bill was my first "real" computer comoany customer"

[ED SHARPE]

A BILL GODBOUT TALE  C-  Ed Sharpe  Archivist  for SMECC
BEWARE THIS NARTIVE WANDERS>…
A very old friend Bill Godbout of the s100 computer days and my first real commercial buyer of any large quantity of surplus electronics material from me when I went into the early part of my computer store and surplus electronics business was burned in the fire in Paradise I have been informed. Very sad - He was a great guy - I met him at a computer fair in as I remember San Jose California … I believe it was at the fairgrounds … (Fair was run by a pleasant guy (was his name Craig or? Can someone clarify?) with the neatest 59 El Camino Chevy Truck (Prior to this I had never seen a ’59 before (I would love one!) Steve Beleauh (sp?) in High School had a ‘64 ) were I had taken mainly a bunch of odds and ends but also some 8 inch floppy disc power supplies that Intel had scrapped at Empire metals ( Gary and Ray no doubt had something to do with those ending up there … Hi guys!) and a box of AC power cords and some parts and stuff now what would be considered scrap too....Bill Godbout had set up to sell. (of course, he had all kids of computer stuff his company produced and other things he was a vendor for... He was a big guy in the BIZ in those days, We of course had some power cords and Bill and I when talking got on the topic of power cords for computers ... the new style...like all out pcs use now. ( the prior version on one end the normal 3 prog plug in the wall plug and the other had oval ends and round pins... and were available all over but not so the "NEW" style ( like we use now) I ended up with many many palate loads ITT Courier Terminal Company in Tempe Arizona ( They made IBM clone cluster terminal system -  but unlike  the  IBM  terminals  had  non-clicking  keyboards)) was surplussing ... and had calculated the quantity and cost carefully and beat the Finkelstein Brothers -> Mhz Electronics and Semiconductor Surplus... Richard at MHz still alive Steve at Semi Passed away)... ALAS!! The brothers miscalculated or used that as a reason for not getting the lot in later conversations, but It set us up with more damn cords that I ever imagined I could even sell.
 
ANYWAY... First deal I did with him.... Telling Bill Godbout of all these cords he says ... well... "TRUST ME" ... "ship them to me and on receipt I will send you a check!" and then he jokes about I shouldn’t trust anyone in this business saying TRUST ME! But I did and true to his word his check arrived which set me up with enough cash to make many other great buys of Minicomputers, parts and terminals as I started out. Actually I think that is were the money came from to buy my first PDP-8 from Richard at MHz Electronics he had laying about. It was a 8M or 8F like an 8E with omnibus but short case so only accepting one Buss backplane and it used LEDS in the front panel vs the light bulbs the 8E used. (I was later able to sell this for a large sum thus… increasing the ‘Computer Exchange’ working capital.
Thanks Bill. You will always be in our book as one of the original good guys.... and thanks for being someone I could trust in dealings. God in Heaven... Take good care of old Bill for me...