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

While New York City was expensive, it might prove to be invaluable.  As I was hanging out with my buddy Dan the day before I left, I mentioned that I said that I had Pagemaker experience on my resume.  He pointed out to me politely that Pagemaker no longer exists.  I realized that having this on my resume probably made me look really behind the times.  So I deleted it then and there.  I wonder how many employers have looked at that and shaken their heads before throwing out my applications.

Other than that, New York City was all fun and no work leads.  I didn't even apply for anything in the time I was there (which was probably a bad thing as my bookmarks on idealist.org probably went bad in the meantime.  I never did apply for that job where I needed the references right away.  Though I do know who I'm going to hit up soon to be my references.

About the only other interesting development on the job or expense front in about the last week was that I finally got my security deposit back this morning from my apartment in Chicago.  My landlady deducted $150.00 for cleaning and maintenance expenses, but it will still help.  I kind of messed up my unemployment certification this week, so that won't come in until Monday.  Oops.  But the money rolls out no matter how the money rolls in.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, JUNE 14 ($27.52)

• 11:56 a.m. Ted's Bulletin - $16.00.  Since I was reading The Great Gatsby in anticipation of going to New York City, I decided to go to my favorite 1920s themed restaurant. I got their veggie burger with an egg and cole slaw on top (apparently this was big back then).  It was incredible!
• 12:55 p.m. United States Navy Memorial - Free.  I was running early for the panel I was going to at the Archives, so I decided to sit near the fountains at the Memorial across the street.  It made me want to work at the Archives and take my lunch there every day.
• 1:21 p.m. National Archives and Records Administration - Free.  Seeing a panel with the magnitude of guests (including former Speaker of the House Hastert) discussing their post-9/11 actions for free was kind of amazing.  And they were all pretty impressive.  I don't think I'll ever be a local until former members of Congress no longer make me starstruck.
• 4:51 p.m. Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe - $6.00.  This will probably go down as the worst date that I ever had.  How a girl can talk about work for over an hour and then leave to go back to work is beyond me. I didn't even stay to get dinner.
• 6:51 p.m. Union Station - $5.52.  I needed burritos to get over the shock of how badly things went.  It set off my schedule, but it was worth it.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15 ($42.03)

• 11:07 a.m. Potomac Mills Mall - $1.50.  Despite how long it had taken me to get home the previous night, I made my way back up to the city.  Though since I got a later start, I had to wait a long time for the bus.
• 12:55 p.m. Gadsby's Tavern - $21.00.  Another tribute to The Great Gatsby was eating here - even if this place has more to do with the 1820s than the 1920s.  It was good food, regardess, even if there was only one item on the menu I could eat.  There were not many vegetarians in the 1790s I guess.
• 2:07 p.m. Walgreens - $1.53.  Someone, maybe me, forgot to bring a water bottle to Alexandria and it was starting to get hot.
• 2:35 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I did not know that there was a bad part of Alexandria until I walked through it to get to this Starbucks.  But the Starbucks itself was kind of nice.  It's off the Braddock Road Blue and Yellow Line Stop and had more power outlets so I think I'll be here more often.
• 4:38 p.m. Cuba Libre - $3.00.  My first D.C. Yelp event and I got absolutely trashed on the drinks.  It only took three of them.  It was rum and sake mixed.  Quite an impressive combination.  It was good to meet some of the people that I had seen online.
• 9:01 p.m. Buffalo Wild Wings - $11.00.  I didn't remember that there was no Cross County Connector after a certain time, so I got stranded.  Luckily, I was able to watch the Bruins score a couple goals to ensure their Stanley Cup title here while I waited for the Woodbridge A bus.  And I was starving hungry and got nachos.

