9:26am Feb. 10, 2006
Hello again. Well, just to be brief. I'll do what I do best. Complain.

So, how was my first day in Washington DC. Well, actually, this is only morning (at the time of this writing). After taking my things into the bathroom, and returning home, the room card did not work (again). I also had to go downstairs to the lobby.

Sorry, I have to save my brief entry in the draft folder, the cleaning crew has started cleaning, and it doesn't seem to be bothering them that I am sitting here. They seem perfectly comfortable cleaning around me.



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7:58pm Feb. 10, 2006
I am back. Today has turned out a little better than I thought it would. When I started this entry, I was a little annoyed that things seem to not be going my way. A little summary of my morning.

My card key for the room door would not open, so I rode the elevator down to the lobby, but the elevator got stuck (with me on it) for about 5 minutes.

To start my walking adventure, I bought a unlimited Metro card. That turned out to be waste of money. For me the best way to explore is to just walk. I really did not think about the size of DC. I had this image in my mind of a transit system a little similar to New York. If I am not mistaken, most of the major monuments here in Washington DC are in about a one or two mile radius. I was easily able to walk (with a blister on the bottom of my foot) from Congress to the Washington Monument. Unfortunately, my camera battery started to die as I made my walk around the perimeter of the Congress building. That put me in a bad mood. Also, being alone made the walk a little less than exciting. Taking photos by myself is difficult when I am by myself. example

I ask a guy with his girlfriend (or wife) to take my photo. I'd mentioned that the battery was low, so could he just take the photo. I assumed that since he had a digital camera, he would have some idea how to take a digital photo. I was wrong.

When I first ask for the photo to be taken, he is asking me questions about the location of the Washington Monument, the position of the camera etc... I just politely remind him that the battery is low, and to just take the photo. He aims. He pushes the button. He then says, "oh, something's wrong". He pushed the off button. I show him (again) it's the big button, not the small button. And, I remind him that the battery is very low. Again, he is asking about the position of the camera, and commenting that there are people in the background. I just ask him to please take the photo. He does. I thank him. I walk away. I find...no photo. Either he pushed the off button again, or the battery was too low. I started mopping around, until I realized that I could just return to the Youth Hostel and recharge the battery. I also realized that the battery is about 4 years old, and it is long over-due to be replaced.

Since it was only about 12pm, I thought I could have lunch, write a blog entry, make copies of my interview documents, and kill I a couple of hours. Well, I started with the blog entry. Unfortunately, the computer froze and ate up about half of my time. That's where the bad luck ended. After making me wait for a long time, the hostel ended up giving me an extra 20 minutes compensation...which I am using right now.

This afternoon, I ate lunch at MacDonald's. I continued my walk around the area monuments. For dinner, I bought a small soup and a sandwich from Subway's Sandwich Shop. In total, I took about 65 photos.

So what do I think about DC. It is okay. I was a little annoyed that there were not (at least not in the neighborhood I am in) small shops or convenient store.

Well, I have to go. I used up my 20 minutes bonus, and I added another 20 minutes. I am about the use up half of my 20 minutes. This entry is about 50 minutes of computer time. I hope it did not bore you too much. Now, I have to get ready for tomorrow. I have my "make or break" job interview. Ja mata...