"The Lawn Mower Caught Fire" (a short email exchange)

Subject: Lawn Mower Caught Fire, everything is fine but...

The lawn mower is not working.

I cleaned the engine with carborator cleaner, because I thought that it was overheating from being covered in a thick layer of oil. I got it all nice and clean, but I probably should have washed it with water, I guess, too, because when I started it, it caught fire! The fire was going really well, still feeding off of all of that built up oil laying around, but I managed to put it out quickly with the hose before it spread. Luckily, I had it parked close to the hose. 

I'm sorry. 

So, I got it started again, later, and it sounded pretty bad, and I put it in reverse and it died. Now the engine won't turn over. 

I do think it is fixable. I am really shook up, though, and will not attempt fixing until tomorrow. 

I'm okay... I think! I can't believe it caught fire. 

Artistic Re-Enactment

My Future Family Needs Cable Television

Walking out to feed the bunnies last night, Little Z and I had the following conversation:

Z, age 7: "Do we have to buy cable?"

Me: "No. We don't have cable. We've never had cable."

Z: "Well, if we don't pay for cable, where does the television come from?"

Me: "You just get an antenna, and the antenna catches it from the air. The TV is in the air, all around us." [Motioning towards the frozen air above us, it kind of freaked me out for a second, all of those TV waves.]

Z: "So, my future family could have an antenna. We don't have to pay for cable?"

Me: "Well, I guess the world could change. They could outlaw antennae by then. But you don't need cable, no. I don't think they'll outlaw antennae or anything."

Z: "That's what I thought! You don't have to pay for cable! I wish you could tell my future family that."

Me: "Well, that's kind of far in the future, isn't it? Can't you tell them?"

Z: "No! My future family! You know? For math camp? We have to figure out our expenses and stuff? For our future family?"

Me: "And they're making you get cable? You don't need cable! Cable is a luxury!"

Z: "That's what I told my teacher! But she says we have to have cable!"

We got back inside the house, where Bad Assed Husband was sitting on the couch.

Me: "They're making her get cable for her future family!"

BAH: "I know! What a rip! No one needs cable!"

Me: "That's what I was telling her!"

BAH [to Z] : "And they've got you working selling cell phones at the mall, with two kids at home! It doesn't pay to work, with a job like that! You should just stay home with the kids."

Z: "It's not at the mall, Dad. I'm just a cell phone salesperson."

BAH: "Not at the mall? Where are you selling cell phones, then?"

Z: "I don't know. It's just not at the mall."

BAH: "Well, still. You can't pay for two kids in daycare, with a job like that. What does your husband do, again?"

Z: "He's a librarian."

BAH: "Librarian... huh. He might make less money than you do. See which one of you makes the least money, and that person can quit their job and stay home with the kids. It doesn't pay to work, with two little kids at home. You save money taking care of them yourself, and then you get more time with them, too. And no cable! It's a waste of money."

Little Z, Age 7: "Okay."

Another Saturday Morning

Big Z did her first pet-sitting gig and got $80! (It paid $100 to watch three cats for two weeks, but I charged her $20 for transportation.) With her money, she has now purchased two fake banana slugs, which are sticky and gooey and realistic looking, and she keeps putting them places around the house and saying, "AH! A SLUG! HOW DID THAT GET THERE! YUCK!" Of course, once you've heard that gag once, it gets old. So, we kind of put up with this slug thing. Oh, that's really funny honey. I thought that was a slug, but it's not. Yeah. Really funny.

So, this morning, when Bad Assed Husband (BAH) got up and walked around and stepped on something squishy, he naturally thought it was a fake slug. Ha ha, very funny, he thought, and didn't even look down. After stepping on it a few times, he thought that the slug felt a little bit too squishy, and he looked down to see that he was actually stepping on a decapitated mouse, with its guts pouring out under the side of his foot.

The cats like to bite the heads off of mice and leave the bodies for later clean-up. They fight over who gets to bite the head off. The whole time, the mouse will be there, trying to get away, while one of them pins it onto the floor with one paw and fights the other cat with the other. Tigery generally wins the battle and bites off the head, but occasionally, she'll give it up to Bodkay.

Sweet kitties.

Bodkay usually loses the fight.

They fight over mouse heads, but they love each other.

Beer Making Today

Above is the cooling process. That jumble if wires in the countertop is actually a cooling pump that Bad-Assed Husband (BAH) made. He's handy like that.

We got a great deal on this kit for Holiday Ale, because it needs to age for a few months. We'll be drinking our Happy Holiday Ale in April.