this AM i swung past our accountant's office to drop off the annual stack of tax information.  since i was making a trip out i grabbed all the stuff marked for donation to a charitable store, which had accumulated in the last week

as i made my way to the back of the second-hand store i spotted an old Kirby vacuum cleaner.  it reminded me that Dona and i had recently (two weeks ago?) had one of our complaining sessions where we tell each other how ''America is no longer #1 because we don't make vacuum cleaners like we used to''.  actually, that wild claim was Dona's ...

in fact, we normally complain about the compact upright Dirt Devil we've had for seven or eight years, and the static shock that builds up while using it, which is able to weld thin-walled aluminum cans, or send a small person to the hospital.  or the blue Eureka which i'd thought was dead, until i remembered we had Guinea Pig, and cleaned out all the nozzles (it still performs in a less-than satisfactory manner)

seeing the Kirby made me think about calling her bluff ... an old American steel-and-concrete vacuum cleaner.  to be honest it was a LOT lighter than i had anticipated.  a Model 517, built in 1957, it represented the beginning of the new reduced design Kirby had worked so hard on

Dona had also said ''if you want to get a Oreck, or spend 450$ on a (Dyson) ball-vac, go ahead''.  she might regret that last statement, i mused, as i plunked down the 4.50$ asking price for the old tank.  ''this ought to keep me busy for two weeks'' i joked with the teller

turns out that such a machine (which had been decently maintained over the years by someone who had recently passed-on or moved into assisted living, judging by the other new things around it on the sales floor) can be serviced in considerably less time - even taking into account the unforeseen (O-M-G! it was about 10x dirtier than my wildest imaginings)

this afternoon the penetrating oil had at last freed the last holdouts (frozen screws) and i'd washed the bag, cleaned the motor, checked the brushes, disassembled everything possible to dislodge the decades of accumulated dirt.  i also got it all back together, and put it by the door so my little woman can get all aflutter when she comes home to see what her dynamite man got her (what next ? a new oven or 'fridge ?)

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Yabba-Dabba-Spew