August is over already?

August was a good month for me, cycling-wise. I looked at my log on mycyclinglog.com, and realized that there were exactly five days in August on which I didn't ride at least twenty miles. Given that three of those days were Sundays, it also means I rode to work every day I worked in August--the second month this year I've been able to say that. In April, I rode to work every day, but Jenn brought me home using my truck twice--once to look at houses, once because it was raining cats, dogs and the occasional pot-bellied pig.

Jenn bailed me out one time in August--after a club ride I captained got rained on heavily shortly before we finished. Even so, that day was good for thirty miles. She also picked me up one other time, as we were attending a party one of her co-workers was having that afternoon. The remaining day for which I logged less than twenty miles was the day I had the road and written tests for the New Rider Clinic, as I was stuck at the parking lot proctoring the written test while others rode the road test for me.

All in all, August was good for 710 miles. It still didn't beat my high-mileage month for this year--July, with 777, but I haven't done any centuries or RAIN in August.

Naturally, I wound up driving to work on Wednesday. I had an appointment to meet a reporter from the Ceej in the afternoon, and as the appointment was in Fern Creek, I opted for a faster mode of travel to minimize my time away from the store during the day. I'm not sure whether the story he was writing will be published, or when, so I'll leave it for a later discussion. I'm not sure I'm happy about things at the moment, anyway, as I would have preferred to know a bit more about the issue at hand before commenting. That said, knowing what I know today, I probably wouldn't have changed a whole lot of my comments. We'll see how it sounds when the article shows.

I still haven't gotten Jenn on the tandem. There is this issue of some paperwork she's been putting off, and she has decided that it has to be done before she'll ride the bike. It looks like I'll have to do this paperwork--the things I will do for my wife--but she's going to have to help. Maybe I'll find time to do it this week.

A couple summers ago, I bought a real, er, reel mower. I found it at Home Despot, and as the packing materials were missing, I looked it over a bit closer before loading it on my cart. One of the smaller wheels was damaged, so I asked the sales guy what kind of discount I could get on the thing.

I got it for half price--about $65.

A month or so later, I found a flier on my front door advertising a lawn mowing service that was going to charge me $35 per week to cut my grass. For less than two weeks worth of such a service, I had a perfectly serviceable mower. My mower is quiet, so I can mow whenever I want without disturbing any neighbors. My mower doesn't kick up the clouds of dust I associate with gas-powered rotary mowers, so my allergies don't flare when I cut the grass.

The handle broke when I was cutting the grass a week or two ago. The front yard at the new house grows pretty slow this time of year, and judging from the assortment of lawn care herbicides and such the prior owner was having something of a battle getting nice grass to grow consistently. When I do cut the grass, I keep wondering about re-seeding the yard this fall with something that will do better at choking out weeds and not need expensive fertilizers.

Anyway, back to the broken handle. I contacted a company online that advertised the mower, and learned that they don't carry replacement parts like handles. The manufacturer is willing to deal with end users, however, and I called them to order a replacement part. I was informed that they had changed the handle design a bit, in part due to failures like the one I was reporting. The nice woman on the phone decided that my mower was new enough that it was under warranty, and sent me a new handle assembly (not just the part that failed) at no charge. It arrived today.

I get to cut my grass tomorrow evening. My yard will look better. I'll be happier.