Junk News

The price of most metals, and copper in particular, has absolutely skyrocketed in the past year or so. There's been several stories of copper piping being torn out of empty houses that are up for sale, or even houses where the owners are away on vacation. Recently, someone stole a set of aluminum bleachers from a park in Spencer, Mass. The recycling dumpster at my work, where we throw away our scrap ductwork and old HVAC equipment is regularly raided, usually by desperate looking fellows loading up there beat-up station wagons and pick-up trucks with anything shiny. Several rumors have surfaced of people ripping out air conditioners from the side of homes and businesses, just for the copper and aluminum coils that they contain. I hadn't seen anything like that yet in my HVAC travels, until this week. And it happened right at our work shop.



They simply tore the coil right out of the air conditioner. They didn't even cut the pipes, they just tore it right out. This was a working AC by the way, not scrap. It was attached to the building. The several pounds of Freon it contained, super-damaging to the Ozone layer, must have sprayed all over when they tore open the piping. Surprisingly they took only the copper coil, and left the compressor, fan motor and cabinet, which probably are also worth a few bucks for scrap. So word of warning to business and homeowners: If your AC doesn't seem to be working well, you might want to take a peek around the side of the building, before you call...

Things are getting rough. Even the insect world is trying to save on energy costs; this American Lady Butterfly tried to hitch a free ride on the hood of the vehicle...



As did this guy.



It was nice out most of the week, so we took a spin on the bicycles, down the Norwottuck trail Wednesday afternoon/evening, and on into Northampton for a coffee. Things are getting autumny...



The sun is setting quick these days, and it was nightfall by the time we got into town.





It can be quite a relaxing thing, to just sit around outside and listlessly sip a coffee. And in that respect, Northampton is a great place to do it. Here's a quick, mid-week-nightime-in-Northampton-scene and sound:



The bikers were out in force that evening, another sign of the pleasant weather we've had this past week.



But that's all coming to an end this weekend...



Ready for some rain?