First Impressions of DC

I've been here for a night, here are my very first impressions.

Overpriced: I'm paying way too much for my hotel room. It is tiny. There is barely enough room to walk between the bed and the TV. Definitely not handicapped accessible; I'm sure there are rooms that are, but mine is not among them. I'd pay more for internet access in my room this week than I'd pay for it at home...for two months! I found this out when I used my own ethernet cable to plug into the modem...the hotel provided setup doesn't seem to have all the connections in place. My iron is not designed to sit in an upright position, you know, the position that you set it in when you are letting it heat up or when you are moving your clothes. If I set it upright all the water runs out. I think there is supposed to be a water tight valve on it, but its not there. My toilet is installed crooked, so the seat hits the countertop and won't stay up. Nice design touch there. Of course, the handle to flush the toilet is about 8 inches under the counter, so I have to bend over to find the handle just to flush the toilet, yet another nice design touch. Breakfast is not free, as seems to be the case at "nice" restaurants. I could have saved $50 a night and gotten all that free at "low-cost" hotels. Instead I get to pay for breakfast, borrow a neighbor's wireless access and get a tiny room with an almost partially usable toilet. Whoopee!!

Arrogant: OK, admittedly I've only met one person actually from DC, but she was among the most arrogant people I've met in a long time. I felt very bad for our shuttle driver as the lady next to me was barking out directions to him as though he doesn't know his way around the city. It didn't help that the driver misunderstood one person who wanted to go to Capitol Hill, not the Capitol Hilton. Think about it, how many people get off an airplane and take their luggage to Capitol Hill? I thought it was a pretty reasonable misunderstanding. When my pompous seatmate started "pleading my case" I told her to relax and leave the driver alone. The van ride was much quieter after that (and the other out of town passengers were grateful!). The only other comment from that seatmate was informational: I really should visit the "upper crusty farmers market" at some train station. Yeah, right. Like I want to pay $5 for a cucumber...as though DC isn't overpriced enough as it is!

I'll meet Jack in a couple hours, so I'm sure my image of DC will take a turn for the better. Right now, I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time in my dorm room...er, hotel room (dorm rooms are bigger and have free internet access).