Blue Nettles

I got through the first week of my new job. It had the usual indignities and traumas of going to a new job. Of course the federal government has to add a few special twists to it.

On monday I reported for work at USAID and spent most of the day in orientation and security briefings where they admonished us not to talk to foriegners and not email top secret documents to our friends. At the end of the day I went to find my boss - but she and the office I was to work in had been shipped off to the State Department building so they parked me in a cubicle for a few hours but by the end of the day it had been decided and I was to report to State the next day.

So Tuesday I reported to State and was issued more stinkin' badges. Now I have 3 badges. One from USAID for the Reagan building, one for the new part of State's building (it is under renovation) that I have to insert and put in a pin number to get in the front door and then insert to get in my office door and a third badge for the old parts of the building. So I have all these badges hanging around my neck all day long - very irritating.

I am now employed in Office F at the State Department. We are in a frantic attempt to reorganize how the US decides how and where its foreign assistance is spent. It is not going to be pretty and suspect I'll regret my decision to take this job.

And to top off the week, we had torrential rain storms flooding the city. The biggest impact on most of people is that if you look on the back of the $20 bill, the tree on right side of the White House fell down. So your $20 bills are no longer valid.