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Homeless alone

homelessalone.blogspot.com

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Re: Homeless alone

#191

Post by cordialpanda »

chinathrow wrote: post #104
e40 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A cautionary tale of what this can lead to: My brother's startup wasn't bring in much money and there was always the near promise it would. He went through all his savings and retirement funds and went close to $100k into CC debt. This was a swing of +$1m to -$70k. Yes, he had a problem (unacknowledged, btw) that was more dire than yours. Just be aware that this stuff can get out of control, if you let it. After gett…

The AirBnB founders also maxed out multiple credit cards. https://medium.com/cs183c-blitzscaling-class-collection/scal... "Joe and I both had ~$30K in credit card debt and this is what we were using to fund the company."

Exceptions, not the rule IMO. Also stated (maybe further down) the solution had a protracted sales cycle leading to long turnaround.

CC debt is probably a poor indicator of the quality of an idea.

Re: Homeless alone

#192

Post by khedoros »

abalashov wrote: post #94
lfowles wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on how long your day job will accept you getting there in a state of stupor all morning until the caffeine catches up with you.

In my case, it wasn't very long. I had a tendency to stay up till 4-5 AM working on my side project, and would tend to get in 1-2 hours late. I was fired after two months of this. It wasn't the only reason I was fired, of course; there were some other reasons, ultimately coming down to political-cultural clashes. But it was by far the lowest-hanging pretext. I seldom made it in before 10:30 - 11 AM.

I had a schedule like that for a few years. It helped that my manager tended to get in even after I did, most days.

Re: Homeless alone

#193

Post by sndean »

dasyatidprime wrote: post #166
sndean wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a pretty important point. You can get a very small apartment in Austin, TX, for $500 (and many other non-SF cites). If you're able to, spending ~$16 a day versus living in a van makes a lot of sense. Completely different if you don't have that $16.

Except when you can't. Landlords very often just won't take you on at all if you don't show evidence of preëxisting stability. No proof of stable income? No housing—you can even offer to pay up-front or whatever, and they just won't bother dealing with you as a special case, because why would they deal with the special case when there's a dozen other safe, predictable, normal people in line behind you? Got an income,…

Ah yeah, I forgot about this.

I had to get my parents to co-sign on a lease... at 27, with a PhD, proof of employment, and "excellent" credit. It's pretty insane.

Re: Homeless alone

#194

Post by [deleted] »

joslin01 wrote: post #92
k-mcgrady wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can understand your point but you're not just giving up comfort - you're giving up something we all consider a basic necessity: shelter. I'm willing to bet the end result of your work, whether you do it your way, or do it part time, will be the same. I don't want to come off condescending but the attitude (and it's not unique to you, I've seen many other people with a similar attitude) seems like that of someone wh…

His Dodge Caravan is shelter, which is pretty fancy shelter if you were from a poor village in Africa so I think he'll be alright. If he's not brainwashed by pain = gain, then I think what he's doing is really cool.

[deleted]

Re: Homeless alone

#195

Post by T2_t2 »

lasermike026 wrote: post #119

Enough already. This society can provide Walden (by Henry David Thoreau) sized accommodations for all that need it. There is no reason for anyone to be homeless. People need work and healthcare. These are rights not a privileges.

Except... some people choose to be homeless. There are two in this very thread (the first comment, and here: sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com). It's unpleasant to say, but it's true.

To achieve a goal of 100% home-d, we'd need some REALLY draconian measures, e.g. forcing people into homes they don't want and forcing people to take medication against their will. I, personally, am not for measures like that, for reasons this blog post lays out well: http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/27/book-review-albions-see...

However, the goal to reduce homelessness to 0% for the vast majority in the set of people who WANT a home is one I can support - even better if that desire extends beyond white countries.

Re: Homeless alone

#197

Post by RyJones »

Mz wrote: post #141
return0 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've never taken up the opportunity of food, shelter, or clothing offered by the city, because frankly I'm doing this on my own accord, so I can't speak to how that part of the system helps people get back on their feet. I think you don't qualify as a homeless. You 're living in a van. There's a reason people prefer homes to a van. I can't fathom what is so pressing that makes you sleep in a van instead of moving t…

I have never heard of a homeless services center that would not count sleeping in a van as homeless.

When I was homeless, I lived in my car. I lived like a king compared to those actually sleeping rough. I frequently slept near/at the Burnside Project (PDX), and saw many far worse off. I had a water tight heated home that I moved whenever I wanted.

Re: Homeless alone

#198

Post by aidenn0 »

chefkoch wrote: post #131
ck2 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And in the USA you might not get any benefits at all, depends how long you worked, if you previously got benefits and how you lost the job (fired vs let go vs quit, etc)

How is it that people don't starve, especially the ones with mental health problems? Or does it happen and just is so accepted it is not worth reporting?

Largely through private charity. People with mental health problems also tend to die fairly young on the streets. I live somewhere with a friendly climate to the homeless, and the chronic homeless are mostly well under 40 or retirees who can no longer make rent.

Re: Homeless alone

#199

Post by st3v3r »

serge2k wrote: post #71
samstave wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an aside - I think we should start a ground-up movement to buy up as much of detroit as possible and create 'Silicon Detroit' as the land value is ridiculously low - and tech could move in where the biggest expense would be bringing in only strong connectivity. Other initiatives like urban farming could be done as well. I think detroit is super fertile. Imagine what just a billion dollar fund could do for tech in…

> Imagine what just a billion dollar fund could do for tech in that region. Lots of good for tech. Should we send buses or just have some people go through and chase the current residents away on foot?

Honestly, in large swaths of Detroit, there are no current residents. There are entire blocks that are vacant.

Re: Homeless alone

#200

Post by wutbrodo »

Mz wrote: post #110
lowglow wrote: post #2

I recently sold everything I owned and started living out of my converted dodge caravan while I was prototyping what I wanted to build next. With an eye on my burn rate, I lived as cheaply as possible. I can tell you without a doubt that there is no natural system in place for homeless to get out of that rut, and it looks and feels dehumanizing. I wasn't completely broke but I couldn't keep affording rent as expensiv…

I am on the street for health reasons, not to start a business (and getting pretty grumpy about it), but if you find it that hard cope, you might want to check out my blog: http://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/ People do realize I am homeless if they see me often enough, but they don't realize it upon meeting me the first time. I am less open about it than I used to be, because fuck prejudice and what ju…

> I am less open about it than I used to be, because fuck prejudice and what judgey, uncampassionate, unhelpful assholes the vast majority of people are.

I grew up in a nice part of la so I didn't really have any exposure to homeless people until I moved to the bay almost a decade ago. One thing that shocked me then and still really bothers me is how many of my friends (even the ones that I know to be decent, considerate people) completely ignore the existence of anyone who looks or smells or seems "weird". This is presumably under the assumption that anyone who looks like that is probably just asking you for money.

I remember sitting at a SJ light rail station and having a guy in a parka (it was 90+ deg out) come up to us and mumble something while we were sitting at the platform. My friend pointedly refused to make eye contact and pretended he didn't exist. When I asked the guy to repeat what he said, it turns out he was asking for directions....

I'm not saying that everyone needs to empty out their wallet to every person on the sidewalk, and maybe 90% of the time this heuristic is successful (ie they are asking for money), but it seems so shitty to me to just size someone up like that and decide that whatever they're saying to you, you can ignore it. I can guarantee you that none of those friends would ignore a well dressed stranger addressing them on the street.

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