[NPMUG] Goodwill work days resume Friday, Jan. 9...

[Robert A. Donaldson]

Dear Mac friends:

Here's hoping you've all had a wonderful holiday season, and that  
you've been able to experience a new (or gently used) Apple object of  
your desire.

We will resume our weekly Friday workdays at the Goodwill Computer  
Recycling Center this coming Friday, January 9. We normally arrive  
about 8:30 a.m. and depart between 4:00 and 4:30 p.m., with an hour's  
break for lunch. If you'd like to join us, you're welcome to arrive  
and leave at anytime that fits you're schedule.

The Goodwill Computer Recycling Center is at 2600 East Carson St. on  
Pittsburgh's South Side. Entrance to the building in on the South 26th  
St. of the building. If you're new to coming to the CRC, stop at the  
reception desk inside the door and get a visitor's pass. Veterans are  
asked to continue to wear our gray Apple recycling shirts.

To find us inside, go past the reception desk and make the first left.  
Go down the hall and pass thorough the metal detector (it's to detect  
stuff going OUT). We're in the big room beyond the metal detector on  
the far right side.

This year brings some new things for us. We've formed a relationship  
with Northside Common Ministries, a division of Goodwill, and they  
will be "customers" for Macs we refurbish. They'll be used by their  
clients for training.

We've also revamped our database, and will now track EVERYTHING we  
touch to provide greater accountability for Apple products in  
Goodwill's recycling and de-manufacturing system. Thanks to Patrick  
Cranston, we don't even have to do any work to do this. All the  
information we now record will be dealt with by his rework of our  
FileMaker Pro database.

All we need to continue to do is enter a Mac model number, its serial  
number and wether it's a refurbish job or a de-manufacture. The  
database will account for everything, including adding up the weight  
of de-manufactured Macs. The database will generate monthly reports to  
Goodwill of our activities and how many refurbished Macs have been  
done and are ready for sale.

Dave Sevick is gathering information from Goodwill to see how much  
money our 2008 efforts have generated for Goodwill's programs. As soon  
as he gets the information, he'll let everyone know.

A quick reminder: The NPMUG monthly meeting is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.  
on Wednesday, January 7, at MacOutfitters in Cranberry, and the COWMUG  
monthly meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 8, in the  
Monroeville Public Library.


Robert A. Donaldson
radonaldson at mac.com
(H) 412-922-3303
(M) 412-477-9188