My day at the statehouse...

This is the most beautiful building I have ever worked in, although it's only the second most historic (I sold pretzels at Yankee Stadium for parts of two seasons). I hope you enjoy my photo tour of a typical work day.

I wasn't lucky enough to get a spot in the parking garage near the capitol (which would've cost money I don't have anyway), so I park in a residential neighborhood, 7 blocks away.

When I walk into the building I go down to the basement to the Republican and Democrat Caucus offices. It's directly next to the Secretary of State's office, and a little down the hall from the press area. See that door in the back right of this picture? That's the door to the democratic caucus office in the next picture.

That's where I am...

When I open the door each day, I can see new newspaper clippings and the blue legislative update that Cathy puts up everyday.

Here's me at my desk, where I sit accross from Cathy. She's a fantastic secretary to many of the democrats in the House, often knowing their schedules better than they do. She's been invaluable support to me, showing me around the building and making me feel very comfortable. See that black door? It's a really cool safe, but we don't get access to it. It's where the Republicans keep their paper.

Whenever I need to drop something off or pick something up from Rep. Margaret Henbest (the Rep. I work for), I ride up to the 3rd floor in this funky elevator. The governor specifically mentioned this elevator in his speech as one reason that the building needs dramatic repairs, that it's not even big enough to fit an EMT stretcher in. I think getting a new paint job would be reason enough to renovate!

When I get off the elevator I wind my way through Senators, Representatives, Lobbyists, Reporters and tourists to enter the House chambers. This is where all the Reps have desks and where they do most of their work. I'm on the House floor at least 3 times a day, so if you watch the streaming video on this website between 1 and 5, you just might see me! You probably won't though, since Margaret's desk is all the way in the back, out of the scope of the camera. If you look at this pic from the state of the state, she's on the right side of the aisle, closest to the door, wearing a grey suit. All 13 of the House democrats are clustered together in that little area. What a great place to work, isn't it? When she goes public with some of the stuff we're working on it, I'll tell you all about it. I have certainly learned a lot and couldn't be more grateful for this experience.

Here's a picture borrowed from the newspaper, of what it looks like when you walk into the House Chambers.

This is a picture from the Governor's State of the State on Jan 9th (which I borrowed from the Idaho Statesman website). Do you see me clapping on the top left?