January 30, 2010: Park City Meets DC (But Don't Get Used To It)

My first job when I moved to DC eight years ago was on Capitol Hill. For an untraveled guy from out west who was into politics, moving to DC and working on the Hill right out of college was a pretty awesome experience. In good weather, I'd often forgo the tunnels to walk over to the Capitol Building by crossing Independence Avenue. Nothing beat seeing the Capitol Dome lit by the morning sun. My boss used to tell students that the Capitol Building isn't just the center of the legislative branch, it's a temple of freedom. Every time I walked through the Rotunda or saw the dome reflecting the morning sun, I felt the same way about the place. In fact, I felt very lucky to live and work in DC.

As time wore on, that feeling of "lucky me" was replaced by a feeling of "how did I end up here?" I left Capitol Hill to find a better paycheck, which I found in a much more drab building where I helped hand out millions upon millions of dollars that even the Assistant Secretary for whom I worked said she'd prefer to just give back to taxpayers. When I rode my bike to work nearly every day last year, seeing the monuments lit by the morning sun rekindled some of that "lucky me" feeling I had when I saw the Capitol Dome as a Hill staffer. I haven't done nearly enough pedaling since I bought a motorcycle--it seems like more work now that it's the more time-consuming option. (Pedaling was the fun and healthy option when my alternative was the slow and crowded Metro.) So, the unpleasant weather in DC and the usual stresses of a demanding career, combined with what can often seem like a pretty upity culture, often leave me wondering again, "how did I end up here?"

Today, that changed for at least 30 minutes as I rode my motorcycle into the city in weather that felt as nice as a summer morning in Park City, Utah. I had to pull over, step off of my bike, and see that sun lighting up Old Abe, because I knew that standing in that cool dry air, seeing the sun reflect off of the monument, would make me feel lucky to be in DC again.

July 28, 2010: Efficient Allocation of Labor: Theory Meets Confusion

I'm trying to replace this:

With this:

It's so simple a monkey could do it. That's the theory anyway. It's a hub assembly for the family van, the much maligned "Golden Bear" or "C3PO," depending on the kids' preference of the day, or "the van," or "the damn van," depending on J's. The job I decided to tackle myself literally only requires removing six bolts, a big nut, and a cotter pin, or so I thought. As it turns out, the monkey who does this job also might be required to beat the daylights out of the parts if they're rusted together, and that's probably why the shop wanted to charge me about $220 for labor. Yes, as luck would have it, the old parts are badly rusted together, sealed, it seems, by corrosion for the duration of their earthly life. So what is a guy to do? After beginning what I hoped would be a 1 hour job at 6 a.m., I ran to Home Depot at 7:30 a.m. to get a rubber mallet. By 8:40, the mallet succeeded in pounding the rotor and the hub apart, which is why you don't see a rotor in the picture.  But now the old hub is hanging on to that van for dear life. What's next? Probably a more severe beating for C3PO using some more vicious tools. We'll figure that out later. In the meantime, J is forced to drive our other car, which she's even less happy about than driving our "damn van."

I like to think I have a basic grasp of economics. In the case of fixing cars vs. legal work, I know I have a comparative advantage in producing legal work and a mechanic has an advantage in fixing cars. Theory would therefore hold that the most efficient allocation of labor would be for me to do my job and let mechanics handle theirs. My problem is that I earn a fixed salary, but I pay the mechanic by the hour. Therefore, despite what my billing rate at the office would suggest, from my bank account's perspective, the mechanic's time is worth more than mine, so I do more things myself than I'd like.

If the day comes when I can truly say the choice is to work for an hour to earn $X or pay someone $X-$Y, and $X > $Y, I'll gladly choose the pay $X minus $Y approach. It would be more convenient and result in not just less cursing but also more money in the bank. For now, however, it's a choice of paying $0+$Y or to do it myself for $0. Sure, there are other opportunity costs, but they're not directly monetary, so I'll sweat away for the time being.

July 27, 2010: Telecommuting Rocks!

I worked from home today just because it was one of those rare days when I had a lot to do and didn't need direct access to people, books, or documents at the office to get my work done. I'd like to try to do that every second Friday or so, but the odds of the work assignments lining up perfectly to accomodate that aren't good. I said something about how that would benefit quality of life, and J was quick to point out that it would do nothing for her quality of life, because I'd be working all day either way. Not only that, but I also pretty much lay claim on the basement when I telecommute anyway, so J definitely has a point. The missus and I topped of the day by catching an 8 p.m. flick--Salt. I know it didn't get great reviews, but I found it entertaining enough. Then again, I'm kind of a sucker for action flicks.

July 25, 2010: Pink-Eyed Bubba

I'm actually stealing a pic here from my wife's blog.  One of J's friends came into town for a little girls' break, so I had the kids all day on Saturday.  We ran some errands in the morning, went to the pool for a couple hours, and then hid from the oppressive heat outside by hanging out in our basement watching movies.  My plan was to take the kids to a birthday party in the evening, but Bubba woke up from his nap looking like someone punched him in the eye--the dreaded pink eye had struck--so that plan was off the table.  Bubba's siblings were pretty upset by the cancelled plans, so dad played the sucker and took them to Chik-fil-A for dinner and an ice cream cone instead, doing my best to shield bubba and his stink eye from the view of all the other parents there.  We were spared a trip to the after-hours clinic by our good friend--one of the two and a half people that occasionally looks at this blog--who had some old pink eye drops in her medicine cabinet.  Bubba and the rest of us are grateful! 

July 22, 2010: This Is Why I Can Park My Bike In My Office

Why? Because one of the partners in the office rides daily, and he parks his bike in his office. Sure, his bike probably cost 5 or 6 times as much as mine, but it would also probably cause me more pain to replace mine if it were stolen than for him to replace his. So I park it where I can see it...when I ride, that is. I need to ride it more!  I went to Capitol Hill today to try to help drum up some new privacy work. That would have made for a better picture, but I didn't even think to take one.

July 21, 2010: Nothing to See Here. Move Along.

I've seen a sudden upswing in my "popularity" at the office. We had one guy leave, one on paternity leave, and another who has been assigned to work at a client's offices. Combine that with the usual summer vacations, and it means there are fewer people to do the work. I'd like to complain, but the truth is that it's a very good thing for me, because I was too slow for far too long.

July 19, 2010: Baby C is 9 Months Old? Wow!

J might get grumpy over me putting this on my blog, because the truth is that she took it, not me, but don't worry baby, BOTH of the people who actually read my blog also read yours, so they'd see it either way.  The little guy is growing up quickly.  He's into everything.  He'll be 9 months old in just a few days.  It seems like just yesterday he was 9 weeks old.