Pizza, said Briere, was the only item on offer at the cafeteria by the time they arrived, having spent an hour and a half in line waiting to pick up their tickets to the inauguration tomorrow.  When they had queued up for the tickets around noon, she said, the line was already well-formed.  People had until 4:00 p.m. to pick up their tickets.

They’ll be leaving for the inauguration itself at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow, in order to get through security by 8:00 a.m. Weather forecast in D.C. for the festivities is for 17-23 F°. They’re prepared with long underwear and chemical handwarmers.  Briere said she’d had no previous experience using the handwarmers, but thought they were the kind that needed to be broken so that the two chemicals could react.  They’re supposed to provide heat for 5 hours.

Earlier today, Briere reported, they’d attended a reception for all Michiganders, whether they had inauguration tickets or not.  She said they’d seen fellow councilmember Tony Derezinski there, along with Janis Bobrin (Washtenaw County Water Resources Commisioner – a title that was recently changed from Drain Commissioner), and Jerry Lax (former city attorney).  Briere said she had taken pictures of anybody she could get to hold still.  Mark Schauer, representative for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, was there, she said, along with Debbie Stabenow, senator for Michigan.

Plans for later this afternoon included a reception hosted by  John Dingell, congressman for Michigan’s 15th district.  As far as the various lavish balls and banquets, Briere said they’d be giving those a pass.  She was “too frugal,” she allowed.

So how was the pizza at the Congressional cafeteria as compared to local Ann Arbor standards?  Briere gave it a C-minus – edible but not much to recommend it beyond that.