Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Zane Healy via cctalk]

On Jul 23, 2021, at 4:00 PM, Vincent Slyngstad via cctalk 
 wrote:
> 
> On 7/23/2021 2:56 PM, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote:
>> Personally when I see “Museum” in this context, I don’t think of this as a 
>> museum not taking care of the artifacts, I look at this from the standpoint 
>> of the founder not taking the necessary steps when setting the Museum up to 
>> ensure its preservation after his death (or when the founder runs out of 
>> money).
> 
> I thought there was a disaster (flood) that had basically trashed the place.  
> Did I get that wrong?  (I could understand a "failure in planning" followed 
> by "total liquidation of assets" in such a scenario.)
> 
>   Vince


I’d thought he passed away, maybe not.  

I did some digging through my email archives, and Sellam posted this in 2019.
https://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum/marketplace/vintage-computer-items-for-sale-or-trade/72862-vintage-computer-warehouse-liquidation/page3?71708-Vintage-Computer-Warehouse-Liquidation=#post885945
 


Actually Al mentions in that thread it failed due to lack of funding, so my 
memory isn’t totally faulty.  It looks like there were questions in 2019 about 
what had happened to John Keys.

It also sounds like there might have been at least two floods that have hit the 
collection.  I think I found messages mentioning both 2015 and 2017 floods.

Zane

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Vincent Slyngstad via cctalk]

On 7/23/2021 2:56 PM, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote:

Personally when I see “Museum” in this context, I don’t think of this as a 
museum not taking care of the artifacts, I look at this from the standpoint of 
the founder not taking the necessary steps when setting the Museum up to ensure 
its preservation after his death (or when the founder runs out of money).


I thought there was a disaster (flood) that had basically trashed the 
place.  Did I get that wrong?  (I could understand a "failure in 
planning" followed by "total liquidation of assets" in such a scenario.)


Vince

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Zane Healy via cctalk]

On Jul 23, 2021, at 12:56 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk  
wrote:
> 
> On 7/23/21 12:48 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:
>> On 7/23/21 12:43 PM, Lee Gleason via cctalk wrote:
>>> the prices were a bit higher than I was prepared to pay
>> the guy is a flipper, let him scrap the stuff before giving him a dime
> 
> If you haven't figured this out already I am NOT happy with him using the
> word "MUSEUM" in any of this and the vibe it is generating that museums
> don't take care of artifacts.

Thanks for that explanation Al, it helps to understand where you’re coming 
from, and you bring up an excellent point.

Personally when I see “Museum” in this context, I don’t think of this as a 
museum not taking care of the artifacts, I look at this from the standpoint of 
the founder not taking the necessary steps when setting the Museum up to ensure 
its preservation after his death (or when the founder runs out of money).

Basically I think we each have our life experiences colouring our views in this 
matter.  At least the effort I was involved with was able to dispose of its 
assets to other non-profits.

Zane

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Jules Richardson via cctalk]

On 7/23/21 2:01 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:

On 7/23/21 10:38 AM, Jules Richardson via cctalk wrote:


Sadly it's getting on for 1,500 miles away from me.


just let this stuff be ecycled already


I could actually use a few more CRTs. Well, not "use personally" - I've got 
enough to just grab a suitable one when I want to fire a system up - but I 
do keep thinking that if I ever thin out some of my duplicate machines, it 
would be nice to offer the future owner the option of a display to go with it.



like a friend said, we are all just delay lines for the dump


Ha! That, I like.

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Zane Healy via cctalk]

On Jul 23, 2021, at 12:43 PM, Lee Gleason via cctalk  
wrote:
> 
> "Nice selection of dirty and yellowed  computers in unknown condition."
> 
>  I just took a run out to the warehouse in question, figuring the owner would 
> be there today cleaning up. The quote above sums up the state of things. 
> There were some miscellaneous DEC terminals, a few MicroVAXes, and some other 
> assorted DEC stuff - but it was all a trifle ...funky. That alone might not 
> have been a sales stopper for me (all of my collection is not pristine), but 
> the prices were a bit higher than I was prepared to pay for that condition 
> and these circumstances.  EG $125.00 for a VT220 w/o keyboard, and $90.00 for 
> VT240 base units. I left empty handed.

In that condition, those prices are crazy.  I could care less about the lack of 
keyboards, but then I’m blessed when it comes to LK201’s and LK401’s.

Thank you for the report, I feel better now, about my inability to get in on 
this.