THURSDAY, JUNE 16 ($37.85)

• 9:45 a.m. FedEx Office - $4.98.  In my drunken stupor of the past two nights, I did not print out my tickets for the bus as the Groupon specified.  Luckily, the FedEx was on the way.  I also bought pens because those were lacking from my backpack.
• 10:20 a.m. MVP Buses - $20.00.  Even with printing out the tickets, a round trip to New York City was dirt cheap.  The bus wasn't the most luxurious one in the world, but there were no real problems with it.
• 2:02 p.m. Clara Barton Service Area - $7.87.  It was too early to eat lunch when we left from Washington D.C. but by the time we got to New Jersey I was hungry.  But there was nothing for me to eat here.  I ended up getting Cheez-Its and an apple pie for lunch.
• 4:27 p.m. New York Penn Station - Free.  While it was good to see that it took an expert six hours to get to New York just like it took when I drove, I was hoping to get there a little earlier.
• 5:52 p.m. Central Park - Sheep's Meadow - Free.  My backpack felt like it weighed a ton, so I was looking for somewhere free where I wouldn't have to check it.  I wanted to check out Strawberry Fields, but got off the train at the wrong stop.  I ended up just watching yuppies play frisbee here.
• 7:51 p.m. Caffe Via Espresso - $5.00.  Since I couldn't figure out what else to do, I decided to use one of my two New York City Groupons.  It turned out this was a coffee shop even though the Groupon said "diner fare."  It was really good food though.

FRIDAY, JUNE 17 ($41.00)

• 12:29 p.m. Carnegie Deli - $16.00.  The last time I was in New York City, I went the entire time without eating at a deli.  It felt like a sin.  So I decided to get it out of the way early this time.  I was very impressed with their organization and the line was short.  I was not impressed with their egg salad, however, sadly.
• 2:10 p.m. Battery Park - Free.  After my big meal, I figured that I'd walk it off downtown.  By the time I got down there, however, I had decided just to spend time indoors.  Especially when it started to rain as I was figuring out my plans in this park.
• 2:29 p.m. National Museum Of The American Indian - Free.  Even though the main branch is in Washington D.C., I decided to check out its artsier cousin in New York City.  It was pretty cool.  Though it's smaller than the outside of the building would suggest.
• 3:44 p.m. Federal Hall National Memorial - Free.  Each time I'm in New York City, where I'm at in my life seems to guide me to what I see.  This is pretty much a shrine to George Washington straight out of Washington D.C.  So, of course, it felt like home.
• 5:08 p.m. MoMa - Museum of Modern Art - Free.  This is another of the museums that I had never seen in New York City that blew people's minds.  It's just so expensive!  But going on the free night was worth it.  I was amazed at how many of the pieces of art that I knew.
• 6:58 p.m. Starbucks - $5.00.  Since this is the closest Starbucks to MoMA, I wondered to myself how many bad pieces of art had been inspired to be written here.  There were so many tourists (myself included, of course) here that I had to wait for a power cord.
• 8:02 p.m. Connolly's Pub - 54th Street - $20.00.  I was wearing a Black 47 shirt.  They play sessions at the Connolly's in Times Square.  I didn't realize it was sort of a chain so I went to this one when I saw it.  The fish and chips that I got were so subpar that the only reason I will ever go to a Connolly's again is to see Black 47.

SATURDAY, JUNE 18 ($60.00)

• 11:06 a.m. Brooklyn Flea - $6.00.  While I'm not huge on vintage things, I had heard such great things about this market that I had to check it out.  There were some amazing things, like a full set of vintage bowling pins.  I know when I get my own place I'll have to come back and furnish my apartment with stuff from here.
• 11:51 a.m. Tillie's of Brookyln - Free.  I got food at the Flea so I just sat in the wonderful air conditioning for a while.  I should have used the opportunity to get a bagel.
• 4:08 p.m. Coney Island Boardwalk - Free.  We left for the Mermaid Parade after it had already started, but it was still kind of cool.  The parade itself was kind of meh, but seeing how much Coney Island had been rebuilt was pretty amazing.
• 5:06 p.m. M&M Gyro - $3.00.  I left New York City without a knish last time and this time I was going to remedy that.  It wasn't the world's best knish, but there was something special about getting one in Coney Island.
• 6:10 p.m. Lobo Park Slope - $21.00.  On the way home, the locals in the car were trying to figure out where to drink in Brooklyn.  As we passed this place, they all agreed that while everyone made fun of it, they kind of liked this place.  So we got Mexican food.  It wasn't great, but it was definitely nothing to make fun of.
• 7:30 p.m. High Dive - Free.  It's amazing how many free drinks you get when you visit a place.  I owed my host a free drink but everyone else was too busy buying.
• 10:57 p.m. The Green-Wood Cemetery - $30.00.  I had planned on going into Manhattan, but my Brooklyn people convinced me to spend the entire day in the borough.  It was expensive to see a play in a graveyard, but something felt very Brooklyn about it.

