A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

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rubber_jonnie
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A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Back in 2017 I returned to work for a company I'd been at before some 6 years previously.

There was a chap there called Neil, who aside from being a very talented techie was also a gentleman and fabulous musician. Not only that, he taught me a lot over both tenures at that little company.

Around 2018 he put me onto somebody who wanted to sell a BBC B with lots of additions, books, printer etc

At the time I wasn't in a position to make a sensible offer for it and had to decline.

Fast forward to 2021 and Neil sadly died quite suddenly, and whilst we were mostly colleagues, we had often chatted at work and on WhatsApp about all sorts of stuff, from work, to music, to tech stuff and even pets. It was quite a shock and very sad to hear.

Almost one year later, I was suddenly contacted today by the lady with the BBC B again, saying she wanted me to have it in remembrance of Neil!!

I was quite shocked, and very surprised by the offer and have arranged to go and collect the machine and everything that goes with it in about 2 weeks.

I plan to make a donation to a charity, or somehow pay it forward, but I am really shocked and amazed that after all this time she remembered me and made such a kind offer.

Perhaps not all humans are so bad after all.

I'll post more when I have collected, but in the meantime, it has reminded me to make sure I am nice to people.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
UnderTheRain
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Re: A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

Post by UnderTheRain »

That's pretty cool and if you want to pay it forward *cough* there's a TT I can't afford on ebay right now it's about €1400 :P
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mrbombermillzy
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Re: A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

Post by mrbombermillzy »

Thats a really sad story Jon, but also very nice to hear. Especially:
rubber_jonnie wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 6:35 pm Perhaps not all humans are so bad after all.

I'll post more when I have collected, but in the meantime, it has reminded me to make sure I am nice to people.
That's a really great thing to remember.

Whenever you think the world is full of scumbags, just remember this.

I think we have quite a good selection of folk on this forum.

I would go as far as to venture a much higher good/bad person ratio than the global forum average ;)
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stephen_usher
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Re: A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

Post by stephen_usher »

Sad news about your ex-colleague.

It is amazing how once you get known for retro stuff you often get offers out of the blue.

I've had two Beebs I've rescued this year and to pay forward by giving one away to another enthusiast and another as a prize. I could have made quite a lot of money by selling them but I'll not sell things I obtained for free.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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mrbombermillzy
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Re: A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

Post by mrbombermillzy »

I rest my case. :lol:
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

Post by rubber_jonnie »

UnderTheRain wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 7:14 pm That's pretty cool and if you want to pay it forward *cough* there's a TT I can't afford on ebay right now it's about €1400 :P
Trust me, If I had £1400 that I could get away with spending on a TT, I wouldn't be giving it away ;)

I may do something BBC B related though.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

Post by rubber_jonnie »

mrbombermillzy wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 7:19 pm Thats a really sad story Jon, but also very nice to hear. Especially:
rubber_jonnie wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 6:35 pm Perhaps not all humans are so bad after all.

I'll post more when I have collected, but in the meantime, it has reminded me to make sure I am nice to people.
Thats a really great thing to remember.

Whenever you think the world is full of scumbags, just remember this.

I think we have quite a good selection of folk on this forum.

I would go as far as to venture a much higher good/bad person ratio than the global forum average ;)
And I'd agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

:)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 7:32 pm Sad news about your ex-colleague.

It is amazing how once you get known for retro stuff you often get offers out of the blue.

I've had two Beebs I've rescued this year and to pay forward by giving one away to another enthusiast and another as a prize. I could have made quite a lot of money by selling them but I'll not sell things I obtained for free.
I'm definitely going to keep the BBC B I'm being given because of the connection, but I can definitely think of some things I could give away that might make somebody's day.

I'll make my decision once I've collected the machine and see what I've got, but I will be doing a giveaway at some point in the near future.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

Post by rubber_jonnie »

mrbombermillzy wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 7:37 pm I rest my case. :lol:
It's a case that's very easy to rest on this forum, there's really no other like it.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: A BBC B is coming, but it has a tinge of sadness

Post by rubber_jonnie »

I was finally able to collect the BBC B from my colleagues friend yesterday.

There's 2 boxes of stuff:

PXL_20220727_205817436.jpg
PXL_20220727_205817436.jpg (526.72 KiB) Viewed 1031 times

One box contains the computer and a Citizen 120D dot matrix printer, the other contains a bunch of items such as a pod that sits over the BBC and seems to contain a Cumana floppy disk, printer paper, books, a joystick, disks and cassettes.

I'll properly document all the stuff when I have time, but I possibly have another parental visit pending and don't know when that'll be.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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