I’m becoming convinced everything is just junk.

Today, I needed to order a new “combo kit” of drill and impact driver just because it is actually the cheapest way to get a charger and batteries. What I really need is a new charger to replace one that is about to die. This particular charger has a fan in it that blows air through the batteries as they charge. The fan, of course, sucks up air from wherever the charger happens to be. Normally, my charger is in some place filled with dust, so the charger is full of dust. The fan, while it works, sounds a bit like a small snowmobile. No worries, though, it eventually stops working.

There should be nothing you need to replace less often than a battery charger. In fact, you should never need to replace it at all.

So far, I have gone through ten or so battery chargers.

The first ones that broke, they actually admitted were faulty and replaced them at no charge. The subsequent ones, I guess, break on schedule.

Anyway, that’s becoming an expected part of doing things. The tools you use are probably going to let you down in one way or another.

But you do what you can to remedy the situation.

When I first moved into this house, I bought a push mower. I thought I would be able to keep on top of mowing the lawn, so a push mower would be fine. If you use it every week, it works well. However, it is a bit more strenuous to use than a regular lawn mower.

That lasted one summer and the lawn was a total mess by the end of it. No, I could or would not mow the lawn every week. No time and certainly no inclination. (I should note here that summer is when I am busiest with work.)

So, I bought what seemed to be a good electric lawnmower. And when I first used it, it did a great job. However, maybe a day or two after the warrantee expired, the blade suddenly went off-balance. I hit a rock or a stick or something. When I took the blade off, I discovered that the hole in the centre was actually bigger than the arbor, with a plastic washer holding it in place. Well, I fixed that by welding a metal washer onto the blade which made sure it stayed balanced. I have no idea why they would make something that way.

Sometime after that, I started having other problems. The wheels kept falling off. That is trivial, except the way they are mounted features a nut in an almost inaccessible location. But I have been routinely putting the wheels back on.

The main feature of the lawnmower that really hinders how it performs is the fact that they made the wheel-height adjustable. Why did they do that? Perhaps some people want to have a putting green in their yard. I have no idea. That would not be a problem except the way the wheels are held in place is inadequate. Every time you hit a bump or even sometimes without bumping anything, the wheel lets go and the mower body drops closer to the ground. That makes it bog down, since it is electric and not exactly overflowing with power.

So, I was going to buy a gas mower. I don’t want a gas mower, but I thought there was no alternative.

(Notice the startling absence of actual grass in the above photo.)

But I didn’t do that. Instead, a few days ago I took out the lawnmower, turned it upside down, and welded the wheel nuts to the bolts that kept coming undone. So, the wheels won’t be falling off again. Then, I set the mower height to the highest position and welded that, too.

Now, it works the way it should.

Unfortunately, I can’t do the same with a battery charger.