Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 30, 2014

It's Sunday morning! That means it's time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken along the way. Later on tonight I'll be posting The Amazing Race blog party post -- please join us if you watch the show! I keep up with the major events on the entry itself as they happen on East Coast time while commenters hold a party down below.

Okay, I guess we have spring. It was still winter-cold for most of the week. While I was down to my normal winter coat instead of the huge one, it was in no way whatsoever SPRING. It finally got a bit spring-like on Friday afternoon, then the rain started yesterday morning. Now we're under flood watches and warnings. It's probably around 50 degrees, but with the wind and rain, it's a raw chilly weekend. Better than snow, but ...!

I have to say it was relaxing last night to go to sleep with the sound of rain against the windows. Much more calming than sleet against the windows!

It was a rather mundane week here. So, onto the photos ...

Plainfield Train Station beauty

Pre-sunrise turned the clouds a gorgeous pink and blue one morning as I waited for my train. It's a shame that such beauty is always so fleeting.

And then there's the ugly

The tunnel under the tracks at the Plainfield Train Station is really rough these days. It looks like they've put in a new light fixture or two, but another light is totally removed -- probably because of water dripping through it. Other areas of the station need work recovering from the rough winter, but the tunnel seems to be deteriorating daily.

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

Vincent decided to pop in

Apparently one photo at the end of this post just won't do!

Here come the windows

They've been slowly rehabbing these two historical district buildings on North Avenue in Plainfield. Yesterday, the new windows were going in. Hmm. I believe the people who own these own the ones further up the street which were rehabbed and turned into overpriced apartments for the area. I recall there were all kinds of issues with the historic district people about the fact that the windows put in weren't glass and wood, necessary in that area. These seem to be the same exact windows causing those issues. Hmm.

The squirrels are digging no snow cover!

Hey! What you lookin' at?!?!

A squirrel can't even forage for food these days without the paparazzi snapping compromising shots!

A pink band

The impending sunrise showed as a pink band under the Route 287 overpass as I arrive in Bridgewater one morning this week.

Another morning

One day, with the train a few minutes later for my arrival at Bridgewater, the sun lighted up the railroad tracks.

Look! Now the sun is over there!

Actually, I'm the one who moved. This is the same morning as the glowing rails, but looking at the sun through the 287 overpass over East Main Street in Bridgewater (adjacent to the train station).

Yet another dawn

Again, looking towards Route 287 with its already traffic jam in progress. East Main Street, Bridgewater.

I scream, you scream

We all scream for ice cream. I'm sure I'd scream a bit more for it if it weren't 34 degrees and windy! This rather bulky cone is advertising an ice cream shop on Watchung Avenue in Plainfield. About two weeks ago, on a winter-spring day, I heard the Demon Hello Ice Cream Truck. Hello! Hello!

The early train was late

A perfect way to start the week ... my early morning train was a half-hour late on Monday. Grr. Those trees aren't red -- it's the angle of the early morning sun shining on the barren branches.

Better than TV

It was still bitterly cold on Tuesday afternoon when I returned to Plainfield from work. I decided to wait for the bus to take me closer to home -- after all, it's free with my monthly train pass. This is at the corner of Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street in Plainfield.

First, a bunch of fire department apparatus arrived allowing a snaky one lane through in rush hour traffic. All suited up, they headed into a building only to go back to their vehicles a few minutes later. I guess there was no fire. Too late, traffic was already snarled up.

Then there was a new street person in the 'hood. She seemed quite drug-ravaged, probably with some drink thrown in. She stumbled up to me and demanded fifty cents. Mind you, I'm across the street from the police station! When I told her a rather emphatic NO, she stood and stared at me for a moment, then moved on approaching others. I couldn't believe people were actually handing over money to her with her rude demands for it! She went into one store, but they quickly kicked her out when she told them to give her a bottle of water.

THEN, a bum sort young guy came along guiding an elderly man. I don't know. It seemed like an odd couple to me. Just after they passed me, a gazillion cops (okay, maybe six) came running out of the police department, playing Frogger with the cars as they ran across the street. They snatched up the younger man who screamed and fussed, although the police didn't do anything but arrest him. There were no fisticuffs, there was no "thrown to the ground." Nada. Yet he screamed and made a huge fuss. From what I could hear, there was a warrant for his arrest. He yelled, "I got nuthin' on me! All I gots is a needle!" Um, well. That's not nothing, at least not in New Jersey. In the middle of it all, one of the cops who know me waved and called out hello to me. I'm certainly glad I know police on the level I do and not of the criminal aspect.

Then my bus came.

It's spring! IT'S SPRING!

I saw my first outdoor bug of the season at the Bridgewater Train Station early in the week. It couldn't have been much more than freezing -- 32 degrees -- out, but there it was. A bug on a pole. A live bug on a pole. What kind of bug? I haven't a clue. But it was ALIVE!

BANG! Vincent, play dead!

Who says cats can't do tricks? Sigh. It's not a trick, after all. He didn't want me to go to work one day this week. So, he laid upside-down staring at me with his pitiful look as I got ready.