Easy Rider

I am right now SO excited about the greatest invention since the bread machine and the Swiffer mop: the riding lawnmower!! I know, I know, it's been around for decades, but we have never had one. Today I decided to make my maiden voyage on our new Poulan Pro Lawn Tractor Model XT--which I'm sure stands for "extra terrific." First I read through the instruction manual so I wouldn't wreck it right away. After one run-through, I decided it might as well have been written in Japanese for as much as I understood it. So, I took the manual out to the garage and sat on the mower as I read it again, matching up all the gadgets on the machine with the pictures in the book. After I had a rough idea of how to start, reverse, engage the mower blades, and stop, I backed out of the garage and took off. How AWESOME! Smooth ride, easy steering, twice the mow width of the push mower, and hardly any effort involved on my part. I soon figured out how to closely edge around trees and other obstacles, leaving just a few areas that will require trimming with the push mower or weed whip. My complaints are minor--I had a can of pop in the handy dandy can holder, and got a mouthful of grass clippings when I took a drink because the can cover had blown off. For some reason I also feel like I have grass down the back of my pants. But those are irrelevant issues compared with the 2+ hours I saved over the last time I mowed here--plus I'm not dying of heat stroke, don't have noodle arms from 4 hours of pushing, and don't have the annoyance of starting it with multiple pulls on an uncooperative rope.
Sorry if I'm boring you, but I will take my thrills where I can get them. I don't need a red sports car or even a new Harley--maybe just an Ipod so I can groove as I cruise on the PP XT. Who says almost-50 can't be a joyride?!