My New (Used) Kirby

Would you purchase a used vacuum?  Well, I did.  As the primary cleaner of the household, I need the proper tools to do a good job.  And living in the desert with dogs running around shedding and dragging it in with them, I needed an ultimate cleaning machine that could handle tile, hardwood, carpet, and the new deep shag rug.

When we moved, we got rid of our old vacuum because the Hoover was nearly 20 years old.  It still worked, but it was stinking and big and bulky.  We got a cheapo machine at Walmart for just over $100, and that served the apartment for the time being.  But once we got our house and 1900 square feet of floors, El Cheapo really proved its worthlessness.  Especially on the day the Kirby salesman came by for a demonstration.

I'll tell you about my Kirby and why I bought a second hand unit.  For many reasons, it is the ultimate vacuum.  For other reasons, it is not for everyone.  My wife will never use it.  It is too much machine for her, too complex.  She liked the simple convenience of the lighter, more useless plastic vacuum which was easy to handle and gave the impression of clean with its transparent bin of dustballs.  I know for a fact that this Kirby is a super-sucker and is doing what it was designed to do, so I can clean with confidence.  And this house gets dirty fast!  

But she's a heavy beast, weighing in at 17 pounds dry weight.  A fully loaded belly and she'll hit 22 pounds!  Based on weight alone I consider it a 'man's machine', with attachable components much like that of a transformer.  In fact, it LOOKS like a transformer, with its chrome metal body and a hood like an old car.  An American Made, industrial strength vacuum.  It is part of my weekly exercise regime.  I call 'Floors Day' my Kirby Workout because it is a physically demanding task that I must do weekly.  I'm OK with it, because I like the exercise and I know I am cleaning and not just flicking dirt around.  It is super powerful, and sounds like a jet engine when you get her going, with a forward drive shaft (or neutral gear) for effortless movement, and a 28 foot power cord that can reach an entire level without having to keep finding the closest outlet.  I would imagine this machine's previous life was doing long hallways in hotels.  Side by side to our El Cheapo unit, there was no comparison.

OH the day the Kirby salesman came by!  That day will live in infamy in our house.  After that I put a 'No Soliciting' sticker on the front door.  It was saturday afternoon, Tanya was watching TV and I was mulling about when the doorbell rang and I answered.  There stood this cute little freckled blonde with her hair pulled back in a pony tail, her face flushed and glowing like she had just come from the gym, so peppy and vibrant.  She had my full attention.  She could have been selling anything, I just wanted to be engaged in whatever conversation she wanted to have for as long as possible.  She wanted to give me a vacuum demonstration, "...just let me do your stairs, it'll only take 15 minutes...", and there was nothing more I wanted than to see this young hottie in her stretchy pants vacuuming my stairs.

I sheepishly went in to Tanya and said, "Hey Tan, there's a lady here wants to vacuum our stairs, is that OK?"

"No way Troy!  Tell her to get the hell out of here!"  My wife knows the sucker she married.  So I returned to the door and made an executive decision to allow this girl into our house to do her demonstration.  She was thrilled, and said she'd be right back.  I told Tanya she was coming in and when the girl came back, she was followed into the house by a large black man.  "Troy, this is Raoul, he will be giving you your demonstration, you two have fun now!" and like that, she was gone and Raoul began.  My jaw dropped.  I was absolutely dumbfounded, and cursed myself for being such a sucker.  But it got much worse.

Have you heard the tale of the vacuum salesman?  How not to let them into your house?  By gawd, it is so true.  Raoul went on and on and on, for about an hour and a half.  He had propositioned Tanya to come sit in on the demonstration and after a while she just lost it.  I have never seen Tanya be so rude to someone.  An unbefore known hatefulness surfaced in her and she glared at me as she walked away right in the middle of his sentence.  I had ruined her afternoon, and I would pay for that later.  He kept going, even though I insisted that he would make no sale today and tried to usher him out.  After a while his sales tactics turned desperate and he started pleading with me to make the purchase to help his family win a trip to Disneyland or something like that.  I eventually started getting aggressive and hateful with him to make him stop talking.  He wouldn't stop.  After an hour and a half, I watched him slowly pack up his things in an awkward, hostile silence.  He tried to make that sale right to the bitter end.

