MORE... Adventures with NEATO XV-11

By Wendy J. Miller

"Please put me down on the floor."


The other day when I got home, NEATO was AWOL -- the docking station was empty. I searched for him in the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom and the studio. 

He wasn't visible anywhere -- I was mystified. And he's supposed to return to the docking station when his battery gets low. I admit I was in a bit of a panic - what could have happened?  I promptly went into CSI mode, flashlight in hand...

Crawling on my hands and knees, I peered into every nook and cranny; in the process noting that NEATO was doing really great work!  Even though his jobs sucks, he was getting around and under all furniture and keeping my floors dust-free.

The final stop was the entertainment unit in the studio.  Aha!  There he was lurking in the shadows under the unit!  NEATO had latched onto a power bar cord and had no intention of letting go.  Either that or the power cord was enamored with my robot buddy - he's pretty darn cute, after all... Desperate to free him, I enlisted my former dust collector -- the SWIFFER, and was able to hook the underside of NEATO and I pulled him carefully toward me.

He is pretty heavy and was really hooked up tightly with his new power bar friend, but at last I was able to get to him.   His battery had depleted to the point where he couldn't have made it back to the docking station.  I picked him up and as I carried him down the hall, his message to me was not "thanks" or "I really appreciate your help" -- his read out said "Please put me down on the floor"!  I replied aloud, "Sure, you've got no juice and when I put you down how will you manage"?  NEATO responded, "My battery needs to be charged".  No kidding!

I placed NEATO at his docking station and once again emptied his dust bin -- but this time I washed it out and cleaned his filter with soap and hot water. In the morning, after everything was dry, I replaced the bin and filter; NEATO's message: "Replace my dirt bin". Hey.... who's the boss here?

To be continued...

PIG PEN KNEW WHAT WAS HAPPENING

by Wendy J. Miller

According to The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, and the scientific journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, we are living in a cloud of dust and have a dust problem. I could have told them that!

Apparently, the amount of airborne dust doubled in the 20th century, and cleaning can have an unintended consequence - it actually breeds dust. I could have told them that, too!

Charlie Brown's buddy, Pig Pen, was the first to self actualize the cloud of dust he was living in. I didn't realize the impact dust had until I left my Mother's constantly clean home and found that my dark brown furniture became a soft gray colour over time.

So what is the problem, really? Cleaning is one of the three main sources of household dust. Cooking is second, and movement is the third. Every step disturbs tiny particles of dirt, fibre, soot, pollen, paint, food and dead skin. And as soon as you move anything (even a TV remote), you induce air currents that propel dust particles around the room.

Those of you who know me personally know that cleaning and cooking are not sources of dust in my home. Moving the TV remote, however, is a big contributor as I go through life emitting my personal cloud of dust.

But don't sweat the small stuff. It continues to grow until you have something large enough to weave into a melton jacket suitable for winter wear. There you go, something positive that can come from dust!