How I Spent The Fifty-First Week Of The Rest Of My Life

What does it all mean?  What did 2011 teach me?  In this year that I, technically, started my own business and sent out I don't even want to say how many applications (more than 200 but less than 300), but what do I have to show for it other than a futon mattress in a strange city.  I love this strange city, mind you, but I do find myself missing Chicago sometimes and wondering what I could have accomplished there.

Goodness knows my life would be totally different.  And I was spending far too much there to keep living the unemployed lifestyle - even though I now pay about $40 more a month in rent.  I guess that's not too bad.

Living in Woodbridge definitely taught me that I can survive, though not thrive, without a car anywhere and being near Manassas taught me that not all small towns are isolated little pieces of crap.  Rockville has taught me that not all suburbs are homogeneous places of boredom. But none of these places has yet helped me find a job.  Well, Rockville got me on the books at a temp agency.  I'll have to see where that leads.

I'm staying put for at least another 11 months.  Which probably won't include this blog.  I still have one more entry next week to put it through to the one year anniversary of my becoming unemployed.  Though, for those still reading the blog, it's pretty obvious that I don't have much to say on a weekly basis anymore anyway.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20 ($37.40)

• 11:33 a.m. Roti Mediterranean Grill - $8.52.  After my interview at the temp agency and signing official paperwork, I took the train to Farragut West where it stopped for traffic ahead.  I decided to walk to Farragut North and enjoy some Mediterranean.
• 7:49 p.m. Giant Food - Flagship Center - $28.88.  Even though I still had food left from my last trip, I wasn't about to turn down a ride from my brother as he went shopping.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21 ($11.45)

• 1:05 p.m. FedEx Office - Free.  I was hoping they could just fix my laptop that had stopped working the last time I was there.  It turned out that I had to be on the phone with HP support for quite a long time.
• 2:55 p.m. Public Tenley - $11.45.  Since I was relative in the neighborhood, I decided to watch the Fulham match against Manchester United here.  I left at halftime since it was such a drubbing.
• 4:50 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  Walking to the gym drunk should have warned me that working out drunk was not a good idea.  Of course I did it anyway.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22 ($13.49)

• 1:22 p.m. Motor Vehicles Administration - Free.  Finding out that I had to have my middle name on all of my documents after getting all the way out to Gaithersburg did not make me a happy person.
• 2:49 p.m. Capital One Bank - Free.  Getting some more temporary checks proved also to be stressful as I learned my permanent checks had gotten lost in the mail.
• 3:01 p.m. Lebanese Taverna Cafe - $9.49.  After all of the bad news, I just said to heck with it and got some comfort food.
• 3:26 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  Even though it was warm enough to get an iced tea, I decided to get a hot tea since I needed to relax.
• 8:22 p.m. Planet Pizza and Subs - Free.  My brother got a free Groupon for this Montgomery College tradition.  I wasn't going to pass up free.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23 ($39.02)

• 11:28 a.m. FedEx Office - $13.02.  Faxing is about the most expensive thing that I do in my life it seems.  But this time was to fax in some paperwork to the temp agency so, hopefully, it will pay off.
• 11:55 a.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  Having a FedEx next to my gym is at least convenient.  It allowed me to get out of there by lunch.
• 12:46 a.m. Tynan Tea & Coffee - $7.00.  A grilled cheese sandwich has become my standard applying for jobs meal as of late.
• 7:51 p.m. Mama Ayesha's - $19 00. Using my last Groupon for food in Washington D.C. felt.  Of course I'll buy more once I have a job, but they turn out to not save me much money.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24 (Free)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25 ($9.00)

• 2:00 p.m. Occupy D.C. - Free.  I usually go and feed the homeless on Christmas in some way.  Since most of the people left in the camp for Christmas wee just that, I felt like I did a double duty donating food.
• 3:09 p.m. National Channukah Menorah - Free.  It had gotten a bit cold and the walk to the Ellipse seemed further than I remember it.  I can't believe this is the first time that I had been by the White House.
• 3:31 p.m. National Christmas Tree - Free.  The trees of the various states made this more than worthwhile.  Though running out of room on my phone turned out to be problematic as something big went down by the Chamber of Commerce.
• 7:07 p.m. China Garden - $9.00.  It wouldn't have been a Christmas without going to a Chinese restaurant with my brother.  I thought about seeing a movie, but I was too exhausted from the city.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 26 (Free)

So that's $110.36.  I'm happy to say that I have spent far less than that this week.  Though there are three days left to screw that stat up.  I just found out that my New Year's plans got cancelled.  But that's okay.  I try to spend New Year's in the way that I usually spend it.  So that's probably going to be sitting on my computer until almost the stroke of midnight sending in resumes before I play on Twitter until all hours of the morning.  What a thrilling life I lead until I can find a job.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is  $10546.52.

How I Spent The Fiftieth Week Of The Rest Of My Life

The timing couldn't have been better.  Although I didn't plan it this way, I'm finally (sort of) employed again.  I got hired by a temp agency on Tuesday and am supposed to get a call to start getting short term assignments after the first of the year.  I'm not sure if anything will actually come out of it, but it felt good to fill out paperwork to, potentially, get paid again.  I'm still searching on my own, and need to send out some resumes this weekend (because who can resist someone asking for a job via e-mail on Christmas), but there's less pressure on me.

It was good that I interviewed at the temp agency the next day as I was told that I was "overqualified" for a lot of the stuff that they had by my interviewer (who understood, of course, that after a year, I was willing to take pretty much anything). But since the next day I got an e-mail from Silver Spring that I did not get the Membership Coordinator position at the American College of Nurse-Midwives, I was better able to take it.

I actually learned a lot about what was happening to my resume at a lot of places and why I wasn't getting interviews during my interview at the staffing agency.  It turns out that people, at least by what the recruiter told me, would have no idea what an Education Delivery Specialist did on a day-to-day basis.  And that I needed to either really play up the fact that I interacted with and gave information to members on a daily basis either in my bullet points or my cover letter or people would not be looking at me for those kind of positions.

My interviewer actually asked, "was that really your job title?"

He also suggested that I pull the stuff from my Education Network Coordinator position up to my Education Delivery Specialist position because it wasn't beefed up enough for a position that I had held for five years.  So in the resumes that I've sent out since this interview, I've done so.  I already got one person who directly e-mailed me back saying she'd be in touch with me after the new year for a Communications Assistant job, so I think it might have worked.

As I'm not going to work anywhere in the D.C. area for the entirety of 2011 now, it will make my taxes really easy.  And that's good because I'm really going to need to survive on them if I'm temping and don't get the amount of hours that I need.  But that's next year.  I'm just going to consider the fact that I've got someone looking out for my resume now besides myself as an early Christmas present.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13 (Free)

• 4:08 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  Having spent the entire day on Twitter, I realized that I needed to get to the gym if I wanted to get anything done.  Afterwards, I was tired so I still didn't.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14 ($11.82)

• 1:27 p.m. Noodles & Company - $7.85.  Finding out that I had underpaid my rent and that my bank was going to charge me $10 for a cashier's check, I was starting to get stressed.  So I got some noodles to calm me down.
• 1:52 p.m. CVS Pharmacy - $3.97.  Since I had to get a check at CVS anyway, I decided to get soap even though I wasn't quite out.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 ($15.38)

• 1:23 p.m. Tynan Tea & Coffee - $7.00.  I got such a late start to my day that I went to get tea and a sandwich before I went to the gym for once.
• 3:01 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  Even though I still felt sick, I went back to the gym to pick up my Kindle that I had left and exercised a little.
• 5:00 p.m. Roti Mediterranean Grill - $8.38.  I decided that I was going to go down to Occupy D.C. for their holiday party.  Which meant I was by Roti.  They were actually open this time.
• 5:21 p.m. Occupy D.C. - Free.  After being at McPherson Square on a weekend day, it seemed really empty this evening.  Even with a large group gathered for Christmas activities.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 ($37.09)

• 12:30 p.m. Giant - $37.09.  Since it was a bit cold, I decided that I was going to go to the Giant closest to a train stop instead of the one closest to my apartment.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17 ($8.13)

• 11:30 a.m. Occupy D.C. - Free.  I talk a lot about how messy McPherson Square is on Twitter.  So I went down to talk to someone about it in person.
• 12:04 p.m. Cosi - $8.13.  Over pizzas, I discovered that a lot of people agree that it's time to clean up or get an indoor site.  It was refreshing to hear such rationality.
• 3:01 p.m. Washington Sport Club - Free.  Helping to clean up the park again left me feeling a bit dirty.  So it was a good thing I was planning on going to my gym anyway.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18 (Free)

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19 ($41.55)

• 1:26 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I woke up with sinus issues.  So I thought that some tea would help.  While I was there, I got the call for the temp agency about an interview.
• 4:16 p.m. Rollins Barber - $15.00.  Shopping local this month has proved difficult in a lot of areas.  But the barber got my hair so close that I'm never going back to a chain barber while I live here.
• 4:52 p.m. Cafe Shawreen - $9.43.  Finally making it to the kosher place by my apartment proved to be a tasty, but expensive experience.
• 8:08 p.m. FedEx Office - $13.12.  I ended up messing up my references quite a few times before I finally was able to print them off perfectly.  But I just enjoyed the T1 connection in the meantime.

