Late last week I was informed that our Sears vacuum cleaner crapped out after only 12 years of service. The electrical connections were deteriorating and the motor sounded like Chris' Dodge Durango (rough and noisy).
So the choice was to get the vacuum fixed (after all it was only 12 years old) or buy a new one. Being the "big picture" guy that I am, it was an easy decision. Repairing the old would be $75-$100 dollars and you would still have an old machine. So of course we needed a new one.
I found a Sears flyer in the Sunday edition of the Post Crescent. Vacuum cleaners were on sale. Talk about coincidence! So I talked to your mom and we agreed to give our old model a proper burial and shop for a new one.
My approach was to take a look at the old one, determine the power output and salient features so that I had a reference point when we shopped. Also the one thing that the new vacuum must do is suck!
Your mother's approach was to talk to a friend and they discussed the deals advertised in the Sunday insert. Features were important such as a power head for the wooden stairs. Color was important. We have a brown one now and the deal was on a grey one. This becomes a major decision. Another blah color for 12 years? It is painful to even write about. So they decided the one that draws 12 amps was adeqiate and even though the color was terrible, the price was right.
Yesterday I was running errands in the afternoon and I was in the vacinity of the mall. I figured I'd stop at Sears and take a look at vacuums. Well I'm not short on decision making ability. I found one that sucked. It was very similar our old one and it was a "Consumers Best Buy". It drew 14 amps. Actually amperage relates to the size of the motor. The one I selected was bigger and more expensive than the one advertised in the flyer. But it too was on sale. So I bought it.
Honest to goodness I thought about the irony of your mom maybe purchasing a vacuum earlier in the afternoon when whe was out. I thought, no, she wouldn't buy a vacuum without me if for no other reason than she needed me to carry it to the car. So I took initiative and bought a vacuum hoping she would like it.
I got home and immediately asked "you didn't happen to buy a vacuum cleaner did you"? Her response was "yes I did'! Damn! What are the odds that we would both buy a vacuum? What are the odds that I would have a premonition that maybe your mom already bought a unit?
Actually owning two new vacuums sucks ( I couldn't resist that). Every one should be a "two vacuum household".
All turned out okay. We returned one of the vacuums unopened. We kept the one that sucks (the bigger unit). I feel kind of like Tim the Toolman Taylor on Home Improvement. Bigger and more powerful! Ugh! Ugh!
The phenomenon of having a "feeling" that your mom might have purchased a vacuum might identify me as having some psychic power but I think it is just that your mom and I have been together so long that sometimes I can anticipate what she might do. Or was it psychic power? Ooooooooh!
Anyway we got a new vacuum and all is well. It was a good value. And it sucks! Actually the whole ordeal sucks.
Love,
Dad