Looking for Work and Community Resources
Key topics
I got badly hurt a couple years ago when I fell 20 feet directly onto a 3 inch PVC pipe and got impaled. I was stuck in bed for 6 months, lost my job of 8 years and my wife of 12 years. I gave up the house to my spouse in the divorce, and moved into a van which was pretty quickly and unceremoniously stolen from me at gunpoint. I've been living outside on the street for the past nearly 2 years after 16 years working 9-5 as a developer and I'm really dreading the upcoming winter.
It's a cold and rainy fall, but I still spend my days in the library coding. I've managed to hang onto a laptop for over a year, but by now I don't even have a change of socks let alone a change of clothes. Recently I made a cool puzzle game <https://geonot.github.io/korokoro> and a font <https://geonot.github.io/retrocide-mono>. I'm adept with most programming languages and paradigms, and while I spent most of my career in DevOps, I'm also a cybersecurity expert with a Defcon Black Badge in CTF, a low-level systems developer with hardware experience and a competent full-stack web developer.
I've worked in all sorts of environments from bringing fledgling startups through IPO or multi-billion buyout to long tenures as a Principal Engineer at Oracle and most recently as an AI DevOps Engineer at NVIDIA.
I'm looking for any sort of remote contract work or gig - if you have any app ideas that you haven't found the time to code up, small business websites needing development or modernization, or APIs that need integrating, I'd love to help for the low.
I'm also looking for any sort of help or resources in the pacific northwest, be it housing, food, clothing, anything, I would greatly appreciate any advice or help. I spent a lot of time and a good amount of my salary helping people in need when I was fortunate enough to have disposable income, and now I'm the one in need.
Despite my situation, I'm easy to communicate with and still extremely productive technically. I'm not looking for anything unreasonable in terms of compensation, so hopefully getting a principal engineer / architect for a few bucks an hour is compelling enough to someone on here that needs some technical work done.
Thanks for reading, I appreciate your time and wisdom! I've been reading HN every day for 15 years, and I've gotten an immense amount of knowledge and inspiration here, so thanks a lot.
digiphilo at gmail dot com
A developer shares their story of falling into homelessness after a severe injury and job loss, seeking remote work and community resources, with the community offering support and suggestions.
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- 01Story posted
Oct 13, 2025 at 5:55 AM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Oct 13, 2025 at 6:30 AM EDT
35m after posting
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Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Oct 13, 2025 at 10:33 PM EDT
3 months ago
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