Yesterday (Monday) was Martin Luther King Jr day and I had the day off from work. I made plans with Melissa and Erica to go over and see their new place on the river in North Portland. We had planned to go biking along Marine Drive.
As it turned out, the UPS people said they would be delivering Sami's new projector for the home theater between 10 and 2 pm. The note from UPS said that someone would have to be home to sign for the package. So I agreed to wait. I was really hoping they would come early.
On Sunday Sami and I did yardwork and cleaned up the area along the south side of our garage. The old stairs and other wood from the hot tub had just been sitting there since last fall. Anyway, we took the stairs apart and loaded them up into the truck so we could plant the free grapes on the south facing wall of the garage.
So, I used Metro's online tool to find a recycler. Apparently there aren't a lot of places that take treated wood. I found one in Vancouver, WA that was accepting treated wood and not charging any fees either. Vancouver is just across the bridge so it should only be a 15 minute drive or so from the recycling center to M & E's new place.
Unfortunately things didn't work out quite so easily. I waited until 2:50 PM and the package from UPS didn't arrive. I finally gave up on it. Driving east on 26 and north on 405 was no problem, but as soon as I got on I-5 north, traffic stopped. It was horrible. Around 3:45 Melissa called me to see where I was. I told her I was stuck in traffic and trying to take the wood to the recycling center. She said "Oh, you have wood? do you have any that we could use for a gate for our deck?" I told her yes, I'd stop by the house first so she could grab what she needed for the dog gate.
I got off the highway and ended up turning the wrong way on Marine drive. I realized that traffic was only getting worse and called Melissa to tell her that I was sorry and I didn't think I could get to her place and the recycling center by 5 PM. I tried to get back on I-5 north but there was so much traffic in front of me that I couldn't see the sign and ended up on the wrong lane. Ironically I ended up going the right direction on Marine drive and found myself in Melissa's neighborhood. So I stopped by and dropped off some wood for the gate. Then Melissa got in her car and led me to the exit to get back on the highway. It took 30 minutes just to get up the ramp to the highway. By the time I was finally moving again, it was 4:50 PM. Fortunately I had a good idea of where the recycling center was and so I didn't make any more wrong turns.
At 5 PM, I realized I was going to be too late. I knew I was nearby, but not there yet. I remembered I had called the recycling center earlier to confirm that they took treated wood. So the phone number was still stored in the memory of my phone. I called them and asked if they were closed already, explaining that I'd gotten stuck in traffic. The girl who answered asked me how far away I was. I told her I was in front of the Lowes. She said I was only a couple blocks away and agreed to hold the gate open for me. So lucky.
When I arrived, the girl told me they couldn't take the 2x6 beams with the joist hangers on them because it was too much metal. I said ok, and figured oh well, at least I'd only be carrying the three beams home with me. I started unloading the wood from the stairs and a man in a blue truck drove up. He said "Hey, I saw you going north on I-5 and figured you were heading up here... I was wondering if I could have those 4x6 beams you're getting rid of. I could really use them for this deck project I'm working on." I said "Great! I'm happy to get rid of them, I'm glad you can use them". And so he loaded them up into his truck and I was able to leave the recycling center with mine completely empty.
It was nearly 6 PM by the time I arrived back at Melissa & Erica's place. So it was already dark and I didn't get take any pictures of the houseboats or the sunset on the water. I was pretty disappointed, although it was cold yesterday, it was very sunny and Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens looked stunning covered in snow. There was also a full moon that started rising while the sun was still in the sky. A perfect day for taking photos, but I didn't get any. Actually I tried to take a couple while I was sitting in traffic, but my windows were too dirty for the camera to focus properly. And my arm was too short to roll down the passenger side window in the truck.
Dinner was wonderful. Erica made her first pot roast ever, and it turned out great. I'd brought over a basket of stuff I'd canned during the summer for a housewarming gift and we ate some vanilla pears for dessert.
I'd brought over some of the lettuce and spinach seeds that I planted last week and after dinner Melissa and Erica each started a tray. They should grow well on the nice sunny deck if Star (the dog) doesn't get into them.
Now I'm just waiting for another sunny day off so I can go over there and do the biking and picture taking that I'd planned for the MLK holiday.
