Vacuum Cleaner

A Westminster man who fired gunshots because a vacuum cleaner was being taken from his friend's home in New Windsor was placed on four years of probation and given 200 hours of community service yesterday.Earle C. Hawk, 60, of the 300 block of Williams Ave. was trying to stop his friend's estranged husband and her sister-in-law from leaving with the vacuum when he picked up a pistol at the friend's home in the 2000 block of Brick Church Road on July 31, according to court records.Hawk fired three shots as Warren Sullender and Laura Serafini ran across the lawn, but he did not strike them, prosecutors said.

Michael T. McCarthy Sr., a longtime Electrolux vacuum cleaner salesman who helped foster children find homes in his retirement, died on Jan. 23 of sudden cardiac arrest at the Baltimore-Washington Medical Center. The longtime Cockeysville resident was 69. Raised in Philadelphia, the sixth of seven siblings, Mr. McCarthy graduated from North Catholic High School there in 1961 and spent about nine years, starting in his late teens, as a brother with the Oblates of St. Francis DeSales in Wernersville, Pa. There, he was responsible for taking care of the grounds and working on the farm, according to his daughter, Jennifer Jones.

Nature may abhor a vacuum, but Americans love them. We love them more than toasters, more than fridges, more than irons. During the last year alone, we bought 18 million full-size vacuum cleaners, says Clifford Wood, executive vice president of the Vacuum Cleaner Manufacturers Association in North Canton, Ohio, and the only household appliances we bought more of were fans and hair dryers. As a result, the multi-vac household is becoming the norm. But multi-vac doesn't mean a measly upright in the closet and DustBuster in the kitchen, says Bill McLoughlin, executive editor of HomeWorld Business magazine in Long Island, N.Y.; it means two or more full-size vacuum cleaners stashed away in different parts of the house, ready for whenever a vac attack strikes -- plus that DustBuster, and don't forget the Shop-Vac in the basement and the stick vac for the kid's room.

COCONUT ISLAND, Oahu -- What was intended as a noble scientific experiment in the 1970s has turned into a modern-day plague for the delicate coral reefs surrounding the University of Hawaii's research station here. A professor scoured the seas for the heartiest, fastest-growing algae to help poor nations develop a seaweed crop for carrageenan - the gelatinous emulsifier used in products ranging from toothpaste and shoe polish to nonfat ice cream. Maxwell Doty succeeded, in one regard.

The vacuum cleaner business must be booming in Essex, because Big Mike McCarthy is getting the same answer at almost every house."Just bought a new one last week," a smiling woman says through a screen door.Big Mike fended off the rejection politely and gave it one more shot, handing the woman a tiny plastic bag of wood chips."If you just walk around and agree with everyone, you'll never get in," he said over his shoulder."This is a free gift from me," he said in a fast mumble. "Just scatter them on the rug and vacuum them up. Makes the room smell nice.

Q: What's the value of our pair of Wassily arm chairs covered in heavy black leather, which I believe are from the 1920s? They've been a topic of conversation among our friends and relatives as to their worth ever since you mentioned similar ones in an article last fall.A: Your chairs appear to be revivals of Marcel Breuer's famous 1925 design. Breuer named his popular and innovative chair after Russian abstract expressionist artist Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), a fellow instructor at Germany's Bauhaus academy.

POLICE LOG* North Laurel: 8800 block of Evermore Court: Someone pried open the door of a construction trailer and stole a vacuum cleaner Wednesday, police said.

Tip--Soot removal-- To remove soot from walls, use a vacuum cleaner with a wand attachment, taking care not to touch the soot. -- University of Florida

POLICE LOG* Hickory Ridge: 11900 block of Little Patuxent Parkway: A vacuum cleaner was stolen from an apartment Friday. Police said entry was made through a sliding glass door.5900 block of Watch Chain Way: A gray 1987 Ford Econoline van with Maryland tags 19B658 was stolen Monday. The van's owner said it was inoperable.

WHILE IT IS still too early to turn on the heat -- Thanksgiving, the traditional fire-up-the- furnace date in our homestead, is several weeks away -- it is time to get the furnace ready for winter.Part of my readiness routine involves rolling out the vacuum cleaner, sprawling on the basement floor and vacuuming the grit that has accumulated on the bottom of the furnace. There are two reasons I do this. First, removing the grit means the gas jets in the furnace burn more efficiently. Secondly, I get to use my favorite vacuum cleaner implement, the crevice tool.

