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Unimatic1140 said:
Hi everyone, so about a year and a half ago I had mentioned in thread postings on both aw and Vacuumland that I was thinking about retiring from running the websites. I first launched Automaticwasher in 2001 (originally as classicappliances.com, renamed to automaticwasher.org in 2004). Vacuumland followed in 2007, and Automatic Ephemera in 2012.

Now, after nearly 25 amazing years, the time has come for me to pass the torch. After considering several options, I was approached by Groupbuilder—a company that specializes in managing forum-based websites. They bring the tools, infrastructure, technical knowledge and team needed to support and grow the sites well beyond what I could do on my own. GroupBuilder has been so very nice and have impressed me every step of the way, and I have full confidence they can carry our washer and vacuum communities forward for many years to come. Frankly, if something terrible had happened to me, the sites would have gone offline within a couple of months—but now, their future is secure, and believe me they’re in very good hands. It’s very important to me that all the work I have done over the last 25 years to share the history of automatic washers, other appliances and vacuum cleaners, etc. not die out with me.

But I want to assure everyone that this isn’t a goodbye from me. It’s been a true joy being your webmaster, and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be active here just as I always have and on other social media appliance groups, making washer videos from my collection, producing new reproduction rubber parts, and diving into new creative ideas to enhance our shared passion for vintage washers, dryers, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, and other appliances.

If you’ve enjoyed our websites over the years, I hope you’ll keep supporting them just like you always have. So, with that, I’m now officially retired. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Alan—I couldn’t be more excited about our new administrator. Thank you all again—a big hug to everyone here!
Click to expand...
 
vacerator said:
Congradtulations Robert, and kind Thank's! Retired life is the best!
Click to expand...
Unimatic1140 said:
Hi everyone, so about a year and a half ago I had mentioned in thread postings on both aw and Vacuumland that I was thinking about retiring from running the websites. I first launched Automaticwasher in 2001 (originally as classicappliances.com, renamed to automaticwasher.org in 2004). Vacuumland followed in 2007, and Automatic Ephemera in 2012.

Now, after nearly 25 amazing years, the time has come for me to pass the torch. After considering several options, I was approached by Groupbuilder—a company that specializes in managing forum-based websites. They bring the tools, infrastructure, technical knowledge and team needed to support and grow the sites well beyond what I could do on my own. GroupBuilder has been so very nice and have impressed me every step of the way, and I have full confidence they can carry our washer and vacuum communities forward for many years to come. Frankly, if something terrible had happened to me, the sites would have gone offline within a couple of months—but now, their future is secure, and believe me they’re in very good hands. It’s very important to me that all the work I have done over the last 25 years to share the history of automatic washers, other appliances and vacuum cleaners, etc. not die out with me.

But I want to assure everyone that this isn’t a goodbye from me. It’s been a true joy being your webmaster, and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be active here just as I always have and on other social media appliance groups, making washer videos from my collection, producing new reproduction rubber parts, and diving into new creative ideas to enhance our shared passion for vintage washers, dryers, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, and other appliances.

If you’ve enjoyed our websites over the years, I hope you’ll keep supporting them just like you always have. So, with that, I’m now officially retired. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Alan—I couldn’t be more excited about our new administrator. Thank you all again—a big hug to everyone here!
Click to expand...
Congrats, Robert. Thank you for all yoir hard work for the past 25 years. I'm so glad you aren't leaving the site and I'm looking forward to all your future videos on Facebook. I hope you enjoy having more free time.
 
Unimatic1140 said:
Hi everyone, so about a year and a half ago I had mentioned in thread postings on both aw and Vacuumland that I was thinking about retiring from running the websites. I first launched Automaticwasher in 2001 (originally as classicappliances.com, renamed to automaticwasher.org in 2004). Vacuumland followed in 2007, and Automatic Ephemera in 2012.

Now, after nearly 25 amazing years, the time has come for me to pass the torch. After considering several options, I was approached by Groupbuilder—a company that specializes in managing forum-based websites. They bring the tools, infrastructure, technical knowledge and team needed to support and grow the sites well beyond what I could do on my own. GroupBuilder has been so very nice and have impressed me every step of the way, and I have full confidence they can carry our washer and vacuum communities forward for many years to come. Frankly, if something terrible had happened to me, the sites would have gone offline within a couple of months—but now, their future is secure, and believe me they’re in very good hands. It’s very important to me that all the work I have done over the last 25 years to share the history of automatic washers, other appliances and vacuum cleaners, etc. not die out with me.

