How Much Is Too Much?

As you know, my van was stolen this morning. I wasn't even upset. After writing my post earlier today, I got to thinking. If my car being stolen didn't really bother me, then what is it that actually does get under my skin? What is it that really bothers me? And why doesn't it bother me when my van gets stolen.
So, why doesn't it bother me when my van gets stolen? I guess because there is a clear process I follow. I know the rules. They are clearly laid out. And after following the process, I sit back and wait 30 days, and my vehicle re-appears. It always takes 30 days. And I always get my van back. There is no question of what I should do, how I should handle things, or what is involved. It's clear and simple.
Now the other questions need a little more thought. What really gets under my skin? And, what really bothers me? I had to think about that for a bit, and I came up with two things that really bother me. The first one is garbage. That would have to be the whole garbage package. I mean, the scrappers digging through the bins, throwing garbage in the alley and not putting it back, the illegal dumpers tossing mattresses and construction material, the over-filled dumpsters that spill out into the lanes when they get emptied, the entire package. That's one of the things that just drives me crazy.
The other thing that gets me going is Circus Boy. I have never mentioned him before, but he used to be a tenant in my house. He was a tenant when I started going out with my husband a few years back, and he was a tenant when I moved into the North End. But he did not stay a tenant much longer. I was not about to put up with a criminal in my house who refused to pay the rent, and threatened us when we asked for money. He was a bad guy with a bad attitude, and he had to go. We finally managed to get him removed from the house, which was no easy feat. But we did manage to get him out. Then the guy moved into another house just a few doors down. That was just too close for comfort, but it was not against the law. The man has a right to live where he wants to live. As the years have passed, Circus Boy has stopped yelling at us, threatening us, and giving us the evil eye every time we crossed paths. But the sight of him still irks me. I know he is always up to no good. And I know it is always a circus when he’s around. We all know him around here, and we all know to watch out for him. Now that Spring is here, Circus Boy “spottings” are far too frequent for my liking.
I would have to say that Circus Boy gets under my skin far deeper than the garbage issue. But garbage bothers me with more regularity.
So, on to the next question on my list. How much is too much? I would have to say the swat team appearing on my street last August was too much. That's what pushed me to start this blog. That is what started me sending a copy of each blog entry to the Mayor, the City Councilors, and the media. I continued sending the emails to these people up until mid-January this year. Now I just blog. It is kind of therapeutic. I've gone through several stages since living in the North End. I have wanted to put up razor wire around the property, I have wanted to build a fence with broken glass along the top, and I have wanted to run screaming from the neighbourhood.
I know I just wrote a blog entry about the safety of the North End. I still stand by what I said. Have a look at the block, and be aware of your surroundings. My personal safety has never been an issue here. But I have had my share of problems. As far as property or vehicles being stolen, I have had that happen in other parts of the City as well, it is not unique to the North End.
But sometimes the Circus wears you down. And some days it does feel like it is too much to handle. And then the Winnipegger in me kicks in, and I tell myself I am not going to let some punks drive me from my home. After all, it’s just another day in the hood.

Thursday is Garbage Day In My Back Lane

Sure enough, 6am I heard the garbage truck coming down the lane. I sure am getting service these days. I could set my calendar to the garbage trucks now. Even civic holidays don't disrupt my Thursday garbage day. And this week the dumpsters were not even overflowing. There were a few dumpsters that were actually full, but not all of them. I think this week we only had regular residential garbage in our dumpsters. How weird is that!!!

There were a few issues in the back lane though. First, there is a dresser, two chairs and a foam mattress beside one of the dumpsters. The dresser has been there since Sept 4, and the foam mattress and chairs have been there since at least the 11th of Sept. I guess I was just wondering if they would be removed without me making a ticket. I am getting the feeling that I am the only one on my block that is reporting these items to 311. I was thinking that the paid employee of the City of Winnipeg that drives down the lanes verifying tickets might also drive down lanes looking for items for pickup. Maybe that was a little wishful thinking on my part. I will get on that today and report the items to 311 so the City worker can drive down my lane and verify that the items do need to be picked up. I think I should take a walk down the other lanes in my area as well, then, and see what other items have collected since the last time I did a back lane check. What would these people do without me? Maybe I should become a City Worker. Maybe 311 should put me on the payroll to walk or drive down back lanes and streets and report all the large items that are just sitting there, week after week. I could follow the garbage trucks and take note of the items they leave behind.

