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

This applying at not-for-profits for jobs that I'm fully qualified for might be starting to get some traction!  While I still haven't gotten called for any interviews, today I got my first personalized e-mail from a company.  And talking to another company's Twitter person has gotten my application "flagged."  I hope that's a good thing.  I think it is since they thanked me for my support of their causes.

I'm not saying which these companies are since that wouldn't be fair.

The crazy thing is that I forgot how much fun it was to write cover letters to association that I actually care about.  The ability to tell them why I want to work for them and demonstrate a knowledge of what they do.  And even if I end up with a job with another association, I'm learning about a lot of good causes in the process.

I've started to put together a list on Twitter with all of the places I've applied.  It's kind of fun to compare their social media presences.  Some of them I have higher Klout scores than.  I could help them I think.  My old employers have a Klout score of 25.  It blows my mind that it's that high.  I would have said about 15.

Anyhow, that's neither here nor there.  I also learned that when I don't want to apply somewhere (but it's a position I'd be good at), writing cover letters is like pulling teeth.  There's still a bunch more of both experiences to be had tomorrow.  There are three places I want to apply with deadlines of August 1.  Time to come up with some attention grabbing lines.  Mostly at Starbucks in the city.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, JULY 19 ($30.69)

• 9:22 a.m. Potomac Mills Mall - Free.  Just an average day of waiting for the bus inside of the mall since it was 100 degrees and humid outside.
• 10:58 a.m. FedEx Office - $2.64.  In all of my napping and applying for jobs, I forgot to extend the payment protection on my Capital One card.  This trip to my "office" was printing out and sending in the form.
• 11:23 a.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  My plan was to send in my application to volunteer at the National Archives at the Starbucks by the National Archives.  My computer refused to save the application, however, so I just applied a couple of other places.
• 1:29 p.m. Ted's Bulletin - $17.00.  I had been craving one of their veggie burgers with the egg and cole slaw on top.  And it was delicious!  I really can't afford to eat here as often as I do.  But I can't help it!
• 3:33 p.m. National Portrait Gallery - Free.  To see as many museums as completely as possible, I have been repeating.  This was my first visit to the National Portrait Gallery.  One of the jobs I applied for was for Civil War Associate.  The tour was on the Civil War rooms.  I'm hoping it's a sign.
• 5:21 p.m. Union Station - $7.05.  In order to save money, I had decided not to go to Roti.  But going to Taco Bell meant that I ended up ordering more than I should have.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20 ($54.44)

• 8:54 a.m. Union Station - $14.00.  The train to Baltimore is amazingly cheap.  It's $7.00!  That's less than it costs me to take the train home from Washington D.C.  I didn't buy a round trip ticket, but we'll count it that way.
• 10:30 a.m. Baltimore Penn Station - $3.40.  Transportation in Baltimore is also cheap.  I didn't buy a round trip for the light rail to Camden Yards, but we'll count it that way.
• 12:29 p.m. Oriole Park At Camden Yards - $31.00.  I paid a little extra for a seat in the shade.  It was well worth it.  The only extra expense I paid (since I ate some bagels for breakfast from home) was $1.00 for a program.  The Red Sox crushed the Orioles getting a hit in every inning.  It was worth every penny.
• 7:20 p.m. Subway - $6.04.  Having not eaten all day, I started feeling not so well on the train home.  I stopped at the Subway in Old Town Manassas so I wouldn't pass out.

THURSDAY, JULY 21 (Free)

FRIDAY, JULY 22 ($15.19)

• 10:14 a.m. Manassas Civil War Military Parade - Free.  It was too hot to leave the condo on Thursday.  But I wanted to take pictures of the celebration in Manassas so I made my way out in the heat to do so.  It was an impressive parade.  The men and women in it must have been sweating horribly in their dress unifrorms.
• 11:35 a.m. Prospero's Books - Free.  Even though I usually pass right by the shops in Manassas, I decided to stop in this book store.  They have a great Civil War selection.  Though I didn't buy anything.
• 12:17 p.m. Katerina's Greek Cuisine - $9.00.  I can no longer say there is no good Greek restaurant around D.C.  This one in Manassas is spectacular.  And well priced.  I hope it stays in business because it's close to home.
• 12:58 p.m. Simply Sweet On Main - $1.64.  Unemployment gave me a bit of a scare.  I didn't get my check because I had declared the conference as education.  Oops.  I waited on the phone for a long time but eventually got it sorted out.
• 2:20 p.m. Center For The Arts At The Candy Factory - Free.  The speaker who was presenting was amazing.  But the air conditioning was even more so.  I learned a lot about the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln.
• 5:17 p.m. Taco Bell - $4.55.  My addiction runs so deep that I walked in 100 degree weather for half a mile to this location.  Of course it helped that the bus wasn't running and I had to walk to this part of Manassas anyhow.

SATURDAY, JULY 23 (Free)

SUNDAY, JULY 24 (Free)

• 5:28 p.m. County Center Owner's Association Clubhouse - Free.  Going to the gym on Mondays hadn't gotten me there any in the week, so I figured maybe Sunday would be better.

MONDAY, JULY 25 ($19.67)

• 9:21 a.m. Potomac Mills Mall - Free.  Air conditioning is actually priceless.  As is the electrical outlet here.
• 11:10 a.m. FedEx Office - $5.77.  This time I refused to leave the FedEx until I printed, filled out, and faxed my application to the National Archives.  And I succeeded.  In time for lunch.
• 12:31 p.m. Roti Mediterranean Grill - $9.90.  I finally made it to the New York Avenue Metro location of Roti.  And it was actually not as good as the one in L'Enfant Plaza.  Maybe it was just the lunch rush.  Or maybe it was the bad salmon I ate.  Anyhow, L'Enfant is more convenient for me regardless.
• 1:25 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  Another trip to Starbucks, this time the one by the Archives again.  Since it was raining, there was nowhere to sit with a plug.  But I still found a way to apply for a few more jobs.
• 3:18 p.m. National Portrait Gallery - Free.  Finishing out the Portrait Gallery so quickly should show how much I loved it.  And there are a lot of cute girls who hang out here after work.  It's like a destination.

So that's $119.99.  If only I could have as much fun and spend as little money as I did this week (or less), life would be brilliant.  Still, I'm starting to run low on cash finally so if some of these resumes I'm sending out don't pay off soon, I'm definitely going to have to start temping.  Or just sitting around in boredom wishing I were temping.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $6046.05.