Thread Number: 4548
The September Chronicles of Sarnia |
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Post# 50916   9/8/2008 at 23:09 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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This is how it almost ended... Left Pete's about 9pm in a steady light rain. Hardly any traffic on the 402, making good time on the 90 minute trip home... 1/2 hour from home, needing to 'relieve some fluids' I pulled into my favorite gas station out in the middle of nowhere to find it closed. Needed to relieve real bad now, so jumped out of the car to zip 'round the side in the dark. Get back to the running car to find I had bumped the virtually un-bumpable All Lock switch!!! Can you say "heart plunged to the cellar of my soul"? This is Classic Tragi-Comedy! Yup, It's raining, it's dark as night can be except for the car's interior, was locked out of the running car with the spare keys inside the briefcase. This has never happened to me, I am always so careful. And I mean I am in the middle of the countryside with the cellphone also taunting me from the dashboard. Through some dumb luck I had at least pulled the car up to the lit up store windows and also the driver's door was not fully closed leaving a 1/8" gap between the frameless Subaru window and the body rubber seal. A Eureka moment dawned - I realized that with a straightened coat hanger I should be able to run it in and capture the lock latch. But wher to get one? I rummaged through the gas station's garbage bins but they had been emptied. There is a pay phone and I do have change but do I really want to call up CAA? maybe someone will come along I can flag down that will have a precious coat hanger with the dry cleaning>? Pondering my choices I turned around and looked up and...walked a hundred yards to a house up the road with lights on. Turned out to be the Vietnamese feller that runs the gas Station. Things are looking up! he recognized me but when I mentioned I need a wire coat hanger he grimaced and said - my wife has only plastic hangers. ARGHHHHHHH...Shades of Mommy Dearest!!!!!!! Well, he went into his garage, rummaged around for 10 minutes and came back with...one magled WIRE COAT HANGER! Saints be praised. Within 2 minutes I had the latch snagged, popped the lock, got in the car and continued the drive, whooping hystericaly like a mad thing! So adrenaline pumped I broke a rule and called Pete on the cellphone while driving. There was NO other traffic. Home safe, sane and sound by 10:30. Perhaps it was the vacuum shenanigans earlier that afternoon with Pete that turned me into an airhead? Dave blowing up his head while inhaling mothball fumes... |
Post# 50917 , Reply# 1   9/8/2008 at 23:15 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50918 , Reply# 2   9/8/2008 at 23:16 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50919 , Reply# 3   9/8/2008 at 23:17 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50920 , Reply# 4   9/8/2008 at 23:22 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50921 , Reply# 5   9/8/2008 at 23:24 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50922 , Reply# 6   9/8/2008 at 23:30 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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With Pete's navigation I found the house my Aunt Jessie )Mom's oldest sister by 15 years!)and Uncle Bud ( the barber Shop baritone) lived in. We used to come visit for two weeks every summer. They've been gone to their rewards these past 10 years now. Ugh, I thought...the place sure looks run down and inhabited by trailer trash... |
Post# 50923 , Reply# 7   9/8/2008 at 23:36 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50924 , Reply# 8   9/8/2008 at 23:38 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50925 , Reply# 9   9/8/2008 at 23:44 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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So I'm off to bed with this teaser shot of what came home with me from Sarnia. Oh yes, Sarnia Thrift Stores were canvassed... cheap & tawdry trinkets liberated by brain addled massage victim airhead Vacuum Lovers. :-) Dave, grateful to not be still standing bleak and forelorn in the rain at the side of the hiway. |
Post# 50927 , Reply# 10   9/8/2008 at 23:54 (5,705 days old) by charles~richard ()   |   | |
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I am verrrrrrrrrry curious to see what came with that BROWN Roll-Easy box....... might this at long last be confirmation that there was a canary-yellow model...??! |
Post# 50928 , Reply# 11   9/9/2008 at 00:13 (5,705 days old) by vac-o-matic (Saint Louis, Mo.)   |   | |
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Hey guys, I have a Universal blue tank that looks like the Monitors. Were they made by the same company? Rick |
Post# 50929 , Reply# 12   9/9/2008 at 00:16 (5,705 days old) by petek (Ontario)   |   | |
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I believe that GE eventually bought out Monitor. Monitor was the company that originally built the compressors that were used on the GE Monitor top refrigerators as well. |