As it turned out, the UPS people said they would be delivering Sami's new projector for the home theater between 10 and 2 pm. The note from UPS said that someone would have to be home to sign for the package. So I agreed to wait. I was really hoping they would come early.
On Sunday Sami and I did yardwork and cleaned up the area along the south side of our garage. The old stairs and other wood from the hot tub had just been sitting there since last fall. Anyway, we took the stairs apart and loaded them up into the truck so we could plant the free grapes on the south facing wall of the garage.
So, I used Metro's online tool to find a recycler. Apparently there aren't a lot of places that take treated wood. I found one in Vancouver, WA that was accepting treated wood and not charging any fees either. Vancouver is just across the bridge so it should only be a 15 minute drive or so from the recycling center to M & E's new place.
Unfortunately things didn't work out quite so easily. I waited until 2:50 PM and the package from UPS didn't arrive. I finally gave up on it. Driving east on 26 and north on 405 was no problem, but as soon as I got on I-5 north, traffic stopped. It was horrible. Around 3:45 Melissa called me to see where I was. I told her I was stuck in traffic and trying to take the wood to the recycling center. She said "Oh, you have wood? do you have any that we could use for a gate for our deck?" I told her yes, I'd stop by the house first so she could grab what she needed for the dog gate.
I got off the highway and ended up turning the wrong way on Marine drive. I realized that traffic was only getting worse and called Melissa to tell her that I was sorry and I didn't think I could get to her place and the recycling center by 5 PM. I tried to get back on I-5 north but there was so much traffic in front of me that I couldn't see the sign and ended up on the wrong lane. Ironically I ended up going the right direction on Marine drive and found myself in Melissa's neighborhood. So I stopped by and dropped off some wood for the gate. Then Melissa got in her car and led me to the exit to get back on the highway. It took 30 minutes just to get up the ramp to the highway. By the time I was finally moving again, it was 4:50 PM. Fortunately I had a good idea of where the recycling center was and so I didn't make any more wrong turns.
At 5 PM, I realized I was going to be too late. I knew I was nearby, but not there yet. I remembered I had called the recycling center earlier to confirm that they took treated wood. So the phone number was still stored in the memory of my phone. I called them and asked if they were closed already, explaining that I'd gotten stuck in traffic. The girl who answered asked me how far away I was. I told her I was in front of the Lowes. She said I was only a couple blocks away and agreed to hold the gate open for me. So lucky.
When I arrived, the girl told me they couldn't take the 2x6 beams with the joist hangers on them because it was too much metal. I said ok, and figured oh well, at least I'd only be carrying the three beams home with me. I started unloading the wood from the stairs and a man in a blue truck drove up. He said "Hey, I saw you going north on I-5 and figured you were heading up here... I was wondering if I could have those 4x6 beams you're getting rid of. I could really use them for this deck project I'm working on." I said "Great! I'm happy to get rid of them, I'm glad you can use them". And so he loaded them up into his truck and I was able to leave the recycling center with mine completely empty.
It was nearly 6 PM by the time I arrived back at Melissa & Erica's place. So it was already dark and I didn't get take any pictures of the houseboats or the sunset on the water. I was pretty disappointed, although it was cold yesterday, it was very sunny and Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens looked stunning covered in snow. There was also a full moon that started rising while the sun was still in the sky. A perfect day for taking photos, but I didn't get any. Actually I tried to take a couple while I was sitting in traffic, but my windows were too dirty for the camera to focus properly. And my arm was too short to roll down the passenger side window in the truck.
Dinner was wonderful. Erica made her first pot roast ever, and it turned out great. I'd brought over a basket of stuff I'd canned during the summer for a housewarming gift and we ate some vanilla pears for dessert.
I'd brought over some of the lettuce and spinach seeds that I planted last week and after dinner Melissa and Erica each started a tray. They should grow well on the nice sunny deck if Star (the dog) doesn't get into them.
Now I'm just waiting for another sunny day off so I can go over there and do the biking and picture taking that I'd planned for the MLK holiday.
1 comment:
Hi Sara,
well, it seems recycling takes a lot of effort. But as Kermit said in the Muppet's Show: "It's not easy being green!" ;-)
All the best for your birthday, I'm sure you will enjoy it by going on a trip or whatever. Post some pictures plz!
Kind regards from Germany
(cold and grey today)
Peter
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