Inconveniences

Much of last summer was spent trying to replace our mower.  It was never a great mower and as the years have passed, it's proven not only to be unreliable here, but also carried by fewer and fewer retailers.  I'm guessing several other folks were less than pleased with their purchases, also.  At any rate, Mr. B is a whizbang mechanic, so he's kept it puttering along.  The gas tank leaking was the catalyst to shop for a new mower last year.  Knowing I wasn't at all interested in the same brand of mower presently on the place, I have done a bit of online shopping.  Being very pleased with my tiller, I checked into Troybilt mowers.  Locally, one lead after another proved to be a dead end, but they had other brands.  I didn't want to try another brand, I wanted a Troybilt, but I wasn't yet ready to just order a big mower online.  Mr. B managed to repair the gas tank and the one used Troybilt that I'd had my eye on, sold.  By this time it was October, so the idea was shelved for the winter.  I just felt in my heart there was a reason I didn't find a mower.

This year has been another matter.  There has been a great deal of rain, and the livestock simply cannot keep up with the pasture.  As I move the herd from one pasture to the next, I have had to mow each one.  I'm not complaining mind you, as it's nice to have the abundance, but the mower really couldn't keep up.  I've gotten pretty skilled in mowing these pastures, to the point of being able to winrow, so why not figure a way to collect the cuttings and make hay?  The search for a mower officially began a few weeks ago, but it was casual and leisurely, until the Poulan acted up again and the bagger wouldn't work!  I parked it that afternoon and told Mr. B, "Let's go buy a mower tomorrow!"

I got online that evening and discovered a bigger, better Troybilt than I'd seen last summer.  Hydrostat transmission, which Daddy said are impossible to tear up . . .  The next day we headed to town, but the sales help at Lowe's was no help, so we looked other places, but no big Troybilts . . . so back to Lowe's.  They had a smaller one but not the one I wanted and they couldn't tell me if they'd be getting any more.  By that time, I realized the day was gone and still no mower.  Got home, in time to do chores and called the store in the town up the highway.  They had the one I wanted, but no they wouldn't hold it for me, unless I paid over the phone.  I wanted to at least look at it before buying it!  That's why I hadn't ordered one online!

So, another day to town.  I got there, saw the mower and it was sweet!  But there was a HOLD sign on it.  Customer service said we'd have to ask in lawn and garden or seasonal or whatever and that person was busy right now.  When she was able to answer my questions, it turns out, the "hold thing" is a subjective decision . . .  They didn't have another one, but she could check to see if another store did.  I told her of my fun afternoon the day before in another town and she knew we'd already been there nearly an hour.  I smiled and said politely, I really couldn't spend another day shopping for a mower.  With that she said she'd try to find one and would I accept it, if the store delivered it . . . Well, again, I really wanted to see it, but since I could go ahead look at the one on hold, I considered it.  Then she said she'd call the manager and see about this "hold" thing.  Maybe we could work around it.

The manager never picked up, so she said she'd go up front and be right back.  I saw her speaking with a white haired gentleman who had a shopping cart, so I figured another customer had caught her attention.  I'm so glad I stayed calm and nice, as the gentleman she was talking to was the manager from the store I'd been to the day before.  It was his day off and he was there as a customer.  He came back with her to speak with us and said his store had just gotten one in and he'd call and tell them to get it assembled and hold it.  We finished up business in that town and headed back to the other one.  They were expecting us, but they were very busy.  "Here's Mike, he'll be right with you" . . . sort of.  When I asked about a sweeper, that ended up involving aisle blocked for safety, etc.

When it was finally all said and done, their sales start on Thursday so the sweeper was now on sale and hadn't been the day before.  Since we'd been through so much, the mower would be delivered and the usual $79.00 delivery charge would be waved.  On top of that, they had a brand new brush cutter, which I've been needing for some time, at a special price because of some assembly glitch that had been addressed and still carried the warranty.  All these bonuses . . . then at check out, the choice to carry the purchase for six months at no interest or a 5% discount.  We took the discount and left with a smile and much thanks to YHWH.  Every single inconvenience turned into a wonderful blessing!

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love Elohim, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28