"A Government of Laws and Not [Garbage] Men"*

Here are a few pictures post-demolition. It was about this point that we turned things over to our contractor.

The stack of debris is probably twice this big despite us trying to throw away everything possible. We had a little showdown with the Sunnyvale garbage company the first week when they left all of our garbage. The note I found blowing across our lawn said our cans had construction material, were too heavy, were the wrong size, etc.

I called up the company and was told they didn't take concrete. Great, because there wasn't any concrete, just drywall pieces. Then they said they wouldn't take drywall or any construction materials, despite this not being on the website. I then talked with a supervisor. She said they DID take up to 200 pounds of drywall in the biggest can. I told her that our cans were within the posted weights. Her reply was that they wouldn't take it, regardless of the weight, if the garbage man thought he would hurt himself lifting it.

What happened to the rule of law? If you post maximum weights, that should be the standard, not the garbage man's subjective take on weight. After discussing this at some length, they agreed to send a special run to get our cans, but cautioned that they wouldn't be taken if too heavy. We used another can to reduce the load of the initial cans and waited. Not surprisingly, the garbage man who showed up was an elderly gentleman with white hair and mustache. He ambled over to the can, looked at it, and, without touching it, decided it was too heavy. He told C he wouldn't take them because they were too heavy for him when C raced out to meet him. CANDACE then carried the cans to the truck and threw them in. Apparently guessing weight by sight alone is in the job description, but lifting is not, and our "Unlimited" garbage pickup plan is DIY.

*John Adams, Massachusetts Constitution, Part The First, art. XXX (1780).