Earlier this year we (finally) got a diagnosis for Roisin that she was on the Autistic Spectrum. We’d suspected for some years that she has Aspergers Syndrome or Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD); but it wasn’t until her assessment last October, and subsequent discussions, that we got this diagnosis.
What this means is that it’s opened a number of doors to services that were previously not available. These are provided by the excellent ASD team at Co-Action. As well as the services there’s a parents support group and it’s great to be able to get together with people to share experiences and support each other.
To help the parents group I’ve set up a web site Autism West Cork. The site doesn’t have much in the way of content yet; but there is a forum for parents of children under Co-Action’s care. I hope you’ll take a look at the site and let me know if there’s anything you think should be on it.
This is not an easy post to write.
For the last 14 months I’ve been running my own business, Computer Troubleshooters – West Cork. Unfortunately, despite all my best efforts, this simply isn’t paying the bills, let alone putting food on the table. So I’ve decided to wind the company up and look for a fulltime position again.
For me this is a bit like trying to change gear in the middle of taking a sharp corner rather too fast. Life is lurching rapidly towards the curb whilst I’m struggling to keep it under control, not really sure in which direction I’m headed.
One thing I’m hoping is that this post will allow me to transition out of Computer Troubleshooters mode and back into “prospective employee” mode.
At least I should have more time for posting to this blog 
PS. The business is for sale if you’re interested. It’s a franchise business and you’d get it at a fraction of the cost of setting up from scratch. Drop me a line if you’re interested.
There’s an age old adage that you’re probably familiar with:
Measure twice – cut once.
Well for me it goes more like:
Measure twice – cut three or four times, measure it again and cut a couple times more.
I don’t know what it is; but I just can’t seem to get the measurements right. Take this afternoon for example. All I had to do was put two hooks on the back of the bathroom door to hang a bathroom “tidy” on.
Two hooks, same height up the door. Easy!
So I put the two hooks up, hung the tidy on it, stood back; goddammit it’s crooked. Had reposition one on the hooks to get it level.
Me and DIY don’t mix.
Up until now we’ve used a Miele S718 vacuum cleaner to quite good effect; but since we got a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel last year it was obvious that the Miele was struggling to pick up the pet hair off the carpet.
By the way these dogs are described as “moderate shedders” of hair. I’d hate to see one that sheds a lot!
So we decided to replace it with a Dyson DC23 “Animal”. The vacuum is a compact format, as opposed to an upright, and comes with a good selection of tools and accessories including the all important turbo head for removing pet hairs. The vacuum has reasonably well packaged and took only a few minutes to assemble, though I struggled at one point to figure out just how the hose fitted around the cleaner body.
Time for a try out. There’s a reasonable length of electric cable; but I did think it could have been a few yards longer to reduce the need to keep moving sockets. I had hovered the sitting room only the afternoon before and the dog hadn’t been in there so I was completely amazed by the amount of hair that the vacuum picked up. Hopefully you can see this in the image.
So that’s a result! If I had any criticisms on this cleaner it’s in the very plastic construction of some of the parts. Only time will tell if these stand the rigors of domestic life.
As well as the large turbo head you also get:
- Small turbo head for tight spaces (good for the stairs)
- Wide brush head for hard floors
- Small round brush head
- Small narrow head for maximum suction
- Small flat head for upholstery
The large turbo head and the three small heads all fit neatly onto the body of the cleaner for easy transport from one room to another.
Here are images of the vacuum Cylinder and the turbo heads:
Rated 4/5 on Apr 11 2009
Life, Reviews, Tools
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animals, cavalier king charles spaniel, cleaner, dirt, dog, Dyson, hair, miele s718, pet hair, Review, suction, turbo heads, vacuum, vacuum cleaner
Meanwhile, on the other side of the fence, Brian Cowen was heard to say that the employment situation would “disimprove” during the summer.
What’s the matter Brian, does the word “worsen” get stuck in the gullet or are you hoping we’re all too daft to know what a disimprovement is?
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