14 Jul
1997
14 Jul
'97
10:31 a.m.
Frank McConnell Wrote:
This has a side effect, too: some of the surplus dealers have a bad
attitude toward walk-ins. They know you're not likely a moneymaker,
so they are apt to blow off simple questions like "got any more of
these?" I got this from the guys at Sharon Industries in San Jose one
day a few months ago -- I had wandered in to pick up one or two dinky
Unisys PCs that I had seen there and thought would make nice little
routers if configured with a small hard disk. The place was messier
than usual -- maybe they were reorganizing or maybe they were trying
to look like Mike Quinn's, I dunno; they certainly hadn't bothered to
close the door or hang a sign up ("closed for remodeling"?). The
display was still out, though, so I inquired. First he was asking me
if I wanted them today, and when I said "yeah, I could take one or two
today" (thinking I should leave the door open for him to say "I can't
get to them right now, how about tomorrow?") he changed his tune to
"oh, I sold 'em all to Halted." The thought that crossed my mind was:
except the one you keep on the shelf for people to look at, right? I
haven't been back -- maybe I am a pain in the hindquarters but I
really prefer dealing with folks I think are capable of being honest.
Awww, man. This reminds me of a electronic junk dealer I used to
go to in L.A.: Space Age Metals. Just the name makes me wanna
cringe: barrels and barrels of aluminum turnings, next to bits of
mini's, mainframes, and god-knows-what else. To show any interest at
all in something was sheer death: Before you showed up it was SCRAP
($.01 - .05 /lb, max) but if they think you want it because it is
some *really scarce* piece of hardware, allova sudden its "Well, that
system sold for 'that much' at <insert name of defunct company here>
auction".
Oy. I had a really hard time appearing to be *greatly* disinterested
in stuff (as a forklifts were spearing and hefting S-100 and multibus
cardcages in a rather unconcerned and offhanded way).
What a life. This hobby can give you a headache, soemtimes.
Jeff