Finally replaced our standup vacuum cleaner. This may not sound like big news, but this is my blog, so I’ll write what I want.
Our old vacuum cleaner was a pretty decent Eureka. It cleaned up cat fur and crumbs and kept our house fairly neat and tidy as the girls grew into toddlers. The upright was at least five years old. I believe we bought it around Christmas, when Vivian was one year old. So, it outlasted its warranty at least. And while I would have liked the vacuum to last longer, $73 per year of vacuuming isn’t too terrible a price to pay. Not like my forty-dollar-per-month pair of shoes.
Unfortunately, I must have bought an end-of-line Eureka, because first the bags and then the belt became extremely hard to find. Even the local vacuum cleaner repairman couldn’t help. So, we put it out to pasture and decided to invest in a Dyson.
Dyson appears to be to vacuums what Apple is to computers: elegantly designed, super-effective, and significantly more expensive than the competition. However, we did find a refurbished model which had received excellent reviews and which was reasonably priced at around $419. If this thing can last five years, then I’ll only have paid $83.80 for it. The box arrived today by courier.
And the Dyson sucks like a Hoover. Truly. I was impressed by the amount of dust and fur it got off a floor I’d previously thought was clean. More fun was the nozzle attachments, which come off the top of the upright in a way that reminds you of toting an AK-47. Lock and load!
The Dyson seemed well designed, but it was also disturbingly complicated. I did figure out how to turn things on. Eventually. And the canister that collects the dirt comes off nicely for dumping in the garbage. There’s even a switch to open the bottom of the canister like a trap door. Of course, I ended up discovering this in the middle of the living room, and not within distance of a garbage can.
Oh, well. But at least the Dyson could suck it all up again.
Doctor Who Returns!
In other news, the seventh season of the Doctor Who revival officially debuts in Britain, Canada and the United States this Saturday, September 1st. In Canada, Space will be showing the program at 9 p.m. Eastern time (6 p.m. Pacific). The opener has Daleks (no spoilers there, it’s right in the title!) and it’s written by Steven Moffat. I’m going to tune in, and you should too!
In the meantime, enjoy this BBC-produced webisode prequel series starring Amy and Rory!