The Vac is Dead. Hail to the Vac!
She was a good machine for fifteen years, but now it's time to put her out to pasture. There's still some life left in her, but it would require time, money and work to get a few more passes out of her. Right now she's unusable. It would be nice to get some money out of her for parts, but I doubt anyone is still fixing these machines. It's a shame she's not in good enough shape to donate to a charity; that would be my preferred way to say good-bye to her.
So I'm limping along with the glorified dustbuster designed for hard floors and debating which vac to buy next. One of the biggest factors in my decision will be where I can buy it. Since I figure I'll need belts, bags and possibly a repair shop then it's probably not a good idea to buy a commercial brand over the internet (as much as I'd like to). I'll probably end up paying too much money for a popular machine that's only mediocre and lasts only a few years.