Vince and I have very different ideas about lots of things but one of them is how often the grass should be cut. A mini-dachshund, a chihuahua, tall grass and lots of snakes . . and we’ve about had a war about the grass cutting around here.
Old Mower
In order to get the old mower to work, it usually meant putting the battery on the charger, fixing at least one flat tire, adjusting at least two blades and a few bad words that only an Italian can get by with saying. I would tell Vince . . if you will just get it started, I’ll cut the grass but getting it started was 90% of the job.
Lucky for me, the transmission went out in it at least a month ago. Vince thought he had someone that was going to come here and work on it but, like so many people who promise to show up, it never happened. I just wanted a new mower . . and of course, I got that “money doesn’t grow on trees” speech but finally, I’ve prevailed and the new mower will be in this afternoon.
Vince has been cutting the grass around the house with a push mower that sounds like it’s on it’s last breath. I said “Why don’t you buy a push mower too?” and he said “I have one . . I just haven’t taken it out of the box yet.” Really? I wonder when he got it . . back in MO or recently??
The problem with getting a new mower is that it doesn’t fit in the back of the old S-10 pickup so we had to buy a trailer and it should be ready to be picked up this afternoon too. We got a fairly small utility trailer because other than hauling the mower home, it will probably not get used much. It has ramps . . kind of a fold down back I guess you would say . . and Vince can push our big trash toter up on it and haul it to the landfill! We don’t have trash pickup out here and he takes those stinky bags out and puts them in the back of the old S-10, and then he has to come home and wash out the back of the truck and we can never get everything to the dump in one trip because the S-10 is too small and we have so many boxes and other stuff . . you know that yarn all arrives in boxes! We shred our bigger boxes for mulch in the garden but not ones that have a lot of colored ink or the smaller ones. It’s $5 per trip to go to the dump whether you have an old S-10 or a trailer full of trash. I don’t even mind paying $5 twice if we make two trips but that never happens.
The first thing I’m loading up on the trailer to take to the dump . .
Potty Chair
Something the previous owners left! I am so ready to get rid of that thing!
The old mower . . I said . . can we take it to the dump? Vince said “No, I’m going to see if I can fix it!” Really, why? There are a million things to do around here and he loves to tinker with something that will probably never work again but . . if it makes him happy, I’m happy and at least I’ll have a mower I can start and cut the grass without begging him to do it.
I was so looking forward to cutting the grass this evening and now . . it looks like it’s going to rain. Oh well . . it will be there when I’m ready to cut it.
Vickie VanDyken says
Lucky you!! I wish my hubby would let us get a new mower. Ours is like yours, we have to do a million things to get it started. The hood isn’t even on it any more. The money thing always comes up when I want to get a new one. I used to enjoy mowing. I really did. My husband says I never did it??? That is so not true! How do they forget these things?
son-in-law had a mowing business ( we paid for the mower) he did it for awhile. Now he is driving truck for us…..
The last time I tried to mow my husband came running out of the shop and said, “you can’t do it that way, what are you doing?” You see I mow in quilt patterns or whatever I feel like doing. Our yard has obstacles, trees mostly, scattered around, so I just mow around as the whim strikes. Well hubby is a farm boy and insists I mow it in straight rows????? It’s grass I tell him, not a field, what difference does it make??? Whooot Whoot??? That was the wrong thing to say..ROFLOL. I mowed one round in a straight row and he left ….so I began my zig zagging happy mowing. Well he ran out of the shop and demanded I get off the mower. Really? Really? He was really mad. He finished mowing and I retreated to the house …laughing all the way! Which probably made him madder??? I wish I had a mower I could start so I could do it when he is gone….in the manner I enjoy 🙂
I’m thinking maybe this is the year for a John Deere !! If I can stash away the cash I just might do it. Because I really enjoy mowing 🙂 🙂 🙂 When he is not around!!
Linda in NE says
Lawn mowers that only start when you go through a complicated ritual…been there done that!! You should see the collection of old mowers we have around here and every Spring it’s the same thing….tinker, tinker, tinker to see how many he can get running again. Should anything ever happen to him while I’m still young enough to care if the grass gets mowed or not I’m collecting the insurance and then buying a brand new rider, push mower, trimmer…and just for good measure, a brand new snow blower. Machines that will start when I want them to! Oh, Yeah and having someone haul away all the old junkers. 🙂
JudyL says
That’s exactly how I feel. If I knew every time I went to cook a meal, it was going to take me longer to get the stove going than to get the meal cooked, I’d never cook. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t have to build a wood fire in the stove before I could cook! But, really .. if you know you’re going to have to cut the grass . . keep a decent working lawn mower. It doesn’t have to be pretty or fancy, but dang, I hate knowing I have to go through all that hassle before I can even start cutting the grass.
karen clark says
Judy, My husband and Vince are alike in that they NEVER get rid of anything that they think can be fixed! DH keeps everything like a header and will not trash anything. He keeps old bolts, nails, etc. that are thrown in a can just in case. It takes longer to find one in that mess than it is worth. As to lawn mowing, I moved to our new house 2 1/2 years before he did and mowed our 10 acres every week by myself. Now, he claims I do it wrong and don’t know how to do it! What a laugh! If I could only get hime to do everything he says he wants to do but never does it.
JudyL says
Years ago, I flipped a lawn mower on a steep incline and Vince still reminds me that not only could I have injured myself (I didn’t), but I did screw up a lawn mower that already didn’t work right. Once the new mower gets here . . I will tell him . . if you don’t like the way I do it, then YOU do it before I think it’s a week past needing to be cut and life will be good for everyone.
Dianne says
I just about spewed my coffee when I saw the potty chair! My laugh for the day. Thanks, Judy!
Fran howard says
I had a good laugh today reading your post and the comments. My husband does the same thing, we have 4 old lawnmowers in the shed “just in case he needs a part”. It takes for ever to start the “newest” one 🙂 it must be a guy thing otherwise how else to explain this behavior ?
Denise ~ Justquiltin says
I think you need to paint that potty chair a pretty color and put a flower pot in it — or maybe a basin in the bottom to make a bird bath. ROFLOL
Cathi in Texas says
RE: potty chair…ya never know when you may need one! Last month I had hip replacement surgery…….I ended up needing an elevated toilet seat LOL. I’m 74 & never dreamed I’d need anything like that.
Diana says
How funny with the potty chair .. I was drinking my pepsi when I saw it .. TO the dump.. to the dump.. to the dump … LOL
Sara says
I figure that I cook meals, buy groceries, pay bills, clean house, do laundry and run all the errands, he can mow the grass. He is retired and has only to mow the grass and take care of the barn. (I used to do that too until I started having lots of problems with my hands.) The old mower had lots of problems like yours. So when I came into a bit of money, I bought DH a brand, spanking, new zero turn with a professional base. (that costs more.) I bought it because I was really tired of all the griping, and only mowing a small piece of the yard. Now it gets done, less griping, and doesn’t take over a week to mow our place. Best money I spent in a long time. LOL
JudyL says
Around here, there are so many things to get done and Vince still works so if he thinks the grass can wait til Saturday and it’s driving me nuts on Tuesday, I don’t mind one bit hopping on the mower and cutting the grass so long as everything works as it’s intended to work. It may be a while before I’m comfortable on that ZTR mower though . . it’s fun but I’m a bit afraid of it right now.