Saturday, April 26, 2008

Let It Rain!


When I got home from Maryland last week, I immediately started mowing my lawn. I was exhausted from my trip, but that did not deter me. My lawn was already WELL past time for needing a trim. In fact, it was such a jungle, I had to split the work between two days. I vowed then and there to not let it get that bad again. But sometimes that's tough. Between my schedule and the weather, I don't always get to mow when it needs it.

At any rate, this weekend, I went out to mow my grass and I couldn't even get my lawnmower started. I'm all, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" I tried everything. Well, everything I know in my limited experience with auto-mechanics and small engines. Finally, I had to do it...I called my dad. He found the problem in no time. (Of course!) The cable between the engine and the tension bar was broken in two. Great!
***By the way... For those of you that will give me a hard time for not noticing this cable being severed in TWO, know that it IS encased in a hard plastic tubing. It never crossed my mind to pull the darn cable out of its little house. But I'm a quick study. Next time I'll know.***

So, my dad suggested that I go to Wal-Mart to get a replacement part. That's where I bought the mower; we expected they should have the parts to make it work again. Wrong. They had gas caps, spark plugs, and blades galore. That was pretty much the extent of their replacement parts for my lawnmower. They suggested that I go to a hardware store.

So, I did. No luck there either. I actually stopped by three different places. Finally, I ended up at a place that rents all kinds of equipment and is also a Murray authorized reseller. That's the brand-name of my mower. They had the part...kind of. Apparently, Murray filed bankruptcy and so their parts are more difficult to come by. The cable that I got was like 1/2 an inch shorter than the cable I had. But it was as close as we could get. And for $6.42, it was worth a shot.

Dad and I had to fiddle with it a little...it's NOT like it was off the factory floor...but it works. By 2:10, my lawnmower was running. So, I mowed for awhile before going to mass and finished it when I got home from mass.

So, let it rain! My lawn is mowed.

In fact, I LOVE to sit on my porch during a rain storm. And nothing sounds nicer right now. Too bad I can't order a rainstorm like I can order a medium pepperoni pizza. You know, and have it delivered right to my door. I'd hang with Linus on the front porch and enjoy the sounds. Linus wouldn't necessarily enjoy it. But he'd be glad that I was there protecting him from the thunder.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's supposed to rain until tomorrow night. And I don't think we're expecting storms. Just...rain. And not much of it, I think. That's too bad. I'll probably still go out on the porch and hang with L'il Man Linus. But we'll have to do it with clear skies.

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