I stayed with XMIT in Texas and helped him sort the “for sale” portion of his collection.
Introduction:
Warning: due to the busy schedule and my bad memory, this may not be in proper sequence. It’s mostly right, though.
I made a forum member an offer. Not a typical vultures-circling-keyboard offer, surprisingly enough. I wasn’t haggling for goods or services. I was requesting an experience. When elecplus started a thread with information about a massive keyboard sort happening in Texas I contacted her and proposed something like this:
“If I fly down will you provide free room and board in exchange for labor?”
I didn’t get a reply. What sane person would let a random keyboard collector from Michigan travel down to Texas to sort keyboards? What sane person would trust someone from the internet? XMIT, apparently.
In March I extended the same offer to XMIT. I expected complete silence on the matter for the rest of the foreseeable future. That is, until he contacted me and asked if I was serious. He was transitioning between jobs, giving him an opportunity to host a guest for roughly 4 days. Mental response:
“Uhhh… Uhhh… YES. Quite serious.”
In fact, his deal was better than I expected. He offered room, board, a commission on whatever keyboards I help him sell, and (perhaps) access to his mythical still-in-development webstore. Down time in Austin to explore was also discussed. After a thorough vetting to be certain of his identity, I agreed enthusiastically.
So, in true delinquent fashion, I left school to travel and “professionally network with two MIT grads and the e-cycling community in Texas.” That’s what I told my professors, who happily gave me permission to leave their classes for a week.
The following documents the shenanigans and serious work that occurred.
Day 1:
Things got off to a great start. By great I mean awful. On the way to the airport a police officer, who I call Ranger Tom, pulled my father over. He was well within his rights to do so because A) my father was going 78 in the fast lane and B) my father passed Ranger Tom going 78. Tom pulled us over, checked my father’s squeaky clean driving record, and lectured us about going the speed limit before releasing us unticketed. I think he was salty because my father passed him.
The flights were quite uneventful. My arrival at the airport, however, was amazing. XMIT walked in the doors holding an HHKB. Once we made it back to his car, a Nissan Leaf (which he is quite proud of), he immediately handed me the HHKB for type-testing. I now understand the Topre thock. We also made a side trip to the local Goodwill that specializes in computer equipment.
XMIT makes a pretty strong first impression. He is the soul of efficiency. He’s also quite clearly an engineer. Engineers have a tendency to place signs, notices, and checklists everywhere. I saw a few of those before making it through his front door. It seems silly to some people, but when you think intensely for a living it makes sense. Posting a document means that you only have to think once. XMIT prefers to avoid thinking unless he’s being paid for it or enjoying it somehow -- a reasonable paradigm. This is something important -- he hates puns. I couldn’t resist making a few (and pointing out his accidental ones) during my stay.
Finally, he’s from New York. His accent is mostly gone, but it still shines through when he says “hahribble” and “ahrange.” (Transliteration: horrible and orange.)We started to work after I unpacked and mentally adjusted to the fact that I was in Texas at a stranger’s house -- a 15 minute process. Task one was retrieving keyboards from the shed. We made two-ish trips with a large garden cart, retrieving approximately 100 keyboards.
I noticed several large bones in his backyard and inquired, as any sane person would. Apparently they allowed the neighbor to graze his sheep in their backyard during a time when coyotes were hungry. The coyotes kill a sheep, take about two pounds of meat, and leave the rest to rot. I guess it’s a part of the Texas experience.
Back to keyboards. We laid down tarps in his garage and sorted the keyboards into rough categories for later attention. I tried a few new switches while doing so, but nothing really stood out. There were a few weird keyboards that we set aside for further research.
Model Ms received the most attention. They were consolidated into piles, which meant removing shelved keyboards in the garage and combining them with those from the shed. We sorted them into a few different piles and made complete ones from donor ‘boards. It was time consuming and tedious, but we managed to assemble approximately 40 complete keyboards. Certain keycaps were quite rare -- I had issues finding “Esc” and “F11” keycaps in particular. We prioritized Model Ms which use SDL connectors as they tend to sell faster. Some of the donors were pillaged and abused to a painful degree. “For the good of the many…” -- RIP Model M Donors.
SDL Ms > Silver Label Terminal Ms > Late Terminal Ms > M122s
Day 2:
Once I was alive and moving I went out to the garage with XMIT to do more keyboard stuff (a real shock). We sorted the rest of his keyboards into piles to cull the unsaleable keyboards from the herd, which resulted in an exodus of Acer switches and Foam/Foil ‘boards.
