Where does the time go?

Wow -- where does the time go? We just finished moving AGAIN, for the second time in 6 months. What a PITA! I twisted my knee in the process and may have permanent tissue damage.

We moved into a larger house, with a real back yard, across the street from my kids' school, and they have a playground literally in front of our house. Can it get any better than that? Did I forget to mention that there is construction on every road that enters the neighborhood? 20-30 minute delays -- Yay!

Now that we have a larger yard, I decided to forego the $100+/mo lawn service and mow it myself. I picked up a like-new, second-hand mower locally and managed to make one pass in the yard before hitting a steel spike hidden below the grass. $*@#! It stopped instantly and would not run afterward. The blade was mangled and I feared the engine had been damaged. I replaced the blade and eventually got the engine started, but it was running roughly. I was told that the flywheel keyway may have been sheered, causing the timing to be off. However, after removing the cover to inspect the flywheel, I found the keyway intact, but it still seemed to run roughly and lacked power while mowing. Since this was a mulching mower and I didn't have the side ejection port, my only choice was to raise the mower to its highest level and cut the grass in several passes.