Well, here's a nice rom-com, story for you: 60-year-old divorced guy with a broken heart traveled the world on a motorcycle and fell in love with a sublime Mediterranean woman in a small Italian village. Now go write it.
Mowing and edging and all the yard work at home is how I earned use of the mower and tools to do the neighbors yards.
9 months for my first one. I got hair pulled from my beard with pliers while sleeping, hit with a softball bat when I opened the door coming home from work, and stabbed with a roast fork after changing the TV channel while she was watching a different show. Top that.
Smart man. I was 18 and hoped she would change. That's why it lasted 9 months. Otherwise it would have been 4 months.