Bulky Trash Time

Twice a year, Austin has bulky trash collection -- as far as I know it is ongoing continuously, but it takes a while to cover the entire city, so our neighborhood comes up in the rotation about every six months. We get a postcard in the mail announcing our week; they don't publish neighborhoods and dates on the official website, and when I once asked about this, was told it was to discourage scavengers. This was really silly, as (a) the scavengers find out anyway and (b) since they take a lot of stuff, they ultimately make the official collection an easier task on city resources. That's a bureaucracy for you, I guess.

Our lawnmower had pretty much given up the ghost at the end of the 2006 mowing season, and I'd reached the limits of what maintenance I could perform that would help. So, I bought a new one at Sears (another gas-powered, and likely my last one; the next will be electric), picked it up this week, and brought it home. Assembly was trivial -- unfold and lock the handle and it's ready to, well, have the battery charged, but by tomorrow I'll probably be cutting the grass. The garage is (like usual) a bit too full of stuff, so Val and I decided that the perfect way to make room was to remove the old mower and set it atop the driveway in anticipation of next week's bulky trash pickup.

Val parked it streetside (handle pointing out, making the "take me" aspect obvious) around, oh, 3:30 this afternoon. She took Amie to dance and soccer practice a little before 4:30, and the mower was still there. Carson awoke around 5:45, and I took him to over to the park (he loves kicking around the soccer ball; too bad there's no 2-year-old league) at maybe 6:00. And the mower was gone. I hadn't even drained the gas (though it was likely close to empty anyway).

And this is how bulky trash always goes: the scavengers take a lot of the stuff, which really is the point. Perhaps some industrious home businessman will refurbish the mower and sell it (yay, capitalism), which is fine by me. I try to be conscientious about disposing of items, but the old mower was beyond my skills, and I knew someone else would be ready to take it away.

I just didn't think it would be that fast.