Homelessness

[draconomial]

Ask a homeless gamer anything.

[Karoht]

Ask a homeless gamer anything.
41 views and no one has asked anything. Odd.

Okay, I'll bite. Anything you say?
1-What games are you playing lately?
2-Where do you play?
3-Are you wanting to talk about homelessness itself, or is that off the table? Asking because I don't want to offend or stir things up.

[SiuiS]

Well, yeah. It looks like a discussion but it's kinda not? That tends to get looks but no talkie. I've been homeless. There's... Not much to ask about it, really.

That said, how ya holding up, Draconomial? Does gaming help with your day at all?

[Karoht]

I worked at a bank for a few years. I learned an aweful lot about poverty and the homeless through direct experience and my own research encouraged by others. I also learned quite a bit about the support programs available here in Canada, though that might not be of much help to you. But no matter what, the offer of my help is open to you. Feel free to PM me if you need to.

That said, I hope you have a game store around that does some kind of open events for you to go and hang out and play and enjoy. No matter what, everyone deserves fun, and it is important to remain social if you can. Most game stores have open boxes and store copies of books for play purposes.

Back when another game store was open here in Calgary, there was a fellow whom we jokingly said 'practically lived at the store' because he was there every day. Turns out he was in fact homeless until the store owner gave him a job and helped him find a place. Not sure what happened to him after that, as the store closed down around 3-4 years ago now.

[draconomial]

D&D 3.5 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, as well as pbp games. I was playing Planetary Annihilation last night, and some ranked League of Legends.

I play on campus during the day, there's a huge group of gamers that hangs out in the cafeteria. At night I'll hunker down behind a starbucks for their wifi. It's better to stay up through the night and sleep during the day than get caught sleeping outside at night by police.

I'm pretty cool with talking about everything. I'm pretty over being ashamed of my past, I've got no secrets.

Gaming helps so much. It gets my mind off myself, and thinking about friends or fictional characters instead. As for how I'm holding up, I'm pretty overwhelmed.

[Karoht]

The lack of shame is important. Society is so willing to shame people for being unemployed or homeless, it's honestly quite sickening to me. Remain unshameful friend.

How can we help? Straight up, how can we help?

Questions for you:
1-Have you talked to campus services?
2-Are you still in classes? Are you working? Are you trying/forced to do both and burning yourself out?

[draconomial]

Last time I talked to campus counselors I was still under 18, so they couldn't do anything for me, but they didn't have anything for me even if I wasn't.

GPA got ruined last semester when I was forced to miss my finals, so I couldn't take as many classes as I wanted this semester. Finals are almost here, I'm super anxious. Normal student stuff.

I've been jobhunting for over a year now, for something stable, with actual hours, with no success. Lots of interviews, but I've got a bad image. So I make money fixing iPhones and laptops, business comes by word of mouth. I've been trying to make money on Mechanical Turk, but transcribing audio is mind numbing work. Good thing I don't have to pay for food.

[Serpentine]

Where do you live, and would you take a room if someone here offered it?

[draconomial]

Of course, and I do when transportation to school isn't an issue. Transportation is my main struggle. I have a car stored at a friend's, which was a gift. But I can't drive it as I've never gotten my license and I can't afford insurance.

Tonight I'm at a friend's house, while her parents are out of state, and we're studying for our final tomorrow. Studying and setting up minis for Wednesday's game. It's nice being warm at night, and having a kitchen to cook in.

[SiuiS]

Overwhelmed seems to be the state of things in our part of the world.

I would actually suggest a razor-style scooter of all things for transport! Easier to get, maintain and transport than a bike, almost as effective. It is amazing how much a set of wheels simplifies motion.

[Solse]

Firstly, I would like to say that I'm sorry for your situation. As somebody with a home, it's hard to imagine being where you are. I hope that you find a way to get a permanent place of residence soon, even if it's a little apartment.

Here are my questions:
1) What do you do with the time that you're not repairing electronics?
2) Not to be intrusive, but what about your past has led to your current situation?

[draconomial]

When I'm not working or gaming with friends, I'm either playing Dwarf Fortress or adding entries to dndtools.eu. Jobhunting, more like jobbrowsing.

I split up with my family back in August, last year. I left to get away from drama and spiteful sabotage, and I've been a lot happier since. I know that they were homeless for a while as well, but I have no idea where they are now. I'd rather not know, though I could check preyproject.com if I wanted to. After I left, I had to buy clothes and gaming stuff for myself, as I didn't get to keep most of 'my' old stuff. T'was fair.

