I have lived without a vacuum for more than 3 1/2 years. I took them for granted. Vacuums have always been a ubiquitous thing. Growing up, there were always at least two vacuums. Three if you count the wet vac. And yet, upon my moving to a zip code beginning with 9, the bleak reality of my situation came upon me. NO vacuum. And, naturally, buying one was out of the question since they are large and expensive and I had enough junk already when I knew I would be moving a zillion times (so far 1 zillion = 4 times).
Luckily, the first place I lived in a zip code beginning with 9 was in a graduate student apartment on campus that had low flat carpet (as opposed to fluffy--I really don't know my carpet lingo). Sometimes I tried to sweep it. Generally I just picked up stuff when I saw it. After a few months my roommate was made the temporary owner of her friend's vacuum while that friend was away for the summer. Unfortunately, anything we sucked up with it just went out again in a cloud of dust and smoke. The next two apartments I lived in had vacuums that belonged to other people, and so I lived in bliss for a while. And now I live in an apartment with no carpet at all, still without a vacuum. Do you know how much dust can build up on wood floors? Sweeping just isn't my thing either.
Finally, after being told by the neighbor that the dust collecting around the heater was a fire hazard, I realized that I was an adult now and should have my own vacuum. Sigh.
So I bought this vacuum, and I JUST used it and LOVE it! Vacuuming up huge piles of dust is just like flossing when you've got lots of plaque: Really satisfying:)
5 comments:
wow, i think that's some kind of vacuumless record. i never even considered the possible non-vacuum sagas.
i'd love having no carpet. i think if/when we own i'll minimize carpeting.
when we moved last year we got a new one; a Eureka bagless HEPA filter one. it's a big improvement over our old one. i love my new one :)
Factoids from the “Vacu-pedia”, the Internet’s only free web driven Encyclopedia of Dirt Management
There are 2-3 levels of vacuum heaven. In the highest of level of heaven are vacuums where the air comes out sterile and without particulates. I've never heard of a particulate free vacuum exhaust but if NASA can totally recycle the water... There must be all sorts of smelly somethings significantly smaller that the much touted 3-micron barrier. I'm offering the postulate that smells and dirt have an interface like energy and matter. If that is true then there should be conditions where dirt behaves more like a gas and others where it acts more like a (dirt) particle. Getting the whole smell/dirt spectrum in one vacuum is the Holy Grail in the search for a Unified Dirt Theory.
Then come vacuums where the exhaust is fresh as a mountain breeze. Here, the phrase: “Go suck on a tail-pipe” has positive and life affirming connotations. Unfortunately the exhaust may be contaminated with bio-phenolic desolates common in the natural environment. Immediately after partaking of the apple, Adam found that breathing apple-tree sap vapors gave him asthma.
Finally come the vacuums where the air “smells” like a mountain forest. Depending on the manufacturer, these vacuums can be found in lower levels of heaven as well as the lowest level of Hell. Somewhere inside the intake innards of these electric inhalers are highly scented cards with pictures of evergreens thoroughly impregnated with the tree’s essential oils. The cards are also convenient car deodorizers. These latter vacuum cleaners are made in China and each machine manufactured there has a combined eco-destruct value/ionized particulate projection count higher by a factor of 10 than all the dirt likely to pass through a vacuum during the projected machine lifetime. Only those whose construction is supervised by Wal-Mart have replaceable collection bags.
I have to agree with you on this one. Sweeping just isn't satisfying if you aren't collecting a lot of stuff. I don't get quite as much satisfaction with carpet, hence vacuuming, as it hides so much dirt and dust.
I know who "Anonymous" is.
ha! So do I.
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