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His Body Was Behind the Wheel for a Week Before It Was Discovered
- danso 8y agoBesides how unusual it is for the NYT to write about the suicide of someone non-famous, this story struck me as being very much of this modern age: - The deceased was a software developer (his last job was senior director of development at Dell) who couldn't find work in his 50s and 60s and was living on food stamps at the time of his death. [0] - He changed his name late in life because it was forever connected via online search results to an incident of disorderly conduct that made the news. [1] - He bought a vial of poison from the dark web. - His body, at the driver seat of his car, was ignored for a week in Manhattan because people assumed he was just a napping Uber driver. - Despite his car being tracked by all the city's surveillance cameras and license plate readers -- including the geo-coordinates of his last known phone call -- the NYPD were unable to locate him. - The NYPD initially ignored the missing person report because it was faxed instead of emailed. [0] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/brutal-job-search-reality-for-older-americans-out-of-work#transcript https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/brutal-job-search-reality-... [1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/geoffrey-weglarz-conn-man-threw-food-at-pregnant-mcdonalds-worker-police-say/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/geoffrey-weglarz-conn-man-threw...
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- wycs 8y agoMan does this motivate me to start saving more for retirement. No one and nothing will be able to care for you more than your past selves.
- davemp 8y agoHaving close relationships with family and/or friends also helps if you need a bit of care.
- elheffe80 8y agoTHIS!! Community is what keeps people alive. Mentally, physically, emotionally, and what-ever-else-ally. Even hanging out with a younger crowd is beneficial to you.
- varjag 8y agoI think financially is prominently missing in your list, the hardest part. There are limits to how much your community can help you with that, and there are limits to how long you want to be a burden to them.
- EADGBE 8y agoFinancial means is certainly a requirement for a healthy retirement, but parent and GP are probably assuming that's handled, and so a focus on relationships and community becomes top priority (or second). Living alone with billions in the bank is still a lonely existence when the rest of your world has forgotten about you.
- dkural 8y agoThis person seems to have kept in regular touch with friends and family, texting regularly, and even telling them about buying deadly poison.
- davemp 8y agoIt's obviously a very complex topic, and it's hard to know if this person's social needs were actually being met. I was just trying to encourage people not to forget social aspects when examining their susceptibility to depression. > If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.
- kinleyd 8y agoAt the end of the day, that is the best insurance, if one can do it. Even better is mind training - for the real slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
- sjg007 8y agoOr you know, we as a society could decided to actually help people.
- latchkey 8y agoNot just save more for retirement, but also work on lowering your cost of living.
- EADGBE 8y agoExactly, lowering your cost of living easily makes your money outlive you*; a much more comfortable position to be in.
- pm24601 8y agoHow about VOTING for non-republicans?
- EADGBE 8y agoGood! I see so many second-hand stories of people not having enough in retirement to live comfortably. It's really rocked my world as far as retirement is concerned, living within your means, and understanding debt. Sure, SS is nice, but depending on it is a recipe for disaster.
- coryfklein 8y agoFor anybody who hasn't yet, pick a target percentage of your income that you want to save for retirement. If you're late getting started, this could be pretty high (20-30% in some cases). Set up automatic withdrawal to a 401(k)/IRA for whatever percentage you can afford next month (say 3%), then just increase it by 0.5% per month until you get to your goal. The slow progression will give you time to adjust your hedonic treadmill down in line with your increased savings.
- Maxious 8y ago> the geo-coordinates of his last known phone call Or deceptively the address closest to those co-ordinates https://splinternews.com/why-do-people-keep-coming-to-this-couples-home-looking-1793854179 https://splinternews.com/why-do-people-keep-coming-to-this-c...
- anonu 8y ago> how unusual it is for the NYT to write about the suicide of someone non-famous I'd say this article is less about a suicide than about NYC... In that case there are many NYT articles I've read over the years that fit this genre: the anonymity of being in a big city. Two articles that come to mind (sorry no links) that I've read in the past year or two: one article about how New Yorkers who die and family cannot be reached end up in the city cemetery. Another interesting article about an 80s murder cold case and retracing the victims life 3 decades later. Both really good journalism.
- sjg007 8y agoIt's interesting. A place where people live on top of each other and in such density and yet everyone can feel so alone.
- scott_s 8y agoOn that theme, this piece from three years ago devastated me: "The Lonely Death of George Bell", https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/nyregion/dying-alone-in-new-york-city.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/nyregion/dying-alone-in-n...
- juiyout 8y agoThank you. I just read it in one sitting. Amazing story.
- mathattack 8y agoI think Sales, not coding. But the rest of your post highlights the dystopian nature of the situation.
- jacobush 8y agoThis list is totally over the top and a sign of a writer trying satire for the first time. Except it's true.