So that's $113.97.  Not a bad week as far as spending went, but I still think that I went a bit too bit over my budget just the same.  I think I should spend next week inside just applying for jobs before I start getting temp assignments.  Then I, hopefully, won't have enough time to do too much of that.  Not that I won't. My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $10436.16.

How I Spent The Forty-Ninth Week Of The Rest Of My Life

Since I didn't hear from the place that I interviewed at last week, I'm assuming that's not going to happen.  I'm going to e-mail them on Monday and see what's happening.  I hold out hope that the marketing department was just really busy after their national meeting two weeks ago, but we'll soon see.

Not that I was sitting around waiting by the phone for them to call.  I finally got around to applying for a lot of jobs. To finally be (almost) less than two weeks behind in my applications, until today, feels pretty good.  I have started a system of highlighting every job that I want really badly so I can apply for them right away.  And I've discovered that a lot of good jobs are right here in Rockville.  I've been neglecting looking in Maryland for a bit too long (not that I've ever truly stopped).  Which was probably a horrible idea since it was one of the first jobs that I applied for in Maryland that has gotten me the furthest in the interview process.

Anyhow, if this place doesn't call back with good news, I will have gone the entirety of 2011 without a job (except for the one day at my old place to start the year).  The full 52 weeks.  I never even imagined that was possible when I started this blog at the start of the year.  It really is eye opening how hard it is to find a job in this economy.  Though part of me still thinks that I'm doing it all wrong and that it's my fault that no one has noticed how amazing I actually am.  And how experienced.  And how good I am at social media.  I still feel like it's my resume and cover letter that are not conveying my experience.  I feel like I haven't been following up enough.  And it feels like I'm one of the last people who are unemployed out there.

And that just reminds me that I'm running low on happy pills again and starting to live "paycheck to paycheck" with my money.  It's a vicious spiral of bleh.  Or it's just winter.  Either way, I've still got to redouble my efforts yet again and try harder.  And it's not like I'm not willing to do pretty much anything for the right place. It's not like I have a right price since I'm living on less than I'll make pretty much anywhere.

The worst part is that I feel like I've gotten less accomplished since I moved to Rockville than I had before I did.  But at least I'm spending less.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6 ($10.68)

• 12:10 p.m. Starbucks - $3.00.  Finally giving up on going to the city to listen to my weekly webinar, I just went to the local Starbucks.
• 6:11 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  I made it into the city in the evening after a long day of not doing much of anything.  I hadn't started out the week feeling well and hoped this got me kick started.
• 7:43 p.m. Pizza Authentica - $7.68.  After a lot of decision, I decided to go to the Occupy Wall Street national GA downtown since I was already in the city.  Since I'm not really part of the whole camping setup, however, I decided to eat my own food on my own dime.
• 7:59 p.m. Occupy D.C. - Free.  I walked around and took a few pictures.  I'm sure that the group in McPherson Square marched over, but I decided just to take the train.
• 9:51 p.m. The National Mall - Free.  Since I could never get downtown when I lived in Woodbridge, this was my first big protest in the nation's biggest protest area.  The National Occupy Wall Street GA was pretty cool.  Though I only stayed through the introductory speeches.  I was exhausted.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7 (Free)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8 ($7.00)

• 11:41 a.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  After feeling crappy all day on Wednesday again, I figured that I needed to get to the gym.  It was sad that this was the earliest start I got to the day thusfar in the week.
• 1:00 p.m. Tynan Coffee & Tea - $7.00.  Since I was already in the area, I decided to actually drink my tea locally.  They have crappy internet here, but it's a really friendly local chain.
• 3:31 p.m. T-Mobile - Free.  After putting up with no internet the night before and crappy internet at the coffee shop, I decided to get my own internet again.  It's about $20 extra per month, but worth the lesser aggrevation.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 ($8.43)

• 1:29 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  It was yet another day of not getting out of bed and needing to get a jump start to get anything done.  For once, the gym actually provided it.
• 3:12 p.m. Lebanese Taverna Cafe - $8.43.  There is a really expensive Indian place by my gym.  I was so hungry (even though I ate breakfast) and tempted to go in that the only thing that prevented me was a promise to myself to get Lebanese on the way home.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10 (Free)

• 1:26 Rollins Congressional Club - Free.  My brother convinced me to leave the apartment to get free food at the complex's holiday party.  The food was good and the gym I get for "free" is nice.  But I pay for the gym in the city either way.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 ($27.31)

• 1:20 p.m. Occupy D.C. - Free.  While I agree completely with the good government part of the fight of this movement, I understand the objection people have to it about its cleanliness.  Rather than just gripe, however, I grabbed a garbage bag and helped them clean.
• 4:30 p.m. Cosi - $3.00.  Part of the reason that I was in the park was to take part in a media training.  I ended up accompanying the newspaper group to Cosi for some more good discussion.
• 6:35 p.m. Public Bar - $17.00.  I had planned on going to the gym after my activities in McPherson Square.  Then watching the Bears game at the Public Bar in Tenleytown.  But I ended up downtown so late, I ended up watching it at their downtown location.
• 8:30 p.m. 7-Eleven - $7.31.  Running out of soap again (and toilet paper) was pretty much a pain.  But this time I bought a lot of both.

So that's $53.42.  It's funny that the more time I spend at McPherson Square, the less that I spend.  If I camped there, which might make me a huge hypocrite and showered at the gym using my wi-fi to apply for jobs, I could really get away cheaply.  Except I hate camping in the winter.  And I'm still not fond of the lifestyle of some of the people there.  Though I realized that if I had gotten involved in the media group sooner, I might have some applicable experience to put on a resume.  But I don't know if that would help or hurt.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $10322.19.

How I Spent The Forty-Eighth Week Of The Rest Of My Life

How did it get to be Sunday again already?  And, more importantly, how do I feel like I got nothing done this entire week?  The entire week has been spent trying to tent in for the winter it seems.  I got tired of being without the internet all day, so I went to T-Mobile and got tethering activated on my phone (which should have, in theory, allowed me to apply for a lot more than the minimal five jobs this week).

What did I do with this time?  I slept a lot.  And I stressed out about finding out next week if I get the job that I'm come the closest to this entire year.  And I was doing other things that I really shouldn't talk about.

But it was, ironically, things that were getting me experience in my field but that I probably can't put on a resume.  But if I don't get a job soon, it's something that I might take on doing relatively full-time.  Boy I'm hoping that I get this job.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29 ($29.63)

• 12:15 p.m. Starbucks - $3.00.  The Starbucks on Rockville Pike has just gotten too annoyingly loud for me.  But since I didn't want to go into the city just to watch a webinar, I put up with it.  My headphones saved me.
• 4:19 p.m. Qdoba Mexican Grill - $6.63.  I had planned on printing out a copy of my resume at a nearby FedEx Office so I decided to give into urge of the Qdoba near my apartment.
• 7:08 p.m. Comcast Center - $20.00.  For my brother's birthday, we went to see a college basketball game in College Park.  He was rooting for Illinois.  I was rooting for my new state.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 ($16.62)

• 8:25 a.m. CVS Pharmacy - $5.08.  As I had an interview and I was completely out of razors, I couldn't put off going to a pharmacy until my local one opened.
• 9:45 a.m. Liberty Gas - $10.00.  My brother let me borrow his car to drive to my interview.  But he didn't tell me that he was out of gas.
• 11:03 a.m. FedEx Kinko's - $1.54.  Printing up my resume and references turned out to be a huge waste of time since the interview that followed was for a purely sales position.  But it was good to print it out for a purpose.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1 ($26.63)

• 10:54 a.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  My interview the day before had been conducted half awake.  I wanted to do better in my interview this day.  So I went to the gym to get my blood pumping.
• 12:20 p.m. Penang Star - $6.49.  Staying close to home as my interview approached seemed important.  So I just grabbed some Malaysian fusion.  It's not great but I do appreciate how close it is.
• 3:09 p.m. FedEx Office - $3.26.  The interviewer the day before, despite the worthlessness of the interview, took my references.  And I had to print up my unique resume. Thankfully Silver Spring has a FedEx right downtown.
• 8:08 p.m. Afghan Kebob House - $16.88.  While it wasn't the greatest Afghani that I had ever had, I enjoyed having one of my favorite cuisines again with an expiring Groupon.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2 ($58.21)

• 2:30 p.m. China Garden - $9.00.  They have both Chinese and Japanese.  I hadn't had sushi in a while so I got the more expensive choice.
• 7:21 p.m. Balducci's Food Lover's Market - $49.21.  While I was still trying to shop local, I went to the specialty market in Bethesda.  Looking at the prices, I longed for Safeway.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3 ($157.44)

• 11:27 a.m. U-Haul Moving & Storage - $116.80.  While it turned out to be cheaper to pick up a television and a futon from Woodbridge, I still probably could have waited.  Barely.
• 1:27 p.m. Taco Bell - $5.64.  I'm not planning on going to Woodbridge again any time soon so I figured I might as well go to my Taco Bell jam.
• 3:20 p.m. Executive Sunoco - $25.00.  I actually pumped gas three times at this station to try and get it to where it needed to be and it still didn't quite get there.
• 3:27 p.m. Liberty - $10.00.  At this point, I probably should have just gotten charged for U-Haul filling it up, but I tried one more time to get the gauge up to where it needed to be.  Gassing a truck is so expensive!
• 3:31 p.m. U-Haul Moving & Storage - Free.  I didn't get charged any more when I returned the truck.  That was a small miracle.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4 ($31.00)

• 2:30 p.m. Verizon Center - $31.00.  This doubleheader of college basketball was better than Maryland's loss earlier in the week.  Maryland beat Notre Dame.  Pretty rocking.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5 ($4.00)

• 6:45 p.m. IHOP - $4.00.  My brother had a coupon for IHOP for his birthday.  Discovering that they still had pumpkin pancakes was probably a bad thing.

