Roomba review

For Christmas last year, I was given a Roomba iRobot 550 vacuum cleaner.  Mary Ann, as I have come to call her, is my new BFF.  She was given the name Mary Ann in reference to the maid whom the white rabbit screams for in the pages of "The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland".  MARY ANN!! OH, MARY ANN... you get the idea.

Mary Ann

I'm well aware that she's a luxury.   But if you think about it, so was the automatic dishwasher at one point in our country's history.  Now, you rarely see a home without one.  So this too, Mary Ann has become to me; indispensable.

With the push of a button she gingerly backs up out of her nesting spot to survey the work area.  She cheerfully dings her little starting song and sets off in her first direction.  Criss-crossing through the room, Mary Ann's only hesitation is when she comes in contact with the laser-beaming road block I've set up in advance.  Mary Ann is not only efficient... she's smart too.  Once she has touched the "no-no" light she makes note to cross it after she's duly done her duty in the currently occupied room.  After 25 minutes in one room, she is given programmed permission to cross the laser into the next room.  Around chairs, under sofas, teasing the cat with her spinning brush, Mary Ann is focused.  She's also mesmerizing.  I've found myself just standing watching to see if she's really going to come back and get that one spot she missed.... wait for it, wait for it... YES! SHE GOT IT.  She transitions from hardwood, to linoleum and back to carpet with ease.. which is good, because I have all three surfaces!   This is starting to sound like a commercial for the iRobot!

The No-No light

Mary Ann can be programmed to run at any time, at any schedule, but so far I have opted to simply push her buttons when I want a reaction... ironically, this is something I'm particularly good at.

But lately, Mary Ann has been sluggish.  She's singing her finished song after only 9 minutes of work.  She's not responding to her brush cleanings and can't even muster up enough energy to find her way back to her nesting spot.  I'm thinking she'll be hitting me up for a raise soon... or maybe she just needs a new battery.  Research I've read says she'll need a new one within a year.  Perhaps her new battery can be seen as a vacation, just the thing she needs to get back to work.  I suppose I can understand that. :)