Judi is holding your garbage can hostage — Come and get it!

This nor'easter is wreaking havoc on my neighborhood and my property, as it is for many New Jerseyans. But it's also presented a dilemma to me that is bothersome and kind of irritating. It's a responsibility that I had no choice about taking on. It just sort of happened to me.

You see, I noticed many of my possessions blowing around my property late yesterday afternoon, so of course I made the necessary arrangements to protect my stuff. I tied things up, I stabilized some trees around my property (ones that tend to be weak), I brought some chairs in from outside and basically protected anything that I thought was light enough to blow away.

But still, some damage was done. Stuff that I never considered — like a drain pipe being blown off my house and flung into the inside of my garage door causing a little bit of damage.

The thing that I didn't count on was the distance that the neighborhood garbage cans would travel.

Our garbage is picked up on Monday and our town does not provide those nifty heavy-duty garbage cans for us. Rather, we buy our own and some of them are the Rubbermaid type that aren't that heavy at all. I peeked out my window and saw a lot of the neighbors' garbage cans scattered in the streets, and just about to make their way into cars that were driving down the adjacent street. I ran out and collected all the neighbors garbage cans and placed them in my garage for safekeeping.

The only thing I didn't realize is that they all look similar and I'm not exactly sure which are mine.

Now begins the painstaking work of determining which garbage can is whose, contacting those neighbors and informing them that I am holding their garbage cans hostage. I certainly want to let them know before they incorrectly assume that they've got to go out and buy new ones!

But I thought that I would just post a photo of my little neighborhood garbage can collection (look closely and you can see the damage to my garage door, too). And if you think I have yours, come claim it!!! You know where I live.

NJ 101.5's guide to the storm

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COMMUNITY ALERTS: Many New Jersey towns use the Nixle system to send alerts. Many others use Everbridge. Check those services and your municipal website for more information.

USING A GENERATOR? Here’s how to keep safe. Carbon monoxide poisoning caused five New Jersey deaths in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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