Saga of a lawn mower

After two months patiently, ok mostly patiently, waiting I climbed into the Landrover for the 5 hour trip to Santo Domingo. Finally! Shopping for real things in the "American section!" High on the list...a lawnmower for the grounds here at the retreat center, El Centro.

In my excitement, I even managed to forget that things here always seem to arrive with a particular appetizer - an opportunity to stretch and grow and (sigh) earn graces. All was well as the lawn mower was easily attained at Ferreteria Americana (The American Hardware Store) - a poor attempt at a Lowes/Home Depot.

It didn't look to be the quality I was hoping for, and MTD was not the brand I was looking for. But it had a Briggs & Stratton motor - a 6hp B&S even! - and large back wheels even if they were plastic instead of the metal I had been dreaming of. (for the fairer gender, yes, guys do dream of things like this). But I focused on that B & S and took the plunge! WooHoo!

Success was short-lived. To my dismay after purchasing the lawn mower for the parish on my credit card, the cashier started ringing up my personal items and... my card was declined. 5 hours from home. The next trip possibly weeks or months away and my card was declined. I came to find out that even though I had more than enough money in my account, the credit card had a daily limit on it for international transactions. Eep! Make that grrrrr!

But wait, there was an ATM machine on the other side of the complex! So Lulun and I went racing over with our check-out lane shut down waiting on us. I pulled out cash in smaller increments until I hit the absolute ceiling. 10 minutes later, I was able to pay for half of my items. The cashier agreed to put the cart to the side and let us return the next day to pay for it. As much as I HATE this sort of "embarrassing" scene, I was somehow beyond caring about having my card declined in front of everyone, and having tons of items put back into a cart and pushed to the side.

The next day saw an encore performance. The cart was still there! I eeked all the cash out of my card that I could, then paid for the rest of my items. On to the PriceMart where they had American food in large quantities (think PriceClub)! I waited nervously as the cashier rang my items up. Lulun assured me I had enough cash in hand. I wasn't convinced. Boy was I happy to be outed as a worry wart! :)

The short version of the story (yes it could be much longer) is that we made it back to Banica!

The next day, I carefully explained to Manuel (realizing, of course, that he speaks less English than I do Spanish) that he was to be on sharp lookout for rocks. If he saw any protruding above ground level he was to stop, dig them up and toss them in the driveway. And if the lawn mower blade hit a rock, he better get it dug up pronto! I didn't care how much longer it took to finish the job this first time.

He said he understood perfectly and not to worry. He started mowing and I headed off for a meeting. I returned to find a good bit of the center grounds nicely mowed. Success!

How fleeting the good things often prove to be. The next morning, we started the lawn mower... the blade FELL OFF! As in, "Clang!" the blade hit the ground and slid out from under the mower!

What was I going to tell Father?!! He was in the US (his departure, the trip that got me to the capitol). He hadn't even seen the bill yet and the lawn mower was already in pieces!

Upon examination, the mounting bracket had broken, and the bolt had, in turn, snapped. I picked up the blade. After a single day of use, it was in the worst condition of any blade I have ever seen. After a mere single day of use, the blade was mangled by rocks.

Here the story splits a bit.

Part one: Samantha (a fellow missionary, who unlike me does speak fluent Spanish without having to play charades) teased Manuel a bit about breaking the lawn mower. Now realize that he is talking about a lawn mower with a 6hp Briggs & Stratton motor on it ( a typical push mower has a 2 to 3hp motore)... He told her that it is "not a good lawn mower". That it is "very weak because it does not..... pass thru the rocks easily...."

I didn't know. I still don't know. Someone please tell me, do I laugh or cry at that? Perhaps I laugh tears? Or Cry laughter? Perhaps you can cry and I can laugh? Wait! I want to cry!

Part two: Danni hopped on his motorcycle and took the broken part to Las Matas (the nearest "real" town). We followed a bit later with the snapped bolt. Amazingly Danni found us in Las Matas. He had been successful in getting the piece welded back together! One half of the problem was solved!

Why 2 trips for a 45 minute trip? Because I had to go to Las Matas anyway, but couldn't leave immediately. I had a large (100 pound) inverter to drop off for repair. And I was afraid that if the broken piece didn't get to Las Matas as soon as possible that it would not be able to be repaired the same day.

Why didn't I give the bolt to Danni? Because it was a "hardened" bolt and I was sure Danni didn't know the difference no matter what he would tell me. And I'd end up with a low grade bolt that would quickly snap in two again.

For our part, we visited 4 hardware stores and 3 auto parts store. The bolt we needed to secure the blade to the lawnmower is not to be found in Las Matas. That was Friday. Hopefully Wednesday when Lulun makes his "hospital run" to San Juan (about 40 minutes beyond Las Matas and a bit larger) on Wednesday, he will be able to find the bolt we need. If not, it will require a trip to the capitol (4-5 hours) to get the lawn mower repaired.

And so the saga of the lawn mower continues. Perhaps in a daze? Perhaps a bit like a mad man? I was heard walking around that day muttering "Una dia. Una dia". That is, "One day. One day" (all that was needed to break the lawn more I had been eagerly awaiting for months).