Garbage. It’s a matter of opinion.

What one man tosses out, another man considers as valuable as gold. I’ve seen folks throw stuff out and I’ve seen folks make sure that it doesn’t get to the dump. Every year in Moncton there’s a spring clean up, when city crews go around on a specific day picking up everyone’s spring cleaning junk for free. Well, it turns into a free for all. There’s a parade of pick-up trucks, cars, trailers, wagons, you name it, going around looking for valuables sitting on the curb. Old barbecues don’t last long; at least the aluminum sections. Bicycles, dressers, exercise equipment, shelves, etc, all never making it to the dump, just changing hands.

My neighbour makes it a regular practice to go around on garbage day looking for grass clippings for his garden. I’ve seen people sift through garbage looking for recyclables. I’ve rescued collectibles from the dump; flags, foreign beer cans, old coke bottles. My uncle threw out an old plywood pool table that was gone before he could make a second trip to the curb with the cues and balls.

What treasures have you discovered in someone else’s junk pile? What have you considered valuable that others were willing to throw away?

Happy Birthday, Connie!

Happy belated birthday that is. Connie just turned 38!!! Thirty eight years old… WOW… In a couple of years your age will match your IQ!

Hope it was a good one, you deserve it.

Sometimes conversations turn a little morbid around here. My wife and I were having a conversation tonight, sat at the kitchen table. Somehow we got to talking about suicide.

Since we moved to this street, there have been two suicides within several houses of us. But the conversation came about this evening because recently there have been a couple of incidents back home where folks have done away with themselves. One incident was an 18 year old cousin of my brother-in-law and the other was a co-worker of my sister-in-law who was recently married and coincidentally diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. This lady with Crohn’s was only 37 years old and had a teenage child.

Since my wife has Crohn’s as well, the conversation shifted to this. We talked about how bad Crohn’s can be, but also how desparate one must feel to even consider death as an escape. We decided that it was something neither of us could ever do to each other nor to our son. But then there’s the “what if” conversation…

Wifey: I’d never do it. But if I did do something like that I want you to promise me something.

Me: Oh my God, Honey. I can’t imagine how I’d react… But go on, tell me.

Wifey: If I committed suicide, promise me you’d blame yourself.

Jeez… thanks Sweetie…

I can’t say how old she is… you know, cuz she’d kill me. But she’s 13 years older than I am, and I’m 39. God love ‘er, wha?

Here she is (in the green coat). Gambling again. Smoking, drinking, carousing… you name it. It’s a wonder she’s lived this long!

Happy Birthday, Mary!

Love,
Steve, Donna, Garrett.

I’m a pretty lucky guy. Don’t feel good for me just yet, ’cause there’s two kinds of luck.

After paying 900 bucks to repair my car, I had another incident today. Driving home from work, passing a transport truck at 120 km/hour, suddenly someone else’s muffler appeared on the road. Nowhere to turn, no chance to brake, and BAM! I’m short a hubcab, my front driver side tire and twenty minutes of my life. Shit! SHIT!! Changing a blowout on the side of the Trans-Canada during rush hour traffic is quite a nerve-wracking experience.

Trying to escape my bad luck is like trying to walk away from a fart on a treadmill. It stinks and there’s no escaping it.

I’ve consumed enough rum and coke this weekend to mummify an elephant.

What makes an alcoholic? Not what causes it, but what defines it? Everybody knows someone that they might consider as being an alcoholic. Is someone who drinks a half-dozen every other night and alcoholic? Is someone who drinks once a week an alcoholic? What if that once a week is a total out-of-controller? Does THAT define the term? Don’t worry Mom, I’m just asking a question for conversation’s sake.

If no harm is caused, what’s wrong with it? Does tennis elbow count as harm done?

Tomorrow’s Monday… back to work. Can’t wait until next week to fall back off the wagon.