So that's $323.53.  But that is the last of my moving expenses.  Period.  I can't afford to do anything else until I have a job.  If I have to lock myself inside for the rest of the winter, however, at least I have a television to keep me company and a mattress to sleep on.  Of course I might not have anything else.  Goodness I hope I got that job.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $10268.77.

How I Spent The Forty-Seventh Week Of The Rest Of My Life

While it's challenging enough to find a job it seems, I'm taking on an additional one this month.  Since I bought big box on Thanksgiving, I'm taking it upon myself to only shop locally during the week in December.  During the weekend it seems I have to do stuff like rent trucks to pick up televisions from Woodbridge and the like.  I'm going to try to stick to my pledge during December all seven days, but I'm considering it like Lent, sort of.

After all, the entire point is to invest more of my money locally (and Rockville has no shortage of small businesses).and help other people in Rockville keep their jobs.  And, of course, it helped to get my face out there to Rockville and Bethesda's small businesses who might one day be looking for social media people.

The job search, however, is going pretty well.  I had a second, group interview with a place in Silver Spring and it seemed like a pretty open interview where I was asked a lot of questions outside of the job description on social media.  I think I answered them pretty well to prove my chops.  At least I hope that I did since they seem like a nice office with a sense of humor.  They're having their national meetings next week so I won't know and will keep applying for a bunch more job next week.

Hopefully none of them will be "lead generation" like the other interview I had last week in Vienna.  The only reason it wasn't door-to-door sales was because it wasn't actually selling any products - just apppointments for estimates.  My bother calls it a scam.  I just call it a really crappy job.  I'm not above it, per se, but I'm also not very good at it.

Though it seems that I'm good at organizing my bedroom.  That's done.  It's so much more peaceful to be in a well organized room.  I just hope I don't spend many more days in it.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22 ($30.90)

• 11:06 a.m. Starbucks - $3.00.  Since they were out of bagel, I knew that I could only stay long enough to watch a webinar before needing to get lunch.  Ordinarily this location is too noisy, but with my headphones, it was okay.
• 1:23 p.m. Penang Star - $5.83.  After eating at the more expensive Chinese place near my apartment, I'm glad I found this place.  Though it's actually Malaysian.
• 6:19 p.m. CVS - $22.07.  While I was hoping to not have to go out in the insane November rain in D.C., I was out of both laundry soap and laundry.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23 ($15.00)

• 10:44 a.m. AMC Mazza Galerie 7 - $6.00.  I wasn't going to wait until after Thanksgiving to see the new Muppets movie.  I saw the second showing of it in Washington D.C.  After the midnight showings.
• 1:39 p.m. Tynan Coffee & Tea - $9.00.  While I was trying (and failing) to get the internet to work, my brother told me that we might be driving home for Thanksgiving.  So I went home instead of going to the gym after eating lunch.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24 (Free)

• 10:29 a.m. Liberty Gas Station - Free.  My dad paid for all of the gas on the way to Michigan so this was gratis.
• 1:08 p.m. North Somerset Service Plaza - Free.  This is where my brother took over driving.  My dad also paid us back for food.
• 4:08 p.m. Great Lakes Service Center - Westbound - Free.  For the last part of the drive, we switched here in Ohio.  It was a pretty amazing rest stop.
• 8:14 p.m. Champps Americana - Free.  My mother was working all weekend so my dad took us out to dinner.  This was about the only place open on Thanksgiving night.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25 ($10.60)

• 2:26 p.m. Taco Bell - Free.  This might be the only place that my brother, my dad, and I agree on.  It was also close to shopping.
• 3:08 p.m. Target - $10.60.  I couldn't let a Black Friday go by without buying something at Target.  They didn't have the pillow I was looking for, but they had pajamas again.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26 (Free)

• 7:52 a.m. Kohl's - Free.  My sister stayed in California this Thanksgiving so my brother and I went clothes shopping with my mother.  I found some nice pants and a sweater.
• 8:23 a.m. Macy's - Free.  At Macy's, there wasn't really anything that I liked.  I had tried to go there the day before, but all of the stuff that I wanted was sold out.
• 8:48 a.m. jcpenney - Free.  While I also wanted to go here the day before, they were also out of everything that I wanted.
• 9:18 a.m. Kerby's Koney Island - Free.  Even though I had a bad experience at the last Coney Island that I went to, I went to this one.  It was a pretty good family meal.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27 ($23.48)

• 9:27 a.m. Early Bird Of Northville - Free.  We had our family Thanksgiving on Saturday night so we decided to go to brunch before my mother went to work for the fourth day in a row.  It was a weird Thanksgiving.
• 10:42 a.m. Meijer Gas - Free.  My father sent us on our way with one more free tank of gas.
• 11:21 a.m. IKEA - $23.48.  The best Black Friday deal that I saw was actually at IKEA for a bookshelf on Sunday night.  I ended up buying one.  And so did my brother.  It will let me return my more expensive earlier IKEA purchase.
• 2:18 p.m. Towpath Service Plaza - Free.  The drive home took way longer than the drive there.  I should have known this was going to be the case when we hit traffic before we were even far into Ohio.
• 4:35 p.m. Oakmont Plum Service Plaza - Free.  Since we ate breakfast kind of early, we grabbed an early pre-dinner.  Amazingly, I still had enough oomph to keep driving.
• 9:21 p.m. Taco Bell - Free.  I wouldn't have considered it a drive from Detroit to Washington D.C. (well, almost on both accounts) without a stop in Breezewood.  And a stop at Taco Bell.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28 ($31.41)

• 12:17 p.m. Noodles & Company - $5.41.  Even though I had some really good butter noodles at Thanksgiving, my desire to have more was not quenched.
• 12:38 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  When the weather turned back to good, I just couldn't help but get an iced tea one more time this season.  Even if it was raining.
• 1:49 p.m. Capital One Bank - Free.  My brother owed me money for the security deposit.  Putting it into my account meant it was no longer anemic.
• 8:42 p.m. Buffalo Wild Wings - $22.00.  I decided to go watch the Monday Night Football game with the Giants at a bar.  I ended up making some new friends in the process.  Though they were Redskins fans.

So that's $111.39. It's amazing that I probably spent less going to Michigan than I would have spent had I just lounged the holiday away at home.  And I got to see my family for the first time since April.  The week we're currently in was far more expensive than that one, but at least I have a television and a futon out of it.  And I'm about to go to sleep on it for a big week of applying for jobs.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $9945.24.

How I Spent The Forty-Sixth Week Of The Rest Of My Life

At this time last week, I had no idea that I was going to be in Michigan this weekend.  My brother wasn't sure if he could get Friday off, so I had no way that wasn't prohibitively expensive to get here. And still it was only when my parents were able to pay for the expenses that I was able to afford to come here.

This year was almost a "Buy Nothing Day" for me on Black Friday.  I didn't need to buy anything, really, but Target has $10.00 pajamas just like last year and I can always use more of those.  The only thing that prevented me from buying more was that when I drove to the mall to take advantage of J.C. Penney's sale on pants, I couldn't find a parking spot.

But today on Small Business Saturday, I didn't buy anything at small businesses.  My parents bought me pants and a sweater at a large business.  We're having our Thanksgiving dinner (because my mother had to work) tonight so maybe I'll go to an independent coffee shop after dinner.  But I've failed both "holidays" that I would have come home for besides the family.

It's probably better because had I been home, I probably would have gone to one of the many mini-malls in Rockville and bought a lot of crap that I didn't need.  As it is, on the way home tomorrow, I'm probably buying a TV stand at IKEA.  Even though I don't have a TV right now.  That's going to have to wait for next weekend when I have money to make a trip to Woodbridge to pick them up.

