Need some help

[bubba]

How do you guys get your wife to understand that soda machines are cool? I thought I was doing a good thing tonite, and I got called an a*hole.. My wife was out tonite, so I decided to surprise her. Now granted, the kids kinda trashed the basement a bit, but what would you think walking down the steps to the basement, and seeing this??



Well, I didn't get the reaction I was hoping for.... the good part is that there is no way in heck she is gonna carry it back out, so its staying...
 But the machine is cleaning up very well so far... I still have some more to clean on it, but it looks good as far as I'm concerned...





So, how do you people manage to get your signifigant other to appreciate your hobby?

[halehouse]

That hardly takes up any room at all. My wife doesn't mind my "stuff" as long as it stays delegated to the basement (which is finished) or the garage (which is a one car, so not much can go in there anyhow).  She never has really balked at what they are, only to say "we don't have the money right now".  Does she "have" the rest of the house?  If so, that machine is really such a small part of the whole.  

[BryanH]

Don't bring them inside the house until they're clean and functioning...  Keep them in the garage or unfinished part of the basement until then.

[dr galaga]

Quote (bubba @ Dec. 22 2005,9:42)

How do you guys get your wife to understand that soda machines are cool?

I'd like to know too.  I get "the look" whenever I talk about fixing up the Pepsi machine that is on the patio or the Coke machine that is still at my parents.  She doesn't even like me talking about getting something a little larger than a V63.  "Then where would the current machine go?"  She doesn't like my answer of, "I think it would look great at your work."  (I wouldn't dare bring it to my work since they have a huge contract with Coke...their machines, their products...)  

[joesquid]

I always get "the look" too.  Sometimes you just have to twist your environment to work for you.  I told my wife I wanted to find a small can machine (like a Vendo 56 Challenger) to replace my Cavalier 64G in the dining room.  I also got the "and where will you put the other machine?" question.  I said, I'll put it in Eli's room (my four year old).  It'll make a great night light and how many kids can say they have a functioning coke machine for a nightlight in their room? '>   I then followed that up with the idea of placing the WC-44SK (when complete) in my older boy's room as he doesn't need a nightlight and put the Vendo 63 in my daughter's room (she's two) as another nightlight.  That would clean out my garage with the exception of my Vendo 23...therefore more room to buy more machines!!

She didn't look convinced but she didn't say "no" either!!

[Eric]

I always say I could have worse hobbies/habits and leave it at that.....
They take up what?...3-4 ft sq of floor space... useful, hold their value,
great conversation piece and yeah, mine live in the basement next to my barber chair and
2 gas pumps! Ha!... man.. does that sound funny..... anyway... beats collecting beanie babies
or napkin rings...
 Great looking machine Bubba.... it'll grow on her... the kids could put juice drinks in it!

That was a step (risky though) in the right direction.

Eric

[Pat Pixley]

You know I get a little guff about it, But I have my S&S700,
Ideal 55 and my Vernor's 80 down in our finish basement
 plus two picnic coolers are down there.
 She does like the Vernors 80  so that helps
 the rest are at my brother inlaws in his poll barn
 and I've got two in the garage.
 She just want' me to stop buying for a while that all.
 Pat   '>

[Skeleton Man]

I don't have a lot of space as I live with my significant other and her folks, but I'm allowed my one and only one machine, as long as I get it working and sold..  If I turn a profit off my cornelius I'll have a better chance of getting a V63 some day.. (figure I'll grind my teeth on something small & simple before I tackle the big boys)

Besides the coin bezel, is there a lot of difference between a V56 and a V63 ?

[bubba]

I'm hoping it grows on her, cause I still have that Cavalier to bring home '> That one will prolly go into the garage for the time being. I'm kinda hoping its like my projector was... she couldn't understand why we needed it until she started using it... Now she wants to build a wall around it to isolate it from the rest of the basemen and make it a dedicated theatert... Along with a popcorn machine!

I've been fortunate with these machines so far... I have nothing invested in either of my 3 machines so far... My motto has always been---- if its free its for me. But lately, the free things I've acquired usually cost lots of money down the road. She just may be preparing herself . My kids love it though and can't wait till I plug it in and make it work (which should be tonite)

[jasmine64]

I have the reverse situation, hubby gives me the look when ever I get the machine fever.
He blames it on my dad's influence growing up and hanging out in his auto body shop.
I was always was tinkering with something to keep me occupied.

