Almost Spring

Finally, it is starting to warm up here.  Mother Nature is bringing Spring to us.  Admittedly, I had my doubts when the Cherry Blossoms bloom date was pushed back - three times.  The Cherry Blossoms are suppose to pop this weekend.

One daffodil has popped by the shed, the rest have little buds in them, it won't be long now - Spring, yay!  I haven't blogged this winter, didn't really have much to blog about.  I don't like winter, it is a shut in season for me.  The only events are Thanksgiving and Christmas, and as the years pass, they become less of an event.  This would probably be my blog all winter..."went to work, came home, worked out, ate dinner, watched TV and went to bed" as a daily blog.  The changes to that would be on weekends when I did household chores or during the week, being bad and skipping workouts when I was too exhausted.  Otherwise, gratefully, all has been well.  Work is doing great, hit my one year anniversary February 26th at The Small Business Administration - a great yay there! 

We've been very busy at work with Hurricane Sandy hires.  Our group works Disaster Assistance to homeowners and businesses.  Since I am in Human Resources (HR) of the Disaster Assistance group, we support the employees who go into the field.  In this case, the field being New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, and smaller areas of other states that were affected by Hurricane Sandy along the east coast.  We had over 800 temporary hires.  Temporary hires are for less than 90 days.  Hiring began the first week of November and sending folks to training (mostly on how the hardware and software systems work, along with policies and procedures).  These were all sorts of people - the unemployed, the retired, and those wanting to help who signed up for 30+ days (taking Leave of Absence/LOA from their full time jobs).

From an HR standpoint, these folks are temporary, they do not get benefits.  They do get paid.  One requirement was availability to work on site (in these areas, which may be away from their home) for an indefinite period of time (less than 90 days) and work up to 12 hour days, six days/week.  The turnover was tremendous.  I remember one person resigning because she was unable to secure childcare for that long.  Why accept the job?  Overtime was paid over 40 hours/week, which the majority, most were working 50-60 hours/week.  SBA (Sm. Business Admin.) folks are directed to a disaster site after FEMA has processed their disaster assistance applicants.  SBA is different in that they offer LOANS, which must be paid back at a below market interest rate over an extended period of time.  There are still Hurricane Katrina loans being paid back. 

Again, from the HR perspective, my job was to ensure these folks were on the payroll and getting paid.  As I mentioned, the turnover rate has been high.  These temporary hires are experience loan processors (mostly from the finance industry), lawyers, bankers, realtors and construction workers with the ability to assess property damage to determine the amount of the loan being applied for.  This was tough work for these temporary hires, being away from their families through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and for some New Years and even now, there are still people in the field wrapping things up.  They are lending a sympathetic hand and ear to those who have lost everything or almost everything.  Disaster victims are devastated by their loss, more bad news, when not qualifying for a loan can be detrimental under these circumstances.  Kudos to those employees in the field, having to face it all.

I was getting the temporary new hire's paperwork one week and seeing the same individual resign a few short weeks later saying they were unable to give their time 50-60 hours/week indefinitely (max <90 days).  The hiring has stopped.  I'm working on these hires coming to the end of their tenure, processing separation paperwork, final pay, etc.  It's been a very busy and interesting time at work.  Thankfully, disasters are not the norm.

I'm still on my journey to lose weight.  I've resigned at my age, I now have the body type that will have a weight issue for the rest of my life, unfortunately, it is hereditary.  I've fallen off the wagon a number of times.  I keep getting back on.  I know the results don't come unless I exercise and eat healthy.  I've had those results, I want them again.  Spring is coming and time for me to get out and start walking.  The days are getting longer again.  I have a short window before the heat starts up and soon it's 100 degrees, when I sweat just going from the air conditioned car to the air conditioned house.  My plan is to get plenty of outdoor walking and other activities in before that weather hits.

Another sign of Spring has shown his face, Chippy the Chipmunk, who lives in our yard.  He leaves remnants of his visits everywhere - holes the size of my fist in my garden, in the front area garden where the hostas are, the side of the garage, where there are more hostas, and he's even been in the planters!  John has threatened to charge him rent.  Here's Chippy sunning himself on the back deck Saturday morning, the nerve!

Spring is my favorite season, everything comes to life again including me!  Here's the Forsythia bush next to our deck/patio, it is just starting to bloom.  It gets huge when in full bloom, such a beauty.

I was at the local grocery store, Giant, and found some Hyacinths (is that plural?).  They are so fragrant, I had to buy them.  I now have them in my kitchen, smelling beautiful, waiting for the final frost, before planting them.  John and I are talking about what to put in the garden this year.  Green Beans were the Epic Fail of last season.  He feels they may have been placed in the shade, and they didn't get enough sun to grow.  The corn didn't do too well either.  I suggested lettuce, which is suppose to be easy to grow.  One thing about lettuce that I know is that it has to be planted early.  I'm going to have to do some research.  I don't think we've had our final frost (usually planting in the Mid-Atlantic is suppose to occur after Mother's Day - that's my planting marker).

Finally, I had sight of more good news, I hope it's happening in your area too.  The price of gas is dropping!!!  Some places hit $4.00/gallon this winter.  I think the highest I paid was $3.89/gallon.  Yesterday, I paid $3.66 for regular.  I know some of you are getting gas even cheaper.  Yay for the summer blend and lower prices!

I try to remember to turn on my cell phone camera should something catch my eye.  Yesterday, while running errands, the message on the back of this truck caught my eye.

These days, I'm all over comfort!  I'll try to be a better blogger, certainly more frequent.  Get comfortable and stay with me.  I enjoy your visits and comments.