03/20/2008 -- DC Trip (Part 3) (updated)

It's late, and I don't feel like putting today into words ... so I'll just post these pictures for now. I'll come back in later and edit the text to explain the day.



ta ta for now..

Ah, Thursday.
Spent a lot of time on the phone this morning, trying to set up things with John P., Ken L., and Drew M. Travelled into the city and wandered around the Capitol Building (hence the pictures that you see). Saw some of the trees beginning to blossom, and lots of people wandering the grounds. It was sunny, but fairly windy, with gusts of 30-40 mph in the afternoon! I found some shelter while I was on the phone with Raymond R. in that brick "sitting place." There was a fountain in the middle, with drinking fountains around it. The "windows" looked out onto the lawn and up the hill. Some girls from a high school group wanted a picture in front of the fountain, so I snapped a shot while I was on the phone with Raymond. Funny story--a wind gust came up while they were standing by the fountain, and it blew the water several feet sideways and sprayed them.

I wandered around 1st Street, S.E. a little bit, and wandered in another park. Took a lap around the House office buildings, and wandered around some statues on the side of the Capitol lawn.

Also, went into the Folger Shakespeare Museum and learned about the Bard and his contemporary England. It was interesting.

Went and met Bill S. at Dutko, and had a great visit. He was pretty "high-energy," we sat down for a second, and then started making phone calls to find out about different paths. I mentioned my CIA interest, and he called a friend that worked there. Unfortunately, the website is correct; the Agency is really only looking for Arabic- and Asian-language speakers, and not really hiring anyone else. I guess their recruiting effort a few years ago has kept them in pretty good shape... We also talked about some Hill opportunities, and he suggested a few names to ask SZ to call. When we talked about my thoughts on future education, he joked about several of the people at the company, stating that several (including him) barely graduated with their Bachelors degree in various universities (Utah, Massachusetts, etc.), and hadn't needed anything else -- their long time on Capitol Hill and the Administration gave experience and a rolodex that was more valuable than a few more years in school...

Was getting hungry, and not ready to leave the city yet, and a few options presented themselves... On the way to my meeting with Bill, I noticed a Subway (can't go wrong with a chain, right?) and this Tex/Mex place that I had my eye on. My West Coast leanings won out, and I ventured to try "Tortilla Coast." It was a cross between tourist spot (right by the South Capital Metro Stop) and staffer lunch spot (only a few blocks from all the House office buildings; in fact, I could see the Cannon?), with it's Americanized food and "low" prices. Portions were decent lunch portions, but not what I was expecting per the camarero's description, and hopefully they "beef" them up for the dinner crowd... Anyway, it hit the spot, as I filled in my notebook of thoughts, munched chips and salsa, and people-watched from my window booth. Left with a dozen handmade tortillas--breakfast and snack!

Commuted home and thought about my day. Made it back to "base" in time to change and head over to John H.'s for the BYU basketball game. Met John, Jack M., and some of John's children and their friends. I guess there is a BYU "usenet" type group that they all participate on, and everyone talks about going to games at John's house. Watched the game in HD on the projector in the basement; we each had lazy-boy-type chairs, complete with cupholders for our soda while we munched pizza and chips. What a night; although BYU lost -- everyone was depressed.

Went back to "base" and watched the Jazz game, which Mac had TiVo'ed, and we sat in his home theatre. Went to bed very late. The Jazz lost. Not a Utah night... Hope that wasn't saying something about my Mountain West changes in DC...