vacuum

Washing Maki

Posted on by Josef Havelka

After getting home from our trip, I noticed that our house smelled like dog. I’m not going to lie, it probably smells that way all the time. Our dog, Maki is a lovable member of our family. Yet she sheds. A lot. We are always vacuuming the house and even use one of those Robot Vacuums to help out.

But I noticed that Maki had torn a piece of carpet up and her nail had broken off in the process. It was time to trim her nails. I figured if I’m going to do that, I may as well brush her as well. While I did that, I noticed she smelled pretty bad. That meant it was time for a bath.

At first she was excited because she saw the leash and smelled the treat I had. But once the water came out- ohhhhh boy…. She was flipping out. Not a very happy dog while getting washed. Once I was done and turned the water off and began to towel dry her- she was relaxing again. Within minutes she was her bouncy, happy self once more.

I definitely smelled like wet dog afterwards. As did she. But within a few hours, she was pleasant smelling once more. I was too, but that’s because I showered off the smell.

Hopefully our home starts to smell nice again, at least for a little while.

The Vacuum Wars

Posted on by Josef Havelka

Vacuuming is unavoidable. In our old house we had a central Vacuum. About every six weeks or so we had to empty it. This was mainly due to all the dog hair that would accumulate. Dragging out the hose and attachments was an ordeal and a hatred when putting away.

Our new house is piped for a central vacuum. However, we decided to buy a small handheld vacuum. We picked up a Dyson V11 cordless vacuum. It is extremely powerful and lightweight. It has made vacuuming a tad more enjoyable and easier to do.

On Friday, my mother insisted on buying us a Shark bot vacuum. It does it’s little dance throughout our main floor helping to remove the dog hair. Today it got under my feet in the kitchen as I was attempting to make breakfast. I think this little robot is attempting an uprising already.

Since we’ve only had it working a a couple of days, we shall see how good a job it does. So far it has done an okay job just mapping out our floor. Hopefully it makes keeping the floors clean a bit easier and having to do it less often. We all love convenience.

Vacuums

Posted on by Josef Havelka

I take for granted that we have a built-in vacuum. With a dog that sheds excessively we need to clean up about two to three times every week. That being said, in the dozen or so years we’ve been living here- we give that centralized vacuum a workout. But it only does suction- there is no motorized head spinning to dig up the deep down dirt. Which is fine for the hardwood floors and tile.

The other biggest problem we have is the location of the canister and motor. It’s in the room where our hot water tank and furnace are. So it’s very warm. Which causes the vacuum to overheat. We can usually vacuum most of the downstairs before it shuts off. In the end, the upstairs gets neglected. And that’s where we have the most carpet.

I have an old vacuum that was left behind by my mother years ago. It’s been through a lot, including a duct taped hose in order for it to work. Recently the band on the motorized head snapped, so it was pretty useless for getting the ground in dirt and threads from my wife’s studio. Of course it was when I wanted to do the carpets in the rest of our house that it crapped out.

So today I went to a store that’s been in Langley since, forever (or 1965 according to their website). The ladies in Big Gary’s Vacuums were extremely helpful and fun to talk with. They helped me get a new band and we talked about how people have no idea that Sears closed down ages ago. (That’s where the Kenmore brand vacuums were from). Anyways, $12 later and some shared memories about the Sears Wish Book, I have a working motorized head on an old vacuum.

All I need to do now is find a hose for my old shop vac. This was another Sears purchase two decades ago. I’m pretty sure I’ll find what I need on Amazon! They sell everything. They’re the ones who helped kill the brick and mortar big box stores, the least they could do is sell some parts for me.