Labor Day, Manly Day

I know Labor Day is a celebration of the worker where we are not supposed to do any work. But sometimes it feels good to get out there and flex the muscle.

My lawn tractor broke down on Sunday evening while I was mowing the lawn. I had run out of gas, but after refilling it would stall out when I took my foot off of the clutch/brake and the wheels locked. Today I got some neighbor guys to help me look at it (very manly activity!) and we finally figured out that the tractor uses an electronic clutch and it had basically come unplugged from bouncing around the yard.

After that, I felt so good I knocked down the old wooden swing set in the back yard and piled it up in the truck for disposal. A socket wrench here, a sledgehammer there, and I was in business. Poor kids don't have anything to play on anymore, but it was getting to be a real safety hazard. We originally got it used for nothing, so the price was right. Going forward, we'll likely have to replace it with something horrendously expensive, especially in the light that Nub will use it longer than the other four kids.

Sigh. It's only money.

I followed this manly activity with some great beef ribs that I slow-cooked for 4 hours, homemade salsa, and homebrew beer.

Ahhh! Nice day.