Turned my back and missed my chance

It's garbage pickup tomorrow morning in my neighbourhood, planning on making my first scrapping trip around in about an hour. Earlier however I was coming back from work and spotted a bbq pushed out to the curb literally a stones throw from my place, decided I would run inside to toss my groceries in the fridge and then would swing back out and grab it. Go back a no more than a minute later and its gone with a scrap truck driving down the road lol.

Was I just unlucky or is this kind of stiff competition the norm?

Will report back with my luck later on tonight if anyone is interested.

That's just the way it is anymore. If you see it, the best time is now to grab it.

Yep. Just yesterday i was out with my mom and came upon a reeeeeeeeeal heavy old time snowblower ( I think it was a snowblower) and I tried lifting it by myself and couldn't. so it took me five minutes to drop her off in my brothers garage and take him back and it was gone. Lol, moms such a good sport, she was still in the garage when I got back sitting in the corner like, ''My daughter, she's lucky I love her'' :p

Went out for all of 20 min. I moved to this area a month ago and still don't know my way around the side streets well at all. I felt like I was just driving in circles and some times I literally was lol. I need to get a map and next time go out with an actual route planned out, I think it will help me a lot, instead of just making random turns not really sure where I am headed. Saw more competition as well but I suppose thats just the way it is.

Grabbed two goodies, a gas powered line trimmer and an old mac printer which weighs a ton. No idea what I will find in the printer.

I figure breaking down both of these items will be good learning experiences and now I know I need a plan not just a random drive.

Also from the looks of it the other scrapper out there seemed only interested in large items which are almost completely metal, not in items that have a bunch of plastic and need to be broken down. Personally I have always loved ripping things apart and seeing what's inside and how the thing worked (actually got me in trouble a bunch as a youngster lol)

Does this give me a niche that should make finding things easier?

Use Google maps to plan a course. With it you can see where the most populated areas are. You will save a lot of fuel.
As you go make note of trash pickup schedules.

yup and its only going to get worse till we come up with about 5.000.000 jobs.

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Originally Posted by olddude

yup and its only going to get worse till we come up with about 5.000.000 jobs.

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I'm in Canada, so we need far less than 5million thankfully, but you're right, times are tough for many.

Printer weighed in at 48lbs, pretty sure thats not because of its plastic shell.

wow! 48lbs! I've never had one that big. And the more you drive around the more used to the area you will get and one day you will say to yourself, ''Is that it? I can't have driven the whole town already.'' lol

Lesson learned huh? Dont turn your back because if you snooze you lose.

I use my phone gps to drive around my neighborhood.

I need one more water heater. I have 9 and don't want to haul them in until I have 10. Don't ask me why. I just figure I have this many, I want to haul in 10 when I take them. Anyway, I had not seen one in weeks. I got a call for a washer and dryer, and on my way I saw something down a side street. I drove back by on my way home. It was the water heater I was looking for, but I had no room for it in the little truck. I got home and dumped the washer and dryer off as fast as I could. I looked at the clock and realized it was almost 8pm. I also realized this was located right behind a church that was going to let out before I got there. Sure enough, it was long gone when I got back. Strike one.

The next Sunday we went out for dinner and I decided to take the truck, just in case :D On the way home I drove through an area where I had found very little in the past. I looked to my right, about 200 yards down a side street. And there it was! One problem. There was a car parked right in front of it. I looped around the block thinking it was just that, a water heater and a car sitting in the road. By the time I got back he had that thing hanging out of the trunk of that little Buick :D Strike two.

A couple days later I had lost interest in finding a water heater. I was with mom in her car when I saw a washing machine sitting along a side street. I did everything I could to get back to it, but it was gone within 20 minutes. Strike three.

In this economy, everyone is a scrapper. If you see it, someone else will too. At prime time stuff does not stay there for more than a few minutes. When I find something between 6pm and 9pm, I know that it was just put out.

I have my sister texting me when she sees scrap. She sends a msg with address and more often than not it's still there.

You might train a few family members or friends to do the same.

Regarding trash schedules, some cities have the day/route online. Check with your local refuse company. The local refuse co has a space/tab on their site, but it's not developed yet.

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I have my sister texting me when she sees scrap. She sends a msg with address and more often than not it's still there.

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one dude I work with does the same for me, he sees it as I'am helping to keep the area clean