Lawn mower

You have a lawn, you need a lawn mower. My parents had an extra one in Minnesota and it was my original plan to pile it into the moving truck so I wouldn't need to purchase one here.

And then I got thinking: do I really need a gas-powered mower? Probably not.

From there, I started researching push mowers. I found the best model after reading lots of articles and Amazon reviews. Ready to order?

And then I thought, why buy new when surely there's something used around?! I started looking in Craigslist and, sure enough, it wasn't hard to find a bunch for sale.

And then, I was in my new backyard talking to Rod, my 79-year-old neighbor. I told him I was going to pick up a mower and he said I didn't need to do that -- I could have his old one that hasn't been used in years. Bang.

It's heavy. It's rusty. The blades are dull. But the damn thing is solid; no plastic and no Made in China here. Sure, it took a few hours to figure out the best way to sharpen it and I learned some new stuff in the process.

But now our new house has a new lawn mower. It works well and I can mow the whole yard in 10-15 minutes.