Showing posts with label Homelessness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homelessness. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
A Great Article About Being Poor
Lifehacker is one of the sites I visit every day. You can find all kinds of great articles about how to do all sorts of things in day to day life. So when I read this article I had to link to it myself.
Being Poor Is Too Expensive - Lifehacker
This isn't the usual tips and tricks, instead it's a very interesting look at some of the difficulties of being poor. The thing is, in my experience, being homeless or poor is actually a lot harder than most people think. There are a lot of different factors at work, not just economic but also often psychological. The stereotype is that homeless people are alcoholics, but actually mental illness may be far more common.
So what? I hear you ask. Well, nothing really. This is just a great look into a lifestyle that hopefully you cannot relate to yourself - if so you have led a blessed life. If you have been there, well it's just kind of nice to know that you haven't been the only one.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Obamacare - The Only Thing Really Wrong With It
Force.
That's it, really, that's the biggest problem with the whole system - force. Everyone is forced into using it. It's being forced on private and public sector alike. It's the government using its absolute power, the ability to force people to do something.
I don't want to get into a political rant here. It's just something on my mind since I am one of the many people without health care, and thus it is something I'll have to deal with soon. I've been looking into it, on-line since the news programs have not been much help, and so thought I'd comment on it - from my own point of view, of course.
Providing health care is a noble goal. That, I think, would be hard for anyone to dispute. But as with all goals, the real proof is not in the principle but in the exceptions. Life and Liberty are noble goals, but we regularly deny them to those who commit crimes. And rightly so. Because a principle is nice, but not always applicable, there are times when it needs to bend and flex a little. Too much bending and it breaks, but too little and it is a straight-jacket instead of strengthening.
Which leads me to thinking about my own condition. I would like to have health insurance, in principle. I don't though for a variety of practical reasons. Right now I don't have a job, I'm living with my Grandfather helping him out. He found out he had cancer when someone finally looked at his x-rays and saw that his right femur had been eaten away. They put a titanium rod in the bone to strengthen it, and then discovered that the cancer had spread there from his kidneys, one of which has a tumor in it. A fun thing to find out on your birthday. So while he was in rehab I came out here, having moved close-by recently and not having anything I couldn't set aside. That was about three months ago. I do the driving, shopping, cooking and cleaning. Grandpa is home, and doing very well overall, but that could change at any time. Plus he's 83 years old, so he is not as strong and vigorous as when he was driving a tank in his youth. I don't mind helping him out, I'm glad I could since it would have been a major burden on anyone else in my family and a great risk for him to be alone without any constant support.
So, needless to say, I do not have any health insurance. Grandpa gives me a little money, and covers all my living expenses, so I am really doing fine. I've been looking around, but the only jobs I could get would be part-time, and that would not provide health insurance either. Being a 30-something-or-other couch potato, I am not in the best shape, but I'm not doing too bad. I always figured if I had some sort of health problem I'd just have to deal with it. I know that you can go to the emergency room, but I have no intention or, or desire to, do so. But now comes Obamacare (the Affordable Care and Whatever-Else-We-Had-To-Call-It Act is too long) and the public exchanges open up next week. According to what I've found, the lowest coverage for me in Arizona will be around $100 per month. Which will pose something of a problem as I do not make that much money. If I do get a part-time job (also, not as easy as one might imagine in a smaller town) that will represent a fairly good chunk of what I make. And that's just the monthly cost. No details are out yet, but I'm sure there are co-pays and then prescription drug costs that you have to pay yourself. Which means that even though I'll have insurance, I won't actually be able to afford to use it. Also, I don't want to use it. When I did have health insurance in the past all I did was get a checkup, a tetanus shot, and see the dentist - I don't like going to the doctor. Not sure if there will be dental plans, they may mean "health" as only the body and not the teeth (again, a scarcity of details at the moment).
So, quite frankly, I want no part of this system. It does me no definite good, just a theoretical good in the event of an accident or something that I survive. In exchange for the definite hardship of coming up with money I don't have. Not a good economic trade-off.
Except, to get back to the thrust of my article, for the fact that I am being forced into it. I have no choice. I could put it off for a year, and pay a penalty of $95 at tax time, putting it off two years raises the penalty to $200+ dollars and three years $600+. So sooner or later you join or you suffer. Though, if you join you also suffer, so you're just screwed either way.
