Mom vs The Mower - Who Will Win

It's time for another rant. There's a battle brewing at my house, involving myself and the push mower. A week-ago on a Monday I decided to get the mower out and start trimming around the yard. You know under the trees along side the bushes every where the rider has a hard time getting to. This part of the lawn care had not been done so far this season (the lawn has been cut several times) so I knew it was going to take a bit but that was ok. The sun was out and I was looking forward to spending some time outside (not to mention the exercise).

There It Is - My Nemesis

An hour into the project (and one gas fill up) the mower quits, no sputtering, bogging nothing just stopped. After several cord pulls it starts up again all right, back in action (not for long). Ten minutes  later it quits, this time pulls on the cord achieved nothing but a sore arm. After several minutes of language I will not repeat back to the shed we go (keep in mind I was on the other side of the yard), and I go back inside the house.

"Where I was when the mower quit the second time - Didn't want you thinking I was just whining about nothing"

Now I'm really annoyed, I'd planned on being outside for most of the afternoon and it was only 11:00. Plus adding insult to injury my husband (aka "Mr Fix-It") does not get home from work until around 3:30. Fast forward to later in the afternoon, my husband is home and is now looking at the stupid mower. He comes in a short while later and tells me the air filter was plugged with junk, it's now clean so all is well.

Tuesday - mid morning - mowers out of the shed, cords pulled and after a little sputtering it runs. I'm off but I'm sure you can guess what's coming, if you guessed the mower quit "Ding-Ding-Ding, You Win The Prize". Didn't even make it an hour this time, so I pull the cord and it starts but immediately stops, this happens oh I don't know maybe four or five times before once again it's back to the shed.

"I don't like it any better from this angle"

Friday - late afternoon - my husband returns from the auto parts store with a new spark plug (the one in there was not that bad but he though "Can't hurt to try a new one") and some additive for the gas. He pulls the cord starts right up, shuts it off and repeats several times letting it run for a bit in between, "All right, knew he could fix it".

I have to wait for Sunday to try again (had the family here for a BBQ on Saturday) which was good as "Mr Fix-It" was here just in case there was a problem. But there won't be "Right" after all he had it running two days before, are you ready to win another prize? I start it up barely move forward and - "Hold on to your hats" - it quits.

He's standing there spouting more language I won't repeat and I turn and say "It Hates Me", not being one to let something get the better of him he begins pulling the cord. This parts really going to make you keel over with laughter "The Cord Breaks" now we both just start laughing, I mean what else can you do.

"There's a Lilac Bush in there, someday I just might see it again"

Today - Tuesday, a week later - my husband repairs the cord, and finds a stick wedged into some kind of linkage (I don't know) so he's sure every things good to go. No such luck when the cords pulled (it's working like a dream) the mower starts and stops. So now it's time to take it all apart so he can get to the carburetor, fuel line etc. (just what he was hoping to avoid) and see if somethings gummed up or blocked.

I thanked him for trying but said the way it's going (some kind of bad juju) the grass is going to be ten feet high, might just try a pair of scissors. Of course with my luck the screw holding the scissors together would more than likely fall out and be lost in the jungle of grass.

So this is were we are right now and we'll see what's next, The mower may have won Round 1 but this battle has just begun.