By Laura Drake
About ten years ago, I had back surgery. After I healed, I went back to Domestic Goddess duties, but found I couldn’t vacuum anymore.
Something about the pushing and pulling killed my back. So I informed Alpha Dog (did I mention he’s also Texan?) that this duty would have to fall to him.
He didn’t disagree, but less than a week later, we had a delivery from the UPS guy. A top-of-the-line robotic vacuum. Alpha Dog demonstrated it like a kid with the hottest new Christmas toy. I dubbed her, “Rosie,” after the robot in The Jetsons (Yeah, I’m old.)
I was lying in bed this week, laid up by foot surgery, listening to Rosie do her thing. We could all learn some important things about writing from her!
Top 3 Lessons I Learned from My Robotic Vacuum:
1. Make a Plan.
Rosie actually has a computer chip that allows her to map out the room as she goes. Every time, around, she gets smarter, and more efficient, adjusting the plan for the next time.
We all have a writing process, even if you’re on your first book, and still discovering what it is. Don’t be afraid to adjust the plan, or change it if you find a better way. Keep your eyes open. Even if this is your thirty-second book, try new things. You may find one little tip that will help with the thirty-third.
2. Mistakes aren’t failure; they’re an opportunity to learn.
When Rosie bumps into a corner, or some piece of furniture that wasn’t there last time, she stops, backs up, turns a few degrees and tries again. If she hits it again, she turns a bit more. Eventually she gets out of the corner, or around the obstruction, and that area is clean. She’s done her job.
She doesn’t sulk, she doesn’t whine, she doesn’t give up. She keeps trying until she succeeds.
3. Don’t stop til the job is done, or your dust bin is full.
When she finishes vacuuming, she turns off her sucking mechanism (I don’t know, what do you call it?) sings a chirpy 7-note song, and returns to her station to recharge. I love that little song. It sounds like how I feel when I type “The End.”
To succeed, first you have to finish.
I learned all that from a dumb little machine and the floors are clean, too!
Should I chalk this up to really good pain meds, or have you also had epiphanies while (passively) cleaning? Have you ever learned anything from an appliance?
Laura
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I think this is one of the best blog posts I've read this week! Love the analogy. 🙂
I like this post, and now I want a "Rosie" of my own. Not to help with good blog posts but because I'm just tired of vacuuming.
Oh yeah, Liz, you gotta get you one of them!
Laura, my first reaction is ... what's with WITS and feet? Second ... if Alpha man had not had to take over the chore, do you think he would have bought you Rosie?
I think I liked Debra Winger's character in Terms of Endearment when she tells her mother that the spin cycle on the washer is about the only thrill she has gotten lately 🙂 After that, I began to look at the old washer as more than just a gizmo to clean clothes !!
Heck, Florence, if a man somewhere hadn't had to vacuum, the darned thing wouldn't have been invented to begin with, dontcha think?
Florence, we just all run so hard through life, our feet get thrashed! (OK, that's a complete fabrication - I have no idea what the foot thing is...only that Orly and I have so far avoided it. 🙂 )
I suspect this wouldn't be the first time good pain meds have made their way into good writing.
As artists, we tend to stay far away from anything mechanical. "Mechanical." It's even a bad word in art.
Except, as you point out, when it's not. Habit. Persistence. Machines have it all over humans in those areas.
I take my lessons where I can get 'em.
You and me both, Joel. I have some leftover pain meds! I'm just saying...
Oh, Laura!! Great post. I'm going to work myself out of this corner and keep on it. 🙂
Wonderful combination of wit, wisdom and womanhood. Thanks for a good chuckle. FYI, my Little Blonde had a robotic vaccuum
Did YOU buy it for her, Bob?
Actually a Christmas gift from our children. But I kept the bag changed and kept it charged. We used to watch it and laugh as it was running. Doesn't take much to amuse old folks.
The cat finally met something it couldn't dominate.
Yeah, my cat doesn't trust Rosie. She watches from her perch.
Laura, I had to stop and read your post, knowing you'd have pearls of wisdom for me. I love this way of viewing an every day object from a unique perspective, one that yields much deeper and meaningful insights. Thanks for a great start to my day.
I don't know Betty, it may have been the drugs...Like the Who say, "Durgs will take you where minds don't usually go!"
