There is work if you look for it
SBC was hiring people to promote their DSL at different shops. All the person needed to do was learn enough about DSL to talk to vendors into reselling it for SBC. Just go visit the shops, talk to owners, and managers, and get them to sell/resell SBC DSL. There was a consulting company doing the hiring. It should be an easy job for you if you can find the consulting company doing the hiring. Maybe SBC can give you more info on that?
Or check with the colleges, your Math and Science backgrounds can get you a job there. After all, you did get a paper published. Maybe you can be a Teacher's Assistant for Phsyics? No need to wear a suit, dockers and a polo shirt should be fine at a college. Maybe you can get free tuition and work on getting another degree? See if the college computer labs need help.
I have to explore options that are non-computer related. I have creativity, so I am looking into research for making jewelry, soap, candles, etc. I may be selling more to the female markets, but hey that is a whole other half of the population that I was not able to sell to before. If I can make enough money doing that, I can start up a computer business from it. Then I can focus on consumer and computer products and services for my business and sell both.
So please don't OD, there are plenty of options out there, you have to look really hard to find them. Don't give up, as I tried to do before. Trust me I have been down that road and I don't like to see someone else going down that road. Your choice, your decision, I cannot make that for you.
Follow the trends and see what you can do. For example while the code is written over seas, the requirements gathering, quality testing, documentation, configuration management/control, and training is still done in the good old USA. So just switch what you are doing in the computer market to something that they are still hiring for.