But I want to assure everyone that this isn’t a goodbye from me. It’s been a true joy being your webmaster, and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be active here just as I always have and on other social media appliance groups, making washer videos from my collection, producing new reproduction rubber parts, and diving into new creative ideas to enhance our shared passion for vintage washers, dryers, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, and other appliances.

If you’ve enjoyed our websites over the years, I hope you’ll keep supporting them just like you always have. So, with that, I’m now officially retired. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Alan—I couldn’t be more excited about our new administrator. Thank you all again—a big hug to everyone here
Click to expand...

Unimatic1140 said:
Hi everyone, so about a year and a half ago I had mentioned in thread postings on both aw and Vacuumland that I was thinking about retiring from running the websites. I first launched Automaticwasher in 2001 (originally as classicappliances.com, renamed to automaticwasher.org in 2004). Vacuumland followed in 2007, and Automatic Ephemera in 2012.

Now, after nearly 25 amazing years, the time has come for me to pass the torch. After considering several options, I was approached by Groupbuilder—a company that specializes in managing forum-based websites. They bring the tools, infrastructure, technical knowledge and team needed to support and grow the sites well beyond what I could do on my own. GroupBuilder has been so very nice and have impressed me every step of the way, and I have full confidence they can carry our washer and vacuum communities forward for many years to come. Frankly, if something terrible had happened to me, the sites would have gone offline within a couple of months—but now, their future is secure, and believe me they’re in very good hands. It’s very important to me that all the work I have done over the last 25 years to share the history of automatic washers, other appliances and vacuum cleaners, etc. not die out with me.

But I want to assure everyone that this isn’t a goodbye from me. It’s been a true joy being your webmaster, and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be active here just as I always have and on other social media appliance groups, making washer videos from my collection, producing new reproduction rubber parts, and diving into new creative ideas to enhance our shared passion for vintage washers, dryers, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, and other appliances.

If you’ve enjoyed our websites over the years, I hope you’ll keep supporting them just like you always have. So, with that, I’m now officially retired. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Alan—I couldn’t be more excited about our new administrator. Thank you all again—a big hug to everyone here!
Click to expand...
Robert, thank you for all you have done, and enjoy retirement!!
 
Thank you Robert for all you have done for our community over the years. Not only creating and managing the websites, but hosting wash ins and facilitating many worldwide friendships. I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet you in person and know you over the years. Wishing you all the best in the future! Your legacy lives on!
 
Congratulations on your reply Robert! Thanks for all the hard work! I renewed my membership through PayPal on 5/28 but it has not shown up as renewed. I had renewed my Vacuum Land membership on 5/21 through PayPal and that is reflected correctly. I think I must have done the Automatic Washer renewal while the upgrade was happening. Please let me know how to correct. Thanks, Scott
 
sanc said:
Congratulations on your reply Robert! Thanks for all the hard work! I renewed my membership through PayPal on 5/28 but it has not shown up as renewed. I had renewed my Vacuum Land membership on 5/21 through PayPal and that is reflected correctly. I think I must have done the Automatic Washer renewal while the upgrade was happening. Please let me know how to correct. Thanks, Scott
Click to expand...

Hi Scott, this afternoon I let @Alan know which members to check to see if their upgrade was counted during the transition. You're name was on the list I sent Alan.
 
Unimatic1140 said:
Hi everyone, so about a year and a half ago I had mentioned in thread postings on both aw and Vacuumland that I was thinking about retiring from running the websites. I first launched Automaticwasher in 2001 (originally as classicappliances.com, renamed to automaticwasher.org in 2004). Vacuumland followed in 2007, and Automatic Ephemera in 2012.

Now, after nearly 25 amazing years, the time has come for me to pass the torch. After considering several options, I was approached by Groupbuilder—a company that specializes in managing forum-based websites. They bring the tools, infrastructure, technical knowledge and team needed to support and grow the sites well beyond what I could do on my own. GroupBuilder has been so very nice and have impressed me every step of the way, and I have full confidence they can carry our washer and vacuum communities forward for many years to come. Frankly, if something terrible had happened to me, the sites would have gone offline within a couple of months—but now, their future is secure, and believe me they’re in very good hands. It’s very important to me that all the work I have done over the last 25 years to share the history of automatic washers, other appliances and vacuum cleaners, etc. not die out with me.

But I want to assure everyone that this isn’t a goodbye from me. It’s been a true joy being your webmaster, and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be active here just as I always have and on other social media appliance groups, making washer videos from my collection, producing new reproduction rubber parts, and diving into new creative ideas to enhance our shared passion for vintage washers, dryers, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, and other appliances.

