[raulus]

It's been a few years.

I got conned by a goon who convinced me that he actually had the goods. It was a long con over several months, and I fell for it. And I'm a professional skeptic! I literally get paid every day to exercise professional skepticism. And so it's certainly humbling to admit it.

And unfortunately, I lost a lot of money. And I mean a lot. So much that I'll decline to actually disclose the full amount. But whatever you're thinking, it's probably more. I suppose the good news is that since it was just fun money and not rent money, nobody died in the process. But there was definitely no fun involved.

Still makes me mad enough to chew nails and spit rust every time I think about it. Luckily, as time goes on, I think about it less, but every once in a while, something will remind me, and I'll just shake my head and wonder what I could have possibly been thinking. Perhaps the worst part is my wife knew it the whole time, so now I have periodic reminders of her superior judgment whenever we have a difference of opinion.

Luckily it didn't stop me from collecting. But it definitely set me back a bit, and made me a lot more wary when I do direct deals.

But maybe my willingness to admit my spectacular failure will give others the space to admit their own stupidity. This is a safe space, and chances are whatever you've done pales in comparison to mine, so feel free to share.