ROAD TRIP TO BUFFALO FOR ROLLERMATICS ENDS IN DISASTER!

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Dang!

Glad to hear that you are okay.
This is terrible!
Glad that it did not come flying through your windshield.
We all learn from our mistakes.
I am sure that you will find another.
Brent
 
i cannot even bring myself to bring it in the house

it is sitting in the drive. i am beyond upset about this! i am heart sunk over it as well as pretty goddamn mad at myself! i have a bit of joan crawford in me and i am very hard on myself in life. when i do something that stupid i make sure i pay the price, dearly!

this is my biggest mess up in awhile and i am taking action already to insure i don't forget this for a long time.

the washer will be on display in my living room, so every day i have to look at it as it is and remember how my stupidity caused this mess!

i have put all my dishwashers in my large spare bedroom and have locked the door so i cannot enjoy them. i am stopping all dishwasher collecting. i have one i just bought that jim the trucker is bringing me next week, that sears top loader with a roto rack. i am not even testing it. it is going in the room to be shut away. i don't deserve to collect them if i can destroy such a beautiful washer due to my stupidity, one i may never find again.

i am not posting any more pics on the site of my dishwashers or washers. i am only using the site for one purpose now, to try to find another 1965 custom imperial, color does not matter.

i have to go back and get the last rollermatic and take the man a wringer washer i told him i would pick up for him in cleveland. this trip will be a total bummer and i hope i remember well how stupid i was when i hit erie pa. i am definately not letting myself enjoy the falls or darian lake on this trip. just an 8 hr. drive over, then an 8 hr. drive back!

i had a trip to lake erie planned with my ex for august, we always went to cedar point the 10 years we were together. i cancelled that.

i had time warner scheduled to install cable as i was gonna get it hooked up again as a treat. i cancelled that. no tv in this house!

i love music and play it a lot so just for an added screw i took my cd player today and completely smashed it to peices so i cannot play anything! here's a lovely pic of it to prove my point that i am quite serious about disciplining myself over this stupidity! why didn't i tie it in! why didn't i stop sooner when i got tired!

i never hurt animals so my pets have nothing to worry about but my friends always pay the price by my simply not calling them when i'm in one of my self hatred moods. they always just let me be till i poke my head out again!

trust me, i used to be worse when i drank, i would tear up the house, even broke my ex lover's finger one time, or was it his toe, we laugh about it now! it was nothing for me to destroy whole sets of dishes, furniture, even ran over the vacuum cleaner once when we were having a fight. how we made it 10 years is beyond me! just shows you that i may be sober 11 years but i'm still a drunk at heart, especially if i stop working a program of recovery and i have not been doin that lately! time to get back in the solution and all that shit!

so what's the purpose of posting all this shit here!? to drive it home that i am beyond upset, beyond mad at myself over destroying this wonderful machine that i wanted so badly! i'll probably never find another one! there's probably none out there! i figure by posting all this everyone here will think i'm nuts and my credibility on this site will be ruined also, another way to hurt myself for being so goddamned stupid! oh yea, and God's gotten a few choice words from me also in the last day or so, his ears are burning for sure! glad he's big enough to take it! what is it we say in AA, "i need a God i can cuss out in the middle of the night"
it's really true! you have to be a drunk to understand it.

but i am also making sure i punish myself really where it hurts me, in the wallet! i am pretty cheap so this one really will get at me!

if i find another 1965 custom imperial i will pay 1000 bucks for it! if somneone has a top only i will pay 500 bucks! or maybe more! i am that serious about getting another. anyone who wants to make 1000 bucks keep your eyes open for me please! i'm not going to doing any more posts here, at least till i can get out of this loathing i have for myself over my stupidity!

it's been fun and i have enjoyed the site a lot and enjoyed posting my pics and sharing my appliance collecting with you all.

but this site is about preservation and care for these beautiful machines, saving them, restoring them. it's obvious i don't know a fucking thing about that or care about them or i would not have let that custom imperial be destroyed by falling out of my truck!

so that's it for me, i will put posts on here periodically to try to find another rollermatic, i am also putting a post on craigs list in ever major city in the usa offering 1000 bucks for a replacement to the machine i destroyed.

and i will continue to beat myself up for a good long while, then finally get my ass back to some AA meetings and get a good dose of recovery in me and eventually forgive myself and look back on this and laugh! but not now! joan crawford is out with her wire coathanger and it's gonna slap my back hard for many a day here till i finally yell "uncle" and say i've had enough!

i still can't believe i was so goddamn stupid to destroy that beautiful washer! i'm in shock most probably!

thanks for listening and letting me vent, and when you pick up your beautiful appliances, don't be as dumb as me! maybe this will actually help someone else!

it's good for a laugh if nothing else! i don't mind bein a joke! i'm a fucking idiot!

soberleaf++7-16-2009-23-25-17.jpg
 
Ohhh

Peter, I feel for you, BUT you have learned the very hard way, lesson learned, dont beat yourself up, you are so much more an asset to all here and to finding your replacement by focusing what you have...the rest will come..

