[jyl]

We have "Leaf Days" in late November and early December. Twice a year, the city sends frontend loaders and dump trucks and crews to pick up the leaves from my neighborhood's streets. Only the most heavily tree'd neighborhoods get this. By the time Leaf Day comes, we have thick slimy leaf and goo layers on the streets in addition to big smelly wet mounds of piled leaves by the curbs. The former is the reason the city cares: cars spin out, pedestrians fall, cyclists crash on that snot-slick stuff, storm sewers clog, it is an infrastructure problem.

Leaf Day is my favorite day of the year. T-1 the streets look like they are covered with stinking mud, T+1 they are clean and beautiful. By T+5 the accumulation is noticeable again, which is why there is a second Leaf Day. So I rake and blow all the leaves from my sidewalk out the the curb piles, but the leaves on the grass and in the planting areas stay and become mulch - excuse me, Glen's wife, "soil" - for next year.

I bought a Makita 36v leaf blower, it is amazing, I almost never have to turn it up from throttle position 1 (1-5) and at that setting it is quiet. It is also defective - it runs regardless of whether the trigger is pulled. I can't decide if I want to return it or open it up to fix it. Anyone know if the trigger is a simple on-off switch or if there is some electronic gizmo?