[AT] Attempted injection of common sense... (was) ZTR's laughing

[Indiana Robinson]

-- 
"farmer", Esquire
At Hewick Midwest
      Wealth beyond belief, just no money...

Paternal Robinson's here by way of Norway (Clan Gunn), Scottish Highlands,
Cleasby Yorkshire England, Virginia, Kentucky then Indiana. Here 100 years 
before the revolution.


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net

On 11 Mar 2005 at 7:52, Chuck Saunders wrote:

> That would be 12.375 mph to mow a 9 acre strip 6 feet wide. Either they 
> don't have a lawn like mine or their kidneys take alot more abuse than 
> mine.
> It would be hard to hold on to the shimstock
> Chuck Saunders
> KC MO
> 



	You know this discussion reminds me very much of a rural mail carrier I used to work 
next to while we were in the post office. He worked like a flash. He would stand there 
dripping sweat in the winter while he sorted mail as I would be if they were giving away 
free old tractors (to somebody besides Cecil Monson)   :-)   He was always the first of 
us out the door to start the route by maybe 20 minutes. He drove like a wild man on the 
route and went through brakes and tires on his car like an elephant goes through peanuts. 
He was always the first one back in by sometimes as much as an hour. He didn't know any 
of the people on his route because he didn't feel he had time to ever chat with any of 
them. The other guys used to kid him that he could carry it even faster if he didn't 
slide past every 4th mail box and then had to back up... You know what he did with all 
that valuable time he saved by working like a frenzied lunatic? He went home and sat on 
his ass the rest of the day... He did sometimes mow a postage stamp sized yard but mostly 
he just sat and watched TV. He had no hobbies. He had to retire a while back, his heart 
gave out. Gee, big surprise there...   :-) 
	Back when we used to mow grass for part of our living I would have killed for a ZTR, or 
any good mower (ZTR's were not really around much back then) but I refuse to mow my own 
yard in a panic. I enjoy mowing (mostly) and while I don't wast a lot of time I refuse to 
get out there and bounce myself silly. One thing I do try to do is plan ahead. I have a 
20 HP tractor type and I do very little backing. I have my trees mulched with large 
circles of mulch around them. If the mower will not swing in and clear a spot it gets 
mulched. I trim with a garden sprayer and glysophate... I generally mow with one hand on 
the wheel and a diet cola in the other hand. Sometimes the diet cola is in the drink 
holder. It is ok there because I am not going so fast that a bump will throw it out of 
there. I do not have hemorrhoids and do not intend to develop them just to save a few 
minutes mowing.   :-)
	I work pretty hard but I also work pretty hard at enjoying what I am doing no matter 
what the job. I think any other way is just silly. I just used the old quote to someone 
yesterday that says: "no one on their death bed ever says, gee, I sure wish I would have 
spent more time working hard and less time enjoying life..."  Another saying is that 
"they don't let U-haul's through the pearly gates, you just can't take it with you".
	Yes I want something that will do a good job and do it in a "reasonable" time, I'm just 
not much of a supporter of the "Tim Taylor" school of thought...   :-)   Bigger isn't 
always better, faster isn't always better, newer isn't always better and more expensive 
isn't always better...

	There is a boarding stable down around the corner where son Scott spends a good bit of 
time. I get there now and then, nice folks. They claim that their new trucks and trailers 
are "required" as part of their image. Those are two new 1 ton diesel extended cab 
duallies at about $40,000+ each and about $20,000 each for those very fancy custom 
gooseneck horse trailers. And they wonder why they sometimes can't pay their light bill. 
They could still have "nice" at about 1/4th of the cost but they have to have "the 
best"... The best is OK if you can afford it but a silly goal if you can't have the best 
and eat at the same time.   :-)   If it won't work with pencil and paper it won't work in 
the real world either. The same thing goes for mowers, it has to pencil out. Gaining a 
little mowing speed doesn't help a lot if equipping to do it saddles you with debt that 
you have to work more hours someplace else to pay for.
	Slow down and enjoy life, you only get to do it once.   :-)



"farmer", Esquire
At Hewick Midwest
      Wealth beyond belief, just no money...

Paternal Robinson's here by way of Norway (Clan Gunn), Scottish Highlands,
Cleasby Yorkshire England, Virginia, Kentucky then Indiana. Here 100 years 
before the revolution.


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net