6 Dec
2005
6 Dec
'05
7:05 p.m.
my company that i work for has just decommissioned an hp9000 system
for scrap and 11 dec vt420's circa 1991, unopened, with keyboards.
they did not give option on taking them or buying them =/
don't you hate it when the bean counters get involved because they
think the scrappers will not be jerks and resell what they get
instead of doing their jobs and just scrapping it and keeping it from
the employees for personal use?
-John Boffemmyer IV
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8 Dec
8 Dec
10:35 a.m.
my company that i work for has just decommissioned an
hp9000 system
for scrap and 11 dec vt420's circa 1991, unopened, with keyboards.
they did not give option on taking them or buying them =/
don't you hate it when the bean counters get involved because they
think the scrappers will not be jerks and resell what they get
instead of doing their jobs and just scrapping it and keeping it from
the employees for personal use?
The problem tends to be the employees reselling the surplus. And after
that, little underground networks within the company form up to make sure
that certain items are decommissioned and go to certain employees. You can
see where this is going.
Yes, it sucks, and some bad eggs in your company probably spoiled it for
everyone.
Also, it seems to me that every so often someone comes up with new
VT420s, anyway...
William Donzelli
aw288 at osfn.org
11:28 a.m.
William Donzelli wrote:
If it's not too late, see if you can get a local museum on board to do the
negotiating; maybe it will get the point across that the idea is to preserve
this stuff - not sell it on to make a fast buck.
cheers
Jules
my company
that i work for has just decommissioned an hp9000 system
for scrap and 11 dec vt420's circa 1991, unopened, with keyboards.
they did not give option on taking them or buying them =/
don't you hate it when the bean counters get involved because they
think the scrappers will not be jerks and resell what they get
instead of doing their jobs and just scrapping it and keeping it from
the employees for personal use?
The problem tends to be the employees reselling the surplus. And after
that, little underground networks within the company form up to make sure
that certain items are decommissioned and go to certain employees. You can
see where this is going. 
12:27 p.m.
Hmm, the closest local computer museum would be ours here in the MARCH
club. John -- see my off-list reply please.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of Jules Richardson
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 11:29 AM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: sad to report...
William Donzelli wrote:
If it's not too late, see if you can get a local museum on board to do the
negotiating; maybe it will get the point across that the idea is to preserve
this stuff - not sell it on to make a fast buck.
cheers
Jules
my company
that i work for has just decommissioned an hp9000 system
for scrap and 11 dec vt420's circa 1991, unopened, with keyboards.
they did not give option on taking them or buying them =/ don't you
hate it when the bean counters get involved because they think the
scrappers will not be jerks and resell what they get instead of doing
their jobs and just scrapping it and keeping it from the employees
for personal use?
The problem tends to be the employees reselling the surplus. And after
that, little underground networks within the company form up to make
sure that certain items are decommissioned and go to certain
employees. You can see where this is going. 
1:23 p.m.
> my company that i work for has just
decommissioned an hp9000 system
> for scrap and 11 dec vt420's circa 1991, unopened, with keyboards.
> they did not give option on taking them or buying them =/
> don't you hate it when the bean counters get involved because they
that, little underground networks within the company
form up to make sure
that certain items are decommissioned and go to certain employees. You can
see where this is going.
Make friends for when things come up in the future.
99% of the time decomissioned scrap (excepting possibly mainframes and
things on a <10 year devaluation) is considered worthless and all you need
is friends in the right places.
To paraphrase William, things will go to certain employees, where you
are the certain employee.
BTW, don't spend too much time doing this, your priorities have to be
on your job or the bean counters will give you another kind of surprise.
John A.
6:39 p.m.
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 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).
I don't think it ever reopened after this fiasco.
William Donzelli wrote:
my company that
i work for has just decommissioned an hp9000 system
for scrap and 11 dec vt420's circa 1991, unopened, with keyboards.
they did not give option on taking them or buying them =/
don't you hate it when the bean counters get involved because they
think the scrappers will not be jerks and resell what they get
instead of doing their jobs and just scrapping it and keeping it from
the employees for personal use?
The problem tends to be the employees reselling the surplus. And after
that, little underground networks within the company form up to make sure
that certain items are decommissioned and go to certain employees. You can
see where this is going.
Yes, it sucks, and some bad eggs in your company probably spoiled it for
everyone.
Also, it seems to me that every so often someone comes up with new
VT420s, anyway...
William Donzelli
aw288 at osfn.org
7:03 p.m.
Don North wrote:
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).
