It's Friday night already? What? Today went by so quickly! Had a brief (and I mean brief) tour training this morning, then answered phones and did research all afternoon. Didn't really get much of a chance to look over the START treaty stuff, so I brought it home with me for the weekend. My first official Capitol tour went astoundingly well...i'm really excited to do more! I have three scheduled next week, so I'll get lots more practice.  

Starting the half day schedules on Monday, which means I won't have to be at work until 1 pm. Excellent. 

Sorry for not writing yesterday!! Didn't really do much that was noteworthy...took a class on how to best utilize the Congressional Research Services, and got yet another ID card for that.

Today was pretty hectic, surprisingly. Went to a hearing this morning with David Walker about the federal budget deficit and unemployment. It was pretty interesting, learned a lot about the differences between short-term deficit and structural deficit. Some random kid sat down at my lunch table (the other interns went at one, but I had to be on front desk duty then) and it turned out he was full of a lot of advice about law school. Pretty interesting guy.

Hannah (another intern) and I are going to a START treaty hearing on the 17th (yes, the one with Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates). As a precursor for that, we were assigned with creating a briefing for Senator Udall. To give you an idea of how challenging of a task this is: we have to take over 150 pages of information and facts and sum it up in ONE page. It's going to be quite a chore. But fun!

The interns all got invited to this big intern thing at a bar (Madhatter) Tuesday night after work. They'll have FREE DRINKS and refreshments, as well as (supposedly) good company.  I love being 21 :). We're all going to head over after work...I'm actually pretty excited.

My first VIP tour is tomorrow as well. Really nervous, seeing as I still haven't been trained. But I figure I know enough to get by, and they gave me a cheat sheet of sorts that I'm allowed to take around with me. So that's nice I suppose. I'm still the only intern who has been assigned tours, which is inflating my ego a little too much... but oh well! I have five as of today, including my parents :).

Today was slowwwww... the Senate is in recess, so there wasn't really much exciting going on. We did have a ton of people calling in about the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act though. It was kind of interesting to see how misinformed people were - they all got their information from a mass email (not sure what the original source was) that claimed that BP was only going to pay the $75 million dollars required by the cap. All the calls were constituents who were mad that tax money would be used to help clean up the mess. Though BP is legally bound to only pay the $75 million, they have publicly stated multiple times that they will cover all damages. The legislation really looks to prevent limited liability in the future, although it would give BP's claim further validation by essentially making their promise legally binding. It's a mess. Trying to explain all this was crazy, so I eventually gave up.

I went to the Library of Congress today and got my Reader's Card, which allows me to do research there for the next two years. Maybe i'll get inspired and do some hardcore research, who knows. The card is really official though. My picture and address are on it and everything.

I'm still a little nervous about the VIP Capitol Tour that i'm giving Friday...still haven't been trained yet! It's a little disconcerting.

Oh, and the best part about being in recess? Jeans every day and we get out an hour early. Yesssssssss.

Long day today! Although this is by far the most demanding job I've had in terms of both hours and things to do, it's definitely the most rewarding. I love being able to do things that matter! (Not that making coffee/waiting tables doesn't matter...but they certainly pale by comparison). Finished up a memorandum this morning, sent out three gold seal letters that I wrote yesterday, met with the Chief of Staff, did major overhaul on a White House tour spreadsheet, answered phones, and got assigned more things for tomorrow! Can't say I'm sitting around doing nothing, that's for sure.

A fourth grade class called today to let the Senator know that they were trying to create policy and wanted his support. They were concerned that the dirty water from people washing their cars in the driveway was polluting nearby streams. This was by far the highlight of my day - nothing beats little kids coming up with ways to change the world. Cute!!

I'm supposed to go to the START treaty committee hearing on June 17th. Not only is this a fascinating topic, but the witnesses include Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates. I'm SO EXCITED! So we'll see how that works out!

Today was really long - I'm exhausted! And it feels like it should be Friday...ahhhhh. Had a nice run around the city this morning... it was incredibly beautiful. Nothing like watching the sun rise over the Capitol!

Spent the rest of the morning writing congratulatory letters and entering constituent mail into the database. Got asked to do a VIP capitol tour the first week of June, which is awesome. I have no idea who is the VIP family, but should be fun anyways! I need to get trained first...hopefully that'll happen by the end of this week. Spent almost my entire afternoon at the Senate hearing on Dietary Supplements (with a focus on senior citizens), and actually learned a lot about the concerns involving supplement labeling and advertising. Interesting! Sen. Al Franken was there as well, which was highly entertaining. Elena Kagan came into the office today for a meeting with the Senator - I was about two feet away from her when she walked by! I actually spent half of my lunch hour waiting for her to show up, so I'm glad I didn't miss the opportunity to see her.

Time to hit the hay, yo.

