I'm convinced that's him.
Tim was one of those folks I could get extremely pissed off at then like again a short time later. Actually, I'd never really dislike him. I'd get mad as hell at him or his actions. Big difference. He'd get way out of line on the site and I'd suspend him, and we'd fight about it for a while, then after a while he'd calm down (usually, it would seem, by pushing himself away from the computer for a while) and I'd almost always let him back on before his suspension was set to expire, he'd behave for a long time, then the cycle would start up again.
As time went by, it seemed he could do longer stretches of being Dr. Jekyll before having to do a brief Mr. Hyde.
When he was likable, he was extremely likable and charming. No doubt about that. When he decided to be an asshole, he excelled at that as well.
I'm both surprised and not surprised by the way his life ended. No way I saw him withering away in a bed as is the fate of most of us.
Would like to say more, but really can't. Most of what I can think of to say may seem too callous. He's about the 6th person I've counted as an online friend who is now dead.
I think I can best sum this up by saying that I felt that Tim was a terribly tortured soul and I hope he's found peace now. And I guess we'll never have that beer or several we talked about sharing.
Oh, I can remember a story that I think all would agree is a good example of the kind of person Tim was.
Tim was one of only 2 or 3 people in my entire tenure at SI who ever went ballistic on someone on the site, reported himself to me, and told me he'd take the suspension without complaint because it was worth it. When he did that, I told him I wouldn't suspend him so he could still PM, but that he couldn't post publicly for a week or I'd suspend him for two weeks. He ended up posting publicly, got a real suspension, went ballistic on me, then cooled off and was fine for a long time after his suspension was removed.
You were often a thorn in my paw, Tim, but the job would've been a helluva lot less interesting without you. And, though both good and bad can be said about your "calls" (ironic that your last post was a miss by a mile), I know that a lot of people credit you (deservedly) for at least helping them educate themselves about the market. I appreciated that that seemed to be a constant undercurrent in your Dr. Jekyll posts.
Just really wish you hadn't gone this way. It's going to haunt a lot of us for a long time that you were posting here about the market late at night, then barely 12 hours later you were killed trying to rob someone. |
