Those Darn Doors

They say that when one door closes another one opens.  

That's all well and good, but what they don't say is that the inverse is equally true - - when one door opens, you can bet another one just slammed shut!

That seems to be what happened to us this week.  We were feeling all satisfied and pleased with our luck when our year old microwave got fixed free of charge, then I realized that our stand-by generator  hadn't started up to do its weekly exercise on Sunday.

I went out and tried the manual start switch.  The starter didn't engage, it just made a sort of buzzing chatter.  My first thought was that the battery was bad - we've had to replace the battery a time or two over the years - but jumping it with the lawn mower had no effect at all.

Getting to the front of the generator is easy.  The top lifts up and two bolts let you remove the front panel.  That lets you change the oil and filter or replace the battery, but the starter is between the engine and the back panel.  The manual does not give directions for removing the back and side panels, and when you check for starter problems it says to contact an authorized service representative.

If I were twenty years younger, or if the temperature was twenty degrees warmer, I would have tried it anyway, but instead I called for service.  

The technician is supposed to be here Thursday.