I'll go ahead and answer my own questions, when possible in case others may later find this useful. I slowly pulled the cord all the way out 'til I could see the pulley itself. The edges are ragged and uneven so I assume it is supposed to be one piece and now broken. I found that the part is available but was told that due to its age, quite expensive and not worth replacing. (If anyone has an old one kicking around that they'd like to sell for a reasonable price, please contact me. ) In the meantime, I'm going to try to remove it, clean and degrease it and glue it back together. Not yet sure if this applies to mine or not, but to remove/replace the assembly, I found the following instructions: How to Install a Pull Cord for a Lawn-Boy Push Mower One of the most common things to go wrong with any kind of mower, including Lawn Boy mowers, is that the pull cord simply won't "pull" anymore. Sometimes they break, and sometimes they just wear out. Knowing how to install a pull cord for a Lawn Boy Mower will save you from a wasted day and wasted dollars at a service shop. The process is easy, and you can be up and mowing in no time. * Socket set (if needed) * Phillips head screwdriver * Flathead screwdriver * Replacement cord Step 1 Remove the cover to the pull reel. On some models, this will be as simple as removing the 3 or 4 screws set in the casing. On other models, you may need to use a socket set to first remove the upper portion of the engine casing. Step 2 Locate the 3 metal clips that hold the tension wheel to the pull rope pulley. Gently pry the clips off the tension wheel using your fingers or a flathead screwdriver. Be very careful not to bend the clips out of shape while you do this. Once the clips are undone, pull the tension wheel off the pull rope pulley. Step 3 Pull any remaining rope to the right to unspool it from the pulley. At the rope's end, you will see a small channel cut into the side of the pulley that the rope is placed in with a knot at its end; this is how the rope remains connected to the pulley. Simply use your fingers to pull the rope out of the channel, and discard the old rope. Step 4 Unwrap your replacement cord. If the cord does not already have a metal stop attached to one end, tie a small knot in it, and push the cord and knot into the channel on the pulley so if you pull on the cord, the end remains in the pulley and will not come free. Step 5 Hold the cord so that there is some tension on it, and begin to turn the pulley to the left so the cord wraps around it. Use the end you are holding to guide the cord as it wraps so it forms an even layer on the pulley (not wrapped unevenly to one side or the other). When you have about 3/4 of the cord wrapped, stop. Step 6 Pull the cord off the pulley (to the right), and guide it up the frame of your Lawn Boy mower to where it will attach to the pull handle. Tie the cord end into the pull handle. Go back to the pulley, and turn it to the left again until the cord brings the pull handle up to the frame of the mower. Step 7 Re-clip the tension wheel to the pulley. Make sure the clips fit snugly. Pull the cord several times by the pull handle using a quick, sharp movement to set the tension to the pulley. Return the covers you removed, and you are ready to go.

Well, I had a few minutes to check a few things over last night. Gotta love these things, engine shroud off, removed carb, float bowl....tools used, 1 screwdriver.. :-) So..float bowl was clean and crud-free, so signs of gunk in the needle valve, moves freely, etc. Cork float is all in one piece, and once the surface gas dried upp it doesn't seem saturated. The air vane moves freely, spring not broken. Throttle is held wide open, vane will close throttle, spring back to wide open, seems fine. I blew through the ports I could with the carb off....did NOT touch mixture screw (I assume it's the brass one sticking straight up behind the throttle through-shaft?) The mixture screw has not been touched at all (as long as I've had the mower, and it worked well since I've had it). Exhaust port is clear. Pulled the plug out, cleaned it up, a fair amount of wet sludge (from running so rich)..cleaned it up like new, reinstalled. So, that all checks out.....put everything back together, same issue. It's running rich to the point that you can tell it's sputtering when you move the air vane...it should rev up but it sputters instead, like it's way too rich. It ran a few minutes while I tried each direction on the click wheel (it changes the idle speed but it remains rich and doesn't want to rev up...sputters instead), and it left a big oily spot on the lawn under the exhaust port....so..yeah, rich... Also, it's spitting gas out the intake. Not a huge amount, but enough that it gets the air filter wet, and will fire drops into your eyes if you stick your head down there with the air filter off. LOL I didn't fiddle with the mixture screw. (Any time I fiddled with carb mixtures in the past ended with a trip to the small engine shop to have them fix what I screwed up.) If someone can confirm how many turns from bottom it should be, I'll pull it out in case there's a piece of dirt or something in it... As for the adjustment..it 'should' be good..it was never changed... So...recapping::: rich, will idle not too bad, but as soon as you cut any grass it just slows right down and stalls. Will not rev up any significant amount when moving the air vane..it wants to but just loads up with fuel and sputters instead. The issue came on slowly over 2-3 mowing sessions..it wasn't there all of a sudden...it came on slowly and got worse and worse over time. Feel free to toss the hints at me....thanks in advance!!

I know what you mean mommabird! (Paige, right?) I think that's why I still hold on to this friendship--waiting to see if there's enough that's strong about our friendship that will lessen the impact. She lives in another town, so it's not like there are so many opportunities to "dilute" the effect that comment had. (Or, waiting to see if other events provide other guidance.) I also know that it's very easy to "kill the messenger"; *part* of why her comment stung was because I believed it was probably true, and it was evidence of how bad my home looked at the time to an outside. It was embarrassing, but it was true (was your joke about that boyfriend right, perhaps, and pointed right toward some uneasiness she was feeling?), and it's very easy to then blame the person who flipped on the light switch. So I fight against that--when she comes, I try not to think about it too much, and focus on the harmonies we can create as we chat. The thing is, I have friend from college who once said something really sharp that stung, and it really did nearly break up the friendship. But we got past it because it *was* an aberration, and the things that were good and strong about that friendship let us wait a day or two to get past it. That's also part of the damage the Dumpster Lady's comment did--put together with another "scolding" from her (one that I don't agree w/ her on), it showed me that we don't have the depth of friendship, or the sharing of standards, that perhaps we had both assumed. Maybe bcs we don't speak very often and so just don't know each other well; maybe bcs our personalities don't mesh as much as we'd thought. But it was less a single impact, and more the switch that has made me look again at the strength of the underlying friendship. But you're right, we all say stupid things, and we should be gentle with the people we know who do so, and hope that they'll be forgiving of us. (can your kids possibly be teenagers already? )

kitch...that is amazing...looks like a very close cousin to my chair..how far do you live from me ??? :) I will be right over. mamagoose..hope you can post a pic of the crib...that sounds so sweet and how creative of you . ded that tile is wonderful and I love the story behind it. The stories always make these more fun. lk...I got the idea of the Pam and 0000 steel wool from a friend that was in the Merchant Marine in the Vietnam era. He said they clean the ships with WD 40 and steel wool. Well I hate the WD 40 and it is bad for you to breath. So I looked around and Pam was the next best thing. You could just use cooking oil from the bottle as well. Just keep changing out the steel wool and wiping with paper towels till all the rust is gone. Then clean with a degreaser...I like Awesome from Walmart. Then rinse and dry well and voila..you have a treasure. I got the Mogul bulbs at Lowes. You can order them online but they carried them a couple years ago. They last so far I haven't had to change them and we use the lamps all the time. If there is old wiring make sure and leave it intact and use it to pull the new wiring through...a trick I read and it works great. Let me know if you need more details. arlosmom..that cabinet is wonderful !! And you are right is is so easy to do the lamps. annie...when would be a convenient time for us ALL to come shopping in your attic :) ( I am sorta serous ...) haha. WMA...that is a great story. As soon as you get that sofa back you post a pic. It is fantastic and I can hardly wait to see. c