What I don't understand is this: if this is going to be a better system, if it going to improve everyone's lives, why isn't it voluntary? If it's the better choice, then people will take it. It doesn't need to try so hard. Also, like so many other programs, if it's such a good idea, why isn't every Senator, Judge, and even the President required to take it also? Why can't they practice what they preach? If it's a good thing, shouldn't it either naturally attract people, or if it has to be forced, shouldn't it be forced on everyone - including those in power? If it's so wonderful, why march people to it at gun-point?
Anyways, since it is forced, I will have to join along with so many others. I am not in a rush though, things have a tendency of changing, so I'll wait until around December to let some of the bugs shake lose before going to join. Hopefully that will also give me enough time to figure out how I'm going to pay for something I didn't ask for in the first place.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
$800
Whenever you talk about being homeless there is one thing that will instantly leap to mind or the discussion, as nicely revealed in the epithet most often hurled at the homeless, "Get a job you bum!"
I will deal with the bum part in a future post, let me look now at the 'get a job' part. Being homeless I naturally wanted to get a job. A job means money, which means food and housing and all the nice things that I did not have living on the streets (like somewhere to put my stuff instead of carrying it on my back, I'm a 38 year-old with a 75 year-old's spine). Getting a job can be a challenge, but it is even moreso when one is homeless. However, I got lucky and did manage to get a job. I thought everything would be great, I was on the path to getting off the streets. I did not think this for long. The reason being what I now think of as 'homeless economics' and will present here. Fair warning, there are going to be a lot of numbers in the rest of this post.
Let's start at the important point, income. Having a job means making money (actually trading time for money, not making it magically like a bank, but I digress), so how much money am I now making via gainful employment? Well, I am somewhat skilled, though not specially so, and I got a part-time job making about $10/hr after taxes. At first, for a whole blessed month, 'part-time' meant 30 hours a week, or $300/week after taxes for a whopping $1,200 that month in my pocket. After that first month, sadly (and somewhat inexplicably, but I'm not going to go into all the job troubles here, just the numbers) 'part-time' became only 20 hrs/week, for just $800 a month. It would remain there until I left, so we'll use $800 as my new income.
Now, with income comes expenses. First, I had to get to my job and for that I needed a bus pass - which was $80 a month. Next I needed a phone, to be reached for scheduling changes and to call my boss if he wasn't at the office and I needed to know how to do something (which happened several times). One no-contract Virgin Mobile cell phone was $20 on sale, and the lowest calling plan was $30 a month (and out of my 1,500 minutes I think I once used maybe 150 - I'm not a phone guy). Work clothes need to be kept clean, so laundry at the friendly neighborhood laundromat ran about $20 a month (weekly washings of $5). So incidental expenses ran about $130/month. My $800 income - $130 expenses = $670 left over. Not bad, right?
Well, one other thing - I needed to eat. Eating good. Now not having a home is a problem when it comes to eating. With a house and the ability to store and prepare food I have been able to easily eat for $2 a meal, so 3 meals a day would be $6 and a 30 day month totaling $180 for food. Tack on a little for the few meals that were more expensive or random treats and a fairly consistent $200/month food bill is something I have lived on before. But note how I opened that, with the ability to store and prepare food. I didn't have that, I was still homeless when starting my new job.
Not being able to prepare food means you have to buy stuff that is already made, which is more expensive. A $1 frozen dinner is a lot cheaper than a $3 pre-made sandwich at the grocery store - and that gets worse if you talk about fast food. A small fast food meal is usually about $6 (5 plus tax, rounded). Eating fast food three times a day is $18 a day or $540 a month. Ee-gads! So let's pair down to just 2 meals a day, morning and night, which brings it down to $12 a day or $360/month. So the $670 we had above - $360 for food = $310/month.
As a final note, food is the hardest thing to budget when you're on the streets. Being hungry is hard, and even a job like mine that just required walking and talking to people managed to work up quite the appetite. Keeping control of food costs, and most importantly realizing just how much I was actually spending on food was a challenge.
Now, we started with $800 and currently have $310 left - and we're still missing something. So far we've (or, well, I did) spent money just on keeping the job (including staying alive in general by eating) - but we are (I was) still homeless. We haven't paid anything yet for rent. So let's look at the path off the streets that our job has provided.
