Roomba

Does anyone out there have a Roomba ?

I can't believe Ive only just heard about these things with my menagerie full of animals and attendant swathes of pet hair clogging up the Dyson not to mention the cats scattering their wood based kitty litter from here to kingdom come just for fun . ( I know , I see them do it , they climb aboard , turn several times after the performance is done , then scoot , the back legs buck jump and the litter is up the walls , down the cracks of the skirting boards , you name it . ) And although Alice has tiny short greyhound hair which doesnt seem to come out onto the floors or furniture , she s quite capable of spreading Bonio crumbs and Gravy Bones and other tasty morsels about the carpet in her vicinity .

We have or had various Dyson vacuum cleaners standing to attention around the house over the years but they have dwindled now to two , one in the hall cupboard seeing active service most days and the other in the attic awaiting a replacement belt ( don't watch this space ) . By the time I drag the yellow one up to the first floor and try to make it do its duty along the cat hair I am usually so cross I am not speaking to myself , recalling the halcyon days when it( or its predecessor) was first purchased and it glided through a pile of everything making a lovely lawn like stripe and making me feel like a proper person whose carpets would now be clean . These days when I apply myself diligently to the carpet , going over and over the same spot repeatedly and finally getting down on my hands and knees to pick up the crumb I have spotted by hand , tripping over the wire and thinking this is not how its supposed to be , occasionally the thought of throwing in the towel and simply buying a new vacuum cleaner when there's nothing really wrong with this one pops into my head and then brings me out in a cold sweat . The very idea .

And now , someone has brought to my attention , the Roomba . I had no idea what this creature was . But immediately I had an inkling it was something I was going to start to crave . I googled it and Yes , thats right , I want the Discovery version , yesterday if possible , though I am of course prepared to drive considerable distances to view it operating and hand over the cash . Its the paddock boots ( too stiff when I finally sourced them ) all over again .

I spend a happy half hour reading Roomba reports , noting that if it meets a tennis ball it will happily send it on its way , thus providing a friend for the family dog too , ( Alice is not much of a ball dog though , wonder if it does seaweed ? ) And then sending aforementioned reports to my sister and to D , who will no doubt have an opinion . How will he feel when the Roomba starts up cleaning whilst he is working ? Will he feel Put Out , his position usurped ? or is it Tidying after all that is his forte , rather than cleaning . I reassure myself we are on safe ground here , so long as it does not try to indulge in Desk Wars and try to climb onto his desk , though even he is missing Kitty's constant squabblings of late , so maybe a Roomba would constitute a welcome diversion ?

Obviously it would need to have a name . And so far I have not researched the cost , not wanting to spoil my reverie .

And Nat has returned home from the sales having forgotten my pasta sauce ! Major logistical problem here now !