So I Suppose There Is Pleasure ..
In getting a task done, that I have been putting off for a while now. The pleasure in it all came when I rewarded myself with a beer for a job well done. haha. I wanted to take a quick break from posting about the dogs, flowers, houseplants, art and the like. Let me dive into some stuff that goes without notice. Stuff I really don't like to do, but needs doing. The dirty, crummy, boring stuff. Why do I think it makes for an interesting post?? No clue. Stop reading.. this post is sooooo boring.. or maybe not. Let us see where it goes .. shall we?
So as pictured here above, is my 9 year old lawn tractor. Every spring I change the oil, spark plug, and air filter, wax the paint, check the tires, sharpen blades and clean the deck. This year, for some reason or another, I skipped the blades and the deck cleaning. To do this, I have to remove the entire deck from under the mower. It's a pain, but well within my abilities.. maybe I got lazy this spring. Either way, the job can no longer be put aside! It NEEDS done today!!
I removed the deck of the mower by pulling roughly 8 pins and gently (with much force) I removed the belt that wraps around the pulley's ..
I then drag the heavy (expletive) deck over to an area where I can work on it. I just use the back of my trailer that can lay down at a good angle. I flip it over and prop it up so it doesn't roll away or come down on any body parts. I don't want to make a trip to the emergency room, so I protect my hands and eyes. Last time I checked, you can't replace them easily.
I already gathered up a few tools like a scraper, an impact gun, air gun, sockets, pokes and pry's, etc. I think I am ready to tackle this "Dirty Job".
Oh My Gosh! Look at that mess of caked on grass and dirt. Right now I am feeling like I don't want to do this anymore. It's okay though, there's no turning back now.. I am invested. Looks a bit moldy, so I better go grab a face mask too. God knows I am used to wearing one of those these days. Oh Yeah! Forgot to tell you that I already took the blades off.
Now the fun part.. Scrape Scrape Scrape for the next 45 minutes
After about 10 minutes of elbow grease, I am making progress and have the first of three sections done ..
I don't want to loose any momentum I have going, so I quickly, and without delay, move to the middle section. Between scraping the metal clean, I use the air gun and blow out the debris from all of those dirty nooks and crannies.
You may be curious (probably not though) What am I doing with all the nasty caked on grass that has the consistency of hardened concrete?? Just tossing it into a bucket to take to the mulch pile in the back yard. Sorry you asked? I tried to warn you this was boring.
Moving along now.. I make my way to the third and final section of the mower deck. There is a tiny bit of light at the end of the tunnel! I know exactly which beer I am going to reward myself with when I am done this crappy job.
DONE!!!!!!!!!!
And you guessed RIGHT. I was weak and could not wait to reward myself. I still have some work to get done, so I chose a light, but refreshing, Victory Easy Ringer Lo-Cal IPA. Not bad.. Not too bad.
And down the hatch it goes. No, I did not chug it.. just the last sip for the camera. So dramatic with the eyes closed. I made it this whole way without injury, and didn't want to get beer splash in the eyes now.
Alright. My Beer reward is gone now, so I have no other choice but to finish what I started. After this I still have to actually use the mower for it's intended purpose.. Mowing the lawn! So I get my butt in gear and prepare to put new blades on. Again, I purchased them in the spring, but did not put them on, nor sharpened the old ones. What can I say.. I am ashamed with myself. haha.
Old versus New. For some strange reason, I think my lawn is going to thank me.
The next part is fun because I get to play with grease and the impact gun again. The neighbors most likely don't appreciate the noise. If they came over to help there would be a beer in it for them. For some reason I don't think they'll fall for that one. The hard, dirty part is done anyway. I think I got it from here.
Apply grease to bolt hole and mount attachment, place blade on to mount, grease bolt, insert bolt, hand tighten, impact gun tighten, repeat two more times then finished.
FINISHED! I Really wish I would have caught this earlier, but I put the blades on upside down (it does make a huge difference). What a goofball I am. I was so excited to document this process for you guys, that I wasn't paying attention and screwed up. No worries though, I ONLY had to take the entire deck back off after putting it all together and under the mower. What's another 20 minutes wasted? Yeah.. I was pissed with myself, but no damage done. Only to my pride.
While the deck is off of the mower, it's so much easier for me to find, clean and utilize the grease fittings placed all over the deck. They are used to get the lubricating grease to the internal moving parts. It is not possible otherwise to grease these parts after they are fully installed at the manufacturing plant. It is an essential step if you want to protect your investment for several more years of proper operation. As silly and geeky as it sounds, if nothing else remember to grease. A cheep grease gun is maybe in the 15 to 20 USD range. I payed about 45 USD for mine, but I use the heck out of it.
I had a bit of another mishap. I ran out of grease and had to refill the tube. When doing so, the plunger slipped off the locking notch and grease went everywhere! uggggggggggg... Another 30 minutes to clean EVERYTHING up and then I was able to finish the greasing.
I pushed the deck back up under the tractor and hooked everything back as it was originally. I always take a second and third look at things to make sure I got it back correctly.
Everything looks good to me and I think I am finally ready to get mowing with the new blades. I was actually pretty excited to mow for once. I couldn't wait to see the fruits of my hard work pay off.
In the end, the small squeaks were gone, the cut grass flowed more easily into the catcher, and the lawn looked healthier after being cut with sharp blades. That, in my simple mind, deserved another beer! Bet you didn't see that one coming?!?!
