This last week has been eventful, from a utilitarian standpoint. On Wednesday (because of this blog, my weeks now start on Wednesday), my grinder pump finally quit. I thought it had quit back in February, but the plumbing company managed to fix it, which I thought was AMAZING, since a new one costs around $3500. But the old pump had finally had enough. For those not in the know, a grinder pump is a pump that grinds your excrement and pumps it to the city sewer. If it doesn’t work, your basement will fill with your excrement, which would be even less pleasant than spending $3500 on a new one. So, we have a shiny new grinder pump. Well, it was shiny and new last Wednesday. Now, it’s full of something. 

That same day, the riding mower wouldn’t start. We live on a hilly acre of land. I really love that riding mower. Well, if you don’t count that it leaves lakes of oil in our garage. I just consider that a rolling oil change, and fill it the same as the gas. Anyway, now it doesn’t start. Our grass was long. Sooo, I embarked on mowing the ample backyard with our push mower. My neighbor took pity and did the last few swipes with his rider, but I was still out back for a LONG time, chasing daylight. The next day, I decided to push mow our ski-hill of a front yard, only to discover that the self-propulsion feature of the push mower quit working. I am not sure what could happen to a mower overnight in the garage, but somehow the self-propulsion worked one day and didn’t work the next day. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned a mower without self-propulsion, and I can say, I don’t like it. I think that the manufacturers just didn’t worry about the weight of the mower, since it would push itself. But now it won’t. And I’m not as young as I used to be. But I muddled through. The mower did catch on a plastic bag that I didn’t see, so I wrapped it around the blades real nice. After I untangled the bag, the mower sounded like a chattering squirrel… but it still moved the blades. How do I know? Because I mowed the front lawn AGAIN last night without the self-propel. Taryn alternated with me on this job because it was HOT out and the grass was wet from the rain and she took pity on me. I looked like I was on the edge of death. While we were mowing, Travis and Tayden were trying to fix the riding mower. So, it has a new starter now. But it’s still not running. I thought it was the battery. Travis wants to dump it and buy a new one, but our bank account can’t take the hit after the grinder pump. I want to get a new battery just to see if I am right. Then dump it and figure out the bank account hit later. In case you were wondering, Trent was weed-whacking for hours and Tessa was at work, so everyone was busy. And the kids are supposed to push mow the ample backyard without self-propulsion today, if the rain holds off. The kids have learned how to do a rain dance…

At some point during the week, the washing machine started to sound like it had a cat stuck in it. I actually stopped it to make sure a cat wasn’t stuck in it. Much to Travis’ chagrin, there was no cat in the machine. I am waiting for the noise to go away. It’s still running, so that’s a working appliance in our house. 

I got to close out the week with emissions testing. I suckered Taryn into following me to the testing place. I was in Bert and she was in the 2003 Acura with 210,000 miles on it. I was nervous. The Acura passed with no problems though. I had the jinx going, so I kept frizzing out their computers and had to drive around the building and cut in front of the lines to try a different lane. Everyone in the lines loved me. Since the return to the line was right up next to the building, one of the emissions workers had to hold ALL the lines so I could execute a fifteen point turn to get into a new lane. The third time was a charm though and Bert passed. I hope their computers in the first two lanes I tried have recovered. Since Bert is a bit identifiable, I understand if I get jeered at for no reason for a while. Everyone in the emissions lines thinks I am some priss who can’t wait my turn and can’t execute a clean turn around. So, I’ve got that. Have a great week everyone. I’ll keep you posted on the state of the appliances in my house. They just take time and money.