[jasmine64]

Hey Lulu, do you have the same problem at your house?

[bubba]

I may just have to tie her up, put duct tape over her yap and sit her in front of the machine for a few days till she learns to like it... '>

Although she did say she would much rather a soda fountain '>

I believe that you mention the pcture is shot in your basement.  Sounds like she has handed you a great oppurtunity.  Go out and search for a soda fountain from the old time soda shoppe.  Set it up nicely in your basement.  She said she would love it, she should love you for having listened to her and the effort you expended to fullfill her wish, and you and your friends and family should all love it.  Sounds like a win-win deal.  It would be worth a bet that she woule be more tolerant of that soda machine you want clean up for use in the garage with your buddies.

[Kilroy]

Or plan II - Locate a gorgeous art deco, out of the 1930's  soda fountain, going for oh, $20-30,000. Now show her your squaretop you got for under a $100.00

Be prepared to clean out the garage so you have a place to sleep (hey, I never said it was a good plan!)

[bubba]

Kilroy.. your plan is alot more like something I would do.. I like it... I'm gonna have to start pricing that out.. So far, these machines haven't cost me a dime... to have to BUY something, thats a different story... She'll get over it once I add some bottled water to the machine and she can go get it from her office downstairs... Hmmm... I just had another brainstorm... what if I got one of those hot vending machines that spits out that nasty coffee?? hmmmm... '>

[bubba]

IS there a thermostat on this machine? I haven't dug around with a flashlight, but there is nothing in plain view from the front...

[audiobeer]

The day I bring home any machine and she acts like she is happy about it is the day I hire a private detective!  

[Pat Pixley]

'>

               WOW I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT!!!

                 Just joking,  She has to put up with me
                 and I can be a handful at times. So that is why
                 the local jewelry store know me by my first name.
                 Pat    

[Lulu]

Yeah, Jasmine, I get "the look" too, usually followed by a shake of the head.  But, he always has to look over my new find.  My strategy is to not say anything about a new machine until I leave to go look at it.  As long as I keep the machines on my side of the garage, he doesn't say much.  And right now, my vehicle has to sit outside!!  

Money is the "hole card".  He's not quite sure what the machine are worth or what I can resell them for.  He always says that he's thrown away better stuff than I sell!!

Bubba, maybe if you could turn one of your machines and show her the money, she might soften up a little.  You know how we are about $$$!!  If that doesn't work, the next step would be to buy her something nice with the money!!  If that also fails, I suggest that you rent a storage shed and keep them out of her sight...

[Eric]

Here's a risky idea... without her knowing you're on here all the time say something like...
“Hey honey.... come here and look at this site”.... show her the picture gallery of this site
and the different collections.... These guys here have some really nice setups
and she could begin to visualize the fountain area in the basement.

But if she finds this topic area and sees my post here and gets upset....Uhhh...
This isn't Eric ... it's really.... uhhh..... Jim   '>

Oh and Merry Christmas everyone!

[bubba]

If she knew how to block websites, this one would be one of the first she blocked '> I've already looked through the gallery, and saw some of the game rooms you all have, and that got my wheels spinning... I've already suggested converting our small 2 car garage into a game room.... I tried to show her some of the gallery photos, but she won't even look at them yet.

Lulu and Jasmine.. I thought about selling a machine, but I wouldn't be 'allowed' to buy another one.... She is a real good sport about my hobbies, and she will learn to get used to this one too. Once I get an arcade cabinet, and maybe a few decorations, I think it'll get better. I still haven't been able to give her a good reason why we need a soda machine.. she's not buying the investment or the nostalgia ideas.. After a few days, she's already stopped calling me names, so its starting to blend in a bit I guess.

[SIGNGUY]

I just found this thread a little late, but had to comment. I guess I've been lucky with the wife and the "Where are gonna put that" comments. I've been lucky to have machines and many signs over the years, and as long as they stayed contained in "MY ROOM" (basement). There haven't been any problems. It even got to the point the other day, when I was finishing cleaning up my new addition, a Jacobs 26 machine. I had taken it completely apart, moved it peice by peice down two flights of steps to the basement so I could clean, and work on it indoors.  I recenltly finished it and then asked her help to "Move" it back into our gameroom! AND SHE DID!. One end on the cart with me on the other, both pushing and pulling.   But of course every time I mention another machine ,I get the where are you gonna put that... but I usually can come up with a pretty good answer!

