Bah! The bath here doesn't work. One of those plug-on-a-pole things that says "push". and even standing on the damn thing won't push it in. And then the typical shower - you spend five minutes at the side trying to get the temperature right. After that I forgot to pull the shower curtain aside so gave the bathroom a good watering too. Why do so many people like showers? Apart from anything else the shower flow always makes me want to pee which isn't a nice thing to be thinking in the shower.
It's election time in Washington - but no, not the Congressional mid-term elections. In a strange quirk of American history, Washington DC residents are not represented in Congress.
It's not even the general election for the Washington Mayoralty, but a primary to see who will be the Democratic Party candidate. But as 75 percent of Washingtonians are registered Democrats, in effect this is the vote! Signs are everywhere. The incumbent is being challenged and as often happens with intra-party struggles it's all getting nicely nasty.
Another interesting fact - 13 percent of Americans are black - but 57 percent of the Washington population. It certainly gives a different feel to the city.
I woke up feeling sick - barely touched breakfast. Wandered around Georgetown which isn't far from the hotel - swanky shops and cafes but a nice feel to the place. Cruised down the Potomac, then bussed round the city. Gave me lots of ideas for places I want to explore further. Tomorrow (actually today as I'm writing this in the morning) I am going to try and get to see some of the main attractions here.
Again - compared with New York, this place is so quiet and orderly. Almost too orderly. Do Washingtonians have much fun here? A third of the people are Government employees - and you'd imagine another good number are contracted to the Government. The other big earner is tourism. But there don't seem to be many tourists around at the moment.
The weather gods are playing games. The lead local news item was about bad flooding! It wasn't where I was though it did rain on and off all day. And we had thde coldest temperature in months. It really did feel a bit like home...
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I was going to "thank" you for bringing the cool, WET New Zealand weather along with you ... ;)
ReplyDeleteYou should be around the corner from one of the original locks of the C&O canal, still operational.
You're probably aware of the reason for DC residents having no congressmen, or why there is such a high percentage of African Americans in the city, but I can finish the civics/history lesson if you're too busy exploring. ;) OTOH, I feel stupid for having absolutely no idea that there was a primary in DC. DC politics, as well as the entire history of home rule in DC, is one big can of bees (never have figured out what the big deal of opening a can of worms was about).