Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
DAY TWENTY-FIVE
Today was supposed to be a cheap day. I had even intended to only spend $0 today. It rained most of the day, so hiking was out. Instead Adam and I finished watching some DVDs I'd checked out from the library. Despite being a seemingly lazy day, it was an expensive day. Expensive because I paid for some necessary costs: prescription re-fills and a plane ticket to Des Moines. Oh, and various snacks. I spent $16.37 on snacking alone (P.S.: Golden Oreos suck). Food will be an issue of discussion when I have more energy.
The refills were $62 (my new health insurance doesn't kick in until June 1st. I will rant about the U.S. health care system also when I have more energy. Spoiler: I don't like it.) and the plane ticket was $330 (inc. fees). About the plane ticket: my friend Emily is getting married in Iowa in August. Not only am I her personal attendant, but also I am her friend and it will be a Drake Law reunion...so it is worth the expense. I was going to wait for my economic stimulus check to book a flight, but the plane tickets have been fluctuating so drastically lately and with the high price of oil, I decided to buy as soon as they were back down in my range.
Total spent: $408.37. Unnecessary snacks were $16.37 of that. I need to re-evaluate my snack costs. Another post...
The refills were $62 (my new health insurance doesn't kick in until June 1st. I will rant about the U.S. health care system also when I have more energy. Spoiler: I don't like it.) and the plane ticket was $330 (inc. fees). About the plane ticket: my friend Emily is getting married in Iowa in August. Not only am I her personal attendant, but also I am her friend and it will be a Drake Law reunion...so it is worth the expense. I was going to wait for my economic stimulus check to book a flight, but the plane tickets have been fluctuating so drastically lately and with the high price of oil, I decided to buy as soon as they were back down in my range.
Total spent: $408.37. Unnecessary snacks were $16.37 of that. I need to re-evaluate my snack costs. Another post...
DAY TWENTY-FOUR
Saturday was supposed to be a great day to go on this 18 mile hike down the Salmonberry River near the Coast. The entire hike is train tracks and the reason it would be 18 miles is because it's an out-and-back and I really want to hike the 9 miles from the trailhead to Enright, a small ghost town accessible only by hiking in. I was going to channel my inner Woody Guthrie and hike on down the tracks. But no. The weather report Friday night said it was supposed to rain Saturday afternoon. No good for a full day hike. But of course, Saturday ended up being a beautiful day (until around 8 when we were hit with a thunderstorm). Sunday is rainy and gloomy so I think I'll just clean. Boring.
Yesterday morning Wink and I walked to the NW Healthy Pets store to pick up some new cat litter for Sheba. Sheba is having some problems with the litter box, and with life in general as of late. Note: if anyone knows anything about cats who suddenly walk like raccoons, let me know. So we picked up a bag of Nature's Miracle, an alternative to clay that boasted high clumping abilities. I've tried natural kitty litters before, and they never clump as well as clay, but with Nature's Miracle I think I've found my new litter. It clumps well, it smells great, and Sheba isn't tracking it around. I'm sold. At the pet store I also picked up more biodegradable doggie bags for Wink. Total: $23.98
For lunch Adam and I decided to take the bus downtown to Saturday Market. Adam spent his cash on a new wallet (he seriously needed one) so I bought lunch at the Jalisco Natural Foods stand - we both had tasty quesadillas and later an elephant ear. Total: $15.00
After hanging out at the Waterfront Park and eating our food we boarded the bus to head home, but took a slight detour to Hawthorne Ave. because there was a secondhand store I wanted to check out (I am on the hunt for sundresses. I've discovered that they are the best thing to wear in the summer.). There we found mecca at the House of Vintage. It's huge and is part antique store, part vintage furniture store, part thrift shop. I picked up two dresses and a shirt for $24. Adam picked up a pair of shoes and a lamp for $35. I will return to this place.
To pay me back for lunch and have a friend to go with, Adam took me to the Iron Man movie. I'm not a fan of the comic book-turned-movie genre, with the maybe the exception of Batman, but Iron Man was okay. Mostly Robert Downey Jr. is just a good actor. With tickets, popcorn, and pop I think Adam spent close to $35. That's TWO people, one medium popcorn, two medium drinks, and one sub-par comic book movie. When I drag him to Sex and the City I'll wait until it comes out at the cheap theaters.
