Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 29, 2015

Good morning! Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection of the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken along the way. During the upcoming week, we'll have both Survivor and return of The Amazing Race. The latter has been off the schedule for a few weeks due to March Madness basketball.

I'd kind of like to know who watches March Madness basketball myself. With all the hype about "brackets" and other hoopla, I don't think I know anyone who's personally into it. Oh, I can see if your alma mater is involved. I noticed my old alma mater was in it at the beginning and was rather surprised -- it was known as more of an academic college when I attended rather than having much more than losing sports teams. I guess times have changed.

Oh, geez. I sneezed and Vincent just realized I'm here. He came bounding from the other room and leaped on me. Sheesh. It's like he was launched like a kitty cannonball.

Ahem.

Not much going on here this past week. In the ongoing unreasonable and disturbing noise issues from the new neighbors, progress has been made. The downstairs people called the police and I backed them up on their complaint. Then I called the landlord and filed my first official complaint against another tenant in the 14 years I've lived here. It's been quiet over there since. We'll see.

Work remains work. Sigh.

Onto the photos I took this week. Clicking on an image will bring it up in a larger version.

Colorful bike

I wonder if it's his primary bike! Heehee ... I crack myself up. Parked at the Plainfield Train Station. Note that the snow piles are still existent, albeit dwindling, near the building.

Look out!

Coming in for a landing atop a roof on North Avenue in Plainfield.

Oh, deer

Just after sunset last evening I saw a deer at the Bridgewater Train Station. I didn't really have the opportunity to do more than get out my camera and shoot, thus getting really sketchy photos. She was wary of me and kept watching me. I kept trying to get to the opening in the fence near me so I could take photos. She watched me. I watched her. She edged away. I edged towards her. And so the story goes.

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

Survivor: Worlds Apart - March 25 Blog Party

Survivor fans ready?

It's post-merge into two tribes with a really uneven playing field tonight. I can't believe how the one tribe is all guys except for one and the other one is mostly female. Yeah, that second tribe did vote out Max, a rare guy, but he's not such a great loss. I personally would have gone for Shirin out first due to the annoyance factor. However, I wasn't there.

I'll update this post with the major happenings as the show airs here East Coast time tonight. Refresh the page to get the latest news! As always, the real party is in the comments area. I hope to see you there!

Here's the latest on the blog pool from the Lovely Lifeguard Laurie:

Blue - Escameca
Dan - Brian, CherylinNC 
Joaquin - Laurie, Rochelle 
Joe - SueGee, Chris 
Mike - meb, Nickelpeed 
Rodney - Margo 
Sierra - Jennasmom 
Tyler - Donna in Alabama, ORK Mommy 

Red - Nagarote
Carolyn - Jackie TerryinTX 
Hali - Zoetawny, monty924 
Jenn - Merrilee, Becky 
Kelly - Petals, Ed in Ohio 
Shirin - NanaintheNW 
Will - Rbennie 

Out 
So
Vince - Delee NC Nina Lynn1 
Lindsey - Donna in FL, David 
Max - PDX Granny, Marlo

On with the shenanigans! Er, show. On with the show! 

Aw, Shirin feels like she's all alone. "Is it me?" Yes. Yes, it is.

The Joaquin/Rodney bromance is getting its start. 

Reward Challenge time -- race up a tower through obstacles, launch sandbags to hit six targets out in the field. They're playing for a trip to a turtle sanctuary to watch turtles migrate and lay eggs. They're also to have a feast. No. Not turtle soup. Dan sits out. 

OMG! Nagarote wins Reward! Now, that was unexpected! 

Uh-oh. Sierra wants to link up Joaquin. Actually, it's the other way around. Rodney and Sierra both think they need Joaquin and Tyler to get ahead, though.

Rodney tells Mike that he has Joaquin like a puppetmaster and they have to throw the challenge to get Joe out. Meanwhile, Mike isn't against throwing challenges because it would keep his ally Kelly safe on the other tribe.

