Hexapuma Needs a Roomba

[rolanni]

Hexapuma has lost the last of his hearing.  Mostly, he seems good with this, but every so often, he’ll set in to declaiming and when he hears no response, he tends to get a little crazy.  So Steve was suggesting that we get him a robot playmate — maybe a robotic tank.  I don’t mind the idea, as long as we can get one that charges off of house power, but wonder how the treads would function on the carpeting.  Since the lack of hearing makes Hex utterly fearless in terms of Cat Eating Machines, maybe a Roomba is the answer.  Does anybody have a Roomba?  What can you tell me, good and bad?  Also, how much to get this upgrade?

The first day of Mouse Tweets is done.  Tomorrow, we start up again where we left off, and so on and so forth, until Friday sees an end.

On my way home today, I stopped by the shoe store and am now the proud owner of a pair of Skecher’s men’s sport shoes.  I am Very Tall.  Also, bouncy.  There on the shelf were Skecher’s “Shape Ups” guaranteed to help me tone and lose weight just by walking.  Allll right, then.  Hunnert buck shoes are not in this week’s budget.  Neither, to tell the truth were the forty dollar pair, but one needs must…

Shoes accomplished, I stopped at Day’s Jewelers to perform a commission on behalf of the day-job, and while I was there arranged to have my wedding ring resized.  I can pick it up tomorrow after work.  In the meantime, my hand feels weird.

And suddenly!  It’s almost time to leave for Oasis!  Um, eek.

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

There are lots of You Tube videos of cats riding roombas -- some cats even learn to turn them on. A medium priced roomba is about 300.00 -- and it charges itself at a docking station.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

I got a friends cat a ZhuZhu pet, you tap it on and it will go for a couple of minutes before it shuts itself off. Its a very cool cat toy.

[1crowdedhour.livejournal.com]

I love my roomba. I've about worn it out.

Roombas for Hexapuma

[capricchio.livejournal.com]

Actually, the Roomba works pretty well on hard floors and regular carpet. I upgraded to oriental rugs (to go with my oriental cats) and they have too strong a nap and the poor little Roomba has a hard time overcoming that. I don't use mine any more (which is too bad as it would get under all the dressers and desks and scoop up dust that had been there for decades.) If you decide you want one, you can have mine for either shipping (from north of Boston) or I trade for books! :)
Jeanne T

[elbales]

This is my favorite of that class.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

You want the flying monkey attachment, or the self-reproducing feature? Warning: the optional jet pack tends to make holes in windows.

(Yes, I'm a QC fan as well...)

Roomba

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Sharon, We have a Roomba and two long-haired cats. It works fairly well, but it requires a LOT of cleaning thanks to too much cat hair. The cleaning process is pretty good, but if you recall Bob Heinlein's "Hired Girl" with a sophisticated search pattern built in, this ain't it. It has a tendency to clean one spot twelve times and others just once. On the other hand, you don't have to push the silly thing, which is worth most of the other aggro. Cheers, Jack Barnes

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

We have a Roomba and it's awesome. With two shedding cats and hardwood floors, it does take a fair bit of cleaning, but if you figure out early how to do it (rather than waiting for something to break) it really only takes about 4-5 minutes to clean. Run it every day, clean it every two or so, and you should be fine. Ours also came with two kiosks that serve as blockades to keep the robot out of whatever rooms we want to keep it away from.

I have no experience with the carpet-cleaning versions, but I hear that they're just as good.

Summary: strongly recommended.

[victorthecook.livejournal.com]

If you think of the Roomba as a robotic floor sweeper, you'll have a pretty good idea of how it functions. Hard-surface floors it does very well, though you have to keep things off the floor and cords sorted out/tied up/out of the way. The main advantage for me is that I don't have to be in the room while the dust is being raised. They do get a bit noisy -- I tend to set one up just before leaving the house. Does not do well with carpet or rug tassels.

Roomba

[(Anonymous)]

If you were really interested in a Roomba, today's featured special is one:

www.woot.com

This website is a one day, one deal type and very often it sells out quickly.

Susan Cole
Orlando, FL

A Roomba-Companion

[sfminou.livejournal.com]

Check out woot.com on 5/20/2010! Today's special deal is a Roomba -- but if $100 shoes for the lady of the house are a no-go, want to bet if Hexapuma gets his roving companion?
(If you've never "wooted" on this site, it's one a day specials, once upon a time just geeky tech stuff, shipped for $5 and then gone "forever" at midnight central time.)
Kathy

[sfminou.livejournal.com]

Hah! Teach me to read all the comments before posting. Sorry, Susan.
Kathy

Timing

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Kathy,

I think we posted at exactly the same moment, so we must have been typing about the same time.

Susan
Orlando, FL