Of Bald Men and Bears

• Yesterday, Senator Chambers (District 11) presided over the legislature for the first time in his lengthy career (he was first elected in 1971). There is an interesting article on the subject here. What is more interesting about this article is that I am the unidentified male page in the background of the picture (the one farthest away from Sen. Chambers).
• The capitol flies a special Nebraska state flag only when the Legislature is in session. I, along with a fellow page, climbed out a window on the third floor of the capitol, scaled two ladders on the roof, navigated the sheet of ice laminating the roof, and braved the wind whipping through us to raise that flag. For our heroism in the line of duty, there was a small writing of us in an article printed in the Lincoln Journal-Star (it's the very last section of the article). I was not available for comment at the time the journalist was interviewing Kitty and A.J., so I had no fun quotes; I was probably off doing something else to save the world.
• Take out a dollar bill (yes, I'm serious). If you look on the back, you will see the design with an eagle who, with his sharp talons, is grasping both an olive branch and a set of arrows. The olive branch represents peace and the arrows represent war. If you notice, the eagle is facing the olive branch, because the United states prefers peace, but we will go to war if necessary (the reason the eagle has arrows at all). In the chambers of the Nebraska Legislature, at the very front on the ceiling, there are a row of these eagles painted across a beam on the ceiling. In all of the paintings, the eagle is facing the arrows. I don't particularly know what this means, except that it may explain why each governor gives away so many admiralships in the Nebraska Navy. Perhaps one day, each of those admirals will be called to active duty and we will go to war.
• The Nebraska capitol furnishes the best-smelling hand soap ever made in each of its bathrooms. Seriously, the capitol is worth a visit if only to wash your hands.
• The Nebraska capitol has both its heat and air conditioning pumped underground through pipes from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Given this fact and the size of many of the rooms in the capitol, its heating bills must be incredibly large. That is why I, the heroic page, am contributing my body heat at this time of the year by being present for 10 hour work-days.

Labels: Life, Politics

Posted by Jacob on Thursday, January 06, 2005 at 8:25 PM | Permalink