- kamaal 8y ago>>He left and went to Dell as a senior director of development. He was not a software developer. I also I have long believed skills > management on the longer run.
- cascom 8y agoWhat could have have been a contributing factor in his not being discovered for so long: “The [car] windows were tinted.” That might have been useful information in the first 80% of the article.
- danso 8y agoIt's probably not in the lede of the article because it may not be a significant factor. From what I can tell in the police scene photo [0], the windshield isn't tinted (AFAIK it is not legal to have the entire windshield tinted). The car was parked on a busy neighborhood street for 1 week, in which there were at least 2 days it would have been illegally parked because of street cleaning. He didn't get ticketed, which likely means traffic cops saw him in there and assumed he was just napping. From the article: > Traffic officers who write parking tickets most likely passed by him at least twice, on days that his car was parked illegally. Officers looking for violators on street-cleaning days — on East 12th Street, those days were Tuesday and Friday — routinely ignore vehicles when the driver is sitting inside. Mr. Weglarz’s vehicle received no tickets on the Tuesday or Friday when it was parked illegally, suggesting an officer might have seen him and assumed he was just another idle driver. [0] https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/10/02/nyregion/00body2/merlin_144355299_e78f1a40-3365-4fe5-8662-657426bc8832-superJumbo.jpg https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/10/02/nyregion/00body2/...
- JackFaker 8y agoWindow tint levels in NY state are limited to a minimum of 70% light transmittance. I do not believe this is the most restrictive requirement but new england isn't as sunny as Arizona or Florida. https://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/glass-window-tinting/ https://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/glass-window-tinting/
- trevyn 8y agoLooks like Connecticut, where the vehicle may have been registered, allows 35% VLT tint, and NY law allows out-of-state vehicles to have tint that conforms to their home state's laws. Also, of course, tint laws are not always strictly enforced.
- biohax2015 8y agoAs a mediocre mid-20s developer, I fear for my future.
- danso 8y agoThe deceased in this case actually didn’t start getting into computers until he was in his 30s (his first aspiration was to be an actor). It sounds like he willingly quit his jobs at Oracle and Dell. What’s also worrying to me is that it sounds like he made the jump from programmer to manager but still couldn’t find work (even after 481 interviews)
- mixmastamyk 8y ago> It sounds like he willingly quit his jobs at Oracle and Dell. After ~five years. We should be able to change jobs occasionally and not have to hold on to our current one for dear life. Sounds like once you hit fifty you'll never be hired again, so must do anything to avoid a layoff.
- WalterSear 8y agoIME, I've only seen happen to people who had stopped learning and growing years earlier.
- yayana 8y agoIt's actually more conservative to leave Oracle on your own schedule of no more than 5 years.
- illumin8 8y agoThis is not true. I'm 44, a principal engineer at $BigTechCo, and I know people in mid 50s that are very in demand and will remain gainfully employed as long as they want to. The problem is that people start a career as a J2EE programmer in their 20s and expect to coast and never update/learn new skills. This will serve you fine for a decade or two, but if you're in your mid 40s and you're only comfortable with technology from the late 90s, your job prospects will be limited. In order to have a long career in tech, you need to constantly be learning new technologies, frameworks, and languages. If you don't, you can coast for a while, but don't act all surprised at 50 when you get laid off and can't find any work. Would you honestly expect to be able to find work as a VAX/VMS engineer now if that was what you started working with right out of college and never learned UNIX, Linux, or Wintel?
- acdanger 8y agoI guess I am naive to be surprised that NYC records each and every license plate that enters/exits the city. https://www.eff.org/pages/automated-license-plate-readers-alpr https://www.eff.org/pages/automated-license-plate-readers-al...
- albertgoeswoof 8y agoGiven it’s an island with seriously extreme wealth it does make sense.
- xxpor 8y agoI hate to have to point this out, but Manhatten is not NYC
- tomnipotent 8y agoEdited: misunderstood OP, not relevant.
- PhasmaFelis 8y agoRead the post two levels above yours.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- fipple 8y agoA ton of places do this. Cities, shopping malls, company parking lots. Some towns are so afraid, justly or unjustly, of "undesirables," that if you drive into them with an unfamiliar car, the police will swing by and see if you are the right kind of person. The scale is basically at the point that if you commit a crime from a car the police can trace your movements back to where you came from.
- marktangotango 8y ago
- millenialdev 8y agoIt's not just his generation. I've had 10 millennial friends commit suicide for similar reasons. 2 were software developers, who realized on their 60-70k salary and student debt, they still couldn't afford the "american dream". We are heading for a violent political revolution imo. The status quo just can't go on.
- hedvig 8y agoWhat would be in that vial?
- quotha 8y agoPentobarbitone
- cabaalis 8y ago> If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.
