TIFU by being a greedy scavenger at work.

Throw away account for perusing the adult subreddits here.

So, at my current (and probably soon to be former) employer, old computers, servers, networking hardware, etc. get recycled. Typically, the desktop/server support guys pull the hard drives for destruction and do a weekly dump of the rest. During this time, I’d usually see what if any scraps were left over, and if it was something I could use for my homelab, I’d press them into service. Speaking with others, they too have done similar things from time to time.

Where todays fuck up comes is I got greedy. Instead of waiting for the soon to be recycled hardware to be taken to the central area where all things destined to be gathered, figured I’d scavenge before they were sent off. In doing so, scavenged a system that wasn’t destined to be recycled. And this is where I enter the world of shit.

As it turns out, this system in particular was being temporarily stashed and awaiting to be sent back to its original location. Now that it’s been discovered having been scavenged, the hunt is on for who and when it happened. It’s too late to undo this fuckup, as it was discovered when the system was taken back to its original location, powered on, and the rest is history.

So, staring down the barrel of being identified by either security cameras or access logs into the building, shamefully being fired for theft for items that honestly, I can afford to buy, and worst of all, dropping a Tsar Bomba on myself as it pertains to my current career (and possibly future prospects), my workmates, and quite possibly my home life. Been running a gamut of emotions about it, wishing I could undo what my actions have potentially wrought upon myself.

Not asking for sympathy here, nor do I expect it. Just telling my cautionary tale should someone else be doing similar actions. In the end, it’s never worth it. I can honestly say the anticipation of the shitstorm that is to come is definitely worse than if and when it finally hits.

TL;DR: While scavenging for parts from old computers destined to be recycled, scavenged one that was not slated for such, probably going to get shitcanned if/when whatever trails lead back to me.