ALMOST too hot for junkin'

Junkin' has been well documented on this blog, throughout the years. And another junkin' season is upon us.

Here is the primer, in case you are clueless about junkin'. And here is a link to my past Junkin' related posts. You'll have to scroll down to see all of the crap great stuff I have hauled home over the years.

The last few have been washouts, either because of rain (which I am WISHING on this season) or because of a low quality of junk set out by our neighbors. Either way, I haven't scored great junk in a couple of season.

Maybe my standards are getting too high?

Anyways, I had a goal of finding a plastic doghouse to modify into a second chicken coop. The Boss Lady spotted one, but it was gone by the time I made it by the pile a few hours later.

Racecar Man called to gloat about his finds last night, a gas pressure washer that shows great promise to be up and running again soon, and a 4 burner gas grill that needs a good cleaning. I couldn't resist the challenge, so we cruised the neighborhood to see what other treasures we might find.

Lo and behold, it's corners have been chewed on by a bored dog, but I found my junkin' doghouse. it is EXACTLY what I need to expand the chicken coop and $75 cheaper than the one we bought last year.

Along with the stuff I drug home, I also got rid of a couple of skate ramps that scare The Talker so much that he won't use them, an old satellite dish, a tire from a minivan I drove 3 or four years, my garage TV that has a blown speaker and about a hundred feet of old swing chains from the playscape rebuild project at the preschool. Everything except the skate ramp set was hauled away by this morning.

It is too dang hot to make anymore treasure hunting runs this junkin' season, so I am declaring this one a big success and calling it closed.

Corvette Day!

Back on my birthday, I hollered at my neighbor across the street that he should reward my surviving another year by letting me drive the convertible Corvette that sleeps in his garage. It's a fun car to watch go up and down the street. But that is pretty much as close as I had ever gotten to this or any other 'Vette.

Excepting of course, Rick's high school CheVette that I successfully rode shotgun in for many a mile.

Last week my neighbor borrowed my junkin' found/recently repaired power washer. So turn about is fair play, right? I loan you a $10 tool. You loan me a $30,000 car. You use my power washer to prep your house for paint, I leave a coating of tire rubber throughout the neighborhood.

Racecar Man and I took the 'Vette for a cruise this morning. We rode for 25 miles or so, mostly keeping it near the speed limit. A nice mix of highway and side street action. Several times I let traction control do it's job and keep us from spinning out the car. That is why they installed it, right?

After we drained the gas tank, I dropped off Racecar Man and The Talker and I ran to get a little gas. It was awesome watching the sheer joy on the boy's face as we cruised, maybe a little quickly, through town. Even though Racecar Man and I did the lion's share of the cruising, I am pretty sure The Talker enjoyed his Corvette ride more than the other two of us combined!

By the time the boy is old enough to drive, American Muscle cars will have surely gone the way of the dodo. So hopefully, he will get another chance or two at this car in the future.

For the record, The Princess was having a playdate with a neighbor and she could not be bothered to take a ride. So don't hassle me about gender equality in cruising or anything like that.

In the end, I returned A corvette. Actually, I borrowed this one too, from Law Talking Guy's daughter. But I think it is a pretty good swap for everyone.

Just don't tell my neighbors, OK?

Passing on a love of Junkin'

It is Junkin' Season. Actually today the city trucks should be at our house, to pick up our pile of bulky items that we can only throw out once every 6 months and that will end Junkin' for another 6 months.

Junkin' used to be a neighborhood sport. All the dads would try to outdo each other to see who could find the best treasure, like Maria, in some random pile at some stranger's curb. Then it sort of waned. Who can afford to drive all over the neighborhood for hours on end looking for treasure at $4 a gallon? I can buy new junk cheaper than that!

Plus, nowadays everyone seems to either keep their good junk or sell it on Craig's List.

RaceCar Man and I made one quick jaunt through the 'hood Sunday afternoon. Other than moving a piece of junk from my pile to his yard, and finding a few other little things, the trip was a wash.

After all of the great stuff I have found on the piles around here, a power washer, garage shelving, garden accessories and the like, I came home almost empty handed. I did find a like-new padlock WITH the keys still attached. So that is something.

But even after several poor Junkin' seasons in a row, there is hope for the future of Junkin' Sport. You see, yesterday The Princess spotted a little nightstand on a neighbor's pile. She wanted to use in her room, so we spent a couple of hours cleaning and fixing it up. Now she has declared it her "Beauty and the Beast dresser".

The Princess did all of the scrubbing and cleaning the outside of her find. I fixed a broken drawer slide and helped clean up the inside. It is already in use beside her bed.

And finally, bringing back the competitive past of Junkin', The Talker was ticked off that he had gotten nothing from Junkin' this year. That is, until he found gold! Orange and gold, actually.


At the bottom of a pile, glowing like a beacon, the boy spotted a Vortex football. He is happy with his and all is right with the Junkin' World. Plus, he didn't have to spend a lot of time cleaning his find. Though I think it did stay with him in the bed last night.

