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

While I have yet to actually set foot in Washington D.C., I am here.  My credit cards are changed over to my temporary Virginia address - even if I haven't yet set up a bank account to pay them.  I spent today learning the bus system in the area.  At least what there is of it.  There is one bus line that takes me to pretty much where I need to go (including the highlight of suburban existence - the mall) down Prince William Parkway.  I haven't explored how to get into the city yet.  I'm leaving that until tomorrow.

My adjustment period has been slightly hampered by the fact that Chicago gave me a going away present of some sort of sickness.  I was pretty much confined to bed all day yesterday.  But since I was sleeping all day, I didn't get my weekly wrap-up of expenses done.  So before I get too far behind, I'm just going to write it now.

Even if this blog entry is going to be pretty much nothing but this.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, APRIL 26 ($49.90)

• 9:14 a.m. Firekeeper's Casino - $5.00.  Since I didn't go to the casino in Wisconsin Dells and this shiny new casino had beckoned to me from the side of I-94 more than once, I decided to stop.  Right from the start, I made the mistake of playing video blackjack and lost a bunch.  Then I made up a little playing video poker before I pretty much blew the last of it.  It's not like I was trying to make any money.
• 10:42 a.m. Waffle House Of America - $8.00.  Another place that I had built up in my mind on many travels between Detroit and Chicago.  This one did not turn out to be even slightly good.  The portion was tiny and it wasn't cheap.  There used to be two of them but the other not-Waffle House closed.  I'm not surprised.
• 11:31 a.m. Steel City - $25.89.  I had forgotten that my favorite Taco Bell on the way home (I was still hungry, the portions at the not-Waffle House were that small) was attached to a BP.  I ended up going across the street.  It took going to two pumps since one pump was completely broken.
• 1:55 p.m. Best Buy - Free.  Returning the incorrectly bought power cord for a laptop turned out to be relatively painless.  And I got paid back in cash which was an extra bonus.
• 2:07 p.m. Valero - $5.00.  When I saw how much gas prices were in the city, I was glad that I only had to top my tank up and was not using the car to drive around (though I wish I had ran a couple of more errands). This was barely over a gallon.
• 2:15 p.m. Taco Bell - $6.01.  My road habits died hard and I needed to get some "road fuel" one last time.  It was about all I could do to keep going as my driving was finally beginning to catch up to me.
• 3:11 p.m. Alamo Car Rental - Free.  Thank goodness for CDW insurance.  All I know is that they didn't even look at the police report from when I skimmed the deer.  I think the employee threw it out.  After dropping off the car, I went home, went to sleep, and woke up the next morning.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 ($33.00)

• 9:44 a.m. El Charro - $5.00.  When I woke up from my long nap, the first thing I took to doing was throwing out heavy objects.  This was not a great idea on an empty stomach so I decided to get some breakfast at my old standby.  It's a good thing I didn't realize it would be my last time.  That would have been sad.
• 1:01 p.m. North Community Bank - Free.  The balance on my checking account was fluctuating.  When I went to withdraw money for my birthday week, I decided to check it out.  It turns out that many gas stations authorize $100.00 on the account.  This made my balance scary low.
• 1:49 p.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free.  This was my 99th visit to the gym and it came the day before my birthday.  It might be the only day that I'm aware of that I went to the gym both years that I was a member.  It feels like it should be a yearly tradition.
• 3:31 p.m. Atlas Cafe - $3.00.  Clint Dempsey scored two goals in the Fulham match while I was at the gym so I decided to grab a tea and watch him go for his hat trick at the cafe.  He didn't end up getting it and I couldn't get their wi-fi to work properly anyway.
• 7:12 p.m. La Bocca Della Verita - $25.00.  Since I already had plans on my birthday dinner, I decided to treat myself to the #1 restaurant on my Chicago Restaurant Bucket List.  It turned out to be a disappointment as they made authentic gnocchi.  I loved the sauce, but I would have loved more flavor from the potatoes for the price.

THURSDAY, APRIL 28 ($16.35)

• 9:49 a.m. Wormhole Coffee - $4.35.  Somehow I lost my modem in the rental car and I was getting behind on birthday e-mails.  So I went to the place with the fastest wi-fi that I knew of in Chicago.  I probably could have stayed there all day, but I still had cleaning to do.
• 11:59 a.m. Cumin - $12.00.  I hadn't planned on staying at Wormhole as long as I did.  But it ended up spilling right into the time of this Indian place that I've always wanted to try's lunch buffet.  And it was pretty incredible!  Unlike Bocca, it was totally worth the wait.
• 4:59 p.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free.  While I didn't get a free water bottle offer like last year (I don't know what I would have done with it), I went to the gym for the 100th time on my birthday, so I did get a present.  Foursquare's Century Club badge.
• 7:28 p.m. Real Tenochtitlan - Free.  This was truly one of my more forgettable birthdays.  I was glad at everyone who showed up, but after my going away shindig two weeks before, it was kind of anticlimactic.  But it was very tasty and productive as people took so much of the stuff that I was giving away that I barely had to throw anything out.

FRIDAY, APRIL 29 ($20.00)

• 1:08 p.m. Ay Ay Picante - $20.00.  While I never made it up to Taste of Peru while I lived in Chicago, I did get to try this Peruvian restaurant which had a more extensive vegetarian menu (and specialized in seafood).  I got their potato salad inside an avocado and it was amazing.
• 11:24 p.m. Archie's Iowa And Rockwell Tavern - Free.  My sister had a potluck at her apartment for her half of our shared birthday.  It moved on to the bar near her place but I was too tired and worried about moving heavy things the next day to stay long.

