Confession #14 I Haven't Vacuumed for a Long Time

I think I have a really bad relationship with vacuums. They all seem to hate me. Because my last one pretty much died on me, I got a new one less than a year ago. I did some research and ended up getting one from Costco...right down the middle of the line...not to expensive, and not the cheapest (despite the fact that Peter would have gotten the cheapest no matter what...You cannot always sacrifice quality for cost).



We brought it home, put it together, and it worked fantastically. We loved it! For about a month. Then we started noticing that it just wasn't getting all the stuff off the carpet. The hose was filled with carpet fuzz. So much that we had to literally push a broom handle through it to get it all out. Then it worked great for another little while. Then on Halloween night, Peter was vacuuming while waiting for Trick or Treaters and you would not believe the burning rubber smell that came from that thing. It was so bad that you could feel it in your eyes. I took it in to a vacuum repair shop because surely it was worth fixing it rather than buying a new one! Right??



Well, after replacing a part that had melted, it worked fantastically again! But a couple of weeks ago when I vacuumed, I noticed another problem. It sucked things off of the carpet, but the smell that lingered was terrible. Maybe not as bad as the burning rubber smell, but it smelled just like all the dirt had been picked up, stirred into the air, and left there to settle back down on the floor again. I could hardly breathe because it literally smelled like a dust storm.



So, now what do I do? I don't have the money to get a new one and at the rate we are going, I don't have money to get it fixed again. I have taken this thing apart and to my untrained eye, there is nothing I can do. So I do nothing.



But that only lasts a little while. Last night I did some yoga after the kids went to bed and it was terrible being that close to the floor where I could actually see the dirt and grunge that has accumulated. And I shudder to think that my kids are playing on the carpet the way it is. My only consolation is that at least they are old enough not to put things in their mouths, but still, I hate the idea that they are playing in it.