My dad had many talents, but mechanic-king wasn't one of them. So, one day -- let's say it was 1978 -- he showed up at our house with his "old" garden rototiller. He had noticed Mike's love of tinkering with lawn mowers. "If you can fix it, you can have it," he said to Mike; "I'm buying a new one." Mike fixed it, and then we had a tiller. Our garden plot was small and we never would have considered buying a tiller, but over the years we have appreciated that gift. It served us well while we lived on 12th Avenue -- through 1986. Mike even tilled for our elderly neighbor. It served us well while we lived on Broadview -- the next 17 years. And we carried it with us to our present home where it continues to serve. Over the years it needed tune-ups and finally Mike put a new motor on it. Every spring he performed the needful fix and the tiller churned our little garden plot.
"I'm so exasperated by the tiller!" said Mike last week. His long recitation didn't mean much to me -- kinda like an adult sounds to Charlie Brown. You remember the muted trumpet: waa waa waa waa waa waa waa."
"You know what you can do," I replied, meaning that we could buy a new one. I figure it was at least 10 years old when we got it and that was more than 30 years ago.
"There's nothing wrong with it that can't be fixed," Mike stated. "I just can't figure out waa waa waa . . ."We'd be paying to get rid of the exasperation," I told him, but then I had to consider all those reasons to keep the old tiller -- a small garden plot, the tiller small and portable, and somehow new is never better these days.
Eventually Mike gathered info from the small engine place and they gave him an old gasket at no charge. I had to wonder if that was a "we'll give you a gasket if you'll just go away" thing. And then -- like magic -- the old motor turned over again and the garden was tilled.
Tilling and setting up the watering system are Mike's contributions to the vegetable gardening process. The rest of the challenge is mine. KW
It's a good day when you get to be outside in the garden. I'm glad that Dad was able to get the tiller fixed. That would have been the end of an era.
ReplyDeleteAn addendum to the saga. I got the new one your dad got when Mom moved from Orofino. It served me well in the large garden in Fort Collins. I brought it here to Ivins, but the garden plot was not much bigger than the tiller, and it was difficult to maneuver in a tight place. David was starting into gardening in Mesa, so I hauled it down to Mesa. I had it tuned up before taking it down. As far as I know, it is still running on the original engine.
ReplyDeleteI hit the wrong key before my identity got entered, so I became Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteMike reminds me of my father. He would fix ANYTHING. Part of it was economics and part of it was male ego. He knew he could tinker with something, learn how it was put together and repair it. One time in the 1960's, I had an old transistor radio that stopped working. He was in the Signal Corps in WWII and even at home could build and repair radios. Well, when I went back to check on my radio, he was downhearted. He had taken the transistor radio apart and didn't understand it. His generation knew tube radios. He hadn't studied how transistors worked. My little radio died on his workbench. I told him it was all right and I knew that he tried.
ReplyDeleteYes, the new tiller was bigger, and I suspect any tiller we'd find in the stores today would be bigger.
ReplyDeleteThat's a poignant story about your dad, Leah. He lived to see the technology change and he saw what that meant. Some things just aren't meant to be repaired, and that's not necessarily a good thing.
Absolutely right on, Kathy. We need to repair what we have, not just for economic reasons, but to slow down consumerism and the growing landfills.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that in Germany, there are strict guidelines about recycling. When you buy a new appliance (any size), you take the box and packing back to the store to be recycled. I believe they have that same rule about any packaging. And I'll bet they have laws about recycling the dead appliance that new new one replaces.