So the sub has been blowing up with the continuing story of the UK guy and his eternal quest to recover the hard drive he believes he accidentally discarded 8 years ago with roughly 7500 bitcoin on it. And there’s been a ton of discussion of whether or not he has any chance.

This is absolutely a fool’s errand.

Call me Ishmael. Because this guy is 100% Captain Ahab. Forever haunted by the “one that got away.” He’s manning every harpoon he can find to attempt and slay his elusive white whale, in hopes to become one himself.

Even if by some miracle he is able to convince his local govt to let him do this, Even if somehow he is able to use a sorting methodology using tons of large scale conveyor belts with the financial assistance of -whomever- to somehow find this hard drive, it would have had to survive

-being crushed by the trash compactor several times on the dump truck.

-survive being dumped back out at the dump

-being crushed under tons of trash for years

-being exposed to 8 years of heat and humidity and rain and freezing

-being exposed to toxic chemicals and gases

Amongst countless other incalculable factors. Imagine obsessing about this every day for years, spending time, money and energy researching this endlessly and advocating for his case to the government in fruitless attempt after fruitless attempt. Moral of this story? Don’t throw away your life chasing whales. Or in this guy’s case, hoping to become one.