The First Week

Well... I've got one week of work in here in Washington, Dc and I'm still alive ;o) Work was exciting and I think I'll like the Union of Concerned Scientists. My boss is great and my co-workers are all really interesting and nice. Already by Tuesday, I sat in on a meeting with the US Forest Service, the Nature Conservancy, EESI, and the Forest Guild. Later on Tuesday, we got debriefed by our Policy Director who had a meeting with Carol Browner, the Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change in the Obama Administration (and former EPA Administrator under Clinton), Rep. Henry Waxman, Rep. Ed Markey, and some other Congressional staffers concerning the bailout and upcoming environmental legislation. And that all happened on Tuesday!

I work on K Street, Lobbyist Row, on the 8th floor of a building between 18th and 19th streets. Our office is LEED Gold Certified, and is almost brand new. It takes about 35 minutes to get to work from the house. I walk to Union Station, which takes about 15 minutes. It's a nice walk through residential streets lined on both sides with century-old brick row houses, each uniquely decorated. After I walk to the grand architectural edifice that is Union Station, I take the Metro subway red line to Farragut North. That takes about 6 minutes when the trains are on time (which they usually are). The Metro takes me right to K Street, about 2 blocks from the office. Work starts later out here, which is fine with me! Nine or 9:30 until 5:15 and then it's back home or to the coffee shop.

So everyone around here is talking about something happening very, very soon. Apparently someone is getting inaugurated? Of course, I'm going to brave the cold and go see the next great president take office. They're expecting millions of people and I'm excited to see all the people on the Mall. Sunday will also be very awesome - there's a free concert at the Lincoln Memorial featuring my favorite, the Boss, and some other performers like... Beyonce, U2, Garth Brooks... no big deal ;o) I will be sure to take a lot of pictures (and video, if I can figure out how to upload) of the events and will be sure to post them ASAP. So stay tuned.