[neilk]

Aside from the "move immediately" advice, I'd suggest getting your code out there in a more public way. This dramatically increases your chances of being hired, because it replaces the technical interview. You just have to prove that you're capable of dealing with other human beings, and most people can do that.

Do something -- anything -- to get your code out there. Even if it's the most obscure and idiosyncratic library, throw it on Github.

I got a ticket to the Valley on the strength of some decently interesting (but by no means amazing) open source code. And I'm not even American and have no CS education, so it was considerably more difficult for me than it will be for you.

Incidentally, my current employer, the Wikimedia Foundation, is very open to remote contractors. (I caution you that we tend to be a bit slow to hire.) If you want to continue to live in Michigan, you won't be unique in your isolation, because these organizations are basically run over the internet. And your salary will go much further if you don't have to deal with rent in SF. http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Jobs

Mozilla has similar advantages. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/about/careers.html

[helpmehn]

Can you tell me more about how you accomplished this?

[neilk]

I'm not sure I would call it an accomplishment. More like a happy accident, but in retrospect I should have been doing that sort of thing all the time.

Frustrated with my inability to find employment, I did a series of hacks which became really popular. One succeeded because I like hacks which produce pretty pictures and so do a million other blogs. Another involved AJAX, which was a hot buzzword at the time (2005), and that got attention from from employers, who started calling me out of the blue. Whereas a few months prior I'd washed out of an interview with a local website that did used car listings.

I was well-prepared for the mega-hyped trend that was AJAX and JavaScript (self-taught comp sci, graphic design, web experience), so I was lucky. I had to prove myself in other ways afterwards though. The point is, these days, having code out there that people can download and evaluate will at least get you through the front door.