Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decision
 

Yesterday I stopped by what I thought was a hunting/fishing store. When I walked in 90% of the place was empty. There was a 71 year old lady that was supporting herself solely by selling crickets, worms, and other bait supplies. You could tell from looking at the walls and empty glass cases that the place used to be so much more. So I started talking to the lady and it turns out that she was getting ready to retire. She put up 300+ thousand dollars of guns, bows, and outdoor equipment up for auction. The problem was that the auctioneer was shady and sold everything for a mere 14K in a fraction of the time the auction was supposed to last. After a long legal battle and witnesses that wouldn't testify against "one of their own" or due to "conflicts of interest" she gave up and decided to sell crickets. This was 7 years ago.

Not the wisest of women but still a heart wrenching story. And one I spent a reasonable amount of time talking to my father-lawyer about. Apparently in some states you can't stop auctions once they've started. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] It's funny how badly some people can screw you if they know the law a lot better than you do.

But this brings me to the topic of this thread. What are some mistakes people have made that ended up costing them a lifetime of work or major hardship at least? A book full of short stories like this one would be interesting to read.

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

I think a book of stories like this would be really depressing.

One that comes to mind is enron employees who had their entire retirement accounts in enron stock.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

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I think a book of stories like this would be really depressing.

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Yes, but it would save so many people so much pain in the long run.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decision
 

I had a nightmare once that someone hacked my 401k... that would really suck.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

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I had a nightmare once that someone hacked my 401k... that would really suck.

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Speaking of which, could you contribute a higher % please, you're really not adding up here...

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decision
 

There really should be a secret government agency which focuses on the apprehension, torture and execution of the scumbags that do this kind of [censored] to old people.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

That is a really common auctioneer scam. You have to be really careful with the smaller auction sites especially if you don't plan on attending.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

I'm not sure I understand the whole scam because I don't know a thing about how auctions work.


What does the auctioneer get out of it?
Is he colluding with those who are purchasing the items and they are giving him extra bucks under the table in order to buy the stuff so cheaply?
Or it's just a bunch of friends of his and he let them have the items for super-cheap?

I'm an idiot so I need further explanation on this one.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not sure I understand the whole scam because I don't know a thing about how auctions work.


What does the auctioneer get out of it?
Is he colluding with those who are purchasing the items and they are giving him extra bucks under the table in order to buy the stuff so cheaply?
Or it's just a bunch of friends of his and he let them have the items for super-cheap?

I'm an idiot so I need further explanation on this one.

[/ QUOTE ]
Seems pretty straightforward. <ul type="square">[*]Woman hires Slimeball to sell stuff. (I expect he receives some percent of the sale price.)[*]Slimeball doesn't promote the auction, essentially bringing only his buddy to the show.[*]Buddy bids $0.01 for each item and wins.[*]Slimeball keeps his percentage of those pennies, gives the rest to the woman.[/list]

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

I got second in the PCA for 860k and moved the money through neteller on the way to my bank account. 800k is stuck. Hopefully it all works out, but if it doesn't I may not only be out nearly a mill, I'm probably still expected to pay taxes on it.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

James and his fiance Sarah were in my crowd of friends at university here in London, and his brother was for a while my best friend. On holiday in an idyllic spot on the coast of Ireland, after a night's partying James and a girl called Heather decided to go for a dawn swim:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/artic...7319225!7001!-1

Read the article and you will get a picture how contented and promising their lives were. I wasn't in touch with them any more by the time this happened, but it profoundly shocked me. I went to the memorial service which was one of the most moving and emotional experiences of my life. I still find it difficult to accept that one quick unthought decision could have such fatal consequences. Seeing the hundred or so friends and relatives gathered in a park days after he died, realising how many lives he had affected. Death felt so much closer after this.

It made me see on the one hand that one action can ruin or end your life; but also in seeing how full and well-lived James' life was, I momentarily realised the value of just being alive and the importance of making the best of it while you can.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

A rich man who decides its a good idea to run a dog fighting operation on one of his properties has to be near the top of the list.

Also, most of the insider traders who got nabbed in the early '90's would fit this bill.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

One of my friends spent $30,000 and the last 3 years of his life going to mechanics school to become an Audi technician.

He got a bike about 3 months ago. About 2 months ago he got pulled over going 120 mph in a 65. (I don't know why he pulled over... probably because he doesn't have much experience.)

