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Friday, June 24, 2011

Meet the Upstairs and Downstairs Help

Townhouse living comes with stairs! Lots and lots of stairs!

I have 2 full flights of stairs that connect the 3 townhouse levels, and 4 steps from the front door to the first floor. That does not include the outside steps from the parking lot to the front door - of which there are 16. Yes, we have taken our fair share of steps over the last 25 years in this townhouse. I have the leg muscles to prove it.

But steps are not the topic of this post.

I am the proud owner of an upstairs vacuum cleaner and a downstairs vacuum cleaner. And not just any vacuums ... two Dyson vacuums!! (Now you know why I called this post the Upstairs and Downstairs help. Who would open a posting that said Vacuums!)

Disclaimer:
This is not an ad for Dyson products.
I am not being compensated for saying these things.
But I am thrilled with the product line and now that I have a new second one,
I am enthused all over again.
So just humor me!

My first Dyson (we will call her Bertha) is a DC17 Absolute Animal - yep, that is the actual name.

She's a big lady. And she has cleaned faithfully with no upkeep for 5 years. I only recently washed the filter that they said should be washed yearly.

Bertha is a workhorse machine for all 3 levels of this townhouse. With 2 cats and 3 dogs now - Absolute Animal Bertha has been one terrific machine.

Look at those muscles!!






But now that my mom lives here, we put in a stair glide from the first to the second floor.

Bertha and me ... we have made many perilous trips together up and down this narrowed flight of steps, and each time I thought ... there isn't enough room for Bertha and Harold (the Acorn stair glide) and me on this set of stairs.

This is an accident just waiting to happen, and I knew Harold would feel badly if it did!!








So last week I went out to purchase another vacuum, and, of course, is was a Dyson.

This time I got a smaller more lightweight model called DC25 Animal (lets call him Oscar). Oscar has the new Ball technology for easy steering. He is a gem of a machine. Oscar is the upstairs help and Bertha is the downstairs help.

We are all happy!

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
Elaine (retired knitter), Bertha, Harold and Oscar

PS - Someday I hope to add to the help by finding someone else to push Bertha and Oscar around.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am as attached to my Electrolux as you are to your Dyson...oooooh...I feel a post coming on.

Chatty Crone said...

I don't have one, but it does look like a strong vacuum! Glad you have two and down have to carry it up and down those steps!

unnamed lad said...

we haven't gone to the extent of naming our dyson's. we have four animal dyson's. two minatures for picking up hair, crumbs, and dirt and two Bertha's. we had to buy the second bertha because the first one is still in the repair shop. the vacuum repair shop FINALLY figured out the problem and told me only yesterday that he's figured out the problem. we've been waiting four month's! yeah, i know....

but the dyson is the ONLY vacuum that can get the pet hair out of a rug. after going thru countless brands....it's the truth of the matter!

Empty Nest Insider said...

I also have a Dyson that I'm crazy about! I think it's wonderful that you have 2. so you don't have to do so much lugging up and down the stairs. My hope (and it is a sad one) is to one day purchase the Dyson dust buster as it's the most powerful and I'm constantly chasing crumbs. If you would've asked me even 10 years ago, if I got excited about these things, I'd have shot you a very mean look. Happy cleaning! Julie

Retired Knitter said...

I have owned a number of other brands. They worked well the first year, maybe the second. But they all fail shortly after and it is not like I vacuum allll the time. The Dyson continued to work under what I consider extreme situations animal hair wise and it did it despite the fact I waited 5 years to clean the filter.

Did anyone every own a Kirby? Now that was one heavy machine, and it worked great for about 4 years and then it stopped picking up and we had it fixed and it worked sort of ... but never as good as it did initally and we paid about $500 for that back in the 80s which was a huge sum of money - and at that the unit retailed for over $1000 dollars. I thought I would have the thing for the rest of my life.

So far the Dyson has passed the Kirby in reliability.

happyone said...

I am not crazy about my vacuum which is an Oreck and I just might go out and by myself this smaller Dyson which you have. I can leave my old Oreck upstairs.
I have three full flights of stairs in my townhouse.

Linda said...

I have upstairs and downstairs help (electrolux upstairs - Oreck down) but after your glowing recommendation (and seeing Bertha in person) whoever goes first will be replaced by a Dyson!

Anonymous said...

Retired Knitter....Mom had a Kirby and I believe she used that old monster for at least 14 years. As a kid I always wanted to help vacuum. Once I got hold of the Kirby it would just pull me all over the place. Heavy old brute and I believe it was somewhat self propelled.

Carolyn said...

LOL My Kenmore vacuum is only a little better than the Hoover it replaced. I will have to keep your 'Animals' in mind for my next machine. I think that one day there will be automatic/self-propelled vacuums. We just got one for our pool, a Dolphin (brand name). It even shuts itself off when it is finished!

Noofy said...

We too are proud Dyson owners, which we've had for 7 years, it's yellow and powerful. We don't have pets, although I have long hair. Yes, I shed. We've been through many vacuums, the Dyson is the only one that has not died after a year or so (yet). The only vacuum comparable was a Rainbow in the early 70s, it had a water base instead of a bag. You would just flush the dirt down the toilet and rinse the base for next use. Not economically minded by today standards. I am grateful every day for my three bedroom ranch house with no stairs.

Retired Knitter said...

Wow, 7 years!!! Wonderful. Very glad to hear this news since Dysons are a bit pricey.

We have been in our townhouse for 25 years and when we moved here, stairs were not an issue. Now they are more work than I remember. And some days I wish we didn't have stairs. But I can tell you it has made my legs very strong and watching mom (who didn't have many stairs before she came to live with me), I am very glad for the stairs ... as we age our legs are what keep us young.

My Tai Chi instructor said - do you want to walk on 2 legs when you get older ... or 3 legs (meaning with a cane). Mom now walks on 4 legs (walker).

So although I hate cleaning my stairs and walking up them, I am very glad for them ... now that I am 64.

Vicki Boster said...

My son has a Dyson and he is always singing its praises!

Can I just take this little space to thank you for being a part of my blogging family. I appreciate your visits and comments so much. I hope your summer calms down a little and that your Mom does better - bless her heart - she has had a time of it all.

Vicki

Cindy 6 said...

We also do the upstairs and downstairs Dyson. It definitely makes life easier. Does Harold come with a remote? If needed you could put one of the vacuums on Harold with possibly a bungee cord around it and be good to go. My mom uses her chair-stair-glide to take groceries and such up and down the stairs.