Vacuum cleaner

Growing up in the Midwest, we called the thing you use to clean your rugs a sweeper. Yes regardless of whether you were cleaning a hardwood floor or a rug or carpet we would say: are you going to sweep? Now I say the collective “we” but I really mean my family growing up. Jump forward to my life with Chris and I would ask if he was going to “sweep” and he would just chuckle and ask what I meant. To him sweeping was when you were going to use a broom and truly “sweep.” Using a vacuum on carpet was “vacuuming.” I think I am 75% converted, but I still have slips where I ask if he is going to “sweep the rug.” Any other Midwesterners out there that said the same thing, or is this just something that was strange about my family?

In any case, this idea of sweeping was one I came across recently, and it made me ponder the idea of “sweeping.” The idea of sweeping and clearing away the gunk for new energy, is a welcome concept for me. One I had not thought about much before reading this Daily Om, titled: “Releasing and Welcoming.” This line particularly inspired me:

“Sweeping each morning prepares the ground for the new day at the same time as it deepens our awareness of the importance of letting go of the past to welcome the present.”

While I do not sweep each morning I am a clean freak, and this idea can translate to many other cleansing rituals I do around the house. For example, if I am inspired to be creative, I first want to clean and clear the gunk, extra stuff, and organize my life first. Once I have done so, I find that my creative time whether in front of the easel, or with pen and paper is that much richer. I have unearthed and removed the dirty thoughts, frustrations, and extra junk in order to find the space to welcome new creative ideas.

I do just the same thing at work. At times I might feel stuck about an idea or a new project. My teammates might find me start to clean my desk area, or the larger team space. I begin to organize. Sometimes I hear the mutter of: “here she goes again.” Often in the act of cleaning and organizing, I find the answer I needed for that project, and I go back and dig into it with gusto. It is amazing what a “vacuum” or “broom” can do to sweep away the crap. Yes, the 25% of me that still says “sweep the rug” will always be. You can take the girl out of Indiana, but you cannot take Indiana out of the girl.

Happy Sweeping…

I remember our Kirby vacuum from my childhood. That thing looked like it could make it through a war, yet I think I remember my dad fixing it more often than not. It had this thick large rubber band on the bottom that would often break, get off its track, or get caught with all our hair. I remember when the bag got fairly full and you turned it on, all this dust would explode out. Fun times.

A few weeks ago, we bought a new vacuum. I know not the top of the list of items to purchase, and you may be wondering why I am even writing a blog on purchasing a vacuum. You see the vacuum is just a vehicle to the real morale of the story. A little back detail first.

We had a crappy vacuum from Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was fine, but now we are living in the house that we hope to be in for a very long time. This house has both carpet and hardwood floors meaning that one or the other was not getting as clean as it could be from our current cheap vacuum. We decided that since we plan to be in this house for a long time, and are not moving every few years as we had been, that it was time to purchase a “grown up” vacuum.

Now to a few weeks ago. Inner east side Portland, on a Saturday afternoon. We decided to go to a local store that just sells vacuums. I say to Chris as we get out the car: “Let’s make this fast, this is the last place I want to be right now.” We go inside to a fairly large store with so many different types of vacuums that your head would spin. I am bored already. Stay patient Tami, if we find a good one the hardwood floor would no longer befriend your constant shedding hair.

We get the salesman that is about our age. We also learned that he grew up in vacuum stores. He father was a vacuum salesman. He is passionate about it. Who knew that in 2013 someone could be passionate about such things? He steers us clear from the Dyson, which shocked me a bit because those have the higher price tag. He tells us the ball on the Dyson has hard plastic which will be fine on carpet, but will scratch our hardwood floors. He steers us from upright vacuums (which is what I was wanting) to the canister vacuums. Chris asks him what are the perks for purchasing directly from you? The salesman says to support a local business. Chris said, well yes, definitely but any others? No. After demonstrations, dialogue, and explanation of which vacuum would be the best for us we thanked him and said we were going to think about it.

Chris went back the next day to pick up our vacuum. He researched online reviews and pricing. We could have purchased it online, but based on the service, care, and knowledge we received, we wanted to support our local business. No more hair all over the hardwoods. We are happy vacuum owners, and I am grateful that there are still businesses that care about customer service, their products, and truly finding what is right for their consumers.

#cleanfloors