garbage pickers!

kelly4 Posted: May 27, 2003 08:42 PM

garbage pickers!

My DH is accross the street watching the Devils game and I'm here by myself. I hear a noise outside and go to the window to check it out only to find a man and his son taking our tree stumps and roots from our curb! We have tried getting rid of them for a while now but the garbage men are giving us a hard time about it. I can't imagine what they would want them for! I don't think they'd make good firewood. They are huge and dirty. I guess one man's trash is indeed another's treasure!

Stacey1403 Posted: May 27, 2003 08:43 PM

Re: garbage pickers!

Be happy now you don't have to deal with the garbagemen now

aliasPook Posted: May 27, 2003 10:24 PM

Re: garbage pickers!

I have to laugh because last Friday, I almost posted the same topic!!! Someone walked off with our old BBQ right out of the garbage can. Before that, it was out coffee table, before that, it was an old barrel planter and once it was a chair.

Whats one man's garbage is another man's treasure...

Elizabeth Posted: May 27, 2003 10:29 PM

Re: garbage pickers!

Yep! My mother swore that one neighbor's house must have been an image of her former house over time. Everytime she threw something out, they took it. Good for them if they can make it work. LOL that they took something you couldnt get rid of, like catfish.

DaniRN Posted: May 27, 2003 10:40 PM

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yabbobay Posted: May 28, 2003 12:19 AM

Re: garbage pickers!

my family has been trying to get rid of this 1970's ethan allen couch for YEARS!...I took it to our apartment before we got our new couch...but then it quickly went into the extra room...when I asked if they wanted it back...they said no! please no!...

so we left it on the curb...not 10 mins later did some college kids come around and pick it up...(of course I was spying) and they said how great it would be for their porch!!

I was psyched that it finally got a home!!!

butterfly20 Posted: May 28, 2003 01:22 AM

Re: garbage pickers!

LOL.. my moms friend paid her way thru college selling off things people threw out.......
my mother goes looking for stuff.. and brings it back for herself.. i wouldnt want someones used stuff(not knowing where its been) but it makes her really happy!

tree stumps is weird...

yabbobay Posted: May 28, 2003 01:24 AM

Re: garbage pickers!

they're probably going to chip up the trunk...for mulch???

my mom once took the beer cans out of a neighbors recylcing bin after they had had a party...to return them for the $$!!

how embarrassing...at least she waited until late at night

butterfly20 Posted: May 28, 2003 01:48 AM

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yaboobay- anytime my grandma see's an empty beer or soda can she picks it up for the 5cents

ss2002 Posted: May 28, 2003 09:38 AM

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OK, I'll confess-my old roommate and I were garbage pickers.

She did furniture refinishing as a side job-she transformed many beat up wood chairs, tables, night stands, dressers into beautiful pieces.

It's amazing what some elbow grease and some vision can do!!

phyl Posted: May 28, 2003 09:45 AM

Re: garbage pickers!

WE purposely put out an older mower with a sign: 'I'm free and I work!'

and it was gone in 10 min!
Same thing for a very 'artistic' -ugly to me- painting. that did not need a sign- it was gone in ONE min!

GOod for them-
if anyone sees any little tikes stuff by the curb..let me know!hehe

Shamee Posted: May 28, 2003 10:17 AM

Re: garbage pickers!

Someone was throwing out a nearly new little tykes dollhouse/playhouse!! They were moving. Those things go for like $399 or something. I was NOT letting that one go by! I busted my butt to tie it to the top of my truck (the cap was on and I didn't want to leave in case someone took my treasure! You had to see my niece FREAK out when we presented it to her! You think I gave her a million dollars. I'll admit it, my Mom and I are dumpster divers We've dragged home some pretty interesting stuff over the years - Power Wheels (the electronic kiddie cars - brand new!), Yard furniture (one of those wrought iron double swings, etc.), you name it.

I was at Island Recreational a few weeks ago w/Mom picking up chlorine and stuff and I bought two of these huge American flag pinwheels for like $10.00 each. When we went to pick up the Chlorine in the back, they were chucking out hundreds of them in the garbage. I asked them why they were throwing them away and they told me they were busted. Some were only missing sticks. We parted out a few and came home with 5 each - perfect! Shamelessly I returned the two I bought. Why pay $10.00 for two when I got 10 for free!

Chloegirl Posted: May 28, 2003 10:22 AM

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We just got a new coffee table even though our old one is perfectly fine. We put it by the garbage and it was gone by the time I got to the window to look outside.

Well I am glad someone is getting use out of it. We were really torn on what to do with it and just decided it was time to say goodbye.

Niecey Posted: May 28, 2003 10:35 AM

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When I was moving out of the city, my roommate and I got such a kick out of the garbage pickers. We would put out some of our old junk and in minutes - gone. We use to set it up to make it look like a garage sale or something. I was surprised what junk people take.

My favorite was a homeless man who thought he hit the jackpot. There he was in my old Looney Toon character red robe dancing - drinking from a really old bottle of SoCo we were tossing. Then, he took some old lipsticks I was tossing - no clue what he wanted with that.

Horror story though - a friend of mine took a really pretty, antique mirror she found in someone's garbage back to her apartment and hours later roaches came pouring out of the frame.

nylisa Posted: May 28, 2003 10:39 AM

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In my neighborhood, anything that anyone puts by the garbabge usually does not last more than a few hours. Anything that we throw out from mattresses to couchs, etc. usually is gone by the time I get back upstairs. The craziest thing that I have seen was the people next door put out an excercise bike for the garbage. A few minutes later, a couple came by and pulled the bike into the driveway and 'tried it out'. They both got on the bike and rode it for about 10 minutes each and then decided to take it home. I thought that was weird.

michele31 Posted: May 28, 2003 11:06 AM

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I would LOVE for the neighors to take our branches but I am glad you got rid of that stuff. If you slip the garbage men $20 sometimes they will take extra stuff for you.

Shamee Posted: May 28, 2003 12:13 PM

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Youser Niecey! That's gross. I guess she got more than what she bargained for! I always worry about that sort of stuff but we only usually bring home outdoor stuff like yard toys for the kids and stuff. With the amount of nieces and nephews, extended cousins and stuff - there is always kids in my and my mother's yard. That little tykes stuff is SOO expensive in the stores.

butterfly20 Posted: May 28, 2003 12:34 PM

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my mother picks up alot of stuff for my niece.. she got one of those big play kitchens, a car seat, and a walker.... i dont take stuff cause i would be freaked out for reasons like bugs... In garden city sooo many people throw out kids toys that are in good condition!

christine1221 Posted: May 28, 2003 01:44 PM

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oooh, Denise. I'm going to be skeeved all day.
That reminds me of the episode of 'Friends' where Joey finds the crib & Rachel finds an 'animal' moving around in it!