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  1. 1. Would you take a model from the dump?

    • No way! Who knows who touched that/ where it's been?!
      3
    • Yeah, if it looked good enough.
      97


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Posted

whats with the problem with it being at the dump? people throw away a lot of perfectly good stuff...go to the dump sometime and take a look around. as far as it being dirty, its probably no dirtier than something at a random garage sale. hell I would grab it in a second, if it was something I wanted or thought someone I knew wanted. then if I was feeling germophobic, I would spray some Lysol on it. I doubt I would waste the Lysol though.

jb

We live in a "disposable society" where there is so much waste. I'm not a bit surprised to hear this story about a decent kit winding up in the dump.

Anyway, yeah, I'd take a shot at it if I were in the position to search the dump.

In years past I have done searches in the next closest thing - my community Yardsale! ;-)

Posted

Back in the day, I delivered pizzas for a local shop one summer. It was always garbage day somewhere, so driving around the local towns I'd stop and pick up interesting stuff. Every Saturday I'd load up the car with this stuff and go to the local flea market. I made more selling junk than delivering pizza!

Posted

People will take anything that's free. Anytime I have something that I want to get rid of that's too big to fit in my garbage can, I set it at the curb with a "free" sign on it. Usually gone within hours! :)

Years ago, I was remodeling a bathroom & needed to get rid of all of the old fixtures. They took everything! From the old sink base cabinet, to the toilet paper dispenser & toilet seat! :blink:

Steve

Posted

People will take anything that's free. Anytime I have something that I want to get rid of that's too big to fit in my garbage can, I set it at the curb with a "free" sign on it. Usually gone within hours! :)

Years ago, I was remodeling a bathroom & needed to get rid of all of the old fixtures. They took everything! From the old sink base cabinet, to the toilet paper dispenser & toilet seat! :blink:

Steve

A year or two ago my sister needed to throw away an old appliance. Think it was a microwave, but really doesn't matter. I went to buy the sticker the city makes you apply so they will dispose of it. The lady told me to put the thing on the curb without the sticker the night before. She said if it's still there in the morning, put the sticker on it. Her prediction was that it someone would take it and then I could bring the sticker back for a refund. She was right, it was gone before bedtime!

My favorite story happened about 15 years ago though. We cleaned out my dad's house and held a seemingly never-ending series of garage sales. At the end, we called for a bulk pickup of the true garbage. We put it put the night before, and went back in the house to lock things up. By time I got back to my car a guy had nosed into the curb in front of me and was digging through the pile. He was holding an old VCR under his arm and cheerfully asked me if I knew where the remote was!

Posted

None of the local dumps are "open" any more - they've all switched to the pit w/compactor - but back in the day I had no problem reclaiming stuff. That's essentially what the Craigslist "free" section is, and I've never had an issue with that.

Posted

Three years ago, I spent 8 days in the hospital with Cellulitis; a cellular infection. It is caused by germs that are all around us, they just need a chance to get inside us. It could have cost me my lower left leg, or even my life. Hospital staff told me that while it is rare, the number of cases has increased. The sonogram was so painful, it left me in tears. Standing up to go to the bathroom was almost as bad. I was so full of antibiotics that it killed all the bacteria in my digestive system, leaving me with diarrhea for 6 weeks. I'm not obsessive/compulsive about germs, but I do try to keep clean. If anyone here wants to dig through trash, more power to them. I am not a gambling man. I see no need to tempt fate.

Have all the fun you want with this topic, but I would not wish this on any of you.

IMG044-vi.jpg

My leg was red from the knee down. It swelled to about twice its normal size. This photo is after the worst of it. At one point, it was one solid blister from the knee down. That leg is still slightly swollen, with red splotches. I don't often wear shorts out in public.

Posted

Lee I now understand why you have posted what you have on this subject.

I have seen dirtier stuff at Model swap meets than the pictures he posted of the dump car. As others have said soap and water.

Posted

I'd very likely dump everything in a sink of hot dishwater and throw away the box and instructions, if they looked soiled in any way.

Posted

Rare thing to have happen, sorry it happened to you, but look at the model, it all looks new. Not all dumps are full of bad garbage.

Posted

Three years ago, I spent 8 days in the hospital with Cellulitis; a cellular infection. It is caused by germs that are all around us, they just need a chance to get inside us. It could have cost me my lower left leg, or even my life. Hospital staff told me that while it is rare, the number of cases has increased. The sonogram was so painful, it left me in tears. Standing up to go to the bathroom was almost as bad. I was so full of antibiotics that it killed all the bacteria in my digestive system, leaving me with diarrhea for 6 weeks. I'm not obsessive/compulsive about germs, but I do try to keep clean. If anyone here wants to dig through trash, more power to them. I am not a gambling man. I see no need to tempt fate.

