Some Assembly Required

I was overjoyed with my most recent bargain from the hospital thrift shop. For about one sixth of the price to purchase a floor steamer new, I purchased a new floor steamer. Wow! What a find! Why would anyone have brought this to the store in this fantastic unused condition? All the parts were still in their original packaging. I noted that the only well worn portion of the steamer was the instruction booklet. Hmmmm...























I decided that today and tomorrow, would be house cleaning days and I was so eager to get started that I even finished half a bathroom before procrastinating and heading to the gym. When I returned, I took apart the box containing my new treasure. Uh oh. It sure had a lot of pieces.

At this point, I wondered, "What would a man do?" So I took a break, went and had a leisurely lunch.

When I returned, I decided it might be a good idea to open the instruction manual. I hate instructions. They are difficult to decipher and often misleading. In this case, they looked easy enough and even included illustrations. I can do this, I decided.

I scratched my head and wrinkled my brow. I flicked through the French instructions to see if they looked any easier. A short time later, I yelled for hubby. Fortunately, he didn't hear me. I took a deep breath and began.

Step One - Assemble. I looked at a picture which showed putting handle into body of steamer. Makes sense I thought. After some wiggling and jiggling (the handle, not me) I did it. I was feeling extremely pleased with myself. Wow, my steamer looked almost ready for use.

Step Two - Select mop head and attach cleaning pad. Through my endless hours of experience with kindergarten matching activities, I was not only able to identify, but could select and put together all three. I figured I might as well do this now, while my head was clear and the task was so obvious to me. I opted to attach to the machine the recommended wedge for small spaces and corners.


 

















Step Three - Lay mop on the floor and remove water tank cap. Somewhat confusing, but not too bad. Then use flask to add water and reattach cap. Plug in, wait 30 seconds and begin to mop. Simple.

As I mopped, I was feeling the love for my new toy. My floor was spotless in seconds. This was soooooo easy and I didn't even need rubber gloves. The ick factor would not come into play until I had to remove and wash the cleaning pad.

I had no idea why I initially panicked about assembling something so easy, and was thankful that someone else had done the same. After all, how else would I have acquired this bargain?

After completing the bathroom, I decided to do the kitchen floor with one of the larger attachments. What fun!

Then, looking at all the extra pieces, I made a disturbing discovery. I wonder what these leftover things are for?  Oh well, they don't look like anything important do they?