Enjoy your friends, folks and appliances you have, have a day of feeling crap if needed, then focus on the way forward ...all the best, Mike
 
Hopefully--------

somewhere,somehow, a nice top and console will find its way to you or you to it. Save everything you've got, and just wait it out.

Mike is right----don't beat yourself up. Move on.
 
Stop beating yourself up! Shit happens, and that day wasn't your day!
You now have a parts machine, one that will bring life to others. You now know the importance of tying machines down. Feel lucky that when it fell, it didn't hit another vehicle, or person, that's lawsuit time. Take this as a learning experience, not as an experience that sours your outlook on collecting, and life in general.
I can't tell you how many times I've picked up a mint condition machine, and loaded it on the truck with others. When I've unloaded them, there is a big scratch, or dent in the mint one, from failing to pad things, or shoving them together.

There will be others.

kennyGF
 
Oh my Gawd. I'm sorry.

I try to beleive all things happen for a reason. Perhaps the machine would have flooded you out or burned your house down.

Maybe driving just that little bit slower means you wont be running over some poor child or animal.

Somehow, this is a blessing. May this disaster prevent a much bigger one!
 
Sorry for your loss, but it could have been much, much worse as both Kenny and Toggs pointed out. You have a machine that now is good for parts - nothing wrong with that. Beating yourself up over a washing machine is not the way to go. Remember - it is just a washing machine.

There are Rollermatics out there just waiting to be pulled from basements, maybe even in your own hometown! Keep your head up, and eyes pealed, and keeping digging at it. Don't expect it to fall in front of you easy and let it come to you. Then when it does, you'll be prepared for the next time to ensure that you've strapped it down real good :D

Ben
 
aw man really sorry to hear all of this. my heart goes out to you. dont trash the machine just yet either a new top will come along or the lower half will be wonderful for a doner machine. if you want to sell off the lower half let me know am sure we can save another machine from your machine. there will be another one out there with your name on it. try not to worry
 
OH NOOOOOOOO!!!

Pete, that is just awful! I managed to do something similar once, but with a vintage fridge... Don't give up - you will find another one and at the very worst, perhaps your machine will be a parts donor.
Such a shame - and a turquoise one, to boot!!
 
The machine being damaged is very unfortunate. I know there is another machine out there, it may take you a while to find it though. My view is that it is just a machine and it can fixed, you may have to fabricate parts but it is fixable. Beating up on yourself that much may not be necessary. As long as you are mindful of taking those corners slow and taking chill periods went you get too excited about a machine, you should be fine. I understand exactly how much a machine can mean to a person. You view the rollermatics as a work of art, just like I view the 1968 Whirlpool washers with the crescent console light as a work of art.(by the way I have not found that machine yet, Guys and Gals please keep a look out for it.) Remember it's just a machine. It's possible that you can fix the one you have. You live in the relative area, maybe we can fix it.
 
I am soo very sorry for your loss...

BUT I agree with Toggs, Kenny, and Ben, this could have been so much worse. No one is dead or hurt! I ALSO believe that things happen for a reason. The will of ones higher power may never be completely understood.

Please use it as a lesson without punishing us by not contributing to this wonderful site. I GREATLY enjoy your posts and would miss them dearly should you stop.
 
Don't beat yourself up!

Ok it happend, you cannot change the past, just draw a line under it and move on, you CANNOT punish yourself for breaking the washer - punish yourself for what? Being human? We are human, we make mistakes!

Unlock the dish washers, and ENJOY THEM!!!

Lets look at this another way, those appliances you rescue are all saved, they are loved, and cared for and because of YOU do not end up in a trash heap somewhere!

They go on and continue to exist so others can appreciate their beauty, and consider how well things used to be designed.

So if it wasnt for you doing what you do LOADS more appliances would be dead now, you had one casulty and it happens, but you need to keep going for the appliances you can rescue for the future.

Unlock those appliances, use the boards here and relax because the moment you stop enjoying all those old dishwashers is the day you may as well scrap them! The minute you stop posting here and joining in may be the minute a newbie came looking for help or to get into vintage appliances, they may need you.

By using, appreciating and contributing you are making sure all vintage appliances live on for as long as you do so.

