T-7: Interesting Day

So I'll begin with my first "negative" DC experience. I went to NSF (National Science Foundation) for coffee with one of the fellows who works there (she's a 2nd-year). Coffee and conversation was GREAT; she then gave me a great tour of the NSF building and introduced me to a number of the other fellows. I was Metro-ing home with two of them during rush hour; the train was completely packed. So we get to one of the stations and people are piling on; the doors are trying to shut and can't. Suddenly this woman starts cursing and screaming about letting her and her baby on (because the doors were closing on them) - we managed to pack a little closer together so she could get on. She proceeds to CONTINUE cursing and screaming at all of us and shoves her way to the back of the car, where she continues to rant (she was REALLY upset that people were looking at her, but who isn't when someone's acting like that?) as she repeatedly pushes the Emergency button. She continues to do this for several stops; she was still going when I got off at my stop. It was the first time I've been legitimately nervous since I got here; all I could think was "what if she pulls a weapon out of her backpack with all these people crammed in here?" Scary.

Now, some random musings on life in DC so far:
1. I need to learn how to parallel park. I seriously suck at it, and it's hard to find a place you can just pull into (heck, it's hard to find a place to park PERIOD).
2. I also need to figure out how to read/interpret all of the parking signs, or I'm going to end up with another ticket. They are SO confusing!
3. Drivers in DC are (generally) meaner than in Memphis. Merging into traffic here is a nightmare - it takes FOREVER for someone to be kind enough to let you in! And the honking! Egads!
4. There is also more road construction going on here than I've ever seen. It even gets the GPS confused...
5. I am very glad I live close enough to work that I can walk. Because the whole driving thing is... interesting.
6. I am VERY ready to start working next week. "Touristing" has been fun, but I'm ready to start at NASA!
7. I find it very odd that roads suddenly start going in different directions at rush hour. Independence Avenue is 6-lanes wide (in some places); at rush hour, one lane that normally goes in one direction becomes a lane going in the opposite direction. Confusing...

It's great here - LOVE it - but I definitely still have some acclimating to do!