Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - December 2, 2012

It's Sunday morning. That can only mean one thing. Yep. It's time for my weekly off television topic post reflecting on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way.

We've had a chilly week here in New Jersey. My heart goes out to the folks still struggling without electricity or heat. Thankfully my own power celebrated its first entire week without an outage since October 29. Yet, mind you, my bill was higher than ever for the month including my extensive outage. Well, not as high as in the summertime with the air conditioning on, but ...! They claim they couldn't send out meter readers post-Sandy and that they estimated what the bill should be. Grr. They also claim it will be adjusted next month. It better be.

It would have been nice if my landlord had offered a rent abatement, but they didn't. I know some places did offer abatements as, technically, the apartments were uninhabitable without electricity or heat during the long outages. Had I actually left instead of roughing it here, I would be pushing for some money off the rent. I have yet to fight my battles with Comcast cable television and Verizon internet for charging me when I was out of service for so long.

Let's see ... what else this week? Oh. On the day of the slushy snowstorm, the landlord had someone steam cleaning the carpet in the corridors. While I thought that was extremely bad timing, that's not the worst of it. They RUINED the carpets! The carpet is a forest green. Well, it was before they ruined it. Now there are white patches all over it. Hopefully the landlord will get them to either fix it or install new carpet. It looks horrible! It looked so much better just dirty! When I first moved here there was maroon carpet in the corridors. I recall how noisy that was when they ripped it up and installed the green. But something must be done.

Other than that, life has been work, eat, sleep and work some more. So it's onto the photos for the week. Clicking on an image will open it on a new Photobucket page, clicking again will make it larger. To return to the blog, just close out the Photobucket page.

Droplet

The Bridgewater Train Station is reflected upside down in a droplet on a branch.

Train at sunset

The double-decker trains always look so short from a distance. However, they're not. True, it's better to be stuck at a railroad crossing waiting on one of these rather than a freight train. But, no. They are indeed lengthy. This is the train arriving at the Bridgewater Train Station to take me home for the day.

Snowy sunflower doll

The sunflower doll stuck in the bush on Berckman Street in Plainfield was less than thrilled with this week's snow. Not only did she bend with the snowfall, but it looks like she's frowning as well.

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Snow geese?

The geese at the toxic superfund site field of geese near the Bridgewater Train Station don't seem to mind the snow.

Blizzard! Oh noes!

The snow came down fast and furious on Tuesday. But then it turned to rain. As a result we had maybe an inch or an inch and a half when all was said and done.

Snow gull

Freaky, dude

I obviously played with this one in the photo editor. It's one of the walkway lamps at the Plainfield Train Station.

What clearance?

Since fools with high vehicles hit the bridge when the sign is upright, it probably doesn't make a difference. The Watchung Avenue train overpass in Plainfield. I edited it to leave just the upside-down sign in color.

Commute's end

Yay, home for the day! Alas, it's getting darker each day when I get there.

Knock out the power, then ...

... overthrow humanity. They're scheming, I tell ya!

Fuzzy fungus tree, victim of Sandy

The tree with the fuzzy intricate fungus I've shared photos of in the past was a victim of Sandy.

Seagull in flight

Out since Sandy

It might be better if the two stop signs there (one off camera on right curb) weren't so faded with age that they're a light pink. East Third Street and Watchung Avenue in Plainfield.

Early morning pinks

When it's not overcast, the skies are beautiful as I leave for the train in the morning. That said, I wish they'd get my normal train running again. I should be leaving a half-hour earlier. Thank you NJ Transit fool who parked the trains in flood zones during Sandy.

Eek! It's Donald!

So, there I was roaming around with my camera at the Bridgewater Train Station. I saw some guy was doing paperwork on the ledge. Then we noticed each other. Donald! We've been train friends for several years, but we didn't expect each other on this train. We used to ride in together all the time, but our schedules changed and we generally sit together on Friday mornings only nowadays. We have fun mocking other people on the train. :-)

Early morning Gavett Place

The SEPTA bus that's been doing the shuttle here is definitely gone. Thank you for the loan, Philly! I did notice that the SEPTA buses don't tell you they're turning. With the NJ Transit in-state (not to Manhattan) buses, there's a loud voice as it turns: "Caution! Caution! The bus is turning! Cuidado! El autobús de gira! Cuidado!"

Train homework boy

For about the last month, I've noticed this young boy on the train ... all alone. He doesn't look more than ten years old or so. While we do have high school age kids commuting on the train, I've never seen a student this young. He's on the train I take home. He's always doing extensive homework. When his phone rang once, I heard a jazz ringtone. Except for the propping his knees up on the seat in front of him (annoying if you're in said seat), I'm very impressed with this kid.

Obscured sunset

The setting sun as seen through the chain link fence and various plant life.

Vincent imbibing

Eat some, roll in it, eat more, then demand cat treats. Ah, the life of Vincent!