After this past week's "roller coaster" brought on by:
- Marie Dempsey's passing and the wonderful service, eulogy, and memoriam by her family and their gratitude to us for attending;
- the Nor'Easter that created such havoc not only here, but moreso in New Hampshire where I spent the rest of the week - major flooding/washed out roads/etc.;
- the unbelievable events at Virginia Tech;
- and finally, the extremely productive work week I had in Ossipee
this morning I am happy to report that Spring seems to have finally arrived in Connecticut.
I got home around 7:00 pm last night after enduring a strangely long drive home from Ossipee. I left the plant at 2:30, and should have arrived home at 5:30, but I think many folks were either coming home from high school Spring Break, or out for a leisurely drive. Traffic was brutal. However, the saving grace was the beautiful weather for the drive. When I left the plant, the temperature was 71º and there was not a cloud in the sky.
The temperature here on Birch Mountain was 67º when I pulled in the driveway, and there was still a lot of daylight. I greeted "the boys", and looked out the back sliders at the woods, glad to be home. To my surprise, I noticed movement among the reddish leaves out in the woods - it was a very large fox - the first sighting of a fox we've had! I'm not sure whether a fox's coat indicates whether it is a male or female, but this one had a dullish red body, and a very puffy red tail. He or she was sauntering along the swale that comes straight back from the hill behind us down to "the pond". I tried to be quiet as I opened the slider, but the fox's ears caught me, and it stopped right at the edge of the pond. I walked out and watched the fox and it watched me for a few moments before it trotted off down past the edge of the wetlands and presumably across the street to a destination unknown. Anyway, it was really nice to see that - we would never have had that at 185 Pine Street. LOL
This morning is gorgeous here. Our efforts at feeding the birds this winter have paid off in spades. We have tons of songbirds out, and they are definitely attached to us. Bluejays, chickadees, and some other birds I haven't identified have been greeting me this morning. We have to replenish our bird seed supply today. I have been walking out periodically to chase away the squirrels who seem to like going after the sunflower seeds in the mix and thereby claw through the smaller seeds, dumping them on the ground below.
The weather this weekend is going to be fantastic here. Today's high is supposed to be 78º and tomorrow's 72º - FINALLY!
As for our weekend plans, we are going to "
5S" our garage (see below), I am going to put down Scotts Turfbuilder Plus Halts to get the yard going, and sometime today I will get the grill cleaned up for the coming season.
Dad would be very proud of me, I think. This past Monday at the Corporate office, we finished with our "
5S" of our copy/supply/mail room. The following (so you non-jingoistic folks can follow along) is what "
5S" means:
"5S" is a reference to five Japanese words first used by Hiroyuki Hirano, in his book 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace, that describe standardized cleanup:
- Seiri (整理): tidiness, organization. Refers to the practice of sorting through all the tools, materials, etc., in the work area and keeping only essential items. Everything else is stored or discarded. This leads to fewer hazards and less clutter to interfere with productive work.
- Seiton (整頓): orderliness. Focuses on the need for an orderly workplace. Tools, equipment, and materials must be systematically arranged for the easiest and most efficient access. There must be a place for everything, and everything must be in its place.
- Seiso (清掃): cleanliness. Indicates the need to keep the workplace clean as well as neat. Cleaning in Japanese companies is a daily activity. At the end of each shift, the work area is cleaned up and everything is restored to its place.
- Seiketsu (清潔): standards. Allows for control and consistency. Basic housekeeping standards apply everywhere in the facility. Everyone knows exactly what his or her responsibilities are. House keeping duties are part of regular work routines.
- Shitsuke (躾): sustaining discipline. Refers to maintaining standards and keeping the facility in safe and efficient order day after day, year after year.
Mom and Dad would have referred to a "
5S" as "
SPRING CLEANING". However, in this day and age of adapting Japanese work standards, we have adopted this new term as being "better than a spring cleaning". LOL
As a result of the first "
S" (
Seiri - sorting through all the tools, materials, etc., in the work area and keeping only essential items), there were two cabinet/shelf units that were deemed non-essential, and L***** decided to get rid of them since they could not be used anywhere else. When this was decided, I quickly raised my hand to offer them a new home. (Dad would be proud - never throw out anything that still has a use ...
somewhere,
anywhere) The front of our garage, since the move, has been occupied by a variety of things scattered in a definitely
non-"
5S" manner, so the great weather is conducive to a "
5S" of our garage and the utilization of the new storage units.
Part of a "
5S" exercise, in the US-adapted version, is the taking of a "before" and an "after" picture to show the accomplished progress toward the final "
S" (
Shitsuke - sustaining discipline). This is done to reinforce, on a continual basis, how to maintain the housekeeping standard.
I will post both "before" and "after" pictures, once our little "
5S" on the garage is complete.
Well, it's now 8:45, and it is time to begin the weekend! We love you all, and will talk to you over the weekend!
