February Photo a Day: Money

Not actual greenbacks but...

So, I know. This isn't money per se. However, it does show the extent to which Marriott is nickel and dime-ing all the California bar candidates.  If discussing money and costs of things makes you uncomfortable, you should stop reading right now. Some highlights:

• Internet: $9.95 or $13.95 if you don't want to pay for "lite" internet. I don't know about you, when I'm uploading exam files I don't want "lite" internet service.
• Breakfast: $25 for scrambled eggs, coffee, potatoes and a random muffin. Oh, and this morning, they delivered hot water instead of coffee. No tea packets either so who knows what they were thinking. I would have opted for a "cheaper" option (cereal at $18) but I have issues eating first thing in the morning and eggs are the only thing I can literally choke down.  Add pre-test jitters and I'm lucky I got $5 worth of this breakfast.
• Lunch: $14+tax+gratuity, so I'm thinking more like $24 (apparently there's a 21% service charge + $3 delivery on room service!). The brightside is that they deliver it to your room so when you are done with the morning session of the exam it is waiting for you in your room. I would say this may be the only thing worth the money. Also, the sandwiches were HUGE so it will also be lunch tomorrow. Win.
• Parking: $33/ day for valet, otherwise $24 each entry.
• Late check out: $99. $99?!!? I find this last charge egregious. Unfortunately, I'm going to pay it because this way I can have my lunch in my room (see above) and don't have to stress out about packing up all my stuff into my car at 7am in the morning before a hard test day (the essay day today was rough, I'm sure it will be rougher after another day of testing). Also, there are 1200+ people taking this test and I'm pretty sure most are in my hotel. Let the chaos ensue. So, my plan is to pack up the car Wednesday night and then have one bag to take to the car with me when I do the late checkout. This way I can leave directly from the exam and get home asap (we have a dinner res at a 2 michelin star restaurant thankyouverymuch).
• Room Charge: I looked up the price for the hotel for this coming weekend.  It's currently listed for $80 less/ night. The fleecing continues.

So yeah, soooo much money spent to take this stupid exam. I know, I know. First world problems. I'm very lucky that we can pay for these things to make the test less stressful. But, seriously? I'm all for capitalism, but this just seems a bit much.

P.S. Sorry for the length! I've been typing all day and this got a little out of hand.