For the last few months I have bitching to myself about how when I mow the yard, my mulching mower doesn't seem to be mulching anything. So I make the call to get a new mower blade because when I bought the mower it did a very good job.

Now this isn't the first time I have contemplated getting a new blade. About 6 months ago, I flipped the mower over, pulled the blade off, took it to a few hardware stores and could not find the correct blade. So I whipped out a file, sharpened it up and put it back on.

I was never thrilled with the results of that little exercise.

Fast forward to yesterday. I flip the mower over, measure the blade and head to the hardware store, and settle for a "Universal Mulching Blade". Head back to the house, proceed to remove the old blade and notice.......<light bulb flickering>......it is still pretty darn sharp. Not exactly what I would have expected given the mower seems to be just knocking the grass over. I decide to pull the blade anyway and drop the new on on. The new blade is clearly marked with "bottom" on one side of the blade so the installer knows which end faces toward the earth when it gets installed. Following this sagely advice, I install the new blade.

Only something is amiss...... it appears the cutting edge is pointing in a different direction from the blade I remo......<light bulb shining brightly now>. Turns out that 6 months ago, after sharpening my old blade, I re-installed it upside down. So in fact, the mower was knocking the grass over with the back side of the blade.

So.....Mr. Billy Bob Thornton....if you decide to make a sequel to "Sling Blade".....I have a prop for you.....