Feel Like a Broken Record

Have you ever nagged to your husband about some work that needs to be done (which could only be done by HIM) to a point where you start to sound like a broken record? Of coarse not! Well, I have and I am getting tired of listening to myself.

My husband, while remodeling our basement into a living area (pictures of his amazing job to come soon), has done something to our central vacuum system which made the vacuum less effective than the broom. So, for about two months I have not been able to properly vacuum our house. This wouldn't have been too big of a problem if
1) dust from the work done downstairs would magically turn into purified air molecules
2) we haven't had people over every other day
3) one of my kids wasn't crawling
4) I wouldn't have the love affair I have with clean floors

Out of all the areas of the house I clean nothing gives me as much satisfaction as walking barefoot on squeaky clean floors. I don't love to clean them. I love to have them CLEAN. Even if the rest of the house is a mess, if the carpet is vacuumed and the wood and tile flooring is washed, the house feels clean to me. I've been missing that feeling the past two months.

My husband has been working 18 hour days the last two months as well. He leaves for work in the morning, comes home in the evening, and goes down to the basement to work until midnight. Bless his heart.

Somewhere in between these events, I've managed to squeeze in my nagging about the vacuum not working. I feel bad about it, but I just can't help my self! To vary sounding like a broken record, I had to be creative.

Once, I casually asked him to please vacuum our living room (with the broken vacuum) thinking that by doing so, he'll feel for what I've been going through (it currently takes me two uninterrupted hours to vacuum my house) and immediately turn his attention to fixing it.
He acknowledged my hardship but did not get to fixing it.

Another time, I mentioned (more like threatened) that tomorrow I will call for the company to come service it and silent lip pronounced the amount it will cost for them to come out.

He thought I was being funny and laughed.

Finally, just the other day, I called in the carpet cleaning company to clean our carpet and was so satisfied with having my floors clean again that I didn't even bite my lips too hard while writing them a check.

I now realize that this action of mine only bought him more time. I am truly a genius.

I have exhausted my ideas. I know that fixing it is not his priority as the deadline for finishing that project is approaching fast.

So I must suck it up and go find a broom. Or must I? Any other ideas, my fellow clever wives?