PINK CALLA LILY AND VACUUMS

          The flower for today is a pink calla lily. I got these from Michigan Bulb a couple of years ago and didn’t think they were going to come back this year. But, they finally did and I love the color. A neighbor has black calla lilies and I’m hoping at some point he’ll give me a start. I’m also worried about getting the next Michigan Bulb catalog because I might break down and buy more bulbs for next year. I didn’t buy any new ones for this year because I thought I’d be leaving it all behind…now, who knows.

          I’m sitting here trying to think of what I should write about as well as trying  not to scratch the latest crop of mosquito bites. Why it can’t bite me and move along, I don’t know. The bug appears to bite in one place, move a little bit and bite again. Since these are almost in my armpit, the only time I can think of when I was laying with my hands behind my head was when I went to bed last night. Perhaps I should burn a citronella candle in my bedroom???

          When I tore the muscle in my left shoulder about 18 months ago, it was lifting my wonderful Sears vacuum cleaner. After surgery, I bought a new vacuum cleaner. I went on line and did some research and bought what was supposed to be the lightest vacuum on the market. It’s a Bissell and I hate it. I know if I keep using it, I’m going to tear something in my right shoulder. I need to figure out what kind of vacuum to buy.

          Again, with the research. I went on line this morning and typed in, “Best vacuum for old people?” I got a number of internet sites I could visit, so I visited the site, “The best lightweight vacuums for the elderly.” Okay, that would be moi. Turns out that now there are vacuums that weigh eight pounds or less.

The first choice on this site is for a Shark ION. It weighs 8.7 pounds is cordless and includes rechargeable batteries and the review lists five Pros, i.e.,

·       Versatility; works from floor to ceiling (I don't vacuum my ceilings).

·       Features DuoClean suitable for different floors

·       Very light in weight and compact

·       Flexible

·       Cordless

The Cons:

·       Comes with small dust cup

I can purchase it on Amazon for $339.82 with free shipping.

The Shark Rocket is the second recommendation on the list. It has seven Pros, i.e.,

·       Weight less than 8 pounds

·       Converts to a hand vac

·       Highly effective in removing pet hairs from carpets and bare floors

·       Works excellent on medium pile carpet

·       Powerful suction

·       The multi-layered filters are washable and easy to clean

·       Free replacement or refund facility.

The Cons:

·       The dust cap is relatively small

·       Not recommended for high pile carpet

The price for this vacuum is $169.95 from Amazon with free shipping.

The third vacuum is an Orek Commercial upright vacuum cleaner. It has nine Pros, i.e.,

·       Weight is only 8.2 pounds

·       Suitable for older person

·       Best for carpets &  Hard floors

·       Speedy cleaning with less effort

·       Highly effective for cleaning carpets

·       Automatic floor adjustment

·        Low maintenance and repair

·       Can deodorize the room as well with scent tab

·       Reasonably priced -- $163.55 from Amazon with free shipping.

The Cons, i.e.,

·       Is 15% louder than other vacuums (but I wear hearing aids, take them out)

·       It has no docking station for the bags

·       Not useful for cleaning long pet hairs

A Roomba price begins at $1,099.99, but has models that run $799.99, $599.99 and $349.99. Well, let me tell you that I will risk injuring my right shoulder before I pay over a thousand dollars for a vacuum cleaner, even if it does run all by itself. So, I compared the bottom three. The higher priced one has ten times the suction power of the other two. I can also clean and schedule by room with smart mapping, comes with link technology and clean base automatic dirt disposal. Don’t think I’ll be buying the $799.99 model.

Now, the $599 model has something called vSlam navigation, but the cheaper one does not. What is vSlam navigation…I don’t know. The only other difference is entire level cleaning with coverage maps. I only have one level in any case.

So, if I’m going to spend $339 for the Shark, I may as well spend $349 for a vacuum that puts itself to work and then puts itself away. Or, I could spend less and continue to vacuum myself with option #2 or #3 

Before I began this post, I called my neighbor who got a new vacuum for Christmas, one of those Roombas by I-robot. It sounds like she has the one that's listed at the $799 price. We talked vacuums and she had the Shark ION before she got the Roomba. She likes both of them and uses the Shark for her steps and other areas the Roomba doesn’t go. She also has a big dog with really long hair, so the Roomba works every single day and does a good job. She didn’t pay $799, but got it for less than $500 before Christmas when Costco or Amazon (or someone) had it on sale.

So, now, aren’t you glad you read your way all through this post so you now know so much about vacuums? I’m so sorry to have bored you with all this, but it was helpful for me to get my ducks, hmmmm, vacuums???, all in a row. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do about a vacuum. I’m not vacuuming a lot because I’m not having much in the way of company, so I could quite possibly keep on using the Bissell. Or, I could purchase one of the Sharks. Or, I could just wait and see if the Roomba goes on sale again for less than $500. Or, maybe I could sell this place and just move into something really really small that could be vacuumed with a DustBuster…that’s way more my speed these days.