100 Words, 2025, Fantasy, home, Mysteries, Technology

Random Robot?

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Imagine my surprise as I was heading out to run some errands and discovered the little robot vacuum at the back porch door.

As I carried it back into the house and hit the “dock” button so it would return home, I felt a little bad.  Was I keeping it from its freedom?  Had it been trying to escape from the onerous duty of trying to keep the fur and dust at bay in our house?  Did it hear the clarion call of others of its kind?  Was it a quashed robot uprising? 

What do you think?  Should I have given it its freedom?

36 thoughts on “Random Robot?”

  1. It’s at loose ends, obviously and has notions of wanting to “clean up this town”. You should think about getting it a companion.

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        1. Facebook did just remind me this morning that with my birthday a week out I could add a fundraising post …

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        2. I did not realize we could capitalize on our birthdays via the internet. Perhaps I need a new Roomba/Shark Matrix! August is a pretty uneventful month (not counting the state fair, of course) with most of the population on vacation. I propose August Birthdays become a month long National Holiday.

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    2. I do actually think of it as female. And I call her Roomba. This name is a source of contention because she’s actually a Shark.. Every time I refer to her as Roomba YA corrects me that she’s not a Roomba.

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        1. The Jaws theme would be great. Of course, Guinevere already hears the Jaws theme in her head I think. She and Roomba are not on friendly terms.

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  4. FREEDOM SEEKER 2
    Driving over today I passed two women talking on the sidewalk. One was walking a dog that must have weighed less than your robot. The dog was pulling desperately at the leash trying to get on with the walk.

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  7. A few years ago in a writing class I wrote this about our Roomba:

    Ode to a Roomba

    The first was Rosie. This is Rosie Two.
    Named for the maid of an ancient family, forgotten by many.
    Spacely Space Sprockets was the company. George Jetson, his boy Elroy, daughter Judy. Jane, his wife, were the patrons upon which that Rosie served.
    That Rosie was much more capable than this Rosie. Number One or Two.
    That Rosie never seemed to need recharging. She wore a frilly apron, and cooked and cleaned and washed and dried with her electronic “Bing Bing”, and probably ordered groceries while lamenting the lack of appreciation for her skills.
    Our Rosie backs up three feet, gets stuck under a plant stand, whines until her battery dies. We rescue her.
    The fringe on a rug confuses her.
    She hides under daughters dresser to avoid work. We rescue her. Again.

    Somehow, she gets into corners she can’t get out of.
    Her bin is always full.
    She will find a loose thread on a rug and pack it around her rollers with no comprehension of her own inadequacies. Even the googly eyes on her top, while giving the illusion of intelligence, fail to yield results.

    Rosie One seemed to commit vacuummenical euthanasia.
    Calls to the helpline, new batteries, cleaning contacts, nothing would revive her.
    The company cheerfully, and without charge, delivered Rosie Two. She does well, when she’s not dead or dying. Or stuck.
    It’s either her or us; cleaning is a requirement.
    Two dogs in the house, dust from the country, windows open. Perhaps she’s exhausted? The map shows every room as “heavily soiled“. She tries to make us feel bad with lack of voice or feelings.
    But we know what she means.
    She doesn’t have to say it.

    We place her back on the charger. Jiggle until the green light steadies.
    A nights rest, a day to think about what she’s done.
    The cycle begins again.

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  9. Better Late than Never, Baboons,

    Today I returned to water aerobics which left me so exhausted that I had to take an hour long nap when I came home. This activity will certainly build stamina.

    I do not think Roomba was meant for an outdoor life of moisture and dirt, so it was best you did not free her, despite my earlier, brief post.

    So after I got up from the nap, this blog post inspired me to get my Shark Matrix, named Dizzy because it spins, up and running. During my recovery from hip replacement the poor thing was neglected. No one else who was in the house during my recovery wanted to mess with the thing, so it sat, disconnected and unused for 3 months. This morning I charged it. This afternoon I started it so it is running at this very moment. It completely freaked out the dog who is now hiding in the basement family room. For a while she was on my lap, shaking, after Dizzy ran into the baby gate that went noisily crashing down. After Dizzy is done vacuuming the kitchen floor, I will mop it.

    So, thank you VS for inspiring Dizzy’s resumed housekeeping task. I hope Phoebe will recover.

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  12. Roomba also makes a robot lawn mower. Do you think that those might be the bad boy “Roomba Without a Cause” to the domestic Roombas?

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  13. i can hear rod serling introducing the roomba episode.
    sleep with one eye open. back yard to upstairs is only a matter of time

    what was the dogs name on the jetsons? remember him jumping off the treadmill and leaving george to go on by himself?

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