Mr. Behrendt Goes To Washington: 9Nov12 Post

Information
Ryan went to MA for the week to work on a congressional campaign. Jon is in WV helping someone at work with a land dispute.

This week I moved into my permanent office in the Technology Center (TC). I am on the 5th floor of Remsen with design patent examiners. My roommate is in a different art unit, but is still in the chemistry area. He worked at UOP for about 7 years and then went to law school at Boston University. Eventually he accepted a position at the USPTO as a Patent Examiner like myself. My office still needs so decorating, but I have plenty of time to get around to it because I will be there awhile because I plan to be at this job for awhile and people don't change office often especially for people at my low grade level.

Also this week I attended the USPTO Toastmaster's International meeting. It was interesting, it was nothing like I was expecting. I actually had to speak to the group for 1-2 minutes based on a on the spot prompt. I may join to group to practice my public speaking and have an opportunity for leadership opportunities.

DC Travels
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress was fun and has a story all of its own, but I was a bit underwhelmed. It may be because I was not allowed to take any pictures of the main reading area and the Gutenberg Bible, I did not take a tour, the lack of things to see, or the limited area of access available to me because I did not have a reservation to go into the library itself.

Supreme Court
This is a beautiful building, but it was covered up by scaffolding from the restoration of the marble. There was a very informative video about the building and the Supreme Court in general which runs for about 30 minutes every 15 minutes in different theaters. The building/museum has a very good flow, neat look, and gives a comprehensive look into the history of the court. I was not able to attend an oral argument or enter the actual room of the court because I came in the afternoon (oral arguments are in the morning) and I came at inopportune time for the next session to enter the room of the court.