Shea Andersen: At the Roundhouse

How to pull an all-nighter

Since we're looking down the barrel at a classic Senate all-nighter, here's a few considerations for surviving the long dark haul:

-Feeding the beasts: Lawmakers gotta eat, just like the rest of us. But when a flurry of minor bills are coming and going, as they are now, it's harder to get people to stay in the chamber long enough to make dinner orders feasible. Better to wait until a whopper like pre-k comes along; everyone's more or less stuck, and it's easier to feed them.

-Comfort the afflicted: Longtime Roundhousers recall a year when some senators brought in cots they'd gotten somewhere in town, for a long night coming. Tonight, the couches in the Senate lounge are likely to be hot real estate. That's only if you're not as good as Sen. John Arthur Smith or Sen. Vernon Asbill at sleeping in your chair. Both were exhibiting professional napping form in the last 24 hours.

-Distractions, distractions: If I see one more lobbyist or lawmaker playing video games on their Palm Pilot, I'll start to feel like I'm missing out. Besides, that's amateur stuff. Most lawmakers have laptops on the floor and, while checking e-mail or surfing the Web is a given, in past years lawmakers have gone so far as to play DVD's on their computers while debates were raging.

--Update--

Lorene Mills has helped me piece together part of the cot story. Apparently they were provided by the New Mexico National Guard. The cots lined the hallways, Mills said, and lawmakers were given rough army blankets and stiff pillows.

Hey, no complaints. If the Guard is reading....I'll take one.

Posted by sandersen at March 18, 2005 05:09 PM