Vacuum Cleaner

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...

A downtown Baltimore business that has been cleaning up the area for decades is about to bite the dust.Donald Miller, a master mechanic who can make a stuttering vacuum cleaner roar like a typhoon, is retiring. Customers wince at the thought that this broom closet specialist won't be there to dispense rare spare parts and a knowledge of what makes their cherished 1961 Hoover so reliable.After 50 years in a trade he began when he was 18, he's stopped accepting new work. He hopes to be out of his stuffed, packed and cluttered Mulberry Street shop within a month, maybe two, certainly in time for spring housecleaning.

So you live in a charming bungalow with vinyl tile floors in the kitchen and a basement full of aged, gray, insulated pipes. Or you own an apartment with '50s-style popcorn coating on one ceiling and suspended acoustical tile on the others.Yup. Sounds like asbestos, all right. Here's what you do:If you rent, call the landlord. He or she should be aware of any materials in the place containing asbestos and should be willing to make sure that they are safe.Heating insulation, popcorn ceilings and acoustical tile are friable materials.

IF ONLY COWS cud laugh. They might find the work of Hampstead resident Linda Topper udderly amusing.Two wooden yard cows stand about 3 feet tall on the front porch at 1353 N. Main St. Inside, cows can be found doing very un-cowlike things: cows on motorcycles, cows as angels and a full-length cow cover for a vacuum cleaner. Then there are the amusing signs: "Attack cow on duty." "Manure happens.""This started as a statement, rather than a theme," says Topper, who began to paint splatter-shaped black splotches on white items to please her friends.

POLICE LOG* Wilde Lake: 5200 block of Brook Way: A black car vacuum cleaner was stolen from a red Nissan Sentra on Sunday.* Hickory Ridge: 5200 block of Cedar Lane: A 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass stolen Saturday night was found abandoned on a lawn with its engine running.* Dorsey's Search: 5300 block of Columbia Road: Maryland license tags ALA861 were taken from a 1985 Nissan Sentra last Thursday.

POLICE LOG* Dorsey's Search: 9800 block of Davidge Drive: Someone took off a front window screen between Thursday and Sunday.5400 block of Columbia Road: Someone tried to enter a frondoor Friday, but fled prior to the arrival of police.* Harper's Choice: 5300 block of Cedar Lane: Someone entered an apartment through an unlocked sliding glass door about 10 a.m. March 24, and stole a TV and a vacuum cleaner.* Wilde Lake: 6100 block of Turnabout Lane: Someone entered a 1976 Plymouth Volare between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Friday and stole a Maryland certificate of title.

POLICE* Westminster: A former resident of Manchester Road reported someone broke into the house she was vacating, which still contained some of her property, and stole a camera, toys and a vacuum cleaner on Wednesday. The woman estimated the loss at $224.An employee of Sheetz convenience store on East Main Street told city police someone failed to pay for gasoline on Tuesday. The loss is $5.FIRE* Westminster: Westminster and New Windsor responded for a house fire on Ridge Road at 8:16 a.m. Friday.

POLICE LOG* Ellicott City: 2900 block of Hearthstone Road: Bicycle helmets were stolen from an unlocked garage between Sunday and Tuesday.2900 block of Country Lane: Someone tried to steal a 1991 Ford Explorer between 11 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. Tuesday.* Elkridge: 7000 block of Ducketts Lane: An undisclosed amount of cash, credit cards and jewelry, and a vacuum cleaner were stolen from a home between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday. There were no signs of forced entry.

Police logNorth Laurel: 10000 block of 2nd St.: Burglars pried open a door at International Cars early Tuesday, ransacked the inside of the business and stole a tool box, tools, a vacuum cleaner and a car buffer, police said.Jessup: 9800 block of Guilford Road: A burglar broke the basement window of an unoccupied house between Saturday and Tuesday and took an electric knife. Police found the knife near the rear of the home.Savage: 8800 block of Greenwood Place: Burglars stole computer equipment and office furniture from A&E Foods Tuesday or Wednesday morning, but police said they found no sign of forced entry.

Police logSevern: Someone smashed a rear vent window of a 1996 Isuzu Rodeo parked in the 7600 block of Fairbanks Court overnight Sunday and stole a compact disc player, a remote control, several CDs, a baby stroller and playpen, a vacuum cleaner, and pots and pans, together valued at $1,868.Severn: Someone broke into a vacant home in the 1800 block of Arwell Court overnight Sunday and stole furnace parts valued at $1,500.Pub Date: 11/13/96