It looks like Congress will come back to work again in December, as Democratic leaders gave the Big Three automakers a second chance to ask for federal aid for their embattled industry.

That means we can talk about some of the smaller events that will transpire between now and early January, when the 111th Congress is sworn in.

Today brings an event unique to the U.S. House of Representatives as newly elected lawmakers get to pick a number out of a bowl for the right to choose their office space in the new Congress.

It's usually a sign that the old Congress is finished with business, a time when packing boxes start stacking up in the halls, lawmakers on the way out begin moving out, and the painting crews descend on offices galore.

But this year, the Congress isn't finished with work for the year, as Democratic leaders on Thursday decided to give the Big Three automakers a second chance to ask for federal aid.

Maybe this time they will think about that non-stop Northwest flight from Detroit to Washington DCA, instead of bringing out the corporate jets.

I trust that public relations professors in America's colleges and universities are having a few good chuckles about that mistake.

But we digress.

Over the next couple of months, there will be a lot of behind the scenes work going on as members of the House and Senate get ready to move into their offices.

House members move more quickly than their Senate counterparts, who usually work out of special temporary space in the basement of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

At one point they were using some temporary mobile home type units - I'm not sure that's still the case, but we'll see in coming weeks.

The lottery in the House obviously has its winners and losers.  When your number gets picked, the clock starts running and you have to pick from a list of offices that have not yet been claimed.

Most of them are crummy, and that's why they're available.

You might get something on the 5th floor of the Cannon House Office Building, which is pretty much all freshman territory, because they are the smallest offices.

This floor was added onto the original building by raising the roof.  Most of the elevators don't go all the way up there, so you have to know the super secret staircases, a couple of which you can only find if you go back to the bathrooms on the 4th floor.

Across the hall from the offices, you can see the slope of the roof coming down, and that's where you can stash all kinds of extra equipment behind wire fencing. I've even seen some staffers set up shop inside that area.

Or you could get the 6th floor in the Longworth Building, which for some reason is set up in a completely irregular manner when compared to the rest of the building.

Don't worry about getting a view or anything, because those offices are snapped up by more senior lawmakers in both parties.

And for those of you who think that members of Congress work in luxury, please don't think that for a minute.  Most of these offices are small. 

Few of them have conference rooms where you can hold a meeting.  Most of the House offices have three rooms - one where the staff is, there's a small entry where the receptionist sits, behind there is usually the chief of staff, and then the lawmaker gets the entire third room.

When you go downtown in DC to meet with someone, then you realize how basic the offices are in the House and Senate.

And the brand new members of Congress will certainly learn that the hard way.