'Tangerine Express' Hazy IPA by Stone Brewery. It's another of my summer go to's. An India style pale ale that is a bit heavier but very refreshing. If you don't like hoppy brews, that have a nice citrus taste, then steer clear of it.
All In All we had some failures and successes that came along with today's adventure. It's something I have been putting off and now I feel much better about having done it. I feel accomplished, the tractor sounds better when the blades are engaged, the beer tastes great and the lawn looks good! I hope this wasn't as boring of a post as I thought it may be for some of you.
Maybe I should just hire someone to cut the lawn?? Please don't think that hasn't crossed my mind ;-)
Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!
“Dear Mom and Dad
How are you? If you are reading this it means your back from the wonderful cruise my brothers and I sent you on for your anniversary. We’re sure you both had a wonderful time. We want you to know that, while you were away, we did almost everything you asked. All but one thing, that is.
We killed the lawn.
We killed it dead.
You asked us not to and we killed it. We killed it with extreme prejudice and no regard for its planty life.
We killed the lawn.
Now we know what you’re thinking: “But sons, whom we love ever so much, how can this be so? We expressly asked you to care for the lawn? The exactly opposite of what you are now conveying to us in an open digital forum.” True enough. We cannot dispute this. However, we have killed the lawn. We have killed it good.
We threw a party and it was quite a good time. We had a moon bounce and beer and games and pirate costumes, oh it was a good time. Were it anyone else’s party that probably would have been enough but, hey, you know us. So we got a foam machine.
A frothy, wet, quite fun yet evidently deadly, foam machine. Now this dastardly devise didn’t kill the lawn per se. We hypothesize it was more that it made the lawn very wet and that dancing in said area for a great many hours over the course of several days did the deed. Our jubilant frolicking simply beat the poor grass into submission.
We collected every beer cap, bottle, and can. There is not a single cigarette butt or cigar to be found. The house is still standing, the dog is still barking, Grandma is still grandmaing but the lawn is no longer lawning.
Now we’re sure, as you return from your wonderful vacation, that you’re quite upset but lets put this in perspective. For one thing whose idea was it for you to leave us alone in the first place? Not your best parenting decision right there. We’re little better than baboons. The mere fact that we haven’t killed each other in years past is, at best, luck.
Secondly, let us not forget, you raised us to be this way. Always pushing out limits, making sure we thought creatively. This is really as much your fault as it is ours, if not more so. If anything we should be very disappointed in you.
Finally lets not forget your cruise was our present to you. We paid for it. If you look at how much that cost and subtract the cost of reseeding the lawn you still came out ahead so, really, what position are you in to complain?
So let’s review; we love you, you enjoyed a week on a cruise because of us, the lawn is dead, and it’s partially your fault.
Glad that’s all out in the open. Can you have dinner ready for us by 6 tonight? We’d like macaroni and cheese.
Love always
Peter, James & Carmine”
― Peter F. DiSilvio
All words, pictures and art pieces are the sole property of B D Miller Gallery, unless otherwise noted and credited, and are not to be reproduced or copied without the prior written consent of B D Miller Gallery.
About Me ~ The Artist
My art work incorporates a wide variety of subject matter, including landscape, seascape, cityscape, and still life images. My works are the product of a continuing process of exploration through which I seek to portray personal and visionary interpretations of my surroundings. My paintings are impressions of places and events from everyday life, an interpretation of my imagination, and personal responses to what I see and feel on a daily basis. More recently I have invested generous amounts of time into my landscape painting. I am surrounded by natural and man made beauty, which inherently presents itself in the tri-state area, and almost demands that I paint it.
Not everything is art. Art is not everything, but it comes close. Art is everywhere and all the time. Art makes you experience the beauty of the world, the people in it, and the places we call home. Art itself is so influential that it can tell stories, show feelings, and express passion or fury. Art exists in addition to language; expression of sensations and thoughts, revealing a way of thinking too subtle and delicate for words.
For me art requires love, honesty and perseverance. In return, it reveals some personal, non-analyzable, and creative untamed passion. For the public, art with its magnificent beauty, improves mood and health and builds better human beings and communities. It engages the intellect, softens the heart, strengthens the soul and frees the spirit.
If Your Interested In Purchasing Any Of My Work:
They can be found for sale on
Saatchi Art
Or
Etsy
If you don't see the piece in either shop, It may still be drying. Let me know and I can upload it as soon as possible to be available. Or you can always make me an offer (in HBD, Hive or any other crypto) in the comments section of this post. If we agree on a price, I will then ship the painting to you. (shipping costs will be determined by your location).
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Congratulations for doing this! Have you noticed how good it feels when you reward yourself? It's amazing
I like to work towards a self reward. They do feel great 😁 Meeting my small goals is exciting.
Yes, they do feel amazing😊
I'm amazed at what you did? Did you study about these stuffs, repairing? Actually, I had no idea what you were doing because some parts you mentioned I didn't recognise. But when you said that I just assumed that you did well. And beer? I love the taste of it especially when you haven't drink of it for ages.
I am used to taking things apart and putting them back together. Servicing all sorts of equipment and making repairs if needed. Growing up working on a farm helped teach me how to do a lot of things like this or that.
Beer is awesome! I am always trying a new one. You should go have a beer today @mrnightmare89. You deserve one!😁
I have found that listening to a fave podcast or some good music really helps get me thru a boring job.
Funny you should say this. I didn't mention it in the post, but I did have some old school U2 playing.. 'The Joshua Tree' album. One of my favorites 😁and YES it did help keep me calm. lol.
Posh link