And my report about the lunch in Osawatomie seemed to be very un appealing as the number of folks viewing fell off again... I tried to not even mention how I got to the lunch..... Well that didn't seem to matter....
So today was a little cooler, as we had been in the mid 90s for the last couple of days... Loyce was right after me to get the yard mowed early in the morning... Only when I started the hand mower, I found that the cable on the self propelled feature had parted which left the handle hanging limply...
I use the mower to trim all of the outline of the yard, but having to push the mower against its self propelled gears was about impossible... So I did the bare minimum with it...
That left me using the riding tractor to try and trim most of the yard...... I managed to get things looking fairly respectable... But headed right out to go find a new cable immediately...
This machine is a lawnboy which went out of business back in 2004... But with some luck, we have a hardware store about 10 miles back into the older part of town that still specializes in their repair... And that means he carries parts... I have no idea where he gets them............ I'm just lucky that he does..
Once there, he explained that there were three different cables for the self propel feature and it depended on which model and year I had.... I couldn't find the model sticker so I couldn't answer him....
But he repairs so many machines like mine that I was able to pick out the exact machine from his stack of finished ones ready for pick up... Even then he was skeptical that a cable would fit..... He sold me the most likely one, and I said if it didn't work, I would return with the broken one in half an hour....
His choice turned out to be entirely correct! I had it on and working in about 30 minutes after returning home...... Man its good to live in a city of a couple of million people.... Back in Iowa, I would still be trying to decide which cable I should order..... And of course that would have taken a week or more..
I guess later in the afternoon I went over to my son Ben's house to see his new Chevy gas saver car that he just picked up last night..... A Cruze....!
Its a nice looking car, and he found a one year old model with low mileage...
Oh, on the way home from the lawnmower store, I stopped at a cycle apparel store.... There I picked up a vest that is quilted out of nylon material... It kind of looks like it was made from an old furniture blanket... But what you do is wet it down in the sink......
It soaks up water like a sponge.... I tried to wring it out once it was wet but couldn't get much back out of it... You wear this vest under your mesh jacket while riding.... At normal speeds, the moisture evaporates out of the fabric and cools you down... And yes it made my T shirt kind of wet, but it was 90 in the mid afternoon, and I didn't seem to overheat nearly as bad as I did on Tuesday when we were covering half of the state...
We'll see how that goes on one of these longer rides... If it becomes too dry, it will make you hot in a heart beat as it would work for a winter coat liner otherwise.....
I promised not to bore you and here I have written half a book again.....
Retired Rod
So what kind of fuel mileage does the Cruze get, or is it all electric?
ReplyDeleteIt should get somewhere around 40 mpg on the highway.... It is only a 1.4 Liter engine which is smaller than my motorcycle.... But has a turbo charger for when you stomp down on it... It is not electric in any way....
DeleteI too am in the blogging "doldrums" from time to time. Not much to see here.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking yesterday as I was cutting the grass, "I wonder when or if this self propelled feature will start to act up".
The machine is still brand new, so hopefully it'll work fine for a few years yet.
I don't have a back up mower, so I suppose I'll need to keep a close eye on it..
Nevery boring and I worry when you don't post.
ReplyDeleteIt that vest heavy when it is wet??????
Yes at first it is heavy but as the water evaporates it gets much lighter......
DeleteMy gas push mower is a Lawn Boy and it too has the self-propel feature. Maybe I should cut it and that would give me an excuse to buy an real lawnmower - a John Deere!
ReplyDeleteI noticed in the photo of the Cruze that Ben's driveway had a some kind of black stuff to repair the cracks. I have a few cracks in ours I'd like to repair. Is Ben's driveway concrete? Ours is and if so what did he use in the cracks? Thanks.
Rick, that was a stock internet photo, grabbed on the spur of the moment.....
DeleteMy BIL and sister rented a car in Nevada and ended up with a Cruz. They loved that car. I think if and when they buy a new one they will think seriously about getting one. I need something like your vest for my head. That's the part of me that always gets so hot.
ReplyDelete