My First Day Of Work

Instead of calling everyone to rehash the days events, I thought it would be faster (and more coherent) if I just put it up here for you all to read.

7:00 am : Wake-up to both my clock and cell going off at the same time and freaked out for about 5 seconds because I haven't had to wake up to an alarm in a while. I then proceded to eat/ drink massive amounts of coffee/ pray that I didn't embarrass myself today/ etc.

8:20 am : Depart from my apartment to job.

9:01 am: Arrive at job to find that no one is there. Worried that maybe work wasn't starting until 10 since it was the day after a holiday so I worked on a Sudoko puzzle. P arrived about 15 minutes later (he had lost his key) and then C arrived 10 minutes after that so then we were able to go into the the office.

9:35 am: After a quick debrief and location of the office coffee pot, I was shown to my office. Okay, so, technically it is the guest office, but I get to work there this summer. It's huge and I have an enormous window with a view of the Capitol. C. brings me some summaries of the bills they've been tracking for the past couple of weeks and a cup of coffee.

10:00 am: M. arrives, we debrief for a few minutes and then he leaves to make a call. C. brings me some information on the University's endowment which was an interesting read. I always kind of wondered where we spent our money and I have to say I think the university is doing a great job.

12:00 pm: P., C., and I go down to the cafeteria and grab lunch. The food was great but kind of pricy. $10.00 for a chicken and cheese quesadilla? I'm packing for the rest of the week.

1:30 pm: P. discovers the intern briefing folder from some unknown corner of the office. While most of the material was waaaay outdated (1992!) some of it was helpful. P and I decided one of our projects this summer was going to be to update the folder.

3:00 pm: After scouring through the folder for useful information I have P. show me how to work the phones. Then I grab the office copy of Roll Call and have a look through. P says each morning I should read the Post, RollCall, and Politico (or at least browse through to see if they mention anything on our bills, or for listings of hearings).

4:10 pm: M. invites me to go to a meeting with him tomorrow to this Innovation Taskforce meeting. I look over the website so I am not completely out of the loop tomorrow.

5:01 pm: First Day of work is over! While it wasn't incredibly hard, it was a bit overwhelming at times. I feel like I am so behind on all this information but since Congress isn't in session this week I have some time to get my bearings.

5:30 pm: I took the Metro to Union Station so I could drop off my application at Ebenezer's Coffeehouse. Luckily, they were taking applications and said they might be able to offer me a job. I am praying that I will get to work there at least 3 times a week making some money because I haven't really come up with a Plan B and plus it's a Christian coffee shop. What's not to love about that?

6:00 pm: On the way back to the Metro, I spill the latte I got from Ebenezer's on my white shirt. Classy.

6:13 pm: While trying to figure out a way to prevent said spill from staining said white shirt, I miss the stop for Metro Center and ride down 3 more stops before realizing it.

6:30 pm: Finally arrive back at apartment after doubling-back on the metro and almost losing my wallet.

6:47 pm: Headed over to student packaging services to pick up my boxes of stuff. Then I get there and realize I hadn't made a plan for getting them back to my dorm.

6:58 pm: After frantically calling 411, finally contact taxi service that will take me (and my boxes) back to my apartment for $10.50

7:15 pm: Get boxes in my apartment. Think about unpacking but then cook a pizza instead.

8:00 pm: Unpack all the useless stuff I probably won't need but want to have around so I feel more at home.

8:36 pm: Finally take a shower.

9:00 pm: Plop down on the couch with a pint of haagen-daaz (spelling?) to indulge in some horribly trashy television. I know, I am to smart for this, but nothing is more rewarding after a day cramming my head with information and politics then watching other people's pointless drama. It is then that I realize my life is actually not so bad and I am somewhat successful at life.

11:00 pm: Started writing this blog, talked to Alex & compared first day stories, then finished blog.

I hope you enjoyed the run down. I'll try to keep you posted if anything extremely interesting happens. Oh and, mom and dad, I promise to give you a call later this week ;-)