jester3681 Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Well, guys I thought I'd share. Railroaders are notoriously cheap, and today I think I earned my stripes. My new goal is to spend as little as possible while away since I get a $20 meal voucher for each trip. Here we go...Step 1: Raman Noodles. Unfortunately, in Indianapolis, we stay at Holiday Inn Express. At North Baltimore, we stay at Extended Stay with a full kitchen. No kitchen here...Step 2: Coffee Maker. This is the closest thing I found to a kitchen in the hotel room. I wonder...Step 3: Loaded the coffee maker with water, loaded the urn with noodles and seasoning.Step 4: Start the pot and wait for it to brew. NOTE: I did not put coffee in the maker. Just raman noodles.Step 5: While waiting for my noodles to... brew?... I tracked down some "dishes." The fork is from my lunch box.Step 6: Half way through brewing, removed the noodles to...stir everything together. Back into the maker for the rest of the brew. Now, I eat my raman as noodles, not soup, so...Step 7: Drain into sink. Finally...Step 8: Two styrofoam cups of raman noodles to enjoy! Yum! Believe it or not, taste just as good (bad?) as if I made them on the stove. I win! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 HAHAHA I used to do this all the time when I lived in a dorm at Bowling Green!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAMBUSA Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Ah yes, the days of living in hotels. I remember those days. Hated them. Either stayed in Detroit or the Natti. Hated it. Glad those days are over.Couldn't tell ya how many meals I've cooked on the sidewall heater or on the water tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester3681 Posted October 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 I have my can of soup for the engine tonight - it was cold last night. I'm thinking water tank. Where do you work, Sambusa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAMBUSA Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Worked on the IORY out of Lima. Served a 10 year sentence as an engineer before I got out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh1234 Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Yep, stuck in a hotel room with nothing to do but document the making of soup that's hotel-room bored for ya When I stay perdiem through work we get reimbursed (for a certain amount) for meals, but don't get the money outright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester3681 Posted October 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Worked on the IORY out of Lima. Served a 10 year sentence as an engineer before I got out.You still railroad, or something else? I've not heard good things about life on the IORY.And Josh1234, yeah 16+ hours in a hotel, you find ways to entertain yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serpentracer Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 everyone has a dollar menu dude....just sayin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFM Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Taco Bell Meal Deal #4, plus a Bacon Ranch Chicken Flatbread. $3.17, and you can save the Doritos for a later snack. Or taking pictures of them in the hotel room? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanDy Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 An iron with a brown paper bag works well for grilled cheeseMy bike doesn't leak oil, it's sweats awesomeness! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadTrainDriver Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Just don't heat the can of soup on the sidewall heater...there is a specific rule against that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadTrainDriver Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Just don't heat the can of soup on the sidewall heater...there is a specific rule against that!PS: There is a certain engineer that pees in those coffee pots...or so I've been told...so I hope you washed it first... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YSR_Racer_99 Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 My wife won't use hotel room coffee makers since we found out that stewardesses often use them to "wash" their hose/ stockings. And other stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flounder Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Another trick is if you go out to eat and have leftovers you want to chill / heat back up but dont have anything. Use the Ice bucket bags and fill them with Ice and set on top of your food in the sink. that will keep it cold. To heat back up. Put the food in the ice bucket bags and tie them closed, then put them in the sink and turn on the hot water and fill the sink. Open the drain just enough so that you can keep the hot water flowing 100% but not over flow the sink. After about 15min, youll have hot food. Or the cheap route is go to the lobby and use the microwave. Ive found all kinds of ways to eat cheap at hotels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 everyone has a dollar menu dude....just sayin.every stinking bit of this! Maybe its cuz I'm a food loving fat kid but there are so many things I'd rather save money on than food. Nobody should have to eat ramen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh1234 Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 When my company gets us a hotel room, we get a $6 breakfast, $8 lunch, and $18 dinner. We pay and then get reimbursed when we run our expense report Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowdog Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 WOW i need to re look at this. I give our guys $50 a day! LMAO and to think how much money they could save our company if i could just buy them all a case of noodles and a coffee maker!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester3681 Posted October 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Just don't heat the can of soup on the sidewall heater...there is a specific rule against that!Shit, there's a rule about which hand you hold your pecker with to piss. It's safer with the right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadTrainDriver Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 (edited) Keep in mind guys, our "meal allowance" is union negotiated...and has nothing to do with the amount of money anyone else gets for Per Diem. We're actually lucky we get anything at all! I look at it like this...little things like being payed the same when I'm riding in a taxi as when I'm working a train...makes up for the little money I make to pay for food. Nothing like $100 an hour while sleeping in a taxi while deadheading home from Garrett Indiana/Toledo Ohio/Cincinnati Ohio/Indianapolis Indiana(while working out of Marysville). Last year as a whole, I only stayed in a hotel 21 times...but I deadhead 89 times. That's $420 for meals while in the hotel versus $28,569 for riding in a taxi(based on a trip rate pay of $321 out of Marysville Ohio). And Josh...you only get $12. I'm the one that get's $20, lol!! Edited October 3, 2011 by BadTrainDriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadTrainDriver Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 (edited) Lol...I don't eat that crap!When he and I worked together, we met over at Applebee's for dinner, I had a $20 steak...he had a salad.To each his own. I don't judge...Also, for the record, I don't make $100 unless I'm riding in a taxi...I just used that as an example of the way we get payed at times. Edited October 3, 2011 by BadTrainDriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanDy Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 Man, y'all are gettin hosed!! Here is what we used to determine per diem rates, maybe it's because we worked under gov't contracts...http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287I think Vancouver Canada was my highest ever, 120 a day and that was if I used it or not!My bike doesn't leak oil, it's sweats awesomeness! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadTrainDriver Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 (edited) Read post 21..And by "you", whom are you speaking? Edited October 10, 2011 by BadTrainDriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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