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That's a decent picture of how complicated it can be, though not entirely accurate. For example, some homeless people do have cars and sleep in them. (I do not,

by Mz 9y ago

That's a decent picture of how complicated it can be, though not entirely accurate. For example, some homeless people do have cars and sleep in them. (I do not, but some do.) Being homeless does not necessarily mean being carless. I actually spend several hours a day at a library with wonderful and supportive staff who do not hassle me. I do resume work online( http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/ http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/) and I work for a writing service and I blog. In recent years, ad money has dropped across the board for websites, not just mine, due what I call The Adblocker Wars. Most of the traffic on my personal blog is from HN and the vast majority of it uses adblockers. People on HN tend to not want to tip. Remarks on HN over and over indicate that if you don't like starving, instead of writing, you should go get a real job (like programming, apparently). Meanwhile, they expect good quality content to be available. I have bitched about this on my blog: http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2017/05/on-writing-and-money.html http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2017/05/on-writing-a... http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2017/05/so-you-are-telling-me-you-just-arent.html http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2017/05/so-you-are-t... So even with arranging my life where I have regular access to the internet, have no need to meet clients in person and so forth, I still have a lot of trouble turning my work into an adequate income stream. This is in spite of having six years of college and enough mojo to garner more than 19k karma on HN in spite of my gender. As far as I know, no other woman has karma in the 5 figures. They are all below 10k. (And before the hecklers tell me this is not evidence of anything: MEN on hacker news are routinely told they must be really smart, because they have a lot of karma on HN. I am the only person that says that about me and, inevitably, someone shoots it down instead of going "Holy Cow! Because you are a woman, your karma should be assumed to be worth like triple what it is for a man!") But thank you for chiming in.

peterwwillis 9y ago
You're right, it's certainly not the same for everyone. I intentionally left out other obstacles like physical and mental health problems, drug/alcohol dependence, gender/ethnicity stereotype, communication barriers, legal status, being a parent, physical/sexual abuse, etc. Having a car can be a huge benefit (after you pay for the mandatory registration and insurance and gas), until it gets stolen or robbed (which happened to my friend six months ago and she's still trying to work her way back to a replacement vehicle). And another friend, now that I think of it... And another, heh. Assuming it wasn't totaled, the fee to get the stolen car out of impound, plus a fee for every day it sits in the yard, on top of the repairs for bullet holes, smashed in windows, etc can make it more feasible to just save to buy another used car. I think another thing that isn't stressed enough is how homelessness can drag on your mental health. You have constant stress, and dealing with obstacles and unfairness on a daily basis can feed depression, make you more irritable, lose energy, etc. Not being "chipper" enough can be a big burden in terms of getting clients (especially for women; thanks, male chauvinism). I am of course not trying to tell you this, but for other readers to consider. Thank you for telling your story, I hope your situation improves soon. Have you considered applying to a TED talk on bias or invisible burdens for people with lack of resource security?
- Mz 9y ago
  I am in no position to do a TED talk. I do a lot of blogging (I have multiple blogs) and I participate on various forums and I started a Reddit a couple of months back called Housing Works because the shortage of affordable housing is such a huge part of this and getting worse. I run a blog called the San Diego Homeless Survival Guide. Because of that blog, I have been interviewed 3x times by various reporters and that has never resulted in media attention for the site, probably because the first two asked why I was homeless and I talked about my medical situation, which always gets me dismissed as a lunatic. The third incident was recent and not an interview per se. Perhaps it shall get mentioned in their article, but I am not holding my breathe.
taway_1212 9y ago
> This is in spite of having six years of college and enough mojo to garner more than 19k karma on HN in spite of my gender. As far as I know, no other woman has karma in the 5 figures. They are all below 10k. Having a high score on an Internet forum has zero value for someone who wants to purchase a service from you, I don't see how this is relevant.
- pluto24 9y ago
  Agreed. If anything, it shows that the poster spends an inordinate amount of time commenting on an internet forum.

by Mz 9y ago

peterwwillis 9y ago

You're right, it's certainly not the same for everyone. I intentionally left out other obstacles like physical and mental health problems, drug/alcohol dependence, gender/ethnicity stereotype, communication barriers, legal status, being a parent, physical/sexual abuse, etc. Having a car can be a huge benefit (after you pay for the mandatory registration and insurance and gas), until it gets stolen or robbed (which happened to my friend six months ago and she's still trying to work her way back to a replacement vehicle). And another friend, now that I think of it... And another, heh. Assuming it wasn't totaled, the fee to get the stolen car out of impound, plus a fee for every day it sits in the yard, on top of the repairs for bullet holes, smashed in windows, etc can make it more feasible to just save to buy another used car. I think another thing that isn't stressed enough is how homelessness can drag on your mental health. You have constant stress, and dealing with obstacles and unfairness on a daily basis can feed depression, make you more irritable, lose energy, etc. Not being "chipper" enough can be a big burden in terms of getting clients (especially for women; thanks, male chauvinism). I am of course not trying to tell you this, but for other readers to consider. Thank you for telling your story, I hope your situation improves soon. Have you considered applying to a TED talk on bias or invisible burdens for people with lack of resource security?

Mz 9y ago
I am in no position to do a TED talk. I do a lot of blogging (I have multiple blogs) and I participate on various forums and I started a Reddit a couple of months back called Housing Works because the shortage of affordable housing is such a huge part of this and getting worse. I run a blog called the San Diego Homeless Survival Guide. Because of that blog, I have been interviewed 3x times by various reporters and that has never resulted in media attention for the site, probably because the first two asked why I was homeless and I talked about my medical situation, which always gets me dismissed as a lunatic. The third incident was recent and not an interview per se. Perhaps it shall get mentioned in their article, but I am not holding my breathe.

taway_1212 9y ago

> This is in spite of having six years of college and enough mojo to garner more than 19k karma on HN in spite of my gender. As far as I know, no other woman has karma in the 5 figures. They are all below 10k. Having a high score on an Internet forum has zero value for someone who wants to purchase a service from you, I don't see how this is relevant.

pluto24 9y ago
Agreed. If anything, it shows that the poster spends an inordinate amount of time commenting on an internet forum.