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Homeless alone

homelessalone.blogspot.com

171–180 of 284 posts

Re: Homeless alone

#171
post #149
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hacker squats are getting more popular and are extremely important. All I need is $5/month for digital ocean. No other bills is freeing. While the Facebook slaves think their $100k salary is a lot but go into debt with $7000/month condos.

This is a highly absurd comment. No one I know is paying anything more than $3000/month and they all make well over $100k as software developers. I love how when people come up with these numbers they cite salary-only/pre-negotiation/entry-level income and then they compare this to a small-family sized rent expense to justify your "typical" SV absurdity. The fact is, many people make well over that with stock options…

3000/month is still absurd. I think 2000 is about the most you can justify on a 100k salary without having risking emergencies bankrupting you.

Re: Homeless alone

#172
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are you going to sustain that schedule? I could do that perhaps for a week, not longer.

you can easily do it if you have a bullshit dayjob, perhaps through no fault of your own (i.e. you work for a dysfunctional organization with tons of money and no direction) in fact... it's probably one of the best ways to launch a bootstrapped company. it's both the motivation and the sustenance to do something meaningful with your career. most people just surreptitiously look for a new job while on the clock, or di…

> in fact... it's probably one of the best ways to launch a bootstrapped company. it's both the motivation and the sustenance to do something meaningful with your career.

It sounds extremely distracting from your career.

Re: Homeless alone

#173
post #110
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 don't mean to pry, but what do you mean by "on the street for health reasons"? I'm trying to think of a medical condition that could be helped by being homeless, and am drawing a blank. Maybe I'm misunderstanding?

Re: Homeless alone

#174
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? No. You go on welfare. And get free healthcare through Medicaid. As much as people outside the US like to think it's some sort of heartless society, the US has a substantial safety net setup.

> You go on welfare. If you have children, you may qualify for whatever your states implementation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) is -- which has a work requirement. If not, your jurisdiction may have a "General Assistance" program, but these tend to be very small benefits, and often restricted in how long someone deemed "employable", whether or not they actually can find employment, can be on them (…

What about compared to Singapore or Japan?

Re: Homeless alone

#175
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…

It's the quality of sleep that is the biggest concern. Sleeping poorly affects your productivity, creativity, and your health. The social isolation is also bad for all the above since it will likely lead to depression.

Seriously, once I rented someone's large closet in Phoenix for $100 a month when I needed to save money. I showered in the gym and stayed in my office all day. Even in the most expensive cities someone will take a "ghost roommate" for $500 a month; pennies compared to cost of a physical/mental health related disorder.

Re: Homeless alone

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Detroit is not lacking for interesting people and ideas. We may differ on the what the word interesting means, though.

Absolutely not, I agree; I'd just say that "interesting" varies widely with the context. If what you're interested in is running a tech startup, Detroit is less "interesting". There are many, many terms on which San Francisco is less "interesting" than the rest of the country.

[deleted]

Re: Homeless alone

#177
post #171
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a highly absurd comment. No one I know is paying anything more than $3000/month and they all make well over $100k as software developers. I love how when people come up with these numbers they cite salary-only/pre-negotiation/entry-level income and then they compare this to a small-family sized rent expense to justify your "typical" SV absurdity. The fact is, many people make well over that with stock options…

3000/month is still absurd. I think 2000 is about the most you can justify on a 100k salary without having risking emergencies bankrupting you.

The relevant point there may be the "well over 100k" part. It would not be surprising to me if we're talking 200k total liquid comp.

Re: Homeless alone

#178
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you misunderstood my remark. I don't sleep in the library. I get most of my work done at a library. I am medically handicapped and this substantially interferes with my ability to be productive. But finding a place to work mostly boils down to making sure I have access to a decent public library. I sleep in a tent. I blog about that.

I think you misunderstood the original comment, not the other way around. It's about a place to "rest your mind," not exercise it. The comment is about how it'd be hard to be productive without consistent sleep.

It is difficult to be productive when you aren't sleeping well, regardless of your socioeconomic status. There are homeless people who typically sleep well. I am far from the only one.

Re: Homeless alone

#179
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 don't mean to pry, but what do you mean by "on the street for health reasons"? I'm trying to think of a medical condition that could be helped by being homeless, and am drawing a blank. Maybe I'm misunderstanding?

The super short version is that I was living in a crappy apartment with mold issues, among other things. I have a serious medical condition that makes me particularly sensitive to things like that. Sleeping in a tent among greenery has helped my health enormously.

I am now well enough that getting back into housing would make sense. But it needs to be real estate I own and have control over, so I can rip out carpeting, or whatever, if necessary. It cannot be rental housing and it cannot be a trailer. So, it will be challenging to arrange.

Re: Homeless alone

#180
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you can easily do it if you have a bullshit dayjob, perhaps through no fault of your own (i.e. you work for a dysfunctional organization with tons of money and no direction) in fact... it's probably one of the best ways to launch a bootstrapped company. it's both the motivation and the sustenance to do something meaningful with your career. most people just surreptitiously look for a new job while on the clock, or di…

> in fact... it's probably one of the best ways to launch a bootstrapped company. it's both the motivation and the sustenance to do something meaningful with your career. It sounds extremely distracting from your career.

i don't think you're parsing my language correctly.
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