Other than that, there's no news on the job front or living front really.  I did apply at an organization that a friend is affiliated with so hopefully there's an in there.  I don't think employers are thinking about hiring much more than I'm thinking about being hired during Thanksgiving week.  Even though I put in a bunch of applications.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15 ($16.00)

• 6:58 a.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  Before the second day of the conference, I got a ride into the city with my roommate since I was up and ready at that time anyway.  It let me get to the gym at an insanely early time.
• 9:07 a.m. Kellogg Conference Center - Free.  The second day of the conference, I was so tired that I didn't get that much out of it.  Though I do have the notes to look through when I'm awake.
• 6:37 p.m. Katerina's Greek Cuisine - $16.00.  For my last meal in Prince William County, I decided to go to one of the places that I enjoyed the most in the area.  And one of the few place I'd visit again.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16 ($173.91)

• 1:18 p.m. IKEA - $4.18.  Since the next time I would be at an IKEA, I would be closer to the College Park location, I decided to eat there one more time.  That and I got a late start.
• 4:41 p.m. Budget Rental Car - $155.22.  There was no way that I could have possibly gotten through moving without a rented car.  And since I was moving, I definitely needed to get insurance.
• 6:44 p.m. Burson-Marsteller - $6.11.  I was exhausted after travelling from Woodbridge to Rockville but I still managed to make it to the Social Media Club of D.C. event.  Having a drink there just knocked me out of it.
• 8:44 p.m. Taco Bell - $6.31. Since I had a rental car and a drink, I needed to go to Taco Bell for my last meal as a Woodbridge resident.
• 9:19 p.m. Walgreens - $2.09.  Trying to go to the gym on moving day was pointless.  So I needed to buy soap.  I figured that I needed soap for the new apartment anyway. 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17 ($42.41)

• 10:51 a.m. Extra Space Storage - Free.  It felt weird to be taking stuff out of storage instead of putting it in.  And getting almost all of my boxes out in one trip was even weirder.
• 12:18 p.m. Noodles & Company - $7.00.  Since my brother was at the dentist, I decided to get lunch.  There was no fast food restaurant I wanted to go to more as my first as a Rockville resident.
• 8:33 p.m. Extra Space Storage - Free. Going back to make sure that I didn't have to pay any more fees for storage was well worth it.  We managed to completely clear it out.
• 8:58 p.m. Target - $28.42.  I had absolutely no bedding.  Rather than sleeping on the floor, I bought a pillow and a mattress cover.
• 9:17 p.m. Taco Bell - $6.99.  Rather than try to figure out where to stop on the drive home, I ate one more time in Woodbridge.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18 ($187.70)

• 10:23 a.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I had a phone interview.  Right before it, the Starbucks got really noisy so I ended up out in my rental car right when my potential employer called.
• 12:36 p.m. IKEA - $141.72.  We had most stuff from my brother but we did need lamps since the apartment was pretty dark.
• 3:38 p.m. Liberty Gas - $32.50.  Again, had I not gotten lost, I probably could have spent a little bit less on gas.  As it was, I had to pump twice to get it completely filled.
• 4:19 p.m. Budget Rental Car - Free.  Even though they billed me twice, I technically didn't owe any more.
• 7:49 p.m. Lebanese Taverna Cafe - $9.49.  This was a restaurant that I had never tried.  I was actually surprised how expensive it was.  But it was worth it because they had kushari.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19 ($7.00)

• 12:33 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  To save money, I switched my gym membership to the Friendship Heights location.  Taking the train into the city on the weekend felt like freedom.
• 1:58 p.m. City Cafe And Caterers - $3.00.  Not knowing where to eat in Bethesda, I took out my phone and checked Foursquare.  It told me there was a Groupon special here.  It might have been the nerdiest meal that I ever had.
• 2:25 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I returned to the Bethesda Starbucks that I went to after finding the apartment. It seemed further without a car.  I don't think it's going to be my go to Starbucks now.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20 ($43.00)

• 2:32 p.m. National Museum Of Crime And Punishment - $10.00.  Using my Groupon Now the day before, I saw that this one was about to expire.  Being as there was a Redskins game, there were not a lot of locals here.  But it was still pretty busy.
• 5:20 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  Since it wasn't quite time to go and watch soccer yet, I went to my old Starbucks near the Archives.  It was surprisingly crowded and they still hadn't fixed the power outlets.  I remembered why I switched to the Chinatown location.
• 7:09 p.m. Ireland's Four Courts - $29.00.  Having been friends with this bar on Twitter for a long time, I decided to finally pay them a visit.  They are pretty cool.  It reminded me a little of Small Bar Fullerton.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21 ($26.33)

• 12:21 p.m. Maria's Bakery And Cafe - $9.00.  For such an English sounding name, they served really authentic Hong Kong cuisine.  But it was a bit too pricey to be my "cheap" after-gym Chinese place.
• 1:04 p.m. Capital One Bank - Free.  While I went in to open a checking account, I ended up just cashing in a bunch of coins that I had around the house.
• 1:52 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I really needed to write a blog entry since with the move I hadn't had a chance to in about a week.  I actually accomplished publishing one!
• 7:27 p.m. Cici's Pizza - $6.35.  In all of the times that I had been back to Michigan, I meant to try this buffet pizza chain.  Now that there's one nearby and I tried it, I'm not really that interested in going again.
• 8:21 p.m. Target - $6.98.  Looking at the boxes left unpacked in my room, I knew I needed more storage.  So I bought a stand to put my stereo on and some of my books under.  I still don't think I have enough storage.

So that's $496.35.  I knew moving was going to be expensive, but that seems a little bit excessive.  No wonder my bank account is lower than it's been than at any other time that I've been unemployed.  It's weird that I was never more than 50 miles from Rockville the entire week and spent more than it cost to be in Michigan for Thanksgiving.  Hopefully the next time I spend that much in a week, I'll have a job.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $9833.85.

How I Spent The Forty-Fifth Week Of The Rest Of My Life

Rockville has been kind of amazing all around.  After my phone interview with the place in Silver Spring, while I was dropping off my rental car, I got a call from a resort hotel that I put in an application for in Potomac.  Unfortunately, they are not on public transportation since the person I talked to on the phone said they really liked my resume.  How could they not with the amount of customer service and event planning that I have.  I have thought about going into the hospitality business.

My brother has offered me to let me use his car to get there.  I'm going to call them on Monday for an interview. Though I'm still hoping for this place in Silver Spring.  The interview process was one of them most transparent that I've come across.  My potential future boss let me know that I'm in the final six to have gotten a phone interview.  If I get called in for a physical interview, I'm one of the last three.  If I get the job, I'll be starting the second week of December.  I love the timeline.  After ten months of being completely in the dark with most application status, my first glimpse of this organization's culture is refreshing.

The move in general has gone really smoothly.  At least until I tried to put together the dresser that I bought at IKEA to finish unpacking.  It's still sitting in a corner since it is the first IKEA furniture to defeat me.  And, as such, I'm still surrounded by boxes.  But at least my dress clothes are all safely in the closet.

Other than that, I love this new location.  Today I discovered a path that leads in a straight line from my building's front door to the Twinbrook Metro stop.  I used it to go to the Washington Sports Club near the Friendship Heights stop.  Being in the city on the weekend (despite barely being inside the border) felt like freedom after over six months of being stuck in Virginia on the weekends.  Though I can't abuse the fact that it finally feels like I'm living in Washington D.C.  It's not like my money supply has increased.

I hope to soon change my gym location to Silver Spring to change that.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8 (Free)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9 ($12.53)

• 6:41 p.m. Subway - $6.04.  I was getting nothing accomplished sitting around the condo so I had to get out into the fresh air and enjoy my last full week in Woodbridge.
• 6:58 p.m. Walgreens - $6.49.  Hoping that I wouldn't have to go there at all on the weekend, I made all my necessary purchases early.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10 ($14.15)

• 7:05 p.m. zpizza - $10.15.  Even though I had only gone there once during the time I lived in Woodbridge, I wanted to go one more time.  It was every bit as good and every bit as expensive as I remember.
• 7:25 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I felt bad not stopping by this Starbucks more while I lived nearby.  The baristas here are the friendliest of any location I frequented.  I told them I'd stop by one more time as well.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11 ($18.05)

• 11:55 a.m. Chipotle Mexican Grill - $7.00.  Planning on blogging before I watched the U.S. soccer match, I felt the need to carb up.  Despite my late start to the day.
• 12:27 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  When WordPress ate my blog, I was ready to cry.  But at least I had Starbucks warm apple juice to kill the pain a bit.
• 3:29 p.m. Fado Irish Pub & Restaurant - Free.  I ended up not ordering anything to drink during the U.S. game since I was never offered.  I actually left before the end of the second half.
• 5:34 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  As soon as I got to the gym, France had scored.  Though leaving the bar early and missing this and gave me time for a full workout.
• 6:06 p.m. Union Station - $7.05.  Even though there was no VRE home, I went to Union Station by mistake and ended up getting Taco Bell for the long trip home.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12 (Free)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13 ($32.03)

• 12:01 p.m. IHOP - $5.65.  I had never seen this IHOP this busy since I had always gone at dinner time.  Actually having a Sunday brunch, in general, has become weird to me.
• 12:54 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  Visiting my favorite baristas one more time, I didn't even bother to do anything besides apply for a job.
• 3:56 p.m. Great Clips - $17.00.  Knowing that I was going to be networking for the next few days, I decided to get a haircut.
• 8:07 p.m. 7-Eleven - $5.38.  Getting a last Sunday Night Football was actually the saddest part of leaving Woodbridge.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14 ($204.41)

• 8:15 a.m. Kellogg Conference Center - $199.00.  While I've gotten more out of other seminars, this one was pretty intensive and had some major players in the social media world.
• 5:21 p.m. Union Station - $5.41.  Waking up as early as I did made me not enjoy life by the end of the day.  But at least there was Taco Bell to make me happy.

So that's $281.17.  But most of that was the conference.  And while I was at the conference I met people in the industry.  It was mainly for people in small business who were looking to do their own social media but I didn't hock my services.  I guess I was happy with the amount of interview offers that I received via e-mail.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $9337.50.

How I Spent The Forty-Fourth Week Of The Rest Of My Life

It seems like I should spend every week of my life with a fever and sick in bed.  This week I had three phone interviews.  None were for a full-time job but two were for temp agencies and one for a freelance position.  The freelance position is the most exciting since I'll be working in a position which I could actually put on my resume as community management. I'm competing against a couple of other people and the place usually doesn't hire people who are looking for full-time work.  But it's not like I'm going to actually find full-time work in the month that this position runs.

