Wife says I'm weird ???

[DHurtig]

Wife and I are out hitting the yard sales this morning and I pull up to a traffic light.As I pull up I notice a bungee cord to the right side of the lane. When the light changes, I pull up about 4 feet and tell the wife to open her car door and grab that bungee cord. She opens her door and grabs it, looks at me and says "You're really F'ing weird." What the heck? It was a perfectly good bungee cord just laying there. So I know it's not just me, is it just a guy thing? You guys pick things up too don't you?

[DLCTEX]

I never buy bungee cords, as I pick them up on the road. Same with ratchet straps of all sizes. Wheel weights too.

[mroliver77]

I will turn around and go back for a clean bungee cord!
J

[SteveUSP]

Waste not, want not.

[high standard 40]

I do that all the time. I could fill a decent sized tool box with the wrenches and sockets I've picked up on the road. On a remote section of interstate hwy I picked up a 20 ft extension ladder that only needed a little fixin. Also:

Lengths of angle iron, some as long as 10 ft
PVC pipe
lumber
ropes
extension cords
large snatch blocks & screw pin shackles
even a box of 12 ga shells

I even found a tool bag one time that was filled with electronic testers and hand tools. over a $1000 worth. That one did have a business card in in. I called the guy listed on it and had him describe what was in the bag, then returned it to him. He was very grateful.

I have a friend who found a cloth sack in the middle of an intersection with a 357 revolver in it. A number trace found it not to be reported lost or stolen. His lucky day.

I am ever watchful of the road as I drive, I wouldn't want to run over something that could damage a tire. :redneck:

[Smitty's Retired]

Hey, one of my best hats and favorite Eastwing framing hammer were found on the side of the road.

[Ed Barrett]

A friend of mine had a similar situation 30 or 40 years ago. He saw screwdriver laying in the road, he stopped and opened the door and was reaching down to pick it up, about that time his new car was rear ended. He always said "That was the most expensive 30 cent screwdriver he ever saw".

[WILCO]

You guys pick things up too don't you?

I've been known to pick up a thing or two when driving. It's normal.

[Bzcraig]

I have never taken home anything from the street, job site, shooting range or any such place. It is far beneath my status to do so, especially allowing anyone to see me. I always force my wife to do those things and threaten her with great bodily harm if she refuses. [smilie=s:[smilie=p::bigsmyl2:

Did you buy any of that?

[xs11jack]

Why of course, every word. once while I was casting aluminium, I saw two alum. lawn chairs along the freeway. We were on our way on the first day of Vacation. I still stopped and put the chairs on the back seat, as the trunk was full. My wife never even blinked.
Ole Jack

[Adam10mm]

I've got a toolbox full of tools I have found at roadside. Took a few years to fill it, but the only thing I did to "earn" them was pick them off the roadside.

[SeabeeMan]

I've picked up plenty of bungee cords, ratchet straps, and cheap orange kapok-style life jackets. I pass up marine battery box lids all the time because I figure I need to bottom as well.

[RobS]

You are like the rest of us here..........we are frugal as I like to call it. My wife calls it being cheap but she appreciates my obsession. :)

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

When I was about 8 years old, one evening I was bicycle riding with my Dad. It was just starting to get dark outside. Ahead of me, I could see my Dad ran over something small, I doubled back to see what it was. My Dad stopped and yelled back at me "don't pick up that trash" :shock::shock::shock:
I picked up and unrolled 3 one dollar bills. My Dad had that puzzled "what the heck" look on his face , then said "come on lets go, it's getting dark".

I've been doubling back to pick up usable "trash" ever since :razz:

[GRUMPA]

Around here we call it recycling, I don't think it's a guy thing they wife is worse than I am and I thought I was bad.

[kbstenberg]

JonB Yup I have picked up Meany straps tools and tie downs.

[Ithaca Gunner]

I've been known to slam on the brakes for a chain along the road!

[buckwheatpaul]

I dont know any normal male that can turn down manna from Heaven.....be it a hammer, chain, bunge cord....etc....you are normal....not weird......

[gandydancer]

I once saw a good looking blond over 21 year old female and single on the side of the road. I turned around. How did I know she was over 21 years old and single?? it said so on her wet T-shirt. [smilie=l::bigsmyl2:[smilie=s:

[472x1B/A]

WAY, WAY more than most. Everything mentioned above, plus road kill, full cans of beer, and broken wheel lugs, to name a few.