I had a few experiences with keyboards and switches during sorting that are worth noting. The first and largest impression was made by some white KPT clones. I tapped a key and had to check to make sure nothing was broken -- the clicks are that loud! It sounds like I’m murdering the keyboard with a hammer as I type on it. Needless to say, I love it. Oki Gourd switches are very nice. Hua Jie Green Alps clones are definitely as smooth as SKCM Green Alps, but they’re slightly tactile.
I ended up with a revised opinion about early SKCM White Alps. When they’re in perfect, and I mean pristine-NIB-beautiful condition, they’re roughly 90% as good as SKCM Blue Alps. I think that the Blues age better due to dry lubricant. Is that 10% improvement worth the cost of a Blue Alps ‘board? I think that if you’re serious about the absolute best Alps switch feel and have a ton of disposable income, yes. They really are better than SKCM Whites by a small margin. The problem for budget folks is that such large expenditures result in a very small increase in smoothness -- you’ll need to decide if it’s worth the diminished marginal return.
Trying an M15 was also a highlight. They have a higher build quality when compared with M2s, which makes the switches feel much better. Still not particularly impressive in terms of feel, but certainly an experience in terms of rarity. I feel privileged to have sampled one.
Speaking of Ms, we completed a few more Ms and started to repair a few M122s. We built some shelves in his shed and placed the initial sorting rejects there. XMIT keeps some keyboards out of pity, I think. During a break I tried his Nikon camera, which I am quite envious of. Later that night we left to purchase beer and velcro cable ties. I wanted XMIT to try some Northern brew. The best I could find was Leinenkugel’s Big Butt Doppelbock, a moderately dark Bavarian style, and I insisted on buying.
We worked late to clear half of the garage for his car. I introduced XMIT to Death Metal and he introduced me to Australia’s Top 100, which is what he uses as a playlist. He mentioned that it was nice to relax with a beer in the garage -- he doesn’t get many chances to unwind these days. Once the stall was clear a bit of car chat ensued. I told him about the Tucker, which I was allowed to sit in. He told me about the Chrysler Turbine Car, which is damn cool.
I should also mention that I acquired the aforementioned sheep skull from XMIT’s backyard. My girlfriend loves skeletons and whatnot (she’s an artist -- they’re weird), so when I asked her if she wanted it her reply was, “YES.” I had to bodily stomp on the remnants of the sheep’s spinal cord and yank on its horns to remove it (with a sort of organic “thump” when the remaining bacterial slime/connective tissue let go), which was an interesting experience. I think there is still a vertebra attached. In the end, I teased her about “necrophilia” and brought it back in my checked baggage under several layers of plastic.
Day 3:
I woke up to the kids -- they were in bad mood. XMIT and I shelved a bunch of ready-to-sell Model Ms and a few other ‘boards. We also repaired a few M122s and M terminals (I think -- it all blurs together). The M122s kept us going until lunchtime.
We had Torchy’s Tacos (a Texas staple with queso that beats Qdoba’s easily) and visited Tech Shop, which was full of small scale production and prototyping equipment. We’re talking laser cutters, CNC routers, 3D printers -- the whole shibang. XMIT might become a small scale custom keyboard and keyboard parts producer in his retirement.
A scheduling snafu at XMIT’s new job blindsided us (as it was supposed to be on Day 4), so I went to downtown Austin a day early. Traffic kept him from making the meeting so we snagged Voodoo Donuts, which resulted in a sugar buzz, before he went to the barbeque place.
While he was munching on BBQ goodness with new colleagues I walked the strip of college bars near the capital. I stopped at Shakespeare’s Pub (how could an English major like me resist?) for a Shiner Bock, the local beer. I was surprised to see Leinenkugel’s there -- apparently it’s getting somewhat popular in the South. Second stop was an Irish pub for a cider and stew. Blues and country were being played live across the street, which made for an enjoyable dining experience. There were also 10 foot high windows/shutters that were open. I seated myself right next to one for people watching purposes -- Texan women really do wear Daisy Dukes. Third stop was a curb waiting for a Death Metal themed Pizza place to open -- I was too impatient and went to Daruya, a ramen restaurant, instead. While I was inside I chatted with some gamers about new releases and the merits of mechanical keyboards.
XMIT wrapped up his meeting and we departed for his place. Upon arrival we were greeted with a stressed Mrs. XMIT. She spent the day clearing a small portion of fallow field for her garden, building a planter, and moving over a thousand pounds of soil. She was DONE and needed to relax. We cleaned off her roto-tiller rental and ran it back at the last minute to avoid additional fees. Once that madness concluded we shelved and tested a bunch of other keyboards, cleaning the garage so that both stalls were usable.