I actually think the phone interview went pretty well.  Oddly enough, I only kept Borders on my resume for this position to keep the thing a full page. The person who was interviewing me actually worked at Borders at at the same time (though she was doing it as a college job instead of a post-college job). She was the lead clerk in the cafe while I was lead clerk of music.  We discussed how it was both of our first tastes of marketing through merchandising our respective departments.  She said she usually keeps phone interviews short so it was good that this one went pretty long due to this connection.

They hire for various freelance projects all the time so hopefully she'll keep me in mind for other projects even  if this one falls through.  I haven't been able to network much out in Woodbridge so I need all of the people keeping me in mind as possible.


The start of next week, however, is going to be spent networking to an extent so who knows.  I have a conference on Monday and Tuesday.  With all sorts of social media people.  And on Wednesday, I'm going to a Social Media Club of D.C. meeting. I was hoping by the next time I did this that I would be fully employed.  But maybe I'll have an offer from one of the temporary gigs.

If not, I'll probably be in good company there with the many people not working in my sector.

Once I settle in Rockville, I'm probably just going to start applying at part-time retail type stuff close to my new apartment (and there's a lot of it).  That will let me both freelance and will give me some money for taking a class at American University to get back into the swing of things.  It seems like there are tons of internships available at all times around here.  But most require you to be in school.  I can do that.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1 ($16.05)

• 9:52 a.m. Roti Mediterranean Grill - $2.75.  I had planned on going to the gym before leaving for New York City but decided just to get breakfast instead.  It was a good thing that I did since the bus didn't stop for lunch.
• 10:22 a.m. Tynan Coffee & Tea - $4.00.  Since I was still feeling pretty tired and the bus wasn't for another hour.  I drank some of my tea and the rest spilled all over me on the bus.
• 5:07 p.m. Karim & Sons - $4.00.  My first order of business in New York City was getting the keys to the apartment where I was staying near Zuccotti Park.  But I didn't go in.  Only got two knishes across the street.
• 7:35 p.m. Uptown 2 Deli - $5.30.  Getting to Harlem after dark worried me a little.  But I was staying in a safe neighborhood.  And it had a delicious bodega.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 ($46.40)

• 9:45 a.m. New York Sports Club - Free. One of the reasons that I joined Washington Sports Club was that I knew I would be going to New York City at least a few times.  The sister club deal came in handy.
• 11:22 a.m. City One Chinese Restaurants - $6.40.  Just like at home, I got cheap Chinese across the street from the gym.
• 11:56 a.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  One thing I couldn't take a vacation from was applying for jobs.  I had to meet my quota to get unemployment.  I applied for two jobs at this Starbucks in Harlem.
• 3:48 p.m. Occupy Wall Street - $2.00.  It's definitely smelly and disorganized but it hardly seemed like Calcutta.  I prefer Occupy D.C.'s order immensely.  Though I still bought a button.
• 4:30 p.m. Karim & Sons - $4.00.  Knowing that I was about to embark on some drinking, I knew I needed a bit of food to tide me over.
• 5:26 p.m. Motor City Bar - $8.00.  The fact that I managed to spend that much when it was buy one, get one free happy hour at New York City's Detroit bar should say I was a little tipsy.
• 8:03 p.m. Odessa - $22.00.  After eating at Veselka before, which New Yorkers claim is better than any Ukrainian place in Chicago, and being disappointed, I didn't figure this would live up to similar billing.  But it definitely did.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 ($174.49)

• 10:12 a.m. High Line Park - Free.  I figured I had at least one day to play tourist in New York City so I finally tried out the High Line.  It was nice but too close to the East River.  I was pretty cold.
• 11:21 a.m. Target - $109.99.  Right after I had left Woodbridge, I realized that I had forgotten my bathing suit.  Target didn't have any, but I did buy workout shorts.  And my meds.
• 1:24 p.m. Pizza Bagel Burger - $5.50.  If I lived in New York City, I would probably eat at nothing but bodegas.  It seems like a really quick and easy way to eat there.  This one was across from the spa.
• 1:46 p.m. Sandoony USA - $15.00.  This was my vacation.  I didn't really understand how to correctly use the spa like many of the Russians there, but I was so relaxed by the time I left that I could barely move my legs.  This Groupon was well worth it.
• 4:50 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I should have known that a Starbucks near NYU would be too full to do anything.  But I did get to play on the internet for a bit.
• 6:56 p.m. Bambaleo - $40.00.  A dinner to thank my friends who let me stay for free was the least I could do.  And this turned out to be a really good Mexican restaurant.  Probably the best I had ever had in New York City.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4 ($55.39)

• 10:17 a.m. Cloud 9 - $12.00.  Even though all of the bars in Hell's Kitchen seemed to be open as I walked to my bus, I decided to be a good kid and just get breakfast instead.
• 11:46 a.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  It had gotten a bit chilly in New York City so I didn't want to wait outside for the bus.  There was nowhere to sit in this closest Starbucks to Penn Station though.  And, even worse, there wasn't a bathroom!
• 5:12 p.m. Union Station - $39.39.  Most of this cost was the round trip bus ticket.  But it was also Taco Bell.  I couldn't believe the bus got me back on time to eat dinner and go to sleep when I got home.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5 (Free)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 ($5.51)

• 8:20 p.m. 7-Eleven - $5.51.  After an entire weekend of laying in bed exhausted, I figured I just needed to get out and about and get some burritos.  After New York City, Woodbridge seemed so quiet.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 ($28.18)

• 11:33 a.m. AMC Potomac Mills 18 & IMAX - $10.00.  I almost stopped by Potomac Mills Mall on the way home from New York City to see A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas on its opening night.  But I showed restraint and saw it in its first showing on Monday.
• 1:49 p.m. Potomac Mills Mall - $8.18.  After the movie, I decided to just stay at the mall and go to the food court.  Going home, I knew, would mean that I didn't accomplish much.
• 2:34 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I applied for a job while sitting in this relatively quiet Starbucks.  It felt especially fulfilling after seeing Harold & Kumar.  Though one of them has a very good job.

So that's $326.02.  Considering that half the week was spent in New York City and a third of that was spent on medication, that actually wasn't that bad a week.  Of course, it would have been better if I had gotten some sort of interview offer.  Still I consider it time well spent before winter keeps me inside as I know that it will.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $9056.33.

How I Spent The Forty-Third Week Of The Rest Of My Life

Yikes.  I completely forgot to write an entry in both of my blogs last week.  New York City was a lot of fun.  I realized that I could go to New York City and do pretty much the same thing that I do in Washington D.C.  And spend about the same thing.  Not that I should make a habit of going north for a few days, but it was nice to be able to get away for a bit.  I can see how people can go between the two so seamlessly.  Though I think most people who do are a lot richer and take the ACELA.

The MegaBus wasn't bad.  I might even go back for Christmas.  Though I'm hoping that I'm temping by then and maybe won't be able to.  I applied at a not-for-profit specific temp agency both to work and be placed yesterday.  So now I'm on the books at four temp agencies.  I hope to hear from one of them soon.  At least once I move to Rockville in 10 days.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25 (Free)

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26 ($43.67)

• 9:29 a.m. Human Rights Campaign - Free.  It wasn't another interview (though that would have been awesome), but it was work related.  It was a seminar on what is legal to discuss on social media for various kinds of non-profits.
• 11:15 a.m. Roti Mediterranean Grill - $8.52. Since I was in the area, even if I got lost, I couldn't avoid going to Roti.  It was so amazing.
• 11:41 a.m. Filene's Basement - $9.53. I decided that since it was getting cold, I would buy the people at Occupy D.C. some warm socks.  I was hoping they'd be a little cheaper.
• 12:16 p.m. Occupy D.C. - Free.  The only reason that I felt entire comfortable buying stuff for Occupy D.C. was that they tweeted that anything given them would be donated to the homeless once they were done.  Before I even dropped the socks in the "comfort station," a homeless person had claimed them.
• 12:52 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  When I discovered that I had forgotten my power cord after using my computer to take notes, I knew I was getting nothing done.  I was tired anyhow.
• 1:44 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  At least I remembered to bring my workout clothes so I could get that done.
• 2:49 p.m. Safeway - $15.59.  Thankfully I brought my backpack as opposed to my laptop bag so I was able to get groceries without worrying about another bag disaster.
• 4:55 p.m. Subway - $6.03.  After bailing me out the week before, they had a customer this week as well.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27 (Free)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28 ($49.84)

• 11:49 a.m. Truckeroo - $14.50.  As the final Truckeroo, I didn't want to miss this one.  I ended up finally eating at Basil Thyme.  And I got some cheesecake.  They charged admission (for charity) for this one, so I'm almost glad it was the last one.
• 12:37 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I am trying to avoid switching to hot tea for as long as possible.  But it was pretty cold on this day so it won't be much longer.
• 3:37 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  With how much I had gotten out of shape, this was the first time that I did my full workout in quite some time.
• 4:51 p.m. Safeway - $25.98.  Unlike on Wednesday, when I was half asleep, I remembered everything.  Including my grocery bag.  So I was able to get my full compliment of groceries.
• 5:57 p.m. Union Station - $5.36.  I decided to go back up to Union Station to get burritos so I wouldn't have to worry about dinner when I got home.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 (Free)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30 ($6.58)

• 8:12 p.m. IHOP - $6.58.  Even though I didn't want to walk all the way to IHOP, I wanted to get the pumpkin pancakes one more time before Halloween.  They were great.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31 ($26.62)

• 1:10 p.m. Chipotle Mexican Grill - $7.00.  I'm not used to going to Chipotle before the gym, but I got a really late start.
• 2:42 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  There were four jobs ads that expired on Halloween.  I had applied for one the night before.  Amazingly, I was able to apply for the other three at Starbucks.
• 5:04 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  Even though I didn't feel great after submitting three applications, I had enough mental energy left to work out.
• 8:10 p.m. Walgreens - $9.99.  Since I had a lot of time to kill in Manassas, I decided to try and get my prescription filled.  Walgreens couldn't do it.  But I did get Benadryl.
• 8:57 p.m. Taco Bell - $5.63.  To end the night, I rushed to Taco Bell and got some burritos to get a lot of energy before I left for New York City.

