Thursday Night Mowing League: Team Owner Rocked By John Deere's Season-Ending Injury

TNML Commissioner’s Report:

I have to brag for a minute. A little toot toot from the commish.

According to my calendar, I just had a full month of TNML participation. No rainouts. No lazy Thursdays where I just skipped and prayed league members wouldn't drive by to see I didn't mow. Full, 100% participation this month and it feels amazing.

The only problem is that when there aren't rainouts it typically means we haven't had much rain. It's getting a little dusty out there with the locust leaves blowing around.

The trusty, one-pull Toro is still going strong. It's fully lifted right now. Can't raise the turf any higher.

Yes, daylight is becoming an issue. Yes, it's tough to get it done and showered up before Thursday Night Football. But that's what we've all trained for. We've committed to this lifestyle and now it's a matter of finding that inner drive this time of year.

Do you want to be the loser mowing Saturday before college football when you could be throwing meat on the smoker and suckin' down drafts from the quarter-barrel you bought for Tailgating Saturdays in the garage?

Don't be that person. Dig deep. There are three weeks to go.

Commish ruling needed

• Brent W. writes:

I am a loyal screencaps reader and need a ruling from the TNML Commissioner.  I added a 24v Kobalt fan to my zero turn to help me endure the sometimes brutal southern summer heat.  My question to the highly regarded TNML commissioner is, should I keep my addition hidden from the TNML community because they would consider me a wuss for using the fan during my 3-hour mow?

Roll Tide!

I have to say this is the first time I've seen a fan attached to a mower of any kind, especially from the TNML community.

Here's my ruling: This falls under the Jeep wave discussion on Screencaps where the question was raised about Jeep owners who put their foot outside the body of the Wrangler.

Jeep owners tell me that's mostly to air out the balls. Sorry ladies, here at the TNML we call it as it is.

I'm ruling that a fan attached to a zero-turn is perfectly legal because the premise is pure. You need to fan off the balls. It's understandable and if Kobalt is going to make a battery-powered fan, why not keep air flowing to the balls.

A fan on the front of a riding mower IS APPROVED.

TNML store…show your league colors…BUY, BUY, BUY!

TNML Reports:

• Mike T. in Eagle, Idaho, who has his yard on some Barry Bonds PEDs, writes:

Greetings from beautiful Eagle, Idaho

The mini heat dome over the Mountain West has brought us beautiful weather with a few 90-degree days thrown in! I have my fall fertilizer down and cutting deck at 4 inches!

Irrigation water is still on so everything is still green.

Saying our prayers for everyone in the hurricane's path, hope everyone stays safe!

• Dave in Rhode Island writes:

Quick report - went from the summer 4" lettuce cut to the boy's regular 3" cut today...looking good for the last month or so of the season up here, leaves will be down before we know it...

Shot of the redneck RI wood stack as well - used exclusively for the outdoor fire pit.  Need some consolidation on that mess soon...

Great weekend to All - 

That's something you don't see very often these days -- a dog house!

• Tim G. in the 419 has entered a new stage of his TNML season:

Days are too short to mow the entire 5 acres after work. Sunset was at 7:21 here in Allen County, Ohio, so I'm just mowing the main 2.5 acres yard on Thursday. 4.5" mow tonight - the grass is still nice and green but now growing as much as the temps have been in the 50s and 60s the last week or so.

• Douglas J. writes:

Unreal league night in Omaha!  Weather was perfect.  Felt amazing to be outside laying stripes with the rest of you all.  I'm ready for a beautiful weekend full of friends, food and football!

• Jason in Far Nor Cal writes:

Hey Joe,

Love TNML although I don’t get to participate every week.  Golf scramble dominated my Thursday’s this summer.  Truth be told, with summer heat, little to no rain, and water restrictions (thanks Gov hair gel), my mowing schedule was definitely not weekly anyway.  Finally got a little rain a week or so ago.  The lawn turned from half dead, to somewhat picture worthy.  Thankful. Got to snap a couple pictures during the golden hour including the view of Mt. Lassen from the middle of my street.  Have a great night! 

• Indy Daryl is back on schedule with his TNML participation:

Mrs. Do Hard Things was down for the count yesterday which meant I was on duty for both drop-off and pick up (Tues and Thurs means 3 kids at three different campuses…), ended up working late to help remedy an emergent situation, and it was also the last soccer game of the season (son scored twice!!). All that lead to a simple front yard only mow last night. Oh well! Such is life and I still had a delicious brew to celebrate. Have a great weekend

• Sean C. in Granger, IN closes down this week's post with quite a situation in his neighborhood:

Well, we’ve reached the final mow of September. Fighting daylight is getting tougher, and though I’m still toughing it out in shorts, I am throwing a sweatshirt on at this point of the season. It seems like just a few weeks ago when I mentioned how I know it’s getting late in the season when the shadows of the tress hit my sidewalk during a Thursday mow. Well, now they reach across the street. That sun angle decreases really fast late in September.

I think I brought up this topic a few months ago, but we are having Metronet Fiber Optic Cable coming through and tearing up yards in the neighborhood. I’m sure this is nothing like what the fellow TNML member had to deal with when his neighbor tore up part of his yard to put a pool in. However, there is some significant ripping up of lawns going on.

Honorary TNML Jim from across the street had this big rig in his driveway for about 2 hours. I’m sure this was approved by the HOA Board. I’d probably know for sure if I ever went to one of those meetings, but I wonder if people understood the chaos that would be in our neighborhood for a month. I’ll be honest, my yard was not affected too much. Just a little corner of the lot. But as Jim and I were talking, shouldn’t current residents at least get a year’s worth of fiber optic cable for the hassle? It would only seem fair. I guess it’s a good thing they’re doing it in the fall vs the spring.

And for the record, we already have AT&T fiber optic cable in the neighborhood. Can’t Metronet just do what the low-cost cell phone operators do and attach themselves to one of the big boys towers??? I just wanted to get that warning out there in case anyone else’s neighborhood entertains this new addition of fiber optic cable. Just know what you’re getting into.