Kathy and I were walking our furry dogs when she told me, “The vacuum cleaner is not sucking. I think it is broken.” She told me she had tried to see if it was clogged by pushing a coat hanger through the intake. Annoying, given it is only a few years old.

When I got home, I took it down to the workshop and started inspecting. Belt was fine. Motor sounded ok. Suction was very weak. Between the intake and the bag is a tube that you can disconnect from the bottom and add hand attachments (clue: for example an attachment for sweeping wood floors.) I had to unscrew the top to inspect the hose. It was too long to look through, so I tried blowing through it. Blockage. I then used a drain snake to push and push. Pop. Out came a big furry clog. Like Kelly did with her owl pellets, Claire and I dissected the fur fewmet and found a strip of film negatives in the middle. That’s how the clog started. So that’s another advantage to digital cameras. No negatives to block your vacuum cleaner.

Good as new.