Zane

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

On 7/23/21 12:48 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:

On 7/23/21 12:43 PM, Lee Gleason via cctalk wrote:

the prices were a bit higher than I was prepared to pay


the guy is a flipper, let him scrap the stuff before giving him a dime



If you haven't figured this out already I am NOT happy with him using the
word "MUSEUM" in any of this and the vibe it is generating that museums
don't take care of artifacts.

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

On 7/23/21 12:43 PM, Lee Gleason via cctalk wrote:
the prices were a bit higher 
than I was prepared to pay


the guy is a flipper, let him scrap the stuff before giving him a dime

What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Lee Gleason via cctalk]

"Nice selection of dirty and yellowed  computers in unknown condition."

  I just took a run out to the warehouse in question, figuring the owner would 
be there today cleaning up. The quote above sums up the state of things. There 
were some miscellaneous DEC terminals, a few MicroVAXes, and some other 
assorted DEC stuff - but it was all a trifle ...funky. That alone might not 
have been a sales stopper for me (all of my collection is not pristine), but 
the prices were a bit higher than I was prepared to pay for that condition and 
these circumstances.  EG $125.00 for a VT220 w/o keyboard, and $90.00 for VT240 
base units. I left empty handed.

--
Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR
Control-G Consultants
lee.glea...@comcast.net

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[John Foust via cctalk]

At 02:01 PM 7/23/2021, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:
>like a friend said, we are all just delay lines for the dump

How about "temporary caretakers who will pass these things
along to someone else who also cares?"

- John

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

On 7/23/21 10:38 AM, Jules Richardson via cctalk wrote:


Sadly it's getting on for 1,500 miles away from me.


just let this stuff be ecycled already

like a friend said, we are all just delay lines for the dump

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Jules Richardson via cctalk]

On 7/21/21 7:09 PM, Teo Zenios via cctalk wrote:

Nice selection of dirty and yellowed  computers in unknown condition.


Dirt can be removed, things can typically be repaired if needed, and not 
all of us expect our systems to be the exact shade of whatever that they 
were when they were built decades ago. :-)


Sadly it's getting on for 1,500 miles away from me.

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Mark Linimon via cctalk]

What a complete fiasco.  How sad.

mcl

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Zane Healy via cctalk]

> On Jul 22, 2021, at 2:30 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk  
> wrote:
> here are the last known pictures of the cabinets, from Oct, 2010 when they 
> were picked up from Jim
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/houcompmuseum/
> 
> i'm amazed the link still works

Since that account only has 19 photo’s, they’ll probably last “forever”.  As 
far as I know, flickr only purges photo’s from free accounts when they go over 
a certain number (it used to be 200), and even then they may expect you to 
purge them.

Zane

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

On 7/22/21 2:04 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:

On 7/21/21 6:12 PM, Lee Courtney wrote:

Al or other - any idea what happened to the SDS relics and detris HCM picked up 
after the donation to CHM?



I was just in contact with the person who actually did the cleanout of the 
museum warehouse (not the current seller)

"As I cleared the warehouse, I found bits and pieces of the 910 strewn across the building in no specific order (backplanes, parts of tape 
drives, boards, etc). I believe that the SDS system was destroyed and possibly scrapped, except for the boards, which were all placed in 
boxes."


So he scrapped it.


here are the last known pictures of the cabinets, from Oct, 2010 when they were 
picked up from Jim
https://www.flickr.com/photos/houcompmuseum/

i'm amazed the link still works

last message from him is here from alt.folklore.computers

which I posted here in 2019
https://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum/marketplace/vintage-computer-items-for-sale-or-trade/72862-vintage-computer-warehouse-liquidation/page3#post885945

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

On 7/21/21 6:12 PM, Lee Courtney wrote:

Al or other - any idea what happened to the SDS relics and detris HCM picked up 
after the donation to CHM?



I was just in contact with the person who actually did the cleanout of the 
museum warehouse (not the current seller)

"As I cleared the warehouse, I found bits and pieces of the 910 strewn across the building in no specific order (backplanes, parts of tape 
drives, boards, etc). I believe that the SDS system was destroyed and possibly scrapped, except for the boards, which were all placed in boxes."


So he scrapped it.

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

Here are the only pictures I could find when the keyboard vultures
descended two years ago

https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=62=20593

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[jim stephens via cctalk]

I stored the tape drives and printers from the SDS pile.  I asked when 
the whole fiasco first surfaced and someone connected to the landlord 
got into the mess.  They said there was no media.  I never saw any in 
Kansas City which was to have been delivered as part of me storing that 
stuff for him.  He took off with the mainframe boxes, processors and 
maybe disks with a single trip, and only returned on threat of me 
assuming ownership of the pile and took it.


