The "Making Life Easier Through Technology" Story

It was an ordinary day. Getting ready for guests. That means I need to run the vacuum and the steam cleaner on the floors and dust. Years ago we bought a Hoover Elite vacuum cleaner. I love it since you don't need to replace the bags constantly. You can see when the canister is full and dump it in the trash. With pets in the house it gets full of hair really quick. When we bought the vacuum, Carol wanted to buy a light-weight vacuum, but most of those didn't have the suction that we needed with the pets. So, I end up doing the cleaning with the heavier vacuum. A few months ago she saw a Dyson Cyclone for sale on QVC. I agreed to try it so she ordered it. If we keep it the price is broken down into six equal payments which make it easier to afford. When it came I put it together, trying to remember how I took it out of the box in case I wanted to return it. Vacuum worked great, swiveling around corners and furniture very easily. But, when it came to vacuuming the furniture or stairs, you had to pull out this long wand and put an attachment on it. I tried to vacuum with it and either I was doing something wrong or the design wasn't as good as the Hoover we have. I will admit that the Dyson was lighter in weight, but it was harder to vacuum with it. So, I attempted to put it back in the box the same way I took it out and I ended with a few pieces of cardboard left over and one part of the vacuum that didn't fit in the box. Took it back to QVC which is nearby to return it. By the look on the face of the woman at the counter, I must have done a good job repacking it. She was amazed that I only had one piece left over. So we are back to the Hoover. Carol and I have talked and talked about getting one of the iRobot Roomba vacuums that is only about 6" tall and about a foot round. Turn it on when you go to work and it will have everything clean when you return. Where all the dirt goes is beyond me, but Carol is convinced I wouldn't have to spend any time vacuuming again. So I got online and looked at the different robot vacuums, their costs, and sizes and found a really neat video that helped me make up my mind whether we would get a robot vacuum. Check out the YouTube video and see if you can see what my decision was.

Yep, we will be using the Hoover Elite for a couple more years. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.