Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day

My favorite part:

Walk up to random people and say “WHAT YEAR IS THIS?” and when they tell you, get quiet and then say “Then there’s still time!” and run off.

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Do you want to impress your wife/husband/significant other? Fix the vacuum. I’ve fixed my five year old vacuum a few times over the years and every time, my wife looks at me with that “my hero” look. It’s great. Maybe my real motivation was when she said, “let’s go to Target to buy a new vacuum.” Heck no, I’ll fix it!
This entry is called “How to fix your vacuum,” so I’d better get to the meat of the issue. I’m not going to cover electrical stuff, just simple stuff. First unplug your vacuum. Get out your screwdrivers.
So what’s the problem? The only real symptom is that the damn thing stops cleaning. If the motor won’t turn on, forget it, that’s beyond what I’m going to get into, take it to a repair shop. Usually my problem has been blockage. Something gets stuck somewhere in the vacuum that prevents it from pulling up any more dirt. My main troubleshooting technique is to follow the dirt. What is the path of dirt in your vacuum? Examine your vacuum, follow the tubes from where the dirt is sucked up all the way to the bag or container. Clean the easy stuff first. Empty and remove the bag or container. Look in the hole that feeds into the bag, is it clogged? Look in the hole next too the floor scrubber brush, clean it out. If there is a roller brush, is it stuck? There might be something stopping it from spinning. Look for string or rubber bands.
If you’ve gotten this far and haven’t found any obvious problems (i.e. globs of dirt or hairballs), next you are probably going to have to start taking this thing apart. Don’t void your warranty. Take all safety precautions. Look along the dirt path as before. What looks easy to take apart? There should be some screws that hold down parts of the tubes that come apart. As you take it apart, check each section for debris. Remember where each piece goes, and if there are different kinds of screws, where they came from. If it’s getting complex, it might be a good idea to draw a diagram of what you are taking apart. I use a screwdriver or an end of a coat hanger to poke into the tubes to clear debris. Be careful not to break anything. Hopefully you’ve found the debris, a nasty hairball, or a barbie head or something. Good. Put it back together, and if you were careful, there will be no screws left over. Test your work. It works? You are awesome! Proudly tell your wife/husband/S.O., “Honey, I fixed the vacuum, another crisis narrowly averted!”. Bask in the love and admiration.

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mobsters and spies quest
to find mystery lost at sea
not science fiction

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