[1Shirt]

Once picked up a like new 20'log chain!
1Shirt!

[Hamish]

Dang, 472 beat me to it on the road kill thing. She was tasty too.

76665

[altheating]

I haven't picked up anything since last Thursday, a very nice Snap-On screwdriver.

[perotter]

She opens her door and grabs it, looks at me and says "You're really F'ing weird."

And that was the time for you to say, "Maybe, but I have great taste in women".

[jblee10]

I've picked up all kinds of things along the road. Sometimes I see them from high in a truck seat, and I will drive back later in the car and pick them up. Chains, impact driver sets, full propane tanks that have rolled off the shoulder, axes, even a case with a spotting scope in it.

[MT Gianni]

A friend once called a place near her "The Pony-Harrison Recycling Center, also know as the dump".

[Wayne Smith]

I must drive waaay too fast! I've never even seen anything like that.

[firefly1957]

I have picked up many things along the road even returned a few to owners my daughter still has a three cell maglite that i spotted doing 70 down the highway (Late 1990's) i hit the brakes to stop (empty road) just as a deer jumped in front of me it is hard to say for certain but if i had not seen the light i am sure that deer would have wrecked my car.

[contender1]

As guilty as the fine folks above!

[MtGun44]

I have a .38 Spl revolver that was found laying on the double yellow lines on the main drag
in Gainesville, FL right in front of a bank in 1969. . . . . . .

A fair number of smaller items, too.

Bill

[L Ross]

I'll dash thru traffic for a chain binder.

Duke

[TXGunNut]

I've seen lots of grade 8 bolts & nuts on the road leading away from the local Peterbilt plant, honest! I used to ride a bicycle a lot and found better stuff that way, just a little hard to strap the bigger items on a roadie. Was fortunate enough to be riding my mountain bike w/ bags when I scored a bundle of new rope.
Seems every time I take my paycheck to the bank @ night and need a pen to endorse it there's one somewhere in the parking lot, always works too!

[MaryB]

Last big score was a grain scoop I use to shovel snow. But I have found other stuff. Brand new purse with tags that was worth $250, tools, scrap metal if it is a big enough piece...

[Stephen Cohen]

the best I ever picked up was two 18 gal kegs of beer that fell of a truck just outside of town, one for me and one for my mate who was with me. I also remember a guy who picked up a police duty belt complete with 38 revolver, seems the local cop had a flat and took it off to change tire, yes cop was very gratefull to get it back.

[blackbike]

Yea me too.
Under my truck seat are enought tools to get me out of some tight spots. The big stuff goes in the bed.
I all way slow down at the RR tracks and rough spots on the road where they are most likely to fall out.
Once I found a 5gal. gas can 1/2 full of good gas.
bb

[Blacksmith]

My wife used to think I was weird but I finally turned her to the dark side. She has started picking up things and even makes me slow down when people put things out for trash day. I live near a collage town and at the change of semester and the end of the year you would be surprised at the furniture and other stuff that is put on the curb.

[EMC45]

Always keep my eyes peeled for road goodies. Trash on the side of the road too.

[HighHook]

Always keep my eyes peeled for road goodies. Trash on the side of the road too.

Thats a great one! Road goodies.

[429421Cowboy]

Miss K has just learned to put up with me and my scrounger ways, I am constantly looking in the ditch for something good! All of my 4x4 and 6x6 blocks have come from the road, 2x4 scraps that are always good for something and fence posts. Of course bungee cords and ratchet straps are always on the road, to the point I only grab them if it is in a good place and need more. The best way to hunt the ditch is when we are moving the tractors and haying equipment around the county to custom hay for people, being in such a high vantage and moving pretty slow I have found equalizer hitches, hammers and other tools, scrap steel that either gets recycled or used on a project, and on of the best was a sweet Mac pneumatic cut-off wheel that I grabbed and still have. Picked up a log chain in the middle of the road outside of Circle, Mt on my way to Sidney (somewhere between nowhere and the end of the earth). If I get really lucky I can find bales of hay that didn't explode when they came off but usually they bust open. One time I stopped at a chainup area below Donner pass in CA and was amazed by the number of broken truck tire chains flung in the ditch by truckers that didn't want to fight them, needless to say I got as many as I could into the rental car to take home and repair! Last Antelope season I spotted a 5 dollar bill in the ditch, and found a twenty a few years back.
I have made my own donations to the ditch, one of the hardest being my brand new hard earned Ugly Stik fishing pole when I was 12.

