How to stabilize your lawnmower and other related subjects

First, I'd like to say how darn good it is to have my first corn on the cob of this year that I just finished cooking outside on my charcoal grill. It is absolutely delicious.
If you haven't had corn on the cob this year yet - it is a must do. Corn on the cob is on the same goodness level as salt potatoes.

Alright. So, now I will tell you how to take care of your lawn mower - which I only found out today after reading the manual for my lawnmower. The only way that I know how to tell you is with this story... :-D

My neighbor is the lawnmowing guy. He mows his lawn more than anyone on the street, I think. This is not a good thing for me, because this means that we are in grass height competition. My neighbor has mowed his lawn twice already this year.
So, it's a big joke between the neighbor and I. Good ole' Ron subtly reminds me (by working in his yard on a constant basis) that I need to keep my lawn at approximately 1 inch grass length or lower in order to keep my pride.

Today I left to do some errands and Ron was mowing his lawn. "Ok", I thought, "I will have to mow my lawn when I get back". The chives are out of control anyway - btw - Please, do let me know if you need any chives, whoever lived here before me must have supplied the local supermarket - I might have more chives than I have grass right now - I'm not sure.

I planned to get some oil for the lawnmower while out running errands.
I didn't forget - I picked up some oil at Home Depot (aka - my favorite store as a homeowner). When I got home, I was going to drain out the oil and put in the new oil because I heard that you are supposed to change the oil in the lawnmower atleast every year.
Ok, so now, I'm reading the manual. What is this? A tube of fuel stabilizer that came with my lawnmower? Uh oh. Well, I read in the manual that I am supposed to either add this fuel stabilizer to the fuel before winter and fill it up with gas, or completely empty it of gas and add completely new stuff in the spring. GREAT. Now what. I didn't do it - gas is eating my delicate lawnmower seals as I'm thinking about it.
Hmmm, what to do. Noone that I know would be able to offer advice about saving my seals... Internet - hmmm - abundance of info on how to add fuel stabilzer and several sites saying how it is basically impossible to dispose of gas.
My uncle would know! So, I call my uncle. To save old gas - you need to use "Octane Booster" - pour a bit of that in & add some new gas & you should be all set. Check! - OCTANE Booster, which I later found is only available in N. Syracuse at AutoZone (of course!). Alright. So, I get the gas & I get the Octane booster & mix it all up add more gas etc. According to the manual, YOU CANNOT drain the oil until the lawnmower is hot.
This state is only obtained by running the lawnmower. :-p haha

Manual says check spark plug for residue - Check! No residue.

Now, you are going to like this. I've done all of this preparation. I am ready to go.

Next, I prime the machine. I pull the string to start the mower several times and nothing. I wait - try again, nothing. I wait, try again several times, nothing. I press the primer button again & try again. I hope noone is watching.
I decide to barbeque. And continue to try the lawnmower. I resort to only barbequing. Guess the lawn will have to wait until tomorrow - maybe the octane booster will have had a chance to do magic.

The moral of this story is - always add stabilizer to your lawnmower before winter, otherwise, in the spring there will be a lot of failed lawnmower start attempts and you'll want to cook on your charcoal grill.

Cheers. :-p