DC Internship Destination Decided: Durbin

I woke up at 1:45pm today.

I guess that's what vacations are for. I had some Rice Krispies and coffee while switching between the Colbert Report and Fuse, where the Foo Fighters were performing. Then I showered and left to go get a haircut.

I've had the same barber since I was ten. He's a little old Italian guy in his mid-to-late 70s, but he watches Jerry Springer. I walked in today and there was a guy on TV in a cowboy hat and a lime-green bikini. I really have no idea what the topic of the show was supposed to be, but within three minutes of my arrival, three women had flashed the rest of the audience to loud ovations.

We usually discuss the Yankees or the Bills when I'm the only one there, and today was no exception. While I provided an overview of what I'm doing over the next few months, he showed some interest but eventually turned to talking about the acquisition of Johnny Damon.

I left the shop and went the long way home, swinging by Paul's house and finding his car there, but neither he nor Tia was home. I was in the process of leaving a note when his dad drove up and confirmed that there was no one home and that he would pass along the message that I had stopped by.

I came home and was greeted by my mother in the garage, letting me know that someone from Mr. Durbin's office had called for me. I was coming in when the SUNY internship coordinator called to let me know that Durbin's office was looking for me. I said that I had just found out and went to call her back. I had a fairly long phone interview with a woman named Sally who had gone through the SUNY Washington Semester program and also had participated in two EuroSims - one in Brussels and one in Prague. She had also lived in Colorado for a while. Now she's the internship coordinator for Richard Durbin and splits time between the Whip's office at the Capitol and the main office in DC. She was incredibly conversational and easy-going and for some reason I didn't get nervous; everything went very well.

She asked me about my two year "gap" in college and I explained that as briefly as I could. She talked about Colorado and we knew a lot of the same places. She also asked about my umpiring. She laughed at a lot of the things I said and I never felt like I was under pressure to over-promote myself. Everything was very relaxed and at the end, she offered me a spot and told me that I need not report until the 23rd, which gives me time to get back from the Czech Republic and not rush too much getting down to Washington, which is great. I don't really know exactly what I'll be doing there, and it will likely depend on her evaluation of my "skills," whatever they may be. She said that of course everyone has different strengths and that I apparently write very well, judging by my letters of recommendation. She asked me if I knew what had been written, and I said no. She just said that they were very, very good. So apparently, Dr. Stinson and Dr. Maulucci did a great job of making some great stuff up about me. I will have to thank them again for that.

So I'm pretty excited. I fly out of Buffalo to NYC on Sunday and the next day, I fly out of JFK airport and into Prague.