Got to go to the Senate hearing on the Gulf Coast Oil Spill early this morning. It was unbelievably informative - I learned a lot about liabilities and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Seems to me like the $75 million dollar cap on damages by a company (like BP) is utterly ridiculous, especially when the costs of the oil spill exceed that amount by a large margin. The hearing was really high profile - and apparently you can see me in the broadcast! Woooo! If you want to play "Where's Waldo", go to this link http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.LiveStream&Hearing_id=b0fba9e3-a97c-fc85-0a1a-545e60fe8dd0 and look very very closely at the audience from 93:00 to about 93:08. I'm trying to look around one of the press reporter's heads (it was large and in charge and in the way). Kinda cool! The room we were in (Russell 325, if you ever get the chance to go) was absolutely gorgeous - marble columns, ornate ceiling decorations and huge chandeliers. Not a bad place to discuss finances.

Had some delicious deep dish pizza at a little place two blocks from Hart (where I work). Yum yum yum. Wrote two constituent letters (as well as a briefing on the Oil Spill) before losing my computer access.  Someone stole my computer when I wasn't paying attention, sadly. Too many interns and not enough desktops! Scheduled some tour groups for the Kennedy Center after that.Spent the last hour of the day doing absolutely nothing. It's dumb that they don't let me leave early, even if there are no computers available and they have nothing else for me to do. Oh well!

Hopefully they'll put us on the half day schedule ASAP. This is getting a little crazy... still having a great time though!

Today was much less hectic, but went by pretty quickly regardless. I rode the Metro like a pro this morning (awesome, I know) and ended up at work half an hour early. Gotta get there before 9 to get a good cubicle! Answering phones was a little tedious today... about half of the people who called wanted to know what was going on in the news. Which was odd - usually they call to voice their support or opposition of a specific piece of legislation. Or to complain about the oil spill.

Ended up drafting a "gold seal" letter this afternoon, and got to read a whole packet of letters that a class from Clark CO wrote. The letters were very cute (as is typical of elementary school children) and were all about the Constitution and the history of the United States. Good to know that our education system is still working (for the most part). Writing a response kept me busy right up until 6 pm.

I'm really really really excited for tomorrow - I get to go to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill hearing in the morning! It's going to be interesting to see what the experts think need to be done. Hopefully they'll be able to come up with something soon... I don't think it's a stretch to say that this is getting a little ridiculous. That said, this is NOT Obama's fault. Which is something the Republicans need to come to grips with.

The humidity was appallingly awful today, but other than that, this city is incredible. I can't even explain how refreshing it is to be in a city that's so clean and open. It all feels like one big college campus. With lots of tourists.

Went to a briefing on the American Power Act this morning, then edited some legislative hearing transcriptions for most of the afternoon. Got invited to an ice cream social next week too...hopefully some high profile people show up! Not sure how likely that is though.

I'm learning so much from just being on the Hill, it's amazing. I come home every day with a better concept of what's going on in the political world - new bills that are being proposed, new amendments that were passed, new scandals (gasp) that unfolded in Congress the day before. It's pretty incredible how much you can learn just by listening to what's going on around you. I even learn things from our constituents! It's pretty nuts.

Also, I have discovered the best salad bar in the world. And surprise! It's in the basement of Dirksen (another Senate building). Who would've thought?

My colleagues are really fun, too...makes work even better than I imagined it would be. I absolutely love going to my job. Something i haven't had much experience with in the past (sorry Starbucks). Last weekend at Tyler's house, moving into the GW dorms on Monday. The short commute will be nice, but his company will be missed :(.

TGIF!

Another good day today - answered over 100 voicemails, which took up a good chunk of my morning. Part of my work consists of reading three newspapers each day... it's kind of tedious, but i'm much more aware of what's going on because of it! Can't really complain. Looking forward to a briefing i have tomorrow on the American Power Act.

Got to take a "VIP" picture with Senator Udall today... I'll post the picture here as soon as I get it back from the photographer! Had the opportunity to sit in on a presentation on Natural Gas and Renewable Energy today... kind of interesting. At least, it was for the first half hour :). Wrote a briefing on it for the LA (legislative assistant)... they don't have to go to any of the meetings when the interns are around. It works out well! Didn't have to do too much walking, which made my poor little feet happy (the blisters are starting to look more like small holes than anything else). Lots going on in the Capitol today - the financial reform bill is taking over!

Found out that the Senators have a private gym as well. How awesome is that?!

Second day interning was just as good as the first! Spent some of the day answering phone calls (which is incredibly interesting) and sorting constituent email. Starting to get to know the other staffers and interns... it's a fantastic group. A few of us went out to lunch today, which was delicious (chicken teriyaki, yum). Wrote a few letters to constituents too! I feel like i'm catching on pretty quickly. Really quickly. Looks like it's going to be a fantastic summer! Hoping to run into somebody famous by the end of the week...shouldn't be too hard :)

First day interning for Senator Udall! Rode the train into DC this morning...would've been lost if it weren't for the incredible large Capitol dome sticking up conspicuously over all the other buildings :). Today was rather nuts, but a lot of fun - learned how to answer phones, sort through mail, exit the Capitol in case of an emergency, make use of the underground subway (it goes between the buildings on the Hill) and avoid being identified as an intern. The latter was relatively easy - just have to turn your obnoxious red badge around once you're inside the building . Looking forward to the rest of the summer...the people are very friendly and I think I'm going to learn a  lot! Already contemplating a job in politics in the future. Who knows!!