I would never make it as a fortune teller.
I was reminded of that the other day on two counts. I had planned to mow the back yard on Sunday afternoon. When I went outside to start the task I was a bit shocked to see that a storm was building and it was raining on the mountains. It looked like the bad weather was eminent, so I hurried to start the lawn mower and begin.
I was making good time going through the really tall grass that had been growing like crazy during the week of rainy weather, when “THUNK”, the mower hit a hidden stump and the mower stopped dead. I pulled the mower away and tried to re-start it. After a couple of failed tries I tipped the mower so I could look underneath hoping to see what the problem was. I tried turning the blade, but each time I did, I heard a sound like something was rubbing and the blade didn’t turn very easily.
“Damn, I have broken the mower and will now have to get it fixed,” I told myself.
I wheeled it back to the carport and made a mental note to take it in to the small engine repair on Monday. I only had a small section of lawn that hadn’t been mowed so I went up to the shop and got my weed trimmer and finished off the lawn with that.
The next day I did take the mower to the engine repair guy. I tipped the mower up and demonstrated the rubbing sound when I turned the blade.
“Oh, that’s just because you are not disengaging the turn-off bar on the handle,” Justin said.
I then tried starting the mower and sure enough it started right up. I tried to hide my embarrassment by complimenting Justin on what a good mechanic he was. I loaded the mower back into the truck and drove home.
So, on Sunday afternoon, I had predicted two things:
- A big storm was about to hit, and it never did.
- I had to get my lawn mower repaired and I didn’t have to.
Both things worked out for the best, but they re-enforced the fact that my abilities at predicting things are somewhat less than stellar.
Take a gander at my paintings: www.davidmarchant.ca
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