- thinkEOLdaily 8y agoWe all have to die of something. There's no shame in leaving early if that's how you want to conclude your life. I think about it every day. It just makes sense. Hoping for a terminal illness in the next few years so I have a reasonable excuse to end it all, but if not probably will do it anyway. Expecting going to go for anoxia through helium inhalation, seems one of the more pleasant methods.
- DanBC 8y agoThis kind of reporting kills people. I'm always amazed at how irresponsible US newspapers are around reporting suspected suicide.
- nwsm 8y agoWhat do you mean?
- delecti 8y agoWe've known for a while (at least decades) that publicizing suicides tends to lead to copycat suicides.
- kenneth 8y agoSo what? Suicide is a choice. A really bad one. The whole world shouldn't be expected to walk on eggshells to prevent some people from making a really stupid choice. And maybe, on the other hand, it will serve as a cautionary tale to people who might have embarked on a path that led this way. If it changes the saving habits of a handful of engineers early in their career, I'd say it was more than worth it even if it led to a copycat or two.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- DanBC 8y ago> Suicide is a choice. You don't appear to know anything about suicidality. Yet you've made a firm, judgemental statement about it. > If it changes the saving habits of a handful of engineers early in their career, You don't have to write about suicide to do that.
- MFLoon 8y agoI don't buy that. This is a "slice of life" (slice of death?) piece telling a unglamorous but probably quite demographically representative about an older American getting pushed to their limit by a confluence of social factors. It's not a sensationalizing piece about someone jumping in public or some other sort of "blaze of glory" style suicide. Nor is it a headline - its in the NY region section, which people outside the region don't receive in print and probably don't click into online.
- pkaye 8y agoThis is a concern I have moving from a software developer to a manager role. Companies tend to have a lot fewer managerial positions and it can be hard to backtrack to a developer position later in life.
- JohnJamesRambo 8y ago>He was nearing the bottom financially. “I’ve gone through my savings. I’ve gone through my 401(k). My unemployment last check is next week. I have about $2,000 to my name, and after that, I don’t know.” I don't mean to be callous but as he was spending down his 401k why didn't he get a lower level job somewhere? A lot of this story seems to be about an older man in tech that was too prideful to get any job he could get until he found work at the caste level he was accustomed to in the past.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- jpindar 8y agoIf he tried, they'd just reject him for being overqualified.
- war1025 8y agoThere are plenty of jobs where the bar you have to clear is "shows up on time and isn't strung out on drugs". Don't even need a resume for them.
- jpindar 8y agoThey still make you fill out an application listing your past jobs.
- loco5niner 8y agoAnd as long as he "shows up on time and isn't strung out on drugs", he can still get hired and stay employed.
- Aeolun 8y agoNot as long as there’s 26 year old less qualified people applying for the same position.
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- mjevans 8y agoThis is one case where... * If a person is suspected as missing in an area * and family or other business associates * file a missing persons report (and they SHOULD be able to do so) * including contact details like a cell phone They should be required to try ringing the phone number first, from a clearly marked public services line. It would be nice if it were impossible to be spoofed (might be the case for mobile?) and if the phone indicated it was emergency services contacting the owner. If there isn't a response, all of the above should be glanced at by a judge to double check everything is in order and it isn't an attempt at violating someone's right to privacy. Who will thus approve a warrant for the local wireless data providers / service providers for their mobile to obtain it's present point of connection and address. Further that if it isn't within range at the time of checking, to get a history to see if it was since the last known / current known.
- crooked-v 8y agoJust think about what the stories will be like in 50 years with self-driving cars...
- retox 8y agoThat's what I thought the story was going to be about from the headline. Someone who died at the wheel of an automated car and wasn't discovered for a week because the car was programmed to ferry the body between locations and automatically recharge itself at electric stations. There's a short story in that, Mary Celeste 2.0
- crooked-v 8y agoI wonder what the initial investment would be to pay for recharges for an electric self-driving car indefinitely. Sure, the car would have to stop eventually for lack-of-maintenance reasons, but I have to imagine it could last for quite a long time...
- mjevans 8y agoWould probably be the tires first.
- tjf83 8y agoIf anyone is curious what the surrounding area is like, I did some sleuthing and found the exact spot on Google Maps where this occurred: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7282362,-73.9792943,3a,75y,272.5h,64.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shOr8-PGDI4ZC3e491SHulw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7282362,-73.9792943,3a,75y,2...
- olivermarks 8y ago...very depressing to see this profoundly banal street view
- anjc 8y agoI don't get the point in trying to make sense of a death - he was broke, unemployed, used up etc - when the man seems to just have had mental issues long term. Perhaps the stress of his existence might explain throwing food at a worker, but texting your sister about how bad poison tastes? People shouldn't be using this as a warning-story, this guy had bigger issues than unemployment.
