Thursday, July 15, 2004
Doing Well by Doing Good
I've just got back from a day and a night in London. Hmm, about London, the place most of us will be ending up soon, by hook or by crook. The place is heaven and hell, rolled into one.
Today I was on the East side, finally sorting out the 45 computers I've had sitting in storage for *far* too long. The East side is a dump, plain and simple. The people are rude (not 'chirpy') and the area is built over with concrete like some 70's city planner just wanted to erase it from the map. But, yes, there *is* something about London that keeps drawing people and has done so for hundreds of years. A couple of days ago I wrote the entry for London on our MBA students knowledge sharing platform (wiki) and the Samuel Johnson quote came to mind...
"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." - Samuel Johnson
And it's kinda true. Without hell there can't be a heaven and London reminds you of that every day.
Anyway, what was I doing in London with 45 PCs? I bought them a while ago at auction and was going to set up a big Easyinternet cafe franchise. I ended up doing the MBA instead. After months of half-heartedly trying to sell them, and storage fees burning a hole in my pocket I decided I had enough; I called Computer Aid International and offered to donate them.
So they picked them up today, I finally got rid of the cursed storage (a darn good business model if anyone is thinking of starting something - they have perfected the 'out of sight, out of mind' principle), and as eBay Fox told me: the charitable donation is TAX DEDUCTIBLE!! So I actually save more money than the computers are really worth.
Oh lord, I never thought I would get excited about tax deductions. See what an MBA does to you!
Off to the Pickerel Inn for the Thursday MBA social now to celebrate. I missed the Magdalene Master's BBQ last night but will be making up for it with a Magd grad party Saturday, the Magd croquet tournament (don't ask) and a few Magd parlor dinners which I think are just what the doctor ordered for this poor, worn out MBA.
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