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Dumpster Diving?

Some friends found a bunch of old computers and a good (at the time) video card at a previous job a few years back.
 
Got 7 bagels (slightly stale), an anchovie and pineapple pizza (OK, I called that one in, waited for them to throw it out at midnight), some broccoli, half a bottle of malt liquor, and a roast chicken that smells a little funny. Also found a nice new refrigerator box.
 
As I live near a research park in so cal....my dumpster diving has been pretty good. In the past couple months its been crazy good:

-4x 15" Sony Trinitron's, plastics were a bit dirty but tube works like a charm. Buncha weird stickers on em, barcodes and whatnot, gave em to family and whatnot for new systems.
-Brand new Rio 500 in sealed package...not sure how it got there but oh well. Dusty as hec on the outside packaging though.
-A box of working (tried 3 of the 20) 8x CD-Rom drives...not sure what to do with em but never hurts to have a backup or two.
-A new Lakers 2002 wall calendar.
-Box of Maxims dating back to 1999....mmmm....Maxim.
-Various floppy drives and IDE cables.
-buncha other stuff over the last couple years....too lazy to list.
 


<< Interesting...I though the only thing those guys dived for was Credit Card receipts... >>



No man, you can get all sorts of hardware and software with a little dive. pr0n was cool when I was younger... 😉

Im too lazy to do that now, plus the cops dont always like it...
 
Very interesting...and tempting so long as you don't get arrested for theft or tresspassing. Many places consider theft of trash a serious offense and they do prosecute.

I once even heard about the highway department cracking down on someone who was picking up a chair off the side of the road (fell off someone's truck). The chair wasn't theirs, but they were going to take it home. The highway dept's response was, 'once it hits the highway, it's ours'

If anyone tries it, good luck!
 


<< Got 7 bagels (slightly stale), an anchovie and pineapple pizza (OK, I called that one in, waited for them to throw it out at midnight), some broccoli, half a bottle of malt liquor, and a roast chicken that smells a little funny. Also found a nice new refrigerator box. >>



The only reason the pizza was there is because of the anchovies. A pizza delivery guy will eat just about anything (I tested that theory one night 😀)
 
Well now...
There's a thought!

I would assume retail stores (not computer shops) would be best for this "hobby". Places with out too much knowladge on board if you know what I mean.

<Thinking of place's in my town.>

(just what I need, ANOTHER addiction)
 


<< Well now...
There's a thought!

I would assume retail stores (not computer shops) would be best for this "hobby". Places with out too much knowladge on board if you know what I mean.

<Thinking of place's in my town.>

(just what I need, ANOTHER addiction) >>



Large computer companies throw away a lot of things... 😀
 
Yeah, diving is a well-kept secret.
When places find out people are diving, they start smashing the stuff b4 it goes in the 'ster.
 
Man..i live in sunnyvale CA...the heart of silicon valley...i should stir up a possy of dumpster divers and we should terrorize the town...err...or ill just stay online. But it would be cool to have someone show u the ropes..lol
 


<< Yeah, diving is a well-kept secret.
When places find out people are diving, they start smashing the stuff b4 it goes in the 'ster. >>

They do that because it's fun. And we lock our dumpster at the pizza shop. Ha ha ha. We do that mostly because of the mess people leave.
 
I once parked on the backside of Barnes and Noble.. Must have been when they were throwing out old magazines.. Anyways, I picked up all the gaming and sports ones, like 3 of each, most in perfect condition and put them in the trunk 🙂
-- mrcodedude
 
Never really got "into" it, but have scored a few things:

3 HP Laserjet III's- All of them had some sort of feed problem, but a $15 (ea) roller kit fixed. Use them for my "loaners" (not unusual for me to get called "My Printer Quit, and I've got to get the invoices/Statements out today!")
2 Apple Laserwriter II's- once again, had some problems. Used for spare parts to fix the above. BTW, these are all from gov't office!!!
Deals close to dumpster Diving:

My first scanner (and still preferred for B&W work) HP Scanjet Plus- cost me a whopping $2 at a city auction
Helped a buddy toss a ton of 13" monitors- did find a couple of 17" that needed a fuse replaced. Due to the way they have things set up, he couldn't buy them- but I could !! $3 apiece- sold him one (after fixing it) for $10

 
When I was a computer tech last year (My senior year of high school) we had to throw away a bunch of crap. MY teacher asked hsi boss if we could have the stuuf but he said no. So my teahcer said we could take it as soon as it hit the garbage cart. I got two ethernet cars, a 14" monitor, some ram, and a keyboard. I haven't had any use for them but I gave the ethernet cards to my friend.
 
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