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

Now that it's March, I've got to start getting things done.  I've made a couple of "new month" resolutions that I probably won't keep.  For example, I'm going to try to write a Yelp review every day for the rest of this month so I can clear out my bookmarks of places that I've gone that I haven't reviewed. 

And I'm going to try to go to the gym on a schedule that goes morning-night-off day..., for the rest of the month as well. The reason for this is pretty silly.  It's not to get in shape.  It's so I get 100 check-ins at the McCormick Tribune YMCA before I move.  See, there's a Foursquare badge that requires the longevity of going to a place 100 times.  I've gone to the gym 73 times as of yesterday (I thought it was 74, but there was apparently a miscount in the database).  So 27 more times are going to be required in the 41 days I have left in Chicago.  Maybe 48.  Anyway, not a lot.  Once I move to D.C., it is going to take ages for me to check-in anywhere 100 times probably over a year.  Anyway, end nerdery.

Plus, today in using a Groupon, I walked up Broadway in Lakeview.  There are so many places I want to try there.  A friend of mine suggested that I create my own Chicago Bucket List (http://www.goatking.com/).  I don't know if I'll go that far, but I definitely need to figure out everything I need to do before I leave that I won't want to come back *too* soon.

Though the reception I've been getting when I tell people I'm leaving will probably make me want to do so anyhow.

So the next few weeks might get a little bit spendy.  I'm going to try and keep it under control, but I'm not going to turn down much of any opportunity.

Last week, however, was okay as far as the end of it went.  And this week, I've barely spent anything.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 ($15.00)

• 11:46 a.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free.  It was election day and I figured a bit of time on the treadmill was just what I needed to figure out who to vote for in the 35th Ward Alderman's race.  I was walking next to a loud, broken treadmill, however, so it wasn't really that conducive to thinking.
• 2:12 p.m. Earway Cafe - $12.00.  While I never much liked the food here when I had eaten there in the past, I decided to give it one more chance before I went out of business at the end of the month.  I got a black bean burger.  It was okay, but I'm still not going to much miss this place.
• 3:41 p.m. 35th Ward, 30th Precinct - Free.  Voting.  Right as I went to vote, one of the Alderman candidates, Miguel Sotomayor was doing a poll visit.  I shook his hand, asked him some questions about his qualifications, and then voted for him.  I guess it didn't take much thinking after all.
• 9:24 p.m. Cole's - $3.00.  In an irony to end all ironies, a friend of mine had decided to have her birthday drinks at a bar where Rey Colon, the incumbent Alderman in my neighborhood, was having his Election Night party.  I was actually the second one to shake his hand after his victory was announced.  The funny thing was, I had decided to vote for him before his opponent shook my hand.  I didn't turn down the free drinks and free food.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23 ($11.00)

• 2:48 p.m. Fiesta Mexicana - $9.00.  I'm still not sure if I had ever been to this Mexican restaurant before this day.  If I have it was never sober.  A lot of people I know have this as their go-to place after shows in Uptown.  I found it pretty average.
• 3:37 p.m. Borders - Free.  The Uptown Borders was where I bought most of my travel books for some reason.  My last trip to Italy's guide was bought here.  This time, when I saw that they were still only 20% off, nothing was bought here.  But it was good to make the round to my second favorite Chicago Borders before it closed.
• 4:14 p.m. Metropolis Coffee Shop - $2.00.  Since I don't go to many official Yelp events anymore in Chicago (too big and too much drama), I decided to say goodbye to the CM at a small office hours.  If I drank coffee, it would have been free.  But the discount on my Italian Soda was nice.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24 ($21.49)

