Shutdown

The betting markets were correct: Congress was unable to reach a budget deal (or a CR) and so on October 1st the government shutdown. As the head of a non-enforcement office, I was deemed "intermittent excepted" which means i am non-essential unless there's a research or statistical issue in the employee benefits space involving human life or property that only I can solve. Which is to say, I'm probably home for the duration. Given that the Speaker is refusing to even let the House meet and the the Senate is continuing to debate whether we as a country want people's health insurance premiums to double, I'll probably be home for a while.

The last major shutdown Labor was funded while EPA was not, which resulted in a rather extensive home renovation project. The one before that, we were both off and so at least we had company. Since Allen moved to the pseudo-private sector (which means he's currently funded but given the government is one of their major funders, he only has a few weeks before he has to start furloughing staff), I'm alone this go round and have spent my time catching up on doctor's appointment, cleaning our John's old files, making Good Will runs, and doing a lot of yoga.

It's a weird shutdown (which I can say with some authority, having been through a number of these now), in that there doesn't appear to be any negotiations happening and so it's not clear how long this will go on and what will be left if and when it does end. Which is frustrating, because I first moved to Washington thirty years ago because I really believed that government was the means to making the world a better place, and it's really hard to do that if it doesn't exist.