It's really an addiction
I have gotten a whole lot pickier about my 'vacquisitions' of late. For a number of years, I had two Kirbys and two Electrolux canisters, then one of those Kirbys got away from me involuntarily and I went through a period of insane emotional vacuum buying, and I have more than replaced that loss increasing my total collection almost tenfold before I could put on the brakes. What finally did it for me was when I found myself buying them and putting them straight into the barn. Sometimes I'd fix them up a little first--and have a little fun doing it--but then I'd never actually use them. That's why I make so many jokes about vacuholics anonymous. I've gotten rid of a few machines over the years, giving them to friends or donating them to church rummage sales, etc., but most of them are still in my possession. All that said, I do good idea of which ones I would absolutely hold onto, as well as the ones I really wouldn't miss, and the few that could go either way. These days, when I see a machine that's marginally appealing, I most often get the same feeling I experience when I've eaten too much at a buffet and I look at the desserts. I might say 'hey, that's nice,' but then I'll leave it where it sits, because I just don't need it.
