The first lawn mower we had at this house was given to us by Jen’s mother and step father. It was excellent for the first year, but when I brought it out for year two something broke off (I can’t remember exactly) and it would no longer start.

We went out and bought a new mower for year two. It was a self propelled push mower. It had balls so big that it didn’t cut the grass, it terrified the grass so badly that the grass cut itself. It was also heavy and the handle was just low enough to make my ridiculously tall self have to bend over a little. Only a little, but enough that my back hurt like hell after each mowing. It worked well for year two in the new house, but when I took it out for year three it wouldn’t start (are you seeing a pattern?). It was probably just the spark plug or something dumb like that, but I couldn’t get the damn thing out to try and change it. I don’t have a socket long enough, and every time I tried to get one it would be just wrong enough to not help.

So for year three I borrowed a mower from my father. He had a new one and I took his old one. It was a small push mower that was very light. The handle was as low as my super mower but the thing overall was so light it didn’t result in back pain. That one wouldn’t start either, but it wasn’t designed by assholes and I was able to change the spark plug all by my self (like a big boy). It worked swimmingly all through year three and for the first two mows of year four (this year).

Then two weeks ago I tried to start it. It chugged weakly for a few seconds and conked out. That was it. No more mowing for that puppy. Last Thursday I took it to a small engine shop in Methuen. Today I picked it up. All better. It runs, it had a tune up, and it had it’s blade sharpened (which is good because with all the leaves in the back yard I tend to abuse those blades).

When I came home today my first thought was, “WOOHOO the mower is fixed!”

Then I thought about it for a minute and considered the implications on my weekend.

Crap, the lawn mower is fixed.