On the surprise side, for a large population (7th most populous in the US, according to Not-Dark-Today Wikipedia), the non-automated way they do business kind of surprises me. As a co-worker put it, the process is "paper and people." True that. In my professional capacity, I am here poking and prodding to see what documents they create and to stitch a narrative together describing the process end to end. It's not surprising to me after doing this a few times, how few people in the organization have a comprehensive view of the enterprise workflow. That is probably because of the need to focus on the piece of the puzzle that directly relates to your own existence to keep your head above water. My goal over the next couple of weeks it do document how they can get a bigger bang per technology buck. A short and intense couple of weeks that will hopefully pay off in the longer run with a contract to do some automation. For me, if they decided to incorporate bill drafting in the mix of new tech, I'll likely be involved.
I have to say, I am unpleasantly surprised at the ghost town quality of the area around the Capitol at night and on weekends. I'm shocked, shocked! at the dearth of Starbucks and the hours the one that I did find keeps - close at 3? seriously? Also, there are only two restaurants I've found within easy walking distance of my hotel that are even open past 4 pm, and neither is open weekends. Good if you are on a diet, I suppose.
I'm looking forward to blitzing this bad boy this week and jetting home.