Count down to vacation

I'm in the groove, and vacation is right around the corner.

The alarm goes off, 30 minutes from getting up to out the door (unless it's sunny enough for an early-morning bike ride and I wasn't too lazy to sleep in a little more - these late night reading indulgences make for harder early mornings). Three-block walk to the Metro, 8 stops until Capitol South, jostle with the younger staff crossing the street, and my four favorite blocks to work. The Library of Congress on my right (now with its water fountains turned on), the Capitol on my left, then the Supreme Court on my right, and then Dirksen (the shortest line into a Senate building).

The sites are equally familiar - the gaggle of school kids blocking the sidewalk, the protestors in front of the Supreme Court, the brightly colored advocates hitting the Hill on their advocacy day (red, pink and green seem to be the favored colors of tee-shirts and sashes), and the staffers in their flip flops (at least until they get to their offices). Tourists wear the madras shorts and carry the cameras, lobbyists get out of the taxis, and staff finger away on their blackberries, even while they walk (unless they have their iPods playing).

While there's no typical day, the weeks are starting to fall into a rhythm, depending on the senate schedule. Mondays and Fridays typically have no votes, so it's more catch-up time - correspondence, reading (some online newspapers have 3 issues - A DAY!). How much could Senator Kennedy's condition or Senator Obama's superdelegate count change in three hours? Talk about having a looming deadline on your job!

First thing in the morning, I check email (except today, when I locked myself out of my computer for trying my password too many times without remember to capitalize a key letter; oy vay!). Check for any meetings planned or requests made since the night before, check any preparation needed for meetings or deadlines or speeches, follow-up on any issues requiring responses, and look for opportunities.

Looking for opportunities is my favorite part of this position. What policies could I recommend that the Senator consider? What bills could be introduced, speeches made, useful contacts or partnerships created? Who do I know who would be useful for the Senator to meet? Much of public health happens at a local or state level, so I'm looking for any leverage federally to apply pressure to a problem. Are there regulatory or fiscal incentives or disincentives that could be applied? Is there funding or oversight to recommend? Are there enough data and research to draw needed conclusions? And who would know that could help? It's creative, analytic and collaborative all at the same time.

I slipped over to the House today to hear the APHA briefing on the Built Environment, especially since it addressed the connection to health disparities. Walked through all of the subway tunnels rather than wait for a subway car, and lost any accumulated time at the elevators in the Capitol. Not only that, but I forgot that room "369" in the Rayburn building was the basement (and room 2469 is the 4th floor - how would you know that?). I'll only make that mistake once. And the briefing was worth it.

Life outside of work is fun as well. The Phillips Collection is showing "The Migration Series," all 60 works of Jacob Lawrence's paintings about the African American movement from the south to the north, and it's amazing. I plan to go back several times to enjoy it.

A friend came up for a few days and asked for the grand tour. We started with a foot tour of the monuments at night. Marble basking in the glow of lights, and unexpected mobs of tourists! We still made it to the Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and FDR Memorial (still my favorite), and had to wave to the more distant Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial (too far, too tired, too late on a work night). Continued the foot tour later the next day through the Smithsonian's Indian and Air/Space Museums, an early dinner at Zengo, past the White House, and past as many historic markers and historic buildings as our tired feet could carry us.

The Textile Museum also has a fascinating exhibit called "Indigo," all about the color blue. Fascinating! This past weekend seemed to be graduation for many of the area universities, so lots of pomp and circumstance, mortarboards, and restaurants filled with parents recalculating what they'll do with money no longer going toward tuition bills. Nary an empty parking spot in the city.

The legendary Senate softball league has started. We had our first game today. What a wonderful moment, getting to know the staff in a more relaxed atmosphere, on the national mall, with the Capitol to my right and the Washington Monument to my left. I batted 1:3, and almost made an amazing catch in right center field. At least I lived to play another day, an accomplishment considering these staffers are less than half my age!

Question: How many days will it take to completely fill up that darned email inbox while I'm away before those annoying messages start popping up?