I had planned to go Horse Expo today. Tomorrow and Sunday I'm enrolled in a horse clinic so today was the only day I could make it. But it's been a hectic week and there are many tasks still undone, and with the weekend booked, this is the only day to get things done. The most pressing item on the list is mowing the grass, which is getting to the "fire danger" stage. So I regretfully decided to skip Expo and all that glorious shopping in favor of mowing grass. Very regretfully, as mowing causes my wrists to go numb and my allergies to flare up, not to mention that it's just a dirty, hot, miserable job.
Side note: I've been following Loral Langemeier (aka "The Millionaire Maker") and she doesn't even want to talk to you if you clean your own house, and I suspect that mowing your own acreage falls into the same category--as a business owner, you should be spending your time on more important things, and outsource the housecleaning-type of work. So I have been pondering hiring out all the heavy-duty outdoor maintenance to the neighborhood "guy", Alberto. Alberto does so much work for everyone around here that one neighbor suggested renaming the area to "Albertoville".
I pulled out the lawnmower and filled it with gas, which left just a tiny bit of gasoline in my 5-gallon can. I primed it and pulled the cord. Cord refused to be pulled. Completely locked up. And I've been bragging about how reliable that lawnmower is, too. I took the housing where the cord resides apart but didn't see anything obviously wrong (who am I kidding? I don't even know what I was looking for.).
Life lesson #1: Don't waste your last resources (gas in this case) on something you are not sure is going to work.
After sulking for a bit (because by then it was too late to head for Sacramento for Horse Expo anyway), I pulled myself together and decided that I must deal with this. I hear that all habits can be broken over a period of 3 weeks, so I've decided to break the procrastination habit, and here was an opportunity. If something is broken, you get it fixed, right? So I optimistically called the local repair place only to be told that they are backed up for about five weeks, and from the symptoms it sounded like the mower was dead anyway.
Not quite ready to accept their diagnosis, but clearly not able to get the machine repaired in a timely fashion, I determined the next options were to find Alberto, to borrow a mower, or to rent one. Alberto, who is normally working somewhere around here, was nowhere to be found. I don't like to borrow things with moving parts since I seem to deliver the kiss of death to them, so I called the local rental place and was able to reserve a high-weed mower. At the rental place, they brought out the monster machine and went over all the operating procedures (I bought the insurance just in case). After making sure it was full of gas, they went to load it on the truck, and it turned out the blade was stuck on "on", so it shredded part of their ramps when they tried to load it. Clearly a safety issue. They found another one and loaded it, and I made it safely home and was able to unload it and get it started without incident.
Actually, the machine made mowing much less onerous than with my mower, because it was self-propelled, oblivious to gopher mounds and uneven ground, and didn't spit the grass out the side to aggravate my allergies (I don't know what it did with the grass. Not my problem). I won't go as far as saying it made mowing a joy, but it sure was easier.
Life Lesson #2: The right tools make the job easier and the results better.
After about half an hour, the thing ran out of gas. When they switched machines at the rental place, apparently nobody checked the gas level. I put the last tiny bit of my gasoline in it, crossed my fingers, and prayed that we would make it through. See Life Lesson #1.
Since the mowing was going so well, I continued on to the grassy area in back of the house that I hadn't really planned on mowing since my mower couldn't possibly handle it, and finally, I am ready for fire season. Assuming we don't get some unseasonable rain that makes the grass grow all over again.
I got the mower loaded back on the truck (I was worried about that but it went smoothly) and headed down the driveway to return it. I reached the end of my driveway at exactly the same moment that Alberto drove in to my neighbor's driveway. Sheesh--where was he 3 hours ago?
Life Lesson #3: Sometimes it's best to wait awhile, and the solution will just show up. I just wish I could figure out how to reconcile this with "Don't procrastinate".
So I have spent many many aggravating hours on this issue. I have spent money renting equipment that I still had to operate. I still have a broken lawnmower. There is billable work waiting to be tackled, and I need to spend some time on business development.
Ah, Joan. You never fail to entertain and educate. At least you didn't blow your clutch at Horse Expo. :)
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