Midweek Update...

Hey so it feels like an age since I last wrote something on here so though I'd just share with you all what I have been up to this week.

Well Sunday I was out in suburban Virginia at my manager Lowell's house. He and his wife Christine and new baby Autumn were stupendous guests and even provided a veggie dinner as per my dietary stipulations. Apparently they don't really get out all that much since the baby was born and so to have a guest over and some good chat from myself was a real treat for them. In all honestly though it was really a treat for me as I think it's the first time since I've been in DC that I've actually sat down and had dinner with other people. Breakfast - alone. Lunch - in the hot sun in the local square - just me again. Dinner - take out from one of my many local eateries - yep you guessed it good old me. Can't tell you all how good it was to have some great food, stimulating intellectual conversation and generally some social interaction that isn't with a random American drinking 'Scotch' at a bar somewhere in DC! Don't get me wrong, I've been having an absolute blast here, but being the social animal that I am, being on your lonesome for a prolonged period of time can start to get to you a wee bit. So I have to say a big  thanks to Lowell and his lovely family for having me over. It was genuinely one of my favorite things that I've done here in DC.

Having a 6 month old baby meant that having a beer was maybe a bit inappropriate so after having consumer a few pints of water during dinner I decided to head to a bar rather than straight home. This was no ordinary bar however - it was a revolving bar with a panoramic view of all of DC and everything in it, aptly named the Skyline. Situated in Crystal City, VA, twas conveniently located within 10 minutes walking distance to my apartment. When I arrived I almost fell over laughing - there was a karaoke on in the stationary middle section of the bar. I picked my seat at the window, ordered a beer and sat back listening to such delights as Led Zeppelin's  Whole Lotta Love, Aretha Franklin's Respect and a plethora or rap tunes with a myriad of expletives that I can't share with y'all on here. Needless to say the air was blue. After a few beers (Sierra Nevada - a local IPA) and some 12 year old Macallan I became confused as to why the window was no longer behind me. No need to explain this one, though my utter stupidity caused me to giggle. Those of you who know my singing abilities will be glad to know that I didn't get up and sing but towards the end of the night I did give it some consideration. Retrospectively I'm very thankful of my evidently wise decision to keep quiet. Not so on my decision to order a, as it turned out very potnent cocktail towards the end of the night, as it suddenly dawned on me that you really can't go to a 1980s inspired revolving bar and not. It's like fish without chips, black without white, Baddiel without Skinner (we all know how badly that turned out). Needless to say I had a bit of a sore head Monday morning.

So to the working week and things have really been ramped up a gear or two. The fruits of my labor in having sent out a bazillion emails have finally ripened. Mail after mail has come in this week requesting tele-chats, email chats, face-to-face chats etc etc. Needless to say I have spent a whole day arranging my diary (yes I have a meetings diary) to ensure that I can fit as many people in in the coming week as possible. The realization that I'm fully 4 weeks into this project has suddenly come upon me and in reality I only have two more weeks before I need to start the write up, so a week Friday is officially d-day. Add to this my new extra projects that I'll be taking on board when I get to San Fran and you guys may start to get an idea of the sheer weight of the work load that I am having to contend with. There are no complaints from me though - I'm very much the kind of person that needs to be kept busy and who thrives on stressful situations. Bring it on! So my diary - well I had a couple of calls today with people in SF about Sun's current position and where they see the company headed in the future. As per not really able to divulge any  information about what was said, though I can tell you that my opinions seem to well aligned with pretty much everyone I have come in to contact with. I do hope that they are not just being agreeable and humoring me. That said, I do doubt  this very much as if there is one thing that I can say about people I have been chatting with is that they are very forthright and strongly opinionated, which is an ethos that is very much encouraged here at Sun. Hence the reason that I fit in so nicely here. I'll give an update this weekend as to how the rest of the week has panned out.

One other major point to make - got to visit the Capitol on Tuesday. That was sweet. To finally have had the chance to get inside such an iconic building, one that I have seen for years behind many a presenter from the BBC Washington studio was immense. Not only did I get a visit but since it was arranged by my manager Lowell (thanks), I was taken to Senator Anne Eshoo's office in the House Cannon building, where I met her chief of staff Jason Mahler and got to talk about the political ins and outs of the American system. I also used the opportunity to give him and some of his staff a quick lesson in British and Scottish politics, which they were keenly interested in. Then it hit me - I'm in one of the House office buildings talking to a Senator's chief of staff, waiting to go on a tour of the Capitol, talking about the Scottish Parliament - surreal to say the least.

So after our chat in Eshoo's office one of her summer intern took me off on a tour of the center of American politics. We descended to the basement and walked to the Capitol via a nertwork of underground tunnels. You know I hadn't really thought about how the Representatives got from their offices to the chamber, though when you consider that they are often in their office when a call to vote goes out - and that they have just 15minutes to get there - running across a busy street just wont do. In fact, for some of the house buildings that are further away that the Cannon, there is an underground tram system that whisks them to the House. That, I thought, was pretty cool. So the building itself was pretty amazing. Lots of statues, columns, paintings, staff buzzing all over the place and to think that the members are currently in recess. I seen the star under the rotunda (the inside of the big, white dome) which used to mark the geographical center of DC under L'Enfant's original masterplan for the city. The rotunda itself was easily the best part. Inside the dome there's a painting of George Washington surrounded by a host of figures from Greek and Roman mythology and around the outside lower down is frieze depicting American history from the landing of the first Europeans to the Wright brother's first flight. I did enjoy this though I was more interested in what was missing rather than included and it got me thinking about the subjectivity and selectivity of historical discourse and accepted truths (historiography Linds?),  though I'll not bore y'all with my opinions on this.

One final thing to add - I mentioned that the House is in recess. Well some of the Republican's are staging a sit-in to attempt to force the Democrats back to the Hill in order to vote in emergency measures that would see the go-ahead given to further oil drilling off the coast of America. This, they claim, would lead to a reduction in gasoline prices for the American consumer. Now that may well be the case ten years down the line, but tomorrow or the next day - I think not. It's really a political stunt to make the Democrats look like a bunch of uncaring, unpatriotic, lazy fools. To say I was incensed by the nonsense that was being uttered by the people talking on the floor would be an understatement, though this blog is not a political mouthpiece, so I'll leave it there. Apparently this is the first time ever that such a sit-in has occurred so to have been present during a little piece of important American constitutional history was, needless to say, an amazing opportunity. My favorite fact - they had to sit in the dark all day Monday and part of Tuesday since none of the members knew how to turn on the lights. If they had been smart enough they'd have claimed that they were conserving energy reserves in a time of high prices!

Oh, one other final thing - Kyle has managed to get us a couple of tickets for the SF Giants v LA Dodgers baseball game this Friday (in his world like an Old Firm match back home). As it turns out the AT&T Stadium where the Giants play is just a couple of blocks from my new apartment. Looks like my first weekend in SF is already shaping up to be as exciting as my first here in DC.

Will write from the west coast soon,

Rory

Comments

[Keil MacLachlan]

The quality of your writing gets better and better. I am very much enjoying keeping abreast of your activities. Work-wise it sounds like you keep adding to one very full plate. I'm sure you are loving it!

I hope San Francisco offers you as rich an experience. Enjoy the weather and keep flying the flag!