Views of the Neighborhood – Trash Day

~ John W. Howell

Since it is a slow day here in Lakeway, I decided we would look at some of the locals’ recycling habits. This will be a short trip so we will want to spend a lot of time eating and drinking.

I think most of you are familiar with the tour bus. First impressions can be deceiving, and we try to keep the bus profile very low. We don’t want a lot of people wondering what we are doing in their neighborhood. At the request of Jill Weatherholt, I’m showing the newly refurbished interior of the bus.

Views of the neighborhood

As you can see, it is designed for maximum comfort and privacy. Today, we are serving goose liver pate or melted parmesan on a toasted baguette for an appetizer. We are serving standing rib roast or grilled tuna steaks, garlic smashed new potatoes, and roasted baby mixed root vegetables for the main course. Dessert includes molten chocolate cake with freshly churned vanilla bean ice cream or tiramisu. Of course, we have top-shelf liquor, and for the red wine, we have Luna Winemaker’s Reserve 2016 cabernet and for white 2019 Joel Gott California Sauvignon Blanc. Our entertainment is the Corrs.

Let’s get on the bus.

Views of the Neighborhood

Our first stop is to marvel at the leaning tower of cardboard. This is a masterful use of the recycling container exhibiting just the right amount of overstuffedness to make one wonder if the whole thing continues to stay upright. I notice one piece of cardboard has been jettisoned. Probably to maintain balance.

Who says suburban residents don’t have a heart?  Here is a gift being offered to the recycling crew. A small gesture of generosity.

We needed to stop at this one. I love to study people and wish I could meet the person behind this demonstration of a classic Type A personality.

At the opposite end of the personality spectrum is evidenced by this tote. Anyone who can handle at least two 24 bottle allotments of Coors light is my kind of Olympian. Don’t forget recycling pick-up is every week, so this is a real athlete’s sign.

Ah, here is my favorite of all the recycling—a 42 inch TV container announcing to the world that this home would be worth a break-in. A 42 inch is easily fit into a trunk and can be handled by one person.

 

Views of the Neighborhood

You have to look close. What looks like a bush on the left of the mailbox is a Christmas tree. It was put out for the recycling crew to pick up. Notice it is still there and probably will be until next Christmas. There are instructions on how to handle trees, and this one did not conform.

Views of the Neighborhood

Excuse the green tone of this scene, but we need to stay on the bus. None of us want to get close to that thing obviously passed over by the recycling crew. I have to say a Dyson Vac sitting on the side of the road makes a fairly concerning statement. The long cord alone concerns me.

Well, That is the end of a nothingness tour of the neighborhood. I hope you stay for more food and entertainment. I also hope you have a great week and keep smiling.

 

 

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Published by John W. Howell

I have been working in business for over forty years and now have the time to work in special areas of interest. My passion has always been to create compelling stories of fiction. I have authored six novels and am working on my Seventh. The first novel is still in manuscript form and being utilized as a door stop in the laundry room. The second is a contemporary fiction novel of 89,000 words and is complete and I am currently seeking a publisher. I also write poetry but have not had the guts to share any with anyone. The one time I read a piece to a person their only comment was, “it doesn’t rhyme.” I will continue to write and hopefully my blog, Fiction Favorites at www.johnwhowell.com will provide some entertainment and an interesting thought or two. I live in the Austin area with my wife Molly and an assortment of loving pets.

95 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Trash Day”

  1. Hilarious, John. You deserve some sort of Emmy for making Trash Day a laughing adventure. 🤣 In our area, recycles and trash must be in the containers or it will never be picked up cuz the guys don’t leave the truck. But some of us have been known to stand curbside and throw big boxes and other oddities onto the garbage truck loader. 😎

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  4. Wow! That bus is really deceptive from the outside. 🙂 The saying about learning alot about someone by studying their shoes, does not hold a candle to a close scrutiny of their recycling habits. Good point about the t.v. box and the potential for a break-in. Thanks for another entertaining trip, John.

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  5. No tour is worthless and can be used as an instructional post for some of your neighbors (ie. trash recycling and not advertising recent purchases!). The bus remodeling is a definite plus!
    I’ll give you my order now: liver pate; center cut of the rib roast and I’ll break conventional ideals here and order the white wine. I don’t think I’ll have room for dessert.

