Today when I went to use my vacuum cleaner it was really noisy and smelled like it was smoking.  Last week when I used it I thought it smelled like smoke, but wasn’t sure if it was the vacuum cleaner or the guy downstairs smoking on his balcony….guess it was the vacuum.  Anyway, Ross helped me take it apart to see what might be wrong with it. The belt seemed okay, but the motor unit was sparking when it was running — not good!

I got my last vacuum cleaner as a hand-me down from my Grandma when I moved into our first apartment. I’m not sure how old it was when I got it , but it had seen many years of use.  When it came time for new bags the only place I could find them on ebay – but it served us well.  I think it may have been a professional grade vacuum cleaner for use in hotels etc. I was sad to see it go.

So, Ross and I went out today to get a new vacuum cleaner for me.  I had remembered from last years consumer reports that a kenmore had gotten great ratings and was quite a bit cheaper than some of the other models.  After reading review etc online, I decided to get the Kenmore Progessive upright vacuum with intelli-clean system.  Turns out that it was also on sale this week – so we (or I) decided to go ahead and get it.

As soon as we got home I put together my new ‘toy’ and started to vacuum the apartment.  It was great!  It has a sensor that detects how much dirt it is picking up, and lets you know when a particular area was clean.  I think it was pretty accurate as all the high traffic areas were showing more dirt than the lower traffic ones.  Even right in front of the couch feels clean – which I never felt like I got very clean before.  This vacuum is also much quieter than the last one which is an added bonus.

Attachments!  One of the things that I was missing on the old vacuum was any sort of attachments.  This one comes with a full range of attachments – crevice tool, combo brush, floor brush and a little handi-mate jr.  The first thing I did with the attachments was vacuum the couch — it really needed it!  Ross started making fun of me – wondering how long it would take me to attack the couch – in under 5 min =P

Anyway, I am very excited about my new toy!