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

So the "great" online dating while unemployed "experiment" is proving to be a complete failure.  While it's only anecdotal evidence, my hypothesis that girls with a caring streak like unemployed boys is failing.  Of course there are other variables at play, such as having no car and no way to actually go on dates in the city.  Though I did test this variable last week.  And when I drove to a date in Arlington before driving to Ocean City, I got a second date.

Now, of course, this girl cancelled said date yesterday, but who's counting?

Still more testing is necessary.  And, well, I hope that I either meet someone amazing or get a job in the near future.

I think the problem is that I have too much time on my hands.  The one online talking that went really well was with this girl named Jaime from Alexandria.  She has lots of free time at her job and likes to chat.  Or did.  That's a whole other story and this is not a dating blog.  That would be more depressing than what it really is.

So, on to the unemployment front.  Tomorrow I'm attending the Social Media for Non-Profits seminar at the ASAE Center here.  I think it will feel good to board a train to the city to actually participate in something.  But it's going to be weird having to be on time.

Which reminds me.  I think I'm about to sign up to be a volunteer at the National Archives.  They give you research training!  For free.  Now, of course, it would be better to get paid for it.  But then I'd have to actually get hired through a more exacting process.  There is an interviewing and security clearance though, so if I do eventually get a government job, I'll have gone through that.

But, man, if I get turned down for volunteering, I am seriously going to cry!  At least last week made me happy.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, JULY 5 ($24.52)

• 12:25 p.m. Capital City Diner - $12.00.  By now, my quest for a great feta cheese omelette should be legendary to my readers by now.  They had a good one.  Getting there, however, I walked through some bad neighborhoods I don't want to live in.  Next time I know there's a bus.
• 1:54 p.m. United States National Arboretum - Free.  I'm kind of afraid of bugs.  It was kind of hot so the bugs were out in force.  It seems like a great place if you're not having a panic attack.
• 4:06 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  Taking the bus back from the Arboretum, I ended up at my usual Starbucks.  And they finally got my order right.  I think it's because I'm now a regular.
• 5:12 p.m. Roti Mediterranean Grill - $8.52.  In a complete repeat of Friday, after the Starbucks, I stopped by the Roti before catching the train at L'Enfant Plaza.  They had feta cheese this time.  I can never have too much feta!

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6 ($29.50)

• 7:15 p.m. Nationals Park - $29.50.  When I got offered a $20.00 ticket to see the Cubs play the Nationals, I wasn't going to turn it down.  Though to call that a baseball game given the performance of the two teams is iffy. 

THURSDAY, JULY 7 ($96.42)

• 1:10 p.m. Great Clips - $17.00.  Even though I had less faith in this date going well than either of my previous two, I decided to get my head shaved.  My hat was kind of stinky, so I figured it was better if I didn't wear it.
• 5:08 p.m. Alamo Rent A Car - $29.03.  The scary thing was that I forgot to bring a good credit card.  Thankfully a bad one had a little money left.  I didn't have enough to get insurance though.
• 6:09 p.m. Mad Rose Tavern - $32.94.  My date this evening had kind of fancy tastes.  She said she always wanted to live in Arlington while living in the D.C. area.  Though I did enjoy the cheese plate we split.
• 7:49 p.m. Thomas Jefferson Memorial - Free.  Since I actually had a reliable form of transportation to get me out of the city, I decided to see the sun set at where I thought would be a great vantage point.  It was.
• 11:14 a.m. Wawa - $2.95.  I decided to drive east into the night toward Ocean City.  This was without a real dinner and with a beer in me.  I wasn't drunk, but I did crave a slushee a bit too much.
• 12:38 a.m. Casino At Ocean Downs - $14.50.  When I found a casino, I figured that I found a place to eat, have fun, and then crash for the night.  I had a beer and lost $5.00 playing video poker in record time.  But they closed at 2:00 a.m., so there was no sleeping in their parking lot.

FRIDAY, JULY 8 ($105.02)

• 6:16 a.m. Food Lion - $18.46.  In my packing, I didn't remember to bring a beach towel or sunscreen.  Thankfully the Food Lion whose parking lot served as my hotel room had both.
• 6:44 a.m. Ocean City Boardwalk - Free.  I had thought about sleeping near the beach, but that seemed dangerous.  I did get to the beach in time to see the sun pretty low in the sky.  Even if I missed the sunrise.
• 7:43 a.m. Happy Jack Pancake House - $12.50.  Even though there were plenty of all you can eat places, I decided just to get pancakes considering the amount of beer I had on an almost empty stomach.  This place's pancake sandwich with egg in the middle was tops!
• 9:08 a.m. Beachwear Factory - Free.  I found a great parking lot on the street for free (something that would not happen on the weekend).  It was in front of this place.  I needed really cheap sandals.  Theirs were too expensive.
• 9:24 a.m. Planet Surf - $8.47.  This place, which only had Sell Sell on its sign (but I looked it up on the internet), had really cheap sandals.  Now I actually own sandals for the first time in my adult life.
• 10:33 a.m. Ocean City Beach - Free.  Free and wonderful.  If it didn't cost so much to get there, I'd hop in my car every Friday while I was unemployed.  Dipping myself in the Atlantic reaffirmed my wanting to stay here.
• 1:11 p.m. Maui Golf - $9.50.  There were so many mini-golf places in Ocean City that it almost blew my mind.  I chose this one because it was the closest to a beach theme.  It was kind of terrible.  But my 46 on a par 44 was the best score of my life.
• 2:51 p.m. Ocean City Chamber Of Commerce - Free.  I plan on coming back so I picked up a bunch of brochures.  There are also no public changing areas in Ocean City, so I changed in their bathroom.
• 4:28 p.m. Wawa - $40.49.  Gas has gotten cheaper since my road trip, but it's still not cheap.  If I hadn't wasted a bunch of it looking for a place to sleep though, it probably would have been cheaper.
• 4:56 p.m. Tastee Freez - $5.60.  When I saw one of the two Eastern Shore locations of Tastee Freez, I had to stop.  This one had a full food menu, so I got macaroni and cheese.
• 7:31 p.m. Exxon - On The Run - $10.00.  Since I filled up while still on the Eastern Shore, I had to top up in Alexandria before returning the car.  Getting stuck in Washington Nationals traffic did not help to keep the car fueled.
• 7:56 p.m. Alamo Rent A Car - Free.  Not a scratch, dent, or ding on my car this time.  No speeding tickets.  No nothing.  I actualy got it back an hour early too so they'll refund my card something.

SATURDAY, JULY 9 (Free)

SUNDAY, JULY 10 ($20.90)

• 7:34 p.m. Walgreens - $14.87.  After so little sleep and so much sun (which caused a burn because I didn't get my neck or scalp enough, I crashed all day Saturday.  Sunday I remedied the issues.
• 7:45 p.m. Subway - $6.03.  Since I was already in the area, I treated myself to a sandwich.

MONDAY, JULY 11 (Free)

• 4:10 p.m. County Center Owner's Association - Free.  The gym was necessary after my long weekend (which pretty much consisted of Friday.  Afterwards, I was right back in the swing of things.

So that's $276.36.  Pretty soon I'm going to have to slow it down since that's just too much.  Though I haven't run out of unemployment yet, so I'm still good.  This week started out expensively yesterday, but I have food for every day.  And while the seminar tomorrow is $125.00, it does include lunch.  Still, this week will probably cost about the same.  Even without any dates.  My total spent since I've been unemployed is $5652.62.