Fall in DC

The change from summer to Autumn came suddenly this year. The temperature just dropped quickly and it began to feel like Vancouver weather, though without all the drizzle (which surprisingly I miss). The leaves are finally beginning to change color out here, as snow seemed to be falling in many other places. While I always enjoyed snow, I am not minding living in a more moderate climate.

Work continues to go well. I am on a new engagement which I am enjoying. It requires me to follow the health care reforms very closely; which I find very interesting. I continue to be surprised how quickly and also how slowly things can move. Some aspects of the Baucus bill (Senate Finance) that seemed to be set in stone were changed rapidly just days before it was sent back to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring (their system of estimating the costs of a particular bill).

I can honestly say that I have never felt this close to the action politically and I find it very engaging. My current team is looking at ways to create an analysis that will be useful and hopefully affect the creation of public policy as it relates to parent and child coverage. It is interesting to be in a job where our analysis has to be air tight, because in many instances it will be used to create policy. I am certainly seeing a much different approach than is found in academia, where even the most rigorous peer-review standards are more loose and fluid.

Having to tie nearly every word I write (in the reporting phase) to a reliable sources has made me think about even the early phases of my new job in a different way. The deductive writing style and also the intense review process have also changed the way I approach research. I definitely cast my net more broadly now but I am also much more discerning in the actual sources that I use.

As a cerulean Blue Jay lands outside in a tree with fiery leaves, I couldn't feel more at home, more at peace. This was a good move.