I could locate back yards where people leave their garbage in bags thinking the garbage trucks will pick it up. Here is a pile of garbage that is missing a dumpster. This garbage has been here since Sept 4. The people moved out of the house where these items are sitting. They did not bother to walk the garbage to one of the dumpsters in the back lane. The garbage trucks do not pick up anything that is not in a dumpster, and because this is just on the ground, it will stay there until I make a ticket to tell someone about it. I actually did make a ticket a few days ago. I requested that it be sent to City By-Laws for investigation. I also requested that this issue be looked at by those that decide where dumpsters go. There is a big gap in space between dumpster locations on either side of this particular residence. Maybe part of the fault in this garbage being dumped on the ground is that there is no dumpster close to this property. I wonder if one of the dumpsters at the end of the lane will get moved over behind that house. That would make sense to me. Why have a huge gap, then three dumpsters at the end of the lane.

If I was patrolling the back lanes of the North End I could also keep an eye on houses that choose to leave their garbage right below their upstairs windows. The upstairs tenant of the Party House is still tossing garbage out the window, and it just stays on the ground below. As the weeks go by, the garbage pile will grow, I am sure. It will grow until finally it is at the point where the City By-Laws officers will request the landlord to clean the property again.

The apples are still falling from the tree in the back yard of the Party House, and remaining on the ground. Nobody is cleaning them up. They are on the ground rotting and turning into muck. I could not imagine walking on that lawn. There are kids in the house and kids that play in the yard. The apples just squish under ones foot if they are stepped on. And the apples are still full of wasps. And the apples are feeding any animal around that needs to feed. I read the liveability act. This should not be an acceptable back yard. If I was employed to go down the back lanes and look for issues like this I could report them. But I am not. I am just a resident of one city block. I am just a resident who reached a tipping point. I am just one resident in the North End trying to take back my neighbourhood.

Mattresses and Door taken by BFI truck

The BFI truck came down the lane this afternoon. They picked up the mattresses at the dumpster next to mine. They were even nice enough to take the door out of my dumpster so I can have my garbage picked up next garbage day. That was sure nice. Maybe it depends on the specific person working in the garbage truck whether they will take more items than are listed specifically on their "ticket". Anyway, my door has been picked up.

The mattresses were picked up from the neighbours dumpster, but the dumpster is almost full, and now there is garbage on the ground beside the dumpster. Maybe it was under the mattresses.

I went for my walk down the back lanes. More mattresses have been dumped on top of the already existing ones from a few days ago. On Aug 25 there were two couches, a door and two mattresses at this dumpster. Now there are an additional three mattresses.

And I found a few couches in the alley on the other side of me. They are everywhere. I bet there is not a back lane in the North End without a couch or mattress. Do the residents of the North End have that much money? Are they replacing their bedroom furniture monthly? I wonder where these mattresses are actually coming from.

When I was talking to the Mayor this morning, he asked me if I like the dumpsters. He asked if I would like them removed and go back to putting my own garbage out like the rest of the city. He said everyone should have the same service. I told him of course I want to be able to put my garbage out on garbage day and have it taken away. Of course I want to get rid of the dumpsters. Hmmm. I didn't know it would be that simple. Sam Katz asked little ol' me if I want to get rid of the dumpsters. The answer is YES.

The Dumpsters Got Emptied - Well Mostly

The dumpster fairies arrived early this afternoon. I could hear them coming down the lane.

One cannot mistake the sound of metal grinding and shaking as the truck grabs hold of the dumpster, lifts it in the air, and pours its contents into the back of the truck. Then there is the sound of the truck mechanism pushing the freshly consumed garbage into the back of the vehicle. The mechanical grinding sound of pushing the garbage as far as it can in the truck, then grinding back to accept another load.
I was so excited. I rushed out to make sure it was truely in my back alley, and not the hopeful echoing sound from someone elses lucky alley. Sure enough, there it was, in all its glory.
I waited patiently. I knew it would come and pick up the smelly, stinking, insect luring garbage from the dumpster just the other side of my fence. Soon I would be able to go in my back yard and not smell the aroma of rotting garbage. I watched from over the fence as the truck grabbed hold of my dumpster. I watched as my dumpster was raised up in the air.

