State Garbage, County Garbage

I feel completely off balance right now. As I blogged about last night, I had to set the alarm for 7:30 AM this morning. Everything was fine— I even got down to the DMV area early enough to stop at Starbucks and get a cup of real coffee. The unbalancing started when I then drove over to the DMV and discovered it to be closed today. Turns out it's closed every first, third, and fifth Friday of the month. Lucky me.

Just after arriving and parking to wait for Selu (not 'Celo', as reported previously), my friend Dale called to tell me that he'd read my blog and knew that the DMV was closed today. That was a pleasant surprise, and we spoke for a few minutes. Selu showed up pretty quickly, and we agreed to arrange a meet-up on Tuesday morning. (Monday is Labor Day.)

I went back home, but as I was wide awake, I decided to check out the County landfill. I threw some old clothes and magazines into some bags and loaded up my car. The landfill I went to is in Redlands, way out in San Timoteo Canyon. I followed the winding main road until I got to the smaller and twistier road to the landfill. After a few minutes I got to the gate and discovered a very pleasant County employee. He answered all my questions and charged me $13 to take my small load of trash in.

From the gate, you have to follow the road farther in. It twists its way up and down through the canyon and eventually becomes a hard-packed dirt road. I was still OK with this as I was only driving 15 miles an hour. But then, towards the end, the hard dirt road become a soft one as I climbed up onto the flat surface of the current dumping site. I felt certain that there were already layers of tamped trash below me. Once I was parked, it was very informal. I backed up close to some previously dumped trash, and a yellow-vested man told me to go ahead and dump my bags right there by my car. I did so and a few minutes later I was headed out again.

It was an easy enough process, but I'm not sure I want to take my car back there again. I may rent a U-Haul truck and clear my whole apartment out in one trip. The nice County employee informed me that most people bringing in U-Haul trucks full of trash are usually charged about $40 for dumping.

I ate when I got home and immediately fell asleep afterwards. I napped for a couple hours and awoke to the sensation of roasting in my bed. I had to get up. So here I am at my normal Starbucks now, groggy from poor sleep, with stomach knotted in discomfort. I was hoping a cold iced tea would focus me a bit, but nothing has happened yet.

Back soon.

"My wife is always trying to get rid of me. The other day she told me to put the garbage out. I said to her I already did. She told me to go and keep an eye on it."— Rodney Dangerfield