Items I Have Found While Walking in My Neighborhood

[MIflyer]

• A $20 bill. I gave it to an organization as a donation.
• A WW2 field radio, BC-620-F. Ended up selling it to a guy who had a photo of his grandfather using one during Operation Dragoon.
• A cellphone in good working condition. Could not figure how to find out whose it was.
• A cellphone that had been run over.
• A cordless phone that was in good working condition. Nearby was a used condom. Somebody had some 'splainin to do when the parents got home! I tried driving up and down the street to see if I could get a dial tone, but to no avail.
• A cordless phone that was working but was missing the battery cover.
• A set of car keys with a remote control attached. Later in the evening I walked to the area I thought most likely and started pressing the "panic" button. Sure enough, soon someone's garage lit right up and I gave them their car keys.
• A tube tester, as in electron vacuum tubes.
• A metal detector. I put a battery in it and it worked for a little while.
• A clock radio, which I modified with an external antenna so a friend of mine could listen to Neil Boortz.
• A Radio Shack clock radio AM/FM with WX band. The radio worked but the clock was dead. Since that time the radio no longer works but the clock has started again.
• A battery charger, one so old that it has both a 6 volt and a 12 volt setting. Turned out all was wrong with it was a broken wire where it entered the case. I fixed it and use it pretty often.
• A portable air tank; its hose was broken and I fixed that.
• An unusual electrical connector which turned out to be one that was useful to me.
• A radio antenna that fits my 2007 Toyota Matrix, although I did not need another one.
• A brand new, large unused circuit breaker box.
• A nice folding Gerber knife, laying in wait in the road for someone's tire.
• A nice pair of very sharp tailor's shears, made in the USA.
• A computerized control box for installation in a theater. Anybody want it?
• A valid license plate, which I turned over to the Sheriff's Dept; they tracked down the owner.
• A Cessna 150 propeller spinner. I tracked down the owner and gave it back to him.

 

[Sisu]

You live in a different sort of neighborhood than ours...

 

[Gnomey]

You live in a different sort of neighborhood than ours...

He is in Florida….

 

[special ed]

I find many things in the neighborhood, especially during spring cleaning or when kids go off to college. Many bicycles, various sizes, my second moto-tool jigsaw, several fans and hair dryers. The fans usually just need a new plug because people insist on unplugging by pulling the cords. The hair dryers make noise when older and women don't like the sound but the dryers still dry paint. When I was younger, I went dumpster diving at ministorage sites. When people decide to stop renting, they throw everything in the dumpster. One find while "mining" was a Bell & Howell 16mm sound projector which worked perfectly, until reclaimed by hurricane Katrina.

 

[MIflyer]

My current a lawnmower I built myself. I bought a mower from Sears years ago and it was the best one ever. But it appears the chassis was made out of a composite material based on compressed rust; eventually it fell apart. The old gentleman across the street rebuilds lawnmowers and he threw a chassis out on the street. It was also a Sears Craftsman, but it was robustly built using actual steel. The engine from my disintegrated fit that discarded chassis perfectly. Eventually it got hard to start, especially if the temp is below 80F, but running it on 100LL avgas seems to have solved that problem.

 

[special ed]

Lawn mowers at the curb was common after being stored outside all the time due to the ignition points corroding. Not so much now with solid state ignition.
Alas, most mini-storage sites now have gated entry.

 

[Crimea_River]

Good Lord, you guys live in interesting places. About the only thing I come across is coyote shit.

 

[ThomasP]

re

. . . But it appears the chassis was made out of a composite material based on compressed rust; . .

Good one! I am going to steal that one.

 

[MIflyer]

Good one! I am going to steal that one.

I stole it from the Car Talk radio show.

And as good as the pickin's can be in our neighborhood, the local airport is a much better source of interesting junk.

 

[yosimitesam]

Even though I have a large fenced back yard, I sometimes walk my dogs along the street in front of my house for their variety. I carry "poop-bags" with me, for cleanup, and the neighborhood has no sidewalks (it's dead-end street with a terminating cove.) One day my biggest dog "marked" the grass at the very edge of a neighbor's lawn and I picked up the pile using my hand inside a poop-bag (standard technique.) Just as I was about to slip the bag inside-out to close and tie it up, I noticed a folded $1 bill was stuck to the poop on the bottom. I debated for a few seconds whether it was worth retrieving and decided that $1 USD was not enough reward for retrieval as the bill was covered in poop. Thus, the bag, poop, and currency all went into my poop can, when I got back home. However, I pondered for the rest of the day as to what denomination would I actually retrieve the sh*tty money? Certainly a $100 bill would be retrieved as being compensatory for a sh*tty hand for a short time. But what about $5, $10, or $20? What amount would it take for you to endure sh*t-fingers for 10 or 15 minutes until you could return home and clean up the money (and your hands)? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[special ed]

Simply dump the bag's contents in your yard and flush completely with the hose. Then use the bill for a tip (Rochie's).

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I stole it from the Car Talk radio show.

And as good as the pickin's can be in our neighborhood, the local airport is a much better source of interesting junk.

I miss the Tappet brothers.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Even though I have a large fenced back yard, I sometimes walk my dogs along the street in front of my house for their variety. I carry "poop-bags" with me, for cleanup, and the neighborhood has no sidewalks (it's dead-end street with a terminating cove.) One day my biggest dog "marked" the grass at the very edge of a neighbor's lawn and I picked up the pile using my hand inside a poop-bag (standard technique.) Just as I was about to slip the bag inside-out to close and tie it up, I noticed a folded $1 bill was stuck to the poop on the bottom. I debated for a few seconds whether it was worth retrieving and decided that $1 USD was not enough reward for retrieval as the bill was covered in poop. Thus, the bag, poop, and currency all went into my poop can, when I got back home. However, I pondered for the rest of the day as to what denomination would I actually retrieve the sh*tty money? Certainly a $100 bill would be retrieved as being compensatory for a sh*tty hand for a short time. But what about $5, $10, or $20? What amount would it take for you to endure sh*t-fingers for 10 or 15 minutes until you could return home and clean up the money (and your hands)? Inquiring minds want to know.

This is why God made nitrile gloves.