Lol, no, I’m salary.
I am totally ready to go home, though. Just waiting on the user to come pickup his stuff.
I’m thinking I might have to break down and buy an electric string trimmer as getting our backyard cut this summer is probably not happening. Anyone got any advice on getting one? Should I push for cordless or just deal with a cord?
(Background: The HoA covers our lawn care, but getting to our back yard is slightly annoying at best and may involve an unfriendly and intimidating dog at work, so they do it maybe every two months when someone reminds them. Since it doesn’t show,. there’s no real incentive for them to do cut it in a normal year. I expect this year for it to be even less reliably done.)
I have a gas powered one that I’ve used only a couple of times since I bought it about 10 years ago. It’s still using the original tank of gas I put in it and I have a small can of mixed gas to fill it up again. Lots of power.
Gas is a bad fit as our only real option is storing it inside the house.
We only have maybe a 20’ x 25’ area out back, and half of that is garden plots or covered with pavers (which do have weeds between them) so I hope a battery will last a full run without issues.
Electric, if you have any power tools you may be able to share batteries, with that little ground to cover I think that’s your most important benchmark. That and price and weight.
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Last year I bought an Ego electric mower / trimmer combo and it’s fantastic. I also have a corded trimmer, and the Ego trimmer is actually quite a bit more powerful. I have 1 battery for the 2 items, and that’s all I have needed.
You can also get other accessories like hedge trimmers, blowers, chain saws, but so far I only have the two. I’d thoroughly recommend getting something like that.
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Project of the day. Clean and fix the fish pond. I have an idea of how to do the cleaning part. The fixing part? Who knows. Best way to learn!
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I haven’t had one break, but I’ve been told to look for one with a straight shaft, not one with a curve at the end. I’m guessing the driveshaft can be solid rather than flexible, and handle more power and/or RPM. Side benefit is that the cutting head is farther from you ankles, so maybe slightly less likely to fling things into your ankles? Definitely more margin for error with the extra distance.
If going corded, which is probably cheaper, put what you saved into a heavy duty extension cord. I bought a big honkin’ 15 amp extension cord to use with my compressor, so it could be at the door end of the garage instead of right up by the living room. I also use that cord for my table saw, because it won’t cut a one-by with a typical garage/lawn use long orange cord.
I’d opt for cordless. I had a corded one for years before battery density got to the point where cordless was really feasible… and I’m really glad I did. Dragging the cord around is certainly possible, but the ease of no cord is worth any dollars I spent.
Like Woodman said: Got any other tools already? Lots of companies that make home improvement stuff are bringing out yard tools, too.
If not, consider if you might get into cordless tools… and see who has what across their whole product line.
I have a Ryobi 40v lawn mower and a same-voltage chainsaw. Next on that list is a snow thrower… and maybe a line trimmer… and maybe a chainsaw-on-a-stick. What a rabbit hole! 
I also have… separate battery system… a Worx 20v string trimmer. It’s certainly weaker than my corded 20-year-old beast, but the Worx has some nifty features and lifetime replacements of cutting cord. We bought it on a special deal with a blower… and man, is that blower under powered. It’ll move cut grass or leaves if they’re on pavement, but come fall and leaf time it might as well just stay in storage.
Ordered a cordless one. It is a small space, and if I’m not mangling the weeds in the whole space, I can’t believe a battery won’t last the minimal space we need it for. We did some backyard cleanup yesterday and it definitely makes sense.
During the inspection yesterday the inspector turned on the water on everything and the kitchen ceiling started leaking.
After totally panicking and calling a plumber I found the problem, the tub faucet I replaced was defective and it was shooting water backwards. I’m having the plumber install the new one today so I can tell the realtor it was professionally rep aired
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Finished converting my office’s closet into an office space for Wifey with built-in shelves. Deal was, I build her a space in the office and a computer and she’ll give Amazon’s New World a shot.
So, I’ve run cat6 from the router, through the wall, and into the previous closet space to her new computer. Reminded me when I used to pitch in with my step-dad to install networking in local office spaces. Easy enough. We’ve painted the space and I successfully stained and installed natural wood built in shelves. Still need to paint the rest of the room, but that requires me to figure out how/where to store some of the furniture and hobby items I have (see: far too many MtG cards)
I should note that I’m extremely novice when it comes to house modifications, so I’m like a nervous chihuahua when it comes to installing anything to the studs. I was a wreck when I mounted my TV to the wall. I fretted for a week when I installed our sliding barn door for our pantry. I’m getting more comfortable with it, but I can’t help that I’m going to goof up and it’s going to cost me.
EDIT: In other news, my front yard is springing back to life. One step closer to being the old man who yells at kids to get off his lawn and that makes me happy. Some lilies I forgot I planted sprung up and are about to bloom, which was a nice surprise. The cherry trees I planted in the back seem to have survived the wet winter we had and are branching off nicely. The blueberries also look quite well, though only one of them appears to be getting berries this year, which is a shame. Wifey wants to have a go at some tomato plants, which I think will do well during the most of the year, but I’ll need to figure out how to protect them through the winter. Way too many holes to fill in the back yard from the grass becoming patchy. The list is everlong, but I somehow feel joy just chipping away at it.
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Small space definitely means cordless. I have bought into the Ego system. I started with the leaf blower. I now have the hedge trimmer, chainsaw and just got a straight shaft trimmer. I don’t know if I got the trimmer with the changeable heads, I thought I did. I have 2 batteries that I swap back and forth with one usually sitting in the one charger I have. The only time I have issues is during the fall with the leaf blower but it’s actually not bad. I can last about 20 mins on one battery. I figure if I go through one an evening in the fall, that’s enough to keep up with the leaves. On the weekend is the tarp and rake system.
Full disclosure: I have gas versions of almost all of these tools but I’ve found the electric version is easier to use and maintain. Probably the one exception is the edger I have. I haven’t used an electric one but my neighbor has an electric edger. My gas one blows their away.
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I will be trying out the trimmer this weekend probably.
In other news, I want one of these for the house. I don’t need one and have no place to put one, but… Maybe next house.
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Oooh… 
I want.
I’m saving it as an idea if I have a dedicated closet in my office for network gear and such if we move, which would be part of my idea. I want it as the entrance to a gaming/hobby room, but that’s probably overkill.
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Ooooh… we could use this as the entrance to our basement, which is our gaming/hobby room. Since it’s off the kitchen, we could put the cookbooks there…
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They sell matching non-door cabinet pieces, too.
The biggest point against this idea is I do know someone who had something similar built to hide a basement maintenance area and, to be honest, that is someone who is often at the top of people’s “Most likely to have someone tied up in their basement” lists.
Our local specialty hardware producer and supplier has the kits in stock for under $250.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/hardware/mechanisms/door/70491-murphy-door-hardware-kit
Got the new string trimmer out this weekend: I had picked up a DeWalt but ended up returning it because it didn’t have any ‘edger’ features and got a Black & Decker that was about 2/3 the price and seems to be better rated.
We hit the back yard and cleaned up most of the trouble spots in under 20 minutes. It’s that small of a space. If anything, the biggest issue is because it’s such a small space, there’s a temptation to avoid putting on long pants and safety gear, which is a recipe for a mistake. We’ll put it in the same category as my wife’s torch to be safe.
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