Off Topic - That Was The Week It Was - 1/03/10

Baby, it's cold outside! Here in New Jersey it's bitter cold with high wind warnings. I hope everyone reading this is home, warm and cozy. I am. (So is Vincent.) And, of course, it's Sunday -- time to ramble through my week in words and photographs I've taken. Speaking of photos, the 2009 Plainfield Library Photo Competition is now up online if you want to peek at the entries.

Where to start? Hmmm ... it's COLD. Waah. Hmmm ... television has been mostly boring with reruns. I watched all of The Thin Man movies on TCM New Year's Eve into New Year's Day. No one can beat Myrna Loy and William Powell! I realize the movies were filmed in the 30s and early 40s, but they're ahead of their time. Oh, Asta the dog was great, too.

On a dog, TV, and movie note -- I went into work two hours early and got home an hour early Saturday night. That works out, right? Anyway, since I got home an hour earlier than I usually do, I looked to see what was on television. Old Yeller was on TCM. I recall seeing the movie when I was young, but it must have been a re-release of some sort. I was around eight when I saw it, yet the original release was 1957. I was NOT eight years old in 1957! Nor would I remember any movie I saw in 1957. I remembered the story and also knew it really upset me at the time. So, like a fool, I caught the last hour of it knowing the ending. I'm such a sap! It still got to me.

In other TV watching, I watched a whole lotta episodes of Barney Miller Friday on WGN. Then I watched the Chicago news at 9 PM at 10 PM. Then I watched the NYC/NJ news at 11 at 11. "It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right, with your hands on your hips, you bring your knees in tight, but it's the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane, let's do the Time Warp again!" No, I didn't watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but the Time Warp seemed to fit in here. I enjoyed the Barney Miller episodes, the news not so much. But the cold they had in Chicago arrived in this area yesterday and today. Brrr.

I know New Year's Eve came during the week, but my own week was rather uneventful. By the time I got home from work on New Year's Eve, I was already hearing all kinds of accident calls on my police scanner. The roads around here were slick and the drunks were out. I like to think I can be pretty slick at times, but I don't do drunk well. I learned my lessons about drunk decades ago and, though I'll drink some socially, I won't get drunk. I don't like the feeling and I get sick to my stomach. To me, that's not a good way to start out a new year. Instead, I baked Trader Joe's truffle brownies and had hot chocolate with them at midnight.

Onto this week's photos --

Berckman Street Bunny

As I walked to the local bodega, I spotted this guy munching on grass between two houses. You know I had to shoot him. He can't be a wild rabbit -- he's fat and clean, bigger than most cats. I'd estimate he weighs a good 15 pounds or more. As I shot him, one of the people who live nearby told me he's been hanging around for over a month, disappeared with the snow cover, then reappeared. He told me he called animal control on him, but they couldn't catch him. Since he's so fat, so clean, and went away during the snow cover, he thinks the rabbit must have access in and out of someone's home. Just in case he doesn't, he's been putting carrots out for him in his backyard. Berckman Street, Plainfield, NJ.

Eek! Crazed Killer Rabbit!

Er, no. It's just I had to use the flash and it made his eyes glow. This is as close as I got to him, then he went through a basement window under one house's porch. Maybe he's their rabbit. I don't know. Berckman Street, Plainfield.

Brr. Foggy Windows

Danny's Bakery early Saturday morning in the FREEZING cold. Of course, my eyeglasses would steam up if I went in there, too. I edited to make the windows and sign in color while the remainder is black and white. Corner of North and Watchung, Plainfield, NJ.

From the train window - One

This is the Rock Ice Pavilion -- indoor ice skating year round. It's still a hit all through the winter. There's always a year-round snow pile in the back of the building from the Zamboni, even when it's 90 degrees out. Taken as I commuted to work on the New Jersey Transit Raritan Valley Line near Dunellen, NJ.

From the train window - Two

On one side, we have factories and industrial buildings. Raritan Valley Train Line, NJ Transit outside of Dunellen/Bound Brook area, NJ.

From the train window - Three

Ah, the Chipman Chemical Company -- New Jersey, just as you pictured it, eh? This is approaching Bound Brook heading west on the Raritan Valley Train Line. To be honest, there are some woods and streams where I spot deer, herons, and such. But the woods blur with the train movement when trying to use the camera.

Naked again, finally

No Santa suit! Yay! Vincent has no clue how cold it is outside. He's curled up sleeping as I type this.

Lights, shadows, and snow

The fury of the early morning snow on New Year's Eve morning took just about everyone by surprise. It wasn't snowing when I headed out to walk to the train station. I stopped a few minutes at Everybody's Food Store on East Front Street and came out to snow coming down. Two short blocks from there is this scene at the corner of Church and East Second. The snow is covering the roads and sidewalks and blowing about.

Another short two blocks

Gee, it's really coming down. It didn't snow for all that long, but was coming down at the rate of about two inches an hour. East Third Street and Watchung Avenue, Plainfield.

Snow on the bushes

First Fresh Tracks!

"I walk this empty street, On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Where the city sleeps and I'm the only one and I walk alone." - "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day. Yes, these are my tracks. I find it interesting that I'm putting more pressure on the toes of my knee replacement knee. Before the knee replacement, I'd wear my right shoes out leaving the left one fine due to my horrid limp. Now I must be limping the other way -- weight on the left knee replacement knee and taking it easy on the right one.

What is going on here?

The brief blizzard continues. North Street across from the Plainfield Train Station.

There's no business like snow business ...

Plainfield Train Station under siege from snow.

Where IS that train?

Supposedly security was beefed up this week due to terror issues. No evidence of such on my train line. Every now and then, we see NJ Transit cops. We're more likely to see local police.

I see the light!

It's either the train or that woman has an aura of goodness and light about her. Plainfield Train Station.

The train has arrived

Note the cowboy boots. I see more cowboy boots around here than I did when I lived in California. Mind you, I'm not seeing a lot of horses or cows, especially in this area. When I first moved here, I almost drove off the road when I saw an elephant walking along the road. Yes, an elephant. No, I wasn't drinking, nor was it pink. There used to be a zoo around the Scotch Plains/Plainfield area and I happened to be driving by when one of the elephants was taking an illegal jaunt. It's a shame I didn't carry a camera back then like I do now.

It's her again ... or still

If she didn't change clothes, I'd think I was seeing dead people. She's always in the single seat by the stairs on the double-decker train. Me? I hog up the four-seater across the aisle from her. The morning trains always have plenty of room heading the wrong way for peak during the rush hours. That's the stairs and my seat check you see in the foreground.

Hugo's

Hugo's, a bar in the pre-dawn hours, not at night. Again, I'm loving the lights and shadows. I've never been inside. I probably will never be inside. The corner of Church and East Front Streets in Plainfield.

How was your week? And, welcome back, JoyN. (Folks might want to check out the New Year's Eve comments to see what's been going on with her.) Oh ... and a welcome to new folks coming aboard! Pretty soon, we're getting new show seasons! Yay!