Sadly, it's all true. DEC scrap was a wonderful place and, yes, I knew
more than one DEC employee who had an amazing system in their home's
basement made out of "scrap" parts. I also worked for DEC in the early 80s,
but not in New England so I only go to visit the Mill on occasion.
Bob
7:19 p.m.
Yes all, very understandable. The problem lies in the following facts:
The scrapper in question is known to resell the used common PC's at
local computer fairs under a different company name.
The majority of the equipment was quietly carted into moving trucks
to go to the scrapper early this morning before I found out about it.
My employer will not budge on it- no negotiating.
I do pay attention to my job, very much so. Higher ups and co-workers
are noticing an increase in our department efficiency since I signed on.
Internal scams are not really happen-place with my company. They have
a LOT of internal safeguards and security and manned cameras, 24/7.
You must document the crap out of things often and only then, you get
limited use/access to it. Exceed that, multiple security guys pay you
a visit with a file box and a request for your badge while they baby
sit you to the door.
-John Boffemmyer IV
At 06:39 PM 12/8/2005, you wrote:
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 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).
I don't think it ever reopened after this fiasco.
William Donzelli wrote:
>>my company that i work for has just decommissioned an hp9000
>>system for scrap and 11 dec vt420's circa 1991, unopened, with
>>keyboards. they did not give option on taking them or buying them =/
>>don't you hate it when the bean counters get involved because they
>>think the scrappers will not be jerks and resell what they get
>>instead of doing their jobs and just scrapping it and keeping it
>>from the employees for personal use?
>>
>
>The problem tends to be the employees reselling the surplus. And after
>that, little underground networks within the company form up to make sure
>that certain items are decommissioned and go to certain employees. You can
>see where this is going.
>
>Yes, it sucks, and some bad eggs in your company probably spoiled it for
>everyone.
>
>Also, it seems to me that every so often someone comes up with new
>VT420s, anyway...
>
>William Donzelli
>aw288 at osfn.org
>
>
>
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9:10 p.m.
On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 19:05:24 -0500
John Boffemmyer IV <john_boffemmyer_iv at boff-net.dhs.org> wrote:
my company that i work for has just decommissioned an
hp9000
system for scrap and 11 dec vt420's circa 1991, unopened, with
keyboards. they did not give option on taking them or buying
them =/ don't you hate it when the bean counters get involved
because they think the scrappers will not be jerks and resell
what they get instead of doing their jobs and just scrapping it
and keeping it from the employees for personal use?
-John Boffemmyer IV
I watched skids of Sparc hardware go out at a company I worked at
around Y2K in a similar fashion. They had a 'contract' with the
scrapper, they said, and 'couldn't play favorites'. There is a
'corporate culture' at some places where you're seen as a lunatic
for even suggesting you might have an interest in 'that old
stuff.'
9:34 p.m.
There is a 'corporate culture' at some places
where you're seen as a lunatic for even suggesting you might
have an interest in 'that old stuff.'
Not all employers are bad this way. I got my very first personal VAX, a
VS2000, around the late 80s' by buying it from my employer. At the time DEC
was offering a $1,500 trade in for a VS2000 if you upgraded to a 3100, and
my employer had a bunch to trade.
I said, "What if I pay you $1,500 and you sell one to me instead of DEC?"
To my surprise, they went for it. I wrote 'em a check and took home a VAX.
They even officially transferred the software licenses to me (at the time
DEC would still do that) - I've still got the genuine paper PAKs with my
name on them.
At that time PCs cost more than $1500, and I thought I got a really good
deal :-)
Bob
9:44 p.m.
I actually got about 3 pallets of Macs fo $20 from my current employer,
ranging from IIsi to about 8600s. Most working, some not. I also got an
IBM RS6000 (I forgot the model, it's a PReP machine) for 5 bucks because
that's what I offered....*sigh* the junk I buy on impulse...why did I ever
do that? Oh well.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of Robert Armstrong
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 8:34 PM
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
Subject: RE: sad to report...
There is a 'corporate culture' at some
places
where you're seen as a lunatic for even suggesting you might
have an interest in 'that old stuff.'
Not all employers are bad this way. I got my very first personal VAX, a
VS2000, around the late 80s' by buying it from my employer. At the time
DEC
was offering a $1,500 trade in for a VS2000 if you upgraded to a 3100, and
my employer had a bunch to trade.
I said, "What if I pay you $1,500 and you sell one to me instead of
DEC?"
To my surprise, they went for it. I wrote 'em a check and took home a
VAX.
They even officially transferred the software licenses to me (at the time
DEC would still do that) - I've still got the genuine paper PAKs with my
name on them.
