Today, Life Sucks ... And It Is Good
My wife got a new toy last night, a brand new, shiny, and not so loud vacuum cleaner. We brought it home and it was like Christmas morning. Linda tore into the box and quickly assembled the beast. Then, as she always does, she read the directions. That's good, because I certainly will not.
Let's back up a little bit and examine why today is a good day (even if not that rare). I have tried to count the number of vacuum cleaners my wife has brought into our home over the 20 some odd years we have been together. I can't do it. The formula for calculating such astronomical numbers is way beyond my comprehension. She has a thing for them. I discovered this early on in our relationship. If I were a man of reason I would be jealous of these sucky little machines. But, since reason flew out the window many years ago in my life, I can't feel jealous for such a thing. I, however, am extremely jealous over the attention a bag of any shape, size or color garners. But that is another story entirely.
Linda has owned and cherished machines of various sizes and degrees of power such as mini-vacs with specific purposes that only a mini-vac can accomplish. She has also had vacuums that will suck the gravel from the driveway if you unleash them. I have to say the latter is one I purchased for her that was made of space age material, sounded like a 747 at take-off and cost more than a vacuum should, but it was the most manly sucker we've ever had. They all have been her favorite for at least a short amount of time and her plans for their use have been grand, to say the least.
For each one she would carefully map out a plan of how each would be used and then experiment and pare down the uses to those that are possible if not practical. She would try every attachment in every possible way and proudly report the success of each. Like a few minutes ago when she came in and gleefully said, "Look how much dirt came from just the bathroom and kitchen!" I really don't know how she could be proud of such a thing.
Today she awoke and waited until it was an hour that she thought was a reasonable time to fire up her new device and start her menacing attack on the pet hair, dust and dirt that lie in every crevice of our home while driving our little dogs to distraction. I believe the new toy is now in its third configuration and she's cleaning like a mad woman having a ball all the way. There are many more configurations to come and the fun will continue.
I expect her enthusiasm to last for a month at most before her new toy becomes a tool for the rest of us to use as ordered. But for today, life sucks ... and it is good.

















