It's peak fall leaf colors this weekend. I’m looking forward to visiting the local arboretum and going for a walk in nature.

I also need to finalize my costume for an upcoming Halloween party. Do I dress up as a flapper, bunch of grapes or something else? Decisions, decisions.

Speaking of Halloween, I was going to buy one of those big bag mixes of candy for trick-or-treaters, only to discover that they feature something called a “snack” size, which is even smaller than the “fun” size.

I remembered the joy of carrying my pillowcase full of goodies around the neighborhood. Toward the end of the night, my dad had to carry it for me because it was too heavy. What fun memories! Candy is a lot more expensive than I remember, but I’m buying the big bars to spark some joy for the children who visit my house on October 31. To make passing out candy more fun for me, I’m only buying candy that I like—and maybe a little extra to ensure leftovers.

Whatever you’re doing this week, I hope there’s something you’re relishing.

Hurricane Recovery

Millions of Americans are still cleaning up from hurricanes Helene and Milton. Those residents, recovery workers and emergency responders face a host of safety hazards due to flooding, power loss, structural damage, fallen trees and other storm debris.

OSHA issued a news brief to alert people on ways to be safe while working.

"While thousands of brave emergency responders and recovery workers work to help to restore our communities after catastrophic weather events like hurricanes Milton and Helene, we strongly urge them to take great care to protect themselves and others from the wide range of dangers of workplace hazards they face," said OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer from Atlanta in a statement. "Having clear knowledge of the hazards at-hand, following safe work practices and using proper personal protective equipment during cleanup can reduce the risks of injuries and fatalities significantly."

More information about comprehensive hurricane preparedness and response efforts and staying safe during flood cleanup are available on OSHA’s website.

Estimating Time

Ever feel like things always take longer than expected, so you finish what you set out to that day, and the work keeps backing up into the next day, next week or next month? You’re not alone.

Researchers have found that our perceptions of our time, abilities and roadblocks are skewed. They even have a name for it: the planning fallacy. This also taps into our innate optimism bias, our natural tendency to believe that the future will somehow be better than the past.

Author Kristi DePaul reached out to experts in the field to better understand this human condition, which they note even they struggle with, too. Their advice is fantastic, and I highly encourage you to read DePaul's article.

The biggest takeaway for me is that poorly estimating our time is a brain default, not a personal failure. In order to better estimate our time, we have to actively work to see the situation more clearly.

I challenge you to think of ways to add in buffer time and some of the other expert tips to set yourself up for success. I’m going to try and reserve the last 30 minutes of the day for finishing up tasks; I won’t start anything new unless it takes less than five minutes, such as updating my schedule or sending a quick email.

Panda-monium

If I’m not watching a cute video of a cat or dog, I’m watching a cute video of a panda. So, of course, I was closely following the arrival of Bao Li and Qing Bao to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., this week.

I have had the good fortune to visit the zoo several times and see the pandas. In fact, I went earlier this year, and their absence was palpable.

I’m thrilled that changed Tuesday morning. Based on some of the local news stories I’ve watched, so are Washingtonians.

I noticed in some of the images that FedEx flew the precious passengers on a plane with a picture of a panda munching on bamboo. I learned that the plane, dubbed the “FedEx Panda Express,” transported six giant pandas between the U.S. and China on two separate flights this week: four pandas left the Atlanta Zoo to return to China and two pandas arrived at the National Zoo.

There’s a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into a safe flight. I enjoyed reading more from FedEx about how they, along with animal care experts, keep the pandas comfortable.

I even saw an interview with one of the pilots, which I found especially delightful because she shared some observations about their personalities. It’ll have to tide me over until the zoo’s panda camera goes live in January.

Bao Li and Qing Bao's recent journey is a good reminder that lots of planning is required for complex operations, and safety doesn’t happen by accident.