Thursday, October 2, 2008

What's in a Name?

When we first bought this place we call our home, it was so overgrown that we had to hire a young man with a bush hog attachment on his tractor to come out and cut the field. The house sat at the head of four+acres of grass weeds and forest. The drive and postage stamp size front and back yards were all that was cleared. There were young scrub oaks and sweet gum trees mixed throughout the grassy/weedy sections that would have destroyed a mower. The young man came out with his tractor and his rat terrier. He told us the dog was a working dog and invited us to stand back and watch him do his thing. The fact that only one mouse was captured and dispatched to his maker should have been a clue that there was a large cat population. After he was finished it looked better. Not good. Just better. What we needed was a hay rake, While the contractor was renovating the house, we spent our days raking by hand. We had never had the need for a riding mower before and we had purchased a small used Sears tractor to begin doing some actual lawn cutting. I was excited to be able to ride the mower and cut the grass (I'll drive anything...it's a passion). So, we had finished the raking and I climbed on the mower and started to work. That ride was so rough I accused someone of throwing rocks in the yard. My back ached from the torturous yard trip I'd made. Now, we had also purchased a brand spanking new 48 inch cut Husqvarna tractor that Mac wasn't quite ready to use yet. I remember when it was delivered how he petted and polished it, read the book about it's operation and studied the manual as though it was a latest best seller.

The next time it came time for mowing, Mac grabbed his hat and went out to the shed. He got on the tractor and turned over the engine...smooth sound said he. Loud sound said I. But it did a great job. After finishing up the yard, he got a damp rag and went over the tractor and cleaned all the dust from her orange paint job. He cleaned the headlights and rinsed off the mower deck. I clucked in disgust and went back inside. The next day he wanted to go to Lowe's. It seemed his new tractor needed a trailer attachment to help him gather up grass and limbs in the garden. So he got his trailer. We took it off the truck and hooked it up to the tractor so he could admire it. He promised that I would be able to drive this one soon. As soon as he was through driving it, I assumed.

This week Mac began to worry about his precious baby...his tractor. He said the engine was surging and he didn't like the sound of it. Now, he has tuned up that tractor, changed blades, spark plugs and just taken wonderful care of her since she first became a member of his Motor pool...the one thing he had not been able to do was learn to pronounce its name.
"Hasputin", he would ask?
"No, Husqvarna, " I replied.
"Huspatin?"
"Husqvarna!" I repeated. He thought it over, looked at the name as it was written on the front of the hood.
"Husvention!" he said proudly.
I took a deep breath and wrote down on a piece of paper...husk-VAR-na...He looked at what I had written and repeated "husqvarna...why didn't you say so?"
So, I called the tractor repair place in Hartsville and told them we had a problem with the mower and needed to bring it in. I explained that the trailer was large enough to fit the tractor, but that it wouldn't fit with the mower deck attached.
"Oh, that's easy enough. It's just held on with five clips. Look at the top of the deck and you'll see them. Most people drop the deck to change their mower blades." He swore it was a simple task.
I repeated his instructions to Mac, who nodded and agreed that it sounded a simple thing.

The first day he walked around the tractor and after having found the clips, told me that two of them had been put in upside down and it was going to be a job getting them out. He checked that the mower had gas in the tank and cleaned it again, and thought about those upside down clips.
The second day we went out and I had a container (that I hope to be able to locate when needed) for the pins he was going to remove. It was nine a.m. He got the first three clips off with no problem. Those upside down ones proved to be a bit more complicated. When he finally got them off, we tried to disengage the deck. No way. No how. Mac went and got the manual and discovered that in addition there were two pins that had to be removed. He located them and began that little chore. After a bit and a search for penetrating oil was completed, the pins were removed and the deck dropped down easily. Mac put the tail gate to the trailer down and drove it onto it. It was now 12 noon. "So, that mechanic told you that it was an easy job?" he asked. I nodded yes..."I want to see him when we get there, " he said, his voice a bit sullen. "Why?" I asked. Shaking his head and putting his hat on he said, "because I want to punch him right in the mouth!"



30 comments:

Lib said...

Hi Sandi,
Never fails when the salemans says easy ,look out!Lol
Hope you're having agreat wk.
Blessins',Lib

Susie Q said...

Your posts always put a smile on my face...did you get that emails I sent you about the URL?

Have a wonderful end of week/weekend dear heart.

Love,
Sue

Jeni said...

Mac's issues with the tractor sounds very much like me with respect to "do-it-yourself" stuff with blogging and a few other computer related things. I don't do very well, in general, with written instructions I have to interpret but usually, if someone shows me, in person ya know, how to do things (computer related here) I can pick them up fairly well. That is provided they go slowly and thoroughly explain stuff and then, let me try it too under their watchful eye. But most of the time, people who know/understand this stuff already just zip through the instructions, sometimes leave something pertinent out too, and my head is spinning from the instruction session. Not spinning as bad as it does when I try to read instructions and put them into action -but spinning, none the less. I frequently want to take fine copper wire to some of the computer gurus like at Google or Feedburner,etc., and make them unable to ever procreate again!