The Immunity Challenge is memorizing objects in a certain order. Carolyn blew Rodney out of the water in the first round. Hali also does well. If Will gets it, they can win in this round. Joe beats him. Shirin vs. Dan now. That ties it up. Either tribe can win now. Mike vs. Kelly ... hmm. Both are wrong. Mike threw it. They go again. He tells her he's giving it to her. Mike is wrong, so is Kelly. Down to five items. The blatant throw finally works. Nagarote wins. Kind of sort of.

Too much talk about Joe going home. So, I kind of doubt he will. 

Both sides are after Sierra for the vote.

Tribal Council brings out honesty from Sierra. Lots of talk of trust or the lack thereof. A teaser with the Sierra vote -- she's shown writing JO ..

Joe, Joaquin, Joe, Joaquin, Joe, Joaquin, Joaquin.

Good. I like Joe more than I like Joaquin!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 22, 2015

Good morning! It's Sunday morning. You know what 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.

As we're in the March Madness phase (which I am SO not into), most CBS shows are preempted anyway. There will be a new Survivor episode this week, but no Amazing Race. Tonight's CBS schedule is still intact, but the only show I watch in that Sunday line-up is Battle Creek. Nope to CBS, I'll be watching Brooklyn Nine Nine on FOX, then The Walking Dead on AMC.

They held an open casting call yesterday for Big Brother in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Derrick and Cody from last season were there. I wasn't there.

Meanwhile, life goes on. Work goes on. (And on and on and on.) Vincent is doing well and living the life of King of the Apartment. Alas for him, but good for me, we haven't had any mice issues although he's gone on alert and stalked the kitchen wall a few times lately. We heralded the arrival of spring with a snowstorm. I have two stitches in my back due to the removal of a cyst. I'm getting very weary of health problems. I would like my body to be 25 years old once again, please.

But I did win two dollars on a two dollar purchase of the Cash4Life lottery. My plan had been to win $1,000 a day for life. Or, even the second place win -- $1,000 a week for life. At least I got my investment back.

Onto this week's photos -- clicking on an image will bring it up in a larger version.

Walking in the spring wonderland

It was still a (freakin') winter wonderland Saturday morning at the Plainfield Train Station. Due to the fact that Friday's snow was a wet and sticky kind of snow, it etched all of the trees and was truly a pretty snow. It was the kind of snow that's good for snowball fights and snowmen. But, still ... enough already.

The Polar Express, NJ Transit style

This was my train home from work on Friday pulling into the Bridgewater Train Station. Yay, spring is here!

The Bull Durham building is coming down

I call it such due to a very cool large ghost sign on its side before a fire four years (or so) ago took out the back half of the building. Then it became the Bull Building, Durham gone from view and amongst the rubble. The building should have been torn down after the fire, yet it sat with its entire rear half gone missing all this time. Now it's an emergency to tear it down tying up North Avenue from Gavett Place to Park Avenue. Plainfield. Go figure.

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

Survivor: Worlds Apart - March 18 Blog Party

Survivor fans ready?

Tonight's show is a two-hour ordeal, most likely because March Madness basketball is going to bump it for a week or two. The promos show a bad accident during a challenge, plus the inevitable "drop your buffs" which heralsd the merge. As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll be posting the major happenings in live time here on this entry. Refresh the page to get the latest news! As you all know, the real party is in the comments -- I hope to see you there!

The Lovely Lifeguard Laurie is once again running the blog pool (thank you!) Here's the latest --

Blue Collar
Dan - Brian, CherylinNC 
Kelly - Petals, Ed in Ohio 
Lindsey - Donna in FL, David 
Mike - meb, Nickelpeed
Rodney - Margo 
Sierra - Jennasmom

No Collar
Hali - Zoetawny, monty924 
Jenn - Merrilee, Becky 
Joe - SueGee, Chris 
Will - Rbennie

White Collar
Carolyn - Jackie TerryinTX 
Joaquin - Laurie, Rochelle 
Max - PDX Granny, Marlo 
Shirin - NanaintheNW 
Tyler - Donna in Alabama, ORKMommy

Out! 
So
Vince - Delee
Nina - Lynn1 

Okay, it's on with the show we will go!

