Life on the Outside

We all know the economy is in serious trouble. Unemployment rates statewide and nationally have increased dramatically. Home foreclosures, bankruptcies, bank bailouts, and financial scandals are splashed across news headlines every day. In just my family alone within the last 12 months, my mother (who lives with me), my sister, my 26-year-old niece and I have all been laid-off from our jobs and my sister and niece live across the country.

All of this has meant changes in how we live. We’ve cut out the premium channels on our cable, are clipping coupons from newspapers, eating out less often, and I’ve even cut back on the daily trips to Starbucks for a $4 latte. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have some lessons still to learn.

A few years ago, my mom bought a really nice vacuum cleaner. It’s shiny red, bagless and can convert to removable canister in seconds. It was wonderful. But over the past couple of months, it’s really struggled along. Despite cleaning the filters, emptying the canister or cleaning the roller brush, the power and suction continued to decline until, finally, it died mid-vacuuming a week or so ago.

I’ll admit my first inclination was to throw it in the trash and buy a new one. Vacuums aren’t meant to live forever and it was probably just time, right? But rather than just give up, I thought I would give it one less chance and take at stab at fixing it. My mom wasn’t convinced and told me to just forget it. When she said she would be going to the store later in the day for a new one, I realized I needed to at least try.

I got out the screwdriver, disconnected the hose, removed the roller brush cover, cleaned the roller brush, cleaned the filters and then put it all back together. Although it was working, it still wasn’t working well. Again mom said, just forget it. It’s easier to buy a new one.

But once more into the fray! I took everything apart and started cleaning everything again — which is when I found a rather nasty and substantial clog caught between the opening behind the roller brush and the opening to the hose attachment. As difficult as it was to find, it was more difficult to remove. It took a few attempts, a pair of long, skinny tongs and about another 10 minutes of work to get the clog out and the vacuum back together again and in running order. Now, it runs wonderfully. Picks everything up, suction is great, the roller brush lifts the carpet. It’s almost like new again.

Which made me wonder how often do I just give up on something rather than having to do the work to fix it. By spending about 15 or 20 minutes to give it once last try, I was able to save my mom $200 to $300. I realize I could take this thought to a much bigger level and apply that thought to work, love and relationships but for now I’ll just stick to my spending habits. Maybe the next time I go to throw something out with the idea “it’s just easier to buy a new one” I will think twice about it. That next $200 or $300 isn’t as easy to come by as it once used to be after all.