The Latest on Garbage

This contradicts the latest report (dated Dec. 24) on the SPU website. As a Thursday customer, I thought our garbage would be picked up today. But no, not till Sunday--


NEWS RELEASE
December 26, 2008
For Immediate Release

Contact:

Andy Ryan
(206) 684-7688
andy.ryan@seattle.gov

OR

Hans Van Dusen
206-310-0341

Seattle Garbage Scheduled for Special Weekend Pickup
Conditions Permitting, Garbage Will Be Collected Saturday and Sunday

SEATTLE -- Special Saturday and Sunday pickup is being scheduled, conditions permitting, for the city's residential garbage, recycling, food and yard waste customers, Seattle Public Utilities said today.

Due to continued inclement conditions, today's customers (Friday, Dec. 26) are scheduled to be collected tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 27) and Thursday customers (Dec. 25) will be collected on Sunday, Dec. 28.

Thursday and Friday customers are advised to leave their garbage at the curb through Sunday. Collection contractors will inspect neighborhood routes throughout the weekend for service opportunities. Customers scheduled for Monday through Wednesday pickup should set out their materials on their normal appointed days, next week. There will be no additional charge for setting out extra garbage.

Despite inclement conditions, the city's collections contractors have been running limited commercial routes around the clock this week, providing service to urgent commercial accounts where containers are accessible. Contractors are running 40 commercial trucks today to serve locations on major arterials and utilizing extra staff to access snow blocked containers. Approximately 40 percent of Seattle's business accounts have been collected this week.

"We are eager to resume residential services as soon as possible, but safety with our large trucks is our first priority," said Hans Van Dusen, Solid Waste Contracts Manager for Seattle Public Utilities. "Warmer weather is forecast for this weekend and next week, and we expect that will make it safer to send big trucks back into Seattle's neighborhoods."

Customers whose collections have been delayed by a week can set out double their normal amount of garbage at no additional charge. When setting out extra waste, customers are encouraged to place perishable food items in their collection containers and set bagged non-perishable items next to the containers.

Customers who have had their collections missed can also take their waste to Seattle's Recycling and Disposal stations, where it will be accepted at no charge. Seattle's Recycling and Disposal stations will be closed on New Year's Day, January 1.

Seattle Public Utilities' (SPU) web site (www.seattle.gov/util) and call center (206-684-3000) will be updated with the most current collection information. Customers can also be sign-up for CurbWaste E-News service alerts at www.seattle.gov/lists.

In addition to providing more than 1.3 million customers in the Seattle metropolitan area with a reliable water supply, SPU provides essential sewer, drainage, solid waste and engineering services that safeguard public health, maintain the City's infrastructure and protect, conserve and enhance the region's environmental resources.

Dirty Snow on Christmas Day

I've reported this graffiti.

Snowy Walk to Graham Street Grocery

I wasn't sure how often the 36 would be running today so I decided to get food from the Graham Street Grocery instead of trekking to Red Apple.

Looking east from the parking lot of the Chinese Baptist Church.



And looking west.



The Orcas/Beacon intersection.



Juneau Street, I think.



Another church.



I did see several 36s.



The west side of Graham was clsed to traffic.



There's the Graham Street Grocery.



The folks at the store could not have been any nicer. I bought a whole bunch of stuff, and they gave me free coffee and a snowman pin.

I passed a P-patch on the way home.



Not much to see there today.

How to Complain About the #36 Passing You By

Aimee Curl at the Seattle Weekly complained today that the #36 has passed her by two weeks in a row, and this time she and the other passengers had to wait nearly half an hour in 20-degree weather.

One reader commented that she should file an online complaint about the service on the #36 route.

Since there's nothing I love as much as an online complaint form (except, perhaps, whining about the #36), I'll share the link with you all. Let's all file complaints when the #36 passes us by. Try to provide the stop location, time, direction, and bus unit # if you have it.

Metro online complaint form

I'm not sure it'll do any good, but they might at least be forced to keep track of all the complaints somewhere.

I haven't seen any mention of them in their ridiculous annual reports, none of which correlate any rider-focused metrics (such as number of skipped passengers, timeliness of service, number of assaults) to specific routes. But at least we'll know in our hearts that the data exists somewhere.

Snow on Beacon Avenue South

This Has Nothing to Do with Anything

But I am super-excited for my friend Will (below at left in a photo from Election Day), who will be one of three musicians from Washington state to march with the Gay and Lesbian Band Association in Barack Obama's inaugural parade.



It will be the first time a gay and lesbian band will march in a presidential inaugural parade.