Power of the 90 Gallon Garbage Can - Taking the frustration and making it a success

Salt Lake City changed its neighborhood cleanup this last
summer and some didn't get the message.  Looked at this for
months - Note the overflowing small can

I served on the Salt Lake City Council for 16 years, and each of those years, discussed the garbage fees charged to residents in the city.  A number of years ago, the city added smaller garbage cans to allow homeowners the opportunity to not have the full size 90 gallon can.  For many, the logistics were easier, since they didn't really fill the larger can.  Staff made the arguments that if people had the smaller can, they would recycle more.  In fact pricing favored the smaller cans as an incentive for people to switch, which in their theory would cause them to recycle more.

I believe in recycling, often that can is full and I take advantage of neighbors cans to make sure all my cardboard gets out.  However year after year, I made the argument that in the pricing, there is a fixed cost to collection, regardless of the size of the can and the weight potential should be the variable pricing.  However for many of those years, the 90 gallon can took the bulk of the pricing as an incentive to shift.  I often made the argument that if you shifted the bulk of people over, then the  cost would have to be made up in the smaller cans and that would be a big shift for many of those users after they had been shifted to the smaller cans.  I always lost out in the discussion, and in the scope of life, if you have to take a loss, that's one I can handle.

Salt Lake City Garbage Can Fee Schedule

More often than not, I see users of small cans with overflowing garbage, which in reality isn't much less than what I typically put in my 90 gallon can, yet I pay more.  Then came last summer.  Salt Lake City changed its neighborhood cleanup methods.  It's fair to say, the new method got off to a poor start, leaving many garbage piles through the neighborhood for much of the summer.  I tried myself to schedule a time, but it was out months, and on top if that, my truck wasn't running and I didn't have an easy way to haul things off to the dump.  I decided to exercise the power of the 90 gallon garbage can!

I had renovated my back yard, installing new new pathways with pavers.  I had trimmed back trees, including removing an apple tree for a neighbor and discovered that if I cut things up in smaller pieces and placed them in my brown or green waste cans or systematically placed discarded items in the 90 gallon can, they went away!  In fact, I had a quest last summer to see if I could avoid personally going to the dump and take full advantage of my 90 gallon can.  Just last week, I threw away a chair and a small cupboard that was introduced to my mallet.  I am always careful to not make it too heavy, but if it fit in my 90 gallon can, it was as good as gone.  I ended up last year, not ever using the neighborhood cleanup or making a trip to the dump for personal needs, yet it's fair to say, I threw a number of things away.

While I am not sure the pricing is still equitable, I've learned to live with the disparity and with my new found success of disposal simply say, "Power to the 90 gallon can!"

Playhouse has new siding and the girls have grown up!

Years ago, with the help of my brother-in-law Bill Nielsen, we built
this playhouse for our girls.  We recently put on vinyl siding to
improve the looks and help preserve it

We have been working super hard this last month doing improvements to our backyard that we've wanted to do for a while, motivated by our hosting a dinner gathering for some friends and their recent finalization of their adoption of a wonderful little boy.  It was one of those things, where one project led to another and then to another and a few thousand dollars into it, we have added some wonderful features to our backyard.  One of those improvements was the siding of our girls playhouse, which was originally built out of wafer board, and painted.  The years had taken it's toll on both the paint and the wood, but we not only wanted to keep it, but also have a place that one day our grandchildren could come and play.  We originally built it, so that at 6'10" I come come to "dinner" or visit my girls without having to bend my head.  It proved to be a wonderful gathering place for multiple girls, giving each of them their space to play.  Our oldest now teaches elementary school and is looking for her first home, our youngest is a semester or so away from her associates degree at a local college.  Memories we seem to be able to hold in the context of their time, but everything else tends to grow, which is a good thing.

Today, which is Father's day, is also the 7th anniversary of the beginning of my blog.    My first blog was about my feelings as a father and while I didn't know if anyone would read my blog, I have been pleasantly surprised at the results.  That first blog, continues to find its way into my top 10 blogs from time time, reminding me that there are other dads who may a feel the same inadequacy as a father as we struggle to do our best.

I have also been interested to see that the most widely read blogs are about family, mine in particular.  I didn't really start it out that way, but I have on occasion written about the people who mean the most to me.  Of particular note, is the fact that one of the pieces I wrote about my wife on Mother's Day has become the most popular. 

While most of my audience is from the United States, it has reminded me that the questions or thoughts I have, may have interest elsewhere. In the end, I mostly write for myself.  I am grateful that others are interested.  It has given me an outlet to share thoughts and impressions and even on occasion pass along my review of a local business or something I thought was interesting or helpful.  Carlton's Corner always has a place for my girls to come back to, whether or not it's in the playhouse!  I am very fortunate to be their father and the wonderful blessing they have been in my life.  Thank you to those who take the time to read on occasion and whether I know you or will get to know you, you have also blessed and made my life better.

Big Guys with Ties - Keeping it together

Solution not even imagined by the manufacturer!

Ok, I've written about some pretty strange things, but none quite so personal and challenging as my ties! When your are tall like me (6'10") and a pretty long torso, it's hard to keep my front and back part of my ties together.  I wear a suit at least five days a week.  On top of that I speak to different congregations weekly as Stake President of the Salt Lake Rose Park Stake in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or speak in my role as Regional Development Director for Salt Lake County and its always embarrassing to look down and find my tie going two different directions. I think after 40 years of wearing a tie, I finally found a solution that I don't think was in the minds of the manufacture, 3M when they marketed the product.

The problem you have at my height, is that the back part of the tie, doesn't go long enough to match up with anything that can hold it.  I've tried tape, both regular and double stick - doesn't hold.  I've had well meaning friends give me tie clips, but if you placed them where you would need them they would be two inches below the tie knot.  I had some ties custom made abroad, but very expensive and frankly didn't hold up well.  Those ties they sell in Men's clothing stores that say "extra long", well maybe if you're 5'8", but not for real tall men.  Silly as it sounds, those "extra long ties" are the ones that are just leaving me 3" to 4" on the backside when tied.

A few months ago, my wife Cathy purchased for me four different kinds of Velcro tabs or dots.  Some were super heavy duty and while they stayed on the tie permanently, they were also nearly impossible to line up afterwards and usually took three or four times to tie them to come close.  Made it very difficult to untie the tie because you had to work around the Velcro surfaces.  And if you pulled them off, left a very sticky mess.  But they did hold the tie together.

Demonstration on how the Velcro dots hold the
tie together

Then I tried the Scotch Create Fastener Dots.  They are fairly inexpensive, and do hold to the clothing.  However the beauty is they come off fairly easily if I just peel them off the tie with little or no residue.  I realized for the small cost and constant frustration of trying to line up the more robust Velcro dots, that I could just place these dots on for the day, it held my tie together and at the end of the day, I just peeled them off and threw them away and untied my tie like I normally do.  My days are often 14 hour days and they stay together most of the time without any extra effort on my part.  At age 52, can I tell you how liberating this was to me!  How normal it made me feel and most importantly how I didn't have to cover up for my tie becoming like an upside down V when talking to a crowd or just a co-worker.  I'm sure they are available in craft stores, if they were smart, a big and tall store, but save yourself the time and get them on Amazon.com and have it shipped to you in two days.  Now it doesn't solve the myriad of problems in the rest of my life but for now, my ties are keeping it together!