SATURDAY, APRIL 30 ($101.10)

• 1:37 p.m. KFC - $5.91.  I had wanted to get my rental car and run my final errands before lunch but since my landlady wanted me to go through the cleaning that just gets done over by a professional by Chicago ordinance, I was ready to pass out by the time I was done.  The fact that this is the slowest KFC in the world did not help matters.
• 3:18 p.m. Alamo National Car Rental - $89.19.  While I probably could have rented it for one day, it just seemed easier to rent it for two, run my final errands, and then drive myself to the airport.  And it definitely was.  I was even able to drive one of my peeps home from work and he helped me move my T.V.!
• 5:47 p.m. Maiz Anojitos Y Bebidas - $6.00.  This had been told to me as the best Mexican place in Chicago by multiple people and it was definitely good.  Especially since they use cactus.  It's one of the few places I've found in Chicago that does.
• 8:55 p.m. Congress Theater - Free.  It turned out that not only did I save money on airfare by staying in Chicago two extra days, but I also saved money on a concert.  Buffalo Tom in Washington D.C. would have been full price but someone had a free pass for Dead Milkmen.  It was a great show, but I felt like I had forgotten a lot of their songs.

SUNDAY, MAY 1 ($21.63)

• 1:55 p.m. Mitsuwa Marketplace - $15.63.  The one place that I had researched how to get to by public transportation that I could never figure out was this one in Arlington Heights.  Finally having a car again, I enjoyed ramen, Pastry House Hippo, and bubble tea.  This place is nuts though.  It reminds me why I don't want to go to Asia.  Sensory overload!
• 3:51 p.m. McCormick Tribune YMCA - Free.  It was almost sad to be done with my membership here.  While there have been some disgusting run-ins with nudists and people leaving things in lockers without locks, it was generally a good run.
• 5:33 p.m. Jewel-Osco - Free.  After running my other errands, I had completely run out of things to do before dropping off my table in Lakeview.  Thankfully Coinstar takes forever so I was able to kill the last of the waiting time.  After this, my car was empty of all but my last few boxes.
• 7:35 p.m. Bombay Kebab - $6.00.  While it doesn't look like I spent much using this Groupon, an extra $100.00 will need to be tacked on because I got pulled over for looking at my GPS on the way there.  Now I deserve a distracted driving ticket out of karma for all the actual time I've done it, but this pissed me off.  Oh well, parting present to Chicago's coffer for stripping myself from their tax base, I guess.

MONDAY, MAY 2 ($315.53)

• 10:09 a.m. U.S. Post Office - Clemente Branch - $23.01.  Try as I might, there were just certain things that I could not fit in my luggage and that I didn't want to get rid of.  While most of it will go immediately into storage, I had to ship it anyway.  Thankfully it was most soft and fluffy things that are light.
• 10:54 a.m. North Community Bank - Free.  After the huge lines at the post office, I was amazed how quickly my wrapping up at the bank was.  Though I was met with a bit of bad news.  CTA had taken my monthly pass out that morning even though I hadn't used my card.  So I have to wait for a check from them in the mail and was $86 less in my bank account.
• 11:33 a.m. Hot Doug's - Free.  My sister treated me to a last meal in Chicago and my friend showed up as well.  I got my usual three veggie dogs.  I'm going to miss this place a lot.  I need to figure out where the equivalent place is around my new digs.
• 12:22 p.m. Chicago Public Library - Logan Square Branch - Free.  I returned the book that I had meant to read for One Book, One Chicago but barely started.  It's ironic that I will read more of it far away from Chicago than I ever read there.
• 1:11 p.m. Midway Citgo - $31.82.  Somehow I think I returned my car with more gas than was given to me based on how quickly it had dropped to 3/4 of a tank.  Still, even though there were no cheap gas stations around Midway, I filled it up.  Better than in the city.
• 1:33 p.m. Alamo National Car Rental - Free.  Again there were no additional charges since I paid for CDW. Though I didn't do anything bad to any car or any deer this time.
• 1:56 p.m. Chicago Midway International Airport - $224.70.  I had forgotten how much less of a pain that Midway was than O'Hare.  Security was easy.  There was no huge distances to the gate.  If I hadn't left my driver's license inside security, it would have been painless.  They found it right before my plane was scheduled to lift off though.
• 5:20 p.m. Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport - Free.  The greatest thing was that I found the shuttle to the Amtrak station extremely easily.  Though I didn't really have time to do anything else since my plane landed about 30 minutes before the train was scheduled to leave.
• 6:05 p.m. BWI Amtrak/MARC Station - $36.00.  I took what I thought was the direct route by taking the Amtrak.  What I didn't know was that there was a 30 minute layover at Union Station.  So I paid twice as much to save about 30 minutes and a transfer.  Oh well.  I am new here.
• 7:54 p.m. Woodbridge Amtrak - Free.  While it doesn't feel like home yet, this was officially when I arrived with three heavy bags of luggage.  Hopefully I won't leave with that much.  Or on a train.  I am really going to need a car before I move again.

So that's $557.51.  But with that huge number, all of my moving fees are done.  I can't foresee a week costing nearly that much until after I have a job.  Well, I guess if I buy a car with a huge down payment.  Even then, I'll need a job to get financing.  I guess I'll be living on the cheap here in suburban Virginia.  Since there's not very many places I can get with the bus, I won't be able to get in too much trouble anyhow.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $3628.93.