What it is
For over 3 years I've been working as a junk collector. You ever hear those commercials for Got Junk? That's not us, but we do similar. Most of our business is with property management companies who have multiple properties in the area. We go around the dumpster corrals and pick up the furniture that people leave behind. If there is overflow trash/recycling we pick that up too. Same deal with trash rooms inside apartment buildings. We do 'trash outs' of units when people move out, are evicted, or pass on, and they leave behind stuff. We also pick up appliances, paint, etc.
It's amazing the things people throw away or leave behind. We find good stuff (including cash). My best score was $6500 (split 2 ways). Apparently another team found $23000 awhile ago, but didn't tell anyone right away. Some people get jealous.
We never stopped working during the pandemic. Solid waste pickup is essential. So far nobody has got it. The closest call has been a wife (works at Costco) got it. She recovered within a week, apparently, and is fine. Our co-worker didn't catch it.
We hired a couple new guys about 2 months ago. One of them is really nice and cool. He worked at Got Junk, so has stories, and he's a comic book nerd.
There have been a couple serious injuries too. One guy smashed his fingers in the rear doors of the truck. The fingertips on 2 fingers are all broken, it's not good. The other guy fell off the back of the truck and fractured his wrist. He tried to work the next day but it hurt, so he finally went in. He's back working now, but that hand is still weak.
The boss is trying to reduce his workload and shift more onto us. Things like scheduling and ordering supplies. I'm not sure how that's going to work out. We had a meeting the other day and he made us watch a TED talk video about getting enough sleep. He'll give bonuses if people wear a Oura ring that tracks your sleep. I'm opting out.
On to the pictures!
My friend, James Brown, signed this record. I found it framed like this, I haven't taken it out yet.
This bed had like 10 comforters. The bedframe was milk crates. Salt or sugar on the mattress? I don't know, I didn't taste it. Envelope with $600 cash somewhere on the bed. That day we also sold 229 pounds of power cords (copper) for $170. Split 2 ways is a good bonus for the day.
We had to remove 2 big mail hub type things. Like Amazon Hub, but not Amazon. They were probably 8 feet tall, and the big one was like 12 feet wide. The small one was about half the size. As I recall they weighed 1400 pounds total. Three of us loaded them into the truck.
We go to metal scrap yards. It can be fun to watch the heavy machinery.
A TV from 1983. It still worked.
This one was gross. One of their machines was broken, so we had to empty out this green compactor dumpster. Compacted trash is annoying to remove by hand. We filled up that blue bin a few times.
Conclusion
That's it for now. It's a tough job but I manage. The pay and bonuses (from finding things/cash) are enough for me to put up with the gross stuff like bedbugs and maggots. My schedule is 4 twelve-hour days, so I get some time off yet still can save money. As a reward I bought myself a new car and camera, and I like to go on drives and take pictures.