Post# 50937 , Reply# 14   9/9/2008 at 04:42 (5,705 days old) by arh1953 ( River Park, in Port St. Lucie, Florida)   |   | |
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Post# 50942 , Reply# 15   9/9/2008 at 08:38 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Some folks have recognized this sleek shape and tell me it was sold in the USA as either a Kingston or a Firestone. I have only ever seen these two. The first one - cylinder only - came from the Petrolia Junque Barn Pete took me to on my first Sarnia visit, detailed in Dave & Pete's Micro-meet thread, the same barn where I found the turquoise dog groomer hose for the Roll-Easy. The second came with the hose, wands floor nozzle and dusting bruah from a great lady in Philadelphia who's friend read the thread; it had been her grandparents vacuum at the Michigan cottage. It had one day simply stopped running and she was happy to send it to me for the shipping. Turned out to be that the cord had been tugged one time too many - the cord-to-switch internal connection had separated. Easy fix. This is the vacuum I want to find transparent blue spray paint for, as a final coat over new gray or silver 'Hammertone' to approximate the original look. CLICK HERE TO GO TO aeoliandave's LINK |
Post# 50943 , Reply# 16   9/9/2008 at 08:46 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Pete gifted this to me. Haven't played with it yet. Came with the electric hose in excellent shape, no tools (I'll find 'em in the partz bin) Not crazy about the plastic wands and Power Nozzle (same ones used on the Tempos) but that's easily swapped for a GOOD PN from the PN bin. :-) This model does not have a cord reel - you wind it around the tool tray clips. Will need a tear-down cleaning as the bag inside has exploded open. |
Post# 50945 , Reply# 17   9/9/2008 at 08:52 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Sure wish I had more information to give you... The brown box came with my first version Roll-Easy. The turquoise one came with the 2nd version R-1. This is not to say they are original to the Roll-Easys they came with. They differ in size, construction and graphics - no other markings other than the Logo typeface used. |
Post# 50946 , Reply# 18   9/9/2008 at 08:54 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50947 , Reply# 19   9/9/2008 at 09:00 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50948 , Reply# 20   9/9/2008 at 09:25 (5,705 days old) by charles~richard ()   |   | |
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I have never seen the brown Roll-Easy carton. It's an enigma wrapped in a mystery! Re your Kingston, I have a Firestone in gray hammertone: |
Post# 50949 , Reply# 21   9/9/2008 at 09:26 (5,705 days old) by charles~richard ()   |   | |
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Post# 50950 , Reply# 22   9/9/2008 at 09:27 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Dave monitors Pete's driveway. Pete kindly & generously gifted me the two Filter Queens (I had brought along the chrome FQ PN, Polisher, De-Mother, Hair Dryer hood and Massager for the Filter Queen Frolics) and the Blue Royal!. I have a complete Red Twin for the Royal in an Electro-Hygiene. Oddly enough I also had the blue trimmed Royal Floor nozzle that he didn't. The blue Royal has lovely shiny Aluminum wands, too while the red E-Hygiene's are steel. Together at last. Snatched up the dark green Kenmore Whispertone at Goodwill because the hose is in great shape and it has cord on the cordwinder. The bottom however has a huge crack in it. I have this same vacuum from the Woodstock Free Curbside Junk Day haul - that one has a split hose & cut off cord, but did come with the power nozzle and wands. From two shall become one... Not in the picture are a Singer Slant Needle Model 774 Stylist sewing machine with Manual in an older slant needle case from Value Village, a turquoise two-tier Lazy Susan like Mom had, and a TRION Ion/ozone Air Cleaner about the size of a VCR, with washable re-usable filters. LOL Hooray, I have the whole day to play until an evening work call and the sun is out blazing away again. |
Post# 50951 , Reply# 23   9/9/2008 at 09:33 (5,705 days old) by luxg ()   |   | |
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Dave, I am glad that your ordeal turned out well for you!! It looks like you and Pete had a great time!! |
Post# 50952 , Reply# 24   9/9/2008 at 09:39 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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The Firestone/Monitor has such a sensuous wind-cheating shape like engine pods from the Jetsons. The one piece cast aluminum handle alone is a work of art. Front & rear caps are painted aluminum castings with polished out details. A heavy vacuum pulling almost 60" but smaller in diameter than a Universal, about the same size as an Electrolux XXX. The hose coupling and wand diameter are incompatible with any other vacuum cleaner in my collection. The floor nozzle wand had two eccentric tabs that engage with the floor tool socket - like a Rainbow - but again, is not interchangable with the Rainbow. |
