One (small) good deed a day 2024

[oneday]

On my morning walk, I took a detour outside the gated community to grab a chair with only 2 legs that has been on the median strip for weeks. Maybe tomorrow I'll get the small bookcase that was its companion. It was too heavy to carry, but I will be prepared with my furniture dolly.

If the abandoned furniture is on a public street, chances are there's an app for that. Trouble is, every city has their own. (A few other agencies do, too, like the water district and Caltrans, but cities are very good at redirecting you if something isn't theirs.) Search for something like "report maintenance [city in question]" and you should find an app, web form, or email address. From there, it's usually a question of attaching a photo and giving an accurate location. You'll also be ready to go the next time you find potholes, graffiti, water leaks, or whatever else.

Personally, I'll remove a littered coffee cup, but for furniture or major appliances, my taxes and yours are already paying for someone who can come out with a truck. Likewise anything that might be a safety issue to deal with, like if it's in heavy traffic or down an embankment.

That's a good tip. I did use the city website to report a burnt out street light once. I'll see if it covers abandoned trash. But in any case, I think I'll still put the bookcase in our dumpsters this time. It's cheap & has been rained on, so is no good anymore. I am tired of seeing it.

[crocheted_stache]

Another day, another walk, another few maintenance items spotted and reported.

I also got the repairs done on one of my brother's jackets I've been very slowly mending for him. It's not perfect, but it will let it ride again.

[crocheted_stache]

Removed the largest intact pieces of a broken glass bottle from a bike lane adjacent to a bike trail, before they become smaller pieces. It's on my usual route, so I'll try to remember to look for smaller pieces I can safely remove the next time I go by.

[Serendip]

Picked up some items so that they wouldn't get eaten by dogs or wildlife (a random rib, grape, werther's caramel, McDonald's garbage)

[Dollar Slice]

Donated a coat to a coat drive.

[crocheted_stache]

Reported another hole in a fence that's supposed to be keeping the public away from the train tracks.

Encouraged a local official to include transit information and bicycle parking availability in announcements for upcoming events. (Their announcements so far have detailed information for where to park a car.)

Tried to connect someone on one of the free groups asking for a gaming chair to someone on a different one of the free groups offering a gaming chair.

[oneday]

Tidied up the shopping carts in the far-from-the-store entrance cart corral, so that hopefully future shoppers will nest their carts better until the employee can retrieve them. It's a miserable wet day and that's got to be a slog of a job today.

[crocheted_stache]

My city has little jars of orange flags to take with you when crossing the street in certain places. I crossed earlier today and noticed that there were six flags on the near side and none on the far side. So I rebalanced three of the flags back to the side where I was going.

I'm not convinced the flags make very much difference for safety, but they seem to help communicate "Hey driver, I'm crossing here. If you ever stop for us lowly pedestrians, now's the time."

[Poundwise]

Bought a warm coat for the son of a low income friend. Originally was going to give him my son's too-small coat, but turns out my son likes that coat and new coats in the larger size are backordered till March. I looked for used coats but in the end I decided to get the poor kid a new coat of his own.

[Poundwise]

I have a friend who is quite shy so she has only two friends, and I'm one of them. I persuaded her to come to a volunteer event with me, and also arranged for her to catch a ride with another volunteer who is super nice.  They hit it off, and now she may have three friends!

This worked quite well... they are now getting together without me! This makes me feel very happy.

[crocheted_stache]

Sent a gift card, a couple sandwiches, and a food product I had a surplus of home with the friend who's reluctant to accept help. If I just tried sending her home with some extra cash, she could use it, but she probably wouldn't accept. She will accept food I have plenty/too much of and a gift card that I got for volunteering for a thing and that I'm not getting around to using, for somewhere I know she shops. So we'll go with that.

[LaineyAZ]

That's a good observation, crocheted_stache.  I've learned over the years that we can meet people's needs in different ways but it's best to do so in the way that they can accept it.

Forcing charity or a good deed on someone may backfire when it causes the recipient to feel all kinds of ways.
Giving and receiving can be a tricky dance.

