| Before I try to offer some advice... This is the dark side of the startup dream that is endlessly pushed on all the VC blogs and tech sites and boards like this that I frequent. Anyway, with that said, I think you really just need to stabilize your situation. You (obviously) need to find a job, any job, whether it is temping, stacking books in the local library, retail, anything. Diminish your credentials if need be. You sound like an intelligent guy, you can probably think of ways to make yourself at least temporarily appealing to jobs that are objectively below you. I am very sympathetic with your parent situation. You are lucky at least that they are old enough to be drawing SS and Medicare. It sounds like you are in a low-cost area and so that should be enough to at least support them at a minimum American subsistence level. With consistent checks coming in and government-supported health care, it would be hard for them to royally screw themselves permanently in the financial sense. And unless they are wealthy, it does not sound like they really need estate planning, and you can try to help with day to day care but you cannot let it consume you. I echo everything everyone has said about community and inspiration. Sites like News.YC provide all the inspiration I need - I have actually found the hackers and founders type meetups I have been to to be quite underwhelming compared to what I read and the people I interact with online. I hope for the best for you. |