Words of Love

So, I have a new cat. There will be pictures and gushiness about her later, but right now I'm going to be gushy about my Dyson "Root Cyclone" vacuum cleaner, because the new cat kicks litter in every direction, and the Dyson did a splendid job of cleaning it up tonight. Several people have asked me how I like the Dyson, so here you go.

Over the two weeks that she has been ensconced in the spare bedroom, sand bars have built up on all sides of her litter box. Tonight I hauled the Dyson upstairs, pulled out the extensible wand/hose, and rapidly sucked up about two coffee-cans' worth of litter. All the sand came up out of the carpet; it even came out of the nearby bookcase. Then I pulled out the central barrel, pulled a plastic bag up around the bottom, and triggered the release that drops the bottom flap and dumps the contents out. If it weren't for all the carpet lint, I could have released the litter right back into the litter box. (The new, hooded litter box. I've had enough of the beach.)

My dog kills vacuums. He has straight, wiry hair that clogs hoses and dislodges belts. (Also, he tries to bite them.) Over the past three years, three vacuums have died in this house; I'm sure Best Buy rues the day they sold me an extended warranty on the first one. The Dyson is a few weeks away from the one-year mark, and so far it shows no signs of clogging or crashing.

It's definitely a geek vacuum. All the parts snap together in a fairly intuitive way; it's easy to disassemble, and somewhat less easy to reassemble. The parts are all made of sturdy lightweight plastic, so it's easy to carry, but the plastic is strong enough to resist damage from dog bites. The handle snaps out and reverses to become a "quick-draw hose" in a very satisfyingly geekly way. The TV commercials are annoying, but it really is a great vacuum cleaner.

Dyson now has some funky new model that pivots on a "ball" instead of wheels. It looks like a lot of fun, but I have high hopes that my current vacuum will live a long and happy life. I'm sure the appliance guys at Best Buy are sick of the sight of me.