Well, I've had some technical difficulties lately. Hopefully tonight I can get this posted. Here's a little rambling for you.
There's this radio station in town that is doing a contest. Radio stations are always doing contests, and apparently it's just not exciting enough anymore to give away $10,000 in cash. So this radio station is doing a Michigan Avenue Shopping Spree. For those of you who don't know, Michigan Avenue is the posh place to shop in Chicago. I work along there, so I know the shops fairly well. So here's the idea. The radio station is giving you an hour and fifteen minutes to spend up to $1,000 in 10 stores on Michigan Avenue. So I got to thinking... what would I do with that? It's the kind of thing you have to plan ahead for. So here's my plan, even though I won't be playing the contest.
You have to understand that there are no really useful stores on Michigan Avenue. You can't buy useful things like appliances or groceries. And $1,000 isn't enough to get you a really good fur coat or couch. But this is what I'd do:
Expensive clothes shop -- I could probably get two or three really nice outfits for $1,000 - I wouldn't try anything on, just guess and do returns if they didn't fit.
Inexpensive clothes shop -- There's one not-so-expensive clothing place right off Michigan Avenue. I think I could convince them it would count. I could get at least ten new outfits there.
Shoes -- Nothing ridiculously expensive where I could only afford one pair of shoes. I think there's one shop on Michigan Avenue where i could get almost ten pair of shoes. That would set me up for years.
Outdoor gear -- There's a North Face shop on Michigan Avenue. I'm sure I could get a good coat and maybe a tent for $1,000.
Furniture -- I'd get something small but nice - like a side table or maybe some art at a posh furniture store.
Household stuff -- Well, since I can't get a dishwasher, stove and washer/dryer I'd go to Crate and Barrel and buy pots, pans, dishes, some decorative stuff.
Restaurant -- Catering! I'd try to convince a really nice restaurant to do three really nice, but small, parties next year.
Hotel -- Prepay for a lovely relaxing weekend at the Drake Hotel!
Lego Store -- Wee! I could easily spend $1,000 on lego stuff. Just one small box is $50.
Gift Shop -- This would set me up on Christmas presents and birthdays for the next three years at least.
Some other thoughts -- there's a Sony store on Michigan Avenue. I could get some nice things there, but not exactly perfect stuff because electronics tend to be more than $1,000. What I'd really like to spend the money on is credit card debt. I'd make at least one stop at a bank or two to see if they would put the money on a credit card bill or let me open a new account and deposit $1,000. I wonder if the contest rules forbid that.
Books: Well, I'm doing a second pass, starting at the beginning. I've only had to totally rewrite three chapters out of ten. At least this time around. I can look at the work with a more objective eye now that I have some distance from it. The biggest problem I notice is that I'm trying to write a screenplay instead of a novel. They're fundamentally different methods of communicating and while you can steal some tricks from one or the other, you really need to do just one thing at a time. My first-draft reader is joking that I'm doing the novel adaptation of the movie in my head.
