Monthly Archives: September 2008

Ragdoll Rest & Relaxation

White ragdoll cat sitting inside a paper bag, happily restingI’m not sure if it is unique to our ragdoll Princess or all ragdoll cats, however our one in particular will rest and or sleep in very strange places.

One specific fetish that Princess has revolves around sitting on or in a bag, of any description. Claire and I could be in any room in the house, where there are ample places for kitty to sit but if we put a bag down (plastic, paper, luggage, ..) – she will without a shadow of a doubt choose to sit on or in it instead, regardless of how comfortable it may or may not be.

Expect more super cute kitty photos to follow.

Pink Meet Orange

Skin tone comparison of Hugo Lattimore versus Alistair Lattimore when Hugo was 16 days of ageBefore Hugo was born, Claire and I joked about what skin colour or skin tone our baby was going to have.

After much thought and discussion, we agreed that the most likely outcome was orange. At this point in time, you’re probably scratching your heads about orange – it’s quite simple really; I have a pink skin tone and Claire has a yellow tone. If you mix pink and yellow together, you get orange!

As it turns out, we weren’t too far from the truth – though orange wasn’t quite the right descriptor. What I am happy about is that he didn’t inherit my skin tone, as anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that the sun and I do not get along at all.

Dyson Vacuum Cleaner Review

We purchased a Dyson Stowaway vacuum cleaner recently and I was pretty excited to see what it could do. I can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that Dyson vacuum cleaners suck, in the best possible way!

I started out in our living area and attached the hard floor surface head and set to work vacuuming our tiles. I was immediately shocked by the fact that it has so much suction, you have to actually work to push it around even over the hard tiles – something that I’d never felt before in a vacuum cleaner. The next thing that I noticed was that the head had a very even suction, pulling in dirt right out to the edge of the head and even outside it by approximately 2cm.

After feeling just how much suction it had on the tiles, I couldn’t wait to see what it’d do with the turbine head on the carpet. After sorting the tiles out, turbine head attached and into the carpet we go – wow! It sucks against the carpet so hard that it leaves marks in it and we have a short pile carpet. You really need to work quite hard to push it around on the carpet, however the rotating bristles within the head and great suction was just tearing the dirt and kitty fur out.

I wasn’t sure if the 9Kg weight of the main unit was going to be a lot or a little, however in practice you don’t even notice it. I’m not sure if it is our particular Dyson or all of them, however they come with a particularly long nose on them – allowing you to cover a significant area without having to move the main unit. This greater range of movement may have been on the of contributing factors as to why I didn’t notice the weight of the vacuum cleaner.

While the Dyson isn’t going to win the silence award compared to some of the other bagged vacuum cleaners, it is still reasonably quiet. While Claire was vacuuming the carpet in our living room, I walked into the same room with Hugo asleep in my arms and he didn’t stir. I don’t think he’d stay asleep if you took the unit into a bedroom, however in a larger space the noise dissipated quickly.

They say first impressions last and so far, the Dyson vacuum cleaner certainly left a good impression. Only time will tell how well it is built and wears, however after seeing a video of James Dyson literally dropping and throwing around various Dyson vacuums to prove a point – I don’t expect we’ll have any problems on that front.

Dyson Stowaway Vacuum Cleaner

This morning we ventured down to our local Harvey Norman and investigate what vacuum cleaners were on the market. We were helped by a young bloke named Phil who was very helpful and knowledgeable about all things vacuum cleaner related. I was impressed with their range of vacuums that Harvey Norman had actually, everything from lightweight upright vacuums that might be useful in a showroom, traditional style vacuum cleaners, various quality bagless vacuum cleaners and right the way down to the heavy duty gear.

Our current vacuum was a low to middle of the range one, that we happened to pick up on a bargain a few years ago. It has served us well, however if we had of paid the retail price for it – I’d have been disappointed by its performance and build quality. As such, I wasn’t all that inclined to go with another low/middle of the range vacuum unless someone could convince me it was really worth it. That left us with the middle to top of the range cleaners and they came in bagged and bagless versions. We opted for another bagless vacuum cleaner as Claire and I feel they are a little easier to deal with. Of the plethora of bagless vacuum cleaners they had on offer, we ended up choosing the Dyson Stowaway vacuum cleaner.

The Dyson vacuum cleaner we purchased falls into the barrel category, so you pull it along with you (as opposed to push like an upright) and it looks like a barrel with wheels. The Dyson has quite a few good qualities which we liked:

  • surprisingly quiet (at least half the noise of our current one)
  • has a HEPA filter, which is great if you have allergies (we don’t but a nice to have)
  • weighs about 9Kg, which isn’t light but isn’t going to do your back in either
  • telescopic handle to help it store easily
  • turbine head to get that extra bit of dirt out of your carpets
  • 2 year warranty, which we extended to 6 years

I’m strangely excited to vacuum the house with it this afternoon to see what it can do.