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Pressure Is On IBM To Forgive Millions In IT Debt
coondoggie writes to tell us that several California state legislators are pressuring IBM to release the Costa school district from some $5 million of long-standing debt as a charitable donation. "The back story on this tale is that the school district owes IBM for computers ordered in the late 1980s and early 1990s. For one reason or another the computers were never used and no one now seems to be able to locate either the paperwork or the hardware. The school district experienced hard financial times and ultimately never paid Big Blue for the computers. In 1993 the district and IBM negotiated a long-term settlement that said the school district would pay the first of four $1.25 million installments beginning in 2008. Payments were deferred until then because 2008 was the year the district was scheduled to finish making state loan repayments under its previous loan plan, according to the Contra Costa story."
signed,
Epstein's Mom
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So, yeah, about the 5 million... well, we were kinda expecting you to forget about it ya know? Thats what friends are for, right?
On a serious note, I am surprised at no mention of paying a smaller amount or anything.. No they expect IBM to just forget about the whole thing.
Neither the paperwork or hardware could be located? Does this mean there is no proof of delivery?
Don't waste time... procrastinate now!
Man, relax! This was the late-80s... $5M probably bought about a dozen computers (EGA monitors, 20MB hard drives and 2400bps modems not included). Besides, the "unavailable" hardware and proofs of purchase are probably just cover-ups for someone having lost one or both while on a three-week cocaine bender.
Ah, those halcyon days.
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Inventor of the term 'pardon my French'.
posting because I accidentally modded you up
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"Surely the district didn't place a $5 million order with no means to pay for it?"
Bwahahahahaha!!!! Somebody mod this guy "+1 Funny"
Oh, wait - you were serious? Wow. Can I suggegest meds for those delusions?
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM, losing the documents and misplacing the hardware. Until now. This summer, one man wages a solo war against confused and incompetent administration in schools. You'll laugh, you'll cry. You'll mostly cry.
'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'
Which school board? The one 15 years ago that approved the equipment and then let it get stolen
From 15 years ago are the bad guys, unless they've lost the records of who was on the board back then too.
The school owes IBM money and California farmers are paying higher prices for farm labor because of the border crack down. I say have the school send all the kids out to harvest lettuce and have their wages go to pay back IBM. They even have school buses to drive them out to the fields. Might have to chain them together so they don't wander off and get lost and we could make their parents buy them little orange jumpsuits so we could spot them if they tried running off.
The farmers get cheap labor, IBM gets its money and the kids all learn to swing a lettuce knife with deadly accuracy before they get to high school. Okay, a few of them will lose fingers, maybe hack a little arm off. Bo-ho liberal whiners. Here's a bandaid. It's a win-win-win for everyone.
If it works out we could start renting them out to companies doing asbestos remediation, hauling trash, put them to work in shoe factories and get those back in the US again! Then we could take all that money they're making and role back the property taxes for all us old people.
This is brilliant! Brilliant I tell ya!
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
That's for sure. Back in my day, we played baseball the way it was meant to be played: with rocks, in the middle of busy streets. And we were damn happy. Football was about the same, but bigger rocks, and on the interstate. How many times have you been tackled by a '47 Buick goin' 55 miles per hour? Yeah, it sucked. But did you hear us complaining? Hell no. And don't even get me started on basketball. Have you ever tried to dribble a rock? That's right. You haven't. Back then, "Go play outside" really meant something. God damn kids these days, with their fancy synthetic rubber, and what-not, always running around my damn lawn.
Yeah, think how many Gypsies you Europeans could sterilize for $5 million dollars!