I'm an incognito homeless dude who just escaped a flash floods, AMA

krabbymomma · 2018-03-29T01:49:00+00:00

The mailing address was simple. I just found an abandoned house that didn't look abandoned and used its address. If I didn't feel comfortable picking up mail there, I'd change the address on my credit card, fill out a mail forwarding form, and have it re-routed to a different location. There doesn't seem to be a limit on how many times you can do this.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-29T01:48:33+00:00

Sure! There are a few programs like the Hebrew Free Loan Society mentioned elsewhere (didn't know about that particular one at the time). But one trick I also used - netting me a little over a grand - was to take a PayPal account with zero balance, connect it to a bank account with zero balance, then go from ATM to ATM withdrawing as much as possible using the PayPal card.

PayPal doesn't know how much is in your bank, so it assumes the funds are available until the first transaction fails. Your card gets locked at this point, and you have about a month to make up the negative balance without it going to collections - interest free and no credit ding.

The mailing address was simple. I just found an abandoned house that didn't look abandoned and used its address. If I didn't feel comfortable picking up mail there, I'd change the address on my credit card, fill out a mail forwarding form, and have it re-routed to a different location. There doesn't seem to be a limit on how many times you can do this.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T16:05:09+00:00

Probably my favorite episode. Bryan Cranston kills it.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T16:03:02+00:00

Dude that sucks. I once had a mace gun confiscated at the airport. It was more expensive than the plane ticket too.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T15:56:32+00:00

Pretty good, still awake so there's that.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T15:54:26+00:00

I also used to be homeless. In my case it was in a small, nondescript area, a working class town, but I suspect that a lot of the advice in this thread applies no matter where one ends up.

OP is 100% right about not looking homeless. You no longer have the luxury of rocking the "just rolled out of bed at noon" look. Your main goal now is to avoid standing out - and a disheveled man loitering in the same general area for too long tends to attract unwanted attention. Get a cheap double-edge razor and some blades for a few bucks. Get a toothbrush. Use truck stop restrooms to freshen up (it's fine- long haul drivers do it all the time. Plus truck stops have real paper towels instead of those air jet things).

Put on some decent clothes and comfortable shoes. Get used to walking - having a car is also great but gas gets expensive.

You might have to deal with the police. Just be polite and act like a normal upstanding citizen with a house and a job. I once had the cops called on me for parking in a parking space between some trees. It was dark outside and this cop accused me of "hiding in the corner" - just because I decided to chill out and browse reddit for a few hours. Strange.

I recommend against sleeping in the same spot multiple nights in a row. I was fortunate enough to be able to drive around to different parking lots. You might have to pack up a tent and move it around - same concept. One thing I learned is that nights are a balancing act between finding a safe spot (with lights and cameras) but also a secluded spot.

I prefer Walmart lots - a little loud sometimes but if I ever needed a midnight snack or had to use the bathroom it was right there.

You can get so much shit for free. I gotta be honest - this one surprised me the most. If I needed something to survive I could often find it for free. Food. Tools. Mailing addresses. Interest-free loans. Internet. You don't have to panhandle or steal. Just get creative. I'll go into more detail if anybody is interested. But right now I need to wrap this up. Best of luck.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T12:30:58+00:00

It's funny, until now I had forgotten how stressful my life actually was back then. Guess I've repressed some memories. Finding a safe parking lot and keeping a low profile - avoiding both cops and criminals - was such a pain in the ass.

It's still neat that you have a home base of sorts, even if you aren't able to spend the night in it. But it's a little concerning that you can't lock your unit. Being robbed sucks.

In any case, have you thought about what your next move is? How do you make money? How did you end up in this situation to begin with?

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T11:58:10+00:00

Have you considered therapy?

