Lawn Service...

Several years ago, Shelly and I had a lawn service. Actually, she had this house before we were married, so SHE had a lawn service. When we got married and I moved in, I kept my mouth shut, and I didn't have to cut the grass for a couple more years. Those were the days...

When Matthew was going to arrive, it was decided that we would cut the lawn service and I would start cutting the grass. Ok, this wasn't a big deal to me. Ever since 7th grade or so, I had always had a few yards to cut. Heck, even after I got my first real job, I still cut the grass for a neighbor across the street. I did that one because it was a 30 minute job and they weren't picky. I cut it when I cut mine and made a quick $25. Not bad if I already had the mower out anyway. The deal I made with Shelly is that if I was going to cut the grass, I wanted to buy good equipment. I bought a Honda mulching mower and a Stihl Edger. I already had an off-brand weed-eater and blower, and they were serviceable. The major requirements were self-propelled mower and ell pieces were to be gas powered. I have extension cords, but I'm sure as hell not going to have to drag them all over the yard. I was in business.

I must say that I am sort of particular about my grass. You have to be careful in a few places to make sure you don't scalp it. Well, with the unexpected trip to a funeral last week, it became obvious that I was not going to be able to get the yard done myself. So, I called the lawn service we used to use. It was a Thursday morning, and the guy told me not a problem, he was have one of his crews do it either Friday or Saturday.

Of course, as my luck would have it, we arrive back home Sunday night, completely worn out, and the grass was taller than ever. Great. I called the guy Monday, and he told me they were a day behind, but it would be done. I called the guy Tuesday, and he was on the other line, he promised he would track down the guy and call me right back. Never heard from him. Wednesday, I didn't think to call until I got home and the yard still had not been done. I called at 5:30 and got the recorder. I left a message that I wanted to hear from him Thursday morning with either a definite answer of when they would cut my grass or to tell me they couldn't get to it. At 3:30, I had not heard from him, so I called him . He said he was on the phone with another customer, but he gave me the number of the guy that was supposed to be coming to cut it. He said he would call the guy to let him know who I was and that I was going to call him. I was to wait 15 minutes and call him...

Enough of that crap. I called one of his competitors and they were cutting it at 7:15 the next morning.

With all of the birthday party stuff we had this last weekend, I sure was glad I didn't have to do it myself. Of course, the guys that cut it were the typical lawn service. Cut it quickly and move onto the next one. The missed a couple of patches, and it is scalped in at least 2 places. I'll be back to doing it myself next weekend.