I arrived in Austin on January 2, 2007 to start looking for a place to live. The legislative session began January 9. It's my understanding that the House gets to work after the first week, usually. This has been an unusual year with the Speaker's race and delays in the committee assignments. Now, the committees have to staff up and get things ready to start processing bills. But that's coming right up.
What have I done in this time? Well, I've been scheduling things for my Rep. I've been attending staff briefings and classes. I've attended receptions. I've met many people who have stopped by the office. I've made a ton of phone calls. Of course, we also have to shoehorn reading the news into all of this. The news and blogs have certainly been plentiful this session.
One very useful thing I have done is meet with a scheduling master. I won't mention her name because I don't want her deluged with requests for help. In any case, she showed me what works for her office in scheduling meeting requests and informing her boss about time-sensitive information. I was surprised that she has a partnership with her boss to handle scheduling where he is an active participant in the process. I am so glad that she helped me out. I can't wait to implement the system in our office.
I've also invested some time in outside training on juggling multiple projects. I can already see areas where I can make improvements in my workflow.
I think that many of the interns and other new staff are excited about the chance to work on legislation and "change the lives of millions of Texans". Somehow, that's just not exciting to me. It's not as glamorous as I was led to believe. We could be selling widgets for all I care. What I look forward to, and get excited about, is tackling a crushing workload, putting in long hours, networking, and hopefully making it all look easy. Forgive my French, but I want to kick some ass. That's what gets me juiced. I've been waiting three weeks for this and it's finally around the bend. I'm dying to be challenged for once in my life. Let's get down to business.
What have I done in this time? Well, I've been scheduling things for my Rep. I've been attending staff briefings and classes. I've attended receptions. I've met many people who have stopped by the office. I've made a ton of phone calls. Of course, we also have to shoehorn reading the news into all of this. The news and blogs have certainly been plentiful this session.
One very useful thing I have done is meet with a scheduling master. I won't mention her name because I don't want her deluged with requests for help. In any case, she showed me what works for her office in scheduling meeting requests and informing her boss about time-sensitive information. I was surprised that she has a partnership with her boss to handle scheduling where he is an active participant in the process. I am so glad that she helped me out. I can't wait to implement the system in our office.
I've also invested some time in outside training on juggling multiple projects. I can already see areas where I can make improvements in my workflow.
I think that many of the interns and other new staff are excited about the chance to work on legislation and "change the lives of millions of Texans". Somehow, that's just not exciting to me. It's not as glamorous as I was led to believe. We could be selling widgets for all I care. What I look forward to, and get excited about, is tackling a crushing workload, putting in long hours, networking, and hopefully making it all look easy. Forgive my French, but I want to kick some ass. That's what gets me juiced. I've been waiting three weeks for this and it's finally around the bend. I'm dying to be challenged for once in my life. Let's get down to business.
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