- danso 8y agoI agree that the reasons for suicide don’t often fit into the logical narrative that we imagine. For example, it’s hard to blame Aaron Swartz’s suicide completely on his fear of prison, given that he killed himself well before trial. But it doesn’t mean that the stress of prosecution had no impact on his state of well-being. Likewise, I think in this case, the impact of financial distress shouldn’t be discounted. He had been for years unhappy about being unemployed and poor. And he ended up killing himself just hours after the bank declined to cash the check he’d gotten from selling his possessions. I don’t see the way he texted his sister to be particularly abnormal, especially if he had a dramatic personality in life (being an aspiring actor and all). What is the normal way for someone to act after just having drank poison?
- anjc 8y ago> What is the normal way for someone to act after just having drank poison? I suppose you're right. I just don't think young people (in this thread) need to look at him and worry for their future.
- jacobsimon 8y agoSounds like an episode of black mirror
- jtr_47 8y agowhy this story? Also, it seems there are a lot of articles being posted here from the NYTIMES.. strange.
- fvargas 8y agoBased on the phrasing of the title, I half expected the "wheel" to be that belonging to a Tesla that somehow managed to remain engaged on autopilot for a week... would have been impressive. That said, what's to stop a situation like that from arising as autonomous vehicles become more sophisticated?
- adrianN 8y agoI suppose manufacturers would eventually add a sensor to detect heart rate.
- WheelsAtLarge 8y agoThere's not much to do for the poor guy now but this is really a learning incident for techs in general. It warns that you have to think about the future. A job is never guaranteed and as you get older it gets harder to get one.
- LifeIsJustOK 8y agoThis is strange to read because I'm an unemployed and seemingly unemployable software developer with dwindling savings who is seriously considering a peaceful way off of this planet. There's a point where it goes beyond depression and just becomes sheer pragmatism. I just don't want to starve and lose everything. It looks like this fellow was intelligent, talented, good-looking tbh, and yet ended up broke somehow. It's strangely serendipitous to come upon an article like this at this particular point in my life. Seeing this happen to someone else certainly doesn't lift my spirits.
- gaahrdner 8y agoPlease don't. I have to believe there is always a way.
- ericd 8y agoWhat kinds of software have you worked on? What is your favorite tech stack? I'm sure there are people reading here that are hiring or are at least willing to give some useful feedback. Also, there are plenty of programs to help people who need it. Might be worth posting about your situation over on /r/personalfinance for a little personalized advice.
- archibaldJ 8y agoCome to Asia mate. You can live a much more stress-free life in countries like Thailand as a digital nomad and travel around from islands to islands and mountains to mountains and jungles to jungles. Or settling down for a few years & taking local dev/design/teaching/translation jobs. Your skills will be highly appreciated here. The cost of living is much cheaper & foods are good too.
- at-fates-hands 8y agoI remember seeing this a while ago, but its always stuck with me: For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them. When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five: http://hospicepatients.org/five-regrets-of-the-dying-bronnie-ware.html http://hospicepatients.org/five-regrets-of-the-dying-bronnie...
- bobiebrown 8y agoIf you know tech and know how to manage, there is always a career in crime. Trust me on that. Best thing: You can start immediately, don't have to write job applications anymore. Actually, I think I would have been pretty good in law enforcement or an "agency" too. But this is not the road that was available for me. "Two people are lost in the desert with only one water bottle. There is not enough water for both people to reach civilization. Who gets the water, or do they share it (and both die)? .... Rabbi Akiva, whose opinion is the accepted one, declared that the owner of the water is the one who should drink the water. " Because it is my duty to live.
- theonemind 8y agoI usually consider these stories focusing on a single situation or person bad journalism. If this represents a larger trend, then at best, they could include it as part of a larger story with data or evidence to back up showing a rising trend. This just comes across as sensationalist shock-value story time to me. I would really like to see these go away in "news". This constitutes an anecdote, not news.
- BigJono 8y agoTo be fair, it's a blind sight better than what passes for "news" in any mainstream print newspaper I've seen in my country lately.
- danso 8y agoThe story does not assert a trend or a bigger picture, so I don’t see that it needs to justify itself with data. In any case, data is the plural of anecdote, and even a single anecdote can hint at the contours of a bigger system. I think most people would find it hard to believe that a dead man could go undiscovered for a week in one of Manhattan’s most popular neighborhoods, especially with the presumed level of surveillance in NYC. Most people assume things are more orderly and connected — such as the city’s license plate readers cross-referencing the missing person reports — than the hodgepodge of systems that they usually are in reality
- jablan 8y agoI'm so thankful for HN comments, because I simply can't read articles written in this manner, I really don't buy this US-magazine writing style. What happened with inverted pyramid?! If I wanted to read a novel, I'd go to a library.