Mark’s Musings – April 20, 2016
Mark Fortune
The yard is mowed. It did not come without some frustration – surprised anyone? You shouldn’t be. I talked to one community leader that mowed in March – just to claim that he mowed in March. That’s cool. Okay, I was beginning to wonder if we would get the yard mowed in April. But we did. Here’s a brief recap.
As you may recall from last week’s “musings” – all that was needed was to pop in some fresh gas, check the oil, turn the key and hope for the best. It does have blades but whether sharp or not – who knows?
So here is what really happened. Checked the oil, forget the gas- we will just use last year’s – and turn the key. I think – I think – it has blades. A quick check with the finger under the deck – yep. Must not be too sharp – I didn’t cut myself on the blades. The sharpened ones are on a shelf – somewhere. Grandpa always said, “Keep a spare set of sharp blades doodle bug” – yep, Grandpa was right; you never know when you will hit a rock or tree root.
Turning the key, turning the key – it starts to fire – and then – nothing. What? The battery is only a year old – as the sticker on it says. So that should not be the problem.
Turns out it’s not. As I fumbled and bumbled with the battery cables – sparks flew. What? This needs investigated further. So I did. Now, remember this is last week – I think on Monday evening AFTER last week’s column was written.
Okay, here is the problem. The positive battery cable is only half there. The other half is – well, gone. So we have a positive battery cable rubbing up against the engine. Not good. Obviously an engineering design flaw – it couldn’t be that the mower is over 10 years old. Couldn’t be.
So we get out the owner’s manual and look up the diagram. Oh, that’s a tough one to decipher. But I think we have it. Made the call to order the part – of course – ensuring that the young man I am speaking with knows that I need the LONGER of the two cable choices. The LONGER one. Yep, got it. Part ordered. Part arrives. SHORTER cable. Not the LONGER cable that I need.
What now you ask? This is now Saturday – beautiful spring day here in Coshocton County and an ideal day to mow – or do just about anything outside. But we need to mow.
So when all else fails – you grab either the roll of duct tape or the roll of electrical tape. This guy (me) grabs the electrical tape in this instance and – voila – taped the cable. Of course, it still needs replaced and that would require another column on the discussion with the parts folks at this particular company – and you are probably getting bored with all this mower stuff by now. Suffice it to say that the right cable is on order. I think.
I turned the key – mower fires – and running as smooth as an old mower can and the yard is mowed. This time. Cable gets replaced this week. When it arrives. And is the right one.
Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion
