our vacuum sucks (haha)

so, we're subleasing an apartment in dc (well... virginia, but close enough). and it's actually a really nice place. we were looking for something fully furnished, so we wouldn't have to bring much with us for two months, so the place has everything: furniture, appliances, housewares, linens, vacuum, etc. last night, we decided we wanted to vacuum the rug, so we got out the vacuum and i started it up. it sounded fine, it was clearly "working"... but it wasn't picking anything up. now... burton has become an expert at fixing vacuums, because our vacuum at home, although new, is retarded (it's possible that my long hair strewn about is the culprit in that instance). anyway, so we messed around with it, taking hoses off and seeing if they were sucking, turning it upside down, putting my hand under the roller to see if it was sucking (don't do this when it's on... helpful hint). and finally burton noticed that the hose at the base of the vacuum was packed with dust (or something like dust). so, we got out the tweezers and started pulling. there is really no way to describe how tightly packed this dust was and the sheer volume of dust we removed. i took pictures, but even they don't do it justice. how in the world, this woman allowed her vacuum to get to that point, i haven't the floggiest. anyway, word to the wise... if it isn't sucking... or is sucking... or whatever... check it out.