Dont look back, look forward, have a drink, a cry then remember tomorrows a new day

Lots of Love

John x
 
Pete

I am so sorry this happened to you. I can only imagine how I would feel. I know this is hard right now but you won't do yourself, your machines, or your fellow club members any favors by treating yourself badly. I thought I'd fix my Rapidry 1000 in one weekend, well I still have parts in the basement six weeks later and can't get my agitator nut off. I've learned that it's ok for me to love my machines but to not treat them in a way that's too serious. Put that machine out of sight, and wait, I've been amazed at what I have seen turn up on this forum. When I began to think about Rollermatics after having not seen one in 15 years I thought I would never see one again, let alone ever have one.

A good friend who is older gave me some tough love one time about some problems that I was having, to quote her she said "Get your mind off of it, right now!" What that means is to control your mind and pull it away from what's negative.

Pete, you're a great contributor to this forum and I have really enjoyed your posts, please don't do these things to yourself. I'll be thinking of you.
 
Oh No!

I can't imagine how sickened you were to see what to your beautiful prize. To tell you the truth, i found myself a little sick to my stomach for you, when I saw the pic's. Words can't express how badly I feel for you. I'm sure the rest of the gang agrees with me that we hope you find the parts to make your dream become a reality.
 
Don't Fret

Pete,

There is not one of us on this site who hasn't done something that could be classified as abject "stupidity". If we all shared just one idiotic thing we have done, we could write a book, I am sure.

I'll share one similar thing that my Uncle did, and will hopefully make you feel better about yourself and maybe put a smile on your face. He and a friend went and bought a beautiful player piano at auction and loaded it in the back of his pickup.

When arriving home, he pulled around the house and drove through the yard to a workshop he had about 300 yards behind the house.

When he and his friend got out of the truck, at the workshop, there was no piano in the truck bed. Well after first suspecting they were in the Twilight Zone they finally had the intelligence to determined that the piano must have fallen out.

They walked up the yard, and sure, enough, there was a player piano, (sitting on its top) in the side yard. Apparently he had turned too sharply, coupled with the hilly ground, and the piano just toppled over the bedside of the truck and landed on its top.

You can guess what type of shape it was in internally.

Now how two grown adult men could not hear, or feel, a piano falling off a truck is unknown to me. They were either temporarily deaf, had the radio blasting or were just utterly oblivious to reality. I think it is the latter as my Uncle swears he never heard a sound.

At least you had the awareness that your machine fell out!

So don't beat yourself up, you are not the first, and won't be the last to do something like that.

Beating yourself up does not undo anything. Hiding your appliances from yourself and the joy they give you won't change reality or cause you to behave any differently in the future.

You learned your lesson without punishing yourself. Trust me, from here on out you will always secure all items in your truck. You have learned your lesson a million times over.


No one got killed, no one got hurt. GOD is still in heaven and the Universe is under control.


And as one of the other members told you, you have some wonderful parts that, may one day, give life to another RollerMatic down the road.

So enjoy your appliances, enjoy yourself and take comfort in the fact that you have friends on this site who care about you.

Barry
 
Peter, if you found your inner Joan Crawford, try and find your inner Judy Garland. What do anger, regret and self-punishment accomplish? If nothing, then what's the point of it?

You and my other half should meet. I've seen him self-flaggelate for six weeks over a simple human mistake.

Live and learn, and move on. This accident could have been much worse. Years ago a wheel flew off my dad's work van on a busy L.A. freeway, jumped the center divide and I'll spare y'all the gory details, but it was many years of living legal hell for something that wasn't even his fault.

I can almost guarantee you a 1965 Custom Imperial isn't nearly as rare as you think. If you're serious about finding another one, forget Craigslist and place small ads in the wanted sections of your local newspapers. Your target audience are retired people, many or most of whom are not computer literate. Also, don't specify an exact year, as half the people who'll own these washers assume theirs is a different year than what it actually is. Just put something like "60's" or "mid-60's", and if the seller gives a description that matches the one you're looking for, regardless of what year the seller *claims* it is, go take a look at it.
 
Salvage the parts you can from the panel and top and throw the rest away quick! No reason to cry over spilled milk now - wipe it up and forget about it.

We've all had machines we've gotten rid of and later wished we had back, made a grave error in cleaning/rebuilding/painting, etc. that we've regretted so this just makes you a part of the group even more - welcome to the "Broken Hearts Appliance Club" - have some cookies! ;-)
 
65 frigidaire ooopps

Pete, Stop trashing yourself,get a grip. Even a gold plated washer is still just a washer,and does not at any time have the value of a human life! So get on with collecting with the rest of us,your genuine,happy and truly thankful to know you friends!As nice as that was,could it be,this happened to show you how many friends you have,who will be there for you if you let us?......just a thought. Moving right along onto the next urgent topic,what kind of donuts should we have with our coffee next time you come? I am looking forward to visiting with you. We just didn't have enough time to talk about collecting!! EVEN WHEN YOU ACCIDENTLY OCCASIONALLY TRASH A PIECE,IT'S still A FUN PASTIME. Talk to you soon,Walt
 
Sounds like my luck!!!