So that's $126.71.  For the next week, I'm going to try to stay at home a lot before I end up in Maryland soon.  But that's after another entry that I should do some time this week.  Hopefully, I'm have some exciting news about temping.  But I don't have anything in the pipeline.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $8730.31.

How I Spent The Forty-Second Week Of The Rest Of My Life

Twitter has turned out to be invaluable in my job search.  Recently an account called @ResumeBear started to follow me.  Of course I followed it back since it was linked to an incredible site.  While resumebear.com is, of course trying to sell resume tracking software, they have some of the best Web 2.0 marketing that I've seen.  Their blogs (every company out there reading this, if you don't have a blog on your website, you are seriously missing out and I doubt you're an expert in your field) are the most useful things that I've read.

Today, for example, I read one that said that you should apply to any job posting within the first two weeks since that's when most companies look to fill vacancies.

I wish that I had known that about six months ago.  Or two weeks ago.  Yesterday I applied for a job that was supposed to close on October 31.  It was already filled.  While this upset me a bit (since it was a job I was qualified for), it was my own fault.  So in the month of November, I'm going to attempt to stay current.  Even while I'm in New York City next week for a couple of days (my sister is there), I'm still going to apply for jobs within two weeks of when they post.

And tomorrow and Monday I have a bunch of jobs that expire on October 31 that I have to apply for.  If they haven't already filled them.

---

In other news, my brother and I got the apartment in Rockville.  I will be living off the Twinbrook Stop and the commute I have to any job will be cut in less than half.  This should be a great kick in the pants to get out and really get full-time work.  That and having to pay rent again.

I can't wait.  Living in Virginia wore thin about two months ago.  Even travelling to the city will be cheaper on the occasions when I want to do so.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18 (Free)

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19 ($157.61)

• 10:32 a.m. CVS/Pharmacy - $4.69.  After putting if off for a long time, I decided to visit Occupy D.C.  I didn't want to go empty handed so I bought the people some water like they had requested on Twitter.
• 10:46 a.m. OccupyDC - Free. A friend of mine was doing a teach-in on using Twitter in social movements.  That was the real reason I was there.  But I have to say I was surprised at how clean the D.C. campsite was after all that I had heard about the New York City one.
• 11:33 a.m. FedEx Kinko's - $3.67.  Immediately after leaving Occupy D.C., I went to do stuff to try to find a job.  Though the two had nothing to do with each other.  I just needed to print out my resume.
• 2:16 p.m. Roti Mediterranean Grill - $8.52.  Since I was in the area, I needed to stop by Roti.  If I was an active participant, this might be a bit too much of a ritual.
• 3:35 p.m. Budget Rental Car - $140.73.  While I didn't absolutely need to rent a car to drop off paperwork in Maryland and go to a job fair, it certainly made life easier.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 ($13.35)

• 11:55 a.m. Westfield Wheaton Shopping Center - $3.81.  As odd as it was to wear a suit in a mall, this job fair was worth it.  I dropped my resume off with two temp agencies and a couple of other places.  It was mostly retail though.
• 1:53 p.m. Capital One Bank - Free.  I had to pick up cashier's checks to drop off at the apartment complex and I had no idea there was a Capital One Bank basically next door to the complex.  Another reason I love my new location.
• 2:43 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  For the first time, this really felt like my local Starbucks.  I sat in here with a new hope that things were going to look up.
• 7:32 p.m. Pizza Hut - $5.54.  Trying to drive from Maryland to Virginia turned out to be a huge adventure.  By the time I got halfway, I had to go to the bathroom and I was hungry.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 ($54.93)

• 11:58 a.m. FedEx Kinko's - $3.42.  The good news was that I had a car to fax in the documentation that I needed to for the apartment complex in Rockville in Woodbridge.
• 12:24 p.m. Taco Bell - $6.99.  I couldn't rent a car without eating at Taco Bell at least once.
• 1:17 p.m. Extra Space Storage - Free.  Even if it was a slightly excess expense, I definitely got good use out of my rental car.  I put every unnecessary box that I had in storage.
• 1:38 p.m. Parkway Express - $23.18.  Had I not gotten lost the day before, I probably could have gotten away for much cheaper refilling my rental car.
• 2:06 p.m. Budget Rental Car - Free.  I wasn't as upset to return my car this time since I didn't get the Kia Soul again.  I didn't particularly like the Ford I was given.
• 3:34 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  While I can't say that I hate the Woodbridge Starbucks, it's definitely not my favorite either.  It's always pretty noisy.
• 6:10 p.m. Qdoba Mexican Grill - $5.97.  There was another predicted Rapture and so I wanted my last meal (even if I didn't believe in it) to be here.
• 6:39 p.m. CVS/pharmacy - $11.37.  I was exhausted after driving from Maryland to Virginia again.  I just wanted to be able to chill the next day.  So I bought everything I was out of.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 (Free)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23 ($13.37)

• 8:40 p.m. Walgreens - $8.69.  It turned out that I was out of more than I thought I was.  Oops.  It wouldn't be a Sunday without running out of something.
• 9:01 p.m. 7-Eleven - $4.68.  And, of course, I couldn't go to Walgreens without getting burritos on the way home.  And a Slurpee since I was starting to get a bit of a sore throat.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24 ($20.17)

• 12:20 p.m. IKEA - $5.74.  Even though they had gotten rid of their Monday special on pasta, I got macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes.  They didn't hurt my throat.
• 1:42 p.m. FedEx Kinko's - $14.43.  Faxes are so expensive from this FedEx.  Yet another reason to want to leave Virginia.  But this was the last bit of paperwork we needed to send to the complex.

So that's $258.89.  Pretty expensive but hopefully all worth it.  I have a feeling that once I get to Maryland, I'll actually want to leave the house less because I can.  But hopefully the applications that I fill out in the 19 days (yes, I'm counting them) before I move to Rockville will pan out now that I have this new advice site at my disposal.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $8603.60.

How I Spent The Forty-First Week Of The Rest Of My Life

I'm really not sure how my interview went on Monday.  Besides phone interviews, it was the first one that I've had in over a decade.  It did seem a little bit short but thorough.  They seemed to ask every question that they could and I brought up all that I could about what would separate me out from other interviewees (if they existed).  I'm not holding out hope since it seemed like a mediocre date.

But with a girl that I really kind of liked.  And will still be Facebook (er idealist.org) stalking looking for another chance.

By Thursday, I was looking elsewhere by attending a job fair in Wheaton.  It was much better than the one that I went to in Arlington.  It was mostly retail (which I wouldn't mind working at once I moved to Rockville if I was in school at the same time) but I dropped my resume off with two of the staffing companies which were there (once which I had applied at a few jobs on Careerbuilder or Monster with).

Then I dropped by the area where they were critiquing resumes.  The woman who did so cut out my GPA and said to just list my college "volunteer" positions as jobs since I was paid for them.  Although I'm going to miss listing my germane accomplishments as an intern.  Getting old is no fun.

---

Speaking of settling down, I put down a security deposit on the place my brother and I will (hopefully) be living in Rockville on Thursday.  I finally managed to convince him to live in a complex about a block north of the one that he wanted to live in.  If we get it, it's right behind a shopping center and off of Rockville Pike.

I'm just hoping that my credit comes back good enough to live there.  They seem to be pretty strict.  I'm feeling good about it though.  Better than my job prospects of working in an office right now at least.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11 ($41.12)

• 2:00 p.m. Amici's Restaurant - $9.00.  At this point, I'm such a regular that I should be getting free food.  Of course that's wishful thinking.
• 2:59 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  Since I wanted to write a blog entry on Michael Goldman 2.0, I decided to go back to Starbucks and get some peace.
• 4:16 p.m. Great Clips - $17.00.  Not knowing why except that I felt a bit scruffy, I decided that this would be the day that I finally got a haircut.  It was amazing that it was actually empty this day.
• 4:26 p.m. Harris Teeter - $11.12.  I bought a bunch of burritos even though I had a car.  The rest was just too expensive.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12 (Free)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13 ($55.70)

• 10:54 p.m. Sheetz - $33.13.  Knowing that I had a lot of driving to do to look for apartments, it was time to finally fill up my rental car.
• 12:01 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I had a webinar to watch.  Unfortunately, the internet didn't work at all so I gave up.
• 1:21 p.m. Big Cheese Truck - $6.75.  The good thing about the fact that I couldn't watch my webinar was that I actually got to Friendship Heights to catch the Big Cheese Truck before it left.  Barely.
• 6:10 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  While looking for apartments all day, I came across some complexes that weren't in the book.  I used the working internet at this Bethesda Starbucks.
• 9:10 p.m. Taco Bell - $5.73.  I had received word about my interview earlier and I visited apartments that I liked.  I didn't want to head back to Virginia.  At least I got burritos.
• 9:44 p.m. Walgreens - $2.09.  Even running out of soap wasn't as bad with a car.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 ($16.68)

