PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE

144 - Sunday, May 24, 2009

My neighbor is a really great guy. He loans me his lawn equipment since, in our austerity efforts during unemployment, we have cancelled our lawn services and I am opting to do the work myself. He could be an even better neighbor if he would just slip across the street when he is cutting his own and be my ‘lawnscaping fairy’, but that might be more neighborly than he feels like being, especially given the sweltering humid heat of the recent afternoons. Since this generosity began, however, his gas edger has been ailing, barely able to sustain running roughly and totally devoid of any power whatsoever. Knowing something of lawn equipment, I have taken it completely apart on three occasions without discovery of what was wrong - but this weekend, I had Bill over to aid in different project when mention was made of this equipment malfunction. Having been on the grounds staff at a local high school, some of his main duties included small engine service work and he volunteered to take a look at the edger and I was not about to discourage his exuberance. Once we had the unit dismantled, the scrutiny of inspection revealed a tiny separation in the fabric of the membrane in the carburetor gasket known as the ‘diaphragm’ which draws a steady flow of gasoline into the firing chamber. The gap was so small that I was not able to see it in my first attempts at service, mainly because my eyesight is not the same acuity as it was in my youth when I could see-the-whiskers-on-a-gnat-at-a-hundred-yards. I also was clueless as to what to look for as well. Once repairs had been affected and reassembly complete, the little edger sprang to new life and ran like a champion. Now, the thought that occurred to me is this – when you are blessed with the opportunity to avail yourself to the knowledge of a professional, you should exploit that occasion to the fullest – at least that is what I did – especially when they are not ‘charging’ you for their expertise!

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