I once loaded a friends pickup under my carport while moving and when I drove off my glass curio cabinet was too tall to clear the overhang....you guessed it , wrecked my curio and ruined several pieces of mid century furniture....I was mad at myself too...I know its not much consolation, but no one was hurt,a washer in the road is a recipe for disaster...not to mention a lawsuit....I sure hope that you can find another one..good luck
 
Pete, I feel your pain...

We've all done things that bit us in the ass. Early on in my career I was doing a delivery of a gas range in Eureka, CA. I thought I was all that and a bag of chips and tied it down and hotted off to deliver it in nearby Arcata. Halfway there, I saw the flashing lights of a CHP cruiser behind me. I pulled over and proceeded to get one of the NASTIEST lectures I have ever received. It turns out that the cop was following behind me when the cooktop of the older Magic Chef range (which I had forgotten to secure) had lifted up and blew off the back of my truck. Where did it end up? Yeah, You guessed it. Bounced off the hood of the cruiser, cracked the windshield and ended up stuck between the lightbar and the roof. Despite the ticket/fines, the repair bill to the cop car and the ass chewing that I (rightfully) got from my boss, the HARDEST yelling at I got was from myself!

It happens! Grieve and MOVE ON! You WILL find another machine. If an Apex can surface, yours will too. You will recover from this. Be thankfull all that was damaged was the REPLACEABLE washer! I enjoy your participation here and you would be punishing all of us by not being here. We got your back and will add your washer to our hit list of machines to find. Stay with us, Pete. Besides, I want to see pictures of you riding that coaster and screaming like a girly-man ;^>

RCD
 
Stop beating yourself up!

Lets get these machines into perspective for a while, its a hobby! thats all!. . .

Much as we love our hobby, remember whats important in life and the bigger picture like your family/ friends etc and move on. . .
 
I am so sorry that this happened to you but please just stop beating your self up over this.I enjoy reading your post and looking at your pictures and I still remember that you were the first to welcome me to this site and I thank you for that.Life is to short to condem your self over a machine.If you need to get to a meeting to get things together then go now.Life is just too short for this and take it from someone that almost lost their life the other day.Take Care
 
I did the same thing with a 1930s Green/Yellow/Black stove. It was a mile from my house, and that sound...awful. I found another stove, cheap and in better shape than the first, and (as I discovered after dismantling the damaged stove) safer to use. I cracked the door frame on that stove in 5 places, and the porcelain top took a beating. It sucks, but life will go on.

Wes
 
Don't beat yourself up over this Peter....

First I have to say that I am very sorry that this happened Peter. I guess the good thing is that the machine did not fall on anyone, or cause a traffic accident.

Did this machine work prior to the fall? The reason I ask, is because if it did, the mechanical parts are most likely ok. It looks as if the top of the machine and console were destroyed however. Perhaps this machine could still be saved,if you really want to try. The Rollermatics are still out there, and you may run into another Custom Imperial at some point in the future. The next one may have a nice top and console, but have a rusted out outer tub, or worn out roller system. If I were you, I would hang on to what you have there. Someone in this club will come across another Custom Imperial that is not worth fixing, but has a nice console and top. You could then simply have the donor top media blasted and painted to match your turquoise lower cabinet, and install it on your machine. You could use the left over turquoise paint to touch up the chips on your lower cabinet.
The colour of the console lens does not matter either. White, or even the bronze colours look fine with the turquoise.
I changed this 1966 set from Coppertone to Turquoise last year, during the restoration. Here are the before and after photos.

rickr++7-17-2009-23-22-1.jpg
 
.

Or perhaps the donor top will be the coppertone that you remember your aunt having, and you can have the lower cabinet media blasted and painted coppertone to match the top.

The point is, don't feel bad, because we have a entire network going with this group. Someone will find another parts/donor machine, and you will be able to get your Custom Imperial back together again.

Who knows? Someone may find your "donor" tomorrow.

Best of luck to you Peter!

Rick

rickr++7-17-2009-23-33-1.jpg
 
Ahhhhhh changing Coppertone to Turquoise! Why would you do that, I know its just personal taste but I think the coppertone looks great!
 
rollermatic 65

Pete, DUDE ,YOU ARE A CELEBRITY!! YOU GOT 58 replies!! .....and now you know we all trashed something at one time or another,might need your autograph when you come,I never know what I am going to find,could even get another 65 custom imperial,.....and if I do,guess who I want to come get it and take to ohio!! By the way,do we want a quick snack grilled on the hotpoint to go with our coffee? take care,Walt
 

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