Leave enough stuff in the dumpster...
 

so you can climb back out.
So I go to heft my hefty over the edge tonight and look, the dumpster is full of bikes, parts and tropical hardwood scraps, and a bundle of rope.
Seriously, the bikes were junky kids bikes but I've been needing a stem just like this one had and some cheap cantilever brake parts.
There were also a few little pieces of brazilian mahogany, nothing to write home about but there were these small chunks of very dark, very heavy wood that I haven't figured out yet. Probobly just old teak but maybe Lignum Vitea. I need to do a little research.
My wife knows not to wait up for me when I take the trash out.

So you're here for absolution?
Here's what I found...

My girlfriend found $54.00 in the parking lot at the chicken wing place!! But seriously...I was a dumpster diver all my young life as a kid. It was a blast and I found really cool stuff.

I scored my air compressor from a dumpster, but I had to go home for tools to remove the motor, & compressor pump from the tank and I had to lower each piece over the side on a rope...

Cool score on the ironwood, that's expensive stuff. On a similar note, I also scored two heavy factory trolleys from the same dumpster the compressor was in, I grabbed them because the decks were made from 2x6 oak planks with great patina. Still haven't figured out what to do with the wood.

It used to be a general rule that if you saw something in a dumpster, there'd be something wrong with it. But no more. I've found perfectly good cameras (three that I can remember), mp3 player, lamps, tools, wood, antique furniture (1840's clock case I sold on ebay for $275) and I can't remember what else including, yes, lots of bicycles. The mind boggles.

A couple months ago I saw a Henry Kloss stereo in the dumpster... it looked new... I thought: well, it must be broken. But I can always throw it away after I try it out, right? Stuck it under my arm and rode home one-handed. We've been using it ever since, and still haven't found anything wrong with it, except with no receipt I guess it's not under warranty.

This dumpster has been pretty good to me since we moved here. I think a lot of people just throw their stuff away when they move, or don't know how to fix stuff any more. Last week it was full of art supplies and last month there was a lava lamp with a beoken bulb that I had to wiggle out with pliers. If you ain't got pliers or friends with pliers you aint got a lava lamp.
I still miss the metal recycling bin in our last town. There was always a bike in there, sometimes good ones.

I like to visit the spring cleaning dumpsters in a town north of here. Bikes, Golf clubs, a trash pickers paradise.

I've some relatives that owned a flea shop/antique store. Guess where most of their stuff came from?