" Maybe he was just an asshole."

This is the most likely reason.

Many people, especially in positions of minor authority, are real works
of art.

Just be thankful you could find another job....and other surplus.

TMT


Cydrome Leader wrote:
In rec.crafts.metalworking CJT wrote:
Hamad bin Turki Salami wrote:
On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 12:05:51 -0700, Too_Many_Tools wrote:


So where have YOU found your reuseable mechanical and electronic
components and what were they from?


There are some thrift stores where I live that sell used computers
for between $5 and $15. They range from 486's to Pentium III's,
as well as old Mac's. Most of these machines work, but I don't
need old computers, so I buy some for salvage parts. In a couple
of lucky cases, I've been able to use some of the parts to repair
broken music synthesizers. They also get millions of power supplies,
cables, and such junk there. I once picked up a pretty nice bench
power supply for a few dollars, and I got an oscilloscope too once,
some scientific calculators, etc.

And here's a sort of negative answer ... When I was a teenager
I had a string a terrible, frustrating jobs. One of them was doing
inventory in a warehouse for electronic and mechanical parts.
There were thousands of neat little parts in this place and my
job was to keep counting them. I also had to pull the parts that were
discontinued. So one day I'd pulled a whole bunch of these nifty
little things -- motors, LEDs, connectors, etc. -- and I asked the
supervisor where they were going. "We incinerate them when
they're discontinued," he answered. "Incinerate them? Well, can
I take them if you're just going to burn them?" I asked. "No,"
he answered without explanation. I remember thinking what a
big, stupid dufus this guy was, and how I'd never get anywhere
with him, but I went ahead and asked him why I couldn't take
them. "Because they're patented," he said. When I pointed out
to him that this had nothing to do with anything,

Maybe they hadn't yet paid a royalty on the parts that came due
upon use or sale.