Post# 50953 , Reply# 25   9/9/2008 at 09:46 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50958 , Reply# 27   9/9/2008 at 10:48 (5,705 days old) by arh1953 ( River Park, in Port St. Lucie, Florida)   |   | |
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Post# 50959 , Reply# 28   9/9/2008 at 10:48 (5,705 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)   |   | |
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Post# 50960 , Reply# 29   9/9/2008 at 10:49 (5,705 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)   |   | |
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Post# 50961 , Reply# 30   9/9/2008 at 10:53 (5,705 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)   |   | |
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Post# 50962 , Reply# 31   9/9/2008 at 10:59 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Yeah Chad. I've heard these extra long sofas referred to as davenports, too. There's also the chunkier overstuffed Chesterfield size and a couch is just a couch, I suppose. Anyway, it was in perfect condition and I luv the grandeur of the fat carved posts under the arms. It is so spectacularly ugly - in an appealing way - it could only be vacuumed I think, with a Green flowered Sunbeam Challenger. Honest to Gawd, it is sooo long, low and comfortable I've half a mind to ask Pete to pick it up for me in the truck and I'll haul it home on the boat trailer. LOL Seriously! My current 'davenport' is almost as long but dreadfully tattered under a canvas coverup from 20 years of hard knocks and cat scratchpost duty. But I've not seen anything as long & low to replace it with. For this one I would cheerfully pitch the old one to the dump. I like the massager unit and it is very effective at numbing and relaxing muscles. Easy to connect but you'd have to develop an enjoyment of the accompanying whoosh of the vacuum and the loud-ish frapping low drone of the Diaphone valve. My Mom and Gramma had the FQ Hairdryers and used them regularly. For Sunday Church Mom would set my sister's hair up in rag knots and shove her under the FQ hood for 30 minutes. Little girls didn't get Perms back then in our neighborhood - the 1960s. Firestone/Kingston/Monitor - going to start a new thread on these. Chad, Pete and I have discussed how we should have a Vac Meet for our Michigan/SW Ontario area some day. Ann Arbor is so close to Port Huron/Sarnia. It'll have to wait until Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb with my work schedule. tho'. |
Post# 50963 , Reply# 32   9/9/2008 at 11:05 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50964 , Reply# 33   9/9/2008 at 11:07 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50965 , Reply# 34   9/9/2008 at 11:08 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50976 , Reply# 35   9/9/2008 at 14:21 (5,705 days old) by collector2 (Moose Jaw, Sk)   |   | |
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Post# 50985 , Reply# 36   9/9/2008 at 15:48 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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I had the blue bumpered tool, narrower 'wall' brush and crevicetool brush. Added a generic tapered rubber dusting brush that fits in the end of the wand. Thanks, Pete. The flash kinda washed out ther color of the floor bumper trim, but if you know Roiyal you know the lovely rich blue it is. the Red & Blue cousins are side by side now hoses entwined...perhaps they'll go bump in the night and produce little green Prince and Princess handvacs... |
Post# 50986 , Reply# 37   9/9/2008 at 15:58 (5,705 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50987 , Reply# 38   9/9/2008 at 16:00 (5,704 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50988 , Reply# 39   9/9/2008 at 16:02 (5,704 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Post# 50990 , Reply# 40   9/9/2008 at 16:11 (5,704 days old) by aeoliandave (Stratford Ontario Canada)   |   | |
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Another Model 200 Manual page showing the hose and other tools, all with long necks. Unique button latch connections slide into a long slot on the necks. Note the floor nozzle doesn't yet have a rubber bumper. Unlike later styled Model 30s and 700s etc, only one curved wand, the upper section is straight. It is the hose pipe end that is curved and connected to the tools or wands. And gol'darnit, if I don't have the correct long neck slotted Crevice Tool for this Filter Queen. Many many thanks, dear Pete. Another vacuum comes together like globs of mercury... |
Post# 51046 , Reply# 43   9/10/2008 at 06:45 (5,704 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)   |   | |
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My mom had the hair dryer attachment for her Filter Queen but I don't remember ever seeing her use it. Instead she had a similiar looking bonnet and tube which connected to a dryer that sort of looked like what we know as todays blow dryer. It was all chrome, about 10-12 inches in height, maybe made by Sunbeam, but I'm not sure. Gary |
Post# 51067 , Reply# 45   9/10/2008 at 12:36 (5,704 days old) by arh1953 ( River Park, in Port St. Lucie, Florida)   |   | |
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