Bravo for finding just about every major Prius complaint, in your first day of driving. You were paying attention.

I can understand being distracted by the car. It's a completely different transmission, than a manual or automatic. In many ways, it's more complicated, challenging, and fun than a manual transmission. I drove stick all my life, until my Prius.

<i>For people with experience if the prius: How good bad is 46.4 mpg for a 35 minute commute on lightly trafficed 35mph roads in 37F degree weather? I have no idea what the tire pressure is but the car felt very soft.</i>

For a new driver it's ok. Was the engine warm or did you start the commute with a cold engine? Are the roads flat? These things make a big difference in fuel economy. If you were to pulse & glide, with a warm engine, on flat roads, with no passengers, you could easily get 60MPG. A hard-core hypermiler could do even better.