Me and the Lawnmower.

I've written about our families lawnmower before in The Lawnmower and I. This time I haven't let a little thing like grammar get in the way of putting me first in the article title!

The last three or four times I've used our lawnmower everything has been fine, aside from a little cleaning of the spark plug just to get the thing started. Today, however, I was rushing to get the lawn cut before rain settled in for the rest of the week. The sky looked liked the showers would begin soon so I skipped breakfast to get started earlier.

I cleaned the spark plug, filled the fuel tank and tried to start it. The lawnmower kind of fired but not enough to start. Few more tries... rip cord breaks, right at the handle end. How unoriginal.

Fortunately the cord didn't disappear into the housing. Some remained sticking out. I was able to pull the cord out, retie it to the handle. A few more pulls of the cord later and it starts. Front lawn gets cut, no worries.

Cutting the back lawn required stopping the lawnmower because I needed to wheel it over deep gravel. This done I attempt to start the lawn mower a second time and... it works! Okay, good, looks like this will be a breeze. Should get the lawn cut before the rain starts.

Half way through, the lawn mower is getting clogged with long, ankle deep grass, that is still damp from rain we had over a week ago. I needed to unclog it because none of the grass is making it to the catcher so... I stop the lawnmower and unclog it.

This time I attempt to start it. Nothing doing. A few more pulls on the cord... cord breaks at the handle and this time disappears back into the housing. Crap!

Now I've got to get the housing off to retrieve the cord. The sky looks like the rain could be getting closer. Having already gone through the experience of removing the ripcord housing (see previous article) this wasn't a big job but still time consuming. Twenty minutes later the mower is back in one piece.

I attempt to start the thing. It takes a few tries but success. Off I go. Finishing the back lawn without so much as another hitch, almost. A bit more of the mower's back wheel fell off. It's no longer a full circle but still usable.

Now perhaps this story isn't quite so humorous as my previous article. I'm a bit steamed because I skipped breakfast and the lawnmower caused delays when I was in a hurry to beat the rain. However the story doesn't quite finish here.

Not only did it not rain but the sun came out for the rest of the day. This article may not be that funny but some one up there sure is laughing at me!

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