Moppin' Up Lifes Messes

Be forewarned - this entry is going to read like an advertisement.  I am writing it a bit tongue-in-cheek with a strong dose of seriousness.
My son Mike and I are in love with a cleaning product.  Isn't that a funny sentence?  I know!!!
Thing is, about 14 or 15 months ago we bought me a Shark Steam Mop.  It wasn't cheap - it was almost $100 and that gave a few small fits...but I also was thinking of the ability to get rid of all the chemicals I'd been using to clean the floor, getting rid of the bucket of dirty water I was always lugging about, and getting rid of the nasty, dirty sponge mop.  My reasoning...if the sponge you wash your dishes with is a health hazard - what did that make the old sponge mop that has been wallowing around on the floor?
So we got it and the first time I used it I was head over heels in love.
So much so that we soon went out and bought the hand held Shark steamer with which you can steam clean walls, shower stalls, fridge doors, you name it. 
I've raved so much about my Shark that son Mike has gone out and bought the vacuum/steamer Shark.  And he has become passionate about it.  He reports he is loving cleaning the floors.  Have you ever, ever owned a product about which you could say the same?
Important note:  we bought them at Costco.
Costco is about to be the hero in this little tale.
A couple of days ago I started up my mop eager to kill germs and dust mites and humming away as I am wont to do when Sharking, and suddenly there was a loud pop and a burst of steam from everywhere but where it should have been forthcoming.  I was startled - I was fortunately not injured - and I was heartsick.  I love the product.  But 100 bucks a year?  Nah, I wasn't up for that.
Off we went to our friendly neighborhood Costco with the sorry little package of brokenness and my crushed feelings.
The lady at the counter asked "do you have your receipt?"  Of course we didn't - when Shark and I became a team, I trusted him to be with me forever.
She looked it up and found the date we'd bought it.
She gathered it all up and taped it all together.
I was clinging to the counter, wondering what her next words would be.  Would she offer to send it for repair.  Would she give us an offer on another?  Would she send us off - with her condolences?
None of the above.
She handed us a credit card for the full value.
And I promptly went to the shelf and bought another.  That's how much I love my Shark.
Nice thing is, it is an upgrade.  And the upgrade appears to include ways in which the manufacturer has addressed all the old issues.  Including a suggestion to use only distilled water.  Which I will do.  Not much to ask from my dearly beloved who gets in there with me and gets the dirt, kills the germs, leaves only the scent of CLEAN, and then hangs out in the garage until I need him again.