Just don't tell Miss K that I pick up beer cans to recycle when she's not there, that part goes a little further than most people will!

[Boerrancher]

My father always picked up stuff off the road. He was an EN for the state and spent lots of time on the roads and around construction sites along the highways. He usually put together a full tool box every couple of years with tools that he found along the highway. There were 15 large tool boxes of tools that we sold at his estate auction. Dad loved Craftsman and Snap On tools. When he would find one he would always say,"now this is a good find."

I will never forget I was coming home early in the morning after being with him at his death bed. I was thinking about how I was going to get along with out my father. He had always been there for help and wise counsel all of my life. As I was getting ready to turn off of the state road on to the country road I live on I ask,"what am I gonna do now Pop. I am a bit lost now with you gone." I made my turn on to the road and something shiny in the headlight caught my eye. It was 4 A.M and not a car in sight so I stopped and got out. Laying in the middle of my lane was a brand new Snap On 9/16th combo wrench. There was no dirt or grime on it nor any scuff marks from it falling on the pavement. It was as if it had just been purchased and gently placed in the middle of my path where I couldn't miss it.

It was "a good find." I took it as a sign that he had given me all the tools I needed in life to make the wise and hard choices that I had always counted on him to help me with. When I told my youngest daughter that morning about her grandpa passing she was really upset. I told her the above story and gave her the wrench telling her all was well. It gave her comfort then and she still has the wrench with some of the other things of grandpa's that she keeps. I guess my father did give me all of the tools I needed.

Best wishes

Joe

[gunoil]

I found 1000 cash laying on sidwalk. Was late for gunshow.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

...When I told my youngest daughter that morning about her grandpa passing she was really upset. I told her the above story and gave her the wrench telling her all was well. It gave her comfort then and she still has the wrench with some of the other things of grandpa's that she keeps. I guess my father did give me all of the tools I needed.

Best wishes

Joe

Dang you Joe...ya made me shed a tear !

[Bzcraig]

Around here we call it recycling, I don't think it's a guy thing they wife is worse than I am and I thought I was bad.

Awhhhh, we have joined the ranks of 're-purposers' what's next purple hunting pants with yellow print shirts? :bigsmyl2:

[PTS]

We found a 10’ kayak. Of course it was the one that we were looking for as it had quietly sailed off our roof earlier. I pick up obviously abandoned real-estate signs as the framework is nice to hold shooting targets/paper.

[Jim]

Awhhhh, we have joined the ranks of 're-purposers' what's next purple hunting pants with yellow print shirts? :bigsmyl2:

That's rediculous. Nothin' wrong with having an imagination, but come on, let's get real here, OK? [smilie=1:

[bikerbeans]

I picked up a 17' boat, motor and trailer off the road about 25 years ago. It belonged to a friend, I was following him, luckily not very closely and he was only going about 20mph when he hit a bump and the trailer came unhitched (wasn't hitched correctly of course). He kept going and I watched the whole mess go straight as an arrow down the road and come to a stop, he had also left the landing gear down. A few minutes later he turned around and came looking for it. This was back in the days before we was old enough and wise enough not to drink a case of beer and then go fishing.

BB

[richhodg66]

We picked up a huge ice chest off the highway several years ago, obviously fell out of someone's boat (we lived on a lake). Not sure how many quarts, but it is big enough to hold a whole deer if dressed and skinned and quartered with enough ice to keep it for a while. I've used that one for butchering out quite a few deer since and it comes in handy for other stuff too.

[Gliden07]

I would do the same thing!! Your Wife my Girlfriend and most woman don't put much "Value" on a bungee cord. If it was something they put value on then you would have stopped or turned around to get it!! If you used the bungee the next time you went to some tag sales to hold a piece of furniture you and the wife picked up, then it would have value to her!! And you could remind her how ya got it!!

