I finished my laundry last night, and I should be able to figure out sometime tomorrow what I need to ship home. I made the mistake of bringing more to D.C. than I brought home during my trips back and forth, so I will have to pay some dues to the US Postal Service.
I had a few more thoughts that I think are really important to know about Washington, here the come:
If you want a job in Washington, D.C., you can get one. This is not a place of great competition. If Washington, D.C. were an island and you were stranded, you could probably find something to do for some office or organization. However, many entry-level positions are without pay (i.e. my internship). Because the entry-level jobs can be done by almost anyone, they don't need to spend the money to keep people around. Many internships start out with the salary of $0. I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship from the Renewable Fuels Association, which helped tremendously. When I figured out my pay in terms of the scholarship, I was making about $6.17 an hour, and that was being generous. Extended to a year, that would be about $15,000, and staff assistants can typically put three zeros on the end of their age. Because of this, I see a big problem, we have a low percentage of low-income staffers on the hill. It is not that a wealthy staff would do a worse job, but in a place where we are trying to solve problems, we have many great minds shy away from the city because the financial risk is too great. Those who do come either have their stay subsidized by their parents who want them to be successful, or work jobs on the weekends and after work. So that is the down-side, however one nice benefit most people do not realize is the educational loan repayment program available to staff. The rate is around $500 a month, so $6,000 a year. This can turn the $22,000 salary into about $28,000, making it a bit more manageable. This is still an expensive city. Rent for a live-able apartment (unlike mine) can be anywhere between $800 and $1,200, depending on where you are, how close you are to the Metro, and of course the regular housing/renting factors. With your $22,000 salary then, you have $16,500 after 25% is taken out for taxes. You can then take home about $1,375 for month, and put about $1,000 of that towards housing and travel, giving you about $3-400 to live on each month. With a few big bar tabs, I can see where people go into debt for a while. That is a pessimistic view, but with a few good years in D.C., salary rises quickly and staff swing to the other then of the financial pendulum. I'm just saying, the first couple of years can be rough.
I think my final lecture will be about cars. Parking is ridiculous, and because the city wants less people on its streets, the parking police are horrible. I did not have a car, so this is a second-hand account. Rush hour is horrible. Between the stoplights and millions of people trying to get places, including workers, tourists and Presidential motorcades, D.C. rush hour is stop-and-go within about 60 miles of the metro area. People that do not live on the Hill, can then spend much over 50% of their day away from home. Even Metro riders will have to get on the Metro by 8:00 to get to work by 9:00, and not return home until 7:00 (on a normal day). Commuters can leave at 6:00 or 6:30 and return home by 8:00 (on a normal day), but extended hours can be much worse. At least you can park in the Office Building parking lots for free as a staffer, but you need to pop your trunk and have a police officer look in your back window before you do. If you live on the Hill with a car, it doesn't get much better. An off-street parking spot is the solution to many problems. One of our staff members has had his car stolen twice, and been bumped and nicked enough times that no one would want to steal his car anymore. The reason for the bumps is the way people parallel park. I have always been a proud member of the parallel parkers at my fraternity in St. Paul, AGR. Normal residents park an average of 6 vehicles in the same space we can park 7. I think residents of D.C. could up us with a total of 8. It is much easier to parallel park in D.C. though, you know exactly when to stop. Everyone simply backs up until they see the car behind their coveted spot moves, because their car just tapped it. Then when a driver turns the cars wheels and heads forward, the stopping point is when that car moves. What you end up with is a sidewalk lined with neatly parked cars, simply inches from each other. If a staffer plans on staying in D.C. for just a year or two, they may not bother to change their license plate. The fee is something like 6% of your cars value. So just getting a street permit for parking on the street takes about 8 hours after you find out what your cars exact value is, get in the four-hour line to get the okay for a D.C. license plate, and finally are able to pick it up. If you do not go through this process, and are parked on the street, you start getting tickets. It starts at around $100, then increases quickly each day that the parking ticketers notice your non-D.C. plates. The Metro in D.C. is very helpful, but it doesn't get you everywhere. Cars are definitely advantageous at times, but I wouldn't buy it.
One last thing I didn't realize until a few weeks ago; Washington, D.C. is on the East Coast. I went to New York and Baltimore with little money and planning, and was able to spend a short amount of time traveling. I wish I would have headed south for Twins Spring Training, but there is always next time.
Also, this means vacations to the Bahamas and the Caribbean are much more inexpensive and less time-consuming than they would be from the MN area.
I'm going to head to the Nationals game, and then tonight I'm going to have supper with our next intern who I met when he was out to visit earlier this Spring. Tomorrow I am shipping out and packing up, and seeing the last couple of sights. Then early Tuesday I leave for Dulles so I can make it back to the great state of MN for the afternoon. That's all for now. We'll see if I have anything else to reflect about as my life goes on...
