Everything Everywhere All At Once

No I have not seen the film with this odd title, described as a phenomenally deranged sci-fi epic that catapults a heartwarming family story to cult status thanks to its cutting edge visual imagery and unexpected narrative quirks. But the phrase does describe the domestic chaos which seems to be besetting me at the minute...

First, my beloved Sebo vacuum cleaner, aged 27, stopped working in February. Fortunately there was a Panasonic cleaner here before we retired, and I had kept that. I dug it out and have been using that. It does the job, but not as efficiently. The Sebo had already been repaired once. Bob fixed it, but the motor smells, and it is no longer up to the job. I will learn to love the Panasonic.

Next, I switched on my Rowenta steam iron, last week, and all the lights went out and the TV went off! I let it cool down, tried again later, and the same thing happened. I had a smaller pre-retirement Bosch iron here. That came out and has been 'pressed into service' Yesterday Bob found the right hex keys for unscrewing the Rowenta. Verdict: that too is unfixable.  Rowenta have some sort of policy that you can buy spare parts for up to 15 years. I have had my iron just over 16 years! [So I cannot complain, it has given me good service] I have fewer items to iron now we are retired anyway.

Finally my Vax Steam Cleaner bit the dust yesterday. All that rain meant a fair bit of mud had come in, despite our best efforts at wiping feet. I decided to steam clean all the hard floors [that's everywhere except the study and the spare bedroom] But the design is faulty, in that however careful you are, this thing has a tendency to fall over if left unattended. And when the plastic handle hits the ground, it smashes. We realised we were onto our fourth layer of gaffer tape, and the thing could only be operated with both arms wrapped round the handle, top [switch] and bottom [steering] and cleaning the floor was altogether very complicated. I had the steam cleaner before I got the Rowenta - so again, a rather old piece of kit, and the plastic was very brittle.

I looked at the possibility of replacing it. But I don't want to shell out £80. Liz and Steph suggested I was overthinking, and I ought to use a regular mop and bucket. So I shall use the Vileda Mop that [you've guessed it] I used at Cornerstones pre-retirement. 

I am very fortunate to have replacements for each of these three items to hand, even if they aren't quite as good as the originals. 

But it really does feel as if everything, everywhere, all at once, is falling to bits.