bae
6-5-12, 6:43pm
I've been massively decluttering and organizing my garage the past few weeks.
Today, I opened up a cardboard box which had been sitting on a shelf for 12 years. Before that, it had been sitting on a shelf in the basement in my previous home for 8 years, and before that, in a shelf in my garage in my previous house for a couple of years.
It was water-damaged on the outside from several burst pipe incidents over the years. Upon inspection, it was some obsolete, moldy, mildewy surplus-store camping supplies from my high school years, that I'd stopped using even then as I had upgraded. Dented canteed cups, aged bungy cords, some rotten belts, other odds and ends.
Without a thought I threw it into the 55-gallon plastic garbage can meant for the dump.
I then threw a bunch of other things into the garbage can over the next 5-10 minutes, then took a break to cook lunch. As I was waiting for something to warm up, I remembered I'd left my water glass in the garage, so I popped out to get it.
Smoke, nasty toxic white smoke, everywhere, and flames shooting up out of the garbage can.
I put it out with the handy huge fire extinguisher I'd just nicely mounted on the wall (before it was a bit buried behind other things).
Turns out the old camping supplies had a few boxes of old strike-anywhere, waterproof matches inside a plastic bag. And I'd managed to light one of them when I tossed a heavy item or two atop the pile, where it smoldered for a bit.
Ooops.
http://www.thefastertimes.com/basketball/files/2011/05/Smokey-Bear-Only-You-Posters.jpg
Today, I opened up a cardboard box which had been sitting on a shelf for 12 years. Before that, it had been sitting on a shelf in the basement in my previous home for 8 years, and before that, in a shelf in my garage in my previous house for a couple of years.
It was water-damaged on the outside from several burst pipe incidents over the years. Upon inspection, it was some obsolete, moldy, mildewy surplus-store camping supplies from my high school years, that I'd stopped using even then as I had upgraded. Dented canteed cups, aged bungy cords, some rotten belts, other odds and ends.
Without a thought I threw it into the 55-gallon plastic garbage can meant for the dump.
I then threw a bunch of other things into the garbage can over the next 5-10 minutes, then took a break to cook lunch. As I was waiting for something to warm up, I remembered I'd left my water glass in the garage, so I popped out to get it.
Smoke, nasty toxic white smoke, everywhere, and flames shooting up out of the garbage can.
I put it out with the handy huge fire extinguisher I'd just nicely mounted on the wall (before it was a bit buried behind other things).
Turns out the old camping supplies had a few boxes of old strike-anywhere, waterproof matches inside a plastic bag. And I'd managed to light one of them when I tossed a heavy item or two atop the pile, where it smoldered for a bit.
Ooops.
http://www.thefastertimes.com/basketball/files/2011/05/Smokey-Bear-Only-You-Posters.jpg