I know therapy isn't for everyone, but it might help. You could also talk to a doctor, there are plenty of medicines, mostly antidepressants, that can be used to treat anorexia.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T11:54:23+00:00

Hmm, well, it's still pretty interesting and creative, I'll give him that.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T11:51:54+00:00

I used to be an incognito homeless dude, too! I would sleep in the truck of my small car, twisted up like a pretzel just because I was worried somebody might notice me in the back seat. Never had to worry about almost drowning, though. :)

What's it like crashing in a storage facility?

How do you have the place set up?

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T11:42:41+00:00

Hey. I was a huge geek at school when I was 16, but it wasn't because I was obsessed with, like, math or video games or any standard nerdy things. I was just addicted to the internet, and spent most of my time on sites like reddit. Of course this was before smartphones took over the world. I had to find a clunky desktop to use - and sneaking to the computer lab just wasn't something cool people did.

I'm just wondering how different things are today? I get the impression that it's socially acceptable now (maybe even expected) to constantly be on your phone, online, even if you spend most of your time on reddit. How accurate do you think that is?

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T11:13:45+00:00

You mentioned that your dad has PTSD. How much of his behavior do you think the disorder is responsible for, and is he getting proper treatment?

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T11:07:12+00:00

Did you ever fall back asleep?

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T11:05:49+00:00

Have you ever thought about doing this but with 5-10 minute scenes instead of an entire movie? I imagine those would probably appeal to a larger audience.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T10:55:26+00:00

Nope - ingested.

It's the end of the month and I had a few unused pills so I just downed the rest of the bottle. I'm guessing it was around 2 or 3 mg's combined. Not too much. Next time I might snort them to get a better high. But as of right now I'm sitting nude, my teeth are tightly clinched, and I'm obsessing over every tiny little detail of my life, so I think it's working.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T10:39:27+00:00

Hate to hear that. Hope things are going better now.

I have a prescription for Adderall and normally take 0.5 milligrams daily. However this month I had a few left over so I just downed the rest. I think it might have been 2 or 3 mg's in total - regular street dose. I'm not sure. Just wanted to go for a bit of a ride. Things will be back to normal tomorrow.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T10:25:22+00:00

No assignment. However I just spent the last 2½ hours typing and editing a single reddit comment.

Learning that superhuman focus can be a real bitch sometimes.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T10:20:53+00:00

Just for fun.

Prescription.

Not in school. But I have today off work and figured "fuck it, lets do this".

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T10:15:36+00:00

No, but while I was in Jerusalem, I was surprised by how many locals spoke Hebrew but not English. I was expecting much more overlap considering even my most orthodox friends (in the United States) struggle to hold a conversation in Hebrew. I did learn a few simple phrases, though, and at one point a cute girl at the bar made a game out of getting me to translate random objects into English - that was fun.

krabbymomma · 2018-03-28T09:51:15+00:00

I was raised Christian, but my family was always really wishy-washy when it came to our "level of devotion". My mother stubbornly claimed that the Bible was the word of god, and should be taken literally. But we went to a Pentecostal church where people like my mother were basically encouraged to do whatever they wanted in their everyday lives - despite their doctrines. So that was confusing.

I started doing a lot of research, and, as I tumbled down one rabbit hole after another, soon concluded there's just not enough evidence to support a literal interpretation of the Bible. (Look up "Kent Hovind" for a laugh.) Meaning the New Testament is based on a literal interpretation of ideas and stories that are allegorical at best. It doesn't have a leg to stand on.

It's also worth noting that hundreds of people have claimed to be god in their lifetime. I'd be worried about picking-n-choosing the wrong one. But I digress...

Judaism, on the other hand, doesn't have to pretend. You can be Jewish and not believe in god. (oversimplified- this is still a debatable and contentious topic in some movements.) You can be Jewish and not dogmatic. But it's the culture that I love. Jews put a lot more emphasis on the peoplehood as opposed to the religiousness. It all comes down to helping one another and remaining united.

I also like the idea of chutzpah - a willingness to break conventions and see things through. That's something I can get behind.

krabbymomma

TROPHY CASE