girl takes on lawn - girl wins

lawn
Originally uploaded by ~chill~.

Unsuspecting son of neighbour wanders over into my yard looking for a key to his fathers house. While you are here, I say. Can I ask you a quick question about lawn mowers?

The neighbours son and his friend were able to show me how to attach the bag to the front lawn mower ( so it does belong to this mower after all!) and how to start and stop the mower (you have to hold the handle down when starting it and then let it go to stop the mower).

The back mower was a bit more challenging. They figured out that the line for the clutch was too loose so that clutch would not disengage and lower the blade when I pressed the blade bar. They didnt have time to fix it but with at one lawn mower working, I could at least get started.

I went back to the front of the house and miraculously got the mower started and actually began mowing the lawn! It stalled on the way up a hill and I couldnt get it started again. I screamed start you f***ing thing!“ which seemed to be the magic words as it started up once again, only to stall at few minutes later. I kept trying to restart it, screaming the magic words which no longer appeared to be magic. I tried my hardest to restart it... oh about 20 times¦ and eventually realized that it was out of gas. Got the gas can out of the shed, only to find it empty. Where to get gas? A gas station appears to be a likely option yet I have never seen anyone filling up a jerry can at a gas station. Perhaps it is more appropriate to buy gas at home depo or a gardening shop? I called in another lifeline (to quote my roommate) and asked a neighbour two doors down for help. Not only did he tell me where to get gas but was able to figure out why the back lawn mower wasnt working properly. It was not damaged at all! I was just wasnt engaging the blade bar button at the right time! ( BEFORE pushing the blade bar forward.

In the end I was able to successfully operate both lawn mowers and cut the grass in both the front and back yards. My arms are sore trying to start the mowers a million times over, from pushing the manual mower up the hills and being dragged around the back yard by the power mower. It was a steep learning curve but now I know more about mowers than if someone just showed me how to use them. I realize that my troubleshooting skills are good, I just dont persist long enough. Also each problem solved provides you with more information to solve future problems.

Tomorrow I take on the weed wacker!