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

The best news is that even though I haven't blogged in a week, I'm still very much alive and well.  The second best news is that all of my stuff is living in Woodbridge, Virginia (even if I am not quite there yet).  The third best news is that my parents want my old television for the second bedroom (and that my new roommates are giving me an old TV once I get my own place).  We'll see how the logistics on that one work out.  The fourth best news is that this driving has killed my desire to be anywhere but home (no matter where that is) for a while.

The other good news this week is that I'm starting to hear back from some of the jobs I've applied for in Washington D.C.  Both of them have been rejection letters, but at least it's something (though today I got rejected from the Health and Human Services job I really wanted).  I like how the government handles the wording.  It reads as follows:

"We have reviewed your application and found you qualified for the position listed above.  However, you were not among the most highly qualified candidates. Therefore, your name will not be referred to the employing agency at this time."


So at least I know I'm not barking up the wrong tree here seeking jobs.  And now that I can put that I'm immediately available and at a Virginia address, it should help in the process. 


Right now, I'm resting at my parents' apartment in Michigan before heading the final 200 miles or so home.  So I finally have a chance to add up last week's receipts.  Just in time for tomorrow.  I've spent about $100 a day including the car so it's pretty much been like my vacation to Wisconsin Dells this week.  But way more productive and interesting.  I just want to say that Niagara Falls (Ontario at least) is what Wisconsin Dells probably once was.


Here's how I "spent" last week:


TUESDAY, APRIL 12 ($31.37)

• 2:00 p.m. Aldi - Milwaukee - $16.37.  Buying exactly one week's worth of groceries was challenging when it wasn't my only option.  When it was, I ended up not knowing what to buy.  Especially since some of my meals would be on Groupon this week.
• 7:34 p.m. High Dive - $15.00.  Part of the problem was that I didn't know how many times I was actually going to eat at home.  While I could have done so with my new groceries, I knew this would be my last chance to renew an old Tuesday night tradition.  It was definitely worth the extra money.  A lot of people I hadn't seen in a long time showed up.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13 ($29.65)

• 1:55 p.m. Bubbleland - $4.65.  This one cost a little more than usual because, knowing that I would have to lug pretty much every piece of clothing that I owned here, I bought a laundry bag.  I ended up finding out that my landlady had fixed my washer and this was horribly unnecessary.
• 4:53 p.m. Cactus Bar & Grill - $15.00.  While it was odd to go to a going away party that wasn't my own, it was good that I did since I saw a lot of the people that I wanted to say goodbye to.
• 10:07 p.m. Bottom Lounge - $6.00.  The party continued after it moved.  But I only got one beer at the second location.
• 11:02 p.m. Cole's - $4.00.  And then the party moved back to Logan Square.  Thankfully, although I was plenty drunk by this time, I was together enough not to fall completely into an alcoholic money trap.

THURSDAY, APRIL 14 ($32.60)

• 11:25 a.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free.  I don't know if this was just mental, but having not been to the gym in three weeks made my bags feel heavier it seemed.  Even moving heavy boxes didn't seem to make up for it.
• 1:17 p.m. Cemitas Pueblas - $8.60.  Even though this place is on the foodie radar, I had never been there since it was so close to my gym.  I didn't worry about the calories as much as it didn't seem that special to me since it was so convenient.  It ended up being really worthwhile as the cemita nearly made me pass out (in a good way) due to all the cheese.
• 1:48 p.m. Logan Theater - $4.00.  Even though I knew my quest to see a movie there each week was drawing to a close, I decided to see a movie this week anyhow.  The King's Speech was playing and I hadn't seen it yet.  It didn't turn out to be quite as boring as I expected.  But I still found it a little dry.  Either way, I was less of a heathen after seeing it.
• 10:51 p.m. Lincoln Hall - $20.00.  Buffalo Tom is playing Washington D.C. on the day that I'm supposed to arrive there.  But knowing that I would probably be delayed in some way, at the last second I decided to see them in Chicago.  And I mean last minute.  I got there exactly two minutes before their set time.  Their new stuff was good, but they might have played a little too much of it.

