The Office Hobo

All the different ways of solving the shelter problem. To be static or mobile? Roots, legs, or wheels?
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theanimal
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The Office Hobo

Post by theanimal »

Tired of paying rent, a man in L.A. lived in his office for 500 days, documenting his experience on his blog. He is now living in his car with a book supposedly coming out about his experience this fall. An interesting and fun read to say the least.

http://66.147.244.53/~theoffm2/

Riggerjack
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by Riggerjack »

Back in my cabling days, I worked a variety of shifts, depending on the needs of the customer with loads of overtime. So much, that people commented on it. My favorite was an IT manager who tried working a trade of some of my OT for rent. Others speculated that I had a hammock up above the tile ceiling.
there's usually enough space up there somewhere for a hammock etc. Just a thought for those thinking of going extreme!

fips
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by fips »

I acutally thought about turning this into a charitable project for some time.

I mean there are so many public and company buildings empty at night - why not use them for people who are in dire need for shelter?

There are lots of homeless people that don't have a dry and safe place to spend the night. Of course, most cities provide some kind of facilities, but often there is not enough of them, especially during winter. I am sure at every company there are people who like to work on social projects. Also, most companies themselves don't shy away from supporting charitable projects. I am wondering if
a) homeless people would take the offer (or is it stressful/dishonorable to impose strict time frames like 9pm to 7am?)
b) shareholders and directors can be convinced
c) it's possible to rally together enough coworkers and
d) access to the buildings, providing contact persons to the "guests" etc. can be organized

And if not for homeless people, why not allow (or change our mindset to accept) employees to spend the night? Of course there are many people who are happy to spend as less time at the work place as possible - but for those who don't care (because in the end it's like any other four walls / they spend most of their times outside anyways / they want to save money / the housing situation in the city is simply to difficult) it might be an interesting option. Besides, in other parts of the world, like the Philippines, this is reality as the commute is too long.

JL13
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by JL13 »

I think the increased costs of having prepared meals offsets the rent savings. He said he spends $600/month!

fips
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by fips »

Depending on the size of the office, many companies with > 50 employees do have an adequate kitchen in my experience.

The meals will probably not be as fancy as having your own well-equipped kitchen (though the Office Hobo is probably at the upper level on the "sophisticated meals scale" as as "firm believer in healthy eating"). But if one has access to a (part of a) fridge and a stove is available, one should be fine.

JL13
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by JL13 »

True. I am truly stunned at home many office sq feet remain empty at night while people drive to different cities to sleep. It's incredibly wasteful.

Blueglobo
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by Blueglobo »

Many homeless shelters have strict schedules, kicking people out in the AM so I don't think this would be much different in an office building. Showering facilities would be an issue for some workplaces. We recently had a broken water heater so I was scoping out alternative places to shower the whole family for free. Friends obviously were the first place, but did run through the mental exercise of where else to go that would be accessible. YMCA or other gym was the best option, although you have to get a day pass but some offer a free trial week.

fips
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by fips »

Blueglobo wrote:Many homeless shelters have strict schedules, kicking people out in the AM so I don't think this would be much different in an office building
Thanks, didn't know that. So it should work .. (but wait, what are those shelters used for during day time? :D)

When we say companies > 50 employees might generally have something comparable to a kitchen, maybe we could conclude that companies > 200 employees might have a shower and companies > 1.000 employees sometimes have their own fitness facilities (and consequently, I hope ;), showers). Showers might be easier to be found in industrial companies with production facilities. On the other hand, companies spend less and less money on luxury benefits for their employees such as fitness centres and rather offer discounts to local fitness clubs.

But generally, I think the objective facility requirements can be met, at least by some companies.
It's more a question of taking the initiative, convincing directors and rallying people for a good cause. I just added this project to my long-term list of ideas/to-do's ... ;-)

JamesR
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by JamesR »

I'm all of a sudden enamoured with the concept of dual-use housing & office space. Sounds like a fantastic idea to figure out how to completely share all the square feet between housing & office space, give 10 hours a day on weekdays over to office use, and otherwise it's regular housing. I'm not even talking about homeless housing at all.