This post really made me smile and think. Thanks! Come to think of it, I learned a very important lesson from an appliance: my toaster. If it starts smoking, unplug it. When I feel stressed and like I'm about to explode, I need to back off or, as they say, "unplug." 🙂
Oh, love it! Another appliance analogy! I shudder though, when Jenny of the "Undie Chronicles" wakes up...we could drift into appliances of a whole different kind!
Hey now! Just because we find Undies to be HILARIOUS doesn't mean I run posts about sketchy appliances.
Although there was a lot of talk on More Cowbell one day about "BOBs"... (Battery-operated boyfriends) But that was in the comments. We run a *family* blog!
I used a Roomba for a long time, until its demise. I loved it when it sang its ta-rat-ta-dat-ta-ta-Charge! song. Great post!
Carol, how do you live without that little song? I love my Rosie.
I've already told Hubby we need to get a robotic vacuum! I'm green with envy.
Had to laugh, Laura. Not at the analogy which is right on. 🙂 Recently hubby suggested that he might buy a Rosie because I'm Houston for 3 mo.s at a time taking care of our son. As you can imagine the dust bunnies even multiply on the carpet. He'd NEVER suggest a Rosie under normal circumstances. I told him to forget the auto vac and practice some aerobics by pushing the vacuum once a week. 🙂
AND you'd save on the gym membership! Win-win! Except your hubby is as old-school as Alpha-Dog. Aint happenin.'
🙂
Funny post! I think I need one of those robotic vacuums! I've heard such great things about them.
The post, Laura, and the comments today are hilarious. And you made great connections to writing. I did have a moment of sadness when you described Rosie getting stuck in a corner. Made me think of our old puppy. Scout, a Jack Russell, forgets where she is, and unlike Rosie, can't maneuver her way out. When I'm here and see her, I tap her gently on the rear. She glances up as if to say, "Oh, thanks." Brain Pills are helping. She doesn't get stuck as much as she used to.
Hey, Marsha, we'll all end up, one day, bumping into corners. Hopefully we'll have someone who loves us, tapping us on the butt. You're a good mom!
Reblogged this on Ella Quinn ~ Author and commented:
This is a fun post.
Thank you!
I love this post. I remember Rosie as well, and leave it to a man to get the new household toy when he's the one who has to do the job.
Yeah, Ella, I'm trying to think of an excuse why I can't do laundry...
There you go. I'm sure you can come up with something. My excuse is that I forgot.
The only time I do laundry is when I'm alone. When Hubby is here, my memory gets really bad.
Love it when everyday life can be translate into writing. Fun blog post!
I want a robot.
Liza, I want a robot too!!
And I'm going to tweet about this
Thanks, Liza!
I love this blog post...and not just because I'm old enough to get the Rosie reference! 😉
I especially agree with #2 (something I try to drill into my kids' heads each and every day).
Personally, of the three lessons, #1 is my weak area. I'm not sure my writing 'process/plan' is improving or simply ever-changing...LOL. But, I'm still having fun, so that counts for something, right?
Jamie, are you kidding? That is EVERYTHING!!! If you don't have fun doing it, how could you keep going until you made your goal! If this isn't fun, STOP - and find something you like better! Life is too short...
LOL, Laura! I love this post -- funny and, yet, so true ;).
You've also made me want to get one of these vacuuming things...
Now, if only there were something like it that dusted...and did laundry!!
Marilyn, I agree! I don't mind laundry - I'm still tickled that the washer and dryer are in the garage, and I don't have to put quarters in them!
Dusting is my nemisis. Seems so hopeless. I asked Alpha dog for a robotic duster, but he said until they have a flying robot, I'm out of luck. Dang it.
I'm grinning because my hubby bought me a robot vacuum for Christmas last year. I named mine Romeo. At first I wasn't to terribly thrilled--what did I need with a robot vacuum?--but now I love him!
Romeo - I love that! Never ocurred to me to name it a man's name. I've never seen a man vacuum! No offense to any men - remember, I'm married to Alpha Dog.
Love your sense of humor, Laura. And the common tendency to give human emotions to robots. Remember CP3O, anyone? No too long ago, I read a science article in the LA Times that claimed computers will be smarter than us in a very short while. So in the future, we may be doing the vacuuming, while our robots are busy writing the romances. But their stories might be a little too "mechanical," as one of your readers suggested.
Perish the thought, Kathy! I wouldn't mind the writing help, but I'm NOT vacuuming again!