Could another household happiness besides a washer & dryer be a Roomba? We’ve known about these robotic devices ever since seeing them in action at Casa Bonita in Port Royal, Roatan. They seemed perfectly suited to maintaining that humongous, all-tile-floored house, but we never ever considered one for our condo with wood and tile floors with a large variety of throw rugs, many of which have fringe.

We recently visited Erica in Portland who acquired the pet version of the Roomba when it was featured as a sale item at COSTCO. Her family has three cats and it seems perfect for their household, and we were amazed to see it navigate carpets, tile floors and various rugs in the house. When this Scotch gadget fanatic learned the discounted price he had to have one, and so we now do.

The first time we used it, we couldn’t stop watching it roam aimlessly thru the condo and, wonder of all wonders, find it’s way back to the docking station when it gets tired and needs recharging. We haven’t had that much laughing entertainment since the last time McKenney visited the condo. Not to imply he aimlessly wanders the condo, just the laughing part.

What’s most amazing is that the dirt drawer on the Roomba is filled every time we run it, and we’ve probably run it everyday since we opened the box. Where do all those dust bunnies come from?

We have decided not to let it prowl the premises while we’re traveling — no one around to empty the dreck out of the dust bin. So now we’ll have this un-named pet to greet us when we return.

I’ve looked for a remote App to drive the Roomba to really qualify for true geekhood, but the current app required more add-ons than I want to contemplate before our winter sojourn.