Total spent: $62.98
Yesterday morning Wink and I walked to the NW Healthy Pets store to pick up some new cat litter for Sheba. Sheba is having some problems with the litter box, and with life in general as of late. Note: if anyone knows anything about cats who suddenly walk like raccoons, let me know. So we picked up a bag of Nature's Miracle, an alternative to clay that boasted high clumping abilities. I've tried natural kitty litters before, and they never clump as well as clay, but with Nature's Miracle I think I've found my new litter. It clumps well, it smells great, and Sheba isn't tracking it around. I'm sold. At the pet store I also picked up more biodegradable doggie bags for Wink. Total: $23.98
For lunch Adam and I decided to take the bus downtown to Saturday Market. Adam spent his cash on a new wallet (he seriously needed one) so I bought lunch at the Jalisco Natural Foods stand - we both had tasty quesadillas and later an elephant ear. Total: $15.00
After hanging out at the Waterfront Park and eating our food we boarded the bus to head home, but took a slight detour to Hawthorne Ave. because there was a secondhand store I wanted to check out (I am on the hunt for sundresses. I've discovered that they are the best thing to wear in the summer.). There we found mecca at the House of Vintage. It's huge and is part antique store, part vintage furniture store, part thrift shop. I picked up two dresses and a shirt for $24. Adam picked up a pair of shoes and a lamp for $35. I will return to this place.
To pay me back for lunch and have a friend to go with, Adam took me to the Iron Man movie. I'm not a fan of the comic book-turned-movie genre, with the maybe the exception of Batman, but Iron Man was okay. Mostly Robert Downey Jr. is just a good actor. With tickets, popcorn, and pop I think Adam spent close to $35. That's TWO people, one medium popcorn, two medium drinks, and one sub-par comic book movie. When I drag him to Sex and the City I'll wait until it comes out at the cheap theaters.
Total spent: $62.98
Friday, May 23, 2008
DAY TWENTY-THREE
Friday.
I spent $3.00 this morning at the cafeteria because I didn't have any cash or change for coffee and I forgot to bring tea bags to work and I needed something HOT and CAFFEINATED. So I bought a giant coffee and blueberry yogurt. I met my "mentor" for lunch (the Oregon Bar has a program where it pairs new lawyers with mentors) and had a tasty grilled portobello mushroom sandwich. My mentor is a really interesting person. He's done everything, been everywhere and offered some great insight into life and law. We also discussed the pitfalls of a legal education, namely the lack of employment opportunities and ridiculous amount of debt students today graduate with. He made a good point: law school should not be that expensive. A law school does not need labs, or chemicals, or expensive equipment. A law school also doesn't need sports programs or auditoriums or art supplies. A law school needs some rooms, chairs, books, and a few professors. Actually books aren't all that necessary -- Westlaw or Lexis will suffice. Instead, law schools are getting bigger and bigger and charging more and more and churning out more broke attorneys into an already over-saturated profession.
I'm done complaining. I would not change going to law school. I'm happy to have the degree, the education, and the experience. It's just the debt that's the problem...but that was partly my fault. While I had to take out a lot of student loans to cover books and tuition I also spent a great deal of student loan money on personal items, parties, trips, my DVD collection, clothes, stuff I thought I had to have. I wouldn't trade the memories and experiences (ie parties and trips) for anything...and my DVD collection is pretty sweet...but everything else - total waste. Students today live a life of luxury because we have all this money thrown at us and we think we'll have great, well-paying jobs when we get done with school and it'll all be fine. Life lessons.
ANYWAY, after work Wink and I walked to the library to turn in some cd's and pick up a DVD I had on hold. I walked to the grocery store to pick up some salad dressing and spent the entire trip thinking about all the cookies, chocolate, doughnuts, etc I wanted. When I arrived I remembered BERRIES! I love berries. I purchased my third carton of strawberries for the week, a carton of blackberries, and a bag of cherries. Cookie dough would have been cheaper, but my health thanks me. Spent $20.94.
Total spent: $23.00
Musical side note: While it's been out for awhile, I just can't get enough of the "Into the Wild" soundtrack by Eddie Vedder. Listen to it.
I spent $3.00 this morning at the cafeteria because I didn't have any cash or change for coffee and I forgot to bring tea bags to work and I needed something HOT and CAFFEINATED. So I bought a giant coffee and blueberry yogurt. I met my "mentor" for lunch (the Oregon Bar has a program where it pairs new lawyers with mentors) and had a tasty grilled portobello mushroom sandwich. My mentor is a really interesting person. He's done everything, been everywhere and offered some great insight into life and law. We also discussed the pitfalls of a legal education, namely the lack of employment opportunities and ridiculous amount of debt students today graduate with. He made a good point: law school should not be that expensive. A law school does not need labs, or chemicals, or expensive equipment. A law school also doesn't need sports programs or auditoriums or art supplies. A law school needs some rooms, chairs, books, and a few professors. Actually books aren't all that necessary -- Westlaw or Lexis will suffice. Instead, law schools are getting bigger and bigger and charging more and more and churning out more broke attorneys into an already over-saturated profession.
