Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - April 30, 2017

Good morning! Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I took along the way. If you're here for Survivor -- you can find any Survivor posts I make at this link right here.  You can find any posts I make about TAR at this link -- The Amazing Race.

Yup, yup ... it was certainly a week. 

The landlord/management company has indeed REALLY cracked down on the children running amok in the hallways. It's been so peaceful that I had forgotten what real peace outside my apartment door was like. Another long-term tenant shared that she was told that parents of one of the kids are being made to pay for the security glass in the broken door down on the first floor. Good!

But they're still not being good parents. (I should note that some parents here are good parents -- it wasn't their children creating the chaos.) Now the same bunch of kids who were unchaperoned in the hallways and staircases are now hanging out unchaperoned in the parking lot -- outside my windows for the most part. It turns out that my neighbor downstairs is one with one of the ringleaders of the Kid Crew. Last night they were out there past 10pm. That's dangerous! The oldest kids in the crew are about ten or eleven! It's a PARKING LOT. People drive fast through there sometimes! No parent is out there with them. The youngest kids are about four or five years old! Have these people no parenting skills? Do they not care about their kids as long as they're not bothering them in their apartments? Have they no common sense? I decided if they were still out in the lot at 11pm I'd call the police to have them round them up. It's dangerous for unsupervised children to be out there that late at night. It's child neglect if nothing else.

But it's not as loud when they're out there as when they're in the hallways.

I can sympathize that rents are high and many probably cannot afford larger apartments. I know that's why people are cramming kids into one-bedroom and studio units. I don't really have the answers other than, if they do that, they can't just let their kids run loose. They need to spend time with them, take them to parks, get them involved in some of the low-cost or free programs offered by the city of Plainfield. They need to be PARENTS. I never lived in apartments as a child. But my parents didn't let us go crazy in the house, had set bedtimes and taught us to be responsible in public.

Oh, well. Nothing much else going on this past week. I'm tired. But I'm always tired these days. I worked and then worked some more. I'm tired of working but don't see money falling from the skies.

In today's photos I'm posting, it's a lot of squirrel pictures. Y'see, once again this year, a squirrel family has a nest up under the eaves of the overpass at the Bridgewater Train Station. Kind of like the apartment kids, the young squirrels were left home alone and decided to have adventures. I took many shots as their antics were so entertaining. I hope the photos entertain you, too.

Clicking on an image will bring it up in a larger version ... 

Starling with nest fodder

Bridgewater Train Station -- the birds and squirrels share nesting spaces under the eaves of the two overpasses.

THE SQUIRREL CHILDREN HOME ALONE

(continued after the jump, don't miss it!)

Yes, Sis ... there's a world out here!

Y'know, I want to explore!

What's up there?

I really want to go up there to see!

I know I can climb up there!

What Mom and Dad don't know won't hurt them! I'm BIG now!

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

Don't even think of going up there!

But I want to see the WORLD! I'm ready to leave this dinky dark nest!

I really think I can get up there!

Give me a boost!

Oh, geez ...

You're doing it. You're going up there. Be careful!

I did it! I went up there!

You're going to fall on your heads!

Are you CRAZY?!?!

Wait until Mom gets home! First you went up, now you want to go down! We're definitely telling on you!

What are you doing NOW?!?!

You went up, now you're going down! I'll hold onto your tail to stop you! I'm telling Mom!

Now, cut it out!

Get back up here! We can't hold onto you forever!

He went up THERE?

It's a good thing he's still alive!

You will NOT rat me out to Mom!

So, what was up there?

Do you think ...

... Mom and Dad will notice we left the nest and tried to explore?

The lone pink azalea is no longer alone

The pink azalea bushes by the TD Bank Ball Park in Bridgewater went wild this past week.

Cute little flowers

Some kind of little wildflowers growing on a lawn on Berckman Street in Plainfield. They'll last until the lawn is mowed.

Pigeon mug shot

Bridgewater, NJ

Mingling pansies

The landscapers at my workplace planted pansy bunches by color -- yellow, purple, maroon, etc. But one bunch of pansies decided to mingle and the results are certainly winning!

Still daylight

If it wasn't so cloudy last night as I got home, it would be just around sunset and a gorgeous sight to behold. But, nah. It was grey.

Don't call me Splotchy!

The markings on this young pigeon are reminiscent of the black and white Jersey cows. Perhaps the pigeon is looking to the heavens and wondering why she has no glossy green feathers.

Lone white azalea

Once again this season, the azaleas are blooming by color. The pink burst into blossom this past week. The white ones will hit next and the red will be the last. I don't know why. It's a mystery.

Spring happiness

... in the form of cute yellow pansies.

Showing off the glossy green

They can try, but won't succeed

Despite horrible hacking of bushes and vines, the poison ivy growing at the Bridgewater Train Station refuses to be eradicated.

Vincent is such a wackadoodle!

Yes, I know I'm an enabler by supplying his with catnip. But it's safer for him to get it from me rather than out in the streets!