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A Review Of The Eureka Boss Smartvac 4870 Vacuum Cleaner

I recently purchased the Eureka 4870 and it has proven to be an excellent choice. Just about all cleaning tasks are done easily and efficiently and the Eureka Boss vacuum cleaner costs about half as much as some of its competitors. But nothing is perfect, and the Eureka Boss Smartvac does have some faults, but these are minor.

When you take delivery of the 4870 from Eureka you do have to some minor assembly. This is an easy matter of attaching the handle onto the unit with screws. A bag and filters are already installed. The vacuum ships with a user’s manual, which is well illustrated and very easy to follow. The hose, tools and wands are stored on the back of the vacuum.

The cord length is extremely generous at 30 feet, so you can easily clean one or more rooms without having to unplug. The cord doesn’t have automatic retraction – it’s housed by winding it on the back of the cleaner. The instructions show the cord wound in a circle around the hooks on the back of the unit but I find its better to wind it around the hooks in a figure 8 pattern to keep the cord from twisting.

I really like the shape of the handle – its feels very comfortable to hold. I would be nice if the power switch was mounted on the handle rather than on the unit, this would make it a little easier to use. Also the cord hook should be higher on the handle so as to reduce the tendency of running over the cord when you pull the unit backwards. Not only does the handle feel comfortable, its loop design makes it easy to pull the cleaner – a nice feature because this is not a self-propelled model. The spinning brushes makes pushing the cleaner quite easy however because of the spinning brushes pulling it back required more effort. The curved handle also makes picking up and carrying the 22 lb cleaner a lot easier.

When I used it for the first time I was pleasantly surprised at just how quiet the Boss is – it’s even possible to carry on a conversation while vacuuming. Carpet cleaning is first-rate – many vacuum cleaner reviews rate the Boss Smartvac to be as good as any other vacuum in its class. From the base of the unit the dirt runs up through a clear plastic tube that can be easily removed to clear blockages.

For hard floor surfaces, you flip a lever to turn off the beater brush, and then set the cleaning height to the hard floor setting. One gripe though; the lever to turn off the brush takes about 10 lbs of force to set to the hard floor setting. And whilst we’re on the subject of hard levers; the footswitch that releases the handle from the upright position is also hard to push. Who was responsible for lever design at Eureka?

The 15-inch wide brush head width speeds up vacuuming a room, but because of this generous width, it can prevent you from getting between spaces that a narrower brush would fit. You can also press the handle release foot switch while lowering the handle so that you can drop the unit to full horizontal, allowing the cleaner to roll under areas as low as 9″ high – great for cleaning under furniture.

As well as floor cleaning, you can switch the suction to the onboard hose and use the tools to clean any surface. The suction from the hose is very strong. Unlike many other vacuum cleaners, when the 4870’s handle is placed in the upright position, the beater brush turns off. This feature lets you use the hose while the unit remains in one place – no worrying about a spinning brush abrading the floor. There is an onboard set of nested wands that can be assembled and placed on the end of the hose; however the symbols to assist you in assembling it are hard to see. You can buy a 15-ft extension hose from the Eureka web site. This allows you to place the cleaner in the center of a large room, or at the bottom of stairs, and accomplish your cleaning without having to move the unit.

Though the cord, hose, wands, crevice tool and dusting brush can all be easily removed from and replaced in their mountings, the upholstery tool cannot. For some reason the upholstery tool needs a lot of positioning and pressing to get it to click into place. If you don’t do it right the tool can pop off.

What sets the Eureka Boss Smartvac 4870 apart from many other cleaners is the fact that it has a fully-sealed “True HEPA” vacuum. The HEPA filter is also replaceable; the unit should be replaced after every 6 bag changes. The replaceable filters aren’t cheap so it’s worthwhile investing in the washable HEPA filter from Eureka.

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How To Hold A Successful Fundraising Auction

What’s the most important aspect of your fundraising event?

