New Jersey 2

My time in New Jersey has been quite an experience - not all of which has been positive.  The first hotel I checked into turned out to have bed bugs.  That's right...bed bugs.  I have never encountered these things before this trip, nor do I ever want to encounter them again!  I won't even go into the entire story on that front; instead I'll tell you about this evening.  I came back to my hotel room after working my 12-hour shift.  I settled into my room, got ready to begin working on homework and decided to have some popcorn.  I put my little popcorn package into the microwave for 2 minutes and decided it needed just a few seconds more to ensure all the kernels had popped.  Well....less than a minute later, I opened the microwave door and realized my popcorn had burnt...not badly...but it was burnt.  Just then, the smoke alartm went off in my room, and I mean it went off!  I immediately called the front desk and let them know what had happened.  I asked them how to please reset the smoke alarm, but the gentleman who answered told me it wans't something that could be reset.  He said that I should grab a pillow and fan the alarm to make it quit.  I tried what he suggested, however after about 20 minutes, the thing was still "screaming" loudly at me, so I departed my room - computer in hand.  I decided I'd wait it out in the hotel lobby.  As I sat in the lobby doing some work, I see the fire department pull up to the front door.  The doors fly open and about 15 firemen in full uniform, along with 4 police escort cars, come running in the door.  I thought...oh no.  As soon as the firemen entered, they were greeted by hotel staff, and I immediately made my way over to them.  I explained that this was my fault - recounted my story and the call made to the front desk.  They asked me who answered me at the desk, to which I could not provide an answer - just a man.  I apologized and said again that I had tried to avoid something of this magnitude happening, but obviously it didn't work.  I sat back down in the lobby and continued to work, all the while my co-workers and co-horts were coming in and out of the hotel lobby - making jokes and having a ball with the chaos of it all.  I'd love to have gotten a picture of the scene, but I felt it was bad enough that I caused the commotion...didn't want to appear rude and take further advantage of the situation.  In closing, I learned today that my work here will most likely end this coming Sunday.  I have had a great time with the work and the people, but I am exhausted and ready to move to my next location. 

New Jersey

I have been living and working in New Jersey for the past 3 weeks.  I am typically working alongside my husband Jim, however since Hurricane Irene made her way up the east coast, I have been assisting new catastrophe insurance adjusters in a support room.  (Jim has been working in Tennessee since April.) Work hours are long for me - 12-hour days, 7 days a week - but this is a feast or famine business. and those of us involved know that we must take it as it comes.  I've been very fortunate to have met many wonderful people since my arrival in NJ.  My co-workers are great - 2 women & 2 men from Texas and another woman from Louisiana.  One of the men is leaving tomorrow, so we took the opportunity today to capture a group photo this afternoon.  Though we have only known each other a short time, I feel as though I have made some wonderful friends that I will treasure for a long time to come.   We have all come together for a common good - to assist new adjusters in their new career venture.  In a situation such as the current, i.e., mega-catastrophe, the need for assistance with new adjusters is great.  As I've said, the hours are long, but the rewards are great.  It is a wonderful feeling to be in the position of helping someone to succeed.  This is a very competive business, and I know of people who feel providing help may hamper their own opportunities for work.   I, on the other hand, don't feel that way.  I feel blessed to be able to give to others in need.  I will, however, say that I am pretty exhausted...have been living on energy drinks to stay awake.  I have no idea how much longer this work opportunity will last, but I do know it's not permanent.  I may be here another week, two weeks...possibly even three weeks, but after that, I have no idea where I will, but after last year's bitter/snowy winter weather in Ohio, Tennessee sounds pretty good to me...