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The Shutdown Diaries: The Sunny Snowpocalypse
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. The federal government has no dress code policy. I learned this when I attended mandatory sexual harassment training earlier this year—or was...
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The Shutdown Diaries: A Comfortable Cushion
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. I forgot to turn my alarm off this morning. When it comes to my alarm, I'm usually a little masochistic: I set it to a blaring ring at 6:45...
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The Shutdown Diaries: No One Wants to Talk (Yet)
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. My alarm wasn't set for this morning, but I wake up at the usual time. It turns out my internal clock is indifferent to the ongoing...
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The Shutdown Diaries: Deathfest and Dying Experiments
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. I was enjoying the all-day happy hour at Del Campo, a Peruvian/Mexican restaurant in Chinatown, when news first broke about gunfire at the...
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The Shutdown Diaries: An Unchanged Weekend
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. Some good news arrived early on Saturday. The House of Representatives unanimously voted in favor of giving federal employees back pay after...
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The Shutdown Diaries: Misanthropic Indulgence
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. When I'm not furloughed, Tuesday is the day when I work from home. It's ironic: the Office of Personnel Management pushes hard so that many...
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The Shutdown Diaries: Now Accepting Pity Food
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. It was kind of inevitable, but now my friends are making me food out of pity. Yesterday I biked from Columbia Heights to U Street to meet my...
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The Shutdown Diaries: A Trio of Firsts
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. Yesterday I attempted my first furlough nap. This somehow seems significant: Last week, I did my best to take advantage of my free time,...
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The Shutdown Diaries: Worse than Congress
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. If there is anything people hate more than Congress, it's a heckler at a stand-up comedy show. Last night I went to the opening night of the...
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The Shutdown Diaries: Disengaged
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. Today is a federal holiday. It's Columbus Day, which means no federal workers are in the office anyway. This is one of two weird...
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The Shutdown Diaries: Possible Rage
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. About a week ago I was out with a journalist friend of mine, and I asked him for advice about what direction these diaries should go. His...
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The Shutdown Diaries: It’s Almost Over (Probably)
I am a nonessential federal employee. This is my shutdown. It looks like the furlough is almost over. This afternoon, my Twitter feed is as frenzied as it was in the day leading up to the shutdown;...
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