From the “Eek, my house is filthy” Dept.

Hi All,

Another untimely update from your friendly, neighborhood Usability Specialist. Last week, I was in the zone, working like a madman to finish my deliverables for Critical Path. Whew…sometimes, I have to admit, I even manage to impress myself.

I was really focused, and super productive.

Umm, this weekend past, I was suppose to go to Cris’s BBQ, but had to pass because of work obligations (yet again). Too bad, a lot of people were there, and it sounded like they all had a good time.

One great thing though: I bought a new vaccuum for the house.

For those of you who don’t know, the appliances in my house seem to be dying off, one-after-the-other.

First the Dryer and the oven, then the Washing Machine, and then the Central Vacuum.

So we had to repair the dryer, replace the washing machine, and this weekend past, bought a new vacuum.

Instead of replacing the Central Vacuum, we decided to go back to an upright.

$350 CDN for a Hoover WindTunnel™ Bagless – U5750900.

I must say, I am very impressed with it.

It’s ugly (but then again, I don’t think aesthetics were on the minds of the product designers when this thing was being built), but man does it suck—and I mean that in a good way.

This thing was picking stuff from our carpet that really made my family open our eyes. Jeez. We had to change the cannister 3 or 4 times when we cleaned the house. EEK.

My room alone filled up 1/3 of the cannister. It even managed to pick up Jen’s hair.

Pros:

• Super suction and dirt lifting capabilities
• An extremely long cord
• Floor-level adjustment
• Bagless Design
• Three-year guarantee on the HEPA filter

Cons:

• Heavier than it looks
• Messy to clean
• HEPA needs to be “dusted”
• HEPA filter is expensive ($70 CDN)
• Loud

I found that if the HEPA filter gets completely covered in Dust, you have to remove it and tap the walls of the filter in order to knock off the sides of the filter to improve the airflow. That seems to stop the dust from leaking from the cannister.

I honestly think my house smells cleaner.

We will probably vaccuum again just to make sure the carpets are clean.

Cheers,

-T