Friday, July 27, 2007

There is, indeed, a God! (Of course I already knew that)

*note:  this post has been altered to take out any prices I might have originally mentioned for Kirby products. 

You saw my tirade about the dog hair and the mopping.  And my pitiful vacuum sweeper. 

So God sent some unlikely angels to my door to help with the housecleaning.

This stranger came to my door and offered to come in and clean my carpet, free.  He said he was with Kirby.

"Do I have to listen to a sales pitch?"

"Not if you don't want to," he answered.

"Come on in, and if you do a good job in the living room, I'll let you do my bedroom," I told him.



So, Jeremiah assembled the Kirby; as he did so, I explained to him that my husband wasn't even willing to pay $500 for a Dyson.

"Oh, you don't want a Dyson," he said.  "They're junk."



There's just something beautiful about watching a man vacuum your rug, you know?  Notice no sweeper bag is attached.  Instead, he put these little filters on, so he could show me my dirt.



And now the whole world can see all my dirt!  Remember, you were THERE!

Jeremiah asked if I was ashamed to see so much dirt come out of my carpet.

"Are you kidding?  Tickles me to death to see it out of my carpet; look, I'm 20 feet from a gravel road and the windows are wide open because we don't have air conditioning.  I have dust and dirt (and dog hair).



Then Jeremiah's buddy came in to check on him.  I forget his name, but he told me he's a farm boy, so that's what we'll call him.  And he agreed that Jeremiah's assessment of Dyson sweepers was correct:  Junk.



A closeup of one of the filters.  Looks like Sadie's been here.



Just for your information, here's what the box says.

Now I have to tell you, there was more done than just vacuuming.  Jeremiah also put on an attachment that shampooed the rug, and quite honestly, he did an outstanding job... as good a job as the people we used to pay to come and do it. 

There was a stain in the bedroom carpet where Sadie got sick and puked up pork bones a year ago; nothing would get it out.  It's gone now.

Did I buy a Kirby?  No.  A new one costs too much for someone in my income bracket.  The guys also offered to sell me their demonstrator, with a lifetime guarantee, for much less.    As I told them, if I had that amount laying around, I might.  Cliff and I aren't spring chickens, and we don't need any new payments.

Will I buy a Kirby?   I could get a reconditioned one that's in my budget; I've had a reconditioned Kirby before, and was less than impressed.  But hey, my rugs look great just now.  Maybe I should give an old Kirby a fighting chance.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those Kirbys have been around a long long time.  I can remember when we were newly married one of those salesmen came and did all the same things at our house.  We couldn't afford it of course, but it was nice to dream...'On Ya' - ma

Anonymous said...

You are too damn much!  I have been laughing my ass off through this whole entry!  

Anonymous said...

They are very good. I have had one for years.

Anonymous said...

I swear you have an Angel on your shoulder. Who else could get a stranger to ring their doorbell and get free carpet shampooing. Nothing like that happends to me. Seriously Dysons are junk or at least not worth the money they want for them. I just got a Eureka Boss at Walmart and I love it. It is not bagless but I had a bagless one and it got a smell in it and never could get it out even after taking it apart twice and really cleaning it. The new one was around $135.00 and it has a Hepa filter they say to change every 6 months. I don't have a dog that sheds though I went with a poodle BECAUSE they are non shed.

Anonymous said...

Wow, wish he could come here!  Maybe he would clean the house too!  Linda

Anonymous said...

hey, don't knock the Dyson.....that sucker can suck up dirt and hair, that I didn't know I had.  I agree that I wouldn't pay $600+, but that deal I got, I couldn't pass up, and it' the best vac that I have ever owned.  

Anonymous said...

I had a kirby.......loved it....it finally died after many many years of use!
love ya,
carlene

Anonymous said...

My MIL & SIL have a kirby...they love them.  But I'm like you I just couldn't see paying that much for a vacuum cleaner.  If I had more money than sense...I would buy one.  But that's not the case.

Anonymous said...

Donna.....I 've had my Kirby (2nd one in 40 years) for 22 or 23 years. They are the bomb ! I bought all the bells and whistles that went with it at the time. We had some extra $$ at that time and Bill was so impressed with the demo he said....load'er up ! So I got the 'works'.

I love the Kirby. I only wish it was the 'self-propelled' version. Thay came out with that one AFTER I bought mine...RATS !! Anyway it's an awesome machine. And the carpet cleaner attachment does an outstanding job for a home use vacuum. I hope you can make a deal on one....they're worth the $$.

Ok, Ok......I don't work for Kirby, I just like their stuff.

Anonymous said...

the Kirby I had was way too heavy for me
becky

Anonymous said...

I had to buy one (ok MIL bought it) after seeing what that machine pulled out of my mattress! Love mind and my clean floors, bed and anything else my Kirby chooses to clean! What a wonderful treat you received though! hope your enjoying your clean carpets and your day!
Katie

Anonymous said...

I hate to vacuum.  You were so lucky to have them clean your house.  Anne

Anonymous said...

Sounds and looks like they did a good job. Helen

Anonymous said...

Oh I love this entry!  My mom had a Kirby, back in the day when I was a little chickadee.  That Kirby lived forever.  In fact, I think my sister is using it now... good luck with the reconditioned one.  I would be so happy if someone, a man, in particular, would show up and vacuum, rebuild the deck, finish the garage shelves, help me weed the overgrown rose garden AND how about mop my kitchen one more time, finish the laundry, feed the kids, and oh yes, I really could use the garden lighting to be fixed.... hmmmm, and then he could leave and bring me back a reconditioned man that will stop by every week.  Hugs,
Lisa  

Anonymous said...

I don't know about the reconditioned ones, but we had a brand new kirby when I was a teenager, and that thing was amazing! It worked great until just after I moved out and that chore became my sister's responsibility.  Somehow, within a week she managed to cut the cord  "accidentally". She didn't have to use the Kirby anymore. In fact she wasn't allowed within 100 yards of it. lol Wish I'd thought of that!

Anonymous said...

Why you little beauty! "If you do a good job on my livingroom carpet, I'll let you do my bedroom." LMAO

Anonymous said...

I have a Rainbow vac. (my sil sold them at one point)  I also have a whole-house vac.  But I still HATE to clean!  I'd rather spend my time doing other things.