What's that old saying?..."the more things change the more they stay the same".
A few years ago we were offered an old vacuum cleaner. At first I said no. We already had a vacuum that we left in the shed along with a host of cleaning stuff for the villas. If I needed a vacuum for the house I'd just walk up and get it. Then I had second thoughts. We only have carpet in the bedrooms so I didn't need it that often. The vacuum was in perfect working order, and it had all the extra attachment even one called a "Power Head". Perfect for all that 60's shag pile carpet! So then I relented and said yes. It would be handy to have in the house. Trent was not so convinced, but as ever he was very supportive. He even managed to find a new connector for the hose on e-bay. Seriously is their nothing you can't buy in e-bay?
I nick named her Betty Draper.
The first few times I did the vacuuming with Betty, it was a bit of a laugh. I could imagine house proud women of the 1950's being totally in awe of Betty. After a few uses I could also see why housewives of the 1950 loved a "Bex and a good lie down"! Betty wasn't actually that old, probably a child of the '70's more than the '50's but never the less, Betty was hard work. None of the extra piece were ever on hand when I needed them so I was forever walking back to the last room to retrieve the missing bit. The power head attachment was fantastic but it required an extra cord to be plugged into the vacuum for it to work. She was big, noisy and cumbersome but I persevered because she was free and it wasn't like I was using her that often. But then I was. Our love affair went downhill fast.
Enter her replacement. I named her Ruby. Because she's red. Original name I know.
Ruby Meile is compact, quiet and whooshes around behind me like a ghost. All of the attachment are hidden on board, and she has 3 power head options. Realistically I'm never going to be THAT type of house proud person, so the additional 2 are still in the box. I didn't pay extra for them, they just came with the vacuum. I wonder if Betty's attachments were optional extras?
I guess the bit that made me laugh was the fact that even though Betty still did the job, I wanted Ruby. She was easier to lug around, smaller and with whiz bang air filters, defiantly better for my health...We women can justify anything can't we?
I had succumbed to consumerism and clever marketing. Much like Betty's original owner I suspect. I could have persevered with Betty until the very end, but seriously vacuuming is a dull thankless job at the best of times. Why prolong the pain?