There's so much wasted space around us. I don't need a bed until I'm sleeping in it. I don't need a bathroom unless I'm using it. I seriously think there's got to be a way to do _ultra_ high density housing without sacrificing safety or quality of life. Without resorting to holo-deck measures :P

fips
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by fips »

JamesR - now you are trapped as well ;)

Beware, from now on you will see all these big houses around you wondering how many people use it right now. Just look out of the window right now (if you don't live in the countryside). You might see residential houses, office buildings, public buildings .. now count how many people use it .. it's embarassing. I am wondering what the important factors are for people to occupy so much space.

Do they have hobbies that take up a lot of personal space?
Is it empire-building and bragging?
Is it clutter?
What's the space size that people need as "personal space" or to feel safe?

Sorry, don't want to hijack the thread .. if more people are interested, we could open a new one.

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Ego
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by Ego »

I've been poking around his website for the last few days. There are some great stories there. He made me think of others who are doing similar things to obtain free or subsidized lodging.

-Two British women owned a juice bar in Koh Samui, Thailand where they would kick everyone out at odd hours, move the tables aside and teach two or three yoga classes a day. At night they would shutter the door and sleep on the cafe bench seats. Since they both worked and the business only required one person to keep things running, it left them a lot of free time. The business also got them the coveted long-term visa.

-A few weeks ago we had to get fingerprinted for criminal background checks. Here in CA the fingerprinting for this type of thing is done by independent small businesses. The guy we went to was an Indian immigrant who had a tiny storefront in a nice area of town. He had cordoned off about 1/2 the shop for business. He lived behind the curtain.

-A nearby car wash allows a homeless guy to set up his tent at night under one of the bays in exchange for guarding the business.

fips
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by fips »

Interesting cases. There's a lot of interesting solutions for different situations.
It seems easier when you have your own business. Then you already have a place and it's more about using the limited space wisely.

Does he have a seperated section on living arrangements of other people?
They are probably somewhere in his diaries?

George the original one
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by George the original one »

Companies renting out stairwells so the homeless have a place to sleep is not a new idea (though I don't think it has been practiced). Pohl & Kornbluth mention it in one of their novels... Gladiator-at-Law? Or was it The Syndic?

theanimal
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by theanimal »

Fips- No separated space. Just on the floor near his cubicle.

I think I would be comfortable doing something like this if I owned my own business like in Ego's examples. If I was working for someone else though I'm not sure I'd want to do it. There's just something about spending most of my time in an office that doesn't sit well with me.

Andre900
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by Andre900 »

fips wrote:Depending on the size of the office, many companies with > 50 employees do have an adequate kitchen in my experience.
It sounds good, but there are probably some logistical problems like liability and insurance, the need to clean offices at night, safety, substance abuse, and theft. The homeless are not known for being particularly good house guests. A better idea might be to have all the non-profit churches open up their massive, open-space buildings at night for sleeping quarters for the homeless. Churches are granted special tax exemptions and I assume a main part of their mission is charity and to help the less fortunate.

Or what about using the large municipal parking garages. One other poster above mentioned something about allowing the use of stairwells in parking garages - well, the municipal parking garage that I use every day has actually fenced off the space below the stairwells to specifically prohibit the homeless from occupying that space.

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C40
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by C40 »

Wasn't there someone on this forum who had a journal describing converting an office space to both live and work in? And maybe someone who was sleeping in their office?(a grad student?)

llorona
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by llorona »

@Andre900: In San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood, St. Boniface Church allows homeless people to sleep during the day once they are booted out of overnight shelters. According to this article, it costs $150K per year to run the program: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/P ... php#page-1

If churches like St. Boniface allowed homeless people to sleep there at night, they would face the same issue as business offices offering overnight stays -- safety, theft, etc. Of course, churches could provide supervision, cleaning services, etc., but then they would need to protect themselves from liability, meet legal requirements, and generate funding to support these costs. Before you know it, they would be running a full-fledged nonprofit human services organization.

@C40: It was Generation-X, I think.

EMJ
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Re: The Office Hobo

Post by EMJ »

King Jim Wearable Futon Air Mat Set
Sleeping gear coat, bed for office

http://www.japantrendshop.com/king-jim- ... -2540.html

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