August 17, 2008

Mama Has a Brand New Bag

Yesterday I took my final exams. The exam in advanced algebra was at 9 a.m., and the exam in business law was at 2 p.m. I finished the algebra exam at 10:30, so I had time to kill until 2. So I went out and bought myself a new vehicle because I figured I deserved a treat. It's sleek, sporty, German engineering, with accessories and horsepower, and it turns on a dime. It handles like a dream.




My new ride--the Dootmobile:


Not a car! I am not excited by cars; I buy one every 7 or 8 years, generally used, and then I drive it until it is ready for the scrap heap. I'm a vacuum cleaner fiend! Well, who wouldn't be with 6 cats and 2 rabbits, all of them shedding, shedding, shedding? Which is probably just an excuse. I love vacuums of all types, but especially the German ones. I literally vacuum some room every day. BF rolled his eyes when he saw it, but even he admits it's pretty cool. And it's not like I came home with a Porsche, is it?

I was shattered by the end of my exams, and came home and had myself a nice four-hour nap. I got up around 9 p.m. and puttered and did needlework until 2 a.m., and then I slept another 8 hours or so. Today I felt almost human, although school starts again in a little under three weeks, and next semester may well be rougher, since I'll be commuting to Maryland on Saturdays. But that's another day. In the meantime, I spent a leisurely day stitching...and vacuuming!

Here's some progress on "Dorothy's Garden," which is done on 34 count Legacy linen in cafe au lait, using Au Ver a Soie silks. The designer of this is A Stitcher's Hand, and I can't say enough good things about the charting. Each page is clear, and it's immediately obvious what part of the design you need next when you finish a page. The symbols are large and clear.

"Yazziebear called me the little dummy sidekick dooter. I am not a dummy!"

Edited to add, because of the question about what kind of vacuum it is: it's a Miele, and it'd be considered a stick vac, although it's heavier duty than most sticks. We have a half-dozen vacuums, and my very favorite for carpet is a big upright Sebo (also a German machine). It's very powerful, very smooth, and relatively quiet, plus it does not have a belt, so there's no belt to break. We have a large Miele canister vac, which has a power head as an attachment, with a beater bar for rugs. It's also quite powerful and relatively quiet and has a long, long retractable cord. I use it mostly for uncarpeted floors. I have been using a Eureka Mini Mite for stairs, bathrooms, little places, because it's light and has pretty good suction. The big cleaners are wonderful, but they're heavy (metal parts instead of plastic ones mean they're not as easy to take from floor to floor). The Mini Mite has a high-pitched scream and a short cord, so it's deafening, plus I constantly have to unplug and replug. The new small Miele stick is to replace the Mini Mite--it is much quieter, has a bigger bag, isn't much heavier, and its cord is about 3 times as long. They're more expensive up front, but they have lasted longer than my U.S. vacuums, and all have been trouble-free. The bags are more expensive too and you need a big vacuum center to stock them (although you can probably get them online), so I don't recommend them in terms of cost, but I do in terms of getting something that does a really good job and will last with daily use on all the hair and tracked cat litter.

14 comments:

RG said...

ELVIS ... YOU could be on the cover of Vanity Fair!!!!

PS .. send the vacumer to our place, bring plenty of bags!

Anonymous said...

Dootmobile! Love that! We just call ours animal.

Sue said...

I love Dorothy's Garden. The vaccuum is great too ;)

Jan said...

What kind of vacuum is it? I need details! With cats and a DH I need something better than my old Hoover.

P.S. Hope you did well on your exams.

Daffycat said...

I hope your exams went well! Love the new vac~she is sporty! Hoovering is a passion; I'd do it every day if I didn't work.

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Exams in those subjects would've wiped me out and necessitated a treat, too. I can't vacuum, though. It stirs up too much of the sorts of things that set off my asthma. The last time I vacuumed, I ended up in the emergency room and my husband does the vacuuming now. He uses a plain old shopvac. More manly, I guess. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I have a similar looking dootmobile too! Mine's red, from Electrolux. The suction power isn't as great, but well, as long as it gets the doots, and the fur and the hay ;)

mainely stitching said...

Well, I know who to go to advice for ... our Phillips (which Niek had when we met) is giving its last gasps. We can't quite match you for furbabies, with only four in total, but my good grief, they do give the ol' vaccuum cleaners a serious beating. Rigby loses so much hair that I can't figure out why he isn't bald. LOL!

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Oh heavens...just reading about your Algebra exam gave me the sweats....I so remember those, and calculus and trig and statistics and organic chemistry exams....oh YIKES, I don't think my heart could take it. And sadly - I can't remember a damn thing about intregals....

Wendy said...

What a relief that those exams are over! You definitely deserved a treat, I would have headed to an LNS myself though. But vacuuming does really give a lovely sense of satisfaction doesn't it. We use the bagless types as hubby loves nothing more than seeing all the dirt he's just collected... and making me run to see it!

staci said...

Congrats on finishing your exams! Glad to hear that you got a well-earned nap!!!

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Exams over for now, that's good! 6 cats!!!!! I have a Miele too, canister, probably pretty old I took it from my parents when they moved into assisted living, but I love it. I didn't think I could love a vacuum. Have a good break before school descends again.

Deb Cushman said...

Ohhhh! A sucky machine! Don't you just love the look of a freshly vac'd floor? We love the Dootmobile, too!

Anonymous said...

That has to be the cutest rabbit that I have even seen! What kind is he? Love our site too