Expenses Without Receipts

Starting from Tuesday, October 31:

• Went downtown to get my shoes shined.  That's when I remembered that I needed to cut down the services on my landline because, frankly, more than $70 was a goddamn waste.  Well, how should I start this trip into town ... OK, with tip the shoeshine was: $15.
• And since I found on my phone while getting my shoes polished that that store really was a store and not an office, I decided it was a no-brainer to go there and cut my services.  But that meant I had to pay a few more cents for parking in order to walk there.  (BTW, there was a service center, but for some reason they told me to call, and to further go on a tangent, I called in the afternoon but I balked at approving the changes, and then I went online at the Megamall [I know, that's dangerous] and after seeing that I did sort of want one service, I changed it online, so all of this was kind of pointless.)  But I used all my quarters to park there the first time.  So I went across the way from Lisa's to Bogart's Doughnuts to buy a donut that, although extremely tasty, wasn't keen on getting or eating, but I needed it for the change.  With tip: $3.25.  ETA at 1:48 a.m. on November 2 that I actually have a receipt for this, so I don't technically need to put this here.
• That gave me an extra three quarters, two of which I used for parking.  That, along with the three quarters I initially fed, brings me to a total parking total of: $1.25.
• I had no idea what to do for Halloween.  I don't celebrate because it brings up too many issues.  What I usually do is see hot women at Hooters, then see hot naked women at a strip club.  But that was all crimped because I really wanted to see Blade Runner 2049, and inexplicably the theater where I could see for five bucks on Tuesdays (and it just so happens that this year Halloween falls on a Tuesday) only had two screenings, both in the evening.  Isn't it making money right now, still?  See, if I could see it in the afternoon, that would free me to womanize in the evening.  But with evening shows only, I had nothing to do in the afternoon and everything I wanted to do at night.  Aargh!  So I bummed around for a few hours at MOA before Happy Hour, and then I hit Hooters to see the waitresses dressed up in costume.  Had one beer and one appetizer and I was full.  And it only cost me, with tip: $9.
• Blade Runner 2 (what I like to call it) is as immersive of a different world I have seen in any film in recent memory.  The picture is gorgeous: Shot after shot after shot of mise-en-scene is indelible, and just as important, not unlike the original Blade Runner.  I thought Ridley Scott was on a huge run after his hit The Martian, but at the credits I was reminded that Scott only executive-produced and that it was Denis Villeneuve who directed.  My heart kind of sank: I have been cool to his previous films, Sicario and Arrival, but BR2049 is the first one I mostly loved.  Now, some of the plot points are hard to follow and I still don't get some of the steps.  But damn, those images ... A-.  Ticket, popcorn and pop: $9.67.
• On Monday the 30th I finally got my hair cut at Fantastic Sam's.  I now realize why I think they cost more for haircuts: Washing hair is something they regularly do.  Now, I didn't mind it, but let's just say that I'm glad that I stumbled into the salon when it was Men's Mondays and haircuts were three bucks off.  I promptly gave those three bucks back to my hairstylist as tip, so the total came out to: $17.
• ETA at 1:47 a.m. on November 2 that Mother paid me back for a baking mold she wanted my help to buy on eBay and and a handle for a pasta maker, both of which I was willing to buy for her, but she insisted.  An Infuision of: $20.
• Let's go back to Friday, October 27, when I had a pair of back-to-back experiments at the U.  The first one got me a wage/Infusion of: $14.75.
• And the second one was a quarter better, an Infusion of: $15.
• That afternoon I went to Moler to get a shave in anticipation of going back to the health insurance place.  The guy who shaved me graduates next week, and while he is good (he actually told me to push my tongue against parts of my chin and cheek in order to give him a flat surface to shave off my facial hair), he cut me at the top of my left sideburns (sideburn?).  Still, he was thorough enough for me to give him four bucks' tip, which I have usually done, even though none of the three people who have shaved me before were there then.  Total: $9.
• I went to the Golden Gopher men's hockey game in the evening.  Satisfying, albeit turgid, victory over then-ninth-ranked Clarkson.  Hot dog, medium Coke, program: $12.
• Finally I wound up at Glam Doll.  Two donuts (one of them a high-priced weekly special), pour-over coffee and tip: $12.52.
• ETA on 4:14 p.m. on November 7 that I should have added an Infusion.  My Father rejected the letter I wrote for him at the library concerning his rapidly crumbling leather sofa.  I thought it was fine, but he said he needed the address typed at the bottom, and that pissed me off so much that I went back to a rule I made concerning letters I type for my parents: If you make me redo something that was perfectly fine, you pay for the letter.  So even though it's small change, Mother gave me money in order to re-type the letter the afternoon they left for Biloxi/Gulfport, and she gave me extra dimes just in case, dimes I have kept.  An Infusion of: 40 cents.
• ET also A on 4:14 p.m. on November 7 that I re-typed that complaint letter and typed a list of restaurants my folks should go to if they were able to head to New Orleans during their trip (and they were).  Two letters at the library cost: 20 cents.
