Delegated Authority

Well, try as I might, I’m struggling….

I got a subtle nudge that I am not keeping up on my emails.  I guess I sit and do one or the other, but rarely have time for both.  That just sucks.  For months I have not made time for the blog I wanted so bad to start, and yet, now that I’m making some progress, my email communication is suffering….

Email has been my most favored form of communication for years.  It helps keep in touch and I depend on it for hearing from friends and relatives, as apparently some of them depend on hearing from me.

I intend to excel at both!!!!! Please dont give up on me

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Well, I know they didn’t win, but they made it further this year than any year in their past… and I’m proud to be a Saints fan!

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a football fanatic, and those who were at Best Buy in Salisbury on New Years Eve when the Saints beat the Cowboys, and I was watching on their big screen TV and yelled a whopping Woo Hoo! that the whole store heard (I was temporarily possessed and forgot I was in a store watching the game!) — well, they know I’m a fan, too!

Just happened to come across a neat tidbit of information today and felt the need to pass it on.  Kind of work meets favorite pasttime….

Jamaal Branch, who scored his first NFL touchdown for the Saints in their final playoff game, happens to be a Tribal Member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Cape Cod, Mass. and made the front page of their website. 

Since I’m brand spankin’ new at learning how to put links IN my blog (thanks Adam!) you must visit their site and see his picture and let me know the link worked

p.s.  The headliner on the page… saying that Reid Chambers is visiting the Tribe to discuss…..  Reid is the top attorney at my firm! 

All in all… a pretty cool day for this ol’ lady!

What a ride in we had today.  First I hear on WMZQ that there was an explosion on a Metro bus at 18^th and K (4 blocks from my office, and our bus goes straight down

So, as of 3:30 EST we still havent been told what the fuss was with the “explosion” on the Metro bus, however, if it was terrorists, they didnt plan very well, because it happened at about 630 am, and may have had a few people on it, but at 7:30, would have been jam packed….  Later this morning we also found out that the Farragut North (closest Metro train station to the bus mishap) was closed due to a fire, as well as the Smithsonian Metro train station was closed.  I’ve not heard any updates since the Smithsonian one, but I would imagine all will be up and running by the day end commute.

I knew working in DC was going to be quite an experience…..

I ride a commuter bus to work, for 1 hour and 20 minutes each way, twice a day, 5 days a week.  Its a nice bus- Greyhound type… basically roomy- not like a subway or transit bus… but geez-o-peet folks!  Have some courtesy!

I’m very sensitive to perfumes and scents, and I swear some people bathe in them before they leave the house.  Then people like me end up at work nauseaus and with a migraine because they have no self control (or no sense of smell at all).

Today I sat next to a perfectly nice minority lady, I had the window seat. (I was there first).  She sat next to me and after a few minutes I realized I just couldnt sit next to her any longer, her perfume was quite overwhelming, and so I politely excused myself, explaining that perfumes and scents bothered me, and I really needed to move.  She reacted by saying “sure, like I believe that, WHATEVER”, (quite loudly) but at least she did let me out!!  I sit in the very front first or second seats, and even the bus driver knows of my…..affliction…. and will warn me if someone is on with a strong scent, so I will not sit in that direction….but I felt ashamed and embarrassed because she was making the whole thing quite loudly racial, and that didnt have anything to do with it, and I wasnt exactly in a position to just start explaining to the whole bus load of people what was going on.

I spent the 1 hour and 20 minutes in the very front seat, (only available seat, which was only 1 seat in front of said perfume soaked lady) with my hood up and winter scarf across my face to deflect as much perfume as possible, and still arrived at work nauseaus and with a migraine.

There should be a scent meter to go through before you can get on a public transit vehicle and if you set it off, you need to ride a special bus with other people who smell strongly (the “stinky bus”) and let those who know how to control scents (and not bathe themselves in them) or have issues with scents ride in peace.

Ugh.

My favorite country music singer is coming close by, and boy am I excited!  He’s going to be playing the stadium in Philly where the Eagles play, on June 23…. tickets go on sale on March 10.  This is a MUST SEE EVENT!  He’s calling it the “FLIP FLOP TOUR”

He’s going to have Brooks & Dunn, Sara Evans, Sugarland and Pat Green (I think) with him, and it will be an all day show!  I can hardly wait!  What a line up!!

I just cannot wait!!!

“I Told You So!”

This blogging thing can be a lot of work!!!  I just looked and its been since NOVEMBER 06 since I last posted.  Geesh.  A LOT has gone on in my life since then.  Too much to capture in this blog, so lets just leave it at Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and by the way, Happy Anniversary to Me and Dennis, our 26th!

I really DO want to keep up with this.  I just need to be more diligent… and find another hour in my day…  So here I am, trying again

 So, I work in Washington DC, at a law firm that represents only the interests of Native American Indian Tribes in their quest for sovereignty and try to help them bring up the quality of their lives and standard of living, not to mention their overall life-span (which is horribly low comparatively speaking).  My job is just so fascinating to me.  We have offices in Juneau and Anchorage Alaska, Albuquerque New Mexico, San Diego, CA, and of course, Washington, D.C., where we do our best to lobby for the attention of their State representatives and the money they “give” to the causes in their states they find important.

Along the way, I have meet some very influential people in Indian Country and some true to life Indians :)  Which never ceases to “tickle me” - because they look just like you would picture “real Indians” would look like…. (but then, what would you expect a “real Indian” to look like, other than an Indian?)  These are some of the nicest and hardest working people I’ve ever met, and they seem to truly have the best interests of their Tribes at heart.  They have to struggle for every morsel the federal government will give them (they are not eligible for State aid), where most U.S. indigent people have welfare, medicaid, etc. they dont have that (they dont “qualify” because they are federal citizens, NOT State citizens) unless they petition the government and fight for years for it.  Its a sad story and I’m glad to be involved in the fight for the basic needs for these wonderful people.  Yes, we all know about Casinos, but did you know only a handful of Tribes have them, and that those Tribes are indeed succeeding and needing less and less governmental help.  But they are also the larger Tribes that have the money and the stamina to fight the government.

The story can go on and on.  Anyway, you might be able to tell I am overwhelmed with fascination on the subject.  I get to do some research, usually in the Congressional Records at the Library of Congress, which is a treat.  Its a magnificent building.  If you come to DC, you should make sure you take the tour.

Speaking of work… its time I get some done.

Toodles.