Between the constant phones ringing, bells going off to signal votes, Blackberry vibrations, construction noise next door, and people coming into our office, I can conclude that there is some noise going through our office. It all started day one, but today I just realized how much of the time there is an annoying noise which we are conditioned to react to. When the phone rings, we answer. A Blackberry vibration deserves a response. A bell and light above the clock means it is time for Mr. Chairman to run to vote. Hammers and saws mean closing our outside door. Visitors mean emails to Blackberries, which starts the whole cycle over again. If the Capitol lost electricity for an extended period of time, progress would most likely be at a standstill.
Today I completed a project for Mr. Holden, a Agriculture Committee member from Pennsylvania and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy (and other things), to help give him some background information about all the different types of energy, by making a binder filled with renewable energy information. Because that consumed so much of my time, I did little of anything else. I of course did wean my way into a few "secrets of the house".
The first was in the cafeteria. I noticed the sign that said "Debitek only" at one of the many checkouts, most of which accept check or credit card. I asked my boss about it, and she felt really bad for not telling Gabriel and me sooner. It is like an employee discount, she explained, but for everyone if they look hard enough. To get the Debitek cards, you have to go to a Cash-to-Card machine, we have the same ones at the U. The machine will print you out a card to use for all your eating and drinking needs while in any of the cafeterias, carry-outs and snack bars. There are actually two secrets, about this secret. The first is in getting the card itself. You have to have a $5 bill. Since the average citizen would take out cash to get $20's, they would first, have cash to spend on food, and second not be able to get a card if they tried. The second secret is that after you get the $5 card, it is instantly worth $5.50. A 10% instant payback, no strings attached! I put in $5 more, and sure enough, $11 showed up on the machine. In the long run, this is a great deal. In the short run, if you are eating anything worth over $5, it is probably worth getting one (as long as you don't end up with too much excess value on your card when you are done).
The second secret is not really a secret, sorry to disappoint. What I did this afternoon was neat and not often done. I got a tour of the Capitol's second floor. This level looks twice as nice as any of the other levels of the Capitol, which aren't shabby at all. There were some things I did not realize that now make sense. Before I got to Washington, I wanted a picture of the House of Representatives to put as my computer's desktop. I only found one online, really odd for one of our nation's most prized places. But again, a rule of the House is that there may be no pictures or videos in the House area of the the second floor, and only a member may bring someone onto the floor of the house. We walked around the outside of where the House assembles, and saw the Speaker's Lobby, where only members and people with "floor passes" are allowed. Until very recently Congressmen could use the room for a smoke-break. Here we handed off a piece of paper to one of the people guarding the door, although I have no clue what it was (the lady I was with had a floor pass and needed to deliver something to CCP). Then we saw the outside of the respective majority and minority Cloakrooms, where I was also not allowed. Two final stops (although I could not see into anything besides the Speaker's Lobby) was at the Congressional dining hall (again, members and guests only) and the Rayburn Room, which was closed off because an event was in there. The reason for the tour was in case we forget something, I would be able to run to one of those places and hand it off to the Chairman or a staff member.
While work is great, when I come home I still have a couple classes to do homework for, so I better get back to that. I hope all is well in MN, and wherever else you are reading this!
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