Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): lawnmower starts then dies, wa wa wa, man wa

Question
Hi,
I don't know much about lawnmowers at all, (yeah, I'm a single mom with no man - wa wa wa) but no one seems to be able to help me.  So I figured I'd ask you!  It's a push mower, Tecumseh engine, cheap I'm assuming, and I just had it tuned up in October/2004.  I started it up no problem first time cutting last week, and had to stop.  I went back to it the next day and now I can't get the thing to keep running.  I have to prime it each time I go to start it and it starts and then dies like 2 seconds later. It won't restart without priming it about 20 times, and then it only runs for about 2 seconds..... I checked the spark plug, it's fine, it has gas and oil (could the old gas be causing this?)  I checked the little sponges and they are fine (air filter?) What is wrong?  Is it not getting fuel or something and by priming it I'm putting enough in the lines to start it for that short amount of time?  
I really need to finish my lawn and don't have the money to buy a new mower right now!  This is a shot in the dark but maybe you can give me some sort of fix?
Thank you!  

Answer
This is a common problem.  You can probably fix the problem by removing the carburetor float bowl nut located on the bottom of the carburetor.  BE CAREFUEL!! Fuel will flow out of the carburetor bowl as (once) the nut is removed.  You may want to drain the fuel tank before removeing the nut. Make sure the holes in the float bowl nut are clean.

Let me know what happens.
Eric