I’m done with technology! DONE!

One of these sweet machines is not like the others.  Can you guess which one works the best?

This is a tale of the three mowers.   The first push mower (on the right) was bought 12 years ago costing less than $50 in an effort to be eco-friendly.  Sadly the 1/2 acre lot that it needed to cut was too time consuming for whomever was tagged the lawn mower of the week.  So after much pleading and several other non remarkable gas mowers were purchased and lost their life to the jungle we call the back yard - Mower number two was purchased 2 years ago for the measly sum of $240-ish something.  With it’s self-propelled, 6.5 powered engine it was quick and reliable.  The purring engine was a thing of beauty – until mom someone put bad gas in it earlier this summer.  Stupid fuel!   No amount of carburetor rebuilding and tinkering could save it.  So less than one month ago mower number 3 was purchased – on sale, for $350-ish something (choke).  It ran like a dream for one tank of gas.  Lawn worries over???  Until we added the second tank of gas. 

Splutter, cough, DIE! 

What?

And the gas was clean and new.  You can’t say I didn’t learn my lesson.  What went wrong?  We used regular and clean unleaded gas like it called for.  Then we noticed a little sticker next to the gas cap that said fuel with over 10% ethanol could damage the engine.  Who checks the ethanol level on their unleaded?  We quickly ran down to the gas station only to discover our local unleaded ethanol level was around 18%.  So dies the most expensive mower.  Freaking hunk of worthless technology.  I guess instead of berating the equipment I should knock myself for not reading the super fine print.   UGH!  Kind-of sad when the machines are smarter than their operators.

So this week I’m channeling my inner Green and using the only mower we have that works.  Maybe I’ll work off some of those gazillion pounds I’ve gained from comfort food.  You know emotional eating due to all the other newish things we’ve bought like the Washer from Hades, that turned possessed and threatened to launch itself through walls before we exercised it right out of the house.

I guess the oldies are the goodies.

And tomorrow I’m scraping the (only worked four times and cost  more than a pretty penny) pathetic tool someone thought should be called a weed-whacker.

For this little beauty.

No I won’t scrap the vehicles for bikes and horses, or give up indoor plumbing which is another story, but I’m tempted.

I guess the timing couldn’t be more perfect.  All this is happening around the same time everyone is celebrating this sweet lady of simple living.

 

I’ll be celebrating the simple life on Saturday with Story Book Woods.  I’m still on the simplify, simplify, scrap crap and simplify phase of life.  Hummm…  Wonder if it will ever end?  I guess it took years and years to acquire all the junk I have so I shouldn’t be surprised that it doesn’t just disappear over night.  This is a long process.  But I think you’ll like some of my before’s and after’s that I plan on showing Saturday. 

Now I’ve got to rest my weary muscles so I can get up and go plow that green mower through the rest of the grass jungle.