Ok, so the new lawn tractor arrived this morning from Home Depot. It sits in a crate waiting for me to unpack it. Next to it sits THE red Craftsman waiting for Sears to pick it up and send it to another ‘trusting customer.’
I was amazed that Home Depot actually called at 6:30 this morning to say they would be here at 7 am. I told my beautiful wife that the mower was on its way. I then told her the mower is HERE and it’s still even in the crate.
The dogs and I went out to inspect the crate and begin the removal of bolts holding it together. It is customary to load the dogs in the car first thing in the morning and go for a ‘ride’, so the dogs were less then pleased at this variation of our morning routine.
I went into our home and told my bride that the dogs and I were off for our morning ride and that I would work on the crate when I returned. I wished her well at work and said we would chat later.
As I backed out of the garage, I was careful to not back into the crate with the new mower. For a brief second, I thought I should back my wife’s car out for her so she didn’t run into the crate.
I immediately caught myself and realized I was actually buying into the whole DWA (driving while Asian) thing, and headed down the road. Heck, she knew the crate was there and she would certainly see it when she went to her vehicle.
As I drove toward Galveston Bay, I thought to call her on my cell just to give her a ‘heads up’ on the new mower in the crate sitting in the driveway. Just as soon as I realized my cell was still in the kitchen, I also chewed myself out for thinking this call was even required.
Oh sure, she had inadvertently run over a case of bottled water (then backed back over it to see what she had run over) the week before in our garage. And, yes, she had run into the Viking range that was in our garage, waiting to be delivered to my in-laws, but as she said, it wasn’t in her ‘line of sight’. It was just right in front of the car.
And maybe she had on occasion backed into a parked car or other things that weren’t in her ‘line of sight’. But, did it seem fair for me to be concerned?
I got home a few minutes ago and received a call from my bride and the conversation began with “Man, it’s a good thing that mower was in a crate…”
It really gets down to DWE, driving while an engineer. Their ‘line of sight’ would be just a nice way of saying ‘Tunnel Vision’.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
You Have a leak???
Did I mention my Craftsman mower was part of a recall? Some of you may have remembered our joy with Sears in trying to purchase afore mentioned mower.
Anyways, it seems that the gas tank on this model had a bad habit of spilling fuel onto the engine. Not a good thing.
Of course it was going take 2 weeks to get someone out to replace the faulty tank. Ford Pintos kept coming to mind. The man at
So 2 weeks passed and Mr. Service guy shows up. He replaces the tank and explains to me all the while that Craftsman is still the best mower made. I point out that Husqvarna now makes the Craftsman. “Ok” he admits, but points out that it is still better then the mowers Lowes sells.
Of course it is…
After replacing the tank he asks if there is anything else he can help with? I suggest getting on the mower and backing up.
He jumps in the seat and throws it in reverse: the mower crawls backwards at about the speed of an accountant having a good time. Very, very slowly and with no sense of picking up the pace.
He asks me if I knew my mower couldn’t back up? I indicate it might be why I suggested he try it.
A turn of a wrench and an adjustment to the tranny we are in business, till he notices the pin holding on the discharge is missing. He walks to his service truck and gets a replacement pin. He then begins to mumble about how quality has gone down since K-Mart bought them. He laments about the sales people being fools and so on. I offer him a beer.
After sharing more of his thoughts about buyouts and cutting budgets I begin to see how so much of this is one big circle….
And we wonder why 50% of Americana’s still believe that Iraq had WMD’s
Sometimes getting by all the slogans and PR hype lies the real truth and sometimes a beer makes that pill easier to swallow.
Oh, the mower died again this morning and I am in negotiations with the local Sears store to take it back. Wish me luck
Anyways, it seems that the gas tank on this model had a bad habit of spilling fuel onto the engine. Not a good thing.
Of course it was going take 2 weeks to get someone out to replace the faulty tank. Ford Pintos kept coming to mind. The man at
1-800-searssucksexplained I should not attempt to use my mower. Ya think!!!
So 2 weeks passed and Mr. Service guy shows up. He replaces the tank and explains to me all the while that Craftsman is still the best mower made. I point out that Husqvarna now makes the Craftsman. “Ok” he admits, but points out that it is still better then the mowers Lowes sells.
Of course it is…
After replacing the tank he asks if there is anything else he can help with? I suggest getting on the mower and backing up.
He jumps in the seat and throws it in reverse: the mower crawls backwards at about the speed of an accountant having a good time. Very, very slowly and with no sense of picking up the pace.
He asks me if I knew my mower couldn’t back up? I indicate it might be why I suggested he try it.
A turn of a wrench and an adjustment to the tranny we are in business, till he notices the pin holding on the discharge is missing. He walks to his service truck and gets a replacement pin. He then begins to mumble about how quality has gone down since K-Mart bought them. He laments about the sales people being fools and so on. I offer him a beer.
After sharing more of his thoughts about buyouts and cutting budgets I begin to see how so much of this is one big circle….
And we wonder why 50% of Americana’s still believe that Iraq had WMD’s
Sometimes getting by all the slogans and PR hype lies the real truth and sometimes a beer makes that pill easier to swallow.
Oh, the mower died again this morning and I am in negotiations with the local Sears store to take it back. Wish me luck
Monday, August 07, 2006
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)