• On Wednesday the 25th I bit the bullet and went to the Dylan concert at the X.  The night might have been more memorable because of what happened before I even got into the concert, but I will say that it was good that I saw him.  He played the songs I know, or at least the songs I know of him: "It Ain't Me, Babe," "Desolation Row," "Tangled Up In Blue," "Blowin' In The Wind," but they were all radically rearranged -- same lyrics, melodies and rhythms I have never heard of.  I was forewarned about this, and I guess it would have been to hear the songs the way I know them.  But if you're Dylan, you get bored over your old songs, so I can see his wish to do them in ways that keep them interesting for him.  (I also noticed that he seemed to be most engaged when he was singing standards, which he has done on his last three albums.)  Besides, hey, he's Bob Dylan ... he can do what he wants.  Scalped ticket, a can of Goose Island 312, and tip, and it all came to: $92.
• On Tuesday the 24th I went to see Only The Brave, the fictionalized drama about the Granite Mountain Hotshots, the Prescott, Ariz.-based and taxpayer-funded wildfirefighting crew, all but one of which perished in a fire several years back.  I wonder how much of what I saw was real life -- I doubt it was a whole lot -- but it was still impressively acted and I felt like I was watching real-life hotshots.  Grade: B+.  I got enough punches in my card to get in for free; popcorn and pop makes it: $4.30.
• And that evening I went to the library to type out a complaint letter for My Father.  It was about a leather sofa that's already started drying up and cracking.  It's going nowhere.  Cost: 10 cents.
• Monday, October 23: Fucked ***a* for: $120.
• Sunday the 22nd ... after the Vikings game I went to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Division).  Unusual time there.  I tried this thing called Truly, which is alcoholic ("spiked") sparkling water.  I saw the bar put up posters of this and I had to try it because, frankly, it seems so effeminate that I probably would be the first person ever to ask for this Truly.  And truly it was ... bland.  I tasted the sparkling water, so, you know, it tasted stale.  But I couldn't detect the alcohol at all.  And then, before getting a lap dance from the blonde and fun Barbie, she and fellow dancer Lexi asked me if I wanted to have a shot with them.  I did ... and of course I was the guy who paid for one.  Barbie's lapdance was crazy: I bit her tits, and then she laid into me so hard that I had to throw her off of me, and that got the attention of the bounce, who told me not to touch her.  I'll go back, eventually.  With tips: $54.
• On Saturday, October 21, after the EPL and exercising, I went to the old Surly Brewery to line up to get a bottle of Darkness because it was Darkness Day.  It's not bad, this Russian Imperial Stout -- hoppy but rewarding.  Cost of the bottle: $20.
• After my alma mater's game (a bad, bad loss), I went to Glam Doll to drown my sorrows in apple juice and a pair of donuts.  With tip: $10.
• Friday the 20th -- went to the Golden Gopher soccer match at Robbie.  I wanted to buy a scarf (I think I spoke about this before) but there was a scarf giveaway to the first 200 students to come to the game.  Now, I didn't know how much of a chance I had of getting one, so I got to Robbie Stadium earlier than usual, but not too early.  I did not get a scarf.  So, I decided I was going to buy a scarf at the merch stand.  But then the person manning the merchandise said that the scarf they were giving away was different than the two types of scarves she was selling.  And then I saw the people who did get the scarves, and those are different in that it says "M SOCCER."  Those are sweet scarves -- so sweet that I decided not to buy one.  Unfortunately, the U. soccer Twitter account tweeted back that I cannot buy that particular scarf.  So I went from determined to getting one to not getting one till next year.  And my dream of twirling a scarf over my head when the Golden Gophers set up for a Corner Kick will have to wait till next year.  Hot dog, medium Coke and program: $11.
• Oh, and I found a quarter in the bleachers of the game.  An Infusion of: 25 cents.
• And I went to Glam Doll afterwards.  With tip: $13.27.
• Wednesday, October 18 was the day my parents come home from out of town, and finally my ATF, ***e*, came over to clean the house.  Money well spent.  And no, once again, we didn't fool around: $120.
• On Tuesday the 17th I went to see The Foreigner, Jackie Chan's latest film.  And you know what?  It's a great film!  I have to be honest, though, in that Chan, who co-produced the film, is only one factor in making it great.  He has, like, three or four fight scenes (I hope he can still move, but there is a lot of close-ups and cuts in them), but he is asked to do some emoting, and I know Jackie Chan not by his acting.  Moreover, his character's role in the main plotline, which has to do with The Troubles, is at best a spanner in the cogs.  You can take out Chan's character and you would still have a movie.  But the thing is, that would still be a compelling movie.  Very dramatic, and Martin Campbell (who helmed the Bond films when Pierce Brosnan, who co-stars with Chan here, played 007) directs the hell out of The Foreigner -- which, by the way, is a misnomer; Chan is not a "foreigner" but an immigrant who has been living in London for many years.  The Foreigner is adapted from a 1992 book by British author Stephen Leather called The Chinaman, and even though "Chinaman" isn't a slur that pisses me off (some others do, though, so please, be careful), I'm pretty sure calling this film The Chinaman was a non-starter.  Nevertheless, this is an underrated movie that should be getting more business.  Grade: A-.  Ticket, popcorn, pop: $9.67.
