Back Again

Another extended break. This time due to sheer laziness. Oh, we also had to go into special session in the Legislature, but that was kind of a formality. It went about as smoothly as possible.

Working in and around the Texas Legislature has done crazy things to the way I view the passage of time. The Legislature meets 140 days every two years. My first session was the 76th (1999) which is widely regarded as the best legislative session ever, in any state, any country, anything. That was the year W was running for President and the entire session was just one big party. I still cringe thinking back to how stupid and naive I was. Anyway, I now measure the passage of time by legislative sessions and it is difficult for me to conceive of a work environment that doesn't have the massive swings in intensity.

During the session, I am generally at work by 7AM and I rarely am finished before 9PM and towards the end of session it usually 1 or 2 in the morning before I'm done. It's incredibly intense and the prospect of elected officials, many or most of whom have little knowledge or interest in your area, deciding your fate is nerve wracking. But like I said, it's difficult for me to conceive of work any other way now. At the same time, now that session is over I come and go as I please and have the opportunity to take significant time off to travel.

I'm not sure this really has a point. What got me thinking about was some friends of ours who wanted to have dinner and they wanted to have dinner at....6PM!!! I asked the Tamerwife what kind of crazy people eat at 6PM? We generally eat dinner at 830 or 9PM. She informed me, much to my surprise, that we are the outliers in this case. That got me to thinking about the messed up way I now view the passage of time.