Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - April 9, 2017

Good morning! Since it's Sunday morning, this is 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.

We had another week of cold and flooding rains. (Yet the drought advisory hasn't been taken down.) Yesterday we actually saw the sun! However, the temperatures were chilly and the wind chill almost required a winter coat. Today is supposed to be leading off a warmer temperature trend. Supposedly, Tuesday's highs might be in the 80s. Now, I don't really want that. I just want low 70s -- I want SPRING, not summer or winter! Sheesh.

My week has been a bit of the doldrums. It seems like I've worked and came home, rinse, repeat. That said, I think I'll just move on to the photos I took this past week -- clicking on an image will open a larger version in a gallery format.

A rainbow over Plainfield

After a horribly cold and stormy day, the sun came out on Thursday creating a beautiful rainbow over the city of Plainfield. I took this shot from inside a car driving on West Front Street headed into town with sun at our backs. No, I wasn't driving.

Whazzat?

It's a hawk

I'm not sure what kind of hawk as it has its feather spread out on its tail. It had been rainy -- he (she?) was probably drying them that way. Red-Tailed Hawks are the most common around here. But, if it has its red tail, it's hiding it under those spread feathers. 

When I got off the train in Bridgewater one day, I spotted a large bird atop the stadium lights at the TD Bank Ball Park in Bridgewater. I was hoping it was a small eagle. They are around but tend to stay closer to the Raritan River.

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Dandelion, tell no lies

Yeah, be honest, dandelion. Is it really spring or are you just taunting me once again?

My private train car

Tuesday's commute was very odd due to a derailing incident at Penn Station New York. Due to the derailing on Monday, eight of Penn's 21 tracks were out of service. NJ Transit lines into and out of NYC were on a holiday schedule, along with many cancellations and delays. My train line -- Raritan Valley -- was on a regular schedule but with all trains starting/ending at Newark Penn Station instead of New York Penn Station. Whether people were confused or just not taking the trains, I was the ONLY person who got on the westbound train in Plainfield. That's a first! Then I was the ONLY person in the upper level of the train car through all three stops until I got out by my workplace. I feel bad for those who commute to the city -- their trains were all loused up until Friday. Gah!

Rainy day train

It was cold and damp as I headed into work on Tuesday in the early afternoon. Plainfield Train Station.

Only clothes and shoes

People either don't read signs or don't care. (Unfortunately, I believe it's the latter.) This receptacle at the Promenade Shopping Center in Bridgewater is clearly marked clothing and shoes only and that everything needs to be placed INSIDE. Yet there is a chair sitting directly under the "no furniture" admonition, huge blue plastic discarded things and junk all over.

The rainbow once again

Looking for the pot of gold

Much closer to the rainbow, no gold in sight. I'll have to keep working for a living.

I met an old Belair

The yearly old car show thing at the TD Bank Ball Park in Bridgewater was happening yesterday after I got off the train. It must have started a bit later this year. Other years, all the vintage cars have been parked lined up along the front of the stadium. This year only a few had arrived when I went through. I'm going through the same time I always do on Saturdays. It's them, I tell you!

Some daffodils waited to bloom

It's odd -- the early daffodils that were buried by snow and tortured by frigid temperatures still show pretty flowers, but they refuse to stand. Meanwhile, other daffodils are now blooming and standing upright as a daffodil should! Berckman Street in Plainfield.

Digging for goodies!

The squirrels are enjoying being able to dig through the earth rather than the frozen tundra of the past several weeks. They're finding all kinds of buried treasure on the lawn of a church on East Front Street in Plainfield.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign

"The sign read 'all are welcome' ..." Albeit faded, the Friends sign still welcomes all to kneel down and pray. The Friends (Quakers) Meetinghouse on Watchung Avenue in Plainfield.

The Lone Pansy

This lonely little pansy is growing about ten feet away from where landscapers at my workplace planted pansies last year. It escaped when they pulled them all up! They haven't replanted yet.

Conspiring

When birds not of a feather flock together, you know it's time to fear for the future of mankind. Chotola Apartment Building on North Avenue in Plainfield.

Purple-blue things are growing

Berckman Street in Plainfield.

Bob-bob-bobbing along

Although I'm sure they've been around for a while now (despite the weather), this is the first robin I've seen this year. What a fat and healthy-looking one! Plainfield Train Station.

Got me some goodies!

Intelligence Test

Which bird is unlike the others?

More money than common sense

A New York City green cab sitting on North Avenue by the Plainfield Train Station. That's a good $150 round trip fee! Perhaps its flat rate for the trip is a bit less. But the train is about $10.

Vincent at rest

He smiles in his sleep ... when not dreaming of catching mice!