I watched as the door in my dumpster rammed up against the great mechanism that lifts the garbage into the truck.
The truck lowered my dumpster. It lowered the dumpster with the door still in it. It lowered the dumpster with the smelling garbage still in it. The garbage person came out of the truck and tried to manouver the heavy door, but to no avail.
They moved on. The garbage person got back into the truck and moved on.

The dumpster with the mattresses was next. It got emptied. The mattresses remain of course. They must wait for the special truck to arrive and pick them up. They must wait until the special "ticket" gets processed before they get hauled away.
The truck moved slowly down the lane, grinding and churning, turning the stinking, smelling garbage into a compact and controllable substance to be dumped in dumpster fairy land.

The truck removed the garbage from the dumpster stacked high with TV parts and the huge diaper box that balanced above it. Of course the TV parts on the ground are still in place. Again, they are waiting for their special "ticket" to be processed and a specific truck come out and clean that mess up.
The dumpster at the end of the street was emptied. Well, that is the dumpster on the right side of the lane got emptied.

The two, now overflowing dumpsters on the left side could not be emptied. The truck only works from one side.
When I went out into the back lane to check and make sure all of the dumpsters were taken care of I saw a group of individuals cutting the grass in the empty lot that houses the two dumpsters that reside on the left side of the lane. I am not really sure why they are on the left side of the lane, but they are. I saw one of the workers pick up the garbage that surrounded the dumpster and place it in the dumpster. I saw a few workers cutting the grass in the empty lot. I also saw that the dumpster is now overflowing with grass and weed debris. It seems to be overflowing with garbage, more than it was yesterday. I think it was great that these individuals came out to clean the yard, cut the grass, and pick up the debris. I also think it was great that they placed all of these said items in a dumpster. But they put them in the dumpster to the point that it was overflowing. It was overflowing in a major way. The garbage and debris they so carefully balanced on top of the dumpster is going to be back on the ground soon.
The dumpsters on the left side of the lane are now way past full. I really don't know when or if they actually get emptied. How much of this garbage is going to stay in the dumpster? How much of it will be spread around the dumpster? How much will be sent through the neighbourhood by wind, animals, or other transport methods?
I remember a garbage day when I would put my few bags of garbage out on the curb the night before, and the garbage truck would come early in the morning and pick up the garbage. What happened to those days?

Dumpster Check Aug 24

You thought the dumpster was full yesterday. I guess it is more full today. This is a dumpster that should have been emptied on the last garbage day. It does not look like a dumpster that was just emptied. Again the garbage men chose to empty only some of the dumpsters in my back lane when they visited.
We have a garbage day. The person I talked to at 311 that day told me that we have a garbage day. She said it was garbage day 4. Initially when she told me, I laughed. I said "you've got to be kidding". I said there is nothing scheduled about the comings and goings of the garbage trucks in this area. They show up when they feel like it, and pick and choose the dumpsters they are going to empty.

But after the call I placed to 311 in June, it seemed that the garbage trucks were coming more regularly. They seemed to be coming weekly, not on garbage day 4, but weekly. So, I have now come to expect the dumpsters to be taken care of, and taken care of on a weekly basis.
Mostly they have been, but not all of the dumpsters are taken care of all of the time. The dumpsters on the west side of the lane are full, and overfull. Each day more garbage gets stacked on top of the dumpsters.
I am sure the garbage people came on Wednesday to empty my dumpster and a few other dumpsters in my lane. I remember Thursday, when the guys were dumping their construction material in my dumpster, that it was close to empty. Monday was garbage day 4, but what can you do. I have requested that these two dumpsters be emptied the next time the garbage trucks are down my lane. One can only hope.
Tomorrow is Wednesday. Maybe the magic garbage fairies will come in the night.