And So The Ties Loosen

Today marks the first day of the August recess. The dress code in the office relaxes a bit when we're not 'in session' so for the next month the interns will not be in suit-and-tie. In fact, we're allowed to wear short sleeve collared shirts and jeans with a presentable pair of comfortable shoes. For the average intern, not used to always being dressed up, it is a nice change of pace from the professional suits.

It seems that the computer servers also decided to take the day off after they underwent regular maintenance over the weekend. Those of us in the back room were unable to get onto the mail system making it impossible for us to log the mail for the day. Instead, we helped do presorting of the mail, as a collective project for the most part, for the Chief of Staff. We were looking to identify the main categories to organize the communications in, such as health care, stimulus, etc. so that when we're able to once again log the mail into the computer system, the process with be quicker and smoother.

Each week during the month of August our Office is assigned a Girl Scout as an intern for the week. Today we had the first of the four Girl Scouts join the team for her week-long experience. I tried to introduce her to many of the tasks interns are involved with and help her around the office, but the server being down did hinder an important part of the typical responsibilities. Hopefully we'll be back online in the morning.

Oh, and of important note, the Longworth's Cafeteria will be closed for the entirety of August for renovations. So most of us went over to the Rayburn Building to eat in their Cafeteria. Even after nearly the entire summer I'm still finding new experiences and ways around the Capitol complex. Incidentally, those of you who are culinary enthsiasts will note that the Longworth Cafeteria is typically regarded as a good place to eat on the Hill.