How I Spent The Forty-Fifth Week Of The Rest Of My Life

Rockville has been kind of amazing all around.  After my phone interview with the place in Silver Spring, while I was dropping off my rental car, I got a call from a resort hotel that I put in an application for in Potomac.  Unfortunately, they are not on public transportation since the person I talked to on the phone said they really liked my resume.  How could they not with the amount of customer service and event planning that I have.  I have thought about going into the hospitality business.

My brother has offered me to let me use his car to get there.  I'm going to call them on Monday for an interview. Though I'm still hoping for this place in Silver Spring.  The interview process was one of them most transparent that I've come across.  My potential future boss let me know that I'm in the final six to have gotten a phone interview.  If I get called in for a physical interview, I'm one of the last three.  If I get the job, I'll be starting the second week of December.  I love the timeline.  After ten months of being completely in the dark with most application status, my first glimpse of this organization's culture is refreshing.

The move in general has gone really smoothly.  At least until I tried to put together the dresser that I bought at IKEA to finish unpacking.  It's still sitting in a corner since it is the first IKEA furniture to defeat me.  And, as such, I'm still surrounded by boxes.  But at least my dress clothes are all safely in the closet.

Other than that, I love this new location.  Today I discovered a path that leads in a straight line from my building's front door to the Twinbrook Metro stop.  I used it to go to the Washington Sports Club near the Friendship Heights stop.  Being in the city on the weekend (despite barely being inside the border) felt like freedom after over six months of being stuck in Virginia on the weekends.  Though I can't abuse the fact that it finally feels like I'm living in Washington D.C.  It's not like my money supply has increased.

I hope to soon change my gym location to Silver Spring to change that.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8 (Free)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9 ($12.53)

• 6:41 p.m. Subway - $6.04.  I was getting nothing accomplished sitting around the condo so I had to get out into the fresh air and enjoy my last full week in Woodbridge.
• 6:58 p.m. Walgreens - $6.49.  Hoping that I wouldn't have to go there at all on the weekend, I made all my necessary purchases early.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10 ($14.15)

• 7:05 p.m. zpizza - $10.15.  Even though I had only gone there once during the time I lived in Woodbridge, I wanted to go one more time.  It was every bit as good and every bit as expensive as I remember.
• 7:25 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  I felt bad not stopping by this Starbucks more while I lived nearby.  The baristas here are the friendliest of any location I frequented.  I told them I'd stop by one more time as well.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11 ($18.05)

• 11:55 a.m. Chipotle Mexican Grill - $7.00.  Planning on blogging before I watched the U.S. soccer match, I felt the need to carb up.  Despite my late start to the day.
• 12:27 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  When WordPress ate my blog, I was ready to cry.  But at least I had Starbucks warm apple juice to kill the pain a bit.
• 3:29 p.m. Fado Irish Pub & Restaurant - Free.  I ended up not ordering anything to drink during the U.S. game since I was never offered.  I actually left before the end of the second half.
• 5:34 p.m. Washington Sports Club - Free.  As soon as I got to the gym, France had scored.  Though leaving the bar early and missing this and gave me time for a full workout.
• 6:06 p.m. Union Station - $7.05.  Even though there was no VRE home, I went to Union Station by mistake and ended up getting Taco Bell for the long trip home.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12 (Free)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13 ($32.03)

• 12:01 p.m. IHOP - $5.65.  I had never seen this IHOP this busy since I had always gone at dinner time.  Actually having a Sunday brunch, in general, has become weird to me.
• 12:54 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  Visiting my favorite baristas one more time, I didn't even bother to do anything besides apply for a job.
• 3:56 p.m. Great Clips - $17.00.  Knowing that I was going to be networking for the next few days, I decided to get a haircut.
• 8:07 p.m. 7-Eleven - $5.38.  Getting a last Sunday Night Football was actually the saddest part of leaving Woodbridge.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14 ($204.41)

• 8:15 a.m. Kellogg Conference Center - $199.00.  While I've gotten more out of other seminars, this one was pretty intensive and had some major players in the social media world.
• 5:21 p.m. Union Station - $5.41.  Waking up as early as I did made me not enjoy life by the end of the day.  But at least there was Taco Bell to make me happy.

So that's $281.17.  But most of that was the conference.  And while I was at the conference I met people in the industry.  It was mainly for people in small business who were looking to do their own social media but I didn't hock my services.  I guess I was happy with the amount of interview offers that I received via e-mail.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $9337.50.