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    1. I hear you on dessert. That slice of roast is 16 oz so I’m not surprised. (Of course there is a bone in there bur still.) Thanks for coming along, GP. The savigion blanc goes well with anything.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I almost got caught at the vacuum cleaner shot. I didn’t line the gree through my windshield so I came around to do a clear shot and the homeowner comes out. Had to keep on trucking. The life of an investigative journalist. Thanks, Liz.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Curious tour topic this time. Guess trash is interesting after the holidays. I’ve seen electronics left out a bunch here. People forget that those things need to go to a special pick up thing. Can’t just toss them in the dump like the old days.

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  12. I do think I’ll catch the recycling tour from inside the bus. While you’re up, can you pass me another baguette.

    Our trucks won’t pick up anything that’s outside the bin, no matter how nicely it’s packaged. I try to keep it all in the can with the lid closed. Otherwise, eventually the bottom of the can is soppy/froze newspapers.

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    1. We are allowed to put plastic bags outside the bin and garden branches that have been bundled. Christmas trees have to be cut up into three foot sections. I try to keep the lid closed too. I did notice that when I put out a plastic bag, the guy puts it in the bin to loft into the truck. I’ve started doing the same. So this big bag sits on top of an opened bin. The guy doesn’t have to leave the truck and seems happy about that.

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  13. Dearest John. Now you’ve gone and done it. People – outside of us select few – who dissed your bus on outside appearances are now going to be lining up to gain access! As long as my place is secure, I won’t complain 😉
    And it’s so funny. I have, during my walks, pondered peeps’ recycling and trash habits. That guy with the TV was just advertising, wasn’t he?
    For organic pick ups, like the Christmas tree, branches and such must be tied up in bundles. It’s been a year and this guy has his branches strewn about… shake my head… unless he thinks he is being uber ecological and believes they will turn into mulch! It’ll take a while, lemme just say.
    Love your musical choices as well.

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  15. John, I didn’t realize our traveling accommodations were so luxurious!! I’m still giggling over the Type A personality (and blushing a bit because I’d probably stack that cardboard exactly like that!) And that lonely Dyson looks almost like an alien landed and is wondering how to phone home!

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  19. From December 25 on, through New Year’s, we gt public service reminders on radio and tv: DON’T put boxes that contained tvs, etc., out on the curb without breaking them up and bagging them. You might as well say, “Hey! Dudes! Over here…” All of that neat cardboard-in-a-box reminded me of the way we used to save and bundle newspapers for school and church fundraisers. Say “paper drive” to today’s kids, and there’s no telling what they’d imagine.

    Are you going to get any snow photos today? There’s a topic for the future!

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  23. Funny, John. We have multiple regs for putting out trash and what trash can be put out. At our former residence of 35 years, we just packed the car up a couple of times a week and went to the dump. Right now, because this place is one huge construction site, we dump our trash in the huge wooden bins where all the construction trash goes (we got permission!).

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  26. John, This post made me chuckle. Our normal trash day is on Fridays. With both Christmas and New Years falling on a Friday, the pickup in my area was delayed to Saturdays two weeks in a row. I’m usually out for a long 15+ mile bike ride on Saturday mornings and found myself evaluating what everyone received for Christmas based on the boxes that were thrown away. The one that caught my eye was the house with boxes for two 70 inch TVs. Now that’s a house gearing up for stay-at-home quarantine binge watching.

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  28. Love the interior of the bus! They’ve all but stopped recycling here. No curbside pickup anymore, but I make the 20 minute drive to drop off cardboard, paper, aluminum cans, and steel cans. They no longer accept plastic or glass and it kills me to toss that in the trash.

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  29. The bus interior is lovely and I have a feeling people would be so comfy they’d have a hard time leaving…depending on much of that top shelf they had to drink it could be really hard. 🤣

    So many personalities you can see in one’s trash bins! Who knew? 🤷🏻‍♀️

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  32. Your sense of humor is awesome, John! Similar to what Gwen wrote, who would’ve thought trash day would be so hilarious! And talk about judging a book by its cover, that bus interior looks pretty darn nice! Thanks again for the food and drink and have a good rest of the week. 🚌😊

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  35. I need to buy a ticket for this bus tour. The food alone is outstanding. And the leaning tower of cardboard is something worth seeing. Who knew trash day could be so exciting?

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