There are three options for getting a place to live. First, the ideal, getting a small apartment of one's own. Second, less ideal but still okay, renting a room. Finally, least attractive, renting a hotel room. We'll look at them in order:
Apartment - well, this is the nicest, and the hardest. First, to even dream about getting an apartment you need to pass a credit check. If, like me, your credit score is embarrassed to show itself in public, this is a problem. If you make it over that hurdle though, there are others. Starting, the cheapest, smallest studio apartment is going to run about $500 a month (easily 600 to 1,000 depending on location). But that's not the real expense, no. Most people just stop right there, the monthly cost, but you also have to take into account that you have to pay up-front. First and last months' rent plus a security deposit (typically equal to one month's rent) before you can claim home sweet home. So $1,500 up front, plus $500 a month. And how much did we have left over a month? Oh yeah, $310. Not even enough for the monthly, and of course I didn't have any money saved up for that $1,500 hurdle.
Room - okay, so getting an apartment is a bust, what about Plan B, renting a room? Well, a search on Craigslist can turn up some pretty darned expensive rooms - I mean, who really wants to pay $800 to $1,000 just to rent a room?! But there are some more reasonable people who will rent a place for just $400 a month. Not bad, remembering that we'll be able to make our own food and lower that expense we should be able to get up to $470 a month, which will just cover the rent and leave a few bucks to do something fun with (though the library is a treasure trove of fun, and free). Room looking good . . . um, well, almost. See, one little problem - all those nice $400 rooms also want a deposit, not as much- just first and last months' rent, but that still means coming up with $800 to move in. And, well, $800 is everything that we make in one month - so that would be a whole month of not eating or riding the bus or anything to save up to move in somewhere. Hmm...
Hotel - now we get to the least desirable option, the hotel room. These too can be incredibly expensive, up to $1,000 a month or more with a kitchenette. But I was able to find a hotel that was only $200 a week - just a room, not kitchenette or fridge so still paying the higher price in food (though I did have room to store some non-perishable food). But, $200 a week is $800 a month. Still a whole lot of money, but at least you don't have to pay anything up front.
This was the route I took. I did not expect my hours to get cut, so with my $1,200 that first month I had enough to get a hotel room (yay, off the streets, woo hoo!!!) and still cover my expenses. Then I realized I had a problem. I had no money left over to save up to rent a room with (remember, $800 up front). Then my hours got cut and I couldn't even afford to stay at the hotel. I didn't have any winter camping gear, having arrived in summer; and in Denver it does not snow too much, but it does snow and get cold. It took about $200 to get the sleeping bag, blankets, thermal pants, jacket, boots and such to be able to camp outside without losing any appendages to frostbite (which I say in a lighthearted manner, but I've met guys who have had toes amputated from it).
So, getting a job is a Good Thing, no doubt about it - but it is not a "get out of being homeless free" card. It takes quite a bit of money to get off the streets, and really at least a full-time job (which seem to be harder to find every year) making above minimum wage. Sadly being homeless is a lot easier to fall into than crawl out of. And if your job doesn't work out (I may someday go over how mine went sideways, maybe not - I don't like to think about how "almost but not good enough" I came to some measure of happiness) then you go right back to square one.
So, there was your little economics lesson for the day. Makes your own anemic checking account look better, doesn't it?
I will deal with the bum part in a future post, let me look now at the 'get a job' part. Being homeless I naturally wanted to get a job. A job means money, which means food and housing and all the nice things that I did not have living on the streets (like somewhere to put my stuff instead of carrying it on my back, I'm a 38 year-old with a 75 year-old's spine). Getting a job can be a challenge, but it is even moreso when one is homeless. However, I got lucky and did manage to get a job. I thought everything would be great, I was on the path to getting off the streets. I did not think this for long. The reason being what I now think of as 'homeless economics' and will present here. Fair warning, there are going to be a lot of numbers in the rest of this post.
Let's start at the important point, income. Having a job means making money (actually trading time for money, not making it magically like a bank, but I digress), so how much money am I now making via gainful employment? Well, I am somewhat skilled, though not specially so, and I got a part-time job making about $10/hr after taxes. At first, for a whole blessed month, 'part-time' meant 30 hours a week, or $300/week after taxes for a whopping $1,200 that month in my pocket. After that first month, sadly (and somewhat inexplicably, but I'm not going to go into all the job troubles here, just the numbers) 'part-time' became only 20 hrs/week, for just $800 a month. It would remain there until I left, so we'll use $800 as my new income.
