The Weird and the Wonderful

It's hubby vs. landfill in search for wife's $10,000 diamond ring 

From: www.huffingtonpost.com 

It was a simple but heartbreaking mistake.

Still, the story of how Brian McGuinn accidentally threw out his wife's $10,000 custom-made wedding ring has a happy ending. After plowing through dirty diapers, broken glass, and several unmentionables at the county landfill, the 34-year-old financial adviser found the family jewel.

The misadventure began Oct. 30 when McGuinn's wife, Anna, who is 5 months pregnant with their first child, handed him the ring to put in her jewelry box while she showered.

He grabbed it at the same time he was getting ready to throw out an old razor. Without thinking, he chucked both things in his hand.

"It was so thoughtless," he said.

The couple, married for five years, didn't realize the mistake until the next morning. By then, Waste Management had already collected the garbage from their Margate condo.

"The waterworks began," Anna McGuinn said. "My husband looked on in horror."

Desperate, Anna McGuinn, 31, called Wheelabrator North Broward — the division of Waste Management that processes the garbage. Officials there said her husband could come and search.

Plant worker Joel Ryan figured out where the ring would most likely be based on where that neighborhood's trash was dumped. Then he got McGuinn suited up: protective vest, goggles, a suit. He even leveled off a 10-foot pile to make it easy to search.

And he warned McGuinn: people coming to the county dump looking for items they accidentally tossed usually go home empty-handed.

Ryan said McGuinn was sifting and trudging through the county landfill — in unincorporated Broward near Pompano Beach — for more than 30 minutes.

"Nastiness you wouldn't believe," McGuinn said. "It was absolutely disgusting. It stunk beyond belief. The smell was God-awful. Everything unsanitary you could think of crossed my path at least a couple times. I took an extraordinarily long shower and toothbrushes were used."

But he found it — a tiny glimmer surrounded by black sludge wedged between two brown bags.

"It looked like a screw and I reached down and it looped around my index finger," he said. "I was ecstatic. It was like winning the lottery. It was probably one of the best moments ever."

He said he let out a whopping yell that made the Wheelabrator crew jump. "I think they were startled by the shrill I let out," he said.

Ryan was impressed. "Record time for sure," he said.

The moral of the story: "Perseverance," Brian McGuinn said. "A lot of people don't find things; it's gone. But I knew I had to try."

Word of the Day

Persevere
per·se·vere: \pər-sə-ˈvir\
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French parseverer, from Latin perseverare, from per- through + severus severe
First Known Use: 14th century
Verb
to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement

More Vocabulary

Chuck: v. discard
Glimmer: v. to appear indistinctly with a faintly luminous quality
Heartbreak: n. crushing grief, anguish, or distress
Sift: v. to go through especially to sort out what is useful or valuable
Sludge: n. a muddy or slushy mass, deposit, or sediment
Trudge: v. to walk or march steadily and usually laboriously
Waterworks: n.pl. the shedding of tears
Whopping: adj. extraordinary, incredible

Love those Phrasal Verbs!

Figure out: to understand; solve

• We couldn't figure out where all the money had gone.

Suite up: to dress in a uniform or special suit

• Alfred wants us to suit up before we enter the kitchen. He does not want food getting on our new uniforms.

Throw out: to cast away; remove; discard

• Could you throw out the trash, please?