[meteorite-list] Park Forest - The Pulling of Teeth Part I
From: Adam Hupe <adamhupe_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:10:00 2004 Message-ID: <001401c2f896$00afcfa0$b4dbe60c_at_attbi.com> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0011_01C2F852.F2296100 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Dear List Members, Wow, lots of emails concerning the new Chicago fall. I was going to try = to get back into the meteorite scene slowly but could not resist the = temptation of a new fall and was thrust back into the fire. Al Lang and = I decided to leave Park Forest yesterday because the feeding frenzy and = greed was getting to be too much. Here is a long rundown of some of our experiences in case anybody is = interested. Day one Had a deal on the only oriented stone we observed the entire time we = were there and had a museum director destroy our deal by telling the = seller not to sell to us until the museum had a chance to make an offer = on it first. The seller was then encouraged to donate the stone for a = write-off. Most of these people are not in a position to take advantage = of a tax write off because they are in the lowest income bracket. A = donor can only write-off expenses incurred so basically they were giving = these stones away free or they will unknowingly break the law if they = try to write them off at $15.00 a gram. This shows blatant disrespect = and abuse of perceived power. I am so disgusted in these three = professionals that I will discourage any donations of material to their = respective institutions unless they are reprimanded. On the positive = side meteorite dealers and collectors behaved themselves for the most = part in a much more professional manner. =20 We were at the police station when we heard a gunshot fired around the = corner at about 7:00 p.m. prompting us to leave the area and find a = hotel. Purchased very little material at the initial $1.00 a gram price because = we only wanted the best stones, we observed about 40 kilograms found in = less than 10 hours and thought hundreds of kilos would show up by the = next day. Day two Scoured the neighborhood for deals but the word was spread on the news = not to sell to meteorite dealers who were there to take advantage of the = finders. A new street price was established at $3.00 a gram because = this is what a museum was offering. We purchased a single stone at this = price.=20 =20 Went searching for meteorites and found a 24 gram specimen laying = between a curb and a sidewalk. An old woman observed me picking it up = and accused me of stealing it. Then she called me a hippie freak (I = don't even have long hair) and told me she saw me pick up the stone from = a yard. She went on to tell me that her part of the neighborhood did = not like strangers poking around. She also mentioned that she heard = about us "meteor people" on the news and knew we were up to no good. A = small crowd was beginning to gather so I walked quickly back to the car. = Our group, now consisting of four members decided it was time to go = somewhere else to search so we left. We had to drive by her house on = the way out and the next thing she did was chase us in her car. It took = about 20 blocks and three turns to shake her. I am sure she wrote down = our license plate number and reported the supposed theft to the police. = We were given permission by the city to check the areas between the = sidewalks and curbs. =20 That night somebody was ran over by a car three times in front of our = hotel. We saw all the police cars and ambulances but did not know what = had happened until the next morning when we found out the person had = been killed. See next posting for part II All the Best, Adam Hupe ------=_NextPart_000_0011_01C2F852.F2296100 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2919.6307" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Dear List Members,</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Wow, lots of emails concerning the new = Chicago=20 fall. I was going to try to get back into the meteorite scene = slowly but=20 could not resist the temptation of a new fall and was thrust back into = the=20 fire.</FONT><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2> Al Lang and I decided to = leave Park=20 Forest yesterday because the feeding frenzy and greed was getting = to be too=20 much.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Here is a long rundown of some of=20 our experiences in case anybody is interested.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Day one</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Had a deal on the only oriented stone = we observed=20 the entire time we were there and had a museum director destroy our = deal by=20 telling the seller not to sell to us until the museum had a chance to = make an=20 offer on it first. The seller was then encouraged to donate the = stone for=20 a write-off. Most of these people are not in a position to take = advantage=20 of a tax write off because they are in the lowest income bracket. = A donor=20 can only write-off expenses incurred so basically they were giving these = stones=20 away free or they will unknowingly break the law if they try to write = them off=20 at $15.00 a gram. This shows blatant disrespect and abuse of = perceived=20 power. I am so disgusted in these three professionals that I = will=20 discourage any donations of material to their respective = institutions=20 unless they are reprimanded. On the positive side meteorite = dealers=20 and collectors behaved themselves for the most part in a much = more=20 professional manner.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>We were at the police station when we = heard a=20 gunshot fired around the corner at about 7:00 p.m. prompting us to leave = the=20 area and find a hotel.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Purchased very little material at = the initial=20 $1.00 a gram price because we only wanted the best stones, we observed = about 40=20 kilograms found in less than 10 hours and thought hundreds of kilos = would show=20 up by the next day.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Day two</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Scoured the neighborhood for deals but = the word was=20 spread on the news not to sell to meteorite dealers who were there to = take=20 advantage of the finders. A new street price was established=20 at $3.00 a gram because this is what a museum was offering. = We=20 purchased a single stone at this price. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Went searching for meteorites and found = a 24 gram=20 specimen laying between a curb and a sidewalk. An = old woman=20 observed me picking it up and accused me of stealing it. Then=20 she called me a hippie freak (I don't even have long hair) and told = me she=20 saw me pick up the stone from a yard. She went on to tell me that = her part=20 of the neighborhood did not like strangers poking around. = She also=20 mentioned that she heard about us "meteor people" on the news=20 and knew we were up to no good. A small crowd was = beginning to=20 gather so I walked quickly back to the car. Our group, = now=20 consisting of four members decided it was time to go somewhere else = to=20 search so we left. We had to drive by her house on the way out and = the=20 next thing she did was chase us in her car. It took = about 20=20 blocks and three turns to shake her. I am sure she wrote down = our=20 license plate number and reported the supposed theft to the = police. We=20 were given permission by the city to check the areas between the = sidewalks and=20 curbs. </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>That night somebody was ran over by a = car three=20 times in front of our hotel. We saw all the police cars and = ambulances but=20 did not know what had happened until the next morning when we found out = the=20 person had been killed.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>See next posting for part = II</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>All the Best,</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Adam Hupe</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_0011_01C2F852.F2296100-- Received on Tue 01 Apr 2003 04:31:05 PM PST |
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