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freedhardwoods
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Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 9:32 pm
Location: Southwest IN

Good news, bad news

The good news - I got a new lawn mower. :D
The bad news - The reason I got a new lawn mower is that I burned my old one to the ground trying to get it started. :roll:

I filled the gas tank first. The battery was down so I put jumper cables on it for a while with no luck. I then decided to jump straight to the starter to see if there was a problem with the ignition or if the starter was weak. I have done this on all sizes and types of vehicles from lawn mowers to semis and compact to 4 wd tractors. Of course there was a pretty big spark when I touched the hot post. Unfortunately the carburetor must have been leaking. It was a small fire to start with but I didn't have a fire extinguisher handy and it was a roaring fire by the time I got something to put it out. -wall-

P.S. I bought 3 fire extinguishers when I bought the new mower. :wink:
Last edited by freedhardwoods on Sat Apr 17, 2010 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Kisal
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Sheesh! What a day that must have been for you! :shock:

(Forgive me, but I'm ROTFL here! I can just imagine the whole thing! Yikes! I bet you were ready to tear your hair out by the time it was all over! :lol: )
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freedhardwoods
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Location: Southwest IN

I should have run and got some some hot dogs and a roasting stick. :idea:)
At least the fire would have had a purpose.
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Ozark Lady
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And that in a nutshell is why, I don't mow... ha ha

Hey, I was pumping water today, and hubby explained it all to me, so simple, then he left...

Instructions were: turn the lower valve to here, then the upper valve to here, etc... sounded easy.

All went well, I turned the lower valve, but there was more than one upper valve... eeny, meeny, Long story short I picked the wrong one, had a delightfull fountain going... if only the weather had been warmer.

I realized this can't be right as I got soaked, I tried the other valve... fountain stopped and it did what he said it would do.

And he had the nerve to laugh about it.... :roll: It was funny, once I got warm and dry.. :lol:

Just another example why he does not allow me to use chainsaws, lawnmowers etc.... I am not mechanically inclined.

If we had been closer... my fountain, could have put out your fire???

Well, at least cooled you off.

Maybe it has been that kind of day?

I'm glad you weren't hurt in the fire.
Dixana
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:lol: :lol: :lol: You guys crack me up big time. Not that for one second do any better......Dale let me drive the boat today and I managed to ever so nicely drive us into less than two feet of water and get us stuck :oops:
I think it's hilarious now, at the time not so funny...
cynthia_h
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freedhardwoods wrote:The reason I got a new lawn mower is that I burned my old one to the ground trying to get it started. :roll:
Yikes! :shock:

I was relieved to read your whole story and learn that you weren't injured by the fire. But...a close call... *whew*

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
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freedhardwoods
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cynthia_h wrote:Yikes! :shock:

I was relieved to read your whole story and learn that you weren't injured by the fire. But...a close call... *whew*

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
I was just a little apprehensive standing there putting the fire out while looking through the holes melted into the top of a plastic tank full of gas.
cynthia_h
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Jeez...I can only imagine...I'm so glad you're still here to tell us about it! and not injured/traumatized into the hospital or worse. :(

There you were, all prepared (fire extinguisher and all), and there's an undetected LEAK / spark / fire...I dunno...you must be made of stronger stuff! Take it easy today, just in case the ol' ticker has ideas...

Glad you're still here. Truly.

Cynthia
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Ozark Lady
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I would much rather live with my water fountain, cold but not dangerous, or Dix's grounded boat than fire.

Since my house burned in 2008, I am more than a little bit leary of fire.

It is tragic that you burned your mower up, but it could have been so much worse, like if you had gas on you, or if it was too close to the house or garage... so much worse indeed.

Take a deep breath and count your blessings, all that didn't go wrong!
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Kisal
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It was kismet, freedhardwoods! Fate had a new mower just waiting for you. The only question was how to part you from your old one. I hope you have learned your lesson, though. When working on anything gas-powered, be sure to have a bag of marshmallows and a roasting stick nearby. :lol:
Dixana
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OMG ozark lady I had my place burn down too! Our apartment burned the ground in jan of 03. We lost everything we had. And then I sit here and wonder-where did we accumulate all this STUFF in only 7 years!?! You ever wonder the same thing?
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Ozark Lady
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Oh yes, but I do know where alot came from.

We got out with our night clothes, and that was all.

But, it is a good thing, that I had 2 empty mobiles that we were working on. We had one almost done, almost ready to start moving into, just not quite. The other wasn't started on.

Every day at work, I would come out to my car loaded full. I mean full. And every day off, I had a list of houses to go to pick up truckloads of stuff. I was afraid to drive the truck to work, that would really encourage my co-workers!

A waitress at a restaurant that we have known for years. Her son died a year before our fire, she had his whole household in storage. She asked me to take it all. I mean everything.

We had no insurance at all. But, we had friends, we had wonderful neighbors.

Wonder of wonders, my photo albums survived the fire. They were wet but they survived.

I need a couple more mobiles to store all this stuff. I ended up with 6-7 dining room tables, televisions for every room. And this is 2 years and 8 days later.

And it was NOT the organizations who were there for me, it was individuals.

We lost alot, but, I look at my towels and think of a dear lady, I look at the television in my room and think of another dear lady... all my friends and acquaintances live forever in my home. I see their faces daily, in items that they gave me.
Dixana
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A lot of people gave us a lot of stuff too and thankfully all my friends made copies of tons of pictures for us.
I also worked in an office at the time and a lot of wonderful women gave me nice clothes for work. Of everything we lost the only thing I miss is a brass horse that had been in my family for years. It belonged to my great great aunt and my grandma gave it to me before she died :( It's irreplaceable, but honestly? Everything ekse is just...stuff


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