The Kirby sold itself.  The salesman turned me off it completely but the demonstration, up against our plastic machine, proved without a doubt that El Cheapo was not doing what we thought it was doing and that the Kirby was a monster.  A little jet engine powerful enough to pick up a penny off a tile floor and bend it in half when it clicked through the turbine!  There was no doubt in my mind that I needed a better vacuum, but not from this guy.  As a parting shot, Raoul didn't reconnect the catch bin on El Cheapo vacuum after his demonstration and when I picked it up to put it away the bin fell off and the latch assembly broke.  I couldn't fix it, nor could I track down replacement parts.  And so I was forced to purchase a new machine immediately.

I did a lot of shopping but just couldn't shake the demonstration I'd seen.  Despite the salesman, I wanted to get a Kirby.  I found GreatVacs.com online and their stock of refurbished vacuums.  It was a 5 year old machine, half the price of a new one at just over $500.  Expensive?  Time will tell if it was an expensive purchase or not.  They say this machine will still be running strong in 30 years... in 30 years I will be 70 and probably unable to lift it but, I like things that are built to last a long time.  I don't like buying a new vacuum every couple years.  And I really like having the confidence that my vacuum is actually cleaning and not wasting my time pushing dirt around.

As a second hand unit, after a year and a half with it, I must say it is quite heavy, and incredibly loud.  But its a very versatile machine with its different attachments.  There is an attachment for the ass end of it too, so you can use the engine as a blower... for spray painting or leaf blowing... but I haven't done that yet.  Some of the plastic components have started showing their age and cracking.  I have temporarily fixed the cracks with hockey tape, but I will eventually need to invest some more money into it.  Tanya has not used it yet and hates it, but she is OK with never having to do the floors again :)  

Thanks for reading.

TRJ

...

Year of the Dogs

This year Tanya and I decided to become foster parents with 'A Home 4 Spot', a non-profit rescue organization for canines here in Las Vegas.  We learned of the dire situation of dogs being discarded and destroyed in Vegas and we had to help.  This is our second foray into the dog rescuing business, as we were foster parents in Ottawa for a year with BARK.  It is just something we have to do.

There are approximately 70 animals a day that are put down by the Lied Animal Foundation, and we get most of our dogs off their Kill List.  The source of this problem runs deep and Lieds is only the tip of the needle for a deeply flawed system that allows the market to be flooded with blood money.  Lieds is the federally funded city pound, so they receive thousands and thousands of discarded animals.  I know they can't save them all, but it seems no one is even trying to stop the bleeding and this is where the government is failing society by allowing this to happen.  There are countless illegitimate breeders flooding the markets, pet stores selling highly overpriced animals and creating a smoke screen for the dire situation of adoptable pets, and of course there is the cultural problem of ignorant pet owners who don't believe in getting their animals fixed.  But at the heart of it all, governments are not paying attention.  Funding the kill agencies while allowing the blood money to flow is deeply disturbing.  Pets have become a valuable, disposable commodity, a true mark of our society's disconnect with the natural world and how we are failing ourselves as a species.

We believe the policies of Lied's Animal Foundation to be highly unethical.  In 2013 they killed 56% of the animals they received... that's 22,634 animals... and they strive to make money off of these unfortunate lives, right down to the very last drop.  Even non-profit organizations like ours must pay to save the life of a dog off their kill list.  Their policy is to make money.  And killing dogs is big business, federally funded and worth millions... not to mention the millions they receive in donations every year.  We know Lieds has the money and we know they have the space to do a much better job, and while ignoring pleas from the community they are choosing to kill while putting a happy face on their foundation.  The more we learn, the uglier it gets.  This needs to change.  (Visit No Kill Las Vegas for the dirty facts).

