Living in Miami, AZ and Making Extra Income

I worked for Ana, a Filipino lady at the Miami Recycling Center for a few years (until she sold out to someone else).  I had previously been a buyer at San Carlos Indian Reservation while working for Ana and I had learned a lot about the business so I decided to start my own little business.  Little did I know that it would keep me busy for several years and provide an extra income for me and the people close to me.  A usual routine was that I would go to San Carlos on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week with my Toyota pick up and a trailer. The loads that we bought were always transported to my home in Miami for safekeeping overnight.  Also, we bought a lot of scrap that had to be "cleaned" so that it was salable at the best price.  I almost always had a hired Indian helper at San Carlos, usually the same person all of the time.  The helpers, over time, learned to pack and tie down the loads plus other things necessary to get the job done.  It was a two man job, so we always worked together.  Most of the time we would buy enough in one day to warrant hauling the load the next day to Tucson to sell.  I generally hauled to Tucson on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  And since on Saturday, the recycling closed at 1 p.m., I had to get down there early.  Some of the tools that we had and made use of in my yard in Miami:  Air compressor with accessories, air chisel, several weighing scales of various types, bench grinder with a wire brush wheel, chop saw, electric drills, electric screwdrivers, a big vise, a hand truck (dolly), etc.  The chop saw was really a time saver and I became very proficient with it.  It is amazing to me that I was never seriously hurt while working in the yard over the years.  The good Lord was watching over me..(to be continued)

Below is a picture of my two story apartment on Kent Street in Miami, AZ.  You cannot see the bottom apartment because of the fence.  All of the processing (cleaning, which generally means getting any foreign materials such as wood, iron, nails, screws separated from the non-ferrous metals, also stripping insulation from copper wire) was done in this enclosure between the fence and the apartment structure. It was pretty noisy at times, especially the chop saw, but we never had any complaints from the neighbors.

The two pictures below will give you some idea of the size of the yard I or we (sometimes I had help) had to work in

I probably have over 1,000 pictures of can and scrap loads that I have hauled over the years.  Below are just a few.

 In the photo below, you can see some of the variety of non-ferrous metals that I worked with. On the tongue of the trailer, in the tub, you can see heavy copper wire, the tub itself would be MLC grade aluminum, also painted aluminum and some stainless steel items. On top  is a lot of painted aluminum, some extrusion, aluminum rims,  two plastic barrels full of aluminum or copper.  Then, covered up inside the trailer may be more copper, cast aluminum, etc.

 Below is a nice Van that I had for a short time. I ruined it by letting it overheat when the thermostat stuck shut right after I bought it.

 Below is one of my smaller loads..."I'm just so proud to be here!!"

Below: I think this was one of the loads that I hauled in from San Carlos while still working for Miami Recycling before I learned to use ratchet tie downs!!