Balancing Act

I suppose it would be nice to read an update from me. It has been a while since I wrote anything (understandable as that is ). Well I’ll give you a breakdown of my typical day.

Night before: At some point before I go to bed, I pick out my suit and tie that I’m going to wear the following day. The idea was planted into my head to take a picture of the shirt, suit and tie combo that I wear so I would know if I ever wore the same thing twice. Honestly I’m not really that anal, but I do it anyway. Seemed like a descent idea, so I do it, and I don’t want to wear the same thing twice if I don’t have too.  

6:15am: At this time my cell phone wakes me up to the smooth rhythmic sounds of Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix. Some mornings are easier than others, but I tend to fly out of bed. I like to get into the bathroom before my roommate so I can chill on the couch, eat breakfast and watch Morning Joe on MSNBC.

7:45am: I walk to work every morning. It’s not too far of a walk. Google maps says it’s only .9 miles so I figure I can handle that.  The difficult part of my morning walk is the humidity and the speed walking mature (older) ladies that haul ass past me. Normally I can deal with humidity. I spent three years in Texas. Spent the summers in full football gear in 100 degree temps and humidity was a killer. But people aren’t supposed to sweat in nice wool suits. Then there are these speed walking, human growth hormone taking, women here in D.C. (did you watch Family Guy this Sunday when Stewie took human growth hormones?) I’m from California. I have a chill Southern California Swagger. I enjoy my walk. So I take my time. But people haul butt past me left and right.

8:00am: I arrive at work, sit down at my desk and look through my emails. I have two computers, everyone does a high side and low side, and see if anything is pressing. I catch up on what’s going on in the world, and then I get to work on the projects I’m working on.

There are three types of days I have at State, busy, very busy, and not busy at all. Things aren’t that busy when I’m waiting to hear back from all the people I’d been calling. Because the information I need has to be up-to-date, it’s hard to do some of my work without that info. Busy days come when calls are be returned and I’m making sure all the information I need is getting to the right people are being updated. I also have to update my reports. Very busy days happen when calls are being made and returned for all my projects and I have meetings I have to go to. Making sure everything is getting done and I know what I’m talking about when the director calls me into his office so I can update him before he goes to the Hill and answer question from congress, it’s a rush!

Knowing that I’m doing something that is helping my country everyday and that policy is influenced from my advice is an empowering and gratifying feeling. It’s everything I thought it would be.

12noon: This is my lunch time. State has a pretty big cafeteria, with many choices. The other interns and I go down together and either eat down there or bring food back to our offices. There are five interns in the office so we’re a pretty tight knit group.

Afternoon: Throughout the afternoon i’ll continue working on my projects, meet with co-works about issues that we’re working on and attend any meeting or briefing that deal with my region.

5:30-6pm: I’m usually headed home by this time. Sometimes I’ll stay later if I need to. On my walk back I don’t have to deal with the Olympic sprinters on the streets of D.C. I take a short cut through George Washington Campus that isn’t as traveled. But the short cut is where I ran into what  I call “The Fast and the Furious Crew”.  And not the “Tokyo Drift” installment, which is my favorite of the four movies.  “The Fast and Furious Crew” or the folks on the mobility chairs. Their a terror! I try to stick to the right side of the sidewalk but as you can see they hog the whole thing. Beware if you come to D.C. You’ll have many ah four letter word yelled at you if you don’t keep up the pace. That poor guy in the red shirt never had a chance. You’ve been warned!

6:00pm: Home for the night. Usually I’m just relaxing. When the NBA playoffs were on I’d be up well after mid-night watching the games. Now I can go to bed at a reasonable time and not have to go into the office half asleep.

Recently fellow classmate and blogger Ryan has gotten me into rock climbing so I might go to that after work. I’ve really gotten into that. It’s a great workout and a heck of a challenge. Very gratifying.

Well that’s my day. You’ve already seen my pictures so you know what I do on the weekends. I hope this give you insight to what I do all week.

-Live Free Or Die