A first
OK, here we go now.
First off, on the way to work, I saw neighbor Heristo. He asked me to help him get the close captioning on his TV so he could better understand it (his English is less than superb). I did that and he told me that he was moving out this weekend. I take it that there was some tension with his landlord, Julius, who seems to be consistently surrounded by some sort of drama. So I'll probably help him move.
Work at the office was fairly interesting today. Aside from my usual duties, I was asked by one of the staff to do a meeting with some group of people from an Oregon Job Corps so as I could give an intern's perspective. The group, half a dozen or so people in their teens or early 20s, asked us questions about working on the hill and how we got there. I felt bad saying that I got this job through my mom, but I knew that there were plenty of interns here who went through non-family avenues.
Anyway, one of the Job Corps guys told us his story. He was born and grew up in Ethiopia. He was an excellent student with medical aspirations until he was in the 9th grade, both of his parents died of an unknown illness. He and his two brothers were left to fend for themselves until Tariku graduated 12th grade. He was then awarded a visa (via lottery) to come to the US, where his sponsors flaked out on him at the last minute (quite literally). After working at a Goodwill for a while, he joined the Job Corps and plans on finishing 2-year college and going on to University of Washington. He seemed very interested in working on Capitol Hill or the White House. More power to him.
That whole story served to make me doubly appreciative of the opportunities I have, especially this one. Though there are thousands of Hill interns, that's not a whole lot in the broad scheme. Even fewer get to work for a Senator. I'm really grateful for the fact that I'm here and even that I had the chance to be here in the first place.
Back to the grind. Did what I do. The whole office was dead because we're out of session and some of the staff was in Boston and the rest left early.
I hung out until 6 with friends Parker and Jon, whose last day was yesterday. We decided to cook some dinner at Chez David and then go back to watch the DNC at Parker's. We did just that. I was pleased to see it, but I just wasn't that impressed. Come on, John, you've got to inspire!
It was good, though to hang out with my friends, though.
Stumbled home and went to bed.
(Today I help office friend Taryn move.)
(GRACE COMES TODAY!!! YAY!)
First off, on the way to work, I saw neighbor Heristo. He asked me to help him get the close captioning on his TV so he could better understand it (his English is less than superb). I did that and he told me that he was moving out this weekend. I take it that there was some tension with his landlord, Julius, who seems to be consistently surrounded by some sort of drama. So I'll probably help him move.
Work at the office was fairly interesting today. Aside from my usual duties, I was asked by one of the staff to do a meeting with some group of people from an Oregon Job Corps so as I could give an intern's perspective. The group, half a dozen or so people in their teens or early 20s, asked us questions about working on the hill and how we got there. I felt bad saying that I got this job through my mom, but I knew that there were plenty of interns here who went through non-family avenues.
Anyway, one of the Job Corps guys told us his story. He was born and grew up in Ethiopia. He was an excellent student with medical aspirations until he was in the 9th grade, both of his parents died of an unknown illness. He and his two brothers were left to fend for themselves until Tariku graduated 12th grade. He was then awarded a visa (via lottery) to come to the US, where his sponsors flaked out on him at the last minute (quite literally). After working at a Goodwill for a while, he joined the Job Corps and plans on finishing 2-year college and going on to University of Washington. He seemed very interested in working on Capitol Hill or the White House. More power to him.
That whole story served to make me doubly appreciative of the opportunities I have, especially this one. Though there are thousands of Hill interns, that's not a whole lot in the broad scheme. Even fewer get to work for a Senator. I'm really grateful for the fact that I'm here and even that I had the chance to be here in the first place.
Back to the grind. Did what I do. The whole office was dead because we're out of session and some of the staff was in Boston and the rest left early.
I hung out until 6 with friends Parker and Jon, whose last day was yesterday. We decided to cook some dinner at Chez David and then go back to watch the DNC at Parker's. We did just that. I was pleased to see it, but I just wasn't that impressed. Come on, John, you've got to inspire!
It was good, though to hang out with my friends, though.
Stumbled home and went to bed.
(Today I help office friend Taryn move.)
(GRACE COMES TODAY!!! YAY!)