(During the 2003 legislative session, the Tribune has been following two freshmen as they adjust to life as lawmakers. This week, we feature Sen. Ryan Taylor, D-Towner.)

As the session grinds on, things back on the home front are beginning to fall apart for Sen. Ryan Taylor, a Towner rancher.

A water pipe leading to his house froze, so he has no running water. Then, while he was home on a weekend feeding cows, a 38-inch wheel fell off his tractor. Apparently a couple of bolts worked themselves loose. Both the frozen water pipe and disabled tractor will have to wait, as Taylor finishes up the final weeks of his first legislative session.

"It's getting to be that time of year: Things at home have gone haywire. There's things I ought to be home for," he said.

But when he'll be able to pack his bags and head home for good is anyone's guess. Most lawmakers would like to finish by Good Friday (April 18), but at the very latest, lawmakers could work until May 1.

While Taylor's workload at home piles up, his workload at the Capitol is about to get very light. The Legislature is now entering the phase in which most lawmakers have less and less to do, as the workload shifts to the select few legislators on budget-writing committees, or appropriations committees. Taylor's two committees wrapped up their work on Thursday.

"Now everyone that's been here awhile says it gets to be a pain because you have to wait around if you're not on appropriations," Taylor said. "But I'm the kind of guy who makes pretty good use of idle time, so I don't think it'll kill me to wait around for some of this stuff."

Now that bills have crossed houses, those that emerge with changes will go to conference committees, where the Senate and House hammer out their differences. Taylor hasn't been assigned to a conference committee yet.

"It seems like it's all new again," he said of this new phase. "It'll be interesting to see the compromises that come about."

When conference committees are in full swing, it's no longer Democrat versus Republican, but House versus Senate. Some lawmakers relish the battle, and pile up bargaining chips in anticipation.

"I think they're kinda looking forward to the poker game with the House," he said of some senators.

As the Legislature winds down, Taylor has learned is that it's impossible to escape lobbyists.

"They catch you in the bathroom or in the hallway - you just can't get away from them," he said. They provide good information and are a necessary component, he said, but they often want a commitment on the day of the vote, and "you can't please everyone," he said.

He said as for the average person's point of view, "You have to go looking for their side."

(Reach Deena Winter at 223-8482 or deenawinter@ndonline.com.)