Riding Lawn Mower, Part 2

Well, I was discussing the new riding lawn mower.  Now for more...

As I pulled up in front of the house, the cross street neighbor waved hello and asked how things were going.  I patted the mower, so he came over to take a look.  I keep forgetting his name.  So I tried to back it off the trailer ramp.  Couldn't figure out how to start it!

OK, this is kinna "guy stuff" but maybe educational to you ladies (but you know you want to know).  Here is a great "guy" day.  Laugh all you want...  Works for us.

The neighbor was admiring the new mower.  And I don't know how to start it.  Nor does he!  And he had a John Deere mower previously.  Everything is different!

So I and the neighbor were examining the push-buttons and control icons and labels "Hey this one says "cruise control" and moves up and down.  And the neighbor "This pedal of the other side looks like a brake".  Meanwhile, we can't find a key or keyhole, so we assume there is a button.

As we were examining the new (and rather odd icons on some buttons) a guy jogger stopped.  Guys have "new equipment" radar, you know.  So we were looking at the different controls, and a guy in a van saw us and stopped too.  I know the guy across the street mainly by waving while we do yardwork. I've never met these other two.  It is routine for guys who don't know each other  to gather around new equipment.  And part, not ever meeting again.

So there are 4 of us figuring out how the new mower (sitting in the hauling trailer) worked.  Keep in in mind that I could have asked the salesman how everything worked except for 2 things.  First, I expected it would be obvious.  I'm not used to buttons and levers labeled with icons (some of which are rather bizarre).  What on earth would a little box with a spray mean?  And arrows that go in and out mean up and down?  OK, whatever...

And keep in mind that the manual was in my car 10" away.  But what's the fun in reading that?  There are some usual routines with riding lawn mowers.  To start the engine, you need a key, the brake pedal has to be depressed, the parking brake has to be off (or on), etc.

We finally found the keyhole.  It was covered by a label.  Yet, there was no key though the salesman had driven it onto the trailer and taken nothing away!?  We decided there must be a master key.  I said, aha, and grabbed the envelope with the manual,  No fair looking at it yet, but there was a lump of 2 keys.

I took a key and inserted it, turned it, and NOTHING!  OK, it had to be a combination of pedals.  Probably depressing the brake and then turning the key.  NOTHING.  Baffled...

Then the van guy said "Hey, look, there are instruction on the floor of the deck"!  Ladies, if you ever wondered why we don't notice a lipstick color change or even hairstyle, it is because we see the "whole you" and details be darned.

We all immediately focused on the floor instructions.  Why that is different from reading the manual in the first place sort of escapes me, but it mattered that we as a group found it.

It wasn't a written list.  Rather, it was just arrows pointing to levers and buttons with actual words (no weird icons).  It was simple from there.  I set the speed control to beyond "fastest" (guessing it was the "choke", depressed the brake pedal and then pushed the yellow button with the fountain icon and turned the key.

Started right up!  So obvious...  The guys helped me guide the mower off the trailer and down the 6' long 8" wide ramps onto the ground.  I drove it into the shed.

I came right back out of course, because the guys knew I had to secure the ramps into the trailer, and I owed them some thanks and "guy talk".

So we discussed hunting and fishing and one guy said he had seen turkeys, and there are deer everywhere here.  And we each took a turn bragging about some hunting and fishing.  We all one had some experiences at something, so that made it a great day.

And things turned to our times here.  Why one 200' street is called "Uncle Willies Way", another is called "Garner's Road and why the upper area was a field before garden apartments were built there.  Apparently, the area was once a farmland owned by "Willie Garner".  The good news is that there wasn't a beer in sight.  We were just collected randomly figuring out the controls on my new riding lawn mower...

When I pushed the ramps into my trailer, everyone decided that it was time to get along with what they had been doing before.  I bet I never talk to jogger and van guy again,  But it sure was nice of them to help.  And I have sometimes been "van guy" (in an SUV) stopping to help someone randomly.

What a great day Friday was!