Thought I'd share a few survival tips for those who find the game pretty hard:
First off, you have about a half-hour to find yourself a decent weapon. I generally stick with blunt weapons such as pipes and two by fours. Keep An eye on the accuracy of the weapon, as a pipe can be better than a two by four simply by virtue of hitting the head more often. Also, if you'd really like to start with a dependable weapon, just start of by getting 6 skill in unarmed. You need some disadvantages for that, but you practically start off as a natural Muay Thai master.
Next, get some clothes to help store items, otherwise you won't get far.
Third item on your priority list should be drugs. Food you can get later, but drugs you'll need now. Drugs include alcohol, cocain, marijuana and aderol. This is the basic minimum (Marajuana doubles as a painkiller). This should also make your mood manageable while making sure you gain XP for your pool.
Next is food, this is can be found all over the place.
Lastly, you need a safe place. Unless you have some pretty good fighting skills trained, I recommend you stay out of the city. The worst you have to deal with are lone wolves, and you're more or less safe to experiment with drugs.
Oh, and two final notes. Vodka and tequila are the poor man's raincoat for now. Just take two swigs of the stuff, and being wet becomes less of a bother.
And on guns... Right now, i'm considering testing a theory I have about shotgun use, but for the moment, it seems rifles are the best ranged weapon. Pistols are meant to be used less than 3 paces, and need reloading, so I don't quite recommend their use unless you really need to shoot.