April 24, 2010

A Cosmic Convergence - Winnipeg & Garbage, 2010 (by Margaret Ullrich)

Okay... it wasn't exactly a cosmic convergence.

But, it was close.


Last Sunday the street cleaning signs went up. Wonderful! Most of us had done our thatch raking. Along with the thatch, a heck of a lot of sand, dirt and junk had been raked off our lawns. The garbage was thrown, along with the thatch, into bags. But sand and dirt sifted through the dry grass and added to the general dustiness on the street. It's been awfully dry this April.

So, we were looking forward to having the streets cleaned.

But, wouldn't you know, when it rains, it pours.


On Monday, April 19, along with the hoser and sweeper trucks, the recycling trucks and the super duper garbage trucks were due. And, starting on April 19, we were going to have garbage collection on both sides of our back lanes. That meant 2 trips through each of our lanes.


One big carbon footprint, all in the name of cleanliness.


On Monday, around 10:00 a.m., a hoser and its partner sweeper truck parked on our corner. The fellows stepped out, stretched their legs, looked over a few papers, then left.

At 11:00 a.m., they returned, along with 2 other sets of trucks. They really zipped through our bays and streets. Our tax dollars in action. Hurrah!!


We were used to the new schedule: 12:30 garbage pickup, drag the honking big cart back into the garage, 1:30 recycling pickup, bring in the blue box. We didn't want to leave the carts out, exposed to the dangers listed in the brochure. We expected the garbage truck at 12:30 p.m. as in other weeks. But, not this week.


At 1:00 the recycling truck barreled through the neighborhood. Where was the garbage truck? We waited. We wondered. We worried. Finally, at 3:30, one side of our back lane was garbage-free. Then, at 4:00, our side was, too.


We have a new routine. Wonder how long this one will last?


Have a great weekend. How can you miss - you're in Winnipeg!

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