Have you ever seen the ad for Oreck vacuum cleaners? They sell you an upright carpet cleaner, and as a “bonus” you get a little hand-held job with a shoulder strap for “free,” and it’s so powerful, it can lift a bowling ball?

Well, we actually bought one of these a few years ago, and the upright is a great, light-weight, easy-to-maneuver vac with a lot of suction, and the little guy works OK, but honestly it’s as good as a space heater as it is as a vacuum.

And also, sure, it’ll pick up a bowling ball, but then what? Do you know how many bowling balls fit in that little bag? That’s right, none.

I am tempted, though, to take ours out to the local bowling alley on a lark, plug it in, and start lifting balls and see what happens.