• Back to Sunday, October 15 ... went to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Version) after the Vikes game, where I had coffee, gave tips, and got a lapper from Lexi.  Total: $35.75.
• Saturday the 14th -- Went to The Local downtown for EPL.  Plus tip: $13.
• Friday the 13th: The local art gallery I patronize hosted an opening.  Haven't been there in months.  Donation: $5.
• I then went to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Division) close by for coffee, stage tips, and my first-ever dance from the dollar coin-areolaed, droopy-boobed Ash: $29.75.
• ETA at 4:46 p.m. on November 7 that I totally forgot I went to a party on Thursday, October 12.  (I am having a horrible time remembering charges; I swear I need to do these EWRs more frequently.)  It was one for ********a's, who has promised me no cover charges for me for the parties she works at for the next year because of all the help I gave her when she moved.  This was at a place I've never been in -- fifties-ish, with a man who inherited from his parents, and it looks it.  And I think that is awesome -- quaint house still standing ... what more could you want?  The party, however, could have been better.  Even though I was more than an hour early for the party, I wish the two girls (********a and her friend, Adrian) were more, uh, playful.  I liked the fact there were, like, three guys there by the time I left, but it was so quiet that if I did have any real fun, they probably could have heard me.  Ah, well.  Two dances with ********a and one from Adrian and the total came out to: $60.
• Tuesday, October 10: The place I used to work at -- the one where I worked for a scant eight days -- did not provide plastic utensils and their coffee makers were kind of old.  However, they (sort of) made up for that by contracting with third-party food vendors.  For example, this company called Foodsby arranged restaurants to deliver meals ordered by workers online.  I used this service twice.  Also, on Tuesdays, Eddingtons, the soup-and-unlimited-breadstick restaurant, comes over.  I don't know if these guys get as much pub as they should.  They had a place out in Minnetonka, but now I think they're just a catering business.  Nevertheless, their soups have always been good.  With tip: $4.75.
• On Monday the 9th I went to this place in South Minneapolis called the Driftwood Char Bar to see a fellow temp I once worked with at the health insurance place play.  Ever since we've been Facebook friends, I've noticed that his interests turn toward the artisitc; he draws and he plays music, and at Driftwood (he invited me through Facebook) I went to see him play.  He's really good, although a bit raw.  Meanwhile, I've never heard of this place before, even though I've been down this part of Nicollet Avenue, most notably for the original Revival space.  I thought I was only getting a beer, but after meeting up with my friend's girlfriend and other friends, I thought, why not, I'll eat a burger here, too.  With tip, all told it came out to: $29.25.
• Sunday, October 8 -- eschewed the NFL to watch the Golden Gopher soccer team because I didn't make it out to their match Friday because it was raining cats and dogs.  They beat Purdue, 2-0.  This was where my internal conflict with buying a scarf began.  Program, hot dog, medium Coke: $11.
• On Saturday the 7th I went to Glam Doll.  With tip: $9.50.
• OK, Friday, October 6 ... I found a quarter somewhere, don't remember.  An Infusion of: 25 cents.
• I parked downtown because I wanted to get my shoes shined.  I actually put in too much money because I was afraid I would have to wait: $1.50.
• But Lisa was not busy and I got done real quick.  Shoeshine plus tip: $15.
• And since I still had a lot of time left on my meter, I decided to eat at one of the downtown trucks.  I decided on Pimento, a Jamaican spot I see on Eat Street.  Had their jerk chicken, and even though I know people usually have spicier, this was plenty spicy for me.  But it was good!  With tip: $11.
• It had been a long time since I went to Mensa, but since my folks were gone and I had nothing else to do and these guys were in my neighborhood for First Friday, I stuck my head in.  It was just less than half an hour, enough time to make quick conversation and re-familiarize myself with people I had last seen a couple months ago.  But someone caught my eye: A young, heavily tattooed, pale girl who seemed to be in her twenties and thus supplanted me as the youngest person who went to these Mensa things.  She's hot too.  One of the other Mensans noticed this too, as those two were chatting it up while I was eating pieces of the Heggies pizza he bought.  She had to leave soon because she was catching a ride; on my way out I offered to take her to this bar close by where she was making a rendezvous with some other friends, but she said no.  Probably the smart call.  Admission, beer and tip for said beer: $8.
• I made my stay at Mensa short because I had a party to go to.  Two parties, actually.  But the first one I went to ended early, so I went to the second one, just two miles away.  And even though I had fun -- got double-teamed by two girls, both of whom touched my pee-pee -- every single girl there hit me up for tips, money beyond what we initially agreed to.  Now I don't mind tipping a little extra for the two girls (*****a and ****y) who made me cum, even though we did agree on a price beforehand.  But I tipped one other girl for one dance, I gave an extra $20 to another girl even though she didn't ask if I wanted a second one, and the fucking girl who was taking cover charges wanted a tip for cleaning up.  WTF?  You know, as I type this, there are two parties that I've been invited to, and after recalling these ripoffs, I don't know if I want to anymore.  Total fucking damage: $256.

Good through Halloween.