The judge fined him, and suspended his license for 60 days. Without a license, he is useless to his employer. He will probably be fired. They were helping him pay for school too.

Stupid decisions can really have far reaching after effects.

He is appealing the decision, who knows how that will go.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

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He got a bike about 3 months ago. About 2 months ago he got pulled over going 120 mph in a 65. (I don't know why he pulled over... probably because he doesn't have much experience.)

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not to hijack, but people who ride motorcycles say this all the time. To me it just sounds like BS dick waving. Is it really the norm to run from the police on a crotch rocket?

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

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A rich man who decides its a good idea to run a dog fighting operation on one of his properties has to be near the top of the list.

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Even if Vick never played a down in the NFL again, I'd be highly surprised if he were ruined.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

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He got a bike about 3 months ago. About 2 months ago he got pulled over going 120 mph in a 65. (I don't know why he pulled over... probably because he doesn't have much experience.)

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not to hijack, but people who ride motorcycles say this all the time. To me it just sounds like BS dick waving. Is it really the norm to run from the police on a crotch rocket?

[/ QUOTE ]

Results

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decision
 

Maybe. Or maybe she thought her pile'o'crap was worth a lot more than it was.

And anyone selling at auction should have enough sense to know how it works. If you place a reserve (minimum amount) on your lots, if no bid reaches your reserve, no sale occurs, and you still own your items.

Or, maybe she got ripped off, who knows.....

MM MD

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decision
 

Drinking and driving immediately comes to mind. One of the best things to happen to me was a DUI the week after my 22nd birthday. Like a lot of people, I didnt make a habit of drinking and driving but I would on occasion do it. My Criminal Law professor made a wonderful generalization about the US justice system that is 100 percent applicable to this thread. He described it as a punishment lottery. Think of the times that many of us have been behind the wheel intoxicated. Imagine if a person were crossing the street, someone were stopped in the middle of the road, whatever. Next thing you know, BAM! You just bought a winning ticket. Your life would be catastrophicly changed forever. Because lets face it, there are lots of people doing hard time who are not unlike a lot of "good" people out there who made the same bad decisions but werent holding a winning ticket.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

[ QUOTE ]
Drinking and driving immediately comes to mind. One of the best things to happen to me was a DUI the week after my 22nd birthday. Like a lot of people, I didnt make a habit of drinking and driving but I would on occasion do it. My Criminal Law professor made a wonderful generalization about the US justice system that is 100 percent applicable to this thread. He described it as a punishment lottery. Think of the times that many of us have been behind the wheel intoxicated. Imagine if a person were crossing the street, someone were stopped in the middle of the road, whatever. Next thing you know, BAM! You just bought a winning ticket. Your life would be catastrophicly changed forever. Because lets face it, there are lots of people doing hard time who are not unlike a lot of "good" people out there who made the same bad decisions but werent holding a winning ticket.

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Sound liek me, I learned a little earlier though, about 20 when I put my head through the windsheild of my car after hitting a parked one at 3:30am, w/ no consequences whatsoever other than being scared shitless.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

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He got a bike about 3 months ago. About 2 months ago he got pulled over going 120 mph in a 65. (I don't know why he pulled over... probably because he doesn't have much experience.)

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not to hijack, but people who ride motorcycles say this all the time. To me it just sounds like BS dick waving. Is it really the norm to run from the police on a crotch rocket?

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I used to ride and most of the people I hung out with would not even consider pulling over if they were on a highway. In the city a higher percentage would pull over because it is more likely for there to be more cops around/get in an accident. I never got pulled over on my bike but I would have pulled over no matter if I was doing 165 in a 70, I figure I'm already pushing my luck enough by riding a motorcycle, it's not worth death to try to get out of being pulled over.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

[ QUOTE ]
Drinking and driving immediately comes to mind. One of the best things to happen to me was a DUI the week after my 22nd birthday. Like a lot of people, I didnt make a habit of drinking and driving but I would on occasion do it. My Criminal Law professor made a wonderful generalization about the US justice system that is 100 percent applicable to this thread. He described it as a punishment lottery. Think of the times that many of us have been behind the wheel intoxicated. Imagine if a person were crossing the street, someone were stopped in the middle of the road, whatever. Next thing you know, BAM! You just bought a winning ticket. Your life would be catastrophicly changed forever. Because lets face it, there are lots of people doing hard time who are not unlike a lot of "good" people out there who made the same bad decisions but werent holding a winning ticket.

