Summer time is coming and you know what that means………….

SHEDDING!!!!!

Yes, non-stop shedding. My home is filled with Arwen’s unwanted fur. From my couch that looks like a snow-dusted mountain top to my shag carpet that was not originally shag carpet, Arwen’s hair has infiltrated every nook and cranny of my humble abode. I know what you will say, just vacuum it and shut up. But trust me, this is like Sisyphus pushing up that rock. Push up, roll down. Rush up, roll down.

So instead of making this my new full-time job, I decided to invest in a Roomba; the robotic vacuum that has a mind of its own.

OK, to be accurate, I bought the Roomba about a year ago, but never really used it. However I was anticipating this day to come, the day where my home has enough fur to build another Arwen. So I sat down. read the instructions, and cured the guy up for a Friday clean when I was gone to work.

When I came back, the good news was the carpet looked cleaner, there was not hair floating in the hair, and Arwen was not completely freaked out by the thing. However, I had no idea where it was.

For you see, after the 3 hour cleaning, the Roomba is supposed to return back to its little home, the charger port I placed in the corner. But it was not there. I looked in the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, but nothing.

Then I went into the other room and there it was……stuck there because it sucked up an ID badge string from the 2015 JSM convention in Seattle.

OK, no biggie. The Roomba probably didn’t complete the entire clean, so I polished it off, placed it back to its home, and tried the same thing the next day when I left.

Saturday I returned from my errands and once again, the Roomba was NOT in its little home. This time, the Roomba sucked up a shoelace and dragged my shoe around a bit before it just got tired and quit. OK, now I realized I had to enter some strategy in this: no strings, no shoes, nothing that can impede the Roomba. Apparently I was wrong when I thought the Roomba would be better about such things (as the instructions inaccurately said). So I put away all stringy-like items and tried again Sunday.

Returning on Sunday, I once again saw the Roomba NOT in its place. This time, it was lodged in a corner of the house, seemingly butting away at the wall until it ran out of gas.

Now that is inexcusable! I can’t have no corners in my home! That is the very nature of every home built since….well….ever. I am not sure how I am going to get this thing to complete its cycle. Granted, the Roomba worked in the sense that my home is much cleaner. But to get it to behave post-clean, I just do not know at this time.

I have a created a new strategy that will be enacted on Tuesday to see if I can get this thing to do what I want it to. It is a simple plan, mainly involving turning it on again, letting it sweep, and just hoping the thing returns back to its port, but it is plan nonetheless.

We will see what happens.