Like Chess, Only Harder

Like most people today, we are always looking for ways to save money.  One of the obvious ways is to save leftovers from suppers and use them for lunches.  In fact, many foods (like meat loaf) are much better the second time around.

Last night we made spaghetti for supper.  Considering we have five kids (all boys) and the oldest ones are 16 and 14, when we make spaghetti, we make spaghetti.....like 3.5 lbs of spaghetti.  Last trip to Sam's Club netted us a six pound bag of spaghetti.  How cool is that??

Anyway, as anticipated we had a few leftovers.  As I prepared to store the leftovers, the lack of availability of appropriately sized Tupperware should have given me a fair warning.  But, after creatively fitting a round bowl with an oval lid (Tupperware does have "give" in it), I was ready to take the food to the fridge.

Unfortunately, upon opening the fridge door, here is what I was greeted with:



Holy bat barf, Batman!!  How the hell do I get a bowl of spaghetti in there???  In a scene much like the one in Apollo 13, I spent several minutes (and trial runs) putting together the right steps of moving and replacing current contents so as to make room for the new occupant.  Yes, there were setbacks, but failure was not an option.

As usual, upon successfully storing the new leftovers, I had Mrs. WHW come down stairs just so I 
could show her.  Her initial reaction was to pull two bowls out, saying they had old food in them.  Then asked me to dispose of the hairy turkey salad and taco meat.  

Now I have to figure out how to fit the newly emptied Tupperware into the Tupperware cabinet shelf.  My work is never done.

Remedial Mechanics

Let me begin by saying, I am not mechanically inclined. If my car starts making a funny noise, I will first drive it more, hoping it fixes itself. If that doesn't work (like it ever has) I take it to the mechanic. If something like the garbage disposal stops working I will look at it...examine it.....possibly get under the sink and tap on it.....and try it again. If it still doesn't work, I have Mrs. W call her dad or one of her friends' husbands to see what they think.

Recently, as I was mowing our yard (an empty lot next to our house) the riding mower stopped working. At least, it wouldn't go into gear after I put it in neutral so I coould move some of the kids' climbing toys. The mower is an old Allis Chalmers garden tractor (a little tank). After lifting the seat of the mower and examining the transmission case I figured I was in over my head. I did try restarting, pounding on the top of the mower, then shifting.....but, surprisingly that didn't fix it.

Then, in a fit of frustration, I tried pushing the mower back to the garage. Unfortunately, the mower has a nasty habit of locking up (even in neutral) when it is being pushed. It decided to lock up as I pushed it up a hill. Before I knew it the darn thing as rolling backward, on top of me. Another fist to the top, and I decided to let it stay in the yard.

Fast forward a few days (5 days). The grass was getting tall, and the mower still sat in the yard. I had been reminded many, many times that I needed to fix the mower or move it. My response..."tomorrow, honey". I also decided to draw a line in the sand....Only I would fix it this time.

Well, we found ourselves at the inlaws one afternoon, and I mentioned, in passing, to my father-inlaw that the mower was having issues. He asked, "Have you checked the belts?" My response, "You bet"....which meant, "The belts??!!". Next day I went out to the mower, pulled open the seat, and noticed the main belt was off. But it seemed very tight...so I tried prying it back into place. Of course, I skinned several knuckles in the process, got my hands oily, but failed to move the belt. By this time, I think my guardian angel had as many laughs as they could take....so a little voice in my head said, "try crawling underneath the mower".

Taking the advice of my voice, I crawled underneath the mower, where I could push the pulley and reattach the belt in about 5 seconds. I really like my guardian angel.

I then fired the mower up, mowed the yard, put the mower in the garage, and strutted in to the house to bask in my new found manliness. Testosterone was flowing that afternoon, my friends.

When I got in, I was greeted with, "YOU fixed the mower? How did YOU fix the mower??" (I have used caps to indicate Mrs. WHW's emphasis). My response..."Just another thing this man can do...." She laughed, and made some sort of comment about everyone getting lucky once in a while....and how I should push mow the places that I couldn't get with the rider.

Unfortunately, the push mower wouldn't start. Instead of pushing my luck, I went to Home Depot and bought a new push mower. To quote Dirty Harry (in Magnum Force), "A man's got to know his limitations".