Sunday, May 24, 2015

Day 1986

We got a new vacuum cleaner today. The old Hoover had done a yeoman's job picking up dog hair over the years, but it was no match for two aging Dalmatians, a wet muddy Spring, and a house filled with mismatched rugs. Could a Dyson Animal restore order to this mess? Before we could answer this question, I had to assemble the Dyson. Inside the box were a bunch of pieces and the world's worst instruction manual. Dyson may have re-invented the vacuum cleaner but their instruction manuals are even worse than Ikea.

Eventually I got the thing put together without breaking anything and put it to the test. I thought the house was relatively clean and was dumbfounded by the huge amount of dirt and dog hair the machine was able to pull out of the carpets and rugs. We have a small house, but I had to empty the Dyson canister twice before I was finished. Janet said the house even smelled better after I finished, but I'll have to take her word for it. All I can smell anymore is sausages cooking and good barbecue.

Tornado warnings woke us up twice during the night. Now the phones and WiFi devices seem to have their own weather warnings. These weather warning are kind of like Amber Alerts. They are almost impossible to turn off. I think I have been more successful at turning off notifications than Janet, because most of last night's alerts came from her devices. Maybe the real sirens went off too. It was hard to tell. At any rate, we turned on the TV in the middle of the night and learned that the really bad weather was to the North of us and then went back to sleep.

It was still raining when we got up in the morning, so the dogs didn't get their morning walk until after 10 AM. Luckily, Dot didn't poop in the house this time. Maybe the new Dyson will help remove any remaining evidence of her previous storm related accidents. The ads are true. That machine is remarkably powerful.

When the skies cleared, I removed the standing water from the roof. I have a new system now. I leave the pump in place and plug in the extension cord dangling over the edge of the roof right after I wake up in the morning. By the time I have finished breakfast and walked the dogs, most of the main roof is clear. When I climb up on the roof to move the pump to the smaller carport, all I have to do is sweep the residual standing water from the main roof. This system only works when there is not a lot of gunk on the roof to clog the pump, but it worked today.

I didn't bother going to the gym because I felt like clearing the roof, walking the dogs, and testing the new vacuum cleaner was all the exercise I needed. I probably wouldn't have had the time to go out anyway. The new website forms I built for my client yesterday already needed to be changed today.

I noticed that there is another opportunity to apply for NASA press credentials to view a Space-X Dragon launch in late June. As much as I'd like to go, I'm going to have to pass on this one. Dot still needs to be supervised during the day. I've got some major dental bills in June. And our annual homeowners insurance is due. I think Dot needs another ultrasound scan at the cancer center too. A three day trip to Kennedy Space Center would be a little much on top of all this. I'm glad I had the opportunity to go to the SMAP launch at Vandenberg back in January. Life was less complicated then.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day