• 3:03 p.m. Noodles & Company - $6.30.  I'm not going to lie.  The fact that there's a Noodle & Company in the Congressional Mall really did win me over to the neighborhood (especially after looking for apartments after not eating all morning).  I hadn't had it since I left Chicago.
• 4:37 p.m. Interfuel - $10.38.  Topping off the car in Springfield turned out to be an adventure.  Apparently there are two Budgets in the city.  Luckily, the wrong one was by a gas station.
• 5:17 p.m. Budget Car Rental - Free.  Returning the Kia Soul was very disappointing.  I really had started to love that car.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 (Free)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16 ($14.00)

• 6:07 p.m. IHOP - $10.00.  Any day with pumpkin pancakes can't be a bad day.  They were so good.  I didn't even mind walking there in the cold for them.
• 6:45 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  Even though I knew I had an interview the next day, I figured it couldn't hurt to apply for a couple more jobs.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 ($43.09)

• 8:31 a.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  Not wanting to be late for my interview, I took a really early train.  So early that the FedEx to print out a copy of my references wasn't even open yet.
• 9:26 a.m. FedEx Office - $2.61.  They had pretty paper that was worth the wait to print out on.
• 10:31 a.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I don't know why I expected the interview to fill up enough of my day to not have to figure out what to do with the rest of it.  I decided to head over to my usual Starbucks even though I didn't bring my gym clothes.
• 12:56 p.m. Chipotle Mexican Grill - $9.00.  Eating seemed like a good idea even though I was in an application groove.
• 1:22 p.m. Kogod Courtyard - Free.  After eating, I had pretty lost my mojo.  But it was still too early to take the VRE home.
• 2:53 p.m. Safeway - $17.39.  Despite having had a car for the majority of the prior week, I never took it to go grocery shopping.  Instead I waited until I got to the city.
• 5:16 p.m. Subway - $6.09.  My grocery bags pretty much exploded as I got off the train home in Manassas.  Luckily the owner of this subway knows me and gave me Subway bags to replace them.

So that's $170.59.  But that was in a week where I may have gotten a job and an apartment.  Or maybe neither.  Hopefully both.  Who knows.  Anyway at least it was a week that showed some hope for the future in some ways.  I still keep thinking once I get out of Virginia, my life will look up completely.  So far everything in Maryland has pointed to that being the case.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $8344.71.

How I Spent The Fortieth Week Of The Rest Of My Life

Looks like I'm not going to break the record for most job applications without an interview that I have unintentionally gotten close to setting.  I sent my resume out 141 times before I heard anything back besides rejections.  On the 142nd time, on a resume that I sent at 9:37 p.m., I got an e-mail back that an organization I greatly admire was looking for a part-time web assistant and that they would like to talk to me about my interest in the position.

Now, I admit, I would rather have heard about the other job I applied for there immediate before this one, but I'm not going to turn down any offer for an interview.  I want to earn money for something more than looking for work.  And they seem really eager to interview me.  They asked if I was available to interview the next day.  I was looking for apartments.  But I have an interview with this organization at 10:00 a.m. on Monday.

And, to boot, I got a call about a web designer position with a temp agency while about to go into a restaurant for food yesterday.  While I wasn't qualified (the position was more about back end architecture than updating content), it was still good to hear from two potential employers within 24 hours of each other.

It makes me want to send out more applications late at night and on the weekends.  I mean, how much devotion does that show?

---

As far as the apartment search is going, I spent the last two days solid looking for places in North Bethesda and Rockville.  The place that my brother loved still has no openings, but a place next door - that isn't quite as nice - but, again right next door does have openings.

Chances are the place I do get a job (or most of my temp assignments if this full-time or part-time thing doesn't pan out quickly) are going to be on that branch of the Red Line, I might as well give up and say that I'm going to live in Rockville.

I actually quite like that area of the city.  And it's pretty close to the Twinbrook stop.  Realistically, I should be making a list of all of the places that I've seen and sending it, with pictures, to my brother rather than applying for jobs tomorrow.  But, hey, this getting called back is addicting.  I want more of it.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4 ($9.00)

• 6:29 p.m. Amici's Restaurant - $9.00.  After putting off changing my resume for almost a week, I finally decided to just carb it up and get on the horse.  The cheap Tuesday buffet was good for that.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5 ($19.39)

• 1:55 p.m. IKEA - $7.00.  Since I stayed home to participate in a chat online, I decided to go to Starbucks to send out resumes and participate in another chat.  IKEA was a good place to eat that was close.
• 2:53 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  While I sat in the Starbucks, I applied for one job and participated in a Klout chat.  I think the second thing was more worthwhile.
• 7:09 p.m. Potomac Mills Mall - $8.39.  I forgot to take into account that I stayed at Starbucks past a decent bus home.  So I just ate at the Mediterranean place in the mall.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6 ($22.74)

• 11:46 a.m. Wisconsin Sports Club - Free.  Even though my plan was to look in Wheaton at an apartment that my brother and I saw, I decided to stop at the gym on the way.
• 1:15 p.m. Roti Mediterranean Grill - $8.52.  Also on the way to Wheaton was the Roti on New York Avenue.  This had been the only one I didn't enjoy.  It was better this time.
• 2:16 p.m. Starbucks Coffee - $4.00.  The Starbucks in Wheaton was way more full than most of the ones that I had been to in the suburbs.  Wheaton reminded me of my hometown a lot.  I ended up calling apartments instead of applying for jobs.
• 8:20 p.m. Walgreens - $4.99.  Having run out of Benadryl, I walked back to the Walgreens from the bus stop.
• 8:27 p.m. 7-Eleven - $5.23.  I wanted a burrito even though it was too cold to want a Slurpee.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7 ($196.59)

• 1:11 p.m. Potomac Mills Mall - $10.06.  Since I missed the bus that I wanted to take, I ended up eating at Sbarro at the mall.  The fact that I ate at the mall twice in a week made me want to move more.
• 3:39 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I didn't want to rent my car too early so I stopped by the Starbucks in Alexandria and applied for jobs.
• 6:28 p.m. Budget Car Rental - $175.54.  Renting this car, I realized that I didn't have enough money set aside to get insurance on the car.  I also found out that Budget takes debit cars.  I got a Kia Soul.  It did not come with rapping hamsters.
• 7:38 p.m. Taco Bell - $6.99.  As long as I had a car, I was going to eat my "road trip" food.  Even if I wasn't planning on taking a road trip.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8 ($51.57)

• 10:10 a.m. Sheetz - $28.17.  The rental car place gave me the car at a little under half a tank.  I figured I'd try this gas station on the way to I-95.
• 3:31 p.m. Congressional Deli - $6.40.  After looking at apartments in Rockford all morning and not eating, I was pretty famished.  This little deli turned out to be a Korean place.  But they still made a mean veggie burger.
• 8:55 p.m. Hard Times Cafe - $17.00.  My brother wanted to watch the Tigers game.  The place we were staying at was close to a Hooters, but I wanted to take my brother to an authentic D.C. chain bar.  So I brought him to Hard Times' Rockville location.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9 ($9.44)

• 4:55 p.m. Tyson Corner Center - $9.44.  After another day of looking at apartments all morning and not eating, had I not eaten at a Mediterranean place here, I probably would have crashed my rental car.
• 6:49 p.m. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial - Free.  We met up with one of my brother's friends from Arlington and played tourist.  This new monument is amazing.  And I actually got a photo taken of me with my glasses.
• 7:17 p.m. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial - Free.  This is my brother's friend's favorite memorial.  It looks cool in the dark but I like it better during the day.
• 8:02 p.m. Lincoln Memorial - Free.  My brother's friend has lived here for a bit longer than me, but I taught her about the museum beneath the memorial.  She showed us where the Einstein statue was, but it was too dark to see.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 10 ($10.09)

• 12:01 p.m. Extra Space Storage - Free.  I was a nice guy and didn't make my brother drive his stuff to Virginia.  My storage unit is still pretty empty even with his stuff in it.
• 5:26 p.m. Subway - $6.09.  With a car, it was much less of a pain to drive to the Subway.  Though I did feel bad about driving.
• 6:01 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  Knowing that I wasn't going to blog last week's entry unless I locked myself in a Starbucks, I went there.  And got stuff done.

So that's $318.82.  It feels like a went on a road trip both monetarily and physically.  And the sad thing is that I don't even think my brother and I saw the apartment we're going to move into.  I'm thinking I probably saw that this week.  Though I'm going to look at a few more places near the train next week.  If I'm not fully employed and otherwise disposed of that is. My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $8174.12.

How I Spent The Thirty-Ninth Week Of The Rest Of My Life

This has certainly been a busy week.  That's why it's been almost two weeks since my last post.  I didn't find a job, but the second best thing happened - I'm finally getting out of Woodbridge!

In the back of my mind, I always wondered when my younger brother was going to end up in the Washington D.C. area, but it turned out to be far earlier than even I expected.  He got a potential job with the FDA in Rockville.  And while it's a bit disconcerting that he's gotten three government jobs in shorter than the time it's taken me to find one, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.  He needs a roommate since he's having a hard time finding a way out of his lease in Indianapolis.