If you’ve enjoyed our websites over the years, I hope you’ll keep supporting them just like you always have. So, with that, I’m now officially retired. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Alan—I couldn’t be more excited about our new administrator. Thank you all again—a big hug to everyone here!
Click to expand...
Congratulations on your retirement and am happy you will still be present on the site. Cheers! Todd
 
Unimatic1140 said:
Hi everyone, so about a year and a half ago I had mentioned in thread postings on both aw and Vacuumland that I was thinking about retiring from running the websites. I first launched Automaticwasher in 2001 (originally as classicappliances.com, renamed to automaticwasher.org in 2004). Vacuumland followed in 2007, and Automatic Ephemera in 2012.

Now, after nearly 25 amazing years, the time has come for me to pass the torch. After considering several options, I was approached by Groupbuilder—a company that specializes in managing forum-based websites. They bring the tools, infrastructure, technical knowledge and team needed to support and grow the sites well beyond what I could do on my own. GroupBuilder has been so very nice and have impressed me every step of the way, and I have full confidence they can carry our washer and vacuum communities forward for many years to come. Frankly, if something terrible had happened to me, the sites would have gone offline within a couple of months—but now, their future is secure, and believe me they’re in very good hands. It’s very important to me that all the work I have done over the last 25 years to share the history of automatic washers, other appliances and vacuum cleaners, etc. not die out with me.

But I want to assure everyone that this isn’t a goodbye from me. It’s been a true joy being your webmaster, and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be active here just as I always have and on other social media appliance groups, making washer videos from my collection, producing new reproduction rubber parts, and diving into new creative ideas to enhance our shared passion for vintage washers, dryers, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, and other appliances.

If you’ve enjoyed our websites over the years, I hope you’ll keep supporting them just like you always have. So, with that, I’m now officially retired. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Alan—I couldn’t be more excited about our new administrator. Thank you all again—a big hug to everyone here!
Click to expand...
I want to thank you for all that you have done. I've been a member for fifteen years now. I fully support your decision, as you deserve the best that life has to offer. I'm happy to hear that you'll remain active in the club.

Larry
 
I'm going to go out on a limb and be cautious about this. I don't appreciate seeing community forums like this be snatched up by a corporation with dubious intent and possible shady motives. I understand that robert wanted to retire, but selling the forum to a company? not a good move IMO. We will see how this pans out.
 
egress said:
I'm going to go out on a limb and be cautious about this. I don't appreciate seeing community forums like this be snatched up by a corporation with dubious intent and possible shady motives. I understand that robert wanted to retire, but selling the forum to a company? not a good move IMO. We will see how this pans out.
Click to expand...
If Robert didn’t sell the forum off to someone who would keep it going, the site would have died off and lots of useful information would have gone up in smoke. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned by going through the archives, even re-reading various threads in the archives in regards to the Whirlpool belt drives and Maytag HOH’s.

It will probably take some getting used to the ‘new’ AW site, might return to the old layout or something reminiscent to the old site in time.

As much as I don’t like change in life, it’s just the reality of life. If nothing ever changed, would be extremely boring, no wisdom or life experience would be gained.
 
egress said:
I'm going to go out on a limb and be cautious about this. I don't appreciate seeing community forums like this be snatched up by a corporation with dubious intent and possible shady motives. I understand that robert wanted to retire, but selling the forum to a company? not a good move IMO. We will see how this pans out.
Click to expand...
Robert publicly posted his intention to retire from running AW, as he states in the OP of this thread. Anyone who wanted to take it over had ample opportunity to contact him about it. Perhaps some did but found it's more than they were willing to take on. There has been no info offered-up about who is now financing the hosting, if perhaps some of the original founders of the group (before it was online and then was on Yahoo groups) are involved, or if it was "sold off to a corporation" ... although there's no responsibility for Robert or the new head-honchos to do so IMO.
 
Word of advice: Never use your real name or real email when using the internet. Never link pics from Facebook or other social media as any image can be reveres tracked. People might call you different things or names, however I can assure you have your identity or personal information stolen is far worse. The world isn't innocent sadly.
 
Chetlaham said:
Word of advice: Never use your real name or real email when using the internet. Never link pics from Facebook or other social media as any image can be reveres tracked. People might call you different things or names, however I can assure you have your identity or personal information stolen is far worse. The world isn't innocent sadly.
Click to expand...
This is basically why I use an alias last name on Facebook and other social media sites since I’m very careful with what information I put out there. Never know what kind of wackos are out there, definitely knew a few people who were like that in my high school years sadly and honestly don’t really want to have anything to do with those folks anymore, of course there’s a few people I’ll keep in touch who are genuine people, but the rest I’ve moved on from.
 
