Thinking about becoming one of portlands homeless - need advice (homes, to buy)

[alexxiz]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

You mentioned that any average cat or dog (or mouse) can "manage these affairs" without using much logic. Not entirely what you were referencing there, but most homeless dogs and cats don't live long and usually come to pretty terrible ends.

To the OP...you want out of where you live, that's understandable, but there are better ways to do this. Look up coolworks.com on the internet and apply for resort jobs; there are plenty of them in retail. Most of them offer employee housing. That will give you a chance to get some money saved that you can move somewhere without having to live on the streets. Best of luck to you.

Not really.... most of "homeless" animals are just fine. And wild animals, they just live like this all their life--humans can be wild too.
We all meet terrible ends, really, and dying hooked up on a bunch of tubes in a hospital or lingering away in a nursing home--I consider this much worse than most things that happen to animals--Not any different from "homeless" animals (animals can't be homeless, they're animals and can take care of themselves).
All things live shorter in the wild...this is just the way it rolls--doesn't make it worse, versus existence in the cage. A circus or zoo tiger lives 15 years longer than a tiger in the wild... is it worth it?

[alexxiz]

Originally Posted by PinkString

A place cannot make you unhappy. It's a state of mind. Good luck whatever you decide to do Resident14.

Oh yea it can.... you never lived in Central Virginia probably

[SyraBrian]

The OP should save up enough money for a three week "working vacation". That will give him the chance to look for work for a week and a half and another week and a half to vacation when he realizes he doesn't have any way to prolong the adventure. That's the advantage of a round trip ticket.

The OP could then consider the first trip a "reconnaissance mission" to a more thoughtfully planned out second trip.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by alexxiz

Not really.... most of "homeless" animals are just fine. And wild animals, they just live like this all their life--humans can be wild too.
We all meet terrible ends, really, and dying hooked up on a bunch of tubes in a hospital or lingering away in a nursing home--I consider this much worse than most things that happen to animals--Not any different from "homeless" animals (animals can't be homeless, they're animals and can take care of themselves).
All things live shorter in the wild...this is just the way it rolls--doesn't make it worse, versus existence in the cage. A circus or zoo tiger lives 15 years longer than a tiger in the wild... is it worth it?

No, they are not. And my comments were specific to domestic animals, which can rarely survive in the "wild". I suppose there any many who share your sentiments though, which would account for the numbers of them dumped in the "wild" when they become an inconvenience.

As far as wild animals, I've spent most of my life in Alaska and realize that there is quite a difference between a wild animal and a young man who decides to go "into the wild"--despite Hollywood's glorification of such. And by the way, your statement about animals living longer in captivity isn't entirely the truth either--some species live significantly shorter lives in captivity.

I suppose it's easy enough to romanticize urban street living by comparing it to a wild animal in it's natural state.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Here's a story (it happened two years ago) relating to the "romantic" side of street living.

I have a nephew who was the "problem child" of his immediate family.

No real ambition, refusal to accept any kind of authority, thought he knew everything about anything, and was bouncing around the country mooching off of realtives until they got wise to him and tossed him out.

He ended up in Astoria living with his aunt, who he thought was a pushover, but in reality was not.
She kicked him out, and lo and behold, he showed up on MY doorstep with an excellent sob story and full of promises.
After two weeks, WE kicked him out.

He ended up living on the streets of Portland, hanging out with a bunch of other homeless youths.

One night about 1100pm, I was settling down to watch the news and I got a phone call.
The caller ID said it was OHSU, and my immediate thought was that one of my elderly relatives had some kind of emergency.
I picked up the phone, and Sergeant "Freindly" of the PPB introduced himself.
He went on to tell me that my nephew was in the hospital, the victim of a severe beating.

It turns out that my nephew had smiled at the girlfriend of the leader of the "gang" of street kids he was hanging out with.
She in turn wanted to cause some drama and jealousy with her boyfreind and told him my nephew had "flirted" with her.

He was beat up pretty severely for this, and told to get out of town, "or else".
Sgt Freindly (not his real name) told me that I had better get my nephew off the streets pretty dam quick or he would be dead by weeks end.

I ended up buying him a bus ticket to his home town, picked him up at the hospital and took him to the bus station, and haven't heard from him since.

So if becoming voluntarily homeless to live a life of "adventure" and "freedom" is your bag, be aware that things like this will most likely be on the top of your memories while you remember "the best days" of your life (which will probably end up being pretty short).

[resident14]

Thanks for all the responses. I came up with this idea because for some reason I have a strong desire to want to live on my own and feel "free". I am an adult but have never felt the freedom of living on your own somewhere, free from everyone you know, a new experience, a new life. I'm tired of being supported by someone I want the satisfaction of supporting myself. I feel like i'm trapped in a ditch that I cannot escape from, possibly ever. I feel like my life will never improve from the poor condition it is in. Life is too hard...

