Help me, Rhonda*

We have a new family member, Rhonda the Roomba.

I've hankered after one of these wee beasties for some time. Ever since I discovered that a French friend over the road has not one, not two, but possibly three of these automatic little hoovers (in her defence I will say that she has a large house and four (four!!) children under the age of seven - eek!) For a while after this discovery Rebecca and I ruminated over them, googled them and checked to see how expensive they were. We also whiled away much time on youtube where there are many, many bits of video showing Roombas being ridden (there's a couple here, here and here.)

I did nothing about getting a Roomba though because, despite being a total sloth when it comes to house-keeping and having a cleaner once a week, purchasing a robot to do the job of the daily floor sweeping that a retriever and two children plus countless strays necessitates, seemed a little...extravagent.

Then I discovered Lufthansa Airmiles, and more pertinently Simon's large stash of such miles that were crying out to be spent. And there was the Roomba. And not just any Roomba, but the Pet special, it's designed especially for those 'hairy situations that pet owners face'.

Two days later it arrived and after charging all night the two men in my life had a testosterone powered gadget off as they attempted to be the first to work out how to get Rhonda up and running. Si lost, mainly because he had to go to work and tossed the instruction booklet to me telling me to read it...ha! I couldn't even tell you what size or colour the booklet is, I simply asked Ben to make it work for me.

No longer do I have to sweep the floor to remove all the dust, mud, grass and tumbleweeds of dog fur. All I have to do is press the 'clean' button and leave Rhonda to do her stuff.

My original plan had been that I'd set her going as I left the house, but I've decided that she's best treated like a curious toddler and therefore I should try to keep an eye on her. She has a liking for wayward cables, can get lost under the sofa and stuck under the TV console however her stair sensor does stop her from falling down the stairs and her love of Logan has her following him slavishly around - or is that just the dirt sensor working overtime?

The only thing left for me to do is empty her and remove the fur that gets wrapped around her wheels, it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it...which reminds why isn't Ben home yet?


* by the Beachboys, see here