[crocheted_stache]

Picked up a fast food wrapper ahead of the next round of storms, keeping at least one thing out of the storm drains. Also, I reported a traffic signal with a bulb out.

I tried to steer the next couple of Buy Nothing hand-offs to dry days. One thing is paper and the other fabric, so it doesn't make a ton of sense for them to sit on the porch in the rain. When it's dry, I can bike one of them to where is going and the person picking up the other doesn't have to drive in the rain. Californians don't drive better in the rain.

[crocheted_stache]

Removed a few plastic items from where they'll get swept downstream if the creek rises in the rains predicted tomorrow.

Reported an access hole missing its cover in the middle of a busy road.

[Dicey]

It was my day at the thrift shop today. When I lugged our sign up the block to the busy corner this morning, I noticed an empty #10 tin can in the gutter. Of course it was wet, but I picked it up anyway. I took it back to the shop and chucked it in the recycle bin.

[Serendip]

Helped some tourists find a nice place for a cocktail when they were confused about where to go and asked me for suggestions.

[crocheted_stache]

I don't usually count things at work, but today I was trying to get out to attend an extracurricular thing tonight, and a coworker caught up with me on my way out. We managed to troubleshoot the problem in about three minutes, and I wasn't late getting to my thing.

I suppose I can count another thing from a week or so ago. A staff member for an organization where I volunteer joined a few months ago and then got shuffled into my group when another staff member left. He emailed me a couple weeks ago to get my opinion of a project he'd been asked to evaluate. I sent back an email apologizing for not having time on the days he could have met and also detailing what I thought of the project. (Fortunately, I was already familiar with it.)

I must have gotten it right. When I met him tonight at the event, he said he hadn't tried again to schedule a meeting because he had enough to go on from my email.

[crocheted_stache]

Helped some tourists find a nice place for a cocktail when they were confused about where to go and asked me for suggestions.

I've offered plenty of suggestions and directions to visitors and folks unfamiliar with transit or bike trails, but I'd be pretty useless if anyone asked me where to get cocktails. If ever a guest of mine wants the California wine tour, I'll have to turn them over to someone else who knows that part. That, or get a good list or guidebook and be the designated driver.

[crocheted_stache]

Reported some graffiti and a water leak.

Introduced a friend to a local eatery and a small ethnic market. I think this one counts as a favor to both the friend and the respective businesses.

Sent the friend home with some surplus dry yeast and a bread making guide. We get the big bag of yeast from Costco for about the price of two of the little packets. We use a decent amount, but we still find it's best to give away half to a third of it for freshness. It's also an excuse to pass along a little glass jar that isn't a mason jar but that was being saved to "come in handy someday." I guess this was the day.

I have another couple such jars in the dishwasher, and I'll see if anyone in the Buy Nothing group needs yeast, too.

[crocheted_stache]

Reported some graffiti and a water leak.

Introduced a friend to a local eatery and a small ethnic market. I think this one counts as a favor to both the friend and the respective businesses.

Sent the friend home with some surplus dry yeast and a bread making guide. We get the big bag of yeast from Costco for about the price of two of the little packets. We use a decent amount, but we still find it's best to give away half to a third of it for freshness. It's also an excuse to pass along a little glass jar that isn't a mason jar but that was being saved to "come in handy someday." I guess this was the day.

I have another couple such jars in the dishwasher, and I'll see if anyone in the Buy Nothing group needs yeast, too.

I just sent the friend my usual bread recipe, including my notes.

[oneday]

Whenever I walk by the laundry room, if it's unoccupied & the light is on, I turn the light off. It's on a timer, but sometimes there's 20 minutes left on the timer!

[crocheted_stache]

Whenever I walk by the laundry room, if it's unoccupied & the light is on, I turn the light off. It's on a timer, but sometimes there's 20 minutes left on the timer!

My initial reaction was to wonder why you didn't just set a shorter timer, but I guess it's a shared laundry room. In that case, maybe push management/maintenance for a motion sensor switch.

[crocheted_stache]

Little things yesterday: I walked a mile in a direction I apparently haven't gone lately in daylight, collecting photos of graffiti, dumping, and one damaged road sign to report to the city for maintenance. I hope they got to most of it before the rain started.

