Tuesday, August 05, 2008

whatever happened to the electric mower?

Oh, I've still got it. But I won't be using it anytime soon.

In my previous post, I mentioned that it took me 4 1/2 hours to figure out my lawnmowers and actually mow my lawn last week. Well, that is 100% true.

Betsy and I inherited both a push mower and a riding mower with the purchase of our home. The previous owner was not going to need them any longer, so she simply threw them in with the house. That was obviously a great little bonus.

The riding mower is as sweet as they come: a Snapper 8HP circa 1970 (just like Forrest Gump). It's awesome. Not necessarily the smoothest ride in the world, but it certainly does the trick.

The push mower, on the other hand...well, it looks brand new. But honestly, it just doesn't cut it (pun absolutely intended).

Now, I'm sure its a nice mower. But...its...well, its electric. And not, 'charge it up and run it off of a battery' electric. Oh no, more like 'you've got to have it plugged into an outlet the whole time as though you are vacuuming your lawn, not mowing it' electric. Again, I'm sure its a nice mower, but I was frustrated out of my mind trying to mow in any kind of pattern and not run over the cord.

I told Betsy that we were going to have to purchase a new push mower.

Well, we did. And I mowed with it yesterday afternoon. Oh...now that is how mowing a lawn is supposed to feel. I wouldn't call it fun, but it sure was a heck of a lot less frustrating.

I did have another "am I growing up?" moment during the process of purchasing a new mower, though.

See, Betsy and I are budgeted fairly tight right now. It may have something to do with buying a house and having maternity leave right around the corner. Dropping a couple hundred bucks on a new lawnmower was not really feasible. So, to get a little extra cash, I sold a bunch of dvds to a local used book store.

While walking up to the counter, I looked down and realized that right on top of the pile of dvds...was my Adam Sandler collection; staring me right in the face, as though asking me (in his goofy high-pitched voice), "You don't wanna get rid me now, do ya?"

I stopped for a moment, swallowed deep, then dutifully stepped up to the counter and slid my container full of dvds towards the book store employee without ever looking him in the eye.

Yes, I traded in my Adam Sandler movies for a lawnmower.

If that is not a sign that I am passing from boyhood to manhood, I don't know what is. And that scares me. Because I don't want to grow up.

Luckily, I still have all three Austin Powers movies on my dvd shelf.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Luckily, I still have all three Austin Powers movies on my dvd shelf."

...much to my chagrin.

Anonymous said...

Just wait...Cory traded his wrestling dvds in for 'Baby Einstein'...now that is a "am I really getting that old" moment!

michaelCODY said...

Corinthians 13:11?

Anonymous said...

LET THE BOY MOW YOUR GRASS! HE'LL ALREADY BE SLEEPING IN YOUR BED! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!

Anonymous said...

Please tell me you kept Dumb & Dumber...

Jeff

Anonymous said...

You traded off Adam Sandler and kept Austin Powers? Bill, Bill, Bill...

Duane

ragamuffinminister said...

i second mr. duane.

bill said...

jeff...oh no. no, i still have Dumb and Dumber. i believe that will always be a staple in my dvd collection.

duane and jeph...i kept my Austin Powers movies because one of them i purchased used at Blockbuster. this bookstore does not accept movies that are from Blockbuster. so i thought, "well, if i am going to have to keep one of them, i might as well keep the set."

plus, it is always nice to leave behind some dvds that i can sell when jude is ready to drive.

bill said...

i don't know what happened...but somehow the rest of the comments on this post got deleted. that stinks.

bill said...

what the...?

bill said...

i don't know what is happening...

bill said...

seriously, this is weird.

bill said...

at least everyone's comments are coming back.