C3-PU

Once upon a time, there was a man who was known for his appreciation of all-things-gadget. We'll call him Mike (because that's his name, after all), but at work, we call him most-likely to electrocute himself if he fell into the harbour.

At any given time, he has a belt that holds a cell phone or two, tools, keys, a pocket knife, and probably a toothbrush, a flashlight and who knows what else. He's tall and very thin, the belt also acts as an anchor so that he won't fly away when there's a decent gust of wind.

If you ever wanted advice on which brand/size/model of the latest something-or-other, Mike's your man...


This week, though, he came into work with an unforgettable story of what NOT to get.



Mike has two beautiful dogs that pretty much resemble fluffballs of teased white fur.

(Similar dog -- don't know what breed exactly)

Adorable, but all that fur, well.... Mike, being gadget-boy that he is, decided he'd invest into one of those robotic vacuum cleaners, the "Roomba".

Seems simple enough... let the Roomba do the work for ya.


That worked well until a few days ago.


Mike was in the shower when he heard the Roomba start it's automatic daily run through the house. He didn't think much of it at the time. Twenty minutes later, when he opened the bathroom door, an unmistakable smell immediately overwhelmed him.

I can only imagine the look on his face when he realized that one of his beloved dogs, (who is now under the witness protection program) produced a "present" for Mike on the floor....


... and that the Roomba, unable to detect "road hazards" and drive around them, proceeded to push and drag the present throughout the entire house. There was literally a trail from baseboard to baseboard, in every single room except the bathroom, since that door had been closed.

(Aren't you glad I spared you that photo? You're welcome! )

One thing is for certain -- if you ever wanted to know if a Roomba really does cover every square inch of floor... just ask Mike. He'll tell ya the proof's in the pudding. Uh... well, or something.

Without his iron-strength sense of humor, I think he'd be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder... It took less than 24 hours to clean the mess, but it may take a lifetime to fully recover the sights and smells of that one.

He told the story to pretty much everyone at work the next few days. We laughed to the point of tears every single time he retold it.

We have been teasing him mercilessly since... "Hey, Mike -- how's that C3-PU robot of yours? I hear it doesn't pick up squat....!"


See the pitfalls of technology? If you have puppies, you may want to avoid getting your loved one a C3-PU for Father's Day... just sayin'.