We went indoors and decided that it was time for me to sample the main collection. XMIT seems to specialize in magnetically actuated keyboards. Valves, hall effects, you name it. He also has a soft spot for buckling springs. Who doesn’t, though? Some of the older magnetic keyboards had hilariously large cases and prohibitively heavy springs. One in particular required two fingers to press comfortably. There was also an interesting buckling spring keyboard, which I am going to be secretive about to avoid creating competition, that has basically the same mechanism as the Model M with substantially lighter press-force. I’d buy one as a daily driver if given the chance. I also tried beam springs -- they're pretty satisfying.
XMIT definitely stayed up later than he should have, but I think he enjoyed showing off.
Day 4:
The morning was pretty easy. We decided to rectify the remnants of his Space Invader ‘boards. There was an interesting discovery; Space Invader plates have a single screw which holds them to the bottom plate near the far right (may be the left -- memory is bad). There is, however, an identical plastic sleeve and screw hole on the opposite side. I put in a donor screw to see if it had any effects. Does it? Absolutely! It reduces the creak and flex of Space Invader ‘boards by a noticeable amount. It’s an easy mod that I recommend strongly.
We used my Soarer’s Converter while testing. XMIT seemed to like the power switch that I wired into it -- instead of plugging and unplugging the USB connector, one can determinatively power the ‘board off. It’s not a huge time saver, but it’s nice because you don’t need to unplug it if you’re swapping caps or performing deeper maintenance. There were a bunch of leftover ADDS ASCII and donor Space Invader ‘boards that were hogging space. We decided to offer them to Engicoder at a reasonable price to support his custom project. Engicoder -- I expect amazing things.
We decided to relax for the remainder of the afternoon, doing some light garage cleaning and organization. Photography and further research on a few mystery switches would have consumed too much time and energy at that point. An eBay search resulted in cheap KPT Blues -- I think down time was a good decision.
The rest of the evening was chatting and packing. There were two surprises in store. After speaking with Mrs. XMIT, XMIT decided to pay my airfare in advance of sales commissions. I was stunned and thankful -- I’m a poor college student, after all. XMIT also made an amusing comment while we were discussing some technical stuff. “I forgot that you are an English Major.” I like to think of that as a compliment considering XMIT’s MIT Master’s degree. A nap, some final packing of boring things like clothes, and an examination of XMIT’s photography color balance cards ensued before bed.
Day 5:
I woke up at 4 AM. XMIT was kind enough to drive me to the airport -- originally we had agreed on an Uber ride. Security was interesting due to a wire filled laptop bag that set off a residue detection instrument during a manual screening (damn you Deskthority and Head-Fi; I think my Soarer’s Converter and coiled headphone cable set off the screening procedure).
I received a pat down and several odd looks. I’m still curious what the detector said I had on my bag -- perhaps some of the old keyboards I worked on had some sketchy government materials which transferred from my hands. After a warning text to XMIT about the potential delays (in case his bags tested positive too), I departed. I was concerned about my checked baggage.
When I arrived in Grand Rapids and went to the baggage carousel I had a moment of panic -- the box I checked didn’t pop out. Turns out that the baggage handlers thought it was freight, so it was almost misdirected. Thankfully they caught it and placed it near to the desk-woman I spoke with, who kindly handed it to me. The whole airport heard my sigh of relief.
Home sweet home.
Retrospective:
It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to visit elecplus. We had a lot of work to do in a limited time frame, and we were both mildly distracted on a regular basis as we found/sampled cool keyboards. We didn’t make it to photography either, which was a mild disappointment. When I think about the trip as a whole, though, it was a smashing success.
I should take time to note that XMIT, Mrs. XMIT, and the two little XMITs are good people. I felt welcome from the moment I stepped over their house’s threshold. If you think he’s playing “nice guy” for forum cred, you’re quite wrong. He’s a legitimate idealist who is clinical, blunt, and caring. Quite an odd combination. The kids are great too. I tend to be awful with children, but XMIT’s seemed to like me after I read to them for a bit.
I left with 6 keyboards and sampled 15-20 new switches. I also did some valuable professional networking -- XMIT said that he’s willing to write me a letter of recommendation. He also has a bunch of contacts in the tech industry. Most important, though, is the fact that I found some new family in Texas.
Photos of the keyboards will be up later in the “Just Bought” thread.
