It's been a busy week for sure. I spent days raking the back yard and clearing out 2 years worth of debris. I still have to work on the front yard and the flower beds, but at least the back yard is done!
We've also had a nightmare of a time with new lawn mowers. . . . .
The Story Of The Lawn Mower Nightmare
So we needed a lawn mower last Sunday. My dad was around and he offered to help Dave pick out a good lawn mower. They went to Lowe's and found a nice Troy Bilt with a Honda engine. Sounds good right? Everyone says a Honda engine is a great engine. Cool.
My dad and Dave follow the instructions and assembled the lawn mower. They put in gas and oil and my dad pulled the starter cord. After an initial burp of power, the engine stalls. Dad pulls the cord again. . . .Nothing. And again. . . . Nothing.
After half an hour of trying to start it, my dad called it quits and said he might have flooded it. So we store it overnight and planned on trying again in the morning.
The next morning, zip. Nada. The lawn mower stubbornly refuses to start. After calling the service people, the recommended option was to go exchange it. So we go back to Lowe's and exchanged for the exact same model. We bring it home, we assemble it, we gas it up, and Dave pulls the start cord.
It starts up! We are joyous! Dave makes a pass through the back yard.....but wait, it doesn't sound right. It keeps on sounding like the engine is revving. We stop it and smoke comes billowing out of the engine. Ooookaaaay. After backing away and waiting to see if the engine was going to burst into flames, we decide we're not going to die and we try to start it again. Nothing. Tried again. Still nothing. Dave and I sigh deeply and let the mower sit overnight.
The next morning lawn mower #2 still won't start, so we go back to Lowe's to either exchange it or get someone else to start it. Friendly Lowe's employee checks it out. He says we overfilled it with oil. Huh. Weird. He tries starting it. It won't start for him either. He says there's something wrong with the carburetor. Ah. We see. So we exchange for yet another Troy Bilt with a Honda engine. Friendly Lowe's employee tries starting what will be lawn mower #3. It starts! Yay! We go home with the new lawn mower and some cash back from Lowe's because we had so much trouble. What friendly people!
The next day, we re-assemble our third lawn mower (we're getting good at this). We're careful with applying the oil this time, just in case, and Dave pulls the cord. Yay! It's working! We jump for joy like Rocky. Dave gets to work mowing the lawn. After a couple of passes, he stops the engine so he can raise the blades a little higher; the grass was getting cut a little too short. He starts it up again. . .
Huh. It's only running at what sounds like half-power. Dave gets it moving to give it more juice. 5 seconds later it stalls. Gah! We try again. It's barely running and then it stalls again. I'm now holding down the drive bar, while Dave pulls the starter cord with the strength of Thor. I'm yelling to the sky "Life! Give my creation liiiiffe!". . . . .
. . . . Lawn mower #3 is dead. We curse the air and stomp the ground like crazy people.
That was strike 3 for Troy Bilt lawn mowers with their stupid Honda engines, so we bring it back to Lowe's, expecting helpful friendly employees again. Instead we get a condescending lady at the returns counter who misinterpreted the nice cash-back gesture from the other day and isn't giving us the full refund. Dave is getting worked up (he rarely gets worked up--he's a clinician), the lady is thinking Dave is an idiot and responds with even more condescension, and I'm just sitting there waiting for the manager to get involved (I figure I'd just let my husband handle it--I'm such a feminist).
After the manager gets involved and straightens everything out, we go pick out a different lawn mower to be our lawn mower #4, and choose a Husqvarna mower with a Briggs and Stratton engine. We make the exchange with a considerably friendlier woman and go home with lawn mower #4.
We assemble it, following the instructions to the letter, and Dave pulls the starter cord with trepidation.....
.....And it works! It works beautifully! It'll even start up again after being turned off! We cry out in triumph, we dance in celebration, Dave finally gets to mow our overgrown lawn. . .
. . . . and that is the end of the story of The Lawn Mower Nightmare.
Soooo, it's been a long week and I didn't get much reading done. However, I'm going to a wedding in California this week, so I'm planning on catching up on my reading on the plane, and at the beach.
Here's the reading list for this week (click on the image for more):
Okay, I'm done writing. I am ready to go outside and read!
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