sad to report... - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

8 Dec 2005

...

Subject: Re: sad to report...
   From: Don North <ak6dn at mindspring.com>
   Date: Thu, 08 Dec 2005 15:39:32 -0800
     To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at
classiccmp.org>
     Cc: Classic Comp <classiccmp at classiccmp.org>

When I worked for DEC back in the late 70s / early 80s, they had a 
wonderful scrap / salvage center in the Mill complex (basement of 
building 5 IIRC) that sold off  'scrapped' DEC parts to employees that 
would have otherwise gone to the smelter. Just about anything DEC made 
could show up there (albeit in pieces, not whole systems). 
I took advantage of it as often as I could.  I thingk I have every 871A
I got from there still.

...
 I seem to remember that DEC mgmt finally shut it down
when they 
discovered that some employees were internally buying new DEC equipment, 
dismantling it and sending the pieces to 'scrap', where they would then 
go buy them for 'personal' use at a deep discount (I think the person 
running the salvage operation would put this good stuff aside when it 
arrived, for a small fee, of course). 
It was that and also there were people decomissioning good scopes and 
the like and "picking them up later".  I got po'd there when I'd seen
a 575 scope in pristine condition and they wouldn't sell it to me.  I 
think it was less than a month later that it all hit the fan.

...
 I don't think it ever reopened after this fiasco.

No it didn't.  I worked a special deal with my manager to get the 
PDP-8E off of a permenent property pass and in my hands along with 
a PDP11/23 in the lab that I was the only user.   

However, I've been in several places and seen similar abuses cause 
problems.

Allison