None of the SDS to any report or query I made ever showed up.  Maybe 
metal scrapped somewhere else.


All the stuff that is shown in the FB photos was a mess of newer smaller 
equipment in a pile which looked like a bomb had gone off. The "nice" 
pile seen in the FB post is way thinned out.  Looks like someone was 
going to try to sell it off retail and those plans have changed.


Chuck, sad you donated anything to him.

thanks
Jim

On 7/21/2021 6:12 PM, Lee Courtney via cctalk wrote:

Al or other - any idea what happened to the SDS relics and detris HCM
picked up after the donation to CHM?

Lee

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Ethan Dicks via cctalk]

On Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 10:52 PM Cameron Kaiser via cctalk
 wrote:
> > > "Houston Computer Museum" ... I wouldn't call this a "museum". The
> > > condition of the stuff is fitting for a garbage tip. It is a disgrace.
> >
> > Isn't this the place in Texas that flooded last year?
>
> Houston and floods ...

I got stranded in Houston for two days on my last trip there.
Flooding around the airport caused a multi-day disruption in flights.

-ethan

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Cameron Kaiser via cctalk]

> > "Houston Computer Museum" ... I wouldn't call this a "museum". The
> > condition of the stuff is fitting for a garbage tip. It is a disgrace.
> 
> Isn't this the place in Texas that flooded last year?

Houston and floods ...

-- 
 personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ --
  Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckai...@floodgap.com
-- Drive defensively ... buy a tank. --

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Warner Losh via cctalk]

On Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 8:41 PM Tom Hunter via cctalk 
wrote:

> "Houston Computer Museum" ... I wouldn't call this a "museum". The
> condition of the stuff is fitting for a garbage tip. It is a disgrace.
>

Isn't this the place in Texas that flooded last year?

Warner

> On Thu, Jul 22, 2021 at 6:50 AM Al Kossow via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/2103793056560583/permalink/3118441161762429/
> >
> >
>

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Tom Hunter via cctalk]

"Houston Computer Museum" ... I wouldn't call this a "museum". The
condition of the stuff is fitting for a garbage tip. It is a disgrace.

On Thu, Jul 22, 2021 at 6:50 AM Al Kossow via cctalk 
wrote:

>
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/2103793056560583/permalink/3118441161762429/
>
>

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Lee Courtney via cctalk]

Al or other - any idea what happened to the SDS relics and detris HCM
picked up after the donation to CHM?

Lee

On Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 3:50 PM Al Kossow via cctalk 
wrote:

>
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/2103793056560583/permalink/3118441161762429/
>
>

-- 
Lee Courtney
+1-650-704-3934 cell

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Teo Zenios via cctalk]

Nice selection of dirty and yellowed  computers in unknown condition.

-Original Message- 
From: Al Kossow via cctalk 
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2021 6:49 PM 
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts 
Subject: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff 


https://www.facebook.com/groups/2103793056560583/permalink/3118441161762429/

--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Douglas Taylor via cctalk]

On 7/21/2021 7:19 PM, Zane Healy via cctalk wrote:

On Jul 21, 2021, at 3:49 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk  wrote:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2103793056560583/permalink/3118441161762429/ 


That’s heartbreaking, especially as I see stuff in there, that looks to very 
likely be hardware I’m after (and I’m after almost nothing).

Zane



I agree, there are things that I would buy.  However, it is 1,500 miles 
from me and would require a drive through the South, in the Summer.  Ugh.


Doug

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Chuck Guzis via cctalk]

On 7/21/21 4:01 PM, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
> Yeah
> 
> Speaking of which I will be in Seattle at the train station on August
> 22nd. Was thinking of checking in on the LCM, but if it's still closed
> I'd be happy to do dinner with anyone who is out there.
> 
> Anyone want to grab food?

Is that the operation run by John Keys?  I donated a few things to that one.

--Chuck

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Zane Healy via cctalk]

On Jul 21, 2021, at 3:49 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk  wrote:
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/2103793056560583/permalink/3118441161762429/ 
> 

That’s heartbreaking, especially as I see stuff in there, that looks to very 
likely be hardware I’m after (and I’m after almost nothing).

Zane

Re: What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Chris Zach via cctalk]

Yeah

Speaking of which I will be in Seattle at the train station on August 
22nd. Was thinking of checking in on the LCM, but if it's still closed 
I'd be happy to do dinner with anyone who is out there.


Anyone want to grab food?

C

On 7/21/2021 6:49 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2103793056560583/permalink/3118441161762429/ 

What's left of the Houston Museum stuff

[Al Kossow via cctalk]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2103793056560583/permalink/3118441161762429/