Meet Rosie

I have always wanted a robot and now I have one.  Meet Rosie.  Extra points if you get the childhood reference.

For the last month I have been considering getting a roomba.  I have wanted one almost since they've become a thing.  Vacuuming is not my favorite thing and owning a robot is my favorite thing.

I've had it in my Amazon cart twice but never could bring myself to push the Buy Now button.  I've done some price comparisons, I've looked at reviews, I've considered if it was worth paying the extra for the robot that does both kinds of floors.  Still, I hesitated.

Kevin bought one frivolous small thing with the stimulus money but I hadn't yet.  Originally I was going to get a fire pit for the deck then Kevin rightfully wondered how much we would actually use it. Sigh. Captain Buzzkill. 

But it made me think of what I really would use.  Recently, I have really resented vacuuming.  For no reason, really.  Then my m-i-l bought a Shark cordless vacuum last weekend (well, I did, for her) and it lit a spark. 

This morning Kevin had to go to work so I was left to my own devices on a Saturday.  Saturday when I do chores.  After a week of watching the HGTV channel.  And commercials for a certain robot.

I did another shopping search and BEHOLD: bestbuy had it on sale and "Only 1 Left at your store".  It was meant to be, obviously. The Universe has spoken.  It was the dual floor one for the price of the carpet floor only one.  And the angels sang.

I clicked Buy and five minutes later, Kevin phoned to say he was on his way home. An hour early. 

This is where I had to explain that I bought a robot and well, kind of needed him to pick up said robot.  Unfortunately, the email said it would be ready in one hour and Kevin was off early.  I thought that I would just go into town later to pick it up but then another email arrived to tell me it was ready.  A pandemic miracle.

The store has curbside pickup and Kevin says he's never shopping any other way than that ever again. 

Set up was super easy.  The most difficult part was waiting for it to complete her initial charge. THREE HOURS.  I am an Immediate Gratification Person. THREE HOURS!!

Finally she was ready so I went through the set up, connecting her to the wifi and naming her.  Of course she was named Rosie.  What other name could I possibly choose? 

Okay, this is where I will admit that I startled and verbally objected when she took off from her base.  It's just a little unnatural to have a robot running around the house.  Once recovered, I snapchatted my best friends, as one does when you've purchased a robot.

Kevin came in from the shop because color him skeptical.  After watching her learn her way around the living room, he admitted "Okay, that is pretty cool. Creepy, but cool."

It's been about 45 minutes and she has completed the master bedroom and bath, the common folk bath, most of my office, half of the living room and some of the hallway.  She has alerted me twice that she is stuck and needs my assistance.

(The video is a text I sent Kevin when she first started)

She's teaching herself where everything is right now so it feels hit and miss.  I believe she will be more efficient each time she works. Because right now, my OCD is yelling a little bit in my head. "Finish the room before leaving it."  BUT, YES, AND: she has vacuumed under the bed so that right there is Pure Magic.

 Also, I have to remember to lift up the curtains, and shoes, and Lucy's toys.  Something that I don't think about but do when I am the one who is vacuuming.  Seems a reasonable request.  And I just realized that I can close the doors to the rooms when she is done to prevent her from getting distracted.  I love that Rosie has the same attention span that I do right now.

It's disconcerting to hear her hum along and bounce off of things in the other room.  I went into the master bathroom for a minute then returned to the living room, where Rosie had previously been working; only to discover that she had moved into the common folk bath, down the hallway.  

So, yeah. It makes little sense that now I'm home 24/7/365 that I would buy a robot but here we are.  I think once I get over the feeling that she will overthrow the household while we sleep, I'm going to be super happy not having to vacuum.

But...here's the one thing:  Lucy has been outside this whole time. Lucy does not enjoy things that move independently.  Setting Rosie to work while we are not home is a recipe for the complete demolishing of our house. So until they reach an accord, Rosie will only work while I am home.