FRIDAY, APRIL 15 ($12.00)

• 11:48 a.m. Pizzeria Uno - $2.00.  I bought a Groupon for a pizza tour a long time ago.  I ended up getting slices from two pizzerias I love (this one and Giordano's, neither of which we went inside of.  And Pizzeria Ora which was actually my favorite.  The guide was amazing, but $2.00 was all I had in ones.  It wasn't the tip he deserved for his fount of knowledge, but I hope he understood.
• 3:44 p.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free.  Going two days in a row felt a little foreign to me even though it had become a habit.  I figured it would be easy to squeeze in before my birthday festivities.  I forgot to account for nap time.
• 6:35 p.m. Myopic Books - Free.  My second haul at Myopic was larger and turned out to get me much closer to my goal of raising $80.00 as well.  In this case, I sold back $43.00 of books.  Though I still felt like I should have gotten a little more out of the deal.
• 7:24 p.m. The Boiler Room - $5.00.  Another place that I had never been because it was so close to home was this one.  That's why I decided to hold my going away party there.  I ended up getting there first and buying one drink.  I know there were a few more and really good pizza as well.
• 11:22 p.m. Cole's - $5.00.  It was not surprising at all that my going away party ended up here.  And that I got even more drunk.  But I bought only one drink.  Though I may have had more than that.

SATURDAY, APRIL 16 ($22.36)

• 10:50 a.m. Chicago Public Library - Logan Square Branch - $0.40.  Another day late on two more books.  This was my first check-in on Foursquare Day and I felt it somewhat appropriate that I got the Foursquare Day badge at the same place where I had gotten the Super Mayor badge.  Even if I had to "pay" for it.
• 11:51 a.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free.  Even though I knew I had to be somewhere at 2:30 p.m., I thought I had plenty of time to get there.  I didn't rush my workout or anything.  So before I knew it, it was 1:45 p.m.  Oops.
• 2:31 p.m. Record Breakers - Free.  Somehow I managed to get all the way down to the south side of Chicago from Humboldt Park just in time.  But my friend's band started early and was already well into my set when I got there.  Either way, it was good to see them.
• 4:33 p.m. Ian's Pizza - Wrigleyville - $5.50.  Even though I had yet to eat and was feeling really ill, I decided to check another place off of my Chicago bucket list on this day.  I got their lasagna pizza and their macaroni and cheese pizza.  Neither of them were great, but they were both interesting.
• 5:18 p.m. Best Buy - $16.46.  By this point, I felt like I was going to throw up so I knew I needed to go home.  But first I wanted to buy a car charger for my phone.  I knew that without it, GPS would be a losing proposition.  I also wanted to buy a radio trasmitter to listen to my MP3s, but those were far too expensive.

SUNDAY, APRIL 17 ($3.68)

• 1:46 p.m. Square Bar & Grill - Free.  Since I had a Groupon, the person that I went with treated me to the rest of the bill.  This was actually the sixth meal in a row that I had pizza for.  And it was one of the best.  Their Mexican pizza tasted just like nachos on a really good crust.
• 3:28 p.m. Home Depot - $3.68.  I ran out of boxes again.  Thankfully the person I went to lunch with was able to drive me to Home Depot.  She asked if I wanted more than five boxes.  I reluctantly said that five would be enough.  It turned out to be.

MONDAY, APRIL 18 ($351.20)

• 11:08 a.m. U.S. Post Office - Clemente Branch - $4.03.  Even though I had sent in my federal taxes quite a bit before, I waited until the last second to send in my state taxes.  I ended up doing them on Sunday night and am getting back about $20.00.  Usually I just donate it to charity, but I'm pretty much charity this year so I kept it.
• 2:19 p.m. T-Mobile - $32.91.  It turned out the the power cord I had bought two days before was for computers and not for phones.  So I needed to go to T-Mobile on my way to pick up my rental car to make sure I got the correct one.  It was twice as much but would be far more useful.
• 2:49 p.m. Podhalanka - $18.00.  In another attempt to get good Polish food before I move to a place where there isn't much, I stopped short of downtown on the way to pick up the car.  The server was so pushy on the extras that I was almost offended when I got the bill.  I fell for the same trick a year before, so it's my own fault.
• 3:56 p.m. Alamo Car Rental - $296.26.  When I got to the rental car place and found out I had got a hatchback I was a little worried about fitting everything.  But it had Delaware plates so I took that as a sign that it would all work out since it would almost be like driving a local car.
• 5:06 p.m. Jewel-Osco - Free.  This was another errand in which I actually made money. Using their Coinstar machine, I pretty much got $45.00 of cash to spend for gas on the way to Washington D.C.  Although I was reluctant to spend it in anything but an emergency in the back of my mind.
• 8:20 p.m. Fireside Bowl - Free.  Using the first of my Fireside Bowl Groupons, me and two other people were able to bowl two games.  I won the second by two pins.  As I mentioned in the last post, I figured this was a good omen to leave Chicago after.

So that's $482.86.  But over 60% of that was the rental car (an even higher percentage if you count the car electronics that I bought (part of which will be refunded).  That was also a large plurality of my moving expenses before I ever left Chicago as well.  My savings are starting to get a little low so it's good that I'm moving to a place with minimal rent.  Especially since it's a place where I can actually hit the pavement looking for work.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $3071.42.