Dumpster stories!

From: Bill Richman <bill_r_at_inetnebr.com>
Date: Thu Feb 10 10:25:13 2000

>On Thu, Feb 10, 2000 at 08:45:57AM -0500, John B (dylanb_at_sympatico.ca) wrote:
>>
>> I can't believe some list members here dive into dumpsters for computers.
>> That's dangerous. There could be dangerous,sharp items inside some. Toxic
>> residues (not all companies respect the environment), Legal reasons (maybe?)
>> not to enter one.

So... were you someone's mother in another lifetime? ;-) There are already
enough laws that try to protect stupid people from themselves, while putting
a real damper on those of us who have brains enough to safely engage in
"hazardous" activities. Relax!

A number of years ago, they filmed part of the movie "Amerika" (which was
apparently about the USA being taken over by Soviets or something; I've
never seen it). They had a big sale at the end of the movie, held inside
the former location of a big K-mart store. People went nuts buying all the
clothes and props from the movie. That night, we drove by and noticed that
there was a *bunch* of stuff in the dumpsters out back. Upon further
investigation, the alley was found to be blocked off with a semi trailer
parked across each end. As we were in a Fiat X-1/9 at the time, that wasn't
a problem; we just drove under the truck. Found a bunch of electronic odds
and ends (props from the "communication van" driven by the "resistance
fighters", so I'm told). Popped the removable hard top off the Fiat and
started lobbing stuff in. Also found a couple of cool little Northern
Telecom telephone terminals; 9" mono screens with membrane telephone keypads
in front and a handset on the side, and a miniature QWERTY chicklet keyboard
in a little draw that pulls out from underneath, and serial ports on the
back. About the time the car was getting full, the police arrived at the
near end of the alley, probably summoned by the night watchman. Since they
hadn't told us to stop or anything, we just hopped in the car, drove down
the alley, under the semi trailer at the far end, and off down the street.
Bet they're still scratching their heads over that one. :-)

                                        Bill Richman
                                        incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r
                                        (Home of the COSMAC Elf
                                         microcomputer simulator!)
Received on Thu Feb 10 2000 - 10:25:13 GMT

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