On NC, Will is rightfully concerned that if they go to Tribal again, he's gone. BC catches a snake for food.

Whoa ... it's right to an Reward Challenge! It's one of those with callers and blindfolded tribe members searching for stuff. First tribe gets three egg laying hens and a rooster. Second tribe gets ten eggs. From the promo, this has to be where the accident happens. They have to pull the items up to a platform. No Collar is ahead.

Kelly gets hit by the dropping platform from her tribe. Medical gets called and we're in commercial land. The medic tells her he can bandage it and she can continue the challenge. There is a lot of blood, but apparently not a major injury.

No Collar wins Reward! White Collar takes second place.

While the others eat chicken, Jenn searches around and found the idol.

Kelly ended up with six stitches.

Lindsay and Rodney are going after each other, mainly because Rodney's ideas of women are antiquated in view of Lindsay's.  Meanwhile, on WC, Shirin told the others that she slaughtered a rabbit in prep for the show. That turns Joaquin off. Max wants to sit Carolyn out of the next challenge because he doesn't want Shirin to be upset. Carolyn tries to convince the guys Max needs to go.

Immunity Challenge time! Each tribe attached to a rope, go through a course, retrieve bags, get three balls to the top of a maze to win. Shirin does indeed sit out.

No Collar wins! White Collar takes second place. Blue Collar goes to TC for the first time this season. For all his brawn and mouthiness, it was Rodney who screwed up for them during the challenge.

Lindsay tries to get Dan to agree that voting out Rodney is the move. Meanwhile, the guys and Kelly seem to have an alliance. But neither Mike nor Kelly (close) trust Rodney. It sounds like either Lindsay or Rodney will go.

Tribal Council time.

The tally --
Rodney, Lindsay, Rodney, Lindsay, Sierra, Sierra.

Three way tie. Re-vote with Mike, Dan and Kelly only.

Re-vote tally -- Lindsay, Lindsay

She's voted out, smug sexist Rodney stays. All three voted for her, though. Now, Sierra is all bummed.

Right into another challenge. Drop your buffs.

No more collars, Blue and Red tribe only.

Red - Max, Will, Hali, Jenn, Kelly, Shirin, Carolyn
Blue - Joe, Dan, Sierra, Mike, Tyler, Joaquin, Rodney

The challenge looks a bit lacrosse-ish. They launch a ball to be caught in a net.

Blue wins its first Reward Challenge!

Shirin tries to win over Kelly to join the WC members of the new tribe. On the other tribe, Tyler likens Sierra to a broken puppy. Both her old tribemates and the new ones need her. Shirin is already alienating new people. Max got stung twice by a stingray. Carolyn would love for either Max or Shirin to be blindsided.

Dan totally screws up his "apology" to Sierra, just as Mike had advised him not to do so.

Immunity Challenge time! Placing pots on a sled through obstacle course, put them on stands, one member uses a wrecking ball to kill the pots. The tribe with all the guys is not surprisingly doing much better hauling the heavy sled through the mud in the obstacle course.

Blue wins. Not a shock seeing all the muscles. Max says he's happy to go to Tribal and change the dynamic around his camp. He might have to eat his words if he's the dynamic that goes ... or his main ally Shirin gets the boot.

Max wants to blindside Will. Shirin thinks she's orchestrated everything. Meanwhile, Carolyn is thinking a totally different blindside. The others agree with her but can't decide who's more annoying -- Max or Shirin.

The tally --
Will, Will, Max, Max, Max, Max.

Bye-bye, Mr. Survivor Professor. I wanted to like him, but I just couldn't.