I'm done complaining. I would not change going to law school. I'm happy to have the degree, the education, and the experience. It's just the debt that's the problem...but that was partly my fault. While I had to take out a lot of student loans to cover books and tuition I also spent a great deal of student loan money on personal items, parties, trips, my DVD collection, clothes, stuff I thought I had to have. I wouldn't trade the memories and experiences (ie parties and trips) for anything...and my DVD collection is pretty sweet...but everything else - total waste. Students today live a life of luxury because we have all this money thrown at us and we think we'll have great, well-paying jobs when we get done with school and it'll all be fine. Life lessons.
ANYWAY, after work Wink and I walked to the library to turn in some cd's and pick up a DVD I had on hold. I walked to the grocery store to pick up some salad dressing and spent the entire trip thinking about all the cookies, chocolate, doughnuts, etc I wanted. When I arrived I remembered BERRIES! I love berries. I purchased my third carton of strawberries for the week, a carton of blackberries, and a bag of cherries. Cookie dough would have been cheaper, but my health thanks me. Spent $20.94.
Total spent: $23.00
Musical side note: While it's been out for awhile, I just can't get enough of the "Into the Wild" soundtrack by Eddie Vedder. Listen to it.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
DAYS TWENTY-ONE & TWENTY-TWO
Wednesday, May 22nd:
I missed yesterday because I was just too tired. I spent $0.50 on coffee at work. After work Wink and I walked to The Cat's Meow on Hawthorne to buy some new cat food for Sheba ($13.29). Last week I went cheap with the cat food and bought Sheba Purina. NEVER AGAIN. There are certain things that are okay to spend money on, and one of those things is good cat food. The Cat's Meow only recently started carrying cat food and they have Max Cat. Sheba's seven now so I picked a bag of the senior food. It's not Natural Balance, but I've fed Max before and it's good food.
Adam treated me to Thai for dinner. Again, we tried to hit up my favorite PDX Thai place (My Thai Bistro on SE Hawthorne) but again it was closed. Maybe they are only serving lunch now? I don't know but I need my good pad thai fix. Instead we walked to a different Thai place that we hadn't tried and I had high hopes for, but the pad thai was pretty *shrug*. It was too greasy and there was too much sauce. Also I think I've eaten my last egg yolk. Fried eggs (unless egg whites) are too much and make the dish too heavy.
Total spent: $13.79
Thursday, May 22nd:
My job is mind-numbingly boring. There's no stress, no responsibility...only hours of boredom. Today I succumbed and hit up the vending machine. Peanut butter M&Ms are delicious, but completely unnecessary. I wasn't even hungry! ($0.85)
I had a cup of coffee to stay awake. ($0.50)
And a side salad from the cafeteria simply because I was bored. ($2.80)
Also, my dad may not be so happy to learn that I bought a day internet pass so that I could check my email on my phone ($1.99). Someday maybe I'll have my own phone....and that someday may come a lot sooner if I keep checking my email on it at work (and then blogging about it). Tomorrow I'm just going to leave my phone at home.
Total spent: $3.30 (plus $1.99)
Political side note:
Oregon voted on Tuesday. Actually, Oregonians have been voting for the past two weeks because Oregon uses a mail-in (or hand-in if you're late enough) ballot. In the big races, I voted for Steve Novick but he lost to Jeff Merkley for a chance to challenge Republican Gordon Smith in the Fall. I voted for Commissioner Sam Adams for Mayor and he won! (Note: Adams is the first openly-gay mayor of a major U.S. city.) I voted for Hillary for President and she lost pretty bad to Obama (especially in Portland) but that is not a surprise. Hillary's still my gal, but I think after the primaries are over she should concede. Not to say that Montana, South Dakota, and Puerto Rico won't go her way but that's like 86 delegates. She would have to win all of their delegates and then almost 80% of the superdelegates to secure the nomination. And even that leaves Obama dangerously close behind. The fact is that neither of them will have enough votes, but the other fact is that states like Kentucky are not going to vote democrat in November anyway. I think that she should stay in through the rest of the primaries because 1) she's made it this far and 2) EVERYONE deserves to vote. I think she should drop the Michigan/Florida debacle - or at least Michigan UNLESS she is in support of a complete re-vote. Unless she sweeps the remaining primaries I think she concede before the convention. While historically the convention was where the candidates were chosen, it's not until July (or August? I don't even know) and campaigns last a lot longer and are a lot more expensive now. Campaigns are not very sustainable.
I also think we should have a national primary and the runner-up is automatically the Vice President, but that's just me.
