Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The Understudy

Something you should know about my older son: One of his favorite playthings is our old upright vacuum cleaner.

Yup.  It's way fun.  He pretends to vacuum with it, of course, but he also pretends to ride it astride like a horse, or a tractor, or a spaceship.  The attachment tubes have been telescopes and guns (of course).  The power cord has been a snake or an eel.

The MiL bought a new vacuum a few months ago because the switch on the old one had gotten all wonky, requiring the user to fiddle with it constantly to keep it in the right position for power.  That position was sometimes in the middle, sometimes at the top, sometimes at the bottom, which is technically the off position.

Since the user is almost without exception me, I was getting pretty damn sick of the Possessed Power Switch.  Also, that vacuum is really heavy and cheap to begin with, so not really worth getting fixed.

So the MiL bought a new one.  And yesterday, it broke.

Well, technically, the wand attachment got jammed on there.  I can't get the thing to disengage, which means I can't hook up the main floor part.  I need that part to vacuum the rugs, which get filthy alarmingly quickly, what with all the mud and dog hair and hay and assorted other nastiness that finds its way into the house.

AND, we're having Cubby's third birthday party on Sunday, which means ten guests in the house.  AND AND, my mom and my sister are due to arrive on Friday and will be staying with us.

All of which means I really need a functioning vacuum cleaner NOW so I can pretend my house is kept to some reasonable standard of cleanliness.

So I used Cubby's vacuum/toy.  I wasn't even sure it would work, given the abuse it's been subjected to in the past few months.  But I plugged it in, fiddled with power switch, and . . . there it went, sucking up the filth just as if I hadn't discarded it for a newer, fancier (and defective) model.  How forgiving of it.

It just goes to show that sometimes keeping junk around just because your kids like playing with it can be its own reward.

7 comments:

Lisa said...

I know you didn't ask but I love my Dyson Animal it is made for pet hair! I've had mine for 10 years, one dog and two kids. They also have a bunch of knock off dyson types now too. Just Sayin.

Roger A. Post said...

Should A. decide to tackle a woodchucky project, it seems likely that the wonky switch in the old cleaner could be bypassed. Always on! Dive to unplug the cord every time the wrong stuff disappears into the cleaner's maw!

Melinda said...

We bought a new vacum from Sears a few years ago and since that time the wheels have come off and we have had to take apart the switch and put wires back together 5 times!! Terrible .

FinnyKnits said...

Firstly, I wish there was a Like button on Blogger comments because Roger's comment killed me.

Secondly, they sure don't make "cheap shit" like they used to. I say this because I bought my cheap shit sewing machine a dozen years ago for $100 (SUPER cheap for a sewing machine then and now) and, despite its cheap price, that thing has run like a champ and, when I took it in to be serviced (at a vacuum and sewing machine repair place, ahem) the guy marveled at the high quality metal SERVICEABLE innards of my "cheap ass" sewing machine.

I was particularly impressed that he said this while standing in front of a literal pile of discarded-due-to-irreparablity NEW cheap ass sewing machines.

Convinced me on the spot that I should never get rid of that little cheap ass thing, though it does sound like you got a bum deal on the new rig.

Maybe pretend the old vacuum is a spaceship? That might make it more fun to use. Or use one of those hose holders as a cup holder. For a cocktail.

Wow. This is a long comment.

Anonymous said...

2nd for the Dyson Animal. It was pricy for us but well worth it. It keeps up with one big dog, one toddler whirlwind, a messy ten year old boy and 2 parents- one of which tracks garden dirt all the time.

Anonymous said...

Do you have the hatches battened down for the blizzard? Beth
Iuse a shop vac for the house...because all I could find was cheap made ones and I didn't want one of them

mil said...

I have a friend who distributes "guy points." He would give Roger several million for his comment--