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 15, 2015

Good morning! It's Sunday morning. You know what 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. Today is the Ides of March. Beware. You've been warned.

After a big blast of winter last week, we finally got a touch of spring this week! I wasn't necessarily pleased with all the rain we got, but it's better than snow. It was nice to be able to crack the windows open on the warmer days and to not have to wear my big coat ... not even once!

I also got to play more with the new camera as my fingers weren't freezing and I wasn't shivering. I still long for time spent in the park or in the city (NYC) photostomping, yet this past week's weather was certainly more conducive for taking photos.

I'm still having some headaches and dizziness and I fear that might never stop. But I have been going to work. I'm counting the years to retirement. I wish it could be counting the days, but that would be unrealistic. Sigh. I'd love to have the time to pursue pursuits I enjoy rather than come home exhausted every day just to have it all happen again the next day. But, for the meantime, I need to keep the roof over my head and the company health insurance.

Without further ado, it's on to the photographs from the week. If you click on an image, you can see a larger version.

I see the silhouetto of a bird ...

Gotta fly, gotta fly.
I'm just a poor bird, nobody loves me.
He's just a poor bird from a poor family.
Spare him his life from this monstrosity!
-- My apologies to Queen

Zoo York

I bet some of the kids who use downtown Plainfield as a skateboarding mecca would love the meet this guy. He skateboards for Zoo City, a company based in Manhattan which makes fancy skateboards, hip-hop skateboard clothes and accessories as well as putting on shows and exhibitions which you can find on YouTube. He was on the train last night on my way home from work and I had to ask him about the skateboards. He was kind enough to balance a few for a photo for me.

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

The Amazing Race 26: March 13 Blog Party

 

It's Friday night! I hope you haven't forgotten that it's time for The Amazing Race! It looks like there will be a kerfuffle or two tonight  Plus, Jonathan and Harley will face a speed bump as they came in last with the non-Philimination leg.

Here's the blog pool standings presented by the Magnificent Margo:

Mike and Rochelle - Cheryl in NC, Laurie

Aly and Steve - Jackie, SueGee

Harley and Jonathan - Becky, Willie J

Matt and Ashley - Delee, Merrilee

Bergen and Kurt - Nana in NW, Rbennie

Blair and Hayley - Terry in TX, Margo, Chris

Jeffrey and Jackie - Brian, Donna in AL, ORKMommy

Jelani and Jenny - Marlo, Lynn 1, dla

Tyler and Laura - Ed in OH, David, Nickelpeed

PHILIMINATED:

Jeff and Lyda - Jennasmom, Paula Bell, meb

Lebya and CJ - Donna in FL, PDXGranny

As the show airs here, I'll update this entry with the major happenings. Refresh the page to get the latest news! As always, the real party will be in the comments area. Come join us there!

Teams will be flying to Bangkok! The blind daters are starting to quibble.

Detour -- Water or Wheel -- The water taxi seems to be chosen by all so far. But there are only five boats, so they will have to go for wheel. Hayley's voice is reminding me of Bernadette on The Big Bang Theory. Scratch off the thought of her and Blair as a couple.The "wheel" is a moped-ish pedi-cab kind of thing called a tuck-tuck.

Once they arrive at their destination, Water must eat a 1,000 year-old egg.

Ew.

Once they arrive at their destination, Wheel has to play Snooker and hit a red ball into a pocket.

Now teams must take part in a traditional high prayer. 

The Speed Bump has Harley and Jonathan making a grasshopper "sculpture" from river reeds.

The teams who picked up a milk clue at the temple must feed cats at the Caturday Cafe.

Roadblock -- Who is feeling Clutch? They have to remove a transmission and find a misplaced screwdriver. Inside the screwdriver is a clue to the Pit Stop -- "Metal Castle."

