Flamethrower!

I'm sure many of you got a chuckle out of reading our Christmas family newsletter (WHAT? you didn't read the newsletter? Too bad if you didn't, it was written by Malorie this year, it was short and amusing!). I'll refer specifically to the line that read, "Kirt and Lorrie are now half a century old. They celebrated their golden birthday by taking a trip for McCall and purchasing a vacuum."

Normally, that wouldn't be a newsworthy item...NORMALLY! But this wasn't a normal situation. Here what happened. On November 8, I was vacuuming the downstairs, getting it ready for the 30 people we were having over for a little social. We have a central vac, and for years, the power in the powerhead just cuts out, but then starts right back up again, because the little plug in thingy isn't QUITE making the connection. On this particular day, right as I was finishing, a ONE FOOT FLAME shot out, scaring me and causing the damage you see in the above pictures. I had the presence of mind NOT to drop the powerhead on the carpet, although I will admit that I blew on it twice.

So, on our way to McCall, we stopped to see if this one could be repaired. Our friends at Coltrin Central Vac got quite the kick out of seeing it, and talked us into buying a new one, instead, which we did, happily. That's the story.