Big thing yesterday: I met with the library staff about an initiative I've been trying to encourage. Emboldened by a well-funded DAF and inspired by some mustachian initiatives in the community, I asked the director of the Friends of the Library to help with getting everyone together. This initiative exists in a few tentative, disconnected pieces already. What I offered was essentially a mini-grant to get it started for real, bring the existing pieces together, add a core of new things to the mix, and promote the whole thing better. I did it this way because I knew it would need staff on board to make it go.

Yesterday I got to sit down with staff and receive the grant proposal for my mini-grant. One of the librarians clearly understood the assignment and seems thrilled to get to implement it. So I came home from the meeting and made the grant recommendation from my DAF.

If all goes well, the librarians and Friends should be able to show off how popular this initiative is and how it benefits the community, and hopefully get more donations and other grants to build on it.

[oneday]

Whenever I walk by the laundry room, if it's unoccupied & the light is on, I turn the light off. It's on a timer, but sometimes there's 20 minutes left on the timer!

My initial reaction was to wonder why you didn't just set a shorter timer, but I guess it's a shared laundry room. In that case, maybe push management/maintenance for a motion sensor switch.

Yeah, it wasn't clear that it's a shared laundry room in an apartment building. When I leave the room, I endeavor to turn the light off, but sure I miss it every now and again. As do my neighbors :)

A motion sensing light is a great idea!

[Dicey]

I picked up trash on my morning walk. Alas, it wasn't enough to make a difference...

[crocheted_stache]

I used the time I was on the bus this evening to send a note to the people in charge about how much I appreciated the bus driver's help taking care of my bike. I also filled in all the surveys about how crowded the transit was and so on.

[crocheted_stache]

I didn't spend much time out today, but I went far enough to spot one traffic light not lighting, so I reported it. (It was one burnt-out bulb among multiples, not a whole intersection or anything, so no big deal if it waits a day.) I also righted a few neighbors' trash bins and closed several more, so they weren't blocking the sidewalk or collecting rain.

[crocheted_stache]

For the friend who's not well off, I ordered a part she would have struggled to afford to get her bike up and running again.

I made a few connections this week. I referred a former colleague who's suddenly between jobs to a technical recruiter who's been pretty on target for DH and myself, helping us land a job and an interview, respectively. I introduced leaders in two local organizations I know to each other. I put a bike volunteer in contact with library staff about fixing bikes outside the library one weekend per month.

I have updates on a couple from recent weeks. The person I dropped off clothes for wrote back to say she was delighted with them and was keeping most of them, except some jeans she shared with her sister. I'm glad. Some of it felt like a shot in the dark when I packed it up.

And the transit company called me to assure me that they forwarded to the appropriate managers the praise I sent about the operator who helped me load and unload my bike in the dark and the rain. I suspect they field a lot of complaints for every compliment.

[oneday]

Seeing this thread prompted me to remember to submit the pothole report. I'd taken a photo a few weeks ago, but always forget to submit the report once I'm home. It also took a few weeks to remember to take the photo in the first place, as I'm always either in a rush to get somewhere or tired when coming home & don't want to take the time to walk the block to where the pothole is. Finally submitted, yay!

There is some street work nearby; I know it probably doesn't work like this, but hoping they will just add this on to that work order.

[crocheted_stache]

Seeing this thread prompted me to remember to submit the pothole report. I'd taken a photo a few weeks ago, but always forget to submit the report once I'm home. It also took a few weeks to remember to take the photo in the first place, as I'm always either in a rush to get somewhere or tired when coming home & don't want to take the time to walk the block to where the pothole is. Finally submitted, yay!

There is some street work nearby; I know it probably doesn't work like this, but hoping they will just add this on to that work order.

I'm definitely guilty of taking photos of things to report "later," and then forgetting that the photo exists, exactly where I took it, etc. I don't usually have the time or inclination to stand there on the sidewalk reporting things while I'm looking at them.

