Heating that can: tools of the trade

As you may be aware, i have been using my mom's car to transport collected cans to the deposit station. Although it has been amazingly convenient, all good things come to an end; i suppose a better axiom would be "all good things in all good time." Good vibes circle in 360 degree waves.

With the looming anxiety of being car-less, and the relief of not having to deal with parking, i encountered an uncanny surprise outside my house last night.

While returning to my dwell-pad, i found a shopping cart posted right in front of my house. To those of you not in the deposit scene, finding a shopping cart on the streets is a stroke of luck; namely because it bypasses the need to borrow a shopping cart from a store.

i was with my roommate at the time and although i was quite enthralled upon this discovery, he was kinda apprehensive about the idea.

In a brief background check, one might say our landlord is not on amiable terms with us (we reached the 2nd strike mark a month into the lease and he probably wouldn’t appreciate the collectivity value of a shopping cart). So when i wanted to hide the shopping cart in the back of the house (so no one would reclaim it), my roommate contested it to be a bad idea.

Alright, i could defiantly see where he was coming from.

So instead of moving the cart to the back of the house, i moved it off to the side of our porch, out of the way of the sidewalk but still visible to anyone walking by. I angled it to look as if someone abandoned it there; hoping my landlord wouldn’t get wise to the antic.

That night i immersed myself in googled shopping cart pictures, to get a feel for the industry of course. Here are the top three pimped collecting machines that i 'm planning to use as a template for my own cart-whip.

"Your gonna need more powah Mcfly." A motor, off-road tires, and a shopping cart oh my!...bring it Biff.

This may be a little too intricate to try at home, but if this was abandoned in front of my house, i'd risk the landlord's wrath to keep it inside.

My personal favorite. Forgot your head phones? No worries, we got sub woofers

i also found a pretty good shopping cart simulator, mainly for toning your cart technique and steering

The next morning was garbage day and i awoke to find the shopping cart gone. i assume the underground world of shopping cart smuggling is pretty cut-throat.

Recognized and Recognized

Often, we don’t see in layers; we scan the surface and lose interest. Last time i went to deposit cans, i saw in layers.

First, i was noticed by two men who were depositing as well. They had ragged clothing (dirty sweaters and ripped jeans) and glared at me, like they were staring at something new. Both were obvisouly from a different economic class and while the one guy was really friendly to me, the other was more taken aback. i began depositing bottles and saw the shyer one was waiting to use my machine for his handful of refundables. i took my ticket and offered to let him go ahead (because i felt bad that he would have to wait for me to finish). He hesitated a moment (?maybe he was unused too the politeness), but gave a nod of appreciation and began feeding his bottles into the machine.

i got thinking why this was, why they were acting so polite to me and realized that there was some underlying factor which, blatant from their expressions, set us apart. Aside from appearance (we probably looked equally unkempt) i had cans and bottles that were unrefundable. The other two guys only had cans they could return.

i must've looked goofy with my unrefundible bottles of Steel Reserve, Bud light, Arizona tea cans and Joose. This project was started because i wanted to throw myself into a new community, one that people don’t notice and don’t really pay any attention to. i got lazy, collecting cans at a house party is cheap, it is an excuse to stay in my comfort zone and undermines myself and my goals. Next deposit session, i will properly prepare for and venture to the streets for my collecting. i have also noticed that bottles are a waste of time; they’re heavy and take up more space than cans.

Although i’m disappointed in my progress to involve myself in another world, i feel good about what i’ve done so far. i have become more aware of my environment and more mindful of my place in it, which is the first step. One cannot be involved in a community without first being aware of its existence and simultaneously allowing the community to recognize your own existence. Last deposit trip i was recognized and i recognized.

Snap: unbalancing peace prize nobility

So last night was my 21st birthday. Things were very colorful (particularly) before i started drinking and mostly black after. No...i was not on the can budget, but do you blame me?

This morning, my stomach sounds like a song from Explosions in the Sky. i have build-a-bear at 4ish(?) and a long night of budget-worthy-$12-a-liter Captain Tequila after. Thank God for balancing songs and beautiful  women.

update: JESUS OBAMA CHRIST, SOMEONE GAVE HIM A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE??

i'm bloody FUMING. As you know, i work at build-a-bear and lately i've gotten into the habit of talking poltics with the kids' parents...i hope i don't get too preachy.

unbalanced.

Canning that heat: lotto gamble

i just deposited some cans yesterday (it was a very crazy experience this time, but i'll write on that tonight). i made $6.50 and bought a $1 lotto ticket.

i haven't scratched the ticket yet because i'm planning to do it on my birthday tomorrow, hopefully i'll get some extra luck from it.

update: The lotto ticket was a dud.