I've had a few bikes. All three of which were stolen. One of them I had motorized, it went over 35 mph.

What I really need right now is work. And it's hard to get work when you don't have a place or car.

[scurv]

My sister is diagnosed (2 or 3 times now) with NPD, I lived in a tent in a camp ground for 2 years to avoid her so I feel you. I was employed for most all of that time though. But she had a track record of harassment that blows past the lines of believability.

Just keep your sources of income, Keep bettering yourself and things should look up after a while. And something i discovered the hard way that might be of use. Look around at the elderly crowd, I ended up renting living space in an RV for 6 month in exchange for driving this nice lady to and from the store a few times a week. People who get in their 50's and 60's sometimes will be very willing to barter for that spare room of theirs just to have some companionship in the house.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Have you ever done any of those websites that pay you for doing surveys, like Mechanical Turk? I don't know if they are worth the time and you might need a mailing address in order to redeem your compensation.

[draconomial]

I've been trying to make money on Mechanical Turk, but transcribing audio is mind numbing work. Good thing I don't have to pay for food.

I'm familiar with it, yes. The problem is that very often you're getting paid $30 for five hours of work, or you finish the job and turn it in only to find that you've gone over the time limit and you're not going to get paid for the work you did. There are jobs that pay individual pennies.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Oops, I totally missed that - sorry! Anyway thank you for answering my question; the piece that NPR did on Mechanical Turk didn't mention the frustrating possibility of doing all the work and then finding I've missed the deadline.

[dehro]

what do you mean by "I have a bad image" and is it something you can work on/fix?

also, thanks for the dndtools entries.. I'm using it extensively in my gaming.

[draconomial]

Nope, I'm just black and ugly. I've gotten compliments from Cher and Ellen Degeneres on my afro though, I take care of my hair.

[Knaight]

I've been jobhunting for over a year now, for something stable, with actual hours, with no success. Lots of interviews, but I've got a bad image. So I make money fixing iPhones and laptops, business comes by word of mouth. I've been trying to make money on Mechanical Turk, but transcribing audio is mind numbing work. Good thing I don't have to pay for food.


It's better to stay up through the night and sleep during the day than get caught sleeping outside at night by police.

How much of the job hunting trouble do you think comes fromthe hours you have to keep by virtue of de-facto criminalization of homelessness?

[draconomial]

How much of the job hunting trouble do you think comes from the hours you have to keep by virtue of de-facto criminalization of homelessness?
Little, if any. The police don't bug me unless I'm trespassing. I constantly elude campus security in a hilarious fashion. And when I come to a place on an digital application where me being homeless would come up, I lie. I use a friend's address, who brings mail to me at school. I feel fine asking a friend to help me prepare for an interview at their house.
In the area I'm in, what's necessary to find a job are either luck, or connections. I have neither. A home address isn't necessary, nor is a family or even a green card.

[Vizzerdrix]

Okay, I'll toss out a few questions.

What part of the world are you in?

Ya want some of us to see what we can dig up on line for ya? (pertains to the first question)

Why is Shadowrun for the genesis so darn hard to find?

If you was a color, what would you sound like?

Hippo or Kahn?

Who shot first?

Can you confirm Mechanical Imp as a secret character in Final Fantasy 3?

Validate the Easter bunny in six words or less.

Will I have more questions later?

[draconomial]

What part of the world are you in?
Ventura County, mostly. Sometimes Los Angeles County.

Ya want some of us to see what we can dig up on line for ya? (pertains to the first question)
I'd like to see that, whatever it might be.


Why is Shadowrun for the genesis so darn hard to find?
In December 1991, Ukraine, Byelorussia, and Russia itself declared independence and the Soviet Union was dissolved. In response to the anticipation of rapid growth, the former soviets bought as many copies of Shadowrun for Genesis in 1994.


If you was a color, what would you sound like?
Sound along a 1/fβ spectrum, where β > 2


Hippo or Kahn?
KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN

Who shot first?
In the words of Harrison Ford, "I don't know and I don't care.

Can you confirm Mechanical Imp as a secret character in Final Fantasy 3?
I would, but I can't.
Validate the Easter bunny in six words or less.He's had T.V shows.

Will I have more questions later?
Ah, there's the rub.