[loman4ec]

I am really lucky. Mine is my partner in this hobby. She currently has two machines of her own that I am not allowed to touch. She is also teaching herself to weld and starting to learn how to fabricate small things. She is great '>

[BrianB]

Wow, I guess I have it pretty darn good! Currently I am not married. I have a fiance and we'll be married in late September.

On our second date our conversation turned to dream houses and what we'd each like to have someday. I mentioned that I'd love to have a killer basement with "a" Soda Pop machine, Pinball, Arcade game and a Jukebox and other gameroom stuff. The response was awesome! It was one of those one's where the other person can't wait for you to get done talking so that they can interject about how that's what they want too!!

So, the first time she came over to my place she saw that I was fairly serious about it and had a pretty good head start.
So right now I'm in the "Get-it-while-I-can" mode. I tell her about all of my projects and she's actually gone a "recovery" mission with me and really enjoyed it.

She also asked me if I was interested in restoring old cars at all and that she'd love to have a beater pick-up for aiding in doing home projects and other various errands.....

You gotta love it!!!   '>

[kstt]

Can't believe no one's mentioned this yet: Just figure out what she likes to drink, and load a mess of bottles of it. Then, front her lots of change!

[sodaworks]

I just found this thread as well, KSTT's right on the money!! Load a few shelves of her favorite brand of soda. From reading through the thread I guess I'm one of the lucky ones here. My wife loves what we collect so much that I never know what she is going to bring home and add to our collection. She was also the driving force for me to build my restoration shop here on our property. Our house is full of pre 60's soda stuff. '>

[bubba]

Awesome stories... My wife is starting to come around. Her biggest fear I guess is that most of my hobbies start off relatively inexpensive, and end up costing a fortune down the road...

A few years ago, my boss gave me a mini atv that his kids had outgrown. My kids were a bit small for it still, so me and my buddy started playing on it. Since this "free" toy, I have since rebuilt that one, and bought 2 more.. one for me and one for my other son. My buddy has bought 4 since then for himself. The latest one he has over $10k into it.. (his wife loves me '>)

I got a small pool one year from a friend.. well my yard isn't really level, so I needed to rent a machine to dig a level spot. Since this pool, I've gotten 2 more and each time the ground needs to get dug out bigger and deeper. I think this is the last pool though.

I got a free movie projector from my buddy about 6-7months ago..(yes the same one who bought the atv's) It was a bit outdated, but still worked. I paid him $100 for the screen, and he came over and we got it all setup. Well, then I needed to go out and buy a new surround receiver to go with the movie theater. I had an extra set of front speakers and a center channel, but needed rear speakers and a new sub. Then, while cleaning the inside of this projector, something happened to it and it never worked again. So now I had to buy a projector since I had all the rest of the stuff. '>

Now, I show up at the house with that V-83 soda machine (for free). Then the V-63 shows up at the house (for free). 2 weeks later, my USS-64 shows up at the house (for free). With my track record and free stuff, I can understand a bit of her nervousness. I have already started the discussion about converting the garage into a game room and building another garage next to the house

I didn't mention my free snowmobile, but that didn't cost me too much to get running, and I don't plan on buying a better one...

[BrianB]

But you know what Ken, it sounds to me like you've started out in this hobby, er, I mean lifestyle just fine! The resounding theme that I keep hearing is "FREE". You can't beat that. Unless of course people are paying you to take away those machines!!! '>

[bubba]

Yeah.. so far I've been lucky with free stuff. Of course, I've already spent some $ at Funtronics getting some essentials, so I think she's started to get nervous. Although the ice cold bottles of water about 20' from her office has helped. I also tried to fit some root beer in that machine, but the bottles don't fit through the opening in the rack. I kinda wish I brought the Cavalier downstairs instead of the Vendo, but I'm not about to carry it back up and bring the other one down just yet.

[sodaworks]

Try to get her to help you out. Maybe she will "buy" into your hobby. '>