Is it OK if I Rant about my lawnmower disaster?

Yeah, it was a disastrous event that needs to be verbalized and this is the best place I can think of where I might get some fun feedback.

Here's the thing.

My old lawnmower was purchased back around 1993. This year, I changed the spark plug (again), it would run for about 30 seconds and die. I got it working after repeated priming and managed to get my back lawn cut twice.

Well, Friday it refused to keep running. I figure it's the carburetor. I thought, "Since it's so old, I might as well buy a new one."

Rona had an affordable mulching lawnmower (with bag option - something I don't have with my old mower), so I thought, "Hey, $229 isn't bad, considering all the others were over $300.)

I ended up paying about $250 (tax included). Got it home, prepared it for use and eventually got it running. I was pleased. Finally I could cut my 12" tall grass out front. But first, I'd test it along the drive/walkway since that's what people see first. The mower dug deep into my sod (obviously it sits much lower than my old one) but I kept going because the other part of the lawn was actually flat. it worked great on the flat areas.

Merrily, I pushed it down an 8 foot strip along the sidewalk and suddenly, "WHACK!" I hit a metal stake sticking out of the ground about 1 to 1-1/2 inches. On checking the damage, I saw that the blade had a chunk missing the size of the stake. The blade was bent so you couldn't push the mower.

Calmly, I loaded it back into my car and took it back to Rona. Of course, they can't do anything because this type of damage is not covered. I expected that, but it doesn't hurt to ask, right? Anyway, I did convince the guy to "donate" a new blade, hoping that's all it needed. (Thank you, Tony! )

Next, I headed to the service shop to make sure the crankshaft was okay. It wasn't. I needed a new engine.

What could I do but proceed? So I did.

So now I have a $250 lawnmower that cost me $450.

What would you have done? Scrapped it and bought a new one from the store, or had the service guy install this new engine (which is bigger and more powerful apparently). In the end, I saved about $50 by not buying another brand new one.

I hadn't even considered the warranty I'd get by buying another new one, but this guy is the official service for this brand of lawnmower so I'll still have a warranty, I presume.

Surprisingly, I'm not mad. I didn't have a tantrum and turn the air blue like I usually do under such situations, which is extremely odd. Maybe it's because I just bought a brand new 2012 Ford Focus 2 weeks ago and am still feeling rich.

What I am, however, is upset with myself for being so stupid and careless. The anger might set in later, but I sure hope not. I hate when I get upset with myself. I figure it'll likely happen when most of you point out my folly in fixing instead of replacing the entire unit. :rolleyes:

Sylvia