Cleaning

Today being a day off, I spent a little time cleaning up while Tom was out mowing and trimming weeds around the flowers along the sidewalk. The front porch (more of an entry than a porch, to be honest, although we do have a couple of chairs out there) was filthy. We always come in by way of the garage and laundry room, and most visitors do, too. So we don't always realize what a mess of blown leaves, spider webs and other detritus is there. I swept it not long ago, but a broom is not adequate for the job.

So I took out the shop vac and cleaned it up reasonably well. The shop vac is good for this sort of thing, but the cord is about six inches long, so it is not the most convenient machine. But it sure does suck up those webs and cocoons and leaves. The porch is not spotless, but it is a vast improvement and the fancy flamingo that Peggy made for us at Christmas can watch over it again with some dignity under his top hat.

Then I came in to vacuum the rugs inside with the good old Eureka. I got the one in the dining room done and was just finishing up the living room when it just stopped. I thought I had blown a fuse, but changing plugs didn't help and everything else was still on. So I pushed it again and it came on. Who knows? One more sweep of the carpet and suddenly I am standing there holding the handle/bag part of the thing while the entire base unit sits quietly on the floor. It had come apart in my hands!

Fortunately, I had kept the bolt that I found lying on the floor a week or so back and, sure enough, that was the missing piece. Tom found a nut that fit and put it back together, and now I am back in business. I have been taking the Eureka to work with me to clean the store in the morning because the two vacuums there are useless. Dragging it around, in and out of the back of the Vibe, has probably not been all that good for it.

Now (9:15 a.m.) a thunderstorm is coming through, and radar shows another larger storm coming along behind it. We had been talking about going to Madison today -- it has been months since we went down there, largely because we have been so busy and because of gasoline prices. Expensive name-brand gas was $4.099 around here yesterday; less expensive but still name-brand gas was $4.039. I am so grateful that my work is now only five miles away instead of all the way over in Baraboo. Okay, fourteen miles to Baraboo. Still ...

Travel plans on hold while we wait to see what develops.

And that's the morning report.

As Karl says, "The world will end at nine. Details at eleven."