Trends for March 4, 2002

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, March 4, 2002 | 8:25 a.m.

Get your motor running

Even though the Las Vegas Valley has basked in sunshine and warm temperatures in recent weeks, in some parts of the country bundled-up residents are still shoveling snow.

So it seems a wee bit premature (especially since it's technically still winter) for power-equipment engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton (in conjunction with the National Wildlife Federation) to designate March National Mower Tune-Up Month.

The lawn mower, as it turns out, is a seriously overlooked household item. The company reports of the 66 million mower-owning U.S. households, 40 million fail to perform routine mower maintenance. Seeing as how the average person mows his or her lawn 30 times per season, that's 1.2 million mowing experiences without the aid of a properly tuned mower.

What to do? The Briggs & Stratton people suggest starting with replacing the mower's air filter, as clogged filters increase the machine's fuel consumption and hydrocarbons released into the air due to unburned gasoline.

You do it for your car, so why not change the mower's oil and spark plug. Also, add a fuel stabilizer to improve engine starting.

For more information, visit tuneupmonth.com.

Who gets the job?

Here's the scenario: You've landed a huge promotion at work. The bigwigs are promising you an assistant, a reserved parking space, a key to the executive washroom and a giant corner office that's 3,000 miles across the country, at company headquarters.

Who do you gush to first oh, and ask advice from about hitting the career jackpot? According to 42 percent of executives, that person is their spouse or significant other. For 28 percent, it's a mentor.

That data comes courtesy of a survey by temporary staffing service Accountemps, which polled 150 execs from 1,000 of the nation's largest companies.

Another co-worker landed the No. 3 spot on the brag-to/advice-seeking list with 13 percent, followed by a friend (11 percent), another family member (5 percent) and the completely vague "someone else" (1 percent).

Bellying up

Three guys walk into a bar ... oh, you say you've heard this one already? You wouldn't, by chance, have worked as a bartender in the Big Apple, would you?

For the recently published "The New York City Bartender's Joke Book" (Warner Books, $6.50), author Jimmy Pritchard (a bartender whose credits include New York watering holes Carmine's and Mumbles), compiled 173 pages of racy, off-color and often corny nuggets he's collected. Here are a few examples of those suitable for printing in a family newspaper: "How do you make a dog drink? (Put it in a blender.)"

"What do you call a woman who always knows where her husband is?" (A widow.)"

"A pony walks into a bar and says, 'How about a hot toddy? I'm a little hoarse.'"

"Did you hear about the red ship and the blue ship that collided? (The survivors were marooned.)"

Uh, bartender, we'll take the check now, please.