Fair trade policy

This was supposed to be my triumphant return to running and blogging. Alas, the run was refreshing but uneventful, my day was busy and I am only now getting around to writing. And, as is often the case, or so I have heard, my head is empty.

All I have is the happiness brought by one decent find on a day that seemed likely to produce nada. I expanded my lanyard collection with a nice black one from First Midwest Bank with a clip for an I.D. card. I still wonder how good items end up in the middle of the street. I mean, it's one thing for something to fall out of your car in the driveway. I guess maybe it was from a car parked in the street and it got kicked, blown or otherwise relocated. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all these lanyards. They seem so useful, and I guess they are to some people. High school and college kids seem to use them for their keys and I.D.s and discount scan-cards. Daughter No. 2, who is off to college next week, already has one from her chosen future alma mater. (Is that overly optimistic thinking? Nah. She's a good student and a motivated individual.) I found one from her school and passed it along to Daughter No. 3 for encouragement. I have a feeling it's lying on her bedroom floor.

Others I have collected hang from the doorknob in my apartment. Therein lies one possible outlet for the goodies, should I decide to part with them. In the lobby downstairs stands a long side-table where residents leave cast-offs and things to share: the morning paper after it's been read, an odd sock, a stick of mascara or whatever that stuff is you brush on your eyelashes, an old separator for sharing a phone line with a computer using dial-up Internet access, and so on.

Somebody on Seminary Street had a dozen yummies from
Denny's Doughnuts and Bakery, Bloomington.

I laid a baseball there a couple weeks ago and it was gone in a few hours. A decorated sweatshirt and a Nike running shirt I found went in an afternoon. The cheap Cyber Acoustics USB PC speakers I left lingered for a couple days before someone finally found them worthy of carting off to God knows where (maybe the trash). I like the Exchange Table, as I call it. I snagged a box of notecards with Washington, D.C., scenes on them. So it really is an exchange. 

Best be careful, though, not to leave something you want back. When I was riding the purple girlie bike a while back, I dared to park it at the end of the table one day because I didn't want to haul it up the stairs (I was coming right back down). When I returned to the lobby a woman resident said to me, "Sir, you just left that in the worst possible place." I thought she was going to reprimand me for cluttering the area. "The stuff on that table is for anybody to take. You wouldn't want somebody to take your bike."

Well, maybe I would. It's a purple (OK, it's pink) little girl bike. It wouldn't upset me too much. In fact, I plan on giving it to a co-worker who commented one day that, "My daughter would love that bike." Now that I have rolling wheels of my own, with more soon to be in riding condition, I can part with the Mongoose Freestyle Girl. Thank you, city auction. She was a worthy steed.

p.s. I did pick up some trash just to throw it away today: three McDonald's bags and contents and a lid from a box of doughnuts (sadly missing the important part) from Bloomington.

Today's Stats
Temp: 70 degrees F (6:25 a.m. start)
Distance: 5.25 miles
Treasure: 1 white T-shirt (size XL, seriously nasty — it'll be a shop rag); 1 First Midwest Bank I.D. lanyard (no I.D., very good condition); 2 cigarette boxes (1 Camel, 1 Doral); 1 box lid from a Bloomington doughnut shop; 17 cans.

iPod Playlist (shuffle)
Fly Me To The Moon (live) - Diana Krall

Poor Poor Pitiful Me (live) - Warren Zevon
Goodbye Muirsin Durkin - Off-Kilter
Two of Hearts - Stacey Q
Rip This Joint (live '72) - The Rolling Stones
Impossible Dreamer - Joni Mitchell
Absolute - The Fray
Heaven, Hell or Houston - ZZ Top
Shoot to Thrill - AC/DC
Tomorrow Never Knows - The Beatles
I Forgot to Remember To Forget - John Prine & Mac Wiseman
Best Is Yet To Come - USAF Band of Mid-America
Edith and the Kingpin - Joni Mitchell
Dance Hall Days - Wang Chung