If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble. ~Bob Hope

Showing posts with label pets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pets. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Not for Mammals: A vacuum review that doesn't suck which is more than I can say for this Shark

So it occurred to me that I don't need much to start doing reviews. Goodness knows that I own a bunch of stuff and I have opinions about most of it. I have wanted to get this off of my chest for awhile, too.

Back over Christmas, I worked at a department store. After Christmas, I had some rewards burning a hole in my pocket and coincidentally I killed a vacuum cleaner. It wasn't on purpose, I swear. There was a suction issue and after a thorough examination and a little bit of hose cleaning, I thought the problem was solved until my living room was filled with that horrible smell of deceased vacuum. Anyway, I did some looking online and called the store where I worked to see if we actually had any vacuums in stock.

Later that evening, I dragged my husband to the mall and we became the new
owners of a Shark Navigator Lift-Away Vacuum. At first, I really liked it. I liked that there was the option to run the vacuum without the brush roller on. I liked how it seemed to do a better job cleaning my carpet. I certainly enjoyed how much easier it now was to vacuum the stairs and the weird multi-level landing in our house.
My enjoyment of my new vacuum was short-lived, though. Seems about every two or three uses, I have to give the brush roller a haircut which is why I have deemed this vacuum unfit for mammals. Ironic because every review that I ever read of it claimed that it was great for pet owners. My best guess is that every reviewing pet owner was bald, balding, or sporting a buzz cut because there is no way any human with hair would have ever given this machine thumbs up...well, unless of course all of the reviewers wrote their reviews in the honeymoon stage of ownership.

My daughter and I usually sport shoulder length hair or longer, and I worry that we may have some sort of health issue as much of our hair as I have cut out of the roller brush. It's disappointing really because I didn't spend as much as I did to become a vacuum cosmetologist. 

It's an adequate vacuum...for Lex Luthor. Otherwise, I can't say that I am happy with this purchase. I have never encountered this level of hair clog with any other vacuum. At one point in my life, I lived with two brothers, two cats, three dogs, a long-hair mama and wooly-bearded dad. If our vacuum had ever experienced that level of maintenance, the menagerie would have been re-homed.

And now having owned this vacuum for 4 months, can't help but wonder if some of the reviews aren't akin to the same phenomenon as when people start using those colon cleansers and think they are seeing amazing results but it's a combination of being hyperfocused on their poop and what not that causes them to overstate their results. My next vacuum will come carefully recommended to me by the boys at Fussneckers 'cause the internet can not be trusted ;)

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Saturday Shape-Up: Paws to Organize

It's hard to believe but sometimes pets have just as much to organize as some people do. Clever Container understand this and comes to the rescue with three items made for fido or feline.

Perfect Pup Hooks feature three adorable chrome paw print on a black base. It measures 8 x 1 3/4 x 2 and sells for $19.95. Perfect for leashes, towels, rope toys and more.

Perfect Pup Bin It’s either the paw print pattern or the bone shaped handles that make this bin fun and
functional. Black background with tan paw prints. Toy clean up should be a breeze! (16½ x 14 x 10)  $22.95


Perfect Pup Pocket Pal This clever over the door dog organizer coordinates with the Perfect Pup Bin. Six pockets and a hook keep everything your dog needs right at its paw prints! There’s even a window for a photo of your best friend. (10½ x 32¾) (0615) $36.95