Monday, October 11, 2010

The Tears of a Machine

After three weeks of not being fit to do any housework, I bit the bullet today and opened the housework cupboard, plugged in the vacuum cleaner and pressed 'go'.
WAAAaaaaaaaeeeeeeuuuurraaaaAAAAAAAAaaaaaaauuuuuuuuu.......
Good grief! I have never heard a Dyson cry before! How distressing!
I upended it, and there, trapped in its rotary brushes, were almost the entire contents of somebody's room, all bound together by mountains of hair, woven into a cunning detritus trap of impressive design (yes, Mr Dyson, I'l pass the plans on to you!).
Wire, thread, wool, dust, bits, a large ribbon-shaped offcut of material, all were wedged tightly in an impenetrable stodge that looked like some kind of eco-insulation.
Bloody hell, if the dirty dishes could have been sucked up instead of washed, I swear they would have been there too!
I got the Strong Kitchen Shears and poked about, cutting little slits in the accessible parts of the stodge, until I could tear clumps of it off and dump them in the bin.
Eventually, the brushes were still  congested, but at least they were visible. A huge and frightening pile of dusty stodge pulsated in the bin; the vacuum cleaner was actually smiling with relief.
When I switched it back on, it sighed happily and slurped dust like never before.
I now have a newly-found respect for what I thought was a simple machine; I hadn't realised that it had feelings.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:27 pm

    Are you living in a Ken Loach film?? :)

    WofStA

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  2. Anonymous7:34 pm

    Anyone who sews will tell you to use the crevice tool to suck up thread and similar bits - otherwise ..... well, you found out the hard way what happens!!

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  3. I feel heartened that you have also been wrestling with foreign bodies in domestic appliances lately. I fear there may be "impenetrable stodge" lurking down the plughole of our bath, as the water takes forever to drain.

    Thanks to FATE I have also now learnt the term "crevice tool".

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