Long live Junkin'!

T minus 6 months and counting until Junkin' Season opens

The trucks came a few minutes ago to pick up our pile. So Junkin' Season is over.

Our puny little pile.

They use the claw and then drop everything into
the back of a waiting semi trailer.
It is a good show!

A successful season for all. The Talker got new ramps, I got a tool box, The Boss Lady got me off my ass and I covered the hole in our attic ceiling with stuff I found.

The Princess got a drain cover for her plastic swimming pool to replace one I misplaced a while back. Now we can quit using duct tape every time she wants to swim. The things a princess has to put up with around here... Geesh!

Best of all, we unloaded a ton of crap. Most of it was already scavenged before the trucks arrived. 2 TVs, both that had been picked up on earlier Junkin' trips, a clothes dryer, a wheelbarrow, several broken patio umbrellas, lots of scrap wood, a broken toy or two and a couple of old patio chairs. Definitely got rid of more than I picked up this year, which is not always true...

So now is like the day after Christmas. the longest possible time before another round of Junkin' begins. And worst of all, I'll probably have another junk pile started before the fall.

I declare this Junkin' Season officially opened.

This is Junk Week in the neighborhood. The once every six months chance we have to toss things that are too big to fit into our 60 gallon city-issued trash cans. Need to brush up on your Junkin' history? Follow the links over at this post.

Last weekend I set our our old clothes dryer. I knew it would be out on the curb for several days, since the real Junkin' weekend was still a full week away. But I really wanted that dryer out of my garage. It was a pleasant surprise when it disappeared in less than half an hour.

As of Wednesday, piles started forming at neighbor's curbs. And now we have drug home our first Junkin' catch of the season. Which means it is time to gas up the truck and hitch up the trailer. Junkin' Season is here!

By the way, The Talker is the winner of our first trophy. 3 skateboard ramps and a tabletop connector.

They guys up the hill set out one of these.
And a set like the one below.

I guess it is time to buy the boy a set of skateboard pads...

New climbing wall

I have wanted to add a climbing wall to the kid's playscape since I first built it two years ago. Seems like every backyard playscape has one now. Plus, both kids have asked me to build one. And nothing gets stuff done around here than making dad feel guilty.

Pops bought some climbing wall rocks for The Talker's birthday. Once the rocks arrived, I started planning out the wall. Our kids are old enough that I felt like they could handle more of a challenge than the kit playscapes provide. Instead of a 45 degree incline, our new rock wall goes straight up the side of the playscape.

Of course, the wall is only about 5 feet high, so there isn't a lot of danger involved. And The Princess proved me right when she tackled the wall in her dress shoes!

I still have to work out the fall zone, so that they can climb when mom or I are not right with them, but this is a pretty good start.

I forgot to add earlier, in AtHomeDaddy style, the blue rocks were scrapped from the old playscape in Law Talking Guy's backyard. Yeah for junkin' up the playscape!

Another man's trash is AtHomeDaddy's theology

God is a woman. I am pretty sure of this since She laughed off junkin' season. If you don't know about junkin,' read the primer, here.

Everything was in line for a perfect junkin'. Neighbors in the throes of spring cleaning would surely be setting out some great stuff. The Truck is sporting a finished paint job and new spark plugs and rear end oil. Racecar Man and I had a great plan going.

But the neighbors all decided not to set out the good stuff until the Sunday night. Pick up was starting in less than 12 hours and there were hardly any piles out. It wasn't that big of a deal, Racecar Man and I could surely modify a perfect plan down to a good plan. Late Sunday night junkin'. It still sounded pretty good to me.

And the rain came down. Sunday night was a wash.

And the rain came down. Some more. No early morning run, even though it was a holiday and good junk was certainly piling up all over the neighborhood. The truck has no windshield wipers. (Hey it's almost 40 years old. See if you can still run a load of junk when you are 40...) And the wife would not let me have her car for some water logged treasure hunting.

And then the ice came down. And some more. And more. Two days and a half days of being iced in. Right when junkin' season should be in full swing.

Yesterday afternoon the trucks cleared the neighborhood. It didn't take long since most of the neighborhood did not set anything out this time. Junkin' season is now closed. Jesus wept.

And my wife and God are laughing at my total lack of new treasures. Silly women, there is always next season. The piles should be HUGE in six more months!

Let the junkin' begin

This weekend is open season on junk.

Next Monday is our once every 7th month chance to get rid of things that won't fit in our city issued trash carts. It's the only time we can have the city haul off big junk without paying a hauling fee. But it is so much more than that.

Racecar Man and I have elevated it to a sport. Junkin'. The sport of the cheapskate kings of suburbia. Last season was a big one for me. Here are some posts about my haul.

Junkin!
Best Junkin' EVER
Junkin Journey 2
I can't wait unit February

Anyways, I started my pile this afternoon. I am anxious to see how much of this stuff gets taken away by other Junkers before the trash man cometh. But I am also enjoying the fact that we did not pay full price for any of the stuff in our pile of cast-offs.

