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My Story as a Homeless Developer

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Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#61

Post by jessehorne »

mikestew wrote: post #51
freddy418_sc wrote: post #21

This article makes no sense to me. It feels like there is something wrong with this dude and he still hasn't figured out what yet. I guess this article is for soliciting pity. But his real story seems extremely juicy. He should write about the details there. All of the interesting decisions and events that got him to where he is was glossed over in this article. "My interest in computers and programming was more like…

How do you "study" and "program" without being able to focus? Because when it's time to study biology, all one thinks about is how to distribute units of work across GPUs for that thing they're working on. Kind of like the two pit bull terriers I have at home. Oh, they can focus like a motherfucker. Too bad that when they're focused on a squirrel they have no bandwidth left for my commands.

I could focus for long hours continuously for days without end, but not on biology. Around the time I was taking biology I was focused on learning Lua and the LÖVE framework (https://love2d.org/).

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#62

Post by agumonkey »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #40
sulam wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no such thing as a near zero crime rate for homeless people. Also, just being warm is not sufficient. Homeless people need so much more than that, it's daunting. A short starter list: * food & water * access to shower * laundry * medical care * dental care * education * legal advice / support * the list goes on... (disclosure: 16 years of on-again, off-again homelessness as a child and a 6 month period of tr…

There is no such thing as a near zero crime rate for homeless people. Some things that increase safety on the street: Don't take any disrespect off of anyone. Push back or walk away at the first insult. Otherwise, it escalates. Try to stay clean and look middle class. Short hair and cleanliness can get you mistaken for a tourist. It helps. Camping in a wooded area is a good thing. Don't sleep too close to housing. Th…

I'll monitor some neighborhood, I really think there are spots with very few people there at night yet with a bit of space and benches to lay at night. Also I'm not in the US, the social climate there might be very different from Europe (more weapons and very sensitive to private property).

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#63

Post by jotm »

varjag wrote: post #38
agumonkey wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One week I measured how much water I needed to clean myself top to bottom: two glasses. I eat low and don't feel hungry (although I don't suffer cold which drains energy fast) I agree that it can be daunting but I think it's not the quantity it's the regularity of supplies.

Two glasses of water is perhaps barely enough to wash my (fairly unimpressive) hair with shampoo, and the hand better be steady. Is there some special technique?

Sponges and low standards or 1 gallon glasses

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#64

Post by DoreenMichele »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #54
DoreenMichele wrote: post #5

Looks like this was written today. He's apparently still homeless and he closes with a request for feedback. So I'm just going to leave these links here (disclosure: they are my sites): https://www.pocketputer.com/ https://streetlifesolutions.blogspot.com/ (Same look, but different site) https://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/ This is listed on the Links page of PocketPuter.com, but I'm going to put it he…

Hey Doreen! Do you mind if I get in touch? I ran into a young homeless man (who has a felony on his record) in a big box parking lot in Central Florida the other day. He has an AC HVAC technician license, and is having a hard time finding someone who will hire him, and I'm looking for suggestions into how best to help him not just get back on his feet, but maximize his available skillset by getting back into an AC HV…

I'm not actually super good at job hunting, so emailing me could be a total waste of time, but you are more than welcome to email me anyway. My email is in my profile.

Edit: There are job hunting resources for felons in specific, such as this:

https://www.70millionjobs.com/

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#65

Post by s73v3r_ »

fipple wrote: post #32
jondubois wrote: post #4

I was 'homeless' for a few months (in the sense that I didn't have a home) but for most of that time I had a high enough income that I could afford to stay in AirBnBs. It was a scary experience. At one point I had lost my job, I was about $6000 in debt, in a foreign country, with a 'dependent' spouse (also without job) and I only had about $1000 left on my credit card. When I hear entrepreneurs talk about how much th…

No house and staying in Airbnb’s isn’t “homeless.”

It's not secure housing, either.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#66

Post by [deleted] »

agumonkey wrote: post #62
DoreenMichele wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no such thing as a near zero crime rate for homeless people. Some things that increase safety on the street: Don't take any disrespect off of anyone. Push back or walk away at the first insult. Otherwise, it escalates. Try to stay clean and look middle class. Short hair and cleanliness can get you mistaken for a tourist. It helps. Camping in a wooded area is a good thing. Don't sleep too close to housing. Th…

I'll monitor some neighborhood, I really think there are spots with very few people there at night yet with a bit of space and benches to lay at night. Also I'm not in the US, the social climate there might be very different from Europe (more weapons and very sensitive to private property).

[deleted]

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#67

Post by patientplatypus »

fipple wrote: post #32
jondubois wrote: post #4

I was 'homeless' for a few months (in the sense that I didn't have a home) but for most of that time I had a high enough income that I could afford to stay in AirBnBs. It was a scary experience. At one point I had lost my job, I was about $6000 in debt, in a foreign country, with a 'dependent' spouse (also without job) and I only had about $1000 left on my credit card. When I hear entrepreneurs talk about how much th…

No house and staying in Airbnb’s isn’t “homeless.”

You are objectively wrong.

A homeless individual is defined in section 330(h)(5)(A) as “an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g., shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing.” A homeless person is an individual without permanent housing who may live on the streets; stay in a shelter, mission, single room occupancy facilities, abandoned building or vehicle; or in any other unstable or non-permanent situation. [Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C., 254b)]

And even if you weren't you should show more kindness to those that experience hardship - because that's what good people do.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#68

Post by rectang »

SwellJoe wrote: post #45
agumonkey wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you live in a cold climate ? I wonder if it would be just ok in a warm place with near zero crime rate.

"zero crime rate" often means "police harass the shit out of homeless folks because their mere presence makes the middle class people uncomfortable". Police regularly steal and destroy homeless folks' belongings in most major cities. Every time a "tent city" is broken up, it means that everything someone owns that they can't carry on their person is being sent to the dump. Any time a homeless person is arrested, even…

The savage moral superiority complex that so much of the U.S. population has for the homeless is appalling. The Just World Fallacy is a hell of a drug!
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