And you're right, it almost certainly doesn't work like that. Unless the hole is where they're about to dig/pave anyway, there will be a separate crew making the rounds with material designed for filling potholes. The good news is that that kind of work is routine and usually waits at most a few days until there are a group of things to do in a given area. They don't have to decide whose job it's supposed to be or free up a crew and a truck just for your thing on your street. They'll be adding your request to a work order, just not that work order.

I also turned in a pothole report today, but it wasn't to the usual city, so I'll be interested to see how and when it gets addressed.

[crocheted_stache]

Picked up half a dozen cups and snack wrappers littered at the transit station I went through today.

Delivered a gift to someone I know who's recovering from surgery this week. The visit will have to wait.

[oneday]

Reported a door to the building that is slamming closed. Maintenance fixed it right away! You're welcome, neighboring apartment dwellers :) But I did it for me! I don't like slamming doors.

[LaineyAZ]

Reported a door to the building that is slamming closed. Maintenance fixed it right away! You're welcome, neighboring apartment dwellers :) But I did it for me! I don't like slamming doors.

Related to this, I had regular monthly visits to a medical office for several years.  (nothing major)  Their entrance door was also slamming closed and did so for over a year!
I don't know how the office staff didn't go nuts with that noise all day long, not to mention those of us in the waiting room who had to hear it, but honestly it made me rethink that if their medical practice wasn't paying attention to these things then what was the state of their medical care?
I know it's a stretch but c'mon, basic maintenance should be the bare minimum. 

[San Diego Girl]

Dropped off a card and candle for a neighbor going through a difficult time.

Dropped off avocados for another neighbor who doesn't drive.

[Serendip]

Picked up some garbage while out on a hike..might take a bag with me next time since there seemed to be more things left behind by campers which is emerging as snow melts

[crocheted_stache]

Picked up assorted litter on my walk today and reported graffiti, potholes, and a bump in the sidewalk I found along the way.

Recommended a podcast to a friend who's definitely interested in that subject.

I have some fruits of previous activities to report, too.
I was mentioned in a (different) podcast I listen to. A few weeks ago, they asked for questions on an upcoming topic, and I sent one they  liked well enough to answer.

And a several of the reports I sent in last week have resulted in repairs.

[crocheted_stache]

Yesterday I heard buzzing in my kitchen and figured out that a wasp or bee was in the stove vent. With DH's help, mainly because he's much taller than me, we caught the critter in a plastic bowl, slid a card under the open side, and escorted it out of the house.

[crocheted_stache]

Today I went for a bike ride. I dropped off an item I'm giving away, and because I was in no hurry and I visited streets I don't usually visit, I stopped and recorded a whole list of potholes along the way. I've now sent in reports about most of them. I also removed more than one sharp object from the bike lane.

[crocheted_stache]

Went for a walk at lunchtime. I'm working from home today so I don't have to bike in the rain and so DH could ferry a friend whose car isn't working to a medical appointment. I dropped off a Buy Nothing thing.

On my way back, I found a pretty good-sized branch that had fallen in the wind from a neighbor's tree and into the street. I dragged it the half block home and got it chopped up and into our yard waste bin just before the rain started in earnest. We weren't getting more yard work done before the truck comes tomorrow, anyway, and maybe it frees up the neighbors and the city crews to take care of anything more serious.

This means I can add "branch manager" to my resume!

[Freedomin5]

Spent time talking to a coworker who is struggling.

[jeninco]

Am visiting family in the place I grew up, and went for a walk on trails with my brother and his dog yesterday.  We walked up a trail along a creek for a mile or so, came out on a busy street and I bought us coffees (he was working as a federal contractor, so recently laid off) and then used my empty cup to collect pieces of broken glass on the way back down the trail.

[crocheted_stache]

I took a long bike ride today and took my time. I stopped along the way to document a whole assortment of graffiti, potholes, and other issues, which I'm still in the process of reporting. I stopped to tell a couple of people waiting at bus stops that there were no buses today. I removed some branches from the bike lane and sidewalks and picked up a couple pieces of litter, including a nail. And I dropped off one Buy Nothing item, which was the thing that got me out the door.

