19 Jun
2009
19 Jun
'09
8:34 p.m.
WHoa. At least I now know I'm not alone.
I fell in love with a woman living on the Big Island of Hawaii. That's
pretty close to a third world country. Got married. We both wanted to
be together as quickly as possible, so as soon as I could quit my job,
get packed, and move, I did. That left me nearly without money. It
also left most of my classic computers, and all of my test equipment, in
a storage unit back on the mainland, to be shipped after I got some
money together. When I showed up here, I found that my new wife's idea
of marriage was that she kept everything of mine, and if I needed some
of it, I could ask her politely for the key. If I had been good, and
had done all I was told, perhaps I would be allowed access to my
things. We lived on a street about 4 miles down a steep hill. I was
not allowed access to a vehicle. Long story short, I was essentially
her prisoner. I eventually broke out, and managed to save all my things
which had been shipped over. I thought my escape was brilliant. But,
that left me broke, homeless, and in debt. I started working, but was
only making just a bit more than I needed to survive, and I lost my
mainland storage unit, which included, as I said, the bulk of my
collection, and my entire shop. SOMEBODY got a good deal. Or, maybe
not. The storage place got at least a thousand dollars selling it,
because they quit bugging me about the balance due... Still pisses me
off.
Okay, here's my sob story:
I had a good job in WIchita, KS, writing software for a technology
company there. I had been with them for five years, when I get laid
off (in 2002) because the company wanted to 'trim some fat' so it
would be attractive to a potential buyer.
I end up at Wal-Mart, shoveling tile, and assembling bicycles (long
story). A year goes by, we lose the house, declare bankruptcy, then
move to the west coast. I then make the following chain of errors:
1. I leave most of my collection in the basement. I pay a *RELATIVE*
to move it all to a storage unit.
2. I kill all of the utilities in the house becuase I figure 'it aint
my problem no more'.
3. I forget to turn off the *WATER*.
Months go by. I get a phone call from this person with whom I entrusted
most of my stuff: 'Ah, most of the stuff is still in the basement-- under
about EIGHT FEET OF WATER.' The damned pipes froze, burst, and flooded
the basement because there was no electricity to the sump pump. Damn.
I lose: FLuke 9010, no less then 3 SS-50's (SwTPc's), all of my 8" drives
(fixed & floppy) all of my laser printers, most of my test equipment,
my Vaxstation 4000/90's, my terminals, vacuum desoldering tools, A
PDP-11/53, and 11/23+, an RL02 and platters for same, a FLuke 1720 (with
keyboard), an HP 9816, and a whole bunch of other stuff I'll never see
again.
I have a hard time trusting people these days . . . .
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-----Original Message-----
From: lists at databasics.us
Sent: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:13:31 -1000
To:
Subject: How to lose most of an an entire collection in one shot
my Linux box, Darth.) My entire shop is gone. So, I
feel naked.
How on earth did that happen?