Green, green grass of home

I am not an "outdoor" person. Don't get me wrong--I like to fish and camp, like taking long walks, but I don't like sweating a great deal and don't like participating in "sports" that make me sweat. But, since I live in a house that has a yard, I HAVE to mow the grass. You want a house, you mow the grass or you pay someone to do it.

I hate spending more money than I have to, especially when I can do it myself more cheaply (in the long run, that is). So, I went to Lowe's and bought an electric lawnmower--electric, simply because I'm a little person and do not have enough upper-body strength to pull a cord. Also, to protect it, I have to keep the lawnmower in the house, and I don't want to store anything with gas in it in the house. So, it really was a rational decision for me.

I started mowing the grass on Tuesday; the grass was pretty tall, and, in places, it's pretty thick. I plugged the 100 foot extension cord into a power strip, since my house has NO grounded plugs--not one. The house was built in 1918; the electricity was added later, at a time when "grounded" plugs didn't exist, I guess. And the owner hasn't added any. So, to protect me and the house, I have power strips everywhere.

The problem was that the power strip kept shutting off--protection from overload; it didn't occur to me at the time to turn off everything that was drawing power from that circuit. As a consequence, I spent two hours mowing and running inside the house to pop the power strip back on. I managed to get half the yard mowed on Tuesday, then gave up in frustration.

This morning, though, I did what I should have done Tuesday. I managed to get the rest of the yard mowed without tripping the power once (gee, I really am smart when I want to be!). I feel so empowered! First, I bought the mower myself; second, I put it together; and third, I got it to work. I feel as though I've really accomplished something.

But now I'm really sweaty, so I need a bath before I teach my class this evening. And I'm about three days behind on grading papers. Oh, well. Having a life is tough, isn't it?