Since these auto robot vacuums first came out, I have wanted one.  However, the price tag was a bit on the steep side.   $700 you've got to be kidding!!  Well, Christmas rolls around, but everyone knows that buying a vacuum as a gift is the Wrong Thing to Do.  No one wants more WORK for a present.   However, in my case with 9, yes 9 inside cats - I am seeing LESS work.   So the Cats sprang for the vacuum as a present to the house.  Cats don't know about the "No Appliance Present Rule" so it was okay.   The "robot" is a bit of an intimidating creature at first.  The directions talk a lot about cleaning this and replacing that.  The very first thing the directions tell you to do - in a gliff, not words, is to hook the thing up to your PHONE through the Robot App.   What in the world?  Okay, I did it.  I can now start my vacuum from anywhere any time I feel like it.   Isn't that convenient?   BTW, I did NOT hook my washing machine up to my phone - you have to draw the line somewhere.   Back to the Robot - I am happy to say it works quite nicely.   You push some buttons and off it goes.   I am not convinced that it really is "mapping" the floor so it knows exactly where it has and has not been.   I think it has more to do with how many things it bumps into and how it has to navigate to move around the obstacles it encounters.   I was really glad to see it did not vacuum up the fringe of the rugs and either ruin the fringes - as a regular vacuum can - or get stuck.   It is designed to bump into things - like furniture or the wall, make its course corrections and keep going.  It bumps gently and I I don't think it is going to damage anything.  I hope it can take all the bumping.  It looks well made as that is a critical matter of design - so let's hope!   It will take itself to the base unit and self-clean when needed.  However, I have manually dumped the dust trap to reduce the amount of dirt going into the bag.  You have to replace the bags when full.  It came with one extra, but after that, you have to buy them.  The other reason was to see how well it cleaned.   The floor did not look that dirty - other than a bunch of glitter everywhere.   The dirt in the filter was super fine, not something one could easily see.   In the bigger trap, it collects whatever else may be on the floor.    I am glad the cats decided to help me out this Christmas.    It picks up cat fluff quite nicely.  

A new decade for all and the opportunity for XTROV to provide real estate and related services in Montezuma and Dolores counties for a second decade.  WOO HOO - we are looking forward to the Journey. 

No kidding, this is not a staged picture.  Art is at home on a weekend.  He is on two phones AT ONCE solving the latest property management crisis.  One line is the tenant and the other line is the solution provider.   Art is the middle person, in this case quite literally, coordinating all parties so the fix will be made.  In property management, it is not IF something will break or go wrong, it is WHAT and WHEN.   

Thanks to the Cortez Area Chamber of Commerce for helping us celebrate XTROV Realty's new office at 444 East Montezuma Avenue with a Grand Opening ribbon-cutting ceremony.  Definitely one of the best parties of the summer - with live music with Donny Johnson, prime rib from Shilohs, and over 125 guests.