September 1 or My First Day of Work

After not sleeping very well, I woke up and made it to work on time. I liked waiting for the Metro in my professional attire. I could feel the tourists looking at me.

I hope they thought I was a native Washingtonian.

I like pretending like I have serious business here. And the professional dress helps a lot.

I was a little overdressed for my office (which is fine, I’d rather be overdressed than underdressed), but I didn’t get lost and I got there in time. The office is small, less than ten people work there. It made learning everyone’s name pretty easy.

They were pretty busy today, so I didn’t get very much training, but I did learn a lot about the organization itself. They are in the process of redoing the website and I am helping with the issue summaries. In order to write the summary of the position TCS has on a topic, I have to KNOW the position TCS has on a topic. So I read a lot today.

I work in the back office with two other senior staff members named Autumn and Erich (yes, with an “h”). I’m still trying to figure out the balance between letting other people work on their projects and chatting with them. We usually talk while we’re looking at our respective computers, which is hard for me to handle because I like to see someone’s face when we talk.

So far it seems like a nice office to work in. Since it is so small, I expect I will have significant responsibility over my projects. Congress is back in session next week, so I’ll get to do hill drops and go to some hearings then.

After work I decided I would get off at the Smithsonian metro stop and go to one of the museums for half an hour before it closed. My plan was perfect, except it didn’t work. The museums closed early today.

So I decided to walk home from the mall. It was a beautiful day (great temp, low humidity) and my shoes (1 ½ inch heels) were surprisingly comfortable. Not, chaco/gator/tennis shoe comfortable, but for formal shoes, they are pretty good.

I had about three miles to go and I knew the general direction home, so I took streets home I’d never taken before. As I was walking along Virginia St with the warm wind at my back, the Watergate in front of me, and a tree-lined street above me I realized something—I really like walking alone.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to go wandering around the streets of D.C. late at night, but I really enjoy exploring the tree-covered streets when I walk home from work.

I also was able to see more of the city. I found the huge statute of Albert Einstein that Paul took a picture by last time we were here. It’s on my way home, just off the mall.

I finally found my way back to the Barlow, changed my shoes and went to the CVS pharmacy to buy toilet paper and some candy. Remind me not to buy TP there. Four dollars for four rolls was the best deal.

Highlight of the day: I got some candy at CVS to get me through the afternoon “blahs” at work.

Highlight of the highlight: They had mini-Heath bars.

A close-up of the heavenly creation known as peanut M&Ms

All of my loot. It's amazing how many ills/sins/undesirables chocolate evaporates. It is simply amazing.