Updated Halloween Idea

My costume poll has started (under the gadget section) but i can't edit it because people have already voted, so here is another idea to vote on (you can vote via the comment section for this one).

This thought would be a combo deal involving my brother. So everyone has seen the Kayne South park right...? (if your haven't, then you should!!!)

i would go as a fish with a microphone.

And my brother would go as

Thoughts?

Canning that heat: thieves in the night

Alright, so this Saturday has been a very big deal. While doing this project, i’ve experienced aspects of business networking, time management, the works; but today i had my first taste of competition. A rival student (i won’t name names {Rico}) slipped into my house in the heat of the morning and “cleaned” my house for me, namely by collecting all of my hard earned cans!

i received a phone call from this fellow hunter while i was working, so the call was ignored, but i resolved to call him back. During my lunch, i give this guy a call to discover that his reason for calling earlier was to inquire about cleaning the cans from the party at my pad last night for the MESIA club. i said “hell no,” and in response, the unnamed individual {Rico} revealed he had already been into my pad and done the deed. Bummer.

The day dragged on and i received a text while still at work, this time from one of my frequent house clients giving me the inside scoop on a couple bags of cans at his house. i was excited about this because it sounded like these fellows had a pretty good haul with my name on it. So i get out of work at 5, and in my foolishness, i buy two slices of pie from Sabarro’s at the mall (i used my “anticipated” can money, as well as a little of the left over 5 from the previous night). Two slices of pepperoni and a Dr. Pepper to be exact, totaling in $7.50! “WHAT?!” i exclaim, still in my loud and obnoxious build-a bear voice, the cashier gave me a puzzled look as i tried to sweet talk her into giving me some kind of discount. “I don’t make the prices” she retorts, ya but you do take my money…burn.

Anyway the pizza was filling, and i get on the move to start out my Saturday. Due to my family being down for the weekend and the hustle and bustle of things, i wasn’t able to get to the house to reel in the aluminum. Still under this “umbrella” of anticipated can money, i go out to a party with intentions of doing a Sunday morning salvaging.

At the party, i’m hanging with an individual by the name of Tom, the roommate of the one who called me earlier. i tell him the story bout how the unnamed character {Rico} collected my booze money, and how i was planning on swinging to his place the next day. While i told this story, his eyes got a little wider...

Canning that heat: business exchanges

A lot has happened this week, so let’s get caught up. To begin with, we take a stroll back to Monday, September 29.

Monday was a long day of thinking about can collecting, with little/no activity towards actually doing it. Earlier that day, i received some Intel about a treasure chest of cans with my name on it, but i just didn’t get around to it. Rather than doing homework or getting work done, i found myself caught in a rap trance. My beats and rhymes were flowing smoothly and i just couldn’t get any work done due to a continual flow of unconscious rhymes within any homework i attempted. i decided to let the can collecting wait until the next day and channeled my groove. i was going to post some of the verses but felt that so much comes through presentation and merely writing it would not represent accordingly (i’m going to record it soon and link it up here). Maybe i’ll write my next post in verse.

Jumping back to the aluminum aspect, my muse resulted in someone else depositing that treasure chest with my name on it. i lost a good 10 bucks, but abasetnza bene.

Let’s hit the time machine again and jump to Friday, the 2nd of October and the 9th year of 2000. Today i received another can call and went to a house for a pickup, this time i did not procrastinate.

It worked out real well and got about $5.20 from the deposits.

With my $5.20, i decided to start my night by journeying to the store to buy beer. i get there around 10 and push through the mounds of people to get to the beverage coolers. While i was in the back picking my weapon of choice, a chick approached me.

“Are you 21?”

“No, but i’m buying these, point to my beer, anyway.”

“Sweet, do you think you can pick up some stuff for me and my friend?”

And being aware of budget and opportunity, i reply “Sure, but can you buy me a Joose?”

“Sure.”

Score.

But little did i know that her single “friend” consisted of three dudes, three chicks, frenzicly loading me up with various drinks. By the time i got to the counter i had a 40oz Budweiser, a Joose, and at least 8 other cans and 40’s. Anyways, the total came to $28, and since they were obviously freshmen, they were all paranoid not letting the cashier see them give me. Once i got to the counter i counted the loot; $37 to cover it all, which meant they were paying for my 40 too.

Although some bleeding heart might be against buying for minors, i’m a minor as well and we had a mutually beneficial exchange.

The night continued, leading to a party and a discussion of this project (which opened up a “can” of possibilities). Recently, my project has gained some street publicity and i was asked by multiple people to go clean their house and get rid of cans. i am defiantly going to use this to my advantage and with a steady couple of houses, i might be able to start collecting double digit figures each week.