I miss curbside recycling :(

Now, we have only been without it since the beginning of Jan. and it usually was only picked up every other week.  But it is true that you never appreciate something until it is gone.  First, let me explain why it is gone.  In a nutshell, the company went bankrupt and didn't tell the county until about a week before they were going to stop pick-up.  The contract with the company was set to expire Dec 31, but the county assumed that they would still go month to month until July, when the new company's contract was set to start.  No such luck-bankruptcy hit.  

There are several cites/towns/villages in Outagamie county that worked something out with other places or something to get interim  curbside recycling.  However, Kaukauna is not one of them.  So they have set up a recycling drop off center and the streets department (M-F 7:00-3:30 and Sat 8-12) for the convenience of those who still plan to recycle during the stoppage.  (I am sure that there are some not willing to drive there recyclables to a center.  And the county is worried about that as well.)

Well, we are willing to drive our recyclables, even if it is a slight inconvenience.  So that is what I did, for the first time today.  It was not bad.  The center is only about 5 minutes from the house.  But, you have the hassle of loading all the papers and plastics bins in the car and then driving to the center.  Then you have to unload and throw the items into the correct bins.  (The paper one was quite high I had to loft our bags in.)  Course as I was almost done, some guy came out to help unload the cars.  There were 3 others there besides me.  Then there is the drive home and bringing the bins back in the house.

Hopefully I will only have to do this until March, when they are hoping they can get the new company to start.  

Wonder what the mayor would say if we asked for a refund on taxes for the months that we are paying for a service we don't have?!?

An ice scraper shortage?!?!?!?

I am not talking the tiny ones for the cars, I am talking the long ones for the sidewalks and such.  It would appear that an ice storm, like the one we had over the weekend, tends to clear all hardware stores of these scrapers.  I called at least a dozen stores in our area this morning and only one store could confirm that they had any left-and another would be getting a shipment later on this evening.  Unfortunately, the store that had them was out by the mall-20 minutes away and a place I try to avoid until March.  

I drove to Home Depot, the only place that said they had any left.  Sure enough, they had 2 left.  So I grabbed one and headed to the register.  As I was walking a man asked me where I found that.  I told him to hurry because there was only one left!!

So all the stores in about a 20 mile radius of my house are sold out of sidewalk ice scrapers until about 6pm (When Ace told me they would be getting more in.)

Thankfully we now own one and I will not have to go on a hunt for one anytime in the near future.

I am also happy to report that it works great and the think layer of ice that was once my sidewalk can be called a sidewalk again.  It was fun to watch the ice chips slide down the snow banks as I added them to the heaping piles of snow in the front yard!!

We are ice free for the time being!!!