Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Manned Submersibles Book

[SeaLordOne@aol.com]

Shipmates,

I appreciate all the gratitude for locating and securing the Busbys, I really do.  But I believe your thanks are quite premature.  Three months from now, when 150 PSUBS members have shiny new Busbys sitting on their shelves, and Busby can be found on numerous websites, then perhaps you can all sit around and pat me on the back, and tell me what a grand fellow I must be.  But as of today, all I have really done is to raise a lot of hopes, with wild tales of a mystery shipment of "lost Bubsy books", and my "heroic" efforts to track them down over several agencies and several states through a sea of government red tape.  Please wait until I actually "deliver the goods" before you sing my praises.  We aren't home yet.  If this deal falls through, I will have a lot of egg on my face...please don't make that worse.

It isn't over until the fat lady sings.  Although I have good faith promises from the Navy and NASA, I still don't have the books.  When I have those 600 pounds of Busbys (150 copies times 4 pounds each), the fat lady will have sung.  I will let you know when that day comes.  But then, I still have to distribute them.  If demand outstrips supply (which I will want to determine in advance), I will need a method for setting priorities (some balance between "first come-first served" and "the greatest good for the greatest number", e.g., libraries and websites take priority over individuals).  And I will want input from the group on a fair way to do that.  And even once priorities are set, I still have to personally wrap and ship 150 packages, which could easily take me a month or two (I have a family and a day job).  And I will have to decide whether to take personal checks, or insist on money orders, or what.  So this will not happen overnight.

For now, I ask you to please "cease and desist" with the "orders" I have received for Busbys.  I am not taking orders at this time.  I have no books to send...only an IOU from the Navy and NASA...(which I consider to be sound).  The logistics have yet to be finalized.  I am figuring I will do something like this.  When I receive the Busbys, I will announce it to the group.  We can then give the group, say, 15 days to place orders.  So long as there are more books than orders, everyone gets a book.  But if orders exceed books, well, then I would like to see some "fair and objective" way to allocate deliveries.  I believe that Ray should get all of the books he wants for the future PSUBS library...that should be the first priority.  The second priority should probably be books to websites and libraries, because they will benefit many.  The third priority should perhaps be individual PSUBS members.  I am open to suggestions.  But I don't want those suggestions right now.  Please save them until I announce that I have the books in hand...at that point it all becomes real.

One note on that.  PSUBS "members" will take priority over "outside" folks who simply see these postings on our site and want a Busby.  That roughly 200 folks on the current mailing list come first.  The Navy has agreed to that.  I did not claim to "represent" PSUBS, because I don't.  But I did indicate that this PSUBS group would be my distribution vehicle.  They agreed.

I will report back to you when the books arrive on my doorstep.  Until then, no more orders, please.  Thanks.  When the time comes for orders, everyone will get their fair shot.  

Doug Farrow