Pit Stop:

1. Kurt and Bergen - won a trip to Puerto Vallarta (sp?)

2. Haley and Blair

3. Aly and Steve

4. Laura and Tyler  

5. Jackie and Jeffrey

6. Michael and Rochelle

7. Jelani and Jenny 

8. Matt and Ashley

9. Harley and Jonathan -- Philiminated 

Due to March Madness, the next episode isn't until April 3rd.

Survivor: Worlds Apart - March 11 Blog Party

Survivor fans ready?

As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll be posting the major happenings in live time here on this entry. Refresh the page to get the latest news! As you all know, the real party is in the comments -- I hope to see you there!

The Lovely Lifeguard Laurie is once again running the blog pool (thank you!) Here's the latest --

Blue Collar
Dan - Brian, CherylinNC 
Kelly - Petals, Ed in Ohio 
Lindsey - Donna in FL, David 
Mike - meb, Nickelpeed
Rodney - Margo 
Sierra - Jennasmom

No Collar
Hali - Zoetawny, monty924 
Jenn - Merrilee, Becky 
Joe - SueGee, Chris 
Nina - Lynn1 
Will - Rbennie

White Collar
Carolyn - Jackie TerryinTX 
Joaquin - Laurie, Rochelle 
Max - PDX Granny, Marlo 
Shirin - NanaintheNW 
Tyler - Donna in Alabama, ORKMommy

Out! 
So
Vince - Delee 

Okay, it's on with the show we will go!

Nina knows she's a target and makes things worse for herself. Joe is now leery of Will because Will didn't go with the plan at the last Tribal. Over on WC, Shirin got a bit too excited about seeing howler monkey sex. The boys on BC seem to be going for testosterone issues. NC girls are surfing on driftwood and Joe's giving Nina pep talks.

Gee, looks like they're pulling at straws for filler this week.

WC is all about searching for the idol -- which Carolyn already found long ago. On BC, Mike with the forever hoarse voice is thinking he's the only one who ever does anything. Rodney is clashing with Mike. Whoa! One of the gals really called him out. Good.

Huh. The show is over half-over and the Immunity Challenge is beginning. Each tribe carries large bucket to water tower, fill it, race to their barrel while trying to keep the water from leaking out holes. Massive comfort reward -- chairs, blankets, pillows, etc. Second prize, tarp.

It's weird; Nina isn't really participating although she's participating. NC is trailing, too.

Blue Collar wins! White Collar comes in second and No Collar will go to Tribal Council.

Things are not looking good for Nina. She wants to push Will out instead. Jenn and Hali seem to be really leaning towards a Will ouster. At TC, Nina backstabs Will from the front! Heh.

The tally:
Nina, Will, Will, Nina, Nina.

Nina is gone. She'll never be able to prove she can fit in with the No Collars. That just might not be such a bad thing.

Next week is a two hour show!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 8, 2015

Good, albeit late, Sunday morning to all y'all! My apologies for this being so late. This, of course, being my weekly off television topic reflection of the week gone by in both words and photographs taken along the way. Sure, we had the "spring forward" jump to Daylight Savings Time and I lost an hour. But, truth to tell, I was exhausted last night yet I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me. Then, once sleep came, I didn't wake up when I had planned to do so.

Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's my health. I don't know. But I do know that if I were to return to bed now, I could probably sleep for several hours. Like many around here, I'm winter-weary. I'm tired of having to don my big coat and snow boots. I'm tired of climbing over snowbanks or carefully treading the ice on sidewalks. I don't long for the heat of summer. I long for spring with its light jacket early mornings, birds singing and photo opportunities all about me.

I really don't have much more for you right now outside photos I've taken. It's a bit warmer although we had a snowy week with three different snowstorms since the start of the month (a week ago). At least without bitter cold, I don't shiver when taking photos. I'm still waiting to REALLY test out the camera, though. Here's what I've got for you -- clicking an image will open a larger view of it:

Gnarly tree covered in snow

Sure, it makes a good picture. But I'd rather it stop. Please. No more snow.

