Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - July 23, 2017

Good morning! Since it's a Sunday morning, this is my weekly off television topic post taking a look at the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. This weekly post is done year in, year out. Big Brother, the main draw for so many of you, only lasts about three months -- although sometimes it seems to be a lifetime. If you're here solely for the BB posts, please feel free to skip this post. You can find my latest BB19 posts by using this link.

We had another heat wave this past week here in the NJ/NYC Greater Metro Area. I don't like heat. I don't like humidity. No one should sweat merely standing. For those who say I'll miss it come winter ... no. I actually don't mind cold temperatures. I'm not too keen on ice and snow as I'm pedestrian and public transportation based. But the cold itself? Not really a problem. 

Heat is included in my apartment rent. Air conditioning (electricity) is not. So I pay more in the summers. Plus, if outside, you can bundle up against the cold. In sweltering heat and humidity, even taking off your clothes wouldn't help. You'd still be all sweaty and people would point and laugh before the police hauled you away!

Give me autumn any day!

My apartment building is going through fixes needed as per the NJ Five Year Inspection last month. I got a notice entirely in Spanish to move my car away from the building Friday and Saturday as they would be painting the fire escapes. They tried a few weeks ago to do that but got rained out. Now, I don't speak Spanish much at all. But I do find it odd that I can read it. Yet, I don't have a car, so I didn't care about the notice.

I did care that on my day off on Wednesday some maintenance dude knocked on my door at 8:05am. I was awake, but not dressed. He said he was here to replace the ceiling tiles in my bathroom. I asked him to come back in fifteen minutes so I could get dressed. He never came back that day. I wasted most of the day not daring to take my shower or go anywhere because I expected him back. Grr. 

On Thursday, I had to go to work. I left Vincent's litter box in the living room -- it's usually in the bathroom -- in case they came back to do the bathroom ceiling tiles. I worried about Vincent all day while I was at work. I don't like people in my apartment when I'm not home. And, if I know for sure someone is coming, I confine Vincent to the bedroom. But I didn't know for sure and he gets stressed being trapped in there for hours on end.

Well, they came. Vincent is fine. However, they made my bathroom into a nightmare. They spray-painted the frames for the new ceiling tiles getting white spray mist all over my (relatively) new sink and vanity and my new toilet! Apparently, they got white spray paint on the walls (which were a light peach and didn't need painting) and then they painted my bathroom (above the tiles) a blinding white. They did that painting with a brush. Thankfully they moved my towels to the living room. But paint drops are all over the floor, the tub, my cheap shower curtain liner, my big bottle of foam bath, etc. There are even a few drops of white paint on the hardwood floor leading into the bathroom!

Why, I don't doubt they got paint drops on Vincent and I just can't see them because he's already white!

I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night Friday night. I was almost blinded by the white. Eek. I think I need to get a dimmer bulb in there! At least the bathroom ceiling tiles were the only thing brought up during the inspection. Although my kitchen cabinets are ancient, I don't want them tearing them out while I'm trying to live here. I don't like outside intrusions.

That's the big news of the week. It's onto the photos now ...

Please strike a pose, pigeon.

Ah, that's a good one. Um, no. I'm not paying you. Don't be like the costumed characters in Times Square! Bridgewater Train Station.

Teensy bee on the chicory blossom

The bee is very tiny. For reference, the chicory blossoms are only about an inch, perhaps a tad more. Plainfield Train Station.

Photogenic fungi

Growing on a fallen tree near the Bridgewater Train Station.

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

Don't get a bee in your eye!

Ack, too late.

I love the "tassels" on chicory blossoms!

Carrion fly

He's checking out a bit of bird poop. I guess we should be grateful for what we have in our lives. We could be carrion flies living off of bird poop and roadkill.

Hot fun in the summertime?

No, not my kind of hot fun in the summertime! I prefer indoors with air conditioning on or swimming if I'm outside. Sitting around on a city bench unless I'm in the midst of commuting or on an errand ... no way! With the latest heat wave we had this past week, I wouldn't have stepped outside unless I had to! Watchung and North Avenue, Plainfield.

Here's lookin' at ya, kid!

Sibling pigeons

At least I think they're siblings. Both were born under the bridge at the Bridgewater Train Station this spring.  They could be from two separate nests. I think there are probably around thirty bird nests -- pigeon and otherwise -- under the two bridges. It's a cacophony of baby bird cries for a good month or so each spring.

Coneflowers

Coneflowers drooping in the heat

The heat and humidity this past week have definitely affected the perkiness of these coneflowers growing on East Front Street.

Seamstress on the train

Yep, every Saturday as I head to work, there she is. She's usually working on the beautiful gowns in the bags, but not yesterday. She was in one of the odd seats on the top level of the double-decker NJ Transit Train. That particular seat is quite popular on crowded trains -- you can sit alone and there's a bin there to put bags or luggage. She has one gown bag sitting in that and the other one hanging from the rack. The seat isn't conducive to working on the gowns, though. She was reading or watching something on her cell phone.

Your basic sparrow

Scouting about the Plainfield Train Station for crumbs and other goodies.

Black-Eyed Susans

While I really don't care for summer weather, I'll admit I like the flowers that come with it. And, I even like the bugs, bees and other insects (minus mosquitoes and gnats) that come with it. At least I like to photograph them! Note the bee here on the top flower.

Bee on the black-eye

While I saw no honeybees on these, there were a gazillion small almost translucent bees of some kind around them.  East Front Street in Plainfield.

Vincent's a nut!

Or perhaps an exhibitionist. I swear he does this for attention!