[gandydancer]

I found 1000 cash laying on sidwalk. Was late for gunshow.

was it green in color? mixed denominations? WELL! its not mine. Hope you got something nice at gun show? :bigsmyl2:

[mold maker]

Tools and stuff like the rest, but I stopped to retrieve some WWs and found a mens wedding ring.
It's our civic duty to clean the roadside of these items.

[TenTea]

My father always picked up stuff off the road. He was an EN for the state and spent lots of time on the roads and around construction sites along the highways. He usually put together a full tool box every couple of years with tools that he found along the highway. There were 15 large tool boxes of tools that we sold at his estate auction. Dad loved Craftsman and Snap On tools. When he would find one he would always say,"now this is a good find."

I will never forget I was coming home early in the morning after being with him at his death bed. I was thinking about how I was going to get along with out my father. He had always been there for help and wise counsel all of my life. As I was getting ready to turn off of the state road on to the country road I live on I ask,"what am I gonna do now Pop. I am a bit lost now with you gone." I made my turn on to the road and something shiny in the headlight caught my eye. It was 4 A.M and not a car in sight so I stopped and got out. Laying in the middle of my lane was a brand new Snap On 9/16th combo wrench. There was no dirt or grime on it nor any scuff marks from it falling on the pavement. It was as if it had just been purchased and gently placed in the middle of my path where I couldn't miss it.

It was "a good find." I took it as a sign that he had given me all the tools I needed in life to make the wise and hard choices that I had always counted on him to help me with. When I told my youngest daughter that morning about her grandpa passing she was really upset. I told her the above story and gave her the wrench telling her all was well. It gave her comfort then and she still has the wrench with some of the other things of grandpa's that she keeps. I guess my father did give me all of the tools I needed.

Best wishes

Joe

Great story - gave me chills (in a good way) - thanks for the telling and be well.

[Jal5]

The point about living near a college town is well taken. Just check the stuff they leave behind when they go home in the springtime. I have two friends who make a nice side job out of collecting and selling that on craigslist- bicycles, TVs, grills, electronics of all sorts just to name a few of the better items. Exercise equipment of all kinds too- I picked up a nice weight bench and olympic bar and weights one time. Joe

[frkelly74]

My wife used to become absolutely incensed when I would pick up "junk" . but after a while she noticed that new gun stuff appeared without there being a credit card charge and groceries would just sort of show up every once in a while and that made it okay , almost.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I think it is everyone else who doesn't are the strange ones ,

things i have picked up from the road

wheel weights
a set of allen wrenches
box end wrenches
a folding 2 wheel dolly , the sturdy kind a sales rep would haul boxes of merchandise into a prospective clients business
bungee cords
utility knifes
a water cooler the kind that are mounted to the back of a truck for workers , it was a little scratch up but not bad
brand new jack hammer bits , made a spud bar for ice fishing from that
hard hats




i have a co-worker who's father in law picked up a 44 deerfield carbine , from the side of the highway , looked like they leaned it against the truck loaded the deer then drove away and the gun just fell over

what i don't stop for is all the coffee mugs , gas caps , and rubber boots

[blackthorn]

I once saw a good looking blond over 21 year old female and single on the side of the road. I turned around. How did I know she was over 21 years old and single?? it said so on her wet T-shirt. [smilie=l::bigsmyl2:[smilie=s:

I watched my friend from work cut three lanes of traffic to pick up two tall, long blonde haired, in tight jeans, girls who were hich-hiking. When they turned around ---they both had long BEARDS! SO---be carefull what you wish for!

[popper]

Wife is good at picking up nails she finds on the road - and doesn't even have to stop.

[edler7]

I was driving down a 2 lane blacktop in the middle of nowhere, saw a tarp strap laying in the road. About a quarter mile down the road, another one. This kept up seeing 1-2/mile for a few miles. I turned around and went back to the first one and started picking them up. All in all I picked up 17. Also found a sharpshooter shovel, a LP cylinder for a grill, a cell phone (back in the day they were the size and shape of a brick) and other assorted goodies throughout the years.

Always looking.

