Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - June 7, 2015

Good Sunday morning, folks! Since it is Sunday morning, it's time for my weekly off television topic review of the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. For television fans -- I don't expect any concrete news about the upcoming Big Brother season until after this upcoming week. I have written some about the show which you can find at this link.

We had a lot of rain this past week. True, we needed it. But I'd personally prefer it to rain when I'm sleeping. Sleeping or even just lazing about goes so much better with the rain than trying to commute to work in it. Yesterday, after a rainy start, the weather turned perfect. That's in my own opinion, of course. Partly cloudy, highs somewhere in the mid-seventies with a slight breeze. I could do that year 'round.

On the home front, all is well. Vincent is fine. My new neighbor, a retired gentleman who already lived in one of the landlord's buildings, remains extremely quiet. He moved here because he has problems with his knees and will be getting a knee replacement. We have an elevator; his building didn't and he lived on the third floor there. I've heard kitchen sounds such as putting away dishes in the cabinets. One evening I heard the sound of a faint television. I can sometimes slightly hear movement or walking, but my floorboards aren't moving and nothing is even irking. If I have my television or music on (which I don't play loud), I hear absolutely nothing from that apartment. Blissful!

Meanwhile, down on the first floor, the screaming child can be heard all the way to the front of the building. That means prospective and existing tenants, along with the super, can hear him upon entering or leaving the building. I can't think they're going to be long for the place. I doubt their lease will be renewed. And, rental leases in New Jersey automatically renew unless there are critical problems with rent payments or violations of said lease. But, for the health of the apartment building, I can't see them staying. I feel sorry for the kid. I think he screams for attention and he gets none.

On the work front ... hmm ... forget it. I don't want to talk about the work front. I'm not a happy camper these days. I seriously have to figure out how to swing things financially so I can retire in a few years. It's a toxic place and I fear I'm getting too old for such stress in my life. I'm still having headaches from my injury last fall and I feel the tension is making things worse.

That's about all I have for you this week. Onto the photos -- if you click on an image, it will show larger in a gallery type display. I hope everyone has a nice Sunday!

A rose by any other name ...

... would smell just as sweet. These were growing in front of a home on East Second Street in Plainfield.

Pretty in pink

They've redone the planters near my workplace.

An elegant dove

A dove on a wire in the waning sunlight near the Bridgewater Train Station.

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

Pretty in purple

Taken from a distance

These are growing on a rather sizable tree behind a fenced area at the Bridgewater Train Station. I'm not sure what kind of tree it is, but I like the heart-shaped leaves.

Hibiscus

Also growing in the planters near my workplace.

Making it all smell nice

I believe this is honeysuckle growing along the fence at the Bridgewater Train Station.

Rainy day flowers

White roses

Growing at the same home as the pink roses on East Second Street

Still rainy

Two teensy red bugs

Can you spot them? I was leaning on this stone wall by the Bridgewater Train Station until I noticed these little red critters -- smaller than the size of a head of a pin -- all over it. I Googled them. They're clover mites, an arachnid. They don't bite people. But I still don't want them crawling on me.

The best close-up I could get

Not only are they so tiny, but they don't stay still long. For a size comparison, that nearby ant is not a carpenter ant or anything. It's one of those small ants who gather over spilled ice cream cones.

Soft shadows

Moth Mullein

These are now starting to brown

Man on a stoop

He's avoiding the light rainfall. North Avenue, Plainfield.

What? More rain?

Another planter

This one is in a yard on East Front Street in Plainfield.

A Vincent

Yes, he's still a cat. I keep telling him that.