Friday, June 11, 2010

Robots - Vacuum Cleaners - Exercise - Video

Once upon a time people got their exercise just in the course of everyday living. No one bothered to count the calories it took to muck out the horse stalls or milk the cows. No one worried about whether there was enough exercise to keep fit. No one ran to the gym to work up a sweat. No one had their own home gym.

And fewer people were obese.

Yet we continue to sing praises of robotic this and automated that as if our lives truly depended upon them. For example, the vacuum cleaner. How many people would know now to clean a carpet or a rug, or for that matter even a hardwood floor, without a vacuum cleaner today?

I learned to sweep the rug clean in between major "deep" cleaning sessions when Grandma would hang out the rug on the clothesline and send us kids out to beat the rug with the special beaters or with the broom she gave us. Nobody counted calories then. But we did work up a sweat. Other times we would take turns with her carpet sweeper and that was fun and we moved around a lot. Now that I think of it, we spent a fair amount of rainy day time cleaning at her house!
She kept our little minds and bodies active in every day ways.

I wonder how she would feel about these new robotic vacuum cleaners that you just set up and let them go around the house to clean it while you relax or go shopping or whatever. Me? I think I would be following the robot vacuum to see how it works! Or maybe make a video like the one I saw with the cat cleaning the house!




Grandma never needed a gym membership. I wonder if we would be healthier if we did not have them either. And no, I don't mean we should all run out and get a home gym. I mean ... what if we each became more physically active in the care of our homes and yards? Would we feel better? Would we be more fit?

Hey I am not turning in my vacuum cleaner here. I just wonder if I really need a robotic one. I know some older people who cannot do their cleaning now who could benefit from a robotic vacuum cleaner. Maybe even people with particular physical ailments might benefit from them too. It could provide a bit more independence for a person with a bad back or severe arthritis too.