Disaster hit this morning.

My Spot Lifter broke! I have no idea what happened to it, but it smelled as if the plastic was burning.

It reminded me of a toy that was around when I was a kid called "Vac-U-Form". It was this machine that heated sheets of colored plastic so they softened, then you flipped a lever and molded it over some kind of form. I remember making things like dinosaurs and cars. I also remember that the fumes HAD to have been toxic as they were incredibly strong and pungent.

But I digress.

The fact that the spot lifter was broken was something that I was going to have to remedy immediately. I use that machine almost daily, as the cat gets sick and that’s how I clean up after him.

It’s not the best machine in the world, but it works in a pinch!

Did I have the sales slip? Of course not! I know that I bought it sometime in April, and at Wal-Mart, but that was as specific as I could get. So I found the manual that came with the machine (surprise, surprise!), and called Bissell.

What was I thinking?!?

I got an operator who decided that what I needed to do was find the serial numbers on the machine and read them to her. Made sense. Or it would have if the numbers were legible. They’re embossed in black on a black strip.

I was wishing I knew Braille.

I struggled to read her the numbers, but couldn’t make out a couple of them clearly and this woman was oh-so unhappy with me. I’d give her a set of numbers and she’d tell me I was wrong, or that I had purchased the machine in 1998.

Finally she decided to mail me a form so I could mail the machine to the factory. Oh joy. That would undoubtedly be a three month ordeal!

I decided to see if I had kept the box and then to try my luck at Wal-Mart. Well, lo and behold, the box was in the middle of the heap in the room of horror! It still had the packing stuff in it even.

So off I went to Wal-Mart and they just told me to replace it. Not a question asked!

I was stunned. But very happy.

Of course, being at Wal-Mart meant that I had to shop. I didn’t do too much damage, but ended up with more red, white and blue fabric. I think I really may attempt a quilt. The thing is, though, there’s no rhyme nor reason to the patterns I’ve picked, so I have no idea how I’d put them into a design that might not make me ill.

I think I may need to find some solid fabric, or try to find design ideas for quilt blocks.

Next stop was the Christmas Tree Shop, but there wasn’t anything of interest there. I really haven’t’ been having any luck there recently. Most of the stuff they had was different lighthouse designs. I have no interest in that. My brother, however, would have a field day. He’s been a lighthouse freak since he was a kid (we used to take trips to visit them) and he collects stuff about them.

I made a quick run into Yankee Candle and got a couple of candle toppers that were on sale. They fit on the jar candles and one is a little birdhouse, the other a picnic basket. I also got a small lantern top for the jar candles. It’s white with violet trim and a lilac painted on it, in a beehive kind of design.

And that ended the shopping, as I was out of steam!

I’m getting old.