The basketball goal came from a neighbor's garage sale and we spent $8 to fix it. It is broken again. The blue chair came from last year's treasure hunt. I fixed it and then never sat in it again. The wood was all scrapped from an old retaining wall in a friend's yard. I still have lots more to use on other projects. (Full disclosure, I see two items that were birthday presents from years past, so grandma's might have paid full price for those...)

Just FYI, in the 45 minutes since I snapped the picture, ate dinner and posted wrote this entry, the blue chair has already been picked up by some early bird junker! Junk on, Dude!

So here is to a great junkin' season. Maybe this year the kings will find another Maria, so we can quit fighting over our queen. Or at least so that we can really dress up Law Talking Guy's yard.

All Hail Maria, queen of Junkers.

I can't wait until February

I was outside moving the junkin' find satellite dish to the side of the house (so that the old one, which spent 2 months mounted to the top of a ladder beside the house - true redneck engineering of which I took no pictures), and hoping to get everything working before the trucks rolled by when I heard the squeal of metal and the whooosh of air brakes.

Though I got the dish installed and everything is working, I am a little sad that I didn't get it done in time for the old dish to go on the truck, so the kids and I are off to try to find a friendly pile ahead of the trucks to throw our old dish on.

And while I was finishing the dish reinstall, I got an email from my community based recycling partner:

Junkin' Season is closed! I just saw the beloved Treadmill get squashed like a grape! The compactor came by and got everything!

And now, one final picture to celebrate the success of this junkin' season.

Junkin' Journey 2

I'll keep the photos small, but you can click on the pic for a larger view.

The return from our second trip. The shelving was strapped down, but the composter was not, thanks to the sunroof. But having stuff piled on top is OK since we had stuff hanging out the rear of the Explorer, too.

The boy ended up getting three Tonka trucks. Which we power washed this morning.

Our neighbor's escaped white doves have been hanging out in our backyard. So they got a little something, too. Brand new, super score!

The composter. It needs a good power washing I think.

The satellite dish and shelving are on temporary display in my side yard. I just need the mounting bracket off of the dish, but I did not want to slow down the junkin' to remove it last night. The shelves will likely be in my garage or storage shed by nightfall. Don't worry, both have already been power washed.

A Yamaha A/V Tuner Amp. It powers up, but I don't know if it actually works.

Edit - It works like a champ. Have it hooked up in the living room right now.

I just can't pass up electronics when they are set out carefully with the remote. People who take that much care with their junk should win an award for making junkin' fun and easy. I don't think I'll power wash this one.

Somewhere along the way there was a treadmill, another Yamaha receiver, a TV/VCR combo, a hair dryer for The Boss Lady (that'll teach her for asking me to find something nice for her), some brand new 10' pine planks and 8' pressure treated 2x4s.

Overall, another high quality junkin' experience.

Best Junkin' EVER

So that magical time of year is in full bloom around here. Junk piles in front of houses all over our neighborhood. And I gotta say, I love living in The Land of Conspicuous Consumption.



The TV was my first pick up of the weekend. But the power supply is shot, so it wet back on the curb. The VCR, I decided wasn't worth the hassle of seeing if it works. The phone, same thing.



On my next trip out, I found this beauty. 27", Picture in Picture, stereo sound. A good garage TV. It has a loose connection that I ought to be able to solder easily. After it is fixed, it will make a great bedroom TV. The picture tube isn't great, but I bet it'll work until the next big trash collection. The chair needs an arm stitched back together, but it should work fine for watching two shows at once in my garage.

Edit - Click on the tv and you can see that I was watching Casino on TNT while fixing my treasures.

Edit - The chair is already repaired and living in the backyard. It is perfect for watching the kids play on the playscape.


I just picked these up on my way on my way home from Home Depot. They needed a good cleaning, but that was OK, because I got to use the best junkin' treasure ever, an electric power washer that works perfectly. It needed a new nozzle that I found on clearance at Home Depot for $15.


I never would pay $130 or more for one of these, but I will give $15 for one, for sure.

Racecar Man and I are going out again tonight. But it is going to be tough to top this afternoon's finds. But rest assured, I'll let you know if I do!

Junkin!

It is that magical time of year around here, Bulky Item Collection Week! The one time every seven months that we can get rid of stuff that is too big to fit in the city issued 60 gallon rolling dumpster.

I have a pile started out front. Metal scraps form the old truck bed, old hanging plant baskets, A Zeus statue that was supposed to go to a neighbor's house as a prank - but he turned out to be way to heavy to move again, several old toys that have seen better days, a broken jogging stroller and lots of other junk.

I was going to take a picture of my pile, with Zeus guarding the stash, but someone already picked up all of the toys, the stroller AND Zeus. Maybe Racecar Man and I will find some treasures that are worthy of photography later tonight, like last time.

And for those of you who might be worried, Maria hasn't been seen in a long time. What do you bet she comes out of Law Talking Guy's storage shed soon.