Now, with income comes expenses. First, I had to get to my job and for that I needed a bus pass - which was $80 a month. Next I needed a phone, to be reached for scheduling changes and to call my boss if he wasn't at the office and I needed to know how to do something (which happened several times). One no-contract Virgin Mobile cell phone was $20 on sale, and the lowest calling plan was $30 a month (and out of my 1,500 minutes I think I once used maybe 150 - I'm not a phone guy). Work clothes need to be kept clean, so laundry at the friendly neighborhood laundromat ran about $20 a month (weekly washings of $5). So incidental expenses ran about $130/month. My $800 income - $130 expenses = $670 left over. Not bad, right?
Well, one other thing - I needed to eat. Eating good. Now not having a home is a problem when it comes to eating. With a house and the ability to store and prepare food I have been able to easily eat for $2 a meal, so 3 meals a day would be $6 and a 30 day month totaling $180 for food. Tack on a little for the few meals that were more expensive or random treats and a fairly consistent $200/month food bill is something I have lived on before. But note how I opened that, with the ability to store and prepare food. I didn't have that, I was still homeless when starting my new job.
Not being able to prepare food means you have to buy stuff that is already made, which is more expensive. A $1 frozen dinner is a lot cheaper than a $3 pre-made sandwich at the grocery store - and that gets worse if you talk about fast food. A small fast food meal is usually about $6 (5 plus tax, rounded). Eating fast food three times a day is $18 a day or $540 a month. Ee-gads! So let's pair down to just 2 meals a day, morning and night, which brings it down to $12 a day or $360/month. So the $670 we had above - $360 for food = $310/month.
As a final note, food is the hardest thing to budget when you're on the streets. Being hungry is hard, and even a job like mine that just required walking and talking to people managed to work up quite the appetite. Keeping control of food costs, and most importantly realizing just how much I was actually spending on food was a challenge.
Now, we started with $800 and currently have $310 left - and we're still missing something. So far we've (or, well, I did) spent money just on keeping the job (including staying alive in general by eating) - but we are (I was) still homeless. We haven't paid anything yet for rent. So let's look at the path off the streets that our job has provided.
There are three options for getting a place to live. First, the ideal, getting a small apartment of one's own. Second, less ideal but still okay, renting a room. Finally, least attractive, renting a hotel room. We'll look at them in order:
Apartment - well, this is the nicest, and the hardest. First, to even dream about getting an apartment you need to pass a credit check. If, like me, your credit score is embarrassed to show itself in public, this is a problem. If you make it over that hurdle though, there are others. Starting, the cheapest, smallest studio apartment is going to run about $500 a month (easily 600 to 1,000 depending on location). But that's not the real expense, no. Most people just stop right there, the monthly cost, but you also have to take into account that you have to pay up-front. First and last months' rent plus a security deposit (typically equal to one month's rent) before you can claim home sweet home. So $1,500 up front, plus $500 a month. And how much did we have left over a month? Oh yeah, $310. Not even enough for the monthly, and of course I didn't have any money saved up for that $1,500 hurdle.
Room - okay, so getting an apartment is a bust, what about Plan B, renting a room? Well, a search on Craigslist can turn up some pretty darned expensive rooms - I mean, who really wants to pay $800 to $1,000 just to rent a room?! But there are some more reasonable people who will rent a place for just $400 a month. Not bad, remembering that we'll be able to make our own food and lower that expense we should be able to get up to $470 a month, which will just cover the rent and leave a few bucks to do something fun with (though the library is a treasure trove of fun, and free). Room looking good . . . um, well, almost. See, one little problem - all those nice $400 rooms also want a deposit, not as much- just first and last months' rent, but that still means coming up with $800 to move in. And, well, $800 is everything that we make in one month - so that would be a whole month of not eating or riding the bus or anything to save up to move in somewhere. Hmm...
Hotel - now we get to the least desirable option, the hotel room. These too can be incredibly expensive, up to $1,000 a month or more with a kitchenette. But I was able to find a hotel that was only $200 a week - just a room, not kitchenette or fridge so still paying the higher price in food (though I did have room to store some non-perishable food). But, $200 a week is $800 a month. Still a whole lot of money, but at least you don't have to pay anything up front.
This was the route I took. I did not expect my hours to get cut, so with my $1,200 that first month I had enough to get a hotel room (yay, off the streets, woo hoo!!!) and still cover my expenses. Then I realized I had a problem. I had no money left over to save up to rent a room with (remember, $800 up front). Then my hours got cut and I couldn't even afford to stay at the hotel. I didn't have any winter camping gear, having arrived in summer; and in Denver it does not snow too much, but it does snow and get cold. It took about $200 to get the sleeping bag, blankets, thermal pants, jacket, boots and such to be able to camp outside without losing any appendages to frostbite (which I say in a lighthearted manner, but I've met guys who have had toes amputated from it).