I didn't go anywhere yesterday, but I did lend my fruit picker to a Buy Nothing neighbor.

[Poundwise]

Mother of a friend had her gas stove turned off because of fears about her forgetfulness. I dropped off a portable set of burners that have automatic temperature shutoff, so she can continue to cook her food for a while.  Praying that it helps.

[crocheted_stache]

I took a long bike ride today and took my time. I stopped along the way to document a whole assortment of graffiti, potholes, and other issues, which I'm still in the process of reporting.

DH is otherwise happy to sign up for a long bike ride, but he was having a down day yesterday and stayed home to rest. It's just as well. He doesn't have quite as much interest in stopping every block to record pavement conditions. I put in a couple dozen reports yesterday. He says, "The city should pay you for what you're doing."

Some of the local cities did sidewalk surveys where they hired a contractor to go around with a pushcart full of instruments and look for missing sections and rough spots, measure slopes, and check which pedestrian buttons met current accessibility standards and so on. Maybe if I ever want a part-time retirement gig I'll see if any of those contractors are hiring surveyors.

[LaineyAZ]

I took a long bike ride today and took my time. I stopped along the way to document a whole assortment of graffiti, potholes, and other issues, which I'm still in the process of reporting.

DH is otherwise happy to sign up for a long bike ride, but he was having a down day yesterday and stayed home to rest. It's just as well. He doesn't have quite as much interest in stopping every block to record pavement conditions. I put in a couple dozen reports yesterday. He says, "The city should pay you for what you're doing."

Some of the local cities did sidewalk surveys where they hired a contractor to go around with a pushcart full of instruments and look for missing sections and rough spots, measure slopes, and check which pedestrian buttons met current accessibility standards and so on. Maybe if I ever want a part-time retirement gig I'll see if any of those contractors are hiring surveyors.

I was thinking the same thing for you!  You are doing a valuable public service.  And maintenance (or lack of) is one of the most visible things that residents complain about when they feel their taxes aren't being used effectively. 

Staying on top of this goes a long way in public satisfaction with their government.

[crocheted_stache]

I took a long bike ride today and took my time. I stopped along the way to document a whole assortment of graffiti, potholes, and other issues, which I'm still in the process of reporting.

DH is otherwise happy to sign up for a long bike ride, but he was having a down day yesterday and stayed home to rest. It's just as well. He doesn't have quite as much interest in stopping every block to record pavement conditions. I put in a couple dozen reports yesterday. He says, "The city should pay you for what you're doing."

Some of the local cities did sidewalk surveys where they hired a contractor to go around with a pushcart full of instruments and look for missing sections and rough spots, measure slopes, and check which pedestrian buttons met current accessibility standards and so on. Maybe if I ever want a part-time retirement gig I'll see if any of those contractors are hiring surveyors.

I was thinking the same thing for you!  You are doing a valuable public service.  And maintenance (or lack of) is one of the most visible things that residents complain about when they feel their taxes aren't being used effectively. 

Staying on top of this goes a long way in public satisfaction with their government.

Some of the apps and reporting sites are a little clunky, and every city and agency has their own, but I wish many more of the "They're wasting my taxes!!!" crowd would have the experience of stopping on the way to report some annoying pothole or whatever and seeing it fixed, sometimes as soon as the same day. Nobody needs to decide to approve replacing a bad light bulb or fixing a leak, and they can be incredibly efficient about it.

Of course, I also do a lot of this reporting in self-defense. Cracks in the pavement can be hazardous, moreso when biking or walking than driving, and especially if they're hard to see in low light. I bike and walk a lot, so it's important to me that streets and sidewalks be clear and safe, and it's also easier for me to see stuff, and to stop and snap a photo. I like to think that it especially helps anyone with reduced vision or mobility.

[crocheted_stache]

Another bike ride, another couple pieces of litter removed, another couple of reports about graffiti and other minor problems along the way.

I'm feeling a little bit saturated on public meetings lately, but I've attended more than my share of those the past few weeks, to push for improvements that require larger decisions than to stop and send in a report of where the hole in the road is.

[Freedomin5]

I invited friends to spend the summer with us at our cottage.