I don’t know what this is

Over the years, my wife and I have found some odd things when moving into a house.  Just things left behind by the previous owners.  The creepiest was in Utah where the previous owners had left behind what were obviously hip bones and a rib cage.  That’ll make you wake up screaming.  As it turns out, the neighbors said they had a friend who was a butcher and he often provided goodies like that for their dog.  When you see them barely exposed at the surface in your back yard, it makes you look twice while trying to look away.  It looked like a bad episode of Dateline NBC.

But the latest item left behind is puzzling.  When I found it as we were moving a shed to another location, I thought it was just an old and rusted car part.  Maybe a wheel.  But from another angle, it looks like it is some sort of industrial level pulley from a mine or something.  I don’t know if metal this is eligible for recycling so I figured I’d ask the guys at the Livingston landfill where I take my trash and recycling.

The more I looked at it, the less I wanted to throw it in the recycling dumpster.   I don’t know what it is but I thought someone might be able to use it.  The pulley wheel is clearly broke so you can’t take it with you back down the mining shaft but if you are trying to outfit an Applebee’s or TGI Fridays with antiques hanging from the ceiling, let me know.  It’s probably not worth selling but if you need it, you can have it for free.   It looks like it is stamped with 2107 and something else that is too faded to read, so clearly it was left behind by a time-traveler from the year 2107.

Have you ever found something interesting left by the previous home owners?  Share below.  I’d love to hear your story.