It Took 15 Minutes

This morning I took Deputy Headmistress' suggestion and made 25 phone calls. It took me 15 minutes (and during that time I served two bowls of cereal and broke up three fights as well).

Most of the calls took less than a minute (some of the Senators' offices had to put me on hold). Most took around 30 seconds. So this is an excellent task for someone like me who lives her life in 30 second increments between "putting out fires" in the house. I called all the Senators in alphabetical order so I wouldn't see their party affiliations and get unduly pissed off.

On each call I said some version of this:
"Hi, my name is Wacky Hermit and I'm a business owner from Utah. I'm calling to let Senator X know that I'm in support of Senate Bill 374. It's currently sitting in the Senate Committee for Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and I would appreciate his help in getting this bill brought to the Senate for debate and a vote."

Short, pleasant. I even put a fake smile on my face while I did it to keep me more pleasant on the phone. You can do it too-- 15 minutes! in 30-60 second increments!

Here are the numbers:
John D. Rockefeller 202-224-6472
Kay Hutchinson 202-224-5922
Mark Begich 202-224-3004
Barbara Boxer 202-224-3553
Samuel Brownback 202-224-6521
Maria Cantwell 202-224-3441
Jim DeMint 202-224-6121
Bryon Dorgan 202-224-2551
John Ensign 202-224-6244
Daniel Inouye 202-224-3934
John Jackson 202-224-3643
Mike Johanns 202-224-4224
John Kerry 202-224-2742
Amy Klobuchar 202-224-3244
Frank Lautenberg 202-224-3224
Mel Martinez 202-224-3041
Claire McCaskill 202-224-6154
Bill Nelson 202-224-5274
Mark Pryor 202-224-2353
Olympia Snowe 202-224-5344
John Thune 202-224-2321
Tom Udall 202-224-5941
David Vitter 202-224-4623
Mark Warner 202-224-2023
Roger Wicker 202-224-6253


And here's a helpful pronunciation guide for some of the more difficult names:

Begich = BEG itch
Inouye = IN oo ay
Johanns = JOE han(d)s
Klobuchar = KLOW boo char
Lautenberg = LOUT 'n' burg
Thune rhymes with soon

I didn't know how to pronounce some of these, having only ever read the names, so I had to listen carefully as the staffer answered the phone. I find that difficult to do sometimes, so if you do too, I thought I'd spare you the difficulty.