So, getting a job is a Good Thing, no doubt about it - but it is not a "get out of being homeless free" card. It takes quite a bit of money to get off the streets, and really at least a full-time job (which seem to be harder to find every year) making above minimum wage. Sadly being homeless is a lot easier to fall into than crawl out of. And if your job doesn't work out (I may someday go over how mine went sideways, maybe not - I don't like to think about how "almost but not good enough" I came to some measure of happiness) then you go right back to square one.
So, there was your little economics lesson for the day. Makes your own anemic checking account look better, doesn't it?
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
A Day On The Streets
So, what is it like living on the streets? Maybe you've wondered. Probably you haven't. But I'm going to tell you anyways. Here's a rundown of a typical day:
5:00am - Wake Up - I get up when the sun does, or just a bit before. Have to. I sleep in an alley behind a business, and I don't want to disturb anyone working there or a random customer; so I get up and out of the way before they arrive.
5:30am - Father Woody's Haven Of Hope - I go every weekday to Father Woody's, which is an awesome day shelter for the homeless. I get a shower there, but you have to get in line pretty early since there are a few hundred other people who want a shower. So even though they open about 7am I am in line at 5:30. That's the really annoying part about being homeless, always standing in line waiting. At about 8am they serve breakfast, and you can get some yogurt and pastries as well. By 9 to 9:30 I get my shower called and get cleaned up. I don't carry around enough clothes to change every day, but the shower at least helps. After the shower I leave. This is the only meal and time I'll stay at someplace that helps the homeless. I could easily eat 4 or 5 times a day, but I don't like crowds.
9 - 9:30am - Library - I usually get the library by 9:30 and they open at 10 during the week. I go straight up to the computer center and use my 2 hours to check email, work on this blog, and type up my class or game. I've got a little thumb drive I save everything on. By noon when I'm out of computer time I go down and find a spot to sit, grab a few books, and read or write my ever-growing mess of paper notes. Mon and Tues the library's open until 8pm, which means I go straight to my campsite after, but Wed, Thurs and Fri it closes at 6pm.
5:30pm - Out Reading - most days the library closes early, so I just wander down to the park, or the bridge on Broadway, and read a book. I usually go through 2 books a day (I've always been a fast reader) and mostly I like science fiction and fantasy, but I'll occasionally read something else that just looks good.
6:45pm - Back To Campsite - I try to get back to my alley about 7pm, that way everybody inside has left work for the night. I'm up and reading or listening to music until after the sun sets around 8:30, then I set up my sleeping bag and turn in for the night. My alley is nice, usually pretty quiet, and has very little foot-traffic - which is good since sleeping outside is somewhat risky. I don't like sleeping in the open where any crazy passer-by or the cops could be a rude awakening. Then I sleep until morning and start it all over again.
I know, a wildly exciting life, isn't it? This is a typical day. On the weekends Father Woody's is closed, but I have other places I can eat at, and the library is only open from 1pm to 5pm. On holidays both close, and that really stinks. Then I just wander around and read. Trying to get into some day labor means waking up at 3am (hard to do without an alarm clock) to get to the center by 4, then waiting around until 8-10am hoping to catch one of the very few tickets. Usually not, and so the morning is just a waste. Sometimes you get lucky and spend until 5pm shoveling rocks or sweeping up a construction site - for about $50. Means missing breakfast though, and spending money on eating (which is hard when you have so little). And day labor has been very scarce recently. While there are a few places that give cots or space inside to sleep, you have to get in line at least an hour, usually 2, early to get a space - then sleep in a big room with up to 100 other guys (noisy, smelly, not easy to sleep in) and still have to get out around 5:30 or 6am. Not worth it. I'd much rather sleep on my own in my little spot than be crammed in with a bunch of strangers. Even though I'm technically breaking the law by trespassing (or, if sleeping in a public space, violating the new anti-homeless anti-camping law, you just can't win) I make sure to clean up after myself and stay out of the way.
