Heaving Washing Machines out of Pit

Today I took Fluffy for her usual morning walk. The air was cool and crisp and the sky was overcast. I usually like to head west towards the Sunrise Bridge but today I decided to head over to the equestrian trail that runs along the river heading east towards the Nimbus Hatchery. This turned out to be much more scenic than just simply following on the side of the bike trail. As soon as Fluffy saw the river, she got excited at the ducks and gulls flying around and tried to pull me towards the water. No way were we getting near that water, not when the temperature is probably something like 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The trail was narrow and somewhat muddy but no horse crap anywhere which had the effect of lifting my spirits.

We got to the end of the line which was where the trail dropped off sharply towards the water and from there it looked nearly impossible to go further even though I saw a brave woman making her way towards us from the other side. We followed an exit trail which ended up at the bike trail, crossed over and then up the other side. This led us to the Gold River trail that linked the western paved spur to the end of the Sunrise recreation area paved road. From there, we crossed over the spur and then over to the road which led to the Nimbus Hatchery. Near the Dept of Fish and Game employee entrance, we left the road and headed back towards another trail that runs through the tailing hills that had been left there over 70 years ago. The history of Gold River is tied to the dredging of the American River. In fact, Gold River is built on a giant pile of rocks. The tailings are the rocks piled up from the dredging. The numerous rock piles have created small valleys that look like small mining pits. There is a pit that is next to the trail we were on that is somewhat close to the adjacent neighborhood of houses. Scattered in this pit are the remains of some old appliances that look like they had been dumped there illegally a long time ago. I pass by this area frequently because it is so nice and peaceful. But every time I pass by this pit, I have to see the rusted remains of washing machines. I have thought about hauling them out of the pit but I always forget to bring my gloves.

Today was different. I decided I had had enough. I quickly took Fluffy home because this was not something she needed to witness and I didn’t want her in the way. My plan was to get some rope and tie it around these rotted metal carcasses, then tie the other end of the rope around my waist and pull them out one by one. The excitement began to build as I grabbed my gloves and some heavy duty rope that I knew would come in handy one day, stuffed them in my backpack, jumped on my bike and pedaled furiously back to the pit. Once there, I checked to see if anyone was around. Not that I really cared. But sometimes people can get confused and think that a good deed is actually something more malevolent if they don’t see the whole picture.

I ran down the hill to the bottom of the pit to size up my challenge. There were 4 machines down there plus something farther away which was also metal but I couldn’t tell what it was. I walked over to machine #1 and looped the rope through a couple of holes at the bottom. Then I pulled but it wouldn’t budge. I pulled harder and it made some creaking noises but it was obvious that this machine was in no mood to go anywhere. Okay, so much for plan a. The only remaining option was to lift the machine up and then push it end over end up the hill. It was a good thing I brought my working gloves because I could see that bare handed I would get cut up pretty badly from all the sharp rusted metal edges.

I don’t where the energy came from to do this. Maybe it was the cup of instant coffee I had just before I took Fluffy for a walk but that was over an hour ago. Anyways, these motherfing sons of bitches were exiting the pit if it took all night. To tell the truth, I really had no idea how long each one would take because frankly, I don’t recall doing this kind of project before. So here I was pushing the machine end over end. As the heavy end hit the ground, it made a calamitous noise. The hardest part was getting the machine over the steep rocks near the top. But I had a rhythm going - not a Latin dance rhythm because you can’t exactly dance with an old washing machine. But I had a rhythm nonetheless that helped me heave this thing up the hill. Finally, I pushed it over the crest of the hill and let it crash down the other side. By this time, I was drenched in sweat. The machine probably weighed well over 150 pounds and there were three more machines down there yet to be moved. Machine #2 turned out to be an old dryer which weighed about half of what the first one weighed. I pushed that up in less than 5 minutes. The last two were heavier but I was determined to get the job done. By now my clothes were dirty and the sweat had soaked through my shirt and even through my sweatshirt. The last item was the object that was 30 yards away all by itself. I went over to it and was surprised to discover that it was not another washing machine but an old metal Sacramento Bee newspaper stand. I am sure it was vandalized and then dumped there after it was emptied of its loot. Quite a bit smaller than the other objects but still heavy, I heaved it over the top.