• 12:08 p.m. Aldi - $15.95.  I woke up starving and needed to go to Aldi before I could even think about running any of the other errands that I needed to.  Of course I played on the internet and managed to not go there until noon.  And then I came home and went back to sleep.
• 2:53 p.m. Chicago Public Library - Logan Square Branch - $1.00.  The goal of my going to the library was to print out tax forms so I could get my refund (which will, hopefully, be used to pay for most of my potential car).  I ended up filing for deferments on my student loans.  That was something I should have done long before.
• 3:57 p.m. US Post Office - Clemente Branch - $.54.  I needed to mail in the attestation that I didn't turn down any job offers in my prior certification for unemployment.  I ended up waiting in line for a long time as I don't have any envelopes in my apartment.
• 8:01 p.m. Logan Theater - $4.00.  With Chicago about to be fading into my rearview mirror, what better movie to see than the most Chicago movie of 2011 so far, The Dilemma.  It was okay.  But what was awesome was a scene was shot on Milwaukee Avenue about three blocks south of my apartment.
• 10:22 p.m. Walgreens - $1.08.  I had a free Redbox rental code for friending them on Facebook.  I used it to rent The Expendables.  It was mantastically predictable!  Of course I returned it late the next day, so it wasn't free.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25 ($10.25)

• 12:16 p.m. Bubbleland - $3.40.  I didn't even bother to check if the washing machine in my building was fixed this time.  Bubbleland is less stressful any day of the week.
• 12:53 p.m. KFC - $6.85.  Even though I looked relatively homeless on this visit, I did not get a reduced price on my sides.  And they are just not worth the full price.  Still, I was just that hungry.
• 4:16 p.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free.  This was one of the errands (as was laundry) that I had planned to run the day before.  The last one.
• 10:15 p.m. Celtic Crown Public House - Free.  One of the good things about leaving Chicago and being unemployed is people pay for my drinks.  I had drank a beer watching The Expendables before leaving and someone chipped in for my part of a table topper we got as well as a snakebite I got (including tip).  The food came free with my Foursquare check-in. Nice!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26 ($47.62)

• 12:05 p.m. Rally To Save The Middle Class - Free.  Since I hope to work in the Department of Labor (but I'll take a job pretty much anywhere in D.C.), this rally was very interesting to me.  Also I stand behind the Wisconsin 14 completely.  I hate what Governor Walker is doing with every fiber of my being.
• 1:11 p.m. Qdoba Mexican Grill - $6.43.  Even though I've been going to Chipotle a lot, Qdoba is my favorite fast food burrito place (I don't count Taco Bell).  When I saw one walking back to the train from the rally, I had to stop in.
• 1:58 p.m. Walgreens - $14.19.  The headphones I had been wearing to the gym were so broken that they were annoying me.  I bought a new pair here.  Of course, the fabric ripped while I was putting them on the buds, but I figure they're cheap enough.
• 8:18 p.m. The Southern - $18.00.  I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I had to try to make all three birthday parties I had scheduled in the evening.  This one involved a $25.00 unlimited drink package, but I decided to drink cheap beer (Lone Star) and get macaroni and cheese instead.
• 9:49 p.m. Two Way Lounge - $3.00.  My friend's husband's band was playing her birthday party (well, was playing Two Way so she made her birthday party around it).  I got off well for this one since there were pitchers going around (pre-paid) after I got my first Old Style.
• 12:46 a.m. Lokal - $6.00.  I could barely stand anymore by the time I made it back down to Wicker Park for the final birthday party.  But they had a Polish beer that I was too drunk to remember.  Too drunk to even record it on Untappd.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 (Free)

• 6:02 p.m. Gyood! - Free.  I used my first of two Gyood! Groupons to get one of their blizzard imitations.  I found it kind of bland.  What was amazing was it was a $10.00 Groupon and I had to get a large one of these and a soda to even come close to hitting the price.
• 7:53 p.m. Congress Theater - Free.  This Dropkick Murphys ticket was bought so long ago, that I think it had faded a little.  I sat in the balcony and enjoyed as the die-hards went crazy below.  This was the first of three Celtic Punk shows coming up in two weeks.  The other two are going to hit my current bottom line.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28 (Free)

• 5:07 p.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free.  While I meant to go all weekend, at least I ended Feburary on a gym attending note.  So that was something.

So that's $105.36. Had it not been for my night of 1000 birthdays (I actually turned down one invitation), I would have gotten by so cheaply I would have wondered if I had stayed in bed all week.  Groupon, Foursquare, and self-control (mostly) actually did their job for once!  My total money spent while I've been unemployed is $1159.78.