Lobbyist, Legislator, or Liaison?

Posted on February 28, 2012 by admin

Crossroads.

I met up with two former legislators and a former aide tonight.  No formal agenda – just chit chatting.  I heard all sorts of stories about lobbyists and legislators that simply disgusted me.  I won’t go into details, but it was just sad.  They shared with complete sincerity to not go into lobbying (yes, it crossed my mind) unless I was willing to sleep with people for votes.  I did not in any way get the feeling they were being dramatic or funny – it simply sounded like a fact.

I was told that THIS legislator would indeed give you his vote if you slept with him.  Ladies, if I told you who to Google Image, you’d gag a little.

I was told THESE legislators shared a condo with a mistress.  And THIS lobbyist is “well-known”.

I was told THIS lobbyist didn’t have to bother going to House meetings when the bill would just get shut down in the Senate…over “dinner.”

I was told how legislators were kept in line.

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Pre-gaming: Mass Precinct Training Tonight

Posted on February 15, 2012 by admin

Wowzer – what a week…how is it only Wednesday??  Lots of good stuff happening.  I was out of town this past weekend, so no posts, website updates, etc.  I won’t bore you with my schedule except to say – it’s been pleasantly packed.

Tonight was the Cobb GOP Mass Precinct training.  The officers, precinct captains, and registration team met at HQ to do fire drills for Saturday’s main event.

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Another First for the Cobb GOP

Posted on February 7, 2012 by admin

Hellooooo, technology and organization!Cobb County Republican Party

Last year’s annual Fourth of July BBQ marked the first year attendees could buy tickets to the event online.  In that vein, the upcoming Mass Precincts mark the first year Cobb voters can pre-register online.

The 2010 Mass Precincts were of particular interest to those in the Cobb GOP because two Cobb Countians were running for State Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.  For those unfamiliar with the process, there are four sequential steps to be taken in order to attend the Georgia State Convention; Mass Precincts being the first.  Because of our support of the candidates in a very close race, Cobb Mass Precincts were well-attended and well – a little chaotic to say the least.

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A Few Milestones

Posted on January 31, 2012 by admin

I know, I know – it’s been awhile. I can say my priorities are straight if that makes it better. I skipped town with my family this past weekend and descended upon Pigeon Forge. I didn’t turn on my computer even once.  My middle niece turned fifteen, my 4yo niece rode her first go cart, my oldest niece enjoyed a much needed sanity break from college, my sister beat me at board games (sighhh), and Ma got all her babies in one place from Friday night through Sunday – good times indeed.

It’s Tuesday, and the week is off to a solid start. The non-profit I do volunteer marketing for issued its first press release yesterday. It’s A) a cool milestone that my alma mater is the first school in Georgia to get a student organization centered around sustainability & green design and B) a personal milestone to write my first press release. The VP of PR at SPSU kindly allowed me to use training wheels and coached me through the final edit. My goal is to write at lease one press release a month on behalf of the IKRC.

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30 Min Conf Call with Rep Lynne Riley

Posted on January 23, 2012 by admin

While I don’t have the same view as Rep Riley on all issues, I do think it’s fantastic when a legislator makes herself so accessible to questions and shares what’s going on around the Capitol.

Rep Lynne RileyI took a lot of notes during the conference call hosted by Pocketbook Politics.  Given that my background is in the geek world and not journalism, I’m not ready to transfer my thoughts from bulleted note form to op-eds quite yet.  I’m clearly in an information gathering mindset and will share highlights in layman form as comfortable.  My intent is to give readers insight into Georgia Politics from a grassroots view without ticking off legislators by not getting their words quite right.
Luckily, Pocketbook Politics will be posting a recording of the call on their website at some point.  Here are the bulleted items Rep Lynne Riley addressed in her call:

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At Least Look Like You’re Trying, TIA

Posted on January 18, 2012 by admin

For a Travel & Politics blog I haven’t posted very much about either yet.  Getting at least two photo albums posted a night is about all I can do consistently right now.

Since #SOPA hasn't passed yet...

I went to a meeting last night and heard a presentation by the Maglev President/CEO Tony Morris.  Maglev is a mass transit system except it’s owned and managed by the private sector, not the taxpayers.  FunFact: they have a test track set up in Powder Springs for anyone to visit.

