The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior • Hacker News Board

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#161

Post by modoc » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 5:12 AM UTC

js2 wrote: post #103

okareaman wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not how I understand it. You may be referring to some other use I am not aware of. I'm not a car guy. "A nitrous oxide engine is an internal combustion engine in which oxygen for burning the fuel comes from the decomposition of nitrous oxide, N2O, rather than air. The system increases the engine's power output by allowing fuel to be burned at a higher-than-normal rate, because of the higher partial pressure of…

Supercharged usually refers to an engine with a supercharger, which is a crankshaft driven pump used to force more air into the engine. It is similar to a turbocharger, except a turbo is driven by exhaust gas. N2O is typically used with a normally aspirated gasoline engine. It's just another way to get more oxygen into the combustion chamber. https://www.racingjunk.com/news/drag-race-101-its-a-gas/

You can absolutely run N2O with a turbo or supercharged engine. I ran a NXExpress rig on my '99 Eclipse GSX back in the day (with a big turbo).

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#162

Post by jacobolus » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 5:13 AM UTC

overgard wrote: post #125

I think something that gets lost in the concern about COVID is how many addicts and people struggling with mental health are being killed indirectly by these quarantines. I don't have an easy answer of course, it's a serious virus, but while for a normal person these shutdowns are depressing, for addicts these shutdowns can be indirect death sentences. I really think that needs to get factored into these decisions.

The virus itself is doing far more to damage mental health than stay-at-home orders ever will.

Around the world, we’re talking about millions of grieving people who have lost parents, siblings, spouses, children, friends, coworkers, .... Millions more people who struggled to stay breathing and may now suffer severe long-term (or maybe permanent) symptoms. Health care workers around the world who will have PTSD from harrowing shifts treating an extremely high load of unbelievably sick people for month after month. Etc.

In places with significant community spread, people are rightfully afraid that anything they do around other people is exposing them to significant risk of severe illness or death. Even people who take every precaution sometimes turn up sick, and the sources can be hard to trace. Dealing with that for months is extremely stressful.

All while a significant part of the population continued to blithely party on as if their actions had no consequences, and “leaders” baldly lie about it day after day, month after month.

If we want people to return to normal life feeling free and safe, then controlling the virus must be the #1 priority. Indeed, in places where the virus was controlled via strong leadership and community solidarity, life is nearly back to normal; in places where leadership was absent, it will continue to be a horror show for many more months.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#163

Post by aok1425 » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 5:15 AM UTC

m3kw9 wrote: post #135

enraged_camel wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Tony Hsieh had a surprisingly large collection of half-empty liquor bottles at his desk. Not just Tony. My best friend used to work at Zappos. He used to brag to me that every employee/team gets their own mini-fridge, which is stocked with booze and liquor. He said that a common "bonding" experience for different teams in the company is to exchange different types of liquor. This was in early 2010s. He said drinkin…

Startups usually have fridge full of booze. We usually use it on fridays or during certain major milestones. Not a big deal

A small startup where my friend worked (~200 employees) ended up locking up their liquor cabinet except for Friday afternoons. Sadly, one of the employees was alcoholic and was going there too often.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#164

Post by redis_mlc » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 5:17 AM UTC

fblp wrote: post #136

grugagag wrote: post #6

Someone mentioned this here on HN and possibly setting the house on fire but was dismissed as unfounded. I actually realise that they knew something... It is sad that Tony Hsieh didn’t get the help that he needed and instead tried to self medicate in order to get away from all that. This recurrent story where extremely intelligent people are battling mental health issues and cannot speak out because the stigma behind…

I agree with the sentiment of your comment, but in this case it did appear that he was seeing a therapist so he was getting some professional help. I think the help that may be missing is friends who are "lovingly firm" with him sooner. But it's easy to assume a billionaire is going to be fine and "tony is just being tony".

> I think the help that may be missing is friends who are "lovingly firm" with him sooner.

I've seen or read interviews with the people surrounding Howard Hughes and Whitney Houston who were very close to them.

When it comes to celebrities and billionaires, unless you're immediate family, your voice is often drowned out by people who are on the payroll or who stand to benefit.

Howard Hughes was involved in a number of airplane accidents, and that likely contributed to his Rx addiction. He had a business rep inside his inner circle for most of his adult life, but IIRC his caretakers and some other people got close enough to isolate Hughes later on.

In the case of Houston, one of her uncles said he recognized the symptoms of heroin addiction during a TV performance, tried to get in touch, but was prevented by other relatives from doing so.

Prince was an unusual case because he OD'ed from fentanyl in fake Vicodin pills:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/no-criminal-charges-pri...