At that time PCs cost more than $1500, and I thought I got a really good
deal :-)
Bob
10:07 p.m.
Scott Stevens declared on Thursday 08 December 2005 21:10:
On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 19:05:24 -0500
John Boffemmyer IV <john_boffemmyer_iv at boff-net.dhs.org> wrote:
And that's one of the reasons I work for a university.
Pat
--
Purdue University ITAP/RCAC --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
my company that i work for has just
decommissioned an hp9000
system for scrap and 11 dec vt420's circa 1991, unopened, with
keyboards. they did not give option on taking them or buying
them =/ don't you hate it when the bean counters get involved
because they think the scrappers will not be jerks and resell
what they get instead of doing their jobs and just scrapping it
and keeping it from the employees for personal use?
-John Boffemmyer IV
I watched skids of Sparc hardware go out at a company I worked at
around Y2K in a similar fashion. They had a 'contract' with the
scrapper, they said, and 'couldn't play favorites'. There is a
'corporate culture' at some places where you're seen as a lunatic
for even suggesting you might have an interest in 'that old
stuff.'
9 Dec
9 Dec
12:17 a.m.
Patrick Finnegan declared on Thursday 08 December 2005 22:07:
Scott Stevens declared on Thursday 08 December 2005
21:10:
Before Fred sees this, :) I want to add "with an enlightened boss above
me who isn't a pain in the behind". (And the same with his manager.)
Pat
--
Purdue University ITAP/RCAC --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 19:05:24 -0500
John Boffemmyer IV <john_boffemmyer_iv at boff-net.dhs.org> wrote:
And that's one of the reasons I work for a university. my company that i work for has just
decommissioned an hp9000
system for scrap and 11 dec vt420's circa 1991, unopened, with
keyboards. they did not give option on taking them or buying
them =/ don't you hate it when the bean counters get involved
because they think the scrappers will not be jerks and resell
what they get instead of doing their jobs and just scrapping it
and keeping it from the employees for personal use?
-John Boffemmyer IV
I watched skids of Sparc hardware go out at a company I worked at
around Y2K in a similar fashion. They had a 'contract' with the
scrapper, they said, and 'couldn't play favorites'. There is a
'corporate culture' at some places where you're seen as a lunatic
for even suggesting you might have an interest in 'that old
stuff.' 
12:27 a.m.
> > I watched skids of Sparc hardware go out at
a company I worked at
> > around Y2K in a similar fashion. They had a 'contract' with the
> > scrapper, they said, and 'couldn't play favorites'. There is a
> > 'corporate culture' at some places where you're seen as a lunatic
> > for even suggesting you might have an interest in 'that old
> > stuff.'
>
On Fri, 9 Dec 2005, Patrick Finnegan wrote:
And that's
one of the reasons I work for a university.
Before Fred sees this, :) I want to add "with an enlightened boss above
me who isn't a pain in the behind". (And the same with his manager.)
1:19 a.m.
Fred Cisin declared on Friday 09 December 2005 00:27:
You've sure got THAT right!
One of my colleagues got into serious trouble for taking things out of
a dumpster.
Talking about stupid, one of the physical facilities employees here was
given a couple days off for attempting to steal.. LEAVES! Aparently, he
was loading some leaves fallen off tress on campus into the back of his
truck, some bean-counter saw him, and he almost got fired over the
incident.
A nice, sane, intelligent manager makes all the difference...
Pat
--
Purdue University ITAP/RCAC --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
> > I
watched skids of Sparc hardware go out at a company I worked
> > at around Y2K in a similar fashion. They had a 'contract' with
> > the scrapper, they said, and 'couldn't play favorites'. There
> > is a 'corporate culture' at some places where you're seen as a
> > lunatic for even suggesting you might have an interest in 'that
> > old stuff.'
On Fri, 9 Dec 2005, Patrick Finnegan wrote:
And
that's one of the reasons I work for a university.
Before Fred sees this, :) I want to add "with an enlightened boss
above me who isn't a pain in the behind". (And the same with his
manager.)
6873
days inactive
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14 comments
11 participants
participants (11)
-
ak6dn＠mindspring.com -
allain＠panix.com -
aw288＠osfn.org -
bob＠jfcl.com -
chenmel＠earthlink.net -
cisin＠xenosoft.com -
fireflyst＠earthlink.net -
john_boffemmyer_iv＠boff-net.dhs.org -
julesrichardsonuk＠yahoo.co.uk -
news＠computercollector.com -
pat＠computer-refuge.org