Dump picking
Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI
>A few years back Megan and I looked at the bill from our garbage collector and decided it would be a whole lot cheaper to go the do-it-yourself route. We recycle everything we can, and have four large garbage cans with locking lids setting behind the shed out back. So about every 3 months I make a Saturday morning trip to the land fill. This was today, and I was kind of feeling sorry that our landfill does not allow anyone to search for goodies in the trash. I thought about all the good things that people have said they found at landfills (posts here on the forum) and thought it's just too bad that I can't find anything good at our landfill. But I went about my chores looking forward to getting them done and spending the rest of the day in the shop. I was backed up and unloading the trailer with nobody else around and just glanced over at the other containers. At our landfill we back up to large containers that are set down a ways, and when full these containers are picked up and hauled back into the landfill. One of the containers had a trunk setting on it, and I figured it would be worth looking at before I left. Then I ntoiced the truck coming to get that container, and went over right away. What I found was a really nice trunk; wooden with a decorative metal outer covering and paper interior, late 1800's, in really good shape for it's age except that the leather handles on the ends are broke off. The picture in the top is great. I am too lazy to take pictures and post them; perhaps someday. It has a dome top on it; a really nice trunk. I could not believe that anyone in their right mind would simply throw it into the landfill. Megan has claimed it, and threatens me with tool losses if I sell it. This made my day, and I had to kind of laugh at myself for feeling sorry that I couldn't find anything good at the landfill and then stumbling across such a great find.