Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - August 24, 2014

Good morning! Welcome to my weekly off television topic post which reflects on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. There is no television content in this post and it's something I do weekly year 'round. If you're looking for Big Brother content, my latest can be found right here at this link.

Another week down. Another week with nothing really exciting going on -- just working, blogging and giving a certain cat his required devotion. Here's some quickie random thoughts on the week:

• I really really need a vacation. I have two four-day work weeks ahead of me. But that's not good enough. I want vacation.
• Without endurance comps and a predictable season at hand, BB isn't as financially good for me this season as in the past. Few people are motivated to donate via Paypal although the ad income is just about the same as other years. Yet I'm still working as much at it. Sigh. If I didn't enjoy the community I built, I'd be tempted to give it up. It's almost like having a full-time job atop a full-time "real" job. I'm so tired!
• It seemed to rain a lot this week. We had another one of those bizarre three-hour long thunderstorms on Thursday night. I don't recall having that long of a thunderstorm ever, yet we've had more than a few of them this year.
• I, for one, am enjoying a rather mild temperature summer. Alas, they're predicting a bad winter for around here. I can take the cold -- I know how to dress properly. I just can't deal with ice and snow on the sidewalks and streets!
• I still have no clue who the new upstairs neighbor is. Nor do I have any idea male or female. It seems to be one person -- always a plus in my mind! No kids (which I don't know why they let people with children in one bedroom apartments when their own rules say no more than two people in a one bedroom). I hear footsteps and occasional music. I don't recognize the music. It's not Mexican Polka, nor classic rock or classical. It has a beat. I'm thinking either pop or rap played rather low. He/she hasn't flooded my bathroom. All is good.

Onto this week's photos -- clicking on an image will lead you to my photobucket page of the image. From there, you can make the image larger twice by clicking on the magnifying glass at the bottom right of the screen.

Plainfield Train Station lamps

At sunset last night. The day was cloudy and drizzly but cleared up enough for a very nice sunset.

The I See Dead People saga continues

People really shouldn't sleep near me on the train! This guy is so cool that his bike has blue tires. I noticed his legs are shaved. I would guess for aerodynamics. Of course. I'm sitting in the vestibule level handicapped/bike/etc. section as I had a bunch of stuff I bought at Target with me and I didn't want to lug it up and down the train stairs. Although the seats are padded there, the seats in the main section of the cars are more comfortable. Raritan Valley Line, NJ Transit.

Hanging in there

A busy bee at the Bridgewater Train Station.

My ride home

It's Saturday evening and I'm home. Well, not really home. I might seem to spend a lot of time at the Plainfield Train Station, but I certainly don't live there!

To see this week's flower slideshow and the rest of the photos, click the 'Read More' link below!

This week's flower slideshow includes flowers from yards, planters and even some weed blossoms and thistles. I'm very impressed with one of the huge orange planters in Plainfield (corner of Church and East Front) as the other one I walk by has mostly passed and this one is going wild with flowers! There is some proof here that flowers do indeed bend with the rainfall. You can use the diagonal arrows bottom right to go full screen with the slideshow.

Mimic Fly on chicory

Mimic flies tend to look similar to bees to keep predators at bay. Plainfield Train Station.

Plainfield chess kings

I'm glad they saved a few of the chess tables when they redid the corner "park" at Madison and Park in Plainfield a few years back. I'm NOT a chess player, mind you. I only wish they could put Scrabble tables in! Then I'd play. Nonetheless, the chess tables are cool.

Squirrel by flash

Due to rainy skies, it was particularly dark one morning as I walked to catch my train to work. This coming week, the sun should be rising as I head in. This past week, I was leaving my apartment just after the sunrise. Well, the days that weren't overcast, that is.

Sunrise reflected

The minutes-old sunrise is reflected in the windows of the Plainfield Train Station as I approach it from East Third Street. Most mornings this week were cloudy.

Covering the sinkhole

NJ Transit fixed the sinkhole leading into the overpass at the Bridgewater Train Station. The stuck a cone on it.

Two days later

Now they have a metal plate over it. I guess actually fixing it might be too much for them to handle!

Plainfield National Bank ...

... nightclub now. They changed the older green panels over to blue. I like the blue better. OH! And, look! NO BICYCLING ON THE SIDEWALKS! Sheesh. East Front Street, Plainfield.

The Religion and Politics Shouter

Every afternoon when I walk to the corner of East/West Front and Park Avenue in Plainfield, the Religion and Politics Shouter is out there with his megaphone. He doesn't like Obama. He doesn't like gay folks. He says 'Hallelujah' a lot. No one listens to him. I stole my nickname for him from Stephen King's 'Monster Shouter' in the book The Stand.

Spores in the wind

Clap along if you feel happy ...

Someone spray painted a big smiley face on Main Street in Bridgewater. No. It wasn't me.

The Confused Lady

This is the Confused Lady from the train. I've mentioned her before -- has ridden the train for more than a year, but still acts dazed and confused over where she wants to sit or what the conductor wants when he comes around for tickets. In this shot, she's confused whether she's coming or going. She headed up the walkway towards the platform, stopped and looked confused, then headed back towards the street, stopped and looked confused again. Plainfield Train Station.

Did they listen to me?

This is the building near the Bound Brook Train Station with the structural cracks I've photographed on and off for a few years now. I'm not sure big sticks are going to hold that wall upright much longer.

Living dangerously

I bought these Lay's Cappuccino Potato Chips at Target yesterday. I felt a bit risky as they only had HUGE bags -- you know, the $3-ish size! I figured you only go 'round once in life; you need to grab all the cappuccino you can. The verdict? I like 'em!

A small squirrel on a small "log"

Plainfield Train Station

The 'I See Dead People' saga ...

I actually don't think this one is really dead. I think he's lost in his music. To his credit, it wasn't so loud that I could hear the annoying tinny sounds like with many. Raritan Valley Line.

Plainfield Train Station

Bouncy house being inflated

Yeah, great. I get to walk to the train station heading to work on a Saturday and they're setting up fun doings in the U-Haul lot at the corner of Roosevelt and East Front Street in Plainfield! I've never been in a bouncy house!

At least other people have to work, too

Two men work on the detail over one of the many Mexican restaurants in Plainfield. Watchung Avenue, near North Avenue. Saturday morning.

Fall is coming

This tree at the Plainfield Train Station (also found near the Bridgewater Train Station) has off-white blossoms with green centers in the spring, just plain leaves all summer, then forms cool "berries" as autumn approaches. I have no clue what it is.

Cletus's wheels

One of the few people I actually 'know' in the front wing of my apartment building (albeit he's on the first floor), needs a wheelchair. He's the one who used to have the pit bull, but the dog was given away long ago when he couldn't control it. He owns one electric chair and two manual wheelchairs as well as crutches. He has a small studio apartment. Where he has these two, although against apartment rules, blocks nothing as he's the end apartment and they clear the doors. I guess they might be blocking the window. But I'm not about to complain. He's a nice guy. Once, when I had taken a walk to the local supermarket a few blocks away, he passed me on the power chair and carried my grocery bags home for me.

Oh, Vincent!

I'm not sure that's your most flattering pose!