Fallen sweet gum tree fruit

I tend to think more of it as a seed pod than fruit. But fruit it is. This was the day it rained atop the snow before it snowed on top of the rain which fell on the snow.

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

The Amazing Race 26 - March 6 Blog Party

 

It's Friday night! I hope you haven't forgotten that it's time for The Amazing Race! So far, I'm generally liking most of the couples -- both the "real" couples and the blind date couples. I'm not too keen on Kurt of Kurt and Bergen fame. He seems to be working against his partner and I'm thinking they won't last long due to him. I'm really enjoying how both Jelani/Jenny and Tyler/Laura have been working together for folks just thrown in with each other.

Here's the updated blog pool presented by the Magnificent Margo:

Mike and Rochelle - Cheryl in NC, Laurie

Aly and Steve - Jackie, SueGee

Harley and Jonathan - Becky, Willie J

Matt and Ashley - Delee, Merrilee

Bergen and Kurt - Nana in NW, Rbennie

Blair and Hayley - Terry in TX, Margo, Chris

Jeffrey and Jackie - Brian, Donna in AL, ORKMommy

Jelani and Jenny - Marlo, Lynn 1, dla

Tyler and Laura - Ed in OH, David, Nickelpeed

PHILIMINATED:

Jeff and Lyda - Jennasmom, Paula Bell, meb

Lebya ang CJ - Donna in FL, PDXGranny

As the show airs here, I'll update this entry with the major happenings. Refresh the page to get the latest news! As always, the real party will be in the comments area. Come join us there!

Teams are flying to Thailand. Uh-oh. Harley/Jonathan get a really later flight.

Oh, geez. They're doing something with "selfie sticks." I'm not too pleased with the selfie craze hitting the show. They have to find a clue in an upside-down house.

Detour - Ski or Tree. Ski has them doing an obstacle course on a waveboard ski. Tree has them delivering a meal via zipline. Dang, Hayley is annoying as she goes off on Blair because they did the task wrong.

Oh, my! Rochelle and Mike take over the lead! Who woulda thunk it? They now have to dress as go-go dancers and learn a choreographed routine. They made it through the dance routine and are heading to the Pit Stop!

1. Mike and Rochelle - Won a trip to Prague. 

Matt left his fanny pack behind at the dance hall. They have to go back.

2. Haley and Blair

3.Tyler and Laurie

4. Aly and Steve

5. Jelani and Jenny

6. Jackie and Jeffrey

7. Matt and Ashley

8. Kurt and Bergen

(I think ... they all came stampeding in.)

Matt proposes to Ashley! How exciting!

9. Harley and Jonathan -- A non-Philimination! They're still in it!

Survivor: Worlds Apart - March 4 Blog Party

Survivor fans ready?

As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll be posting the major happenings in live time here on this entry. Refresh the page to get the latest news! As you all know, the real party is in the comments -- I hope to see you there!

The Lovely Lifeguard Laurie is once again running the blog pool (thank you!)  The one person who had So, booted on the premiere night, has been reassigned to another castaway. We hardly got to know So!

Blue Collar
Dan - Brian, CherylinNC 
Kelly - Petals, Ed in Ohio 
Lindsey - Donna in FL, David 
Mike - meb, Nickelpeed
Rodney - Margo 
Sierra - Jennasmom

No Collar
Hali - Zoetawny, monty924 
Jenn - Merrilee, Becky 
Joe - SueGee, Chris 
Nina - Lynn1 
Vince - Delee 
Will - Rbennie

White Collar
Carolyn - Jackie TerryinTX 
Joaquin - Laurie, Rochelle 
Max - PDX Granny, Marlo 
Shirin - NanaintheNW 
Tyler - Donna in Alabama, ORKMommy

Out! 
So

Okay, it's on with the show we will go!