[ramedud]

Originally Posted by SyraBrian

The OP should save up enough money for a three week "working vacation". That will give him the chance to look for work for a week and a half and another week and a half to vacation when he realizes he doesn't have any way to prolong the adventure. That's the advantage of a round trip ticket.

The OP could then consider the first trip a "reconnaissance mission" to a more thoughtfully planned out second trip.

This is exactly what I was planning on doing this summer. Great post.

Originally Posted by resident14

Thanks for all the responses. I came up with this idea because for some reason I have a strong desire to want to live on my own and feel "free". I am an adult but have never felt the freedom of living on your own somewhere, free from everyone you know, a new experience, a new life. I'm tired of being supported by someone I want the satisfaction of supporting myself. I feel like i'm trapped in a ditch that I cannot escape from, possibly ever. I feel like my life will never improve from the poor condition it is in. Life is too hard...

Life isn't so bad. Just remember it could be a lot worse.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by resident14

Thanks for all the responses. I came up with this idea because for some reason I have a strong desire to want to live on my own and feel "free". I am an adult but have never felt the freedom of living on your own somewhere, free from everyone you know, a new experience, a new life. I'm tired of being supported by someone I want the satisfaction of supporting myself. I feel like i'm trapped in a ditch that I cannot escape from, possibly ever. I feel like my life will never improve from the poor condition it is in. Life is too hard...

You've had a lot of big losses lately. This is NOT the time to be making drastic, life changing decisions. Get some free counseling, to help give you some direction out of the funk you have found yourself in. You are too young to be saying life is too hard, though it may seem that way to you right now. Go to Virginia for a while. It's not forever. Stay with your family, find a job, do counseling, get involved with some volunteer work or a class that you're interested in... you can open up your life quite a bit to new interests and possibilities while keeping your feet on the ground. THEN, when you have some money saved up and a logical plan, look for a new place to make your own.

[alexxiz]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

No, they are not. And my comments were specific to domestic animals, which can rarely survive in the "wild". I suppose there any many who share your sentiments though, which would account for the numbers of them dumped in the "wild" when they become an inconvenience.

As far as wild animals, I've spent most of my life in Alaska and realize that there is quite a difference between a wild animal and a young man who decides to go "into the wild"--despite Hollywood's glorification of such. And by the way, your statement about animals living longer in captivity isn't entirely the truth either--some species live significantly shorter lives in captivity.

I suppose it's easy enough to romanticize urban street living by comparing it to a wild animal in it's natural state.

Most domestic animals are well equipped to survive in the wild, unless they're put in a climate zone contrary to their physiology (like a tropical parrot in NYC--Anyway, my parrot that escaped (to be free) in extreme Northern climate zone survived, and ended up being captured by someone months later. My cat that got lost, not only survived by turned into quite a beast by living off mouse hunting. I fed it very well, but it was failing to gain muscle in captivity.) It's a joke what most westerners feed to their "pets"--it is horrible corn- and soy-based GMO pseudo-food. No wonder Western pets are mostly fat and lifeless. Cat needs to hunt mice and eat their fresh meet. Dogs need meat too. Dogs are very good at survival, just like cats. Even a parrot deserves to fly under the sky, not under living room ceiling... Where I'm from, myself, half of the "pets" species lived on the streets, as people didn't call animal control on stray animals. Once in a while, one can come accross completely regressed cats, who live off hunting, but stick close to the cities to find sources of warmth... these are usually strong and got muscle on them. Animals are subject to natural selection, of course--but it's only natural... if you take it away, you get a non-viable population. I think people shouldn't breed non-viable breeds, that have to depend on humans, this is kind of cruel.

Well, Alex Supertramp died a happy person, according to his diary... this can't be said of most people dying in "civilized" conditions. If fact after seeing quite a bit of that I hope I go fast, would rather fall rock climbing than wait for that "dignified" ending.

[Metlakatla]

Perhaps you missed this part.

"S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out. I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless.

He weighed 67 pounds when he died.

Despite your subjective experiences with your animals getting away from you and fending on their own for a time, domestic animals are not equipped to live in the wild, and whether you think that certain types should be bred or not is quite beside the point. Just ask anyone who actually lives in a rural setting how many of the animal that are dumped in such settings survive for very long.

Back to the OP instead of this silliness...seriously, get yourself a job at a resort or some such where they provide you with a place to stay while you work. Those jobs are out there and they aren't so hard to get---you have no children or family obligations. Look up the Coolworks site I mentioned earlier and start bombing out apps. Something will come along for you.