MICAH: We have been missing Cameron so we thought we would post one of his artistic photos for our viewing pleasure today.
MERCI: Today's post is going to be a little different. As we have mentioned on a rare occasion or two over the years, Jan is old and falling apart. She needs all the help she can find to take care of us, the house and the yard.
CYNDI: So Jan was thrilled when she unexpectedly found a Limited Edition Bissell Powerforce compact vacuum at Walmart Monday. The doors and windows of this old house leak dirt. The last two or three months, Jan rolls out of bed in the morning and vacuums the whole house first thing.
SAM: She has a very lightweight vacuum that is versatile but it has poor suction and a very heavy upright with hose extensions and good suction that is hard to drag around. Even though she had already vacuumed for the day, she tried the new one. Wow, look at that dirt. It sucked up a full load from the area carpet. She would have done a happy dance, if it weren't for her ankles. And the fact there was dust blowing out both sides of the machine.
MICAH: The hose was nowhere near as long as it is pictured on the box, so it was really worthless for cleaning; however, she could easily lift the vacuum to clean our beds - top and bottom.
RUSTY: When she went into the kitchen and popped out the container of dirt, dirt fell everywhere from the top filter area! She cleaned everything up, washed the sink she'd rinsed the rag in, put everything back together and vacuumed up about 2/3 of another container in the rest of the house. And then she took out the container of dirt and dirt fell out all over the place again. On her, the dryer, the floor. She washed everything again, including the sink and the floor.
BUDDY: The container is upside down in the photo above to show how it was totally covered in dirt. She tried to wash it out but found she could not reach the bottom. She tried a toothbrush, a cotton swab, a rag. She removed the black filter from the paper filter in the black bottom and tried to wash the parts. She took the upper filter out, ran water through it and washed the plastic inside as best she could while loose dirt fell about.
PERCY: Tuesday morning she decided to give it one more try. Nothing changed. She cleaned up the machine as best she could with a dry cloth, cleaned up the loose dirt from the dryer, changed her shirt, wiped the floor with a damp rag and washed the sink. And parked the vacuum, ready to pack up for return!
MERCI: Then she decided to give it one more chance to act like a vacuum CLEANER. And if it didn't, to take photos of how filthy the machine is after every use. Jan has no intention of trying to wash it again before returning it to Walmart. She grumbled about not paying to use something that takes twice as long to clean up after as it does to vacuum the whole house.
MARCUS: Okay, can someone explain why Jan has been upset with me over a little spilled water when she has just spent two days spraying dirt around the house? At least my mess was clean!
PERCY: This is NOT a review. Jan purchased this vacuum "cleaner". If any of you are using a lightweight, full-service, not-too-expensive vacuum that works, would you share the name of the machine with us?