If you’re like most coordinators, the obvious answer to you would be revenue generation, right?
While that’s of course a good answer, I would say the most important things about your event are to make it exciting and to bring members into the fold. If you make these your goals, then the money raised will increase dramatically, at the same time generating good will and exposure for your organization.

I’m disappointed when I hear of a fundraising auction being hosted by the committee chair or a local personality such as a radio show host etc. My disappointment is for the income potential the group loses by not hiring a professional auctioneer.

A good auctioneer will never cost you money, they’ll make you money.

When considering whether or not to hire an auctioneer for your event, ask yourself if the person you are considering hiring instead of an auctioneer can provide these benefits.

Can they ask for money in a tactful way without embarrassing the organization?

Do they know how to use advanced techniques to get thousands of extra dollars out of a crowd?

Can they identify the heavy hitters in a crowd and know what they’re likely to bid on?

Do they already have a following of dedicated auction-goers?

Are they going to be a big help with marketing and promotion?

Are they well versed with bidding increments?

Will they get involved in the planning stages?

Do they know how to maximize the time?

Are they interested in your long-term success?

If you can answer no to any of the above questions, I can guarantee you that “guest” auctioneer will end up costing you a lot more than it would to hire a professional.

Planning your event:

Plan early, 6 months in advance at least will be needed to:

* Put together a staff

* Get Donations

* Rally the Support of your group, even those not directly involved with the auction can be of assistance.

* Hire a Personality

* Market and Promote

* Get your payment options available.

* Line up food and/or entertainment.

* Deciding what’s appropriate for the silent auction, what goes in the live auction and which items will have both options.

* Get the Hall Ready

A good auctioneer is ready to consult on all of the above. If you are going to hire an auctioneer, use them early, use them often!

A Few Important Planning Decisions:

Food: What will you serve and more importantly, for how long?

Seating – Please don’t make the mistake of having the live auction crowd seated far from the auctioneer. It’s going to be a busy night, when it comes time for the live auction, the auctioneer needs the undivided attention of the crowd. I’ve seen Charity events that did everything right on the social organizing, but when it came time for the live auction, there was not adequate seating up near the stage. The result, thousands of dollars lost.

What kind of donations will be appropriate for your event?- If it’s a Church Social then you don’t want a gift certificate for 2 rounds of drinks at Mick’s Spill n’Grill, but if your raising money for the Sportsmen’s Club it may be just the thing to auction!

How much do you have to spend on Marketing?- This could be an entire article by itself, but let me just suggest this:

Get an Auctioneer who’s familiar with online promotion.

Some Auctioneers (I am one) will offer to help you promote your event by posting it online, even if you don’t hire them to do the auction! For most of my auctions 90% of my crowd comes from my mailing list and my web sites. This results in a savings of thousands of dollar. I’m not saying don’t advertise other ways, I’m saying you can’t afford not to be online.

It may have been OK in the old days to advertise only in the newspapers, but today your event will not be considered serious unless it has good online marketing.

If you wish to have me promote your MASSACHUSETTS Charity Auction for FREE,
email me at the web site located in the source box.

Think about your contributors as customers:

The people making donations are very generous indeed. You can help insure high quality donations by convincing potential donors that it will come back to them in advertising and good will customer representation.

Make sure to thank them properly by highlighting their generous gifts in your online marketing and mentions throughout the auction.

Again, not to beat a dead horse, but a professional auctioneer will acknowledge your donors in a graceful and informing way. I’ve had donors contact me and ask me how they could make sure they get a spot in next years auction!

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Calorie Cycling Menu

Many people, when starting out, want a calorie cycling menu. The thing is, there’s no need for any special menus since people can eat whatever they want, as long as they stay within their (very generous) calorie allotments.

People can literally eat crap and still lose weight (not that this is at all recommended). On the cheat days, people can go out to eat and not have to worry about anything. They can order whatever they want, because they’ve done well for the other days in which they ate low calorie.

