Mrs. Fix-it To The Rescue

So, what happens when you combine this:


With this:

Anyone?

Some serious aggravation, that's what. I had noticed that my cheapy vacuum hadn't been working too great lately. I wasn't sure if that was because it was a cheapy, or if there were some extenuating circumstances that needed addressing.

I decided to tackle the problem the other day; it wasn't the bag--it wasn't even close to full. I unscrewed the hose from the body--yeah, there was some major clogging going on. I fished as much out as I could with a screwdriver, but there was still more nastiness way down in there.

By using some, er, um, lung-power, I was able to dislodge a lot of carpet fibers, etc, shaped like my vacuum hose. gross. But, my work was done. I had conquered the clog, and shown my vacuum who's boss.

Or so I thought.

The next time I turned it on, it was still not working well. I mean, it would pick up some, but not well. And it sounded funny--a little higher-pitched than normal.

Rats. Back to the drawing board.

I unscrewed it all again, and dumped out the snakey tube of carpet fibers again. (Have I mentioned that our landlord has chosen some pretty cheap carpet for our house?) But I hadn't solved the problem. Now I was getting irritated. How could I reach down that long hose to fish out whatever offending item was in there? The lightbulb finally went off over my head, and I straightened a wire hanger that was lurking way in the back of the wardrobe. It did a pretty good job, but eventually I ended up just squeezing the dickens out of the hose (praying all the while that the cheap plastic tubing wouldn't crack under the strain) until that stupid little plastic thingy dropped out.

What is that thing, you ask? It is a plastic cover for the electric plug of some small British appliance. It's a standard part of the packaging, and how it got sucked into my vacuum, I'll never know. But it must have been in there a while, lurking, clogging up the works. arg.

But, now I can vacuum in peace. Or maybe I'll make the children do it. I'm sure they never vacuum up plastic things...