Meet "Ruby" the Roomba!

This is 'Ruby,' our new staff member!

She's short, round and terribly functional: like me, save the functional part.

Ruby, is a Roomba Vacuum Robot-Pet Series 562. She's fairly quiet, roams the house on command (7-day programming) and cleans up all the crud our pets drag in, along will all the other little goodies that end up on the floor and carpet. She doesn't care whether the floor is bare, tiled, or well carpeted... she crawls all over and cleans it! When she's done, she heads home to her docking station to recharge; to return to her duties first thing in the morning... 8:00 a.m., to be exact.

Ruby comes with an extra-large bin to collect the extra goodies found on the carpet that are a part of having pets; especially a cat who is shedding due to the arrival of spring. As I said, she is programmable for all 7 days of the week. At the moment I have her scheduled to get to work promptly at 8:00 a.m. She comes with little tools to clean hair and crud out of her brushes... and she does collect crud... lots of crud! Unlike a vacuum cleaner that uses filter bags and you can't really see what's been collected, Ruby has a nice little drawer-type bin and you can see exactly what she's been doing for the past 1 to 2 hours.

I still need a regular vacuum to take care of the stairs and the few places she cannot get to. The rest of the house is Ruby's domain and she takes care of it well. Take a look at some of the videos that are posted on YouTube and you'll see her in action. To appreciate what she does each day... get a Roomba... you won't be sorry.

I didn't vacuum every day... I hate housework... but Ruby... Ruby vacuums every single day. Ruby doesn't get tired or have mood swings or just doesn't feel like vacuuming... she just does it. It's all she does, save entertaining me and the pets.

The only thing bad about getting Ruby, is that I didn't get her sooner. Maintenance is a snap. Each day when she is done, I pull the dirt bin and empty it. Depending on the amount of hair that she picks up, she needs to have her brushes removed and the hair pulled out that gets wrapped around her rollers. I also give her a nice going over with a dry cloth to make sure her sensors are clear, and she can "see" the dirt, as well as recognize when she's near the stairs. If those sensors get covered with dirt and dust, she'll take a high dive down the stairs. I assure you, that is very bad. Think how 'Rosie' on the Jetsens' would have felt taking such a tumble!

If you don't want to vacuum anymore, or just want a fairly decent respite... get a Rooma!