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FixedJuly 30, 2010 Malvina Forester was filthy inside and out, so earlier this week I set about car clearing, inside first. I plugged my trusty Miele vacuum cleaner into an outside electric socket. It roared to life -- then died. I don't use "trusty" lightly, so my first thought was that I'd blown a circuit. Nope: everything in the fuse box -- yeah, I know there are no fuses in sight, but you know what I mean -- was in working order. So were the outside and hall lights. I plugged the vac into one of the bathroom sockets. It didn't work there either, but the motor did wheeze a bit when I yanked on the cord. Weird. Service options on Martha's Vineyard are, ahem, somewhat limited, so I called Cape Cod Vacuum Mart in Orleans, from which I purchased the Miele eight or nine years ago and from whom I order bags, filters, and the rare replacement part. I described the problem, the repair guy understood immediately, and by 3 p.m. my Miele was being boxed at the UPS Store for shipment to Orleans. Morgana V was already at M.V. Tech to have her connectivity restored, leaving a gap on my (physical) desktop where her mini-tower usually stands. Two indispensable assistants in sick bay at the same time? I confess, I was concerned. Deep in my heart I believe that once repairs are required, an entity's days are limited -- in my heart this applies to people as well as machines. Was I about to be in the market for a new vacuum cleaner and a new desktop? In the current calendar year, I've already added a car and a laptop to the household. Malvina in particular made a hash of my feeble attempts at fiscal responsibility, and Hekate pushed my Visa bill into four digits. The real problem was that big purchases no longer seemed exotic or scary. Speedy, streamlined Hekate had me secretly lusting after new desktops -- was it time to go looking for Morgana VI? Was Morgana V mortally ill? Was I hoping that Morgana V was mortally ill? Well, Brian called from M.V. Tech this morning to say that "we're in good shape" and my desktop was ready to come home. I picked her up this afternoon -- turns out the connectivity problem was related to a spyware infestation. After I got home, Cape Cod Vacuum Mart called to get my credit card info; the Miele was working properly again and would be shipped out via UPS this afternoon. Throw in a couple boxes of bags, said I, the big spender. Morgana is now back in harness, which is to say that all her cords and cables are connected and I can once again print, scan, and send e-mail from the same computer. I'm discovering the joys of having two working computers in the house. Hekate can't print, Morgana can't go outside, but between the two of them . . . I've already e-mailed several files from one to the other. True, the dog hair is getting a little deep on the floor, and Malvina's interior is still filthy, but that'll be dealt with soon. To make life even better, the beastly humidity that has made July one long sauna has broken. Turning the oven on no longer seemed like a one-way ticket to hell. I baked some pretty tasty bread today -- it's got chopped onion and walnuts and a tablespoonful of cocoa in it, along with the usual stuff. Not bad.
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