Welcome to the Jungle (Snuki's Playground)

Today was the day (Wednesday). Mano y Mano. Man vs. Machine. Me and the Whacker. I was going to string that puppy if it was the last thing I did today. I got online. I downloaded a pdf of the instruction manual for this model. And I got a tool. Tools are incredible; what I was unable to do with my own hands at phasers set to kill, I was able to do with stun strength. I happily removed the bumper knob and commenced to inspect the interior winding apparatus (or spool according to the manual). I prepped for battle, armed with whacking line (neon green), scissors, the machine + parts and the manual. I watched youtube instructional videos, read the instructions for double and single line threading. I tried the double. My intellect failed me at step 8. Then I found my salvation in the black pitch of the tumultuous battle, a ray of hope bursting through the clouds, a beacon of deliverance on line 4, paragraph 5, page 12. "Double line weedeaters can employ the single line threading technique." My resolve increased; I set my face toward the single line technique, heart pounding with anticipation at the end of the battle and the end of the war, much like Aragorn at the Black Gates when Sauron's tower fell. I began the technique, began again and once more, finally, reattaching the inner spool with spring and bolting the bumper knob in place. Having reforged the shards of Narsil naming it anew Anduril, I walked outside and faced the Death Marshes of the backyard.
A liter of gas, 30 feet of line and 2.5 hours later it is finished, the battle is over. Victory is mine (for now).
Snuki loved it. She had a whole yard to roam and sniff and... She spent a good while just touring the newly regained territory. She rolled and kicked the grass up, marked it as hers and made little brown monuments all over as a sort of victory expo.
Marina and I prepared (okay I watched and wrote down the recipe) entomatadas. We feasted; it was delicious. We chilled until Bible study time.
It was during this chill time that I heard about the chaos in the city (not really chaos but definitely unrest). Jose called and told me about an interview he had given at a bus stop to a reporter and a camera man (he made the news that night). The topic was the increase in the bus tariff. The price had gone from 4.5 pesos to 7 pesos. This is the transportation of the majority of the people particularly the lower economic class (of which Kimb and I are very much a part). There were blockades of most major intersections in the city as a protest, no violence but definitely a clear message. The bus company raised the rate without approval of the government. So come time to leave Kimb and I got a taxi and paid 50 pesos to go to the park close to Soledad's house where the Bible study is. Normally it would only cost us 16 pesos but because of the blockades, it was a longer trip, and he took us directly without picking up anyone else. Dropping us off, he offered to take us back for the same price, but I told him we didn't know when exactly we would be done and ready to return, so we parted and went to the study.
Esperanza, abuelita and Soledad were there, the others couldn't make it because of the unrest. We sang a few songs and I shared the story of Peter that I had given last summer to the youth at the coffee shop. It was really encouraging to help them see parts of scripture as a story with human beings and emotions, relationships, moments of doubt and hurt, of faith and confidence. Peter's story has it all. It is by far my favorite to share.
We parted afterward and took to the streets. I had no idea the condition of the transportation. It was close to 9 when the buses stop running, and with the protest I didn't know how many taxis would be available for Tule. So I stopped the first taxi I saw. He said 100 pesos to Tule, I offered 70, he stood firm. I took it. Better to be home in Tule than stranded over night in the city. This type of taxi is normally more expensive anyway because it is a direct route taxi much more similar to those in the States. The others run routes similar to the buses and stop to pickup more people. Of course, we pass the place we normally get on a bus and there was one for Tule. Even with the price jack we could have paid 14 pesos instead of 100, but he got there much faster than the bus would have.
So at the end of the day, we were $12 shorter than before, but Snuki had a playground, we had a Bible study and a place to lay our heads.