Oops, the lawn

Yes, it's finally happened. The inaugural 2009 mowing of the front lawn. Uh, yeah... I know it's the middle of May already. The neighbors and the landlord are quite aware of that too, I imagine. I'm so glad the landlord doesn't get over this way very often.

But, see, there really was an issue. It's the lawnmower. And the whole getting-it-started thing. I DID try previously this year. At least once. And had no luck. So, I thought the gas might be damp, even though it's in the air-tight plastic gas can which is also under a 'roof' to keep the elements out.

I also thought it might be the spark plug. Last year I'd have to pull the stinkin cord a dozen (or more) times before the mower would run. So, after work I pulled the plug and made sure it was dry from oil or water or anything else resembling liquid. I also filed it just a skoch to get rid of any carbon or other buildup that might be preventing a good spark.

Guess what... after a couple pulls of the cord it started and it kept running the first time. None of this fake-out run for a few seconds, die, and then require another several pulls before it KEEPS running. WOW! I shoulda cleaned the spark plug last year!

The front yard only took about a half hour. Over 2 bag-loads went into the yard-waste bin. I'll bet my eastern Washington family (and others) laugh at the concept of yard-waste bins. But I digress...

So, today and/or tomorrow I'll tackle the back yard. It will likely be 3 bag loads as the grass is less-short than it was in the front yard. Ah... but what a relief... I'll bet the mower will start in less than 6 pulls of the cord.

Addendum at around 2:30 Saturday afternoon:
The back yard is now mowed. It was, uh, over 3 grass-catcher loads that went into the yard waste. Well over 3. Let's say, more than 3 and less than 10. Yeah. Whew!