SUNDAY, JUNE 19 ($59.00)

• 1:43 p.m. Citi Field - $41.00.  New York Mets fans pay a lot of money for really bad baseball.  As I watched them lose 7-0, I pretty much planned the rest of my day.  I did love the stadium though.  And I got a little baseball helmet ice cream.
• 3:51 p.m. Mets Hall Of Fame & Museum - Free.  With how bad the current Mets are, I was desperate to see them in their glory days.  And there was plenty of that at the museum.  I loved all of the players that I recognized from when I was a kid.
• 4:18 p.m. Flushing Meadows Corona Park - Free.  I'm glad that I went to the Mets game by myself.  It meant I got to wander around the bones of the World's Far.  It was something that I hadn't gotten to do before that I remembered.
• 5:48 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  It was funny how many hot women just wandered through this Starbucks to use the restroom.  I needed to do that too, but I also got iced tea lemonade while trying to figure out which Greek diner to go to.
• 6:52 p.m. Mike's Diner - $14.00.  After racking my mind, I ended up going to a Greek diner basically under the train tracks.  I finally got my Greek omelette.  It wasn't great, but it felt like heaven.  I also ate chicken pieces in a really good egg lemon soup.  I didn't even care.  It was that good.
• 8:42 p.m. Socrates Sculpture Park - Free.  Amazingly, I managed to spend the entire day in Queens.  The views of Manhattan from this park were great.  Though walking to the train was kind of scary.

MONDAY, JUNE 20 ($72.97)

• 11:28 a.m. St. Paul's Chapel - $1.00.  Having spent time outside of Manhattan the past two days, I decided this day would be completely spent across the East River. Being in lower Manhattan is less depressing than it used to be, but St. Paul's is still a very sad place.
• 11:57 a.m. 9/11 Memorial Preview Site - Free.  I barely got inside and looked around before they closed it down with an event for the Mayor of New York.  It seems like a nice museum that will be transferred over soon.
• 12:19 p.m. Alan's Falafel WTC 2 - $3.00.  The knish that I had got in Brooklyn just wasn't the same as buying on from a street vendor and eating it on a bench.  There were workers from the World Financial Center, but mostly it was construction workers.
• 12:51 p.m. Irish Hunger Memorial - Free.  I hadn't planned on going here, but somehow I ended up on this quiet patch of grass on Vesey Street like I do so much.
• 1:34 p.m. Trinity Church Cemetery - Free.  Even though it makes me feel a little gothy, all of the cemeteries that I visited in New York City were historic.  Although I never did find Alexander Hamilton's grave in this one.
• 2:55 p.m. South Street Seaport - $11.54.  Since I usually stay in Brooklyn, I have the hardest time catching up with my friend Dan from Manhattan.  We met up and walked over here though where I got real sushi.  Well as real as you can get in a food court and a smoothie.
• 4:04 p.m. LES Visitors Center - Free.  While I found it odd that the person working there lived in Williamsburg, I found it odder that the Lower East Side now has a visitor's center.  It really has made it.
• 4:14 p.m. Tiengarden - $8.43.  Walking uptown gave me a hunger to try some soup.  It was more that my friend Dan talks about all of these amazing vegetarian places in NYC and I wanted to eat at one since he was anyway.
• 6:05 p.m. Motor City Bar - $12.00.  It has been on my list to go back here ever since the last time I went.  I didn't even know that they were open this early, but their happy hour special is 2-for-1 beers.  That was pretty amazing.  Though the fact that the bartender had never been to Detroit was kind of disappointing.
• 8:45 p.m. Kate's Joint - $15.00.  Had I known we were going to eat at a vegetarian place for dinner, I wouldn't have bought the soup.  The not chicken cutlet here was really good.  I was really hungry from being drunk.  I could have eaten two of them.
• 11:06 p.m. Empire State Building - $22.00.  I had been meaning to get to the top of the Empire State my entire trip, so I was glad that the line wasn't that crazy.  The views were beautiful, but I realized that I had lost my hoodie when it was so cold.  I guess leaving it there means I want to go back to New York.

So that's $340.38. The next time that I go to New York City, I definitely hope to spend a little less by not going to a baseball game or the top of any large buildings.  And I'll plan my museum free days a bit better.  This week I pretty much haven't left the condo in order to recover.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $5018.91.