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Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

gavinray97.github.io

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Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#311

Post by mexicocitinluez »

isamuel wrote: post #5

I’m curious (as a recovered alcoholic myself) how you got sober.

Recovered opiate addict and for me it was a mix of everything: Some advice I had gotten from NA meetings, finally doing something about the other mental health issues I was dealing with, and most importantly: medications that prevented me from using (methadone/suboxone).

It was definitely a process (that included multiple jail stints and only god knows how many treatment centers), but 10 years later life is pretty awesome.

I think the stigma around methadone is causing a ton of harm. Having a program where you quite literally have to show up every day, take drug tests, and get counseling was really important.

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#312

Post by firesteelrain »

rapnie wrote: post #300

As a kid I read the book "Montyn" [0] that made a deep impression on me, about Jan Montyn who fled a strict Calvinistic upbringing to join the German army in WWII and found himself in all the big battles near the end of the war, to ultimately make a career as an artist in The Netherlands. I was reminded of the book when I recently watched the origin story [1] of the Differentbreed TV channel on youtube that gives att…

Not following how that is relevant to the article at hand?

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#313

Post by embedding-shape »

qmr wrote: post #198
embedding-shape wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most crashes, but not all, are accidents. I think I'm talking about accidents, not crashes.

Someone is always at fault. Look into auto lobby and this "accident" term history. Use the language of accountability.

"Crash" sounds like it just happened by chance or for whatever reason. "Accident" makes it sound like something went wrong, maybe someone did something wrong, and then something happened because of that, maybe a crash, maybe something else.

I still think "accident" is more accurate, so I'll continue to use that. Thanks for explaining though!

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#314

Post by mexicocitinluez »

forkit wrote: post #209

Is programming underrated art form when it comes to helping people come out of such situations? Addiction or depression. It easier to get paid, you can be in a flow state for hours. Enough to forget about other addictions. and less likely to be high always while programming

Not really.

I'm a recovering addict, felon, and have depression (lucky me). And though there were times where I could work an entire weekend without stopping, it was always followed by 2-3 days of doing absolutely nothing because I was so dope sick/depressed. The worse my addiction got, the shorter the "flow" period and the longer the recovery period took.

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#315

Post by mexicocitinluez »

Vaslo wrote: post #207

As a libertarian right leaning guy I opened your story with pessimism but I really enjoyed it and greatly appreciated the personal responsibility you took in your situation. People should be inspired by this - it’s precisely because of personal responsibility that you are so successful.

> it’s precisely because of personal responsibility that you are so successful.

No it's not. It's absolutely not personal responsibility that gets people through addiction.

And if you read the entire article, this should stand out:

> I don't tell this story because I think it is clean, heroic, or universally applicable -- It isn't. I made TERRIBLE choices. I hurt people who loved me. I wasted chances that other people would have killed for. And even when I finally started doing the right things, I still needed luck, help, timing, forgiveness, and people willing to judge me by what I could do next instead of only by what I had done before.

That doesn't sound like personal responsibility that sounds like having people around you that stick around even after you mess up.

I've been an addict for over 20 years (and spent the last 10 clean). I've been in close to a dozen treatment centers. What set me apart from the others (and why I technically "made" it) had very little to do with me. What set me apart was having an insane support system and grace from people who loved me.

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#316

Post by rapnie »

firesteelrain wrote: post #312
rapnie wrote: post #300

As a kid I read the book "Montyn" [0] that made a deep impression on me, about Jan Montyn who fled a strict Calvinistic upbringing to join the German army in WWII and found himself in all the big battles near the end of the war, to ultimately make a career as an artist in The Netherlands. I was reminded of the book when I recently watched the origin story [1] of the Differentbreed TV channel on youtube that gives att…

Not following how that is relevant to the article at hand?

Building from zero after addiction, to picking up a career and find a new purpose in life.

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#318

Post by [deleted] »

TylerE wrote: post #307
hnlmorg wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've completely missed the point. People don't drink alcohol because it's healthy. Just like people don't eat cake because it's healthy, nor drink coffee because it's healthy. They do it because the unhealthy effects are desirable. Which is why moderation is the key. There's absolutely nothing wrong with someone enjoying a drink. But there is with people who need to drink. And that's just as true for sugar addition…

I was only using your own framing. You're the one who lazered in on health . > What’s healthy isn’t complete abstinence, it’s moderation. With alcohol this is well established to be false. https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-... https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-h... (Headline: "Drinking alcohol is a health risk regardless of the amount.")

[deleted]

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#319

Post by bko »

kbenson wrote: post #188
bagels wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did he have to? Some of that sounds like choices, especially in the start.

Almost everything is a choice. The difference is that sometimes you're making a rational one and sometimes you only think you're making a rational one and to outsiders and in retrospect it obviously wasn't the best choice, or event a good choice. There are two aspects to the type of question that was asked. How do you prevent people from ha I g to make choices which are rational and good for their options but still r…

> you only think you're making a rational one and to outsiders and in retrospect

In retrospect? It's really not hard to determine before the fact that petty crime is not a road to good things.

We have ways to prevent people from going down this path. It's called enforcement. He was more or less allowed to steal and sleep in the parks. If there was strict enforcement, this wouldn't have been a medium term viable option. Doesn't have to be throw the person in prison for the rest of their life, but either accept help, go through the criminal justice system or figure out another way to contribute to society in a positive way. It sounds like the author at any point could have found some kind of employment, but chose this because it was viable. And society wasn't doing him any favors by looking the other way

Re: Building from zero after addiction, prison, and a felony

#320

Post by joe_mamba »

dadpassthebeans wrote: post #244
chamomeal wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is an absolutely crazy story, I hope you have it written down somewhere besides HN comments lol

(Lost my passwd to my throwaway so i had to create another, sorry) Nah, just throwaway here. A few tech/work friends know of it, most of my non-tech friends know of my background but most them have crazier stories. And those folks dont really understand what I do for work or how much money I'm making. I'm too much of a dirt bag for the tech world and too much of a yuppie for my old punk friends. Its double-sided impo…

Impressive story. Here's a slightly off topic question. Are you hiring right now ? :) Foss work sounds fun.
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