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this doesnt justify your behavior

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

[ QUOTE ]
Drinking and driving immediately comes to mind. One of the best things to happen to me was a DUI the week after my 22nd birthday. Like a lot of people, I didnt make a habit of drinking and driving but I would on occasion do it. My Criminal Law professor made a wonderful generalization about the US justice system that is 100 percent applicable to this thread. He described it as a punishment lottery. Think of the times that many of us have been behind the wheel intoxicated. Imagine if a person were crossing the street, someone were stopped in the middle of the road, whatever. Next thing you know, BAM! You just bought a winning ticket. Your life would be catastrophicly changed forever. Because lets face it, there are lots of people doing hard time who are not unlike a lot of "good" people out there who made the same bad decisions but werent holding a winning ticket.

[/ QUOTE ]

Total [censored] [censored]. You know how to not buy a ticket? Don't drink drive. I'm not even the preachy type, but its pretty simple, if you can't risk the punishment, don't do the crime!

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

[ QUOTE ]
I got second in the PCA for 860k and moved the money through neteller on the way to my bank account. 800k is stuck. Hopefully it all works out, but if it doesn't I may not only be out nearly a mill, I'm probably still expected to pay taxes on it.

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I would consult tax counsel, if you haven't already. I would think you could get a deduction for this loss. Still, it's better than going ice fishing and falling in, no?

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

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I think a book of stories like this would be really depressing.

One that comes to mind is enron employees who had their entire retirement accounts in enron stock.

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No that would not be depressing, that is called stupidity

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

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I got second in the PCA for 860k and moved the money through neteller on the way to my bank account. 800k is stuck. Hopefully it all works out, but if it doesn't I may not only be out nearly a mill, I'm probably still expected to pay taxes on it.

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Did you see the thread where various people were talking about buying this money from you at some sort of discount? Have you considered that at all?

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

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[ QUOTE ]
Drinking and driving immediately comes to mind. One of the best things to happen to me was a DUI the week after my 22nd birthday. Like a lot of people, I didnt make a habit of drinking and driving but I would on occasion do it. My Criminal Law professor made a wonderful generalization about the US justice system that is 100 percent applicable to this thread. He described it as a punishment lottery. Think of the times that many of us have been behind the wheel intoxicated. Imagine if a person were crossing the street, someone were stopped in the middle of the road, whatever. Next thing you know, BAM! You just bought a winning ticket. Your life would be catastrophicly changed forever. Because lets face it, there are lots of people doing hard time who are not unlike a lot of "good" people out there who made the same bad decisions but werent holding a winning ticket.

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this doesnt justify your behavior

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I wasnt in anyway trying to do so. I am not sure how one could arrive at your conclusion afer reading my OP. Perhaps you are taking this sentence in isolation:
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Like a lot of people, I didnt make a habit of drinking and driving but I would on occasion do it.

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I included this beacuse this is how I would foolishly rationalize driving intoxicated. Begin internal dialogue: "I am not a drunk driver. I am not really drunk, just buzzing. Besides, I just live down the street." The aforementioned rationalization is exactly the type of bad decision that can alter ones life permanently.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think a book of stories like this would be really depressing.

One that comes to mind is enron employees who had their entire retirement accounts in enron stock.

[/ QUOTE ]

No that would not be depressing, that is called stupidity

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"1 bad decision"

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

So easy to do something stupid and pay the rest of your life ... could happen to anyone here in a heartbeat and you are naive to think otherwise

darwin awards is hardly depressing

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

Maybe not instant ruin, but...

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/G...24461_2019.jpg

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

He missed a grounder.
Pretty sure it wasn't his decision to do so.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

A friend of mine was the son of a "notarius publicum" in France. This is like a lawyer office and all legal transactions have to go thru one of these offices in France. There are only a small amount of them, an amount that the gvt. decides and whoever owns one of them is assured to be very wealthy. These offices can be inherited by the owner's children if they have completed at least second year at law school.

My friend was on his second year of college and had 3 months left of that year when his father dies and he can't inherit the family bussiness. The office went back to the gvt and was auctioned to a new owner.
That really sucked.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

[ QUOTE ]
A friend of mine was the son of a "notarius publicum" in France. This is like a lawyer office and all legal transactions have to go thru one of these offices in France. There are only a small amount of them, an amount that the gvt. decides and whoever owns one of them is assured to be very wealthy. These offices can be inherited by the owner's children if they have completed at least second year at law school.