[Boerrancher]

Found a cell phone in a field once while looking for arrowheads. The farmer was glad to get it back

Best wishes

Joe

[Alvarez Kelly]

Well... I did just the opposite of everyone else today. :-(

I had a long day, sawing up some downed trees in 92 degree, muggy heat. I off-loaded some equipment and drove away with my tailgate down. I NEVER do that. I was dog tired I guess. Some lady is honking and yelling at me, so I rolled down my window to hear her tell me my Husqvarna chainsaw rolled out of the truck a mile or so back when I rounded a small curve at about 5 mph. She also saw someone stop to pick it up. I went back of course, but it was long gone. I now am $440 shorter and the new owner of a Stihl 290.

[Sks985]

I found 1000 cash laying on sidwalk. Was late for gunshow.

I found 15 crispy 100 dollar bills nicely folded in a large paper clip at a car wash in Arkansas.

[Cactus Farmer]

When me and my sweety are driving we made a game out of who sees/finds the best treasures.

I've found several toolboxes full of tools one or two at a time, but my best find wasa Sthil chainsaw on the yellow line of a highway. Full of gas and one or two slight road gars. Posted signs all over the area but no one called to identify it so it's mine now. It was shortly after they had a Tv spot that showed a saw falling out of a truch and tumbling down a hill and stopped by a downed tree. The owner drives up and strats the saw to clear the downed tree from the road. How did they know about my saw?

[ftut]

I once had a flat in a 66 mustang on the side of a hill. The only thing I had to chock the tires with was a pneumatic orbital sander that I had been caring around in the trunk. I always called it a jitterbug sander. I changed the tire and drove off without my sander. Did any of you guys pick it up?

[TXGunNut]

If you're looking for a magnetic "hide-a-key" just check a few rough RR crossings.

[Down South]

I saw a piece of 1" aluminum angle iron about 5' long on the side of the road a few days ago. It was on a 4-lane in a high traffic area so I could not stop. I hate it when that happens.

[blackthorn]

I once picked up an envelope with the week's reciepts from a business (cash and checks) just inside the entrance to a mall. While I was looking for mall security I spied a very panicked lady holding a ledger running through the mall. I asked if she had lost something and she described the envelope and ID'd the company name. She was SOOO glad to get it back without having to call her boss to tell him she had lost the week's reciepts!

One rainy night I stepped on a wallet in the parking lot at Wallmart. I looked up the guy's name in the phone book and called him. He came back to Wallmart and got it back. When I called he had not yet realized he had lost it. Happy, Happy, Happy guy.

[Bzcraig]

I saw a piece of 1" aluminum angle iron about 5' long on the side of the road a few days ago. It was on a 4-lane in a high traffic area so I could not stop. I hate it when that happens.

Couldn't help myself......aluminum angle iron. :bigsmyl2:

[Mal Paso]

Well... I did just the opposite of everyone else today. :-(

I had a long day, sawing up some downed trees in 92 degree, muggy heat. I off-loaded some equipment and drove away with my tailgate down. I NEVER do that. I was dog tired I guess. Some lady is honking and yelling at me, so I rolled down my window to hear her tell me my Husqvarna chainsaw rolled out of the truck a mile or so back when I rounded a small curve at about 5 mph. She also saw someone stop to pick it up. I went back of course, but it was long gone. I now am $440 shorter and the new owner of a Stihl 290.

Ya but you have a Stihl. If that's what it takes to get a good saw............ Plastic probably busted when the Husky fell anyway.

[Alvarez Kelly]

Ya but you have a Stihl. If that's what it takes to get a good saw............ Plastic probably busted when the Husky fell anyway.

Yep, that was the only bright spot. I finally had a good reason to buy a Stihl. :-)

But my Husky was good and broke in... It ran great. :-(

[Ohio Rusty]

I can't count all the little things I've picked up along side of the road. I also stop and pick up pieces of split hardwood firewood that falls off delivery trucks. that is one more piece for the woodburner I don't have to cut and split. Being I do blacksmithing, I'm always finding pieces of coil springs, flat leaf springs and other pieces of iron that I can use in the future for tinkering projects. last week I picked up a almost new lug nut tire wrench along the road. They make great punches and chisels .....

I often will pull off at busy intersections to look along the berm for wheel weights. This usually produces a small handfull or two. Those add up over time. Orphan wheel weights along the road is a sad thing and they need a home !!
Ohio Rusty ><>