Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - June 9, 2013

Good Sunday morning to all y'all out there! Yes, I know I don't have the proper Southern accent for that. However, writing is cool. You can have any kind of accent you want when you write. Since it is indeed Sunday morning, that means it's time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken.

I posted a bit on Big Brother live feeds earlier this week. If you're a fan of the show, check it out! On a totally different television note, Falling Skies has its season premiere this evening. I've already seen (thanks, TNT) the two hour two episode premiere and plan to post on that. I don't think I'll be doing that throughout the series as it's on the same night as Big Brother and BB is why a lot of folks come by.

After a pleasant week's staycation, this past week started off very rough. As many of the folks reading this aren't on Facebook, here's a rather long FB post I made Monday evening:

Wah. After spending my entire staycation waking up early enough to go to work, I overslept today. Then it rained on me as I walked to the train station. Then my office was typical office upon return from vacation (stuff moved around, stuff not done, etc.) and I had a new person to train in there. Then I stayed late because I came late. Then I got rained on again heading to the train station. (Yes, I had my umbrella, but still ...!)

Then I got home, hit the elevator button because it's NEVER on the floor I want, got my mail out of the mailbox, made it back to the elevator in time for the door to open. As I stepped onto the elevator, I was fumbling with my keys to get my apartment door key ready. I accidentally dropped my keys ... DOWN THE CRACK FOR THE ELEVATOR SHAFT! Wah! Wah! Woe is me! I went down to the basement and tried putting my umbrella in the shaft. No go. It didn't even touch bottom. I almost lost my umbrella down the elevator shaft.

Where is my 24 hour number for the super? Is it in my cell phone? No, of course not. I have it on my refrigerator. Thankfully, there are some good neighbors I know well enough to ask for help. Cletus from the first floor called Mario, the super. He got me into my apartment with his copies. He's going to make copies and leave them for me tomorrow. And, he's going to have the landlord call the elevator people because they're the only ones who can get down in that below basement level elevator shaft. I told him any money they find down there is mine. Any small children or rodents they find are NOT mine.

It all ended nicely, though. The super fished out my keys himself using a string and hook with a flashlight to see them. I don't know how long it took him. But I bet it wasn't on the first try. I had planned to do the same once I got copies of the keys and could secure my apartment as I fished in the basement. I gave him a decent tip as he didn't have to do that for me.

Meanwhile, the old landlord for my apartment building was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for his multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme. Karma, baby.  The new landlords have been making building improvements, keep the elevator running (although it steals keys!), have a super who is bilingual, intelligent, trustworthy and a nice guy, too. The supers under the ex-landlord usually didn't speak English, didn't know how to fix stuff, weren't anyone you'd trust alone in your apartment and two even got evicted!

The week did improve for me, but the weather did not. It rained for about two days straight with the remnants of Andrea. Had we had the rains from this "post tropical cyclone" mixed with the winds of the last one (Sandy), we'd be in dire straits right now. Right now the reservoirs are full and we've had more rainfall than average for the year. I'm sure by August we'll be crying drought.

Onto the photos I took this week ...   

My chauffeur arrives

Although it was cloudy when the train picked me up Saturday morning for work, Andrea's constant rain was gone.

Starling on a wire

Perhaps not the prettiest bird, but the array of songs, chirps and such are beyond cool.

**CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS**

Backyard bunny

This bunny was in the backyard of the house on the corner of East Front and Berckman Streets in Plainfield. Years ago when there were a lot of feral cats around, bunnies weren't around. Now that the feral cats are few and far between, we have bunnies.

Abandoned

So, I saw this tall white young dude. He was wearing khakis, a purple short-sleeve button down shirt, purple Converse sneakers to match and a Fedora which matched his khakis. He was carrying a bag and a dozen red roses. As I lurked nearby, he sat himself down on the bench at the bus stop. He got into a heated discussion on his cell phone and walked away. I watched him walk down the block and onto the next block. I watched until I could no longer see him in the distance.

A few minutes later, my bus arrived. He hadn't returned. I asked the woman driver if she'd like a dozen red roses. I told her the story and she said, "Yes!" After dumping my stuff on a seat, I went out and got them. (I really should have snagged the bag, too. I have no clue what was in it.) The bus driver said she had had a bad day and I made it great.

Yeah, I paid it forward with roses which weren't mine. But, had I left them there, probably some street drunk would have sat on them. I didn't feel like juggling them along with my Target purchases I was carrying, plus I'm really the kiss of death with flowers. Yet, they deserved a good home. Watchung Avenue, Plainfield.

Fly

Not your ordinary housefly, mind you. This one was sitting on poison ivy. I wouldn't put it past him to bite humans and munch on roadkill. As a matter of fact, I don't like the look he's giving me!

Ladybug, ladybug ...

... fly along home. Your house is on fire and your children are gone.

No wonder children have nightmares! Between boughs breaking and ladybugs, the monster under the bed is child's play!

I looked into the origins of the child's nursery rhyme. Huh. Based in religion? Oh my.

On the watch

The Plainfield Police, as well as the NJ Transit Police, have been spending more time patrolling the Plainfield Train Station. One of the conductors told me it was because of complaints about the panhandlers and one robbery. The panhandlers generally leave me alone. One talks to me at times. From seeing them for years, not necessarily giving them any money, it's likely the panhandlers would protect me from the robbers. Or, probably yell a lot at the robbers. All in all, I'd rather the police stay around.

Really red!

Wet, wet, wet

Sometimes it feels like it's raining all over the world. Andrea's rain did severely flood one of the roads I pass over (in the train) in Bound Brook. The Raritan River hit flood stage, but the new floodgates further downtown seemed to keep it at bay.

The unusual dude

This man hangs out at the Bound Brook Train Station. Every time I see him, he's either dressed very bizarrely or, at the very least, wearing unusual hats. Sometimes more than one hat! Occasionally he wears winter clothes during heat waves. He dances. He apparently sings although I can't really vouch for that as I see him out on the platform while I'm in the train. Sometimes he just paces around making karate chops in the air. On this day, I think he might think he's in a rice paddy. I don't know.

New bush blossoms

The azaleas are now gone, but these are flowering at the Bridgewater Train Station.

Vincent being Vincent

Vincent is the most laid-back cat I've ever known! Huh. Maybe I mean "laying on his back" cat. Yeah, that's the ticket.