Weedeating

Every year, I seem to learn/do something new in terms of maintenance work. When I moved out into the "country," it was the first time, I really had to do my own maintenance work. Before, there were other people to do that sort of thing. Despite being a tenant where I currently live, I am still in charge of all the mowing and such around this place. As from my previous posts, even if my landlord would do that sort of thing, it would take him forever to get around to it. And quite frankly, I do not have the patience to wait for him.

My first summer here, I actually mowed for the first time ever. That was almost six years ago. Originally, the chores were supposed to be equally divided by my roommate and myself. That never happened, and I wound up doing the majority of everything--maintenance work, taking care of the dogs (five to seven total depending on whether we had extra dogs my roommate just happened to bring over), house cleaning, etc. It drove me insane literally. It never made sense to me how she could do everyone else's maintenance work, and yes, she is a very handy woman, however, she could and would not do anything around here.

Recently, the neighbor where I work asked me if I would mow her lawn and weed eat. The mowing wasn't a big deal since it is on the riding lawnmower. The weed eating, I wasn't sure about but agreed to do it. The nice thing is that it's some extra money a month, and this was my former roommate's job last year. So of course my competitive side rears its head wanting to do a better job than her, after all, she is the one with the skills in this department.

I decided I wanted my own weed eater rather than using the neighbor's. I guess I like using my own tools when it comes to these things. That way if something happens to it, it's my responsibility, and there isn't blame like I broke it. I think I have this inside fear that I'm going to be banned from these type of tools or machinery despite the fact that there really isn't any reason for me to feel this way.

I went to Lowe's and bought a weed eater.
image: Troybilt

I didn't do as much research as I normally do, so I'm really not sure it is a great weed eater. I just wanted a weed eater that wasn't outrageously priced and one where I didn't have to mix gas and oil. Friday, I was pretty happy with it, but then on Saturday, the shaft bolt fell off. I was thinking this wasn't a good sign. Since I had warranty, I went back to Lowe's on Saturday evening, and they switched me out for a brand new one. I tried the new one out yesterday and think it worked out well.

I wound up weed eating for a little over three hours for the neighbor who is paying me. Oh my, she had some very tall weeds and her yard had pretty much been neglected since last year. When I was done and my arms had stopped shaking, I was utterly exhausted. I never knew weed eating could take that much out of you. Luckily, I only have to do this once or twice a month.

All in all though, it's kind of fun to try out a new tool. I'm not sure what will be next, but I'm hoping gardening is in my future even though I don't seem to have great luck with plants after their rooting stage.