The fine people who sold me my lawn mower supplied me with my first tank of gas. Knowing this wouldn’t last, I bought a gas can.
This can, however, came without gas and this became a problem when I began to mow the lawn for the second time last Friday.
As soon as I discovered I was out of gas, I grabbed my car keys and went to the gas station. After putting gas in my new gas can, I was shocked to realize that I had no money with me. No ID, nothing, just my keys and an uneasy smile as I explained I’d be back later with the money.
(this worked…I love this town)
When I got back to the mower, I attached the nozzle to the gas can and began to refuel. After a few seconds, the nozzle fell into the gas tank of the mower. I could see it, but I couldn’t get my hand in there. I went inside and asked for a pair of tongs from Holli. Upon being given the tongs, I was reminded that my shoes where grassy and I was to take them off when I came back in.
The tongs fit in the tank, but I couldn’t open them to get the nozzle out…what I could do (and did) was push the nozzle further inside the tank, to where I could just barely see it.
After I got a wire coat hanger, I succeeded in pushing it to where I could only see it if I stuck my eyeball into the tank…which is not a good thing to do with your eyeball.
In the garage (I wasn’t going back inside…the coat hanger retrieval was met with another reminder of the unclean state of my shoes) I found a telescoping curtain rod. Quickly, I wished I hadn’t as now the nozzle was out of site and the rubber end of the curtain rod was also now in the gas tank.
With nowhere else to turn I took off my shoes and socks and went inside to get a different pair of tongs. (other things happened during this trip, but it is not to my advantage to give MY side of the story without allowing her to give HER side of the story, so I’ll just skip this part…let’s just say I wasn’t happy about having to take off my shoes to come into my own house and my attitude toward her may have been a bit poor…and this is MY side of the story)
I decided to fill the tank hoping the nozzle and rubber cap would rise to the top. They did, but floated to the other end of the tank. So I started the mower and parked it on an incline so the offending items would float to the mouth of the tank. Of course, I did it on the wrong side to start, but eventually got it to float to where I could see it. The new tongs worked. I gathered all my stuff (coat hanger, two pairs of tongs, curtain rod) and put them back in the garage, got in my car, went to the gas station, paid, and came back home.
Then, a humbler man, I mowed the lawn.
