really a walk, but a follow up on an auction. 

I went to an auction of bar/restaurant that had closed the week before. 
The kitchen gear I did not bid on, but I know the fridges and freezers were all still running.
Bought a bunch of beer branded signage and a patio umbrella.

Went back the next day. 
It has been unseasonably cool this week. So daytime highs are still below fridge temperature.
Did some dumpster diving. 
Found 6x1.5k packages of in date fully cryo sealed pre-cooked and pre-sliced roast beef from their clear out of the kitchen.

Yes,it might be bad. We will give the first one we open a good sniff, and microwave it well to warm it up if it passes the sniff test., 


Also got a jar containing about 2kg of ground paprika. So we have about 3 lifetimes of that spice now. 

Yesterday as part of my regular Saturday am troll, the Shoppers bin yielded 17 Lindt 100g 70% cocoa chocolate bars.
Expired by a day. 
And 2 4l bags of 1% milk that were leakers. Milk bags set to expire mid May. 
So we rinsed the 4 individual bags that do not have a leak, and poured the leakers down the drain. 

Also found a a car battery on the route that is good for about $10 at the scrap yard. And about $30 of short lengths of copper wire in a manufacturers bin. 

I know that this is not everyone's cup of tea, dumpster diving for food.
But is is a hell of a right priced way to combat recent food inflation.


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## Money172375 (Jun 29, 2018)

Ponderling said:


> AS to the volt like th car very much. Low profile tires not so much. 8 tires in last 3 years, Some tires due to wear - lots of weight on the front end and in general. Others due to death by pot hole contact.
> 
> Right now I am waiting on rims too. Have had 2 rims banged and not repairable from bad potholes.


A good tire and rim shop should be able to recommend a higher profile, lower size rim…..but fuel economy and handling will likely suffer. similar to what they do when recommending winter tires.


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## cm2u (Feb 6, 2019)

We all need to get outside so why not walk where you're most likely to find stuff? Makes perfect sense. Then only come back with the car if its worth it. This way you are screening the area as you're getting your daily exercise. The great thing about what he's doing is the surprise element. You just never know what you'll find. The downside is the cleanup of stuff because some people don't maintain their possessions. 

Thrift shops for low value sellable items you don't need, Kijiji/Craigslist for higher value sellable items you don't need, though its probably better to advertise on broad platforms online if the items are small and light (easy to ship). And better than Ebay can be specialized marketplaces for particular items like books, audio, photography, sports equipment, etc. Then there's the immense world of vintage. 

Reading through this thread is interesting as you learned how to do this better and better. In the beginning we're rarely very good at anything yet so often we quit before giving ourselves a chance.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

cm2u said:


> Thrift shops for low value sellable items you don't need, Kijiji/Craigslist for higher value sellable items you don't need, though its probably better to advertise on broad platforms online if the items are small and light (easy to ship).


Some of these new apps are quite interesting. Same concept as Kijiji but different regions tend to have different apps which people catch on to.

When I was moving out of my last place in the US, I had a whole bunch of random junk including things like a bicycle frame (because drug addicts stole the wheels and everything else off it). I was amazed using a local buy & sell app how much money I ended up getting. I think I had a bin of junk that I would have thought was just trash or maybe $5 at most, and I ended up getting closer to $40 for everything.

That shows me that if I had held on to more junk over the years I could have probably gotten well over $100 for stuff that I just ended up throwing in the trash.

I can't remember the name of the app but it doesn't really matter since they're always changing and go through waves of popularity that's regional


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