Tip--Soot removal-- To remove soot from walls, use a vacuum cleaner with a wand attachment, taking care not to touch the soot. -- University of Florida

An elderly Glen Burnie man, who locked himself out of a running car, was badly burned Thursday morning when he tried to kill the car's engine by siphoning out gas with a vacuum cleaner, authorities said Friday. The 82-year-old man, whose name was not released, was injured when the vacuum cleaner exploded, said Anne Arundel County firefighters who were called to the man's house in the 200 block of Benmere Drive about 7:30 a.m. Thursday. He was listed in fair condition -- with burns to 20 percent of his body -- at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center yesterday.

AS WE live in a disposable society, where everything is made to last a few years and then be tossed out, what follows is a cautionary tale for our times. It begins one fine Saturday morning when, during a fit of spring cleaning, my wife and I noticed two major problems with our self-propelled vacuum cleaner. No. 1, it stopped self-propelling. No. 2, it stopped vacuum-cleaning. Although knowing it was a waste of time, I fished out the owner's manual and turned to the trouble-shooting page.

Robby the Robot and C-3PO may still be years away from reality, but robot vacuum cleaners, medical robots, surveillance robots, underwater robots and demolition robots are here now. And rather than replacing the human work force, robots are creating a booming job market for engineers, software developers and other technical professionals, experts say. American Honda Motor Co. is touring the country with the company's two-legged Asimo robot, visiting schools...

It's not intended to replace doctors and nurses. But the 200-pound robot - controlled by a joystick and looking like a futuristic vacuum cleaner - is turning out to be extremely popular at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The robot works like a remote-controlled video camera, rolling into patient rooms and taking pictures and sound that allow for televised conversations. Referred to as "Dr. Robot" by Hopkins staffers, the device is being tested as a tool to help check on patients more often and over longer distances.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. When prying a den's sofa free from the wall behind, this grim summation of the human experience is fully understood. Here lies family history in all its multi-layered ignominy: kitty hair, petrified human skin cells, a less than sweet-smelling gym sock, and the still vibrant constellation of Froot Loops that little Andy spilled there last April. To err is human; to vacuum, divine. And soon enough, when the Dyson DC07 RootCyclone vacuum cleaner is launched in the United States, the job will be a whole lot holier.

Police warn of man posing as salesmanState police are warning residents of Carroll County about the suspicious behavior of a man who is presenting himself as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman.A resident of the 4000 block of Bartholow Road reported that a man about 25 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 200 pounds knocked on his door at 6 p.m. Wednesday, police said.The homeowner said that the man attempted to enter the house to demonstrate a small vacuum cleaner but that he refused to admit him.The homeowner told police that the man said he was going door to door in the Eldersburg area.

AS WE live in a disposable society, where everything is made to last a few years and then be tossed out, what follows is a cautionary tale for our times. It begins one fine Saturday morning when, during a fit of spring cleaning, my wife and I noticed two major problems with our self-propelled vacuum cleaner. No. 1, it stopped self-propelling. No. 2, it stopped vacuum-cleaning. Although knowing it was a waste of time, I fished out the owner's manual and turned to the trouble-shooting page.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Southern District Burglary: A Catonsville man reported that someone broke into a locker he rented at U-Store in the 1400 block of Russell St. on Friday and removed $8,150. Southeastern District Robbery: An 83-year-old woman was walking in the 600 block of S. Fagley St. about 6:45 p.m. Saturday when two men in their 20s stole her purse, which contained identification and keys.

Baltimore City Northwestern District Deadly weapon arrest: Officers John Johnson, Timothy Miller and James Regan stopped two men for an alleged minor infraction Friday night in the 3000 block of Spaulding Ave. Police tried to question the men, but they fled. One was caught, and police seized a loaded .45-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun and a bulletproof vest he was wearing. The other man escaped. Tavon Gilliam, 24, of the 5100 block of Queensberry Ave. in Pimlico was charged with possession of a deadly weapon and illegal possession of a bulletproof vest.