Hadriana's Treasures said...

Hi Sandi, I think we need one of those tractors. There's a piece of land next door to our house. It's owned by a big company yet the village people (not the ones who sing YMCA!) want us to cut it all the time because the last guy who owned the house did. It takes flippin' ages with a normal grass mower and the land is not level. Then we have to find somewhere to put the grass clippings. Not an easy job as it requires 4 trips to the town dump and farmers aren't keen to take it as it is against the law! Come on over you and Mac...you are welcome any time!!

Akelamalu said...

It's never as easy as they make out is it? :(

Pam said...

lol! Poor Mac.

I bet he gave him a piece of his mind when he got there.

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

I'm just proud that Uncle Wally read the manual. Sure wish Randey knew about such things. lol

Love ya'll,
Sissy

Vee said...

Oh I was tickled by this story. My dad just sold his 1946 Farmall after owning it for 20 something years. (He's just too old to climb up in the saddle anymore.) Anyway, a good tractor story is right up my alley. I don't blame Mac for wanting to punch the guy either!

And the foreign names and the constantly being misheard...ROFL! Sounds all too familiar.

John and I are thinking of writing a book. It will be called "What the Husband Thought He Heard the Wife Say." Perhaps you can come up with something a bit jazzier than that.

Unknown said...

Sandi my dear!! I have missed you!!
Love and hugs

Anonymous said...

Nothing like the "expert" telling the novice how easy something is to do!

Lee said...

Hmmm...sounds like technical writers have a challenging job. Good for you guys for figuring things out despite the expert's less than sterling instructions! Great story! :)

Hugs!
Lee

Cheffie-Mom said...

Easy?? Obviously not! LOL! I hope you have a great weekend! (:

CatHerder said...

hehehehehe..that made me laugh out loud. we used to have a tractor when we lived in the country..i never used it hubby did...now i have an electric mower for my suburban home.....i kinda miss the tractor

San said...

The workings of mechanical things evade me. One thing I love about life in the southwest is the minimum of grass to cut. A great expanse of soothing green can be quite comforting to behold. As can an expanse of wilderness that doesn't need to be mowed. Ironically, my FIL recently purchased a small tractor for mowing down the wilderness. He hasn't lived in Michigan or California for several years now, but in his heart he does. Whatever makes him happy.

I'm glad you and Mac got the tractor straightened out. When someone says something is going to be "a walk in the park" or "a piece of cake," I guess it's time to prepare to struggle. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post, Sandi! I could see everything that happened through your words.

Hope your weekend is wonderful!

Anonymous said...

LMAO! Great story.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sandi, Living in the country is expensive isn't it? I refused to learn how to drive our riding mower because I knew I would be cutting the back forty all the time if I did. :)

Anonymous said...

girl you know you can't be fighting. Did you'll get it all fixed up? My dad always used their chain saws when he worked in the woods and loved them.

Lavinia said...

Oh dear! I think you would both get a laugh out of the size of my lawn. You could probably cut it with nail trimmers and be done before the sun rose...

tlchang said...

I always love reading your experiences. :-) (Your last pepper post was very funny. Wish we could grow peppers of *any* kind here. Not hot enough in the summer unfortunately).

Mary Isabella and Kiley too! said...

This was such a great story. You are a very gifted story teller. I can picture each event as it unfolds...Have a great weekend...m..

Georgina said...

Oh Sandi, this sounds just like our tractor. After four years we thankfully know all of it's evil little tricks! Debs x

Country Cottage Chic said...

LOL! You certainly know how to tell a tale Sandi!

Aunt Julie said...

I'm smilin' right now, that's for sure! You TOTALLY Rock! If ya wanna see how I Rock, please tune in. And come join in the fun!

Mima said...

Hi Sandi,

Love the tractor story, I creates the most wonderful mental picture of Mac with the tractor & a polishing cloth in his hand! I have never lived anywhere which had enough grass to have a ride-on, let alone a tractor - very unusual in the UK - we seem to live on much smaller plots of land. I have riden on a tractor though, and absolutely loved it, a very fond memory from my childhood - how sad is that!!

Hope the tractor got fixed ok when he got it in there.

i beati said...

I love this post so much - can just see it all. I thought you were going to tell me you gave your property a name- from the history of it - when I first started. hahaha Sandy

Cath said...

Yeah I know that feeling! Easy for them when they don't have to do it!

Thanks for your lovely comments at David's.

Everything Stops for Tea said...

Don't you just love destructions (what they get called in our house) I wouldn't like to get on the wrong side of Mr Mac!

SandyCarlson said...

You never fail to make me smile, Sandi! Men and their mowers, salesmen and their wily ways...

God bless.

Terri Steffes said...

S M I L E!

Ok, the link to the giveaway is right by my signature. Not easy to see, though!