The Other Gratuitous New Toy

After listening to jwer, my landlord, and most recently, my father-in-law, we decided to fork out for a Dyson DC14 Animal. We got the uber-swanky version with the quick-change telescoping handle.

While I cringe at the thought of paying $550 for a vacuum cleaner, I gotta admit the Dyson is the most über-badass vacuum cleaner I've ever used. I think back to the vaguely crappy Sears canister vacuum cleaner my parents had during the 1980s, one that was pretty close to the one that my father-in-law had until recently...

But for $550, it delivers on its promise of policing stuff up (particularly given our dog, a German Shepherd-Boxer hybrid who sheds with reckless abandon but not so much that you actually notice it in progress). I scoffed at its looks (the Dyson vacuum cleaners have a serious look of the 1970s-science fiction movie. I've refrained from calling it the Logan's Run vacuum cleaner. If it came with 1970s-era Jenny Agutter, maybe I'd reconsider...