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

Even though I should be out and about and enjoying my final day in New York City, if I don't write this now, I'll be two weeks behind for the first time.  What a busy week it was in Washington D.C. even before I got to New York City on Thursday though.

I have begun to move away from trying to find government jobs.  It feels like they're looking for people with Master's degrees.  So I actually began looking into that.  Just a cursory check.  I'd want to do the degree online as much as possible and I'm not really sure that I want to make that commitment to a subject yet since I'm not sure what subject I want to study.  So I'm thinking of doing a certificate program.  Johns Hopkins offers one in Health Policy.  Which is perfect because that's what Health and Human Services is looking for.  At least if their descriptions are to be believed.  And either way, it would get me some background in policy study.

Speaking of which, that other big event I foreshadowed last week.  It went horribly.  The girl who I met up with last Thursday did nothing the whole time except for talk about work.  I felt like I knew nothing more about her after an hour (at which point she said she needed to go back to work) than I did before we met.

The irony is that there was a thread on Yelp DC about an article by a woman who moved to San Francisco because D.C. is an "intellectual meat market" and people only wanted to talk about work.  I should have known, however, because it was all she talked about while we were e-mailing each other.

Well, so I'm not a hypocrite, I might as well stop talking about work.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, JUNE 7 ($22.05)

• 1:49 p.m. Noodles & Company - $6.85.  It's kind of sad that my entire life now revolves around a strip mall in Manassas.  Whenever I need to go shopping, it's there.  And whenever I need good chain food, it's also there.  This Noodles is down the mall from the Qdoba.  I couldn't resist.
• 2:11 p.m. Aldi - $15.20.  Even though I knew that I would be leaving some of it in the refrigerator possibly, I needed to replenish my empty food supply.  Since the weather was scheduled to get hot, I needed to do this before it did.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8 (Free)

THURSDAY, JUNE 9 (Free)

• 5:03 p.m. County Center Owner's Association Clubhouse - Free.  The hot weather made me glad to stay inside in the air conditioning on Wednesday, but by Thursday, I was starting to develop cabin fever.  The gym was the only thing close enough to walk to in the heat though.

FRIDAY, JUNE 10 ($32.85)

• 12:07 p.m. Delhi Club - $12.85.  I wanted to explore Arlington.  Someone had e-mailed me "Arlington: The Rap" and I wanted to see if it was really that horrible.  It was pretty bland.  I was about to give up on eating there until I came across this Indian buffet across from the Metro stop.  Ironically, everything there was spicy!
• 2:32 p.m. U.S. Capitol - Free.  It was just too hot to wander around Arlington anymore so I took the Orange Line to the air conditioned Capitol.  The tour was pretty short, but it was educational.
• 3:43 p.m. Capitol Visitor's Center - Free.  After the tour was over, I explored the new visitor's center.  While it seemed a bit like a marketing campaign for Congress, there were some amazing artifacts.  I definitely want to go back.
• 4:21 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  The Starbucks in Capitol Hill has fewer power outlets than most of the ones I had been to.  This surprised me since nearly everyone was on laptops.
• 6:04 p.m. U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial - Free.  I decided to take a scenic transfer between the Orange Line and the Blue Line (rather than just wait for a train at Rosslyn) so I could pass this amazing sculpture.  It's overwhelming in person.  I can see why people want to jog by it.
• 8:05 p.m. City Square Cafe - $16.00.  The Friday before, I had marvelled at the size of the crowd enjoying patios in Manassas' Old Town.  I decide to join them this Friday.  I was not prepared for the price point at this adorable cafe.  I ended up just getting a really good crab cake fritter and a local ale.

SATURDAY, JUNE 11 ($42.08)

• 1:24 p.m. Walgreens - $4.19.  With the heat, my rosacea was going nuts.  I decided that I needed to get scrub before I started to break out even worse than I already was.
• 1:39 p.m. Subway - $5.35.  Since I needed a haircut in the area, I just decided to go to my local Subway.  I'm getting kind of addicted again.
• 1:54 p.m. Great Clips - $17.00.  The stylist I got for my second haircut was much better than the first.  Though for some reason my haircut still didn't look as close as I was used to.  Maybe it's just my hair reacting to D.C.
• 2:22 p.m. 7-11 - $1.54.  The temperature was still nothing to get excited about and I needed refreshment to walk the half a mile home.  A Slurpee was called for!
• 6:34 p.m. G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium - $14.00.  Minor League Baseball just doesn't do it for me I've discovered.  I sat in the stands and was more interested in the conversations around me than I was in the game itself.  But it was nice and cheap.

SUNDAY, JUNE 12 (Free)

MONDAY, JUNE 13 ($27.78)

• 9:54 a.m. Highlands Cafe - $10.00.  I couldn't believe that it had been a month since I first went here and used my first Washington D.C. Groupon.  I went to finally try their famous french toast.  It was good, but I expected more.  I still love the atmosphere though.
• 12:20 p.m. Arlington National Cemetery - $6.50.  Since the weather had finally broken and it was a beautiful day, I did my long awaited walk through Arlington.  I decided to rent the audio tour to really get the full experience.  But I still missed a lot of famous graves so I have to go back.
• 6:21 p.m. Taco Bell - $6.28.  I got back to Manassas at a dead time for buses.  So I decided that I would walk to the Taco Bell on Centreville Road.  If I needed to wait for the bus, I was going to wait for it full.
• 6:46 p.m. Starbucks - $5.00.  Of course I ended up at the Starbucks since I hadn't in the city.  I was grumpy and I needed my iced tea!

So that's $124.76.  It's amazing how much I spent last week when I actually left the condo.  But the fact that I went into D.C. each day before I went to New York City this week means that I'm going to be scared to do the math when I get home from the bigger city tomorrow.  I'll just look at that number and be happy for now.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $4678.53.