i spent two days last week at the nebraska association of county officials (NACO) conference in omaha. on the first day, the governor spoke as well as president bush's liaison for local officials (that was the just of his title anyways), both of which were really interesting. after that, there was a welcome put on by naco's board of directors. i wasn't sure how easy it would be to find food for supper, so i loaded up on fruit, chips, and salsa. as i was finishing, my boss reminded me of the steak dinner we were going to right after the welcome. apparently caterpillar pays for a dinner for each member of a county board and their spouses at a nearby steakhouse. so my boss and another board member took me and another girl to the dinner (their significant others' weren't at the conference). it was loads of fun! the other board member works at the local university in some sort of administrative role, so she had plenty of stories. and my boss has a million stories as well. he is a county board member, an advisor to nebraska's governor, is on some board associated with harvard university, is on naco's board, is on the national association of county officials board, and probably many more that i don't know about. and he also owns an isp. so he had plenty of stories to share as well!

the next day i attended a few really good sessions for the board members and the election commissioners, which were really fascinating! the company that the state of nebraska contracts with to help with elections gave a presentation on a new product they are selling the counties. it makes it possible for a blind person to vote completely confidentially. really cool stuff!

it was really refreshing to take a step back and remember what i am a part of at the courthouse. it's so easy to get caught up in the little issues and projects i have on my plate that i had lost sight of what my job is all about.

sadly, what i'll remember more than all of these good times is how much of a hold alcohol has on our society. it's one thing to hear some random person talk about the parties they go to, etc, but i was hearing this from those we expect to run our government.* these are our leaders! i couldn't believe how many times i heard our elected officials mention that they couldn't wait for the day's scheduled activities to conclude so they could go drink. several of the vendors had hospitality rooms at the conference. i'm not sure what most of these consisted of, but caterpillar's (the same company that paid for our dinner) was by far the most popular because they offered free alcohol. i went in there the 2nd afternoon because i needed caffeine (they also offered free pop) and there were a few people who looked like they had been drinking for hours. it was so sad.


*note: i have the utmost respect for all but a few of the people i work with. most of them are really good at their jobs, though there are always exceptions. please don't assume i'm calling all elected officials drunks! :)