I missed yesterday because I was just too tired. I spent $0.50 on coffee at work. After work Wink and I walked to The Cat's Meow on Hawthorne to buy some new cat food for Sheba ($13.29). Last week I went cheap with the cat food and bought Sheba Purina. NEVER AGAIN. There are certain things that are okay to spend money on, and one of those things is good cat food. The Cat's Meow only recently started carrying cat food and they have Max Cat. Sheba's seven now so I picked a bag of the senior food. It's not Natural Balance, but I've fed Max before and it's good food.
Adam treated me to Thai for dinner. Again, we tried to hit up my favorite PDX Thai place (My Thai Bistro on SE Hawthorne) but again it was closed. Maybe they are only serving lunch now? I don't know but I need my good pad thai fix. Instead we walked to a different Thai place that we hadn't tried and I had high hopes for, but the pad thai was pretty *shrug*. It was too greasy and there was too much sauce. Also I think I've eaten my last egg yolk. Fried eggs (unless egg whites) are too much and make the dish too heavy.
Total spent: $13.79
Thursday, May 22nd:
My job is mind-numbingly boring. There's no stress, no responsibility...only hours of boredom. Today I succumbed and hit up the vending machine. Peanut butter M&Ms are delicious, but completely unnecessary. I wasn't even hungry! ($0.85)
I had a cup of coffee to stay awake. ($0.50)
And a side salad from the cafeteria simply because I was bored. ($2.80)
Also, my dad may not be so happy to learn that I bought a day internet pass so that I could check my email on my phone ($1.99). Someday maybe I'll have my own phone....and that someday may come a lot sooner if I keep checking my email on it at work (and then blogging about it). Tomorrow I'm just going to leave my phone at home.
Total spent: $3.30 (plus $1.99)
Political side note:
Oregon voted on Tuesday. Actually, Oregonians have been voting for the past two weeks because Oregon uses a mail-in (or hand-in if you're late enough) ballot. In the big races, I voted for Steve Novick but he lost to Jeff Merkley for a chance to challenge Republican Gordon Smith in the Fall. I voted for Commissioner Sam Adams for Mayor and he won! (Note: Adams is the first openly-gay mayor of a major U.S. city.) I voted for Hillary for President and she lost pretty bad to Obama (especially in Portland) but that is not a surprise. Hillary's still my gal, but I think after the primaries are over she should concede. Not to say that Montana, South Dakota, and Puerto Rico won't go her way but that's like 86 delegates. She would have to win all of their delegates and then almost 80% of the superdelegates to secure the nomination. And even that leaves Obama dangerously close behind. The fact is that neither of them will have enough votes, but the other fact is that states like Kentucky are not going to vote democrat in November anyway. I think that she should stay in through the rest of the primaries because 1) she's made it this far and 2) EVERYONE deserves to vote. I think she should drop the Michigan/Florida debacle - or at least Michigan UNLESS she is in support of a complete re-vote. Unless she sweeps the remaining primaries I think she concede before the convention. While historically the convention was where the candidates were chosen, it's not until July (or August? I don't even know) and campaigns last a lot longer and are a lot more expensive now. Campaigns are not very sustainable.
I also think we should have a national primary and the runner-up is automatically the Vice President, but that's just me.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
DAY TWENTY
My job is beyond boring. I'm glad it's a summer gig or I'd go insane.
Of course, it's better than the alternative.
Anyway, I spent $2.50 on vending machine snacks and coffee while at work. After work I walked to the grocery store and spent $25.02 on food and most importantly, healthy work snacks. I washed and cut up strawberries tonight so that they will be easily accessible to pack in my lunch in the morning.
I found a cheap flight to Des Moines flying Northwest Airlines for my friend Emily's wedding in August. I didn't book it though -- I'm going to wait until I get my tax stimulus check so that I don't have to put it on my credit card.
Total spent: $27.52
Of course, it's better than the alternative.
Anyway, I spent $2.50 on vending machine snacks and coffee while at work. After work I walked to the grocery store and spent $25.02 on food and most importantly, healthy work snacks. I washed and cut up strawberries tonight so that they will be easily accessible to pack in my lunch in the morning.
I found a cheap flight to Des Moines flying Northwest Airlines for my friend Emily's wedding in August. I didn't book it though -- I'm going to wait until I get my tax stimulus check so that I don't have to put it on my credit card.
Total spent: $27.52
Monday, May 19, 2008
DAY NINETEEN
Spent $2.80 on a side salad and chips in the cafeteria to supplement my lunch. Spent $0.50 on coffee. Rode the bus.
My job is really boring.
Total spent: $3.30
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)