Heh. Dan lost his underwear and has juryrigged his t-shirt to cover himself. I'd rather him in that than in his "manties" which looked like Speedos. Yikes, Max is calling the ghost of Richard Hatch and skinnydipping. Now Shirin is walking around bottomless. Now the No Collar gals are skinnydipping and leaving poor deaf Nina behind.

Vince definitely has issues. He's so jealous about Joe that it's ridiculous.

Immunity Challenge time. Dive, swim to platform, maneuver buoys through course, get them all in baskets. Massive fishing reward for first place. Line, lures and spear for second place. No Collar and Blue Collar in the lead. Whoa, Shirin made time for White Collar while Will blows the chance to win for No Collar. Joaquin is making hoops quickly.

White Collar wins! Blue Collar takes second place! No Collar goes to Tribal.

Will is weak. Nina is unpopular. Joe and Vince are power fighters. This should be interesting. Joe thinks Nina might have the idol. They're planning on splitting the vote. Will is thinking he, Vince and Nina can flip the vote. Then Nina puts a bug in Will's ear that Vince is worried about his health. "It's going to be a doozy."

Tribal Council time.

The tally --
Jenn, Vince, Nina, Jenn, Vince, Vince.

He's in shock. Vince is gonzo.

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 1, 2015

Good morning! It's Sunday. You know what 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.

Once again this week, the photos are a bit lacking. It's been way too cold to play with the various features of the new camera. They've determined it to be the third coldest February on record here. Only 1934 and 1895 were colder. But, of course, they didn't measure windchill temperatures back then. It probably hasn't been much colder than where I spent a good part of my youth in Saratoga County, New York. But I was a kid then. Cold doesn't matter as much to a child! Nor does a child have a fancy-schmancy new camera to explore!

We're due more snice (snow/ice) later today and during the overnight hours. We haven't had the snowfall amounts of Massachusetts. But, for some reason, every time it snows, we come out of the deep freeze momentarily and get ice, then return to the deep freeze. 

Unfortunately, because the new camera is too big to fit in my pocket and I didn't take it with me for a brief walk to PetSmart (someone demanded I not come home without cat treats) one evening at my workplace, I missed what probably was a shot of my lifetime.

I kept hearing ooo-oooo noises and footsteps behind me. I thought a child was imitating an owl. I slowed to a stop and the maker of the footsteps walked by. It was an older woman! I heard ooo-oooo again. I looked up. There was a HUGE OWL atop the nearby parking lot lamp! It wasn't a snowy white owl -- it was brown or grey, hard to tell in the dark. But it was HUGE! I told him to stay there and ran back to work for my camera. When I returned, he was gone. ARGH! I haven't seen an owl in person since childhood and never one that big.

Other than that, I don't have much to report from this end. I'm still not 100% health-wise and realize I probably will never be. I still really, really, really want to retire and do something I enjoy. Yet I don't dare as I can't cut my income. Gah. Childhood was a lot easier.

Onto the photos for the week --

 A very cold Big Top

You would think that, after last year's horrible winter, the Big Apple Circus might think of scheduling its annual appearance in Bridgewater, New Jersey, a few weeks later. Nope. There they are! I would imagine there's some kind of heat in the tents. But going there in this frigid weather to watch a dog and pony show would be amongst the last things on my list of fun stuff to do.

Like ships passing in the night

It's trains passing in the day! I took this shot just east of the Plainfield Train Station. While the locomotives are both facing the same way, the locomotive on the right is pushing the train while the one with the headlights is pulling the train.

The one coming my way (headlights) is a newer dual duty locomotive -- both diesel for my train line and has an extendable doohickey to attach to overhead wires, thus being powered by electricity to go into NYC. Diesel trains aren't allowed in the tunnels. (We're all gonna DIE!) Most of the trains on my line stop at Newark Penn Station and passengers have to transfer to get into Manhattan. Now they're up to several trains daily directly in and out of the city or, as they say, one seat rides.

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