It’s certainly not that I advocate this solution, but it is an option that isn’t being offered to the taxpayers as an alternate to TSPLOST.  I recorded the presentation because it was a lot to absorb in a short amount of time.  Tony went through proposed locations of transit stations, budgetary numbers, and the high-level project schedule, etc.

Again, if this isn’t the final solution – fine by me.  I just want to make sure that Georgia legislators are looking at all options and picking something that will really work (both monetarily and culture-wise) instead of saying “traffic is stopped; let’s look like we’re fixing it.”

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Guess It’s Time to Hit the Road

Posted on January 15, 2012 by admin

Well, it’s official.  It’s time to add cycling to my skill set.  I’ve been talked into doing a sprint triathlon this summer called Tri the Mountains.  It’s a 600 yard swim, 18 mile out and back bike ride and 3.2 mile run.  I have a smidge of fear about being able to complete it, but … I’ve felt that way before doing most of the really cool things in my life.

Bridget's Cycling Gear

I dropped by the bike shop this afternoon and bought ‘the necessities’ as instructed.

+  Tire Change Kit
+  Seat Kit
+  Bike Pump with Pressure Gauge
+  Bike Tool
+  Spare Tube
+  Compressed Air

I also picked up an IO computer (since I’m a data girl), leg warmers, skinny cap (with a hole for ponytails? – awe.some) and bike shorts.  The bike shorts were my favorite.  I thought I would be stuck with tight spandexy shorts and was NOT looking forward to being in public with them.  These are loose-ish, cute, and plaid (score!) with built-in padded shorts underneath.

Sidenote: The triathlon was obviously invented by a man.  And while women now compete, the passive-aggressiveness remains.  Tight spandexy shorts look wrong on just about every body type except models yet men don’t have to deal with the self-consciousness.  As for the swimming portion, my wet suit is the ORCA brand…because every women wants to hit the water in a shiny black suit labeled as a whale.  Excellent marketing choice, guys.

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Categories: Beauty and Fitness | Tags: , , | 3 Comments

What I’m Learning While Designing This Blog

Posted on January 14, 2012 by admin
  • For better SEO, I’m renaming all photos from “Image37″ to “Machu_Picchu_Peru”.  It takes a while, but I might as well do it now and help the search engines find me.
  • I then have to resize all photos that I have saved on my computer to a smaller size; otherwise I get an upload error.
  • The Photo Album plugin in WordPress only allows you to upload 20 pics at a time, and the combined size has to be under 2MB.
  • “Free Picture Resize Starter” is an easy program to use and allows batch resizing.
  • If you resize the pics to 800×600 pixels, it’s a nice viewing size.  About 10 pics can be zipped and stay right under 2MB.
Summary: the Photo page of the blog is time-consuming, but I think it’ll be the best part.  Each pic is a wonderful memory for me.
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2012 Adventure Race Training Schedule

Posted on January 13, 2012 by admin

Windsor Oaks Multi-sport (a neighborhood training group) has allowed me into their fold.  If you’re in the Cobb GOP, Candice Sherman’s husband Todd is a pretty entertaining ring leader.

Their group is infectious and has grown from 5 to 40 in a smidge over a year.  From talking to everyone at the meeting, there’s every level of athlete – novice, intermediate, and insane.  The list below was the consensus of what the group will participate in this year.  I have no intentions of doing all of them, but it sounds like the non-participants go to most of the races to cheer the others on…muy beuno.

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Save The Date for Mass Precincts

Posted on January 12, 2012 by admin

I know plenty of you who lean Republican but are not active in local politics.  My hope is that by taking some of the questions out of the process, you’ll participate this year.  I’ll be the first to admit – I didn’t get active for a long time because I didn’t understand how local politics worked, didn’t think I could make an actual difference, and didn’t think I had the time to be active.

It’s easier and less time-consuming than I thought.  I’ll preface this and any future note about grassroots politics with one of my favorite quotes: “People teach what they most need to know.” …I might have to bounce your questions up, but we’ll figure it out.

As you know, ‘this is an important election year’.  Fun Fact #723: people in politics always say this is the MOST important election EVER!  Take it with a grain of salt knowing that the next one will be too….so why delay your involvement?

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