Meet Gertrude

One day at yoga the subject of dog hair and vacuuming came up.  Nancy told us about her robot, a Roomba vacuuming robot they had purchased at Costco.  I had always been skeptical of these robots I had seen in stores and advertised on the internet but Nancy assured us it worked and worked well.   Doing some more research on Amazon.com, I found a majority of the reviews are very positive. 

The robot has a docking station and two sensors which can be placed at different locations forcing the robot to stay in one room or to stay away from Emmi’s dog/water dishes.  She senses stairs and will not go/fall down the stairs—I watched the robot today when she got near our basement stairs.  When Gertrude is finished vacuuming the living/dining/kitchen area, she heads back to her docking station to be recharged.  If I have her vacuuming only in the bedroom she stops when the room is vacuumed and tells me to return her to her docking station.  She goes up onto rugs, over electrical cords, under the beds—anywhere she can get—the only place she has gotten caught was under our coffee table—she stops and calls for help!

It is really positively amazing how much the robot picks up—the device has a small collection tub and a filter, both have to be cleaned after every use.  I am loving Gertrude—she vacuumed today while I dusted the furniture—I have a helper!  When I registered the robot on the Roomba website I was asked what I would like to name my robot—thus, Gertrude. 

Michael spent the day puttering—he built another extended base for the longarm--I am anxious to try it out!  Tonight we were treated by Jill and Terry to dinner at the Rib and Chop House in Livingston—a delightful evening with great friends! 

Oh, almost forgot—Emmi hates Gertrude and finds another place to be while she is vacuuming!