Something oddly jarring tonight

[Smoke]

In the urban setting, residential streets have a routine. You pick up on when certain neighbors come and go, what time the mail comes, and when the Amazon/UPS/Fedex deliveries usually take place. When things are "off", the more situationally aware among us notice, sometimes to the chagrin of others who accuse us of being curtain twitchers.

Tonight at about 2015, I had a "what the devil is up" moment when putting out the trash and getting the mail. Tuesday is trash day and the trucks generally come early because of the heat, so best plan is to put them out the night before. Tonight, almost none of the homes near my end of the street had their trash and recycling bins out. One immediate neighbor usually has theirs out by 1700, but tonight, nada. Same for two homes across the street who usually have the bins out by 1830-1900. Looking up the hill on our side of the street, almost no bins were in sight. Not quite so unusual on the other side as at least two households fairly close up the hill are 2300 bin rattlers, given past observations.

I commented about it to my wife when we got indoors, expecting to get a bit of an eye roll. Not this time. She said something like, "I knew something outside was odd, but I couldn't place what it was. You're right, that is strange." Nice not to be accused of being in Condition Amber 24/7 for a change. So, have my neighbors all been kidnapped by aliens, or replaced by Stepford families controlled by AI?

 

[Retired W4]

Talk about trash in the neighborhood, I stopped putting mine out the night before because these morons would put their trash in my bin, usually several 12 packs of Modelo. I would take them out and put them in the middle of their yard. At one time there were 10-12 adults living in that house (4 BR, 2 1/2 bath). They generated a lot of trash. Since things changed in DC they have either self deported or moved to another neighborhood. This is what I had to put up with.
That is a rooster tied to a pole in their back yard, my wife's final straw. No food or water for several days. She called animal welfare.

.

 

[LVSteve]

There is a fine line between neighborliness and nosiness and I wouldn't feel too guilty about the fate of an unfriendly recluse. In my church a former member , 20 years older than me, like me, a retired Army Reserve/National Guard officer, but we never clicked, the one time I paid a Deacon's hospital visit to him, he was more interested in the TV than me.
It often seems today with more people living closer together than ever before that people want less interaction with neighbors than ever before, little sense of community. I read a book entitled Bowling Alone which addressed this issue, the author quoted another writer who noted "there's no place so lonely and desolate as a suburban street on a hot afternoon." People come and go in my apartment complex with no goodbyes, my SIL said in her middle class neighborhood there is little neighborly interaction.

I have to be honest, I'm not a neighborhood social type, and neither is my wife. My father had a knack of being seemingly friendly, but keeping people at arms length. I've also lived most of my life in cities/towns that had definite old and new populations, or places like Vegas where almost everyone came from elsewhere. I see chuffing about "the community" here on TV and my eyes get tired from all the rolling.

I've also worked jobs I'm simply not allowed to talk about. Brits roll their eyes a bit when you are vague about your profession, but I've found Americans get distinctly uncomfortable and/or pushy about it. A US born coworker explained that many here get twitchy if they cannot judge where you "fit in" based on your profession and income. Me? I don't give a rat's. I have no clue what any of my neighbors do for a living except the realtor across the street, and I only know that because of the ads for her company. Oddly, Mexico suits me fine. The kidnapping racket down there means that nobody talks about their job or how much they make.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

The author of Bowling Alone noted that since the 1950s, between TV, A/C and now computers, I-pads, etc., life has moved indoors. I enjoy sitting on my front step, maybe catching some of a sunset, L'heure bleue as the French say. It usually seems I am the only one who does that.

 

[oldbrownhat]

The author of Bowling Alone noted that since the 1950s, between TV, A/C and now computers, I-pads, etc., life has moved indoors. I enjoy sitting on my front step, maybe catching some of a sunset, L'heure bleue as the French say. It usually seems I am the only one who does that.

My gf does the same, despite having the abovementioned mod-cons (except A/C). Sits on her patio and takes pics of the hummingbirds or the sunsets. There was a recent thread on "the simple things in life". This is one of them.

 

[lihpster]

Just got an email from the disposal folks. Seems that since tomorrow is forecast to have "extreme" temps, they are going to be picking up in the early hours tomorrow. they recommend putting the cans out tonight, not in the morning, to ensure the cans get emptied. Of course, that's what the whole neighborhood does anyway. Oh, and the "extreme" temps? Forecast for 103 tomorrow.

 

[oldbrownhat]

... Oh, and the "extreme" temps? Forecast for 103 tomorrow.

That's what it hit here on June 28, 2021 when we had the heat dome. The folks in AZ and NM can laugh, but that's plenty extreme enough for me!

 

[Muley Gil]

I used to put out my trash cans Sunday evening until about 6 weeks ago. Went down to the end of the driveway that Monday morning to find that a bear had gotten into the cans and trash was up and down the road. Now I wait until Monday morning.

 

[Krogen]

Good on you, OP. It's wise to be alert to oddities. Some call it Spidey Sense. Some call it situational awareness. I just finished reading Left of Bang. The authors describe what they call the baseline. What's normal, typical, ordinary for a given scenario? When you have that in mind, then deviations stick out like sore thumbs. A number of times, I've picked up that something isn't quite right. Different from the baseline. Fortunately nothing (yet) has gone haywire, but just the same it puts me on alert. Maybe that's why things didn't go haywire. Some may call me paranoid. I call myself aware. It's tougher to save your bacon when you don't see an incoming threat. Again. Good on you!

 

[LVSteve]

That's what it hit here on June 28, 2021 when we had the heat dome. The folks in AZ and NM can laugh, but that's plenty extreme enough for me!

It was 110°F here today, and we ain't laughing. The monsoon moisture is scheduled to arrive over the next two days and all this heat is a recipe for VERY juicy storms and hail.

 

[GnarlsR2]

LVSteve,

You made me laugh out loud.

I've done this more than a few times.

It's Sunday about 5pm, I drag the big trash barrel out to street side for the Monday pickup.

I can see about 15 neighbors' houses down the street.

I look around and I don't see even one trash barrel? WTF-Over?

My first thought is "Is it a holiday and the City is not picking up on this day?"

Sometimes people are just putting their barrels out really later than normal.

When it happens, it does feel like my MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) is messing with my brain.