One month in

A month in and I think I am finally getting the hang of things over on Capitol Hill. I can get around the house offices pretty efficiently and am starting to manage maneuvering the capitol building. I have also learned that while the majority offices set the committee agendas, they will not divulge that information to the minority staff. And yet, the minority staff still seem to know the agenda. Do we have spies?

Meanwhile, things on the homefront are great. The internet I was stealing from my neighbor seems to have been password protected so I went and bought a tv. I got a steal of a deal on an "open box item." I quickly discovered "open box" is misleading, because what they really mean is no box, remote, or manual. So I put my tv in a bag and carried it around the mall, to dinner, and then home on the metro. It got it's own seat of course.

This past weekend Mike came to visit and we had one of the best weekends ever (with the exception of the beating our football teams received). He got in late friday and then we spent saturday walking around Georgetown and watching college football. Sunday we booked a cruise to Mt. Vernon. We got to the dock just in time to see our ship sail away so we went on a metro and bus adventure to get to Mt. Vernon on our own. It was a gorgeous day and our cruise back on the ship was wonderful. We got back just in time to watch the late afternoon games and gorge ourselves on pub food. It was a good day.

All in all, D.C. has been a great adventure. I suppose it is kind of a mixed blessing that the democrats are dragging their heels on all pieces of legislation unrelated to healthcare. It would be nice to be a little more busy in the office; but, be careful what you wish for, right? With my free time I have just taken on the research for a journal article and will be the coauthor on an upcoming book chapter. Now if only to find a job!