The First Mow

It has really been bothering me that the yard at my new house has been over grown. Yes, I had other priorities with the tree in my house from the storm, but I still don't want to be the dumpy yard on the block. I don't know how many times I talked to my dad on the phone about mowers and I almost bought one this weekend, but I didn't. So, I went back to Lowes today and bought my first mower (again, with more calls to dad). I love it! I bought a Troy-Bilt 6.75 Torque 21" Cut Self-Propelled Mower. Just so you know, I need a bigger car to load a mower. We had to take it out of the box and still, it didn't fit and I had to tie my trunk down.

On my way home, I stopped at the gas station to fill up my new mini gas tank for the mower. The salesman had shown me about this tank - it has a spigot that doesn't pour unless you push down on the spigot. When I filled up the tank with gas, I put the spigot back inside the tank because that's what we had done when I was little. I didn't really think about it.

When I got to the house, I took the mower out of the trunk (and it's heavy!). I extended the handlebar and tightened all the nuts and bolts. After browsing through the instructions (yes, I actually looked at them), I poured the oil in the oil tank. I then opened the mini gas tank and took out the spigot - which had filled with gas and poured all over my hands. After I screwed the spigot on correctly, I went inside and washed my hands. Now they smelled lemony-gasoline-ish fresh - better than the alternative I suppose. I was ready! Let's mow!

At Lowes, the salesman had assured me the pullcord to start the mower was easy to do (which is a necessity since I could never start Dad's mower by myself). With the model I purchased, there is no priming and no choke, so that makes it easier too. Well, I started to pull the pull cord and it came to a halt after about a 3 inch pull. Hmm. Pull again. 3 inch - Stop. I didn't think about holding down any of the handles because on my dad's old mower that I used to use, I thought it had something to do with the choke - and remember, I don't have a choke. So, frustrated, I reverted to the manual. No prime, I don't have to do that. Safety stop switch, don't have that. Hold the red bar down, I'll try that. Holding down the red bar that controls the blade, I pulled the cord and "Rum-sputter-sputter". "Ugh, this is supposed to be easy", I thought. Pull, Rum-sputter-sputter. Pull, Rum-sputter-sputter. UGH! Well, maybe if I pull the cord 3 times real fast. Pull, Rum-sputter-sputter. Pull, Rum-sputter-sputter. Pull, Rum-sputter-sputter. "AHHHHH! I am so mad. This is not easy!" Back to the manual. I cant figure it out - WAIT! - I never poured the gas in! I was distracted by washing my hands and was so ready to mow, I skipped that very important step. I am glad to say that after pouring gas in the tank (duh!), my mower started right up and I successfully mowed my first yard. Well, not the first time to mow, but the first time to mow that I probably didn't get paid for it and I actually owned the yard. I have to say, even though I wasn't getting paid to mow the yard as I did when I was younger, it was probably more fulfilling to know I was mowing MY YARD. I feel so grown up.