So we had to get involved.  It is such an amazing feeling to rehabilitate a broken animal and help place them in their Forever Families.  When we get pictures and emails of the dogs we've fostered who are now living a happy dog's life with their new families, that's why we do it.

Troy & Otis, the Chee'Chee's

We are now on our 10th rescue dog, having placed 8 so far.  Well... placed 7.  Otis, the newest member of our family is what is called a  'Foster-FAIL!'.  We fostered him and his brother when they were 4 weeks old, the Chee'Chee's (chihuahuas).  What a pair!  What an awesome experience to have those two hyperactive chihuahua puppies in our house disrupting the balance of everything!  Troy, Otis' brother, got adopted to a young couple just down the street and Otis... well, we just couldn't see him going to a better family than us, so we adopted him.  He is a 4lb ball of energy, the cheerleader in our pack and quite a happy little guy.  He is very special, and a great addition to our pack.

Otis, realising the value of the High Ground

Most of our dogs have been rescued directly from the Lied's kill list, and every one of them have been such sweet, loving animals.  All they really want is someone to love.

On thursday we got Risa, a 4 month old puppy.  She was going to be put down because she was scared, deemed un-adoptable by Lied's standards.  She had been surrendered as a 3 month old and had been in the system for 3 weeks and had shut down.  She no longer trusted humans.  She had just been fixed when we picked her up so she was drowsy, but indeed, she was terrified of us.  We left her in a caged area when we brought her home just so the other dogs (4 other dogs) could have their say and not get too involved.  She seemed OK with the dogs, but terrified of us.  Sometimes the dogs we get are psychologically damaged, some physically, and they need to be rehabilitated in order to be adoptable.  We have a good, stable pack here, so our dogs help socialize them and bring them around.

Risa, the first day of her new life

Friday morning I set about breaking her in and getting her out of her shell, which took about 30 minutes.  I fished her out of the back of her crate and carried her outside while she dribbled on me.  I put her on the ground with all the other dogs and sat down to watch and wait.  My pack follows me around and if I sit, they settle.  Everyone was curious about the newcomer, but calm and pretty much left her to her exploring of the backyard.  She smelled the entire yard and eventually made her way back under my chair... and then beside me looking up... and then put her paws on me to get my attention, which I gave her.  That was all it took, fixed!  Her whole demeanor switched and her chubby puppy body jiggled with happiness as she wagged her thick tail.  That moment, when you see the happy dog emerge, you know you've done a good deed.  And once I am recognized as the food-guy, I become almighty in the pack.  I am the Lighthouse.  Her new life... her second life, begins today.

On saturday we went our to Tivoli Village to an adoption event, where all the foster parents bring their dogs to be out in public, seeking out that special person with whom the dog will connect.  Its only a matter of time before it happens, and its always a quick and decisive moment.  The people know right away.  In Risa's case, it was her first time out in public and she was overwhelmed with everything.  She stuck to me and pretty much stayed on my lap the entire day.  And just as we were getting ready to leave, two ladies came by and were stricken by her.  She hadn't intended on adopting a dog that day, they had walked by by chance and seen her on my lap.  Risa reminded her of the dog they had just lost after 17 years and wanted to hold her.  Risa is a chubby ball of loving puppy, and she fell asleep in her arms.  She held the dog for half an hour and texted her husband to get over there right away to see this dog.  He came, and it was soon obvious that Risa had found her new family.  We went back to their place to do the paperwork and that was it!  Risa, now became Brighton and our 9th rescued canine.  Thank you to the Sheridans for adopting with us and saving her life!  This opens up our house to save another.

Saving the lives of these discarded dogs and finding them homes is something we have to do.  Its a cruel world, but WE don't have to be.  World change begins within.

To quote Ghandi, "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."  We have to be better.

Thanks for reading.

TRJ