Saturday, September 29, 2007

Bad Day at Coffin Butte Landfill

My multiyear plan to clean out the garage and shed finally culminated in the maiden voyage of the Blue Honey and it was not a happy one.

I did get one large load of stuff dumped but then she wouldn't start. Why didn't I just leave it running? I don't know. She had started right up when I stopped at the post office and gas station in Rickreall.
I jiggled the battery wires and tried it in park and neutral then called Uncle Bill. He suggested I let the starter cool down and try it every 15 minutes. So I sat there for over an hour while an unending line of trucks dumped the detritus of the mid-valley area. Several giant bulldozers with spiky steel wheels prowled around the whole time. Whenever they got close the ground would vibrate. The air was filled with thick garbage dust and the wind whipped it about, creating new scent combinations all the time. Flies and yellow jackets were thick, poor Natty's ears were constantly twitching. She finally retreated to the floorboards and tried to hide under her tail. I briefly entertained the idea of just leaving the truck and hiking out, across the endless hills of entombed and plumbed garbage. Instead I called Aunt Karen and she graciously arranged for a tow truck and came to pick us up. That's the second time she's rescued me in the last month. Thanks Karen!


I never knew this machine existed. I always assumed garbage just traveled in garbage trucks.


Natty was not amused. The smells must have been even smellier for her.

1 comment:

John said...

Land fill's are horrible places.