This might seem like a crazy Utopia, but it truly does work. There’s just no reason for a calorie cycling menu when on this diet.

All people need to do is easily track the calories that they eat (which can easily be done on most websites) and make sure that they line up with the generous amount of calories that they’re supposed to be eating on their low days.

On their high days, depending on which plan they go with, they might not even bother to track the calories, because they’ve been so good all week. This is one of the perks of being on a calorie cycling (also known as calorie shifting or zigzag diet) plan.

Most people who follow some sort of calorie cycling menu like to eat healthier, just because calorie cycling is more of a healthy diet plan, and it attracts more of those people. Either way, it doesn’t matter – follow the calorie allotments and you’ll be on a healthy road to weight loss.

Rachel has lost 100 pounds herself, and is passionate about helping other people do it too. She has been featured in Woman’s World, among others.

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5 Sure Fire Ways To Overcome Shyness

Are you one of those people others called a good listener? That’s a wonderful compliment, but it always left you feeling a little inadequate. That’s because you knew something they did not – it’s not that you were such a great listener, you were just afraid to open your mouth.

Take heart, it’s okay to be shy. But, as a former super-shy girl myself, I understand your wish to contribute. There’s a natural part of that is unable to connect when you are not able to verbalize your thoughts. In effort to gain access to the divine inspiration that is locked inside of you, here are five sure fire ways to get you out of your shell:

1. Write, and read aloud what you wrote. The subject matter is less important than that you do it everyday. Get in the habit of writing down your thoughts and feelings as you are experiencing them. Are you feeling nervous? Write it down. Feeling lonely? Write it down. Give yourself permission to slow down long enough to feel. What part of your body does this feeling emanate from? What does it make you feel like doing? If you have an urge to cry, then cry. Keep a pad and pen near your bed, by the toilet, on you kitchen counter, on your coffee table. If no words come, draw symbol or jagged lines. The idea is to allow yourself a constructive outlet. If you express yourself when you are alone, you will feel more comfortable expressing yourself around others. Enjoy this inspirational exercise and know the more you do it the greater your spiritual healing. This is the law of attraction at work!

2. Go online and get involved in forums. Join conversations that you find interesting. Are you interested in meditation? Tai chi? Astrology? If a discussion group that is currently going is not exactly to your liking, start your own. This is better anyway. Use you voice, and don’t be afraid to put your opinion out there. People like a little controversy, and they appreciate honest interaction.

3. Read. Magazines can be great because the information is usually current. Newspapers are always good because it will keep you abreast of what’s going on in the world. And fiction is wonderful because it entertains, and gets your imagination to take you to places you normally may not have gone. If you find an article or author that you absolutely love, do a Google search on them. This kind of research can be fun, and will provide you with information you will be passionate about-information that will be great to share with others.

4. Take a community college course. The class can be anything from script writing to pottery to yoga. Pick something that is creative so that your sense of fun is aroused. Most likely, the others in class are not learning, like you, so there’s no need to be shy about not knowing what you are doing. If you are unclear about an assignment or how on what the ground rules are for the classroom, be sure to ask. Being an adult in school can be much more fun than being a kid. There is no parent waiting at home to make sure you do your homework.

5. Take a public speaking class. There is a wonderful organization, Toastmasters, whose members take turns getting in front of the other members and give presentations. The speakers do their thing, and the audience gives feedback. The rules of conduct state that there are three compliments always be given first, followed by one constructive comment. This is a great way to get your feet wet in a supportive atmosphere.

These steps were written in the order that is easiest for you do accomplish them. Overcoming shyness is not a quick remedy. Years of conditioning have told you that your voice is not good enough or intelligent enough. This can create emotional scarring. Healing begins by getting to know who you really are. Recognize that you deserve to be heard – you are a unique and creative being, cut from the same divine cloth as those you most admire. Think of your words as a gift. And do not forget about the universal Law of Attraction-your generous sense of sharing will attract others with the same generous spirit. Share this gift just as you share our inner source.