Have all the fun you want with this topic, but I would not wish this on any of you.

IMG044-vi.jpg

My leg was red from the knee down. It swelled to about twice its normal size. This photo is after the worst of it. At one point, it was one solid blister from the knee down. That leg is still slightly swollen, with red splotches. I don't often wear shorts out in public.

That really looks bad, I don't want that to happen to me. But I do think that it has a lot to do with hygiene. One should always be carefull about washing hands (with fingers) and lower arms, especially before eating or handling food.

And it all depends on what type of garbage it is, if it is toxic waste from a nuclear plant or discarded paper from a cardboardbox factory.

I used to do a lot of dumpsterdiving when I was a kid. Found all sorts of stuff but was always carefull not to touch anything that looked to be covered in anything sticky. Most of the dumpsters I went trough contained mostly bits of wood and lots of household items that are normally not used in a way that brings with it any germs.

I did find a big box of toy cars ones when I was about 8 years old and I also found several boxes with old books in them that had clearly been sitting in the shelf in somebodys home for many years. I'm guessing the books belonged to a person that either had died or moved to a home and the family had just tossed it all in the dumpster. The oldest book I found was printed in about 1900 and the latest ones where from the early 50s.

Posted (edited)

Growing up all my bicycles and most of our tv came from the dump. Usually a bit of soap and water was all that was needed. When I was a meter reader I found a whole bunch in someone's trash on the curb. Revells chevelle all built ups the boxes were water damaged.

I grabbed me all!

Edited by goldfinger
Posted

I'm not skeerd... its only plastic wash the stuff and yer good to go. toss the box if you think it is "alive"........ RECYCLE the box, the models well thats "Upcycling".... :D

Posted

When my oldest son was in high school he worked for a scrap-metal guy who based his operation at our local dump. My son was always bringing home discarded stuff. The best was the mid-70s AMF snow-blower he hauled home about ten years ago. Somebody got rid of it because it wasn't running. I rebuilt the carburetor and fired it up. Been using it ever since. 8HP, 26" blade, electric start. Pretty good deal, I'd say...

Posted

A certain amount of exposure to germs is necessary for a healthy immune system

Posted

The best was the mid-70s AMF snow-blower he hauled home about ten years ago. Somebody got rid of it because it wasn't running. I rebuilt the carburetor and fired it up.

My wife's three brothers are complete mechanical misfits. They'd take turns mowing the lawn at their parents house until the lawn mower "broke". Then we sold the house and we had to clean it out. Last item to get rid of? That broken lawn mower. I tossed it in my van to get it out of there before the closing. Upon examining it, I noticed it was a near new Honda self propelled mower... not even dirty. My first thing to look at? I unscrewed the gas cap... empty. I put some gas in and it fired right up! The three of them couldn't figure that out!

Posted

My wife's three brothers are complete mechanical misfits. They'd take turns mowing the lawn at their parents house until the lawn mower "broke". Then we sold the house and we had to clean it out. Last item to get rid of? That broken lawn mower. I tossed it in my van to get it out of there before the closing. Upon examining it, I noticed it was a near new Honda self propelled mower... not even dirty. My first thing to look at? I unscrewed the gas cap... empty. I put some gas in and it fired right up! The three of them couldn't figure that out!

Hi, I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryll, this is my other brother Darryll.

Posted

uDBcF0L.jpg

Like I've said about myself, cheap Armenian on my mother's side and cheap Scot/Acadian on my father's side.

I was doomed from the start. :lol:

Charlie Larkin

Posted

My wife's three brothers are complete mechanical misfits. They'd take turns mowing the lawn at their parents house until the lawn mower "broke". Then we sold the house and we had to clean it out. Last item to get rid of? That broken lawn mower. I tossed it in my van to get it out of there before the closing. Upon examining it, I noticed it was a near new Honda self propelled mower... not even dirty. My first thing to look at? I unscrewed the gas cap... empty. I put some gas in and it fired right up! The three of them couldn't figure that out!

Hi, I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryll, this is my other brother Darryll.

Sound a lot like a lot of the students I had over the years.

The dumb some people possess is astounding!

Charlie Larkin

Posted

IF it was fairly clean i might take it but no digging for it. I would give it the Lysol treatment. Think about it everything is in the trash....

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