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My Story as a Homeless Developer

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Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#191

Post by [deleted] »

NicoJuicy wrote: post #128
komali2 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The implication is that the majority of homeless are just lazy, yea? Just pick apples! I've been exactly there. You're not making minimum wage when you show up to the farm to pick apricots all day. Bars - need a bartender license. Yes, you do, nobody is risking it in 2018. Restaurants, sure, but again, you're not making minimum wage, and if you whiff of hobo you're not working front of house and getting tips. Cleanin…

Painting pays little? Good painters and a lot of other "low skill" kuch pay 35-40€ / hour, if you deliver a good job. I don't consider it a low skill though, it's being handy. Something I am not, so respect them. They build your home that you pay a loan for. While some of us get paid for apps that cost 1$ with a ad supported free version and that gives a 30% commission to the platform owners.

[deleted]

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#192

Post by scarface74 »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #127
Timmah wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can disagree without offering a solution. His comment was with the aim of addressing the underlying problem. OP could get a dev job tomorrow and lose it within a week if mental health issues impede his ability to function on a team. Your parade isn't as important as OP's predicament.

These two claims conflict: You can disagree without offering a solution. Your parade isn't as important as OP's predicament. You and the other commenter are offering nothing of help to the OP. Your entire focus is on taking me down for some reason. Meanwhile, my opening comment offered actual resources to try to help the OP. If you think that addressing his problem is the most important thing here, then you could do…

I don’t know you. To me you’re just a random person on HN. Why would I care about “taking you down” and how did a submission about someone else’s problem become a conversation about you?

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#193

Post by DoreenMichele »

scarface74 wrote: post #192
DoreenMichele wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These two claims conflict: You can disagree without offering a solution. Your parade isn't as important as OP's predicament. You and the other commenter are offering nothing of help to the OP. Your entire focus is on taking me down for some reason. Meanwhile, my opening comment offered actual resources to try to help the OP. If you think that addressing his problem is the most important thing here, then you could do…

I don’t know you. To me you’re just a random person on HN. Why would I care about “taking you down” and how did a submission about someone else’s problem become a conversation about you?

I have no idea. If proving me wrong is not your agenda, why keep arguing this? If you really care so little what I do, why not walk away already? Or apologize for making the very first reply to my original comment and being so dismissive in your reply?

There are many possible responses here, but your pattern of response is very consistent with some need to prove me wrong, even if only to prove me wrong in my claim that you have an agenda to prove me wrong.

It's recursive.

And I think I shall stop replying at this point. I think I've made my point and I don't want to keep putting more into this unpleasantness.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#194

Post by tluyben2 »

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…

It is very hard to compare 'risky' (you said that already); I know a fair bit of people who risked their health because of their startup; strokes & heartattacks because of not sleeping and continues, years long high levels of stress. When I see people in a wheelchair at 26, sleeping on the street doesn't sound too bad.

Also I am curious; I read often about the US (I presume you are from there, apologies if not) that people say what you say 'have to live on the streets if it didn't work out'; don't you have friends and family? Friends and/or family would take us in or provide a house until we get out of the hole; don't you have people like that? I read a lot in the news (but news is not very accurate these days) that for instance 60% of Americans couldn't get $1000 in an emergency; I wonder if this is some group where everyone is completely broke or if it's just sensational press.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#195

Post by empressplay »

istorical wrote: post #85

So it sounds like you'd rather be homeless and not lie to others than stay in the religious-affiliated shelter and lie to them about your belief. Have you thought about this deeply? Seems like perhaps the experience of being kicked out by grandma because of your atheism has perhaps poisoned religion to you to the extent that now you're so headstrong about denying it that you are missing a huge opportunity to get some…

Most shelters / street churches like that are happy to help you as long as you respect their beliefs and you're willing to listen to what they have to say.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#196

Post by TylerE »

jedberg wrote: post #50
hnal943 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mind sharing more about your circumstances? I'd like to understand how someone with a high income could become homeless.

Screwing up in the past and having bad credit would make it nearly impossible to rent a home. You generally need good credit and deposit money. With a high income you could have the deposit but it won't fix your credit. If you have a high income at least you can get into AirBnBs or hotels, because they don't do credit checks.

If you truely have the income paying for several months rent up front will open doors.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#197

Post by empressplay »

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…

I'm HFA and I can only focus on what interests me. I got through school because I could just read a textbook the night before an exam and ace it, but when I was in actual classes I pretty much just napped. But I was an admin of my school's computer lab and trained students and teachers, ran a BBS and co-sysoped a multi-line chat system, while holding down a part time job etc. So I totally get the inability to focus on things that are uninteresting or seem not to be useful in a contemporary sense. (This is still the case =)

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#199

Post by randomdata »

komali2 wrote: post #83
eric_b wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sound pretty out of touch. In Iowa there is an enormous agriculture industry - an industry not known for asking a lot of personal questions about origin or current status. If you can show up and do the work (and maybe pass a drug test), you're hired. And often paid cash. Outside of agriculture, there are the usual suspects. Bars, restaurants, cleaning jobs, roofing, painting, other forms of low skill construction…

The implication is that the majority of homeless are just lazy, yea? Just pick apples! I've been exactly there. You're not making minimum wage when you show up to the farm to pick apricots all day. Bars - need a bartender license. Yes, you do, nobody is risking it in 2018. Restaurants, sure, but again, you're not making minimum wage, and if you whiff of hobo you're not working front of house and getting tips. Cleanin…

> I've been exactly there. You're not making minimum wage when you show up to the farm to pick apricots all day.

While not Iowa, the farms around here will easily pay you $20-30/hr. if you are willing to work on equipment. Which, anyone who is capable of software development, also has the mindset required to work on equipment. They're pretty similar activities when you get down to it. I'm not sure there is any reason why someone with such a skillset needs to go into picking apricots. We're not exactly talking about a 12 year old who has never worked before and who's greatest ability is being able to turn on his video game console.

Re: My Story as a Homeless Developer

#200

Post by fein »

astura wrote: post #198
jriot wrote: post #44

Sounds like you never learned how to do anything outside of coding. There is more to succeeding in life than being able to code.

Soft skills are almost as important as coding skill for a developer.

I wouldn't call being able to take care of yourself a soft skill. Laundry, cooking, finance; all hard skills required to survive.

Reading this whole thread, I really don't get it. This guy has to have fucked up a lot to get to this point, and noen of those details were evaluated in the article.

My own grandmother is a hardcore christian, and I am an "atheist". At no point in my life have I ever burned so many bridges as to not be able to stay with her if things got bad enough. It reads like the childish mind of some edgy early 2000s 15 year old trying to rationalize why their family is pissed at them.

I read through this whole thing and all I could think of was that this guy is absolutely pathetic for wasting so many opportunities. Sometimes you just deserve the shit you get.

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