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radduser wrote

Advice on how to get a place to live in USA for less than $500/month?

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OdiousOutlaw OP wrote

I'm a college dropout in my early 20's living in a garage and have been lucky enough to have a parent willing to put up with me if I make myself useful around the house.

I'd also like to know, so I can't really help you there. Sorry.

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[deleted] wrote

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OdiousOutlaw OP wrote

Uni was hell for many reasons:

I was forced to wade through crowds of people every day, even on my days off. An unprecedented occurrence for an autistic shut-in, that only added to the stress of everything else. Even the act of eating came with a set of social niceties and obligations because I had no way of getting food outside of the cafeteria.

Going from having your own room to sharing a sleeping space with a total stranger is a shitty experience; I probably would have dealt with it better if I had a place to shut myself away from the rest of the world, but that option is reserved for those willing to spend more money for more expensive housing. There was a definite caste system there, the more expensive housing options were glaringly nicer and more convenient. I know because had to spend one of my mandatory summer semesters in the nicer building.

Food options were bare; nothing was open on the weekends until 11 AM. Poptarts and water for breakfast. Lotta fast food, but that costs money, which I had no real way of making since I didn't have a car. I had to rely on sparse visits from family to get some groceries on the occasions where I just couldn't get anything from the cafe; my meal plan didn't get me 3 meals every day of the week.

Didn't jive with my curriculum. College-level physics was hard; every other class in my last year gave out too much work for me to reasonably handle that mental state. I've had more anxiety-driven nervous breakdowns than I had ever felt before. I failed on of my courses in the previous semester because it was only graded on two tests; no homework or anything. I've never failed a class before, and I hated that course too much to attend it again.

I'm used to forming close bonds with a small amount of people; My college friendships were few and far between, and very shallow. I've tried several on-campus activities to try and meet people, but they never stuck; it was all hollow. Closest thing I had was my frog and this website. Couldn't even keep in contact with family members, I was either too busy or they were.

Everything was so goddamn expensive. Books, food, equipment, moving in-and-out at the end of every year. Wildly impractical. I've had to ask my parents for money because my grants and loans didn't actually pay for my tuition, books, or website subscriptions to do online homework.

The culture surrounding engineering was shit. The rest of campus, too. I've talked to people who enthusiastically told me that they wanted to join the intelligence community, I walked through an anti-abortion rally, and have seen Christian fundies harp on their soapbox to the jeers of the people giving those dipshits attention. And the petitions! Jesus Christ, the petitions! I had to resign myself to just signing them because I just too tired and overwhelmed to say no.

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DeletedButArchived wrote

STL it's fairly easy to find an apartment less than 600. Get a roommate and rent is 300. I'm sure there are a couple smaller urban areas in the Midwest this could work for.

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moonlune wrote

what's your favorite vegetable?

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OdiousOutlaw OP wrote

Depends. On it's own, broccoli. As a kid it always weirded me out that kids in cartoons thought that it was gross. Just needs to be seasoned properly, though the same could be said of most vegetables.

Onions are my favorite thing to add to something, but I'd never eat just an onion.

Least favorite? Collard greens.

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metocin wrote

I always felt the same way about broccoli! You see the same thing happen with brussel sprouts, which are also delicious.

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snack wrote

Yes! Spinach too! Cartoon-kids seemed to hate it, but I always thought it was delicious. Come to think of it I never met any RL kids who didn't like spinach. and i mean what's not to like - a green mushy muddy paste that makes a mess. sounds like ideal kids food to me.

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metocin wrote

Fuck yeah I love spinach. I like my food like I like my politics... dark green!

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ziq wrote

Onions are my favorite thing

You are now my enemy.

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Tequilx_Wolf wrote

What did you have to do to become a Captain?

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OdiousOutlaw OP wrote

I simply said I was one when I changed my username and it happened.

I've never read Moby Dick and only know who Captain Ahab was because of pop culture osmosis and the pun was simply better than ChaosBomb.

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Tequilx_Wolf wrote

I simply said I was one

Effective. In my case I was born a Tequila Wolf. You can probably guess what each of my parents are.

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Tequilx_Wolf wrote

What's your idea of a good weekend?

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OdiousOutlaw OP wrote

Same as my idea of a good day in general:

Spend the day doing what you want with whoever you want with no regard for "time". Don't worry about whether or not you're "wasting time" or what obligations you have for tomorrow, next week, etc.

It's rare; as a kid I was excessively anxious about school and/or homework. Even now, I'm concerned about how I use my time.

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Tequilx_Wolf wrote

I often find myself thinking of time as my main enemy. I'm constantly having to manage it, falling short of commitments, overstacking it, trying to maximise. Because of my need to have as full an adventure with this life as possible. I don't know what the best thing to do is.

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OdiousOutlaw OP wrote

Children are groomed into waking up around 6 AM to go to school until 2 or 3 PM (or later if you're forced into one of those godawful afterschool programs).

By the time your parents stop telling you when to go to bed, you're setting your own bedtimes and people are calling you "responsible" for it.

The fact that being able to sleep whenever you want for as long as you want sounds like a fantasy for anyone without a grotesque amount of wealth is depressing.

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Tequilx_Wolf wrote

Yeah, today I was strategising finding a way to try siestas so that I can actually get shit done after 4pm and basically turn my day into two days. I've spent the hours since like 3pm today just exhausted and really wanting to work on some cool shit I've been invited to participate in. It's annoying.

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mofongo wrote

I miss having siestas, it was awesome having additional energy in the afternoon when I got home. I could actually do stuff, like chores or entertain myself.

After the promotion, my work day is less demanding but both needed more and in a more visible space, which make me very self-concious of taking a nap on the clock.

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