My town has bulk garbage collection on the first Monday of each month. Basically anything that don't fit in your trash or recycle bin waits till bulk day. It's not bad when you do a project or need to get rid of something from last weekend, but other times your holding onto stuff for weeks on end to throw out.

Enter the scrappers who spend the Sunday before bulk trash day trolling neighborhoods for any bits of metal they can pick up.Curtain rods, rebar, lamp post (that one was interesting today), chain link fences, hot water heaters are a gold nugget for them along with any other big heavy metal items. Some times I swear I am not sure how the trucks roll down the road with loads precariously tied down with kite string and duct tape- but they do. We put some metal out today and within 20 minutes, it was gone. Like a drop of blood in the ocean and a shark heads for the scene so does the $crapper guy. I'll give them credit as they hustle, work and toil all over the city on bulk trash days to make a few bucks selling it to the scrap yards. Some people complain about them, me on the other hand, I am glad to see them taking it. I'd rather them be making a few bucks instead of the trash companies and big unions off of my garbage that I am already paying them to take away.