THANK YOU, Robert, for all you have done for those who have an interest in appliances! For years, I thought I was the only one, and now I know how untrue that is. I've always appreciated your input, along with the input of many others. Retirement? I have been there for five years, and for me, it has been true freedom. Enjoy it, young man.
George
 
Right Sean and Chetleham. I got an email last week that was allegedly from the post office regarding a package that needed an updated verification of my address and email to be delivered. Well those are common knowledge. I knew it was phony because I wasn't expecting anything. I copied the link to my browser and it wasn't USPS at all but a fake retail site and asked for a credit card number to proceed. When links don't match up, or it diverts to another site. Delete it! Don't click on it.
 
washerlover said:
So that's why I've been getting those fake USPS delivery emails lately..!

Regardless, I applaud Robert's hard work and dedication to this site and am happy he arranged for it to carry on. Congrats again on retirement!
Click to expand...
As soon as you get a email about a package arriving even though you didn’t order anything, it’s a scam. Always am skeptical when I receive an email or text about something I didn’t order etc.

Literally was getting quite a few spam calls awhile back, didn’t even bother answering. I think they figured it’s a backup phone number and simply moved on.

I then learned my former high school sold my information off (what morons) which is why I’ve been getting lots of spam calls over the past 8 years. Still kind of pissed my former school did that, but is another reason why I don’t care for the education system, will literally do anything such as selling one’s information off for profit, frankly that should be illegal.
 
I doesn't matter if your information is sold or not. My former union local had a laptop stolen in 2007 and it was hacked into. It had SS numbers on it too. The letter I got advised calling all three credit reporting agencies which I did. Nothing ever happened luckily.
I don't blame the education system per say. My sister is a teacher who has been in both the private and public schools. Each have different problems. There are good and poor teachers as well as administration. In charter and private some are profit before students and staff. Some of the underachieving is the parents fault. My sister used to buy her class healthy snacks because they learned better. It was a poorer district. Kids need a good lunch. Now she's in a Lutheran school and likes the smaller class size. She has to meet her students outside in the morning and escort them to their parents cars at the end of the day. Some show up driving expensive cars and the odor of cannabis permeates the air when they open the doors.
 
Bottom line is this; it isn't 1990's or even 2000's any longer, putting up a simple GeoCities site just doesn't cut it any longer.

Many websites begun 20 or even 10 years ago have closed up. Owner/person starting either retires, has gone onto the other place, or simply no longer wishes to bother with financial and significant amount of time required to keep things going. Owner of "Coinwash.com" simply upped one day and said he had enough, was retiring and "going fishing".

As stated the Internet has grown up. What was acceptable for a site back in 1995 or even 2005 simply no longer usually cuts it. Well not if site owner cares about SEO ranking, functionality and other bits.

Back in day there was only PCs to worry about and Microsoft's Explorer was basically only game in town far as browsers were concerned. Today internet can be accessed from many different devices and from various browsers. Sites must be operable across all those platforms and so forth.

Coding isn't easy, especially for a site of any size and also if one wishes it to have all mod cons. Hosting a site isn't easy either as there's always work to be done, issues to be addressed and that all requires time (and money).

Nothing against our wonderful and great Fearless Leader, but I for one am enjoying many of the new features and technical upgrades to site. Having built and hosted a website am well aware of how much effort went on behind scenes to transform AW.org.

We are all truly fortunate our webmaster was able to vet many offers and found someone willing to carry AW.org into future. As stated we know what the alternative might have been....
 
maytag85 said:
I then learned my former high school sold my information off (what morons) which is why I’ve been getting lots of spam calls over the past 8 years. Still kind of pissed my former school did that, but is another reason why I don’t care for the education system, will literally do anything such as selling one’s information off for profit, frankly that should be illegal.
Click to expand...


How? Was it just for military recruitment purposes or did they actually give it to some third party?
 
foraloysius said:
Sean, cut the negative attitude! Greedy crooks? Do you have evidence for that? You’re getting more out of your free membership than before. And once again I want to remember you of the fact that you never contributed financially to this website, so what is your loss?
Click to expand...

A public school funded by tax payer's money has one job and that is to teach students. Nowhere does giving out student information without consent fit such a description.

I fail to see why someone rightfully disagreeing with a school giving out student information to third parties would be so upsetting to you Louis.
 
We don't know what school it was allegedly, or if public or private. I'd like to know though.
Movie quote; "Oh Francine! It's those cheap Baltimore schools. God I wish I lived in Connecticut!"🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂 These days laughter is the best medicine 💊
 

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