Still among the living

Not feeling great, not feeling sick either. Choked down a normal breakfast this morning. Not looking forward to driving/sailing/driving for seven hours plus/minus on Thursday, but have reached the point I think I could do it.

Lawnmower continues cantankerous. One thing I haven't tried -- running it without the gas tank cap. That has a valve thingie in it to prevent evaporation. If it should be stuck closed, that could cause the observed symptoms. Otherwise, the damned machine may be trash. As previously noted, it has reached an age where simple things liked stamped pivot arms on the wheels develop metal fatigue....

(As an aside, the Toro folks manufactured the replacement part differently, in a fashion less likely to create "stress risers" in the metal. Guess I wasn't the first customer to encounter this failure mode.)

Me? Stubborn?

Got the lawnmower working again, just plain bloody-minded keep-cranking refusal to give up. I will _assume_ the fuel-line cleaner loosened up some crud from either the float valve or the carburetor needle.

I got it so it would almost idle, left it running, cranked it again when it quit, ran the throttle up and down, cranked it again, ad nauseum. Then, that magical last time, I cranked it at high throttle, it started, it started to sputter, and then it caught and ran smoothly at full speed. It even started properly after I shut it down. Several times.

Let's hear it for small victories!

So anyway, I don't have to go out shopping for a way to waste $$$ on the stupid effing lawn....