OK, I got suckered into Jalopni..you know, the lowest of the low click bait car site, while looking for more info on Alonso's Indy run yesterday.
Dude is so BMW obsessed he ends up embezzling money to feed his habit and looses his wifem job, freedom, everything.
Ironic I'm linking to click bait isn't it? but here's the story.
Wow. That's insane.
Yeah, I read that yesterday. The whole episode is pretty ludicrous - that guy has some serious problems.
I saw that...interesting story. I used to like Jalopnik years ago, but what a mess it's become. They must really have a vendetta against Uber! I think they run daily negative articles about them.
That was actually a pretty good read... but my wife read it too and is asking too many questions.
Holy crap. Wow. And I thought I was bad...
Paul_VR6 wrote: That was actually a pretty good read... but my wife read it too and is asking too many questions.
I'm saving it as ammunition for the next time I want to make a purchase! "But honey, I'm nowhere near as bad as this guy! I even tell you about all the cars!"
I've found a common thread about extreme habits: if it's not too much food then it's too much exercise.
If it's not excessive gambling, it's something else.
I'm sure this guy would've ended up in a similar predicament had BMW never existed.
It might've been Volvos or art or expensive watches in another life.
better to ask for forgiveness than permission...
I was surprised yesterday's thread about this didn't get more discussion going.
I read that too, and frankly I found it a very boring read. No interesting car content in the article at all. His particular obsession at the time was BMW cars, but it literally could have been anything as said above. The guy clearly has a psychological disorder.
And here I felt bad about not discussing with my wife the $700 it took to rebuild my short block. Of course I paid cash out of our account. No shuffling funds, no credit cards, and no embezzlement involved.
In reply to WilD:
Bingo.
I think the massive difference between this Terrance and guys like us is that Terrance has some kind of psychological compulsion towards obsessesive behavior, which just happened to manifest itself in BMWs. Whereas for guys like us, or speaking for myself at least, it's just about the cars, and the mechanical beauty, and the sights, sounds, and smells that accompany them, and the thrill of driving and racing them, and perhaps we just take it to a slightly obsessive level. Gearheads in the truest sense.
That guy, though, he's just berkeleyed!
I was hoping for more tips on securely storing a large number of vehicles, but all I found was "get coworkers who are willing to let you park cars inside the office."
If he had embezzled more money, he could have afforded a lawyer that would have gotten him a better deal. CPA + BMW Dork is that awkward in-betweener on the white collar crime ladder.
ebonyandivory wrote: I've found a common thread about extreme habits: if it's not too much food then it's too much exercise. If it's not excessive gambling, it's something else. I'm sure this guy would've ended up in a similar predicament had BMW never existed. It might've been Volvos or art or expensive watches in another life.
Years ago I read a very similar tale, but instof BMWs, it was pocket calculators
"Cocaine's a hell of a drug..."
One thing about these stories that annoys me is the obligatory "he seemed like such a nice guy" scene.
People who expect cackling villains are the kinds of people who let Terrance embezzle half a million bucks without noticing. In a weird sort of way, the boss ended up paying for his moral naivete.
ssswitch wrote: I was hoping for more tips on securely storing a large number of vehicles, but all I found was "get coworkers who are willing to let you park cars inside the office."
I park extra vehicles at work.
She knows about them though.
I only have one question. What happened to the cars and all of the parts? BMW 2002 parts can bring in serious restitution money. Judge should have ordered him to sell everything part and car, and kept him on home confinement until they were all gone.
I wonder if he took any joy from the cars themselves? Or was the joy simply from the accusition of "stuff."
DaewooOfDeath wrote: One thing about these stories that annoys me is the obligatory "he seemed like such a nice guy" scene. People who expect cackling villains are the kinds of people who let Terrance embezzle half a million bucks without noticing. In a weird sort of way, the boss ended up paying for his moral naivete.
yes, but it's still pretty suprising when it happens right in front of you.
tr8todd wrote: I only have one question. What happened to the cars and all of the parts? BMW 2002 parts can bring in serious restitution money. Judge should have ordered him to sell everything part and car, and kept him on home confinement until they were all gone.
That was a huge hole in the story. I can't believe the sell of 50 cars, and probably 40 2002's didn't put a dent in his debt- i'm sure they changed the market for quite a while though.
Follow up on the outstanding vehicles and parts came up in the comments. Sounds like most of them were sold to cover storage fees.
Appleseed wrote: I wonder if he took any joy from the cars themselves?
I doubt it was ever really about the cars for him, the way it is for us. That's why he was able to so easily replace each previously noted obsession with the next, and why he was never able to reciprocate with other car enthusiasts. His church activities are simply his latest obsession. It's also why when he basically admits as much, I think he's still at least partially lying (definitely to the author, and possibly to himself) when he says: “The difference is, with the stuff I’m doing at church, my focus is on other people. Not myself.” That's analogous to saying his focus was on the cars before, not himself.
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