13 Oct
1999
13 Oct
'99
4 p.m.
On Wed, 13 Oct 1999, daniel wrote:
My friend... That is what auctions are all about.. and
it's not limited to
computers.
When I was 17 I was at the Interhauler Yauht backruptsy auction. They had an
IBM mainframe and a mini. As the mini was old I was hoping to pick it up for
$100 (I was a student). I placed a bid of $50. when all of a sudden the
owner from "Kitchens Construction" thinks the machine can be used and placed
a bid of $500! I did not have $500 on me.... he was arrogant about the win
of his auction... smiled at me and left the room. Little did he know the
next auction was for the DISKPACKS for *his* computer. I bought them for
$60. I went out to him RIGHT after he won the auction and asked him if he
won the bid on the computer. He smurked at me and said "Of Course". I told
him (and I can remember my exact words): "Good, I just bought all the
software for YOUR computer so I guess you WON'T be using it".
His face dropped! He looked down and walked over to the auctioneer to
complain. When he couldn't get his way he came over to me and asked me what
I was going to do with them. I told him I had a PDP 11 and was going to
FORMAT the platters and use them on my system. I knew who he was, I let him
stu all night and called him the next day. He bought the diskpacks without
the case for $750!
Let me preface by saying that sometimes I am a total asshole for no good
reason...
I was at a large auction out in the Valley where they had a good quantity
of Sparc and SGI stuff. I had my eye on a couple of systems, with an
eyewitness report that the previous day had seen SS10/40mhz systems with
monitors going for $300-$500. So the auction winds down and finally comes
around to the one system I'm *most* interested in, a well-configured SS10.
So I start at $200...no match. Going once...twice...$300. So I go $400. He
goes $500. You get the picture, all the way up to me bidding $1100. Way
more than it should have gone for, but he still bid $1300 and took it.
Looking across the room, I saw him grinning at me and nudging his
adolescent grandson. Irritated and excited from 5 cups of coffee and the
heat of the action, I approached him and asked if he realized that he paid
more than he could have bought the same system elsewhere. Then he said
it...
"My grandson told me it would be a great system to run NT on for my
business."
I gave him my business card and told him to call me the following week if
he wanted to.
When he called, he offered to sell me the whole system for $1000. I
refused. He offered it for $800. I refused. Inane chattering back and
forth. He offered it for $500. I almost agreed, felt the bile rise up in
my mouth again and refused. He asked what I'd be willing to pay and I
offered him $200, telling him that it was what I would have paid for the
system had he not bid on it. He hung up on me...and never called back.