It makes for long, boring, and unpleasant days. Living on the streets is not something I'd recommend. But it happens. I didn't plan on ending up here, but, well, here I am. I try to make the most of it. Teaching my student how to use her computer is a very welcome break. I broke down and spent some money to see the new Spider-Man movie, which was great, and also a welcome change of pace. You take the little moments when they come. Someday I'd like to get out of this situation, but getting a job is hard enough - getting a job while homeless is much, much harder. Particularly in my field: computer geeks tend to be neat, dress nice, and have cars - things I don't. Hard to carry a week's worth of dress clothes in a backpack, along with anything else. But we'll see what happens.
So there you have it, my life on the streets. Other homeless people might have much different routines, this is just what works for me.
5:00am - Wake Up - I get up when the sun does, or just a bit before. Have to. I sleep in an alley behind a business, and I don't want to disturb anyone working there or a random customer; so I get up and out of the way before they arrive.
5:30am - Father Woody's Haven Of Hope - I go every weekday to Father Woody's, which is an awesome day shelter for the homeless. I get a shower there, but you have to get in line pretty early since there are a few hundred other people who want a shower. So even though they open about 7am I am in line at 5:30. That's the really annoying part about being homeless, always standing in line waiting. At about 8am they serve breakfast, and you can get some yogurt and pastries as well. By 9 to 9:30 I get my shower called and get cleaned up. I don't carry around enough clothes to change every day, but the shower at least helps. After the shower I leave. This is the only meal and time I'll stay at someplace that helps the homeless. I could easily eat 4 or 5 times a day, but I don't like crowds.
9 - 9:30am - Library - I usually get the library by 9:30 and they open at 10 during the week. I go straight up to the computer center and use my 2 hours to check email, work on this blog, and type up my class or game. I've got a little thumb drive I save everything on. By noon when I'm out of computer time I go down and find a spot to sit, grab a few books, and read or write my ever-growing mess of paper notes. Mon and Tues the library's open until 8pm, which means I go straight to my campsite after, but Wed, Thurs and Fri it closes at 6pm.
5:30pm - Out Reading - most days the library closes early, so I just wander down to the park, or the bridge on Broadway, and read a book. I usually go through 2 books a day (I've always been a fast reader) and mostly I like science fiction and fantasy, but I'll occasionally read something else that just looks good.
6:45pm - Back To Campsite - I try to get back to my alley about 7pm, that way everybody inside has left work for the night. I'm up and reading or listening to music until after the sun sets around 8:30, then I set up my sleeping bag and turn in for the night. My alley is nice, usually pretty quiet, and has very little foot-traffic - which is good since sleeping outside is somewhat risky. I don't like sleeping in the open where any crazy passer-by or the cops could be a rude awakening. Then I sleep until morning and start it all over again.
I know, a wildly exciting life, isn't it? This is a typical day. On the weekends Father Woody's is closed, but I have other places I can eat at, and the library is only open from 1pm to 5pm. On holidays both close, and that really stinks. Then I just wander around and read. Trying to get into some day labor means waking up at 3am (hard to do without an alarm clock) to get to the center by 4, then waiting around until 8-10am hoping to catch one of the very few tickets. Usually not, and so the morning is just a waste. Sometimes you get lucky and spend until 5pm shoveling rocks or sweeping up a construction site - for about $50. Means missing breakfast though, and spending money on eating (which is hard when you have so little). And day labor has been very scarce recently. While there are a few places that give cots or space inside to sleep, you have to get in line at least an hour, usually 2, early to get a space - then sleep in a big room with up to 100 other guys (noisy, smelly, not easy to sleep in) and still have to get out around 5:30 or 6am. Not worth it. I'd much rather sleep on my own in my little spot than be crammed in with a bunch of strangers. Even though I'm technically breaking the law by trespassing (or, if sleeping in a public space, violating the new anti-homeless anti-camping law, you just can't win) I make sure to clean up after myself and stay out of the way.
It makes for long, boring, and unpleasant days. Living on the streets is not something I'd recommend. But it happens. I didn't plan on ending up here, but, well, here I am. I try to make the most of it. Teaching my student how to use her computer is a very welcome break. I broke down and spent some money to see the new Spider-Man movie, which was great, and also a welcome change of pace. You take the little moments when they come. Someday I'd like to get out of this situation, but getting a job is hard enough - getting a job while homeless is much, much harder. Particularly in my field: computer geeks tend to be neat, dress nice, and have cars - things I don't. Hard to carry a week's worth of dress clothes in a backpack, along with anything else. But we'll see what happens.
So there you have it, my life on the streets. Other homeless people might have much different routines, this is just what works for me.
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