Expenses Without Receipts

Starting from Thursday, April 18:

• We'll need to start on Sunday, April 14, where, citing my urge to merge, went all the way down to ****e's place and fucked her: $120.
• Back to Wednesday the 10th, when I checked out of my hotel.  I can't say enough of how well-run it was.  The people who own and manage it care, and that makes a world of difference these days when it comes to staying at budget hotels.  Such as it is, I leave a tip whenever I check out.  Hopefully it is appreciated: $5.
• On Tuesday the 9th I finally bit the bullet and went to a strip club.  I was leaning against doing so during my vacation in St. Louis because I was pinching pennies, but eventually I wanted one big night out before I had to leave the next day.  Besides, if I am going to be a stripclub monger again, I have to go to stripclubs other than the one I go to on a non-regular basis, right?  So I did.  It was Larry Flynt's Hustler Club, which I had gone to only once before.  Girls were straight bangers, but I got a somewhat desultory one in Chrissy.  Great body, passive personality, got me hard, but at least she didn't totally freak out when I whipped it out.  Obscene cover that the cheap Bud Light for a Tuesday did not make up for.  With tips, the total was: $201.
• I guess I technically went to Argosy Casino Monday the 8th (the night after it took me six hours to drive back to the STL along with all the other eclipse traffic), but I maybe technically poured money into the one slot machine I played on Tuesday the 9th.  Either way, I lost: $12.
• Sunday, April 7: Went to the Cardinals matinee, where they were getting blown out by the Marlins (who finally won their first Game of the season that day) when, in the middle of the Ninth Inning, a big rain squall tore through Busch Stadium and everyone had to scatter as the Game was postponed.  I think an hour later it resumed.  Don't know if I would've gone if I knew beforehand that was going to happen.  Anyway, I tipped a busker with a full-fledged, Neil Peart-like drum kit banging away at a street corner: $1.
• Later that night I went to the Casino Queen, across the Mississippi.  I was hitting all the casinos in St. Louis to update the use of my loyalty cards.  It was just one slot machine for less than a minute, but here, I was given what's called "Free Play" at a slot machine, where the casino just gives me free money to play.  I won $21 on that.  But then I went to the craps table and lost $50.  Adding in a buck in tip to the cashier for converting my chips to cash and, all told, I lost: $30.
• Even later that night I hit a Waffle House.  Had to hit a Waffle House when there's one in the vicinity.  All-Star Special ... chose bacon, my eggs scrambled, and grits, but with a side of hash browns -- scattered, smothered and covered!  With tip: $23.
• Saturday the 6th ... after I touched down, drove east into Illinois to check into my hotel, drove back west into Missouri to eat at Hooters, and got lost trying to find my to Ameristar casino (where, it so happens, I put a $20 bill in a slot machine, won enough money to break even, and split), I went to Hollywood Casino where I also put a $20 bill in a slot machine but won enough money early enough through my $20 that I actually got out of there winning money.  An Infusion of: $4.
• Back to Wednesday, April 3 -- after the Wolves Game, I went to Pizza Luce to stop for two pizzas (instead of one) and my usually Coke can.  With tip: $13.  (This was when I wasn't afraid to spend money.)
• This day, Father paid me back for all the lottery ticket I bought for him.  But because I didn't want to carry all the money he gave me at once, I stashed most of it and only put some of it in my wallet.  This was the last of three times I dipped into that, so technically, it was an Infusion of only: $90.
• The second time was on April Fools' Day, but this time it was an Infusion of: $40.
• And the third first time was back on Monday, March 25.  This was an Infusion of: $90.
• On Thursday the 21st I paid into a lottery work pool: $4.
• I also did Tuesday the 19th, but this time I was paying for both myself and my co-worker, who lent me $4 for the previous pool.  I'm just paying her back: $8.
• That evening I went to get gasoline, and I did that thing where I overestimated how much I needed.  Fortunately it was by exactly 50 cents, so even though I was bummed I had to march back into the gas station a second time grab my change, at least it wasn't, like, 99 cents.  The cost of gas, by the way, was: $18.50.
• Wednesday, March 13 ... we made a lot of lottery pools at work as the jackpots built up.  On this day a co-worker paid me back for lending her money on the previous pool, an Infusion of: $4.
• That previous pool was the day before, Tuesday the 12th, where I paid for both her and myself.  Total: $8.
• Friday, March 8 -- spent cash at McDonald's before heading into work: $6.81.
• On Thursday the 7th I attended the Walker Art Center because it was the last free Thursday night for this particular exhibition about art in Communist Eastern Europe.  It was also the first day of this installation/recreation of a defunct gay bar in San Francisco called The New Eagle Creek Saloon.  Once I got through this fascinating exhibition (I wonder how many of the pieces I saw were able to be exhibited, and if so, how many were able to be shown in Eastern Europe), I went down to this huge art space with this little tiny bar serving up pre-made cocktails manned by four overwhelmed bartenders.  It was a groovy place to be for the last hour of operation that night at the Walker.  Of course the bar/installation had a tip jar, so I had to tip: $1.
• Later that night I was still hungry, so I went to Culver's: $8.96.
• Back to Saturday, March 2, where I went to Wal-Mart to buy food to prepare for the second hotdish I wanted to make for the year.  I bought this pre-packaged meat I needed to heat up and a can of Campbell's cream of chicken soup.  Total: $10.34.
• On my way back from the MNUFC Match, there was a group of Girl Scouts and their parents (or was it just their moms?) selling Girl Scout Cookies.  I don't think I had bought any yet for the season, and I liked their enterprising spirit.  (Plus, they didn't have a tip jar.  Have you noticed that more and more Girl Scout Cookie tables are laying out tip jars??  Is that what they're teaching Girl Scouts to do -- extract more money from people just for giving boxes to customers and looking at their parents whenever a customer asks a question that they should learn to answer?)  One box, which now costs: $6.
• Finally, Friday, March 1: Went to a long-ago usher friend to a Catholic Friday Fish Fry.  Went to one of the most well-regarded ones, at St. Albert the Great.  It was a great time with someone I haven't seen in years!  Pop cans for me and her, a ticket for the dinner and tickets for raffles they were having for prizes throughout the night came out to: $20.

Good through April 18.