What's That Noise?

Gregg and I have a 20 year old washing machine. The agitator has become disengaged from the rest of the machine so that more-often-than-not, whenever the machine hits the spin cycle, the agitator flies off and thumpity, thump, thumps the washing machine door. It makes a God-awful noise. The first time it happened, I had no idea what was wrong. I raced into the laundry room, opened the washing machine door, and nearly got beaned as the agitator shot out of the machine and flew into the wall behind me. Now, whenever it happens, I race into the laundry room, hold my hand on the washing machine door, turn the machine off, and when it stops thumping, I open the door, reseat the agitator and start the machine up again.

I only mention this because I recently noticed that Ray now knows the drill. Whenever he hears the thumpity, thump, thump, he races to the laundry room and stands at the dog gate 'looking' over his shoulder for me with a "can't you go any faster" look on his face until I get there to fix the problem. I think it must be time for a new washing machine.