On Thursday I drove out to the far east side and traded in my old Miele Flamenco for a new one – a Jasper C2.
Old vacuum
New vacuum
My mom bought me the red Miele when she lived with me, which was from 2000 until she died in 2004, so I estimate it’s at least 14 years old. I had gone out to the vacuum cleaner store the Saturday before, the funny snow squally day, and talked to a (kind of dippy, but nice) saleslady with an (I think) Irish accent. She didn’t think there was a vaccum for me in the store, so she ordered one for me. On Monday another guy from the store called and said I should come out and look at the C2 Jasper. The sticking point is that it’s got a HEPA filter which costs $50 to replace. It’s also smaller and lighter than the old one, but a more powerful engine.
So I bought it, with a trade-in rebate for the old one of $45. My last conversation with the salesman was about how his 18-year-old Flamenco still worked great, and that I didn’t have to pay $50 to replace the HEPA filter after 750 hours of vacuuming. Instead I can go out there and buy a little basket for five bucks, and put in the same little piece of filtering material that I cut out and stuck into the old one – the sheets of material come with the bags. It’s like interfacing.
When I got back to work, it was all I could do to stop myself from going back and asking for my old one back. I mean my Mother bought it for me. Still, I should be looking at it as a sign of maturity, right? That at the great age of 60 I bought my own vacuum cleaner, and stopped using the one my mom bought for me. I must’ve got all nostalgic because to drive out to the vacuum cleaner store, I had to go past two places (well, the turn off for one on the way out, and one on the way back) I used to live, and the supper club house. And I also went past all these places where they were ripping down old ugly strip malls and commercial property and putting up new stuff. So, I calmed myself down and didn’t go – it’s only a vacuum cleaner, right? And I don’t need two. The next morning, I tried out the new one, and felt much better.