Revenge for being fired is best served profitably
- Reference: 1728027254
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/10/04/on_call/
- Source link:
This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as "Sam" who has a tale that varies a little from our usual tech support template, but we like it so here goes.
The story dates to the mid-1990s, when Sam scaled a new rung on his career ladder and found himself IT manager of his employer's training department.
[1]
This was Sam's first managerial gig, so he started by doing a very managerial thing: a hardware audit.
[2]
[3]
This was the right and managerial thing to do. But unbeknownst to Sam, it coincided with other managerial machinations – his company was soon acquired.
Job cuts followed. Including Sam's.
[4]OS/2 expert channeled a higher power to dispel digital doom vortex
[5]Crack coder wasn't allowed to meet clients due to his other talent: Blisteringly inappropriate insults
[6]To patch this server, we need to get someone drunk
[7]A nice cup of tea rewired the datacenter and got things working again
On his way out, Sam noticed that plenty of hardware would not be needed.
"I negotiated to buy it for nominal pricing," he told On Call, and ended up with almost 100 PCs. The machines weren't screamingly fast, but they would do a job. And Sam had paid so little for them he could hardly fail to come out ahead.
[8]
"In my first month of 'downtime' I patiently rebuilt them all with Windows," Sam told On Call. But his entrepreneurial optimism was misplaced. Few buyers wanted the machines.
"I was contemplating taking the rest of the PCs to the dump when I got a call from my old company – asking if I had any of these PCs left," Sam wrote.
Yes, he did. Why were they asking?
[9]
One of his former employers needed some old PCs for a thin client application. Could Sam help?
Yes. Yes, he could.
"I made a very tidy profit out of this," he told On Call.
Have you turned a job loss into a win? If so, [10]Click here to send On Call an email so we can share your tale of rollicking revenge on a future Friday. ®
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[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/27/on_call/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/20/on_call/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/06/on_call/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/30/on_call/
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I'm pleased he made Sam money out of it...
When one door closes.....
.... at least he had left the Window(s) open.
I patiently rebuilt them all with Windows
You'd have trouble with licenses if you tried that these days
Slight aside but a colleague was talking to another new ex-RAF colleague in the '90s. The subject of Spitfire (IIRC) engines came up and the fact that the RAF was scrambling around for parts to keep the few they had running.
"How many do they need?"
""What?"
"How many, new, still crated Merlin engines do you need?"
"How ... what?"
"Scrapman in Scotland bought a load years ago off the RAF, they didn't want them and they're great engines for tractor pullers ... he's still got several."
A phone call was made and much, much more money than scrap value changed hands ...
If you need a Merlin ...
... one could do worse than calling my friends down at the 51 Factory.
Most of the folks here at ElReg will probably enjoy browsing through their web pages.
Their inventory is so large that there is no point in even trying to describe what they have, so check it out for yourself. Basically, if you need it, they probably have it new, unused, and in the box from the 1950s. And if they don't have it new, they'll have it in "run-in, but never flown" condition.
I've seen complete engines sold for under $10,000 in running condition (not flyable!). Shipping and handling extra. Might want to make certain the .sig-other is off shopping and hide it in the garage or shed when it's delivered. Check you local noise ordinances before starting it for the first time ... and please, call me! Firing these things up never gets old. I'll bring the beer :-)
Try the almost but not quite obvious 51-factory.com
And you thought Silly Con Valley was just about computers.
Re: If you need a Merlin ...
Interesting… thanks for sharing!
Similar
I tried that years ago at an old job. We were replacing nearly all the old PC's with Wyse terminals - at whatever cost.
I suggested running the Wyse software on the old PC's as would be pretty much free, but was told no.
Thought it dumb
Last thing I took home from the IT departments "get rid" pile , thinking I'd make some money was three 21" CRT Dell monitors , never used , boxed.
Approximately 2008 I reckon. Just at the point CRT became yesterdays news.
Never say never
iLast thing I took home from the IT departments "get rid" pile , thinking I'd make some money was three 21" CRT Dell monitors , never used , boxed.
Approximately 2008 I reckon. Just at the point CRT became yesterdays news.
I was reading something about the retro computing & gaming communities which mentioned how difficult it was to get CRT monitors. Perhaps an opportunity there although hanging one off a mono Hercules card (MDA/HGC) isn't likely to fly nor a CGA card I suspect.
Having had to move the bloody great SGI workstation monitors (relabeled Sony Trinitrons?) I was glad to see the back of CRT monitors. Hint: Office chairs with hydraulic/pneumatic lift make excellent trolleys for moving these beasts without actually lifting them but does rather bugger the wheels. (Bring up the seat level with the desk, drag the monitor etc onto the seat, push chair to destination and don't use your office chair. :)
The only hardware I "disposed of" was my work PC, which was going to be replaced by a more powerful one. My old desktop machine was no slouch, but it was equipped with fast, but slightly esoteric RD-RAM (2 banks of 1 GB each). Our admin wanted these machine replaced with machines with more common types of RAM. As my machine at home was considerably less powerful, I asked whether they minded me disposing of the item. "No problem" was their answer. I then asked if I could "liberate" the RD-RAM of another machine that was heading for the dumpster, and the answer was yes once more. I ended up with a nifty machine with 4GB of RD-RAM, which served me well for quite a few years. No direct profit, but quite a good savings.
Result!