My friend was on his second year of college and had 3 months left of that year when his father dies and he can't inherit the family bussiness. The office went back to the gvt and was auctioned to a new owner.
That really sucked.

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Could he still at least inherit the money his father had earned from the business while he ran it? Either way, socialism FTL.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

miajag,

THAT IS NOT SOCIALISM

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

That's a scumbag move by the government, not a bad decision.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

[ QUOTE ]
Seems pretty straightforward. <ul type="square">[*]Woman hires Slimeball to sell stuff. (I expect he receives some percent of the sale price.)[*]Slimeball doesn't promote the auction, essentially bringing only his buddy to the show.[*]Buddy bids $0.01 for each item and wins.[*]Slimeball keeps his percentage of those pennies, gives the rest to the woman.[/list]
[/ QUOTE ]

<ul type="square">[*] Slimball's friends sell stuff for real price and PROFIT[/list]

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

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He missed a grounder.
Pretty sure it wasn't his decision to do so.

[/ QUOTE ]

My fault on this, I meant to elaborate but submitted before writing it, then forgot to follow up.

IMO, the bad decision was on the part of John McNamara to leave Buckner in the game (altho you could say the decision by McNamara to bring in Bob Stanley was worse). Johnny Mac should not have put Buckner in the position to blow the game in the first place, knowing that his ankles were bad and fielding prowess was hideous.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

All the friends and classmates who contracted/ died of HIV since it became BLINDINGLY obvious how to avoid catching it.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

An acclaimed novelist lost his office in Carson City on Thursday when he threw a lit piece of paper into gasoline.

Fantasy writer David Eddings, 75, said he was using water to flush out the gas tank of his broken-down Excalibur sports car, when some fluid leaked. In a lapse of judgment he readily admitted, Eddings lit a piece of paper and threw into the puddle to test if it was still flammable. The answer came in an orange torrent.

The fire raged through the garage and a quarter of the way into the office that occupies the lot next door to his home. His 95-year-old mother-in-law inside the home, came outside to find the juniper trees lining the driveway had gone up in flames, too.

Eddings said his intention to was to prevent a fire - he was afraid to leave a tank full of gasoline in a car that had gone kaput - but instead he did the opposite.

"One word comes to mind," the renowned wordsmith said as he stood in a pajama shirt and slippers. "Dumb."

The author of 27 novels, Eddings said the original manuscripts of most of his work were in the basement of the office building. But his biggest worry was about his fax machine, which is the connection between his home and his wife, Leigh's, doctor. Leigh, co-author of most of his writings, is unable to speak as a result of a series of strokes.

The loss of the sports car, which he bought in the 1970s, was a little painful as well, he said.

"It made for a real fancy vehicle, right up until it burned."

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/...NEWS/101260101

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

I watched this [censored] driving like 40-50 miles an hour in a parking garage the other day.

I thought of this thread.

Greg

PS I also watched a guy doing a wheelie on a motorcycle on 95 north between Richmond and DC. He was in front of me and I quickly switched lanes. I just kept thinking that if he bit it it was going to guarantee that at least 10 cars were screwed.

Re: Instant ruin: a lifetime of work down the drain due to 1 bad decis
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Drinking and driving immediately comes to mind. One of the best things to happen to me was a DUI the week after my 22nd birthday. Like a lot of people, I didnt make a habit of drinking and driving but I would on occasion do it. My Criminal Law professor made a wonderful generalization about the US justice system that is 100 percent applicable to this thread. He described it as a punishment lottery. Think of the times that many of us have been behind the wheel intoxicated. Imagine if a person were crossing the street, someone were stopped in the middle of the road, whatever. Next thing you know, BAM! You just bought a winning ticket. Your life would be catastrophicly changed forever. Because lets face it, there are lots of people doing hard time who are not unlike a lot of "good" people out there who made the same bad decisions but werent holding a winning ticket.

[/ QUOTE ]

Total [censored] [censored]. You know how to not buy a ticket? Don't drink drive. I'm not even the preachy type, but its pretty simple, if you can't risk the punishment, don't do the crime!

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that was his point - DUI was a wake up call and he's glad he learned his lesson the easy way instead of life ruin.