Scored on a Lawnmower!
So when I first bought our house back in 2001, I got this Craftsman 21″ lawn mower. From the get-go, it leaked oil BAD. I couldn’t keep any oil in it at all. Yes, I could have returned it, but there was so much crap going on, it slipped past 30 days, and well.. I was stuck with it. Despite all this it worked for about 5 years. Not bad! I expected it to die sooner, and I didn’t bother to get it fixed figuring it’d cost more than I was willing to spend. So, I figured I’d just run it to the ground. Well, Zelda was mowing the back lawn while I was working at home, and she blew it up. hee. Now, it wasn’t her fault at all, but now I was without a lawnmower.
Thankfully, it was winter time, and grass pretty much stops growing. This gave me about 4 months where I didn’t need one. The downside is now I did. The lawn was getting too long, and it was hard for Z to pick up after the dogs. Now queue the ‘get together’ dinner Z and I had with our neighbor Sam. We came over there, and Bill and Marilyn were there as well. Nice evening. Anyway, lo-and-behold Bill bought a lawnmower about 3 years ago, and used it once. Since then, he got a different one. Nice thing is that he wanted to sell it, and I needed to buy one. Fast forward to yesterday, and I meet up with Bill. Sure enough, the mower looked brand-new. He had the paperwork for it, and the receipt. He said he spent about $200 for it, and would sell it to me for $150. “Okay” I said. I figured I probably saved $70, and a trip to the store. I get home, and Z and I look at comparible mowers, and I notice that the receipt says that it was $150 new, and he had a $50 warranty with it which expires in two months. Screw this. Plus, it was a 4.5 Hp motor. I take the lawnmower back, and tell him that I could get a 6.5 HP mower for $50 more, and it has a warranty, and mentioned that his expired in 2 months. Saying this made him aware that I knew that he was trying to charge me full retail for that friggin’ thing. Made me mad a bit. SO, while Z was with her ma sewing drapes, I went to Sears to see what sales they had. I go in there, and they had a $350 lawn mower for $89. Mind you, it was used, but it had the good 6.75 HP Briggs and Stratton mower, and self propelled. SCORE! I was figuring I’d get the 3 year warranty, but the salesman said that if they could not fix it, they’d give me the value of the mower to buy a new one. Now, this is the hard part- so if the one I’m going to buy crapped out, would they give me $89 for it? Plus, the warranty was $60. My guess is if the parts/labor was more than $89, they’d tell me to get a new one. Plus, they’d get me to spend $$ again. A win for them, and a loss for me. Needless to say I didn’t get the warranty.
I get it home, clean it up (looks brand new), and mow the front and the back. The bigger motor does make it heavier, but the self propelled feature is just the best- I’ll have Z out there mowing all the time now. 
Ok, I must get ready- Z should be home soon, and we are meeting up with Heather to go get dinner. She’s going down to LA to take a new job. Good for her, but it’ll suck that she’s not going to be in the area- she was great to shoot the shinola with.