Mac Genius by Day, Homeless by Night.

Posted by Alex in Everything Else on February 20, 2007 at 1:06 pm


Andy Bussel is a university student who works Mac Genius at the Apple Store. He is also homeless by choice:

"Even though I had a good job, I was tired of living paycheck to paycheck and not making any headway with my credit cards," he said. "I’ve learned that I can push myself, break down my own boundaries. I’ve been able to learn that I can change and adapt to different kinds of situations."

The odyssey began in 2005. Bussell was working full time as a "Mac genius" at the Apple Store in Newport Beach, sharing a $1,600-per-month apartment in Aliso Viejo. He had racked up more than $10,000 in credit card debt and was struggling to pay for school and save money for a three-month road trip. So on July 29, 2005, he started living in his truck, with the goal of lasting one year.

Co-workers created a pool on how long the truck life would last, with the longest prediction three months.

"I’ve beat that," he said. "Once you find a routine, it’s actually really easy."

LA Times has the story: Link [subscription required] (Image: Don Kelsen /LAT)


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COMMENT

6 comments to "Mac Genius by Day, Homeless by Night."

  1. travis
    February 20th, 2007 at 7:08 pm

    so where does he shower?

  2. b0b
    February 20th, 2007 at 7:14 pm

    Uh, at the gym on campus. It said so in the article.

    I don’t know why this guy is getting any press at all. It’s now “cool” to pretend that you’re “homeless?”

  3. Allen
    February 20th, 2007 at 7:22 pm

    Yeah, he bought himself a $100 pillow, new mattress, and has a new camper shell and a fairly new truck.

    he’s just trying to use the blogosphere to get himself into the media and capitalize on everything.

    Yeah. Meh. This isn’t really neat.

  4. Geekazoid
    February 20th, 2007 at 7:22 pm

    The thing is, he first started doing it out of practicality I guess, or to save money or something, but he got so used to it, it became habit.

    But yea I was kind of thrown off by the article’s title, that he’s “homeless.” I don’t think he’s homeless in the “truest” sense of the word, not having a job, a paycheck, etc. etc. How many truly homeless people go to school, work, and go to the gym AND have a vehicle to drive?

    Apparently he’s going to be homeless for a few weeks or so after he finishes school, so yes it’s ‘cool’ to experience it.

  5. R
    February 20th, 2007 at 8:58 pm

    Here comes the public sympathy and donations in 3, 2, 1..

    Yeah, I have to agree with others. This story is lame. This guy is lame. He’s an attention whore. Must be a slow news day at the LA Times.

    This is classic.. “I’ve learned that I could set my mind to something and do it”. But the story also says, “He graduated two years early from high school yet has spent a decade in college, switching majors several times.” So.. why do we care about this guy again?

  6. JB
    April 7th, 2007 at 9:53 am

    What? This guy is a awesome! You guys must not actually pay rent. If he can happily maintain his life living in the back of his pickup truck, he IS a fricken genius. I don’t live in the land of fruit and nuts where the only thing higher than the cost of living is the populous, and I still feed $1200 a month that I’m never going to see again to a rent monster. If we say this kid was dumping $800 a month into rent, that’s almost ten grand a year, plus utilities. There’s no way he’s making more than $25 a year, so even if it COST him $1000 to set up his truck for his “homelessness,” he’s still freed up 40% of his total income. I suppose it’s better to blow that money on rent because you all think he should.

    Oh, and let’s not douche about with the word homeless. It means one thing: HOME (meaning a domicile,) and LESS (meaning without.) Usually when we hear the word “Homeless” we assume it means “homeless and destitute,” like your garden-variety panhandler. It was also a label that was probably applied by the LA Times, and if there’s anything true about the press, it’s that they take something that happened and MAKE news out of it. If that means embellishing something to make it seem more or less than it is, they do it. Just like the witch-hunt for W’s head, this is one more thing that the rampant a$$holes in the media blow out of proportion for a reaction from you guys (read: the mindless masses.) It’s really too bad that some bottom feeding reporter turned this guy’s ingenious (though incredibly odd) way of saving money in a state where living expenses are out of control into a public interest story portraying him as a little disenfranchised and crazy.


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