Government Shutdown

The government shutdown (for which I entirely blame Republicans) brings back memories for me. When the last shutdown happened, I was in Washington to collect data at the Smithsonian for my dissertation research. I had gotten a small grant to pay for my travel expenses, I arranged to stay with the inlaws in Maryland, and I had scheduled meetings with scientists to have them solve phylogenetic tree construction problems. I had filled up the better part of a week with appointments. It hadn't been easy to persuade busy scientists to give up several hours of their time, but having worked for a couple of months to set everything up, things were looking good. But as my trip approached, threats of the shutdown arose and then actually happened: the government shut down, the Smithsonian was locked up, and the scientists were locked out.

I flew to Washington over the weekend before my appointments, hoping that maybe something would happen. I spent Saturday and Sunday in a panic, trying to get in touch with people: they couldn't check their messages or email and I didn't have any personal contact information for anyone, but I worked the phones with my contacts trying to track people down. Despairing, I went to bed on Sunday with little hope of resucing my doctoral research.

But, Lo and Behold! In the morning, was news that a continuing resolution had been signed! The government was funded for a week! I got a ride to the subway, made my way to the Smithsonian, and everything came off without a hitch. I flew home at the end of the week and just a few days later, the government shut down again. But I had my data.

If I were a religious person, I might think someone had been looking out for me. But, since we're talking about the federal government, I would probably be looking in the wrong direction.