There are times when I seek out the little guy, and times when I buy stuff at box stores. I try to keep it in balance. Sometimes Goliath surprises you with his compassion, and other times David pisses you off with his arrogance. Here are a few examples: 1)Weed wacker--good dealer purchase Had my eye on a Husqy 223L trimmer, which Lowe's had for $299. We have a small engine shop here in Jacksonville (Cooper's), which primarly sells Snapper, Husqvarna and Stihl. I figured I'd stop in, and if he were even within 10% of the Lowe's price, I'd buy from him. Turns out he undercut Lowe's by $30, and he now contiunes to get my business. He insisted that I take it outside and test it out--otherwise how would his trimming get done? I always support the local little guy when I can, of course, in Carolina, Lowe's is the local little guy compared to Home Depot. 2)Used John Deere--sour dealer purchase I recently "brokered" a purchase of a JD 265 from a reputable JD dealer (Bombergers Store, Litiz, PA) for my Dad, from three states away. It was a trade-in which was still configured for snow removal. We bought it for just over $1500, with plow, deck and snowblower (installed). My father has never owned a large garden tractor, and is not familiar with the lift system. I knew he'd be excited to take his new tractor up to the property and start mowing as soon as he got his hands on it. Since I obviously wouldn't be there to help him out, I didn't want him to have to skin his knuckles and get his blood pressure up swapping the blower for the deck before he got to use it, so I asked Bombergers if they could swap out the deck before the pickup time five days away. The salesman's response was "For the price this thing's going out of here, I'm not really interested in swapping the deck. We've got a lot to do for OUR customers this week. I'm mechanically inclined and it would take me at least an hour." So I asked him if I were to pay for the full $180 servicing (which includes leveling the deck), would he swap the implements out then? He agreed. Then he called me Friday at 5pm (tractor to be picked up Saturday at 10am) and said they did the service but left the blower on because they decided that wasn't worth their time. Getting really tired of being jerked around, I asked how much to swap the blower for the deck? $100. Fine. So the next morning my Dad picked up the mower, ready to cut, oblivious to the hassle and mugging I'd endured. That weekend I did some grading for my neighbor, going from deck->tiller->blade->deck in a single day, no swap taking more than 10 minutes (same system). The more I thought about it, the more I fumed. By Bomberger's standards, I'd just done $300 worth of labor just in configuring the tractor. I sent the manager an email saying they have one day to get back to me via phone or email to explain the circus that was the previous week--specifically why they didn't do a job we'd agreed on before calling me on a Friday night and demanding another Franklin note--or they could expect negative feedback on eBay. The negative feedback threat was a bluff, actually. Swapping the equipment wasn't in the terms of the sale, so I couldn't ethically destroy their 100% positive feedback for being A-holes for a somewhat separate issue. Monday morning the manager emailed me his phone number, and said he would like to refund the $100 deck swap fee, as he agreed this was outrageous. He also politely scolded me for implying in my email that his techicians were less than skilled mechanics. He's right; I don't know them. For all I know, each of them may have completed the 8th grade with a passing average. The whole time they kept referring to what they do for "their" customers. I'm assuming they mean the people who buy new $7,000 mowers, because apparently spending $1,800 on used equipment doesn't get you into the club. My Dad lives an hour away and could very well have become one of the elite few "Bombergers Customers." But after hearing about what I'd went through to get them to swap the attachments, it's a fair bet he will never seek that status. 3) Table saw--good box store purchase The Craftsman folding table saw I've had my eye on for a year, with sliding miter and built-in router table (#21829) finally went on sale this weekend, from $450 to $350. After reading the Sears Ad in the Sunday paper I grabbed my two year old and went for a ride. As I went to check out, I noticed a ball-bearing chest (#61805/61809) set also heavily discounted. Unfortunately, due to the hot price, they had sold out of them. "Okay, so how much for that one?" The sales guy looked it over... "How's 15% off sound?" Sounds like I'm going to need to stow the third row seat to make it home... Since my credit card doubles the mfg warranty, I wanted to pay for the saw first, then pay cash for the chest. "Craftsman club member? 10% off today." Nope. So he pulls his card out of his pocket and discounts the chest another 10%. With the chest receipt came a $25 off coupon off my next purchase, which was the table saw... 20 seconds later. Once again he swiped his club card and knocked another 10% off. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I had a brand new $450 table saw on sale for $350, club discounted to $292; and a $450 tool chest combo, on sale for $370, floor model discounted to $277. Granted I didn't plan on spending $600 two weeks before we go on vacation, and I now will have to go without the 15gal tow-behind sprayer I'd planned to buy this season, but it wasn't a bad day for the consumer. The big corporations might not give a hoot about us, but every now and then you'll find someone working the register who does.

That may be normal. Just how high is it? In cold weather, it might go to 1200 rpm at first start and then pull back to 900 rpm in the next few seconds. After a few minutes, it should settle to about 700 rpm. If the engine hits 2000 rpm on startup and is too slow in reducing speed, it needs attention. This assumes it was started with your foot off the accelerator and allowing the engine controller to control the process. Also, you may note this happening in cold weather: The idle speed increases slightly when the gear selector is moved from park or neutral to any gear. What's happening is this (for automatic transmissions): When the transmission is put into gear from neutral, the engine controller increases the idle speed a bit to compensate for the extra drag put on by the transmission. If the transmission is a little slow in engaging, the engine will speed up and then drop back in rpm as the transmission cluthes fully engage. This effect is less noticable after the transmission fluid warms and the shift from neutral to a gear quickens. The effect is more noticeable with transmissions that have accumulated wear on shifting valve seals and clutch facings.

Probably the interlock need adjusting, or it has some worn parts that need replacing. Banging it around is no cure and may worsen things. Get it fixed and loose the agravation.

Faron - I think I told you once that DH bought a 1964 1/2 Mustang convertible - black with red interior. He loved his baby - until our eldest son turned 16 - then he sold for something with safety features. That was in 1990 and we sold it in 1998. Then one day he went into the Chevy dealership to pick up my Suburban from the service department. Sitting in the showroom was a 2003 Anniversary Edition Corvette - he was smitten. I've never seen him so excited about a car before. Two days later he traded in his Tahoe and drove out in his shiny new Vette. We thoroughly enjoyed it- took several road trips, visited our son in Vermont in October with the roof down, the heater on and a heated blanket on my lap. Unfortunately 3 months later a driver ran a red light and hit him in the engine compartment and spun him around the intersection. Total loss. He was lucky he wasn't killed. That was his last toy. He now drives a really safe sedan. But this was his dream car - all 3 months of it. http://www.caranddriver.com/features/2003-chevrolet-corvette-50th-anniversary-special-edition-feature