Library Notes
September 17, 2004
By Pansy Hundley, Librarian.
Continued --- "The Saga of the NEW Mower"
Where were we now? Looking back, I see that we had once more loaded that mower into the trunk of my car and set out to find the place to get it fixed.
I thought I knew where the "lawn-mower fix-it place" was, and it was the one I was thinking about, sure enough.
I went inside to find a person and tell them my story. Well, I found one and I told it. Her answer was, if they took my mower apart and it was something not covered under the warranty, it would cost me $16.50. So, without much choice, the lawn mower carefully came out of the trunk again. I told them to call me when they found the problem and tell me if it was covered under warranty or not.
Have ya’ll seen a commercial that I love, from a couple of years ago, about Discount Tires? The voice says "If you’re not satisfied with our tires, bring them back." Then you see this little ‘ole lady come walking up with a tire under her arm. She draws it back and hurls it through the large plate-glass front of the store! I had lifted that mower in and out of my car enough, in my present state of mind, I felt sure I could have hurled it through someone’s window with no trouble.
Within about a week, they called and said my mower was ready, and I owed $19.75. The filter was filthy and they had put a new one on. That was what the rest of the money was for. I again repeated that I had only used the mower a few times. But she insisted it was dirty, dirty.
That lady said the man got the handles back up, pulled on that cord and that mower started right up! Of course, my first question was "Well, what was wrong that the pull cord was stuck then?" Of course, that woman did not seem to know any more about it than I did.
When I went to pick up that marvelous machine – and pay my $19.75 – I asked the same question again and got the same answer again. I was not a happy customer. I did not know any more than I did before I brought that mower in and it had cost me $20.00 besides.
So, I asked if I could go in the back and talk to the man who worked on it. And I could, and it was a good thing, because I was about to start looking for a plate-glass window!
However, I did not have to find one, because that lawn-mower repairman was very helpful, very informative.
When I asked him "THE" question, he had an answer. The cable that runs up the mower handle and attaches to that handle goes into the mower at the bottom of the cable. That had slipped out and when that cable is not hooked up, it puts a lock on the pull cord. He showed me how to plug it back in. And I wonder why my little book doesn’t tell me that when that hooker-jigger comes out of that plug-in place, the pull cord won’t pull, won’t even talk about it? He showed me also how to take the filter out and clean it, at my request.
Now, armed with this additional lawn-mower information and intelligence, perhaps, at least we can hope, life and yard-mowing will go a bit easier now.
"Knowledge is Power", power to keep that thing putt-putting along as it is supposed to, especially when I’ve gone and bought a brand-spanking new one.
Now that this lovely mower has been "repaired", I have gotten it out of the trunk one more time, hopefully the last time, poured that gas back into it, and perhaps it will start and run and mow these yards, as I need it to do. Must keep these weeds and grass down and my blood pressure down and get on with other things.
Other things right now must focus on a new book for you people out there in library-land to wait for. Oh, it is in Farmersville; however not at this moment resting on the shelve. BECAUSE, one of those women has come in with her trusty little list that she cut our of the magazine that list all of the upcoming books for the next decade, it seems, and she has not been alone in that endeavor. So, that means that I have half a dozen names on a list before I have a book. I keep telling these women to stop looking at the magazines, but they totally ignore me and the next time come wagging in another list.
"Killer Smile", written by Lisa Scottoline, has been on that list. We. at least, have it on cassette tape and it has been mighty busy. Here is the story on it.
"Everybody around lawyer Mary DiNunzio has decided she isn’t allowed to be a Young Widow anymore, even though she didn’t know there was an official cut-off. They’ re all trying to fix her up – her South Philly Italian parents, her best friend Judy Carrier, even the office security guard.
All Mary wants to do is immerse herself in a case everybody else calls "The History Channel," a pro bono representation of the Brandolini estate. The roots of the matter sink deep into the past, when Amadeo Brandolini emigrated to Philadelphia, started a family and built up a small fishing business. At the outbreak of World War II, Brandolini was arrested by the FBI as part of a mass internment of Italian-Americans and was sent to a camp in Montana, where he eventually committed suicide. Now, more than sixty years later, his son’s estate hires Mary to sue for reparations.
Mary vows to vindicate Amadeo even though it won’t be easy. With only a lock of hair, an old wallet, and a sheet of paper filled with odd doodles to go on, the tenacious lawyer begins to research the case but finds instead puzzling new questions. Someone doesn’t want Mary to find the truth, and before long, her life is threatened. Suddenly, the quiet, squeaky-clean good girl who never left Mercer Street is risking life and limb to finger a killer and lay a beloved ghost to rest."