On Friday it was high jinks with me and my trusty, 1500-watt vacuum cleaner. I’m not quite sure whether the 1500 signifies the amount of electricity it’s using up, or whether it’s a measure of its suction power, but being a man I couldn’t possibly go for the 1300 or, heaven forbid, 1000 watt option. It has served me well, despite its run-in with a hot iron. But then, I don’t like to use it that often! It has special switches that allow me to vary the suction, from full down to twenty percent with four stops along the way. Now, the purpose of this switch has always baffled me. Is there any conceivable situation when you want less than full force? Like, say, when you’re picking up the baby? Or for those intimate moments when a gentle loving touch is the ticket? (I’m no expert, never, ever having tried this myself, but anecdotal evidence tells me there must be quite a few members of the ‘Love Thy Dyson Society’. It’s like women with their electric toothbrushes, I’m told). As it is, I need all the power I can get because it has to suck through a dustbag that’s bursting full. It’s not that I’m too stingy to buy new ones, I just get attached to them over time.