The hard part completed, all that was left to do was to line them up. Why? Was it because I wanted them to stand at attention as they waited for their ultimate fate? No, I plan to go back there tomorrow and take some pictures of them because if I am going to spend this much time blogging about this event, I have to get some pictures to document it as well. Now I was officially done. I went back down the hill to retrieve my backpack and rope and saw a man walking his dog out of the corner of my eye. “Hey” he said, “did you haul all those up yourself?” “Yep” I answered. Another couple walking by also stopped. “Bravo”, they all yelled and started clapping their hands.The first man then told me that he remembers those washing machines being there when he was just a little kid. Can you imagine that? It took 30-40 years before someone decided to do something about it. But how good it felt to do it and then to have some people actually applauding was just icing on the cake. Stay tuned for pictures.

Letter to President Obama

Dear Mr. President:

Jobs, jobs, jobs. How come you didn’t see the writing on the wall? You came into office on the campaign promise that you were going to fight for the little guy. What happened? Instead, you surrounded yourself with cabinet members aligned with Wall Street and the first thing you did was bail out the banks followed by the bailout of our failing auto industry. The little guy like me got scraps. People like myself are still struggling with trying to get loan modifications and wondering how to make ends meet when no one is hiring. My wife works for the state of California and she has to put up with lost wages from being furloughed. Sure, I voted for you because like you I strongly believe that protecting the environment, slowing global warming and making health care affordable are worthy and noble causes. I also believe that transitioning to a fossil free economy is the best way to stimulate the ingenuity and creativity of our collective intelligence. One of the problems that I am sure you are aware of is that the American people #1: Have a short memory; and #2: Have limited patience. Yes, there is no mistaking that you inherited a horrendous mess from that village idiot but your window of opportunity was much shorter than perhaps Rahm Emanuel led you to believe. The first signal that you were heading in the wrong direction was the angry tea party demonstrations and acrimonious townhall meetings (By the way, I attended one held by Dan Lungren but never made it inside). That should have driven home the message to you that people were not ready for health care reform. Who wants health care reform when people are desperate for a job? But instead of confronting the anger and hostility, your administration along with the Democrats in Congress played down the significance of this anger and essentially brushed it off as the rantings of right wing nutcases.Now you are confronted with a second signal. The loss of a key Senate seat in one of the most liberal states in the country threatens to derail your entire agenda, not just health care reform. You think the Republicans are going to go along with anything you propose now that they smell blood? All your political capital has been exhausted on this ill-timed strategy and Republicans are in no mood to compromise on any part of your agenda. You even have to deal with holding the blue dog Democrats together, let alone trying to throw olive branches over to the other side of the aisle. So here is my suggestion. Focus on the little guy. Focus on small businesses because small businesses hold the key to hiring people again, not the big lumbering auto industry. Instead of a trillion dollar health care reform bill, invest heavily in upgrading our country’s infrastructure. Give generous tax breaks to small businesses that invest in green technology. Make education a top priority since that is where you are going to get the biggest bang for every dollar spent. First, improve public schools by holding schools accountable for their students’ academic results. Higher education also needs a complete overhaul. Universities and Colleges are simply too expensive for a majority of Americans. Most students end up being saddled with mountains of debt when they graduate. Universities must be forced to offer low cost higher degree programs to all who are motivated through online web-based learning programs. By turning higher education from a privilege available only to the few that can afford it to an opportunity for many, a more educated workforce will drive our economy forward in the next few decades.Your staff also needs a shakeup. I would like to see Paul Krugman in a prominent position in your cabinet. I am sure he would be honored to serve your administration.So there you have it. Good luck and please do not forget who got you into office.