Peace.
I had a travel post prepared, but in the wake of yesterday’s tragedy, a casual personal post just seemed so hollow. We listened to updates on the shooting as we sat just miles away, waiting for a plane at Milwaukee’s Mitchell Field.Airport. Our thoughts are with those killed, hurt, and threatened by this senseless event.
We are on the road now, and so far the journey has been, um, well, rather eventful. I’ll share after I have a chance to sleep. And recover. And rehydrate. Not necessarily in that order, of course. But in the meantime —
I bought Chuck a polo shirt at a church rummage sale. Now the mystery: what’s the skyline? It’s not Seattle – no Space Needle. It’s not Milwaukee. I don’t think it’s Chicago, but I could be wrong.
No ID yet; readers, can you help? Please tell me which city this shirt illustrates, and include details. No five paragraph essays – just enough details to prove your answer, okay? Okay.
My rationale was short and sweet: I told the Hoover and MomCentral Consulting representatives, “I have a pet rabbit. Need I say more?” The people in charge understood; they sent me a Hoover Wind Tunnel vacuum to test and review.
Putting the vacuum together was simple. The directions in the manual were readable, and everything was labeled correctly. I had to look up the procedure for tipping the handle back, but as soon as I knew where it was, the process was easy.
I decided to attack the den first. Bean bag chair, 20-year-old attached to Olympic soccer, and various bits of snack crumbs and tracked-in bunny litter had the room looking something like this.
BEFORE
I’ll let the results speak for themselves. In addition to picking up the visible dirt, my Hoover Wind Tunnel sucked up a lot of bunny fur. I hadn’t realized how much our lovely bunny leaves behind. Results? Oh, yeah. Here. Look! Even the 20-year-old has disappeared!
AFTER
Oh. Wait. Those are his feet in the corner. He’s still here, waiting to bring back his bean bag.
The real challenge awaited the Wind Tunnel: the bunny cage surroundings. Not only fur, but hay scraps were all over the bunny’s rug. I usually pick up the largest pieces of hay before I vacuum this rug, but I decided to put the new Hoover through its paces and see how it measured up to this challenge.
The Wind Tunnel did a nice job of picking up fur and hay and any other miscellaneous dirt. The bigger pieces of hay did clog the intake a little bit, but not so much as to stop the vacuum from working. With that in mind, I will continue my prep habits and pick up the largest pieces of hay in advance.
The Hoover Wind Tunnel came through its first tests with flying colors. It is lightweight and easy to use, and it picked up much more than I expected. Fur, dust, dirt, and even scraps of hay couldn’t stop the Wind Tunnel. I wonder if I can train it to handle laundry?
Never mind.
I received a sample of this product to facilitate my review, but my opinions are entirely my own. Thanks to MomCentral and Hoover for inviting me to test-drive this vacuum.
So far, I’ve been doing more musing than packing. We leave tomorrow to visit two training centers run by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Amigo is applying to attend one of these centers for job training. We’ve planned the trip with lots of down time – for many reasons.
Today’s challenge: complete the to-do list. It’s lengthy. Post Office, bank, laundry, packing, type itinerary in print and Braille – and finally, pack.
And after the to-do list reaches Ta-Dah! status, I will think about how to blog this journey. A few years ago we drove to Nova Scotia, and I created a post of all the daily coffee experiences. That could be fun, but it’s been done. Daily scenery might be interesting, especially since we’re going to Minneapolis and Denver. Big city! Mountains! So here we go: a list of possibilities for blogging the upcoming fact-finding and vacation trip.
Readers, weigh in, please. Let me know what would convert Compost Happens into a temporary travel blog. Leave a message at the tone – I mean, please leave a comment! This inquiring mind needs ideas.
The decision was simple: after a rather lengthy meeting of the Public Works committee, yet another emotion-packed set of speeches dividing the neighborhood into tree-huggers and tree-lovers-not, Chuck and I decided on our default plan for supper. We drove to our favorite Chinese restaurant and ordered take-out.
We relaxed a little, nibbled on crab rangoon and sipped our wine while we waited for our order. We shared our story with Charlie, the perpetually friendly restaurant owner and bartender: Trees, no trees, small trees, big trees, red trees, blue trees, any kind of tree. Charlie told us that in Chinese culture, trees do not belong close to a house. Trees and even shrubs interfere with the natural flow of Qi, or life force energy. Charlie said that when he looks at houses, he won’t buy one with a big tree or even with shrubs and bushes clustered around the house. That gave us another whole new perspective on the issue: a big tree close to the house was not just a set of roots destroying the pipes, but an interfering factor in the life force as well.
Then our food was ready, so I swallowed the rest of my wine and we headed home.
The cookie fortunes? I’m glad you asked! Here they are:
Wise men make more opportunities than they find.
Many receive advice; only the wise profit by it.
I think I’ll ponder the meaning of these – later. The last City Council meeting is tonight.