We've been looking for places all weekend.  He wants to live in Rockville since a lot of the places in Silver Spring apparently have roach problems - that were never mentioned in reviews of Rockville properties.  Though the Silver Spring properties are right on Colesville Road and I love seeing the city.  I'm even willing to pay $800 per month to live in the living room of one of the giant one bedrooms in one.

We'll see who wins the war of wills.  Either way, I'll be living in a city that people (including, hopefully, potential employers) have heard of for more things than an IKEA being there.

Also exciting that in order to be able to get around Maryland this weekend, I rented a car.  This means that I'll be able to better get around for the entire week.  I think I'm going to go to Ocean City on Wednesday.  Though after driving so much this weekend (especially visible since the car has 5 miles on it when I got it), I'm not sure if I want to drive anywhere for the rest of this week while I have the car.

Here's how I "spent" the last week:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 (Free)

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 ($14.70)

• 2:44 p.m. Subway - $6.09.  My marathon of webinars continued well into this week.  Instead of eating lunch, I sat online.  By the time I reached the Subway, I was a hungry mess.
• 3:06 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I knew that I had a blog entry that I wanted to write and that I would do it unless I was at a Starbucks.  It worked.
• 5:08 p.m. Harris Teeter - $4.61.  There hasn't been much food in my apartment for a few weeks.  I decided to go extra cheap and get a bunch of burritos for the week.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 ($18.43)

• 9:45 a.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  In yet another day of webinars, I needed to make sure to be by wi-fi by 10:00 a.m. I managed to make it into the city just in time for this cast.
• 1:51 p.m. Chipotle Mexican Grill - $7.00.  After applying for a few jobs after the webinar, I finally made my way over to Chipotle for a late lunch.
• 2:10 p.m. Kogod Courtyard - Free.  This was a chance to apply for more jobs before attending a seminar on resume writing, but I decided not to do any more damage before I learned how to properly write a resume.
• 4:23 p.m. Farragut Square - Free.  After all of the writing that I had done, I needed to decompress and do some reading instead.  This was a good place to do it.
• 5:27 p.m. Shake Shack - $7.43.  Unlike the last time I attended a networking session, I decided to eat and be in tip top shape for this seminar.  This place's mushroom burger is pretty good.  I couldn't even taste the mushrooms.
• 6:01 p.m. The Meyer Foundation - Free.  The most useful piece of information that I got out of this seminar was that my three page resume was too long.  Most people are looking for a one page summary resume.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 ($20.53)

• 12:02 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  I found it really weird that after attending the resume seminar the day before, I wanted to apply for jobs more than go to the gym.  But I still did the latter.
• 1:46 p.m. Truckeroo - $12.75.  Not wanting to miss a chance to get many of the food trucks in D.C. in one place, I attended my fourth Truckeroo of the season.  I've yet to miss one yet.
• 3:17 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  The long day the day before has exhausted me.  Still, I decided to try to go to Starbucks and redesign this resume.  I got some bad news there and so I just ended up sitting there feeling awful instead.
• 7:03 p.m. Taco Bell - $3.78.  After my really awful day, I needed some Taco Bell to make me happy again.  It mostly worked.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1 (Free)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2 ($5.28)

• 8:46 p.m. 7-Eleven - $5.28.  Fall had begun in earnest in the D.C. the day before.  But I still craved a Slurpee.  And some of their unhealthy burritos.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3 ($37.76)

• 11:51 a.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  After my horrible Friday had spread into a horrible weekend, I needed to de-stress at the gym.
• 1:05 p.m. Panda Express - $3.30.  Arriving in Columbia Heights, I saw the Panda Express and realized that I hadn't been to a Panda Express since I left Chicago.  It was as mediocre, yet satisfying, as I remember it being.
• 1:15 p.m. Target - $24.37.  Since the weather seemed to be getting colder, I figured that I needed to get a hoodie before it was too cold to leave my house and get one.
• 1:59 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I wanted to go to my "original" Starbucks in D.C. but it was really full so I ended up back in Chinatown.  Where I still didn't apply for any jobs since I didn't feel well.
• 4:59 p.m. Subway - $6.09.  The fact that I wanted to take a nice nap when I got home had me stopping at Subway after taking an early train.

So that's $96.70.  I think this might have been my first week under $100.00 in months.  Of course, I spent more than that on the rental car this week so I more than made up for my lack of spending.  Once I'm in Maryland, I'm going to definitely have better luck than I did in Virginia with bringing money in than I did in Virginia.  It just feels more right.  So it was worth it.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $7855.30.

How I Spent The Thirty-Eighth Week Of The Rest Of My Life

Even though I don't have much new to say since this weekend, I'm going to get this entry out of the way.  I've been itching to write another entry on multiple Twitter personalities on my @MGoldman2_0 blog for a few days, but I just had to get this one out of the way first.  That, and I'm now four pages behind on applying for jobs on idealist.org.

I feel as though I slowed up in September just as I should be pushing harder.  But I feel good about this final push into October.  I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with my strategy and theory at least.  My Michael Goldman 2.0 Twitter account now has 50 followes (all gained "white hat" for the record).  I'm just wondering what a critical mass will be before the 91% of employers who check social media believe in my skills.

Though, if they don't decide to soon, there was one major development this week...

Michael Goldman 2.0 is now a licensed LLC in the Commonwealth of Virginia!

Yes, on Saturday night, September 24, 2011, I paid $100.00 so I can now charge money for consulting services.  Of course, I don't have any clients.  And I don't plan on charging since I'm just doing this to gain experience.  I'm just hoping the three little (though very meaningful) letters put potential clients at ease.  Of course, I'm still not sure if I should put it on my resume.  I'm guessing that it would scare potential employers away more than attract them.

Still, pretty exciting.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 ($5.25)

• 3:46 p.m. Subway - $5.25.  I had planned on going into the city, but I couldn't even get past Springfield.  Luckily, I had a place to crash in Springfield.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 ($31.10)

• 7:33 a.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  The one bad part about staying in Springfield is vacating the premises at 6:00 a.m.  But I was able to sleep in a bit by taking a shower at the gym after my workout.
• 8:51 a.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  It's too bad that I don't drink coffee because I could sure have sure used the caffeine.  Even though my day was just starting, I was already exhausted.
• 1:22 p.m. Chipotle Mexican Grill - $7.00.  I needed carbs badly after spending that long in Starbucks.  Once I had some food, my shaking decreased
• 2:15 p.m. Kogod Courtyard - Free.  The Portrait Gallery's courtyard was a pretty amazing place to sit and not apply for jobs.  I was too tired to write a cover letter.
• 3:50 p.m. Fado Irish Pub - $7.50.  I wanted to watch the Fulham v. Chelsea Carling Cup match, but it wasn't televised.  At least the lack of a match I wanted to watch kept me relatively sober.
• 5:08 p.m. FedEx Kinkos - $1.05.  As usual, I forgot to print up the ticket for the event at I was going to.  Turns out I got out at the wrong Metro stop to get here quickly.
• 5:56 p.m. Washington Hilton - $6.11.  I thought it was so cool that the social media networking event I went to was in a historic place like this.  I thought it was even cooler that I was not the only unemployed person there.
• 10:39 p.m. McDonald's - $5.44.  There was no way that I could make it all the way home since I didn't eat dinner.  But, amazingly, even on the verge of low blood sugar, the Filet O' Fish and french fries here were terrible.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 (Free)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 ($20.00)

• 12:08 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  Even though I got to the city late, I needed a trip to the gym to recover from Wednesday's incredibly long day.
• 12:51 p.m. Chipotle Mexican Grill - $7.00.  It's becoming a habit to wait in this huge line for a burrito bowl.  I need to find a new restaurant.
• 1:12 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  After wasting a couple of days this week, I had to do an epic day of job applications.  And I did.  It helped that my weekend plans were cancelled though.
• 5:06 p.m. Roti - $9.00.  I felt pretty blah and run down despite all that I had done.  But before catching the train home, I knew a place that would cheer me up for sure.  It worked.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 (Free)

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 ($8.51)

• 8:03 p.m. Walgreens - $3.66.  This wasn't a crucial trip to Walgreens, but they donated a flu shot with every Foursquare check-in, so I went and bought new shaving cream a couple of days early.
• 8:23 p.m. 7-Eleven - $4.85. I spent my day watching football for fantasy purposes.  Since I won one of my matchups, I rewarded myself with a Slurpee.  And some delicious microwave burritos.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 ($56.93)

• 10:56 a.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  Since I was trying to finish a book that I was reading, I left my phone in my locker.  I accidentally left my deodorant at home as well.  It was a short session.
• 12:43 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I decided just to spend the day in Alexandria.  As usual, the Eisenhower Avenue Starbucks had a lot of outlets and was conducive to applying for jobs.
• 4:43 p.m. Fairlington Pizza - $15.43.  We checked out a pizza hole in the wall near my friend's new place.  She didn't like, but I loved it.
• 5:32 p.m. Ramparts Tavern & Grill - $15.00.  Knowing we were going to see a sad movie, we went drinking at another place near my friend's place.
• 6:25 p.m. AMC Hoffman Center 22 - $22.50.  Love that the girl I'm seeing thinks movies like The Debt are date movies.  I'm going to have to drag her to a romcom though with all of these serious movies.

So that's $121.79.  The fact that I'm stuck at home again tomorrow due to another webinar should keep this week's costs relatively low.  Though that's turning out not to be the problem.  With all the time I have, it's using it correctly.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $7758.60.