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#165

Post by okareaman » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 5:26 AM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #154

nyolfen wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

here's a writeup that really stuck with me for the last decade about the surprising level of organized crime in selling nitrous at music festivals: https://www.villagevoice.com/2010/07/06/inside-the-nitrous-m...

It’s (comparatively) very cheap in bulk tank form. But that’s much harder to come by for most people. The small whippets cartridges... you’re paying for the steel, getting a gas in there and markups. If they filled it with room air, it would cost the same.

I could have looked for tanks to save money, but I surely would have died that way. I could control intake with cartridges because the limiting factor was that you had to keep cracking them. A case of 600 whippets one after another would last about 5 hours, so 2 a minute. I've heard too many stories of people dying with tanks.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#166

Post by okareaman » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 5:27 AM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #156

okareaman wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You start getting incoherent after heavy use, even when not currently using. People who know you notice. Jewel said she left an event early because she was upset to see Tony was acting that way. It takes 4-6 days to recover from a heavy run, including getting feeling back in your nerve endings. Taking B vitamins help.

I’d go further and say everyone taking nitrous oxide should be taking b12 supplements.

Absolutely. I have pernicious anemia now (need B12 shots) that I didn't have before, at least not diagnosed when younger.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#167

Post by s1artibartfast » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 5:28 AM UTC

nxmnxm99 wrote: post #11

grugagag wrote: post #6

Someone mentioned this here on HN and possibly setting the house on fire but was dismissed as unfounded. I actually realise that they knew something... It is sad that Tony Hsieh didn’t get the help that he needed and instead tried to self medicate in order to get away from all that. This recurrent story where extremely intelligent people are battling mental health issues and cannot speak out because the stigma behind…

> This recurrent story where extremely intelligent people are battling mental health issues and cannot speak out because the stigma behind this issue is too damaging is why we need to normalize the discourse around mental health if we want to avoid this type of tragedies. Where exactly is the "stigma" of mental health in tech nowadays? We're blasted day and night to the point where apparently every other person is "b…

In my experience, there is is no stigma around saying you have a mental health issue, but still still the expectation that it not impact you work.

I tend to agree that the issue isn’t discourse, but that Discourse alone won’t fix the problem.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#168

Post by _-___________-_ » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 5:30 AM UTC

jacobolus wrote: post #162

overgard wrote: post #125

I think something that gets lost in the concern about COVID is how many addicts and people struggling with mental health are being killed indirectly by these quarantines. I don't have an easy answer of course, it's a serious virus, but while for a normal person these shutdowns are depressing, for addicts these shutdowns can be indirect death sentences. I really think that needs to get factored into these decisions.

The virus itself is doing far more to damage mental health than stay-at-home orders ever will. Around the world, we’re talking about millions of grieving people who have lost parents, siblings, spouses, children, friends, coworkers, .... Millions more people who struggled to stay breathing and may now suffer severe long-term (or maybe permanent) symptoms. Health care workers around the world who will have PTSD from h…

I'm not sure if you genuinely believe the extreme hyperbole in the second paragraph of your post or if you're just trying to counteract the people who act like the virus is nothing at all.

If it's the former, you should probably find some more reliable information sources. If it's the latter, truth and accuracy are a better counterpoint than taking the opposite extreme of misinformation.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#169

Post by okareaman » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 5:30 AM UTC

selestify wrote: post #155

okareaman wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You start getting incoherent after heavy use, even when not currently using. People who know you notice. Jewel said she left an event early because she was upset to see Tony was acting that way. It takes 4-6 days to recover from a heavy run, including getting feeling back in your nerve endings. Taking B vitamins help.

How much is a "heavy run"? Another commenter mentioned buying many cases.

I'd need 4 to 6 days to recover after doing 2 cases or 1200 whippets. I'd be extremely sick for the first 2 or 3 days.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#170

Post by jacobolus » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 5:32 AM UTC

_-___________-_ wrote: post #168

jacobolus wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The virus itself is doing far more to damage mental health than stay-at-home orders ever will. Around the world, we’re talking about millions of grieving people who have lost parents, siblings, spouses, children, friends, coworkers, .... Millions more people who struggled to stay breathing and may now suffer severe long-term (or maybe permanent) symptoms. Health care workers around the world who will have PTSD from h…

I'm not sure if you genuinely believe the extreme hyperbole in the second paragraph of your post or if you're just trying to counteract the people who act like the virus is nothing at all. If it's the former, you should probably find some more reliable information sources. If it's the latter, truth and accuracy are a better counterpoint than taking the opposite extreme of misinformation.

What do you think is the hyperbolic part? That millions of people have died and millions more were extremely sick is a simple statement of fact. As far as I can tell there is nothing even slightly controversial in what I wrote.

Your response is a weird combination of vague and rude/patronizing. I’m not sure what your point is.