Off Topic: That Was the Month It Was - February 4, 2018

Good morning. My apologies for not posting a weekly off television topic photo post for the past month or so. I really haven't been taking any photos. As some of you might know, I've been having some health issues which are keeping me from running around with my camera.

No, I'm not dying or anything like that. It's the sciatica I had which worked its way into severe nerve damage in my right leg and foot. Due to back pain, I'm finding it hard to walk or stand (or even sit at times) for any extended period of time. I've started walking like some stooped-over old person. I've fallen down due to either weakness in the affected leg or misstep because my foot is numb. I've had strangers walk up to me concerned with my welfare. Ack! I should be having an MRI this week and, hopefully, some sort of treatment. 

I have been covering The Amazing Race and will be covering Celebrity Big Brother on the blog. At this time, I'm not sure how intensive I will get with the live feeds coverage, but we'll see. I will be posting more on it before its season premiere on Wednesday.

One thing I did this week was that I finally used the Sabrent USB to SATA/IDE hard drive adapter that I bought a couple of years ago for about $12 on Amazon. I had kept telling myself that when I had time, I'd use it. Dang, it's been a long time since I took a computer apart! I was able to remove the hard drive from the computer before this one, hook it up to the adapter and my current computer and access all my old files from the old non-running computer. I recovered photos and music that I haven't been able to access for years. Some of those photos are the ones I'm sharing with you here today.

I also removed the hard drive from the computer before that, a 1998 Compaq desktop. I can hook it to the adapter and power unit, but the hard drive isn't starting up. I think the problem might be due to master/slave and jumper settings which aren't on more modern computers. I'm going to have to research a bit. I'm not a computer technician. I don't even play one on television. 

Oh, well. Onto the photos I'm posting this week. There is a new cell phone photo of Vincent at the end! 

Abandoned

I used to hike all around Plainfield and adjacent North Plainfield looking for photo fodder. If memory serves, I found this abandoned bike along the Green Brook in North Plainfield. Sepia tone seemed to serve it best.

Thomas Fine Furniture

Oh, it certainly doesn't look like this today! This Park Avenue (Plainfield) building has been through many changes just in the time I've been in town. This is what it looked like in the early 2000s. The furniture store wasn't really there. On the ground floor was a company named Atkol which I think was some sort of sex or porn film business. Yet in the windows, they had full-size cardboard cut-out figures of Alfred E. Neuman (MAD Magazine), Batman and other characters. It was all very odd indeed. The upper floors seemed vacant.

It was originally the home of the local newspaper, The Courier News. A few years back when they were rehabbing the building, the ghost sign across the top front touting the newspaper was brought to life. Also, the original marque unveiled the building's name -- the Frost Building. It's now a mixed use building with businesses on the first floor and pricey (but very nice) apartments on the upper levels.  

Roofus the Roofs Cat

For more than two years, perhaps three years, I photographed a feral cat who roamed the roofs on North Avenue across from the Plainfield Train Station. A few times I even saw him with a pure black little cat buddy. Once I spotted him in the back of the row of buildings. He was gaining access to the roofs via an abandoned derelict building. When that building was demolished, I never saw Roofus again. It's rare that a feral cat survives more than a few years on the streets. Roofus beat the odds and made himself a fine little cat life with a following of fans here on the blog. He may have survived the demolition and moved on to roofs not in my view. But, I'm sure that by now, several years down the road, he's been roaming the roofs past the Rainbow Bridge. 

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - 9/06/09

Time seems to go by so quickly -- another week gone in a flash. I remember when I was a child, time seemed to almost stand still. Nowadays, I blink my eyes and it's time to pay the rent once again. So, it's Sunday and time for my journey through the past week in words and photographs I've taken. If you're looking for the Big Brother news, use this BB blog link to get there. Otherwise, grab a cup of joe and settle in.

This week's weather here in Plainfield (NJ) was almost picture perfect for the first time since May. We had comfortable daytime highs, cool evenings, and not a one tremendous downpour. It reminded me of the weather in San Diego, but without the early morning fog. Low humidity and clear skies. I love it!

I started taking both of my halfway decent digital cameras with me (I also have a $15 one, but that one doesn't count) as I did my days. My Canon PowerShot A560 is technically a better camera -- 7.1 megapixels, a better zoom and all. But my first digital camera, my Pentax Optio 33L, with its lowly 3.2 megapixels, does much better macro shots and has cool filters the Canon doesn't. It was the Pentax which got me hooked on photography.

On the home front, I don't have much news. I worked, I did my Big Brother blog posts for here and TV Squad, I slept, I ate ... and then I did it all over again. On Tuesday in the early evening, I went to yet another meeting at City Hall regarding my landlord. While my building's elevator is fixed, there are other issues still outstanding. One thing I complained about was the main fire alarm for the building -- many of the sensors have been dismantled and I said it wasn't operating.

Okay, try to make a liar out me, eh? The day after I complained, there I was peacefully watching television when the building fire alarm sounded. And it went on and on. I called the landlord's number, got the answering service. Of course, I had checked for fire first! Finally, after nearly an hour of the loud alarm, I called the non-emergency number for the fire department. No, they didn't have a signal coming from our building. They sent their trucks over and the firemen turned off the alarm. The next night, the alarm sounded again at 12:30 AM. Again, the fire department didn't get the signal.

I stand by my statement that it doesn't work. The way it's supposed to work is an alarm going into the fire department. There are about 40 apartments in the building. If, heaven forbid, there's ever a real fire, we need the fire department response. Just because it makes a lot of noise now here in the building does not mean it's functioning properly. By the way, there was a faulty sensor head or something like that causing the alarm to sound -- no fire.

Enough of that. Onto the week in photos (clicking on an image will open it larger in a new window) --

Sitting in illustrator mode

I took this shot with the illustrator mode of the Pentax. Now, my Canon can't do this kind of shot. It was taken out the train window in Dunellen, NJ.

Uh-oh -- bigger and meaner

The fairly innocent carpenter bees on the flowers were replaced by bigger, nastier, and more evil-looking blacker carpenter bees. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the initial ones I photographed were bumblebees. They seemed really small, though. These new bees are a good inch long. And, they're not thrilled with the paparazzi.

It's a sweater vest!

The new bees look like they're wearing fuzzy sweater vests with a big black circle on the back.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign

And the sign said everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray
But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all,
I didn't have a penny to pay, so I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign
I said thank you Lord for thinking about me, I'm alive and doing fine
-- "Signs" by The Five Man Electrical Band

The Friends Meeting House sign, Plainfield, NJ

Is it John, Paul, Ringo, or George?

All I know is that it's a beatle ... er, beetle. It was teeny and an iridescent blue in the sunlight. I took this shot with the Pentax -- the Canon would have blurred it. The beetle was only about an eighth of an inch long. Bridgewater, NJ.

I see dead people

While school started Wednesday in Plainfield, most of the other schools around the area aren't starting until after Labor Day. This lad slept each morning on the train this week. He wasn't dressed for school, nor did he seem to be going off to work. I don't know where he got on or where he got off. He could be a cipher. NJ Transit, Raritan Valley Line.

That rocks!

Er, those rocks. Just some landscaping rocks. But I like them. Bridgewater, NJ.

Plainfield YMCA in sepia

I took this shot from the Plainfield City Hall steps in the early evening on Tuesday.

More powerful than a speeding locomotive

Okay, it wasn't speeding. This is my train as it pulls into the NJ Transit Plainfield Train Station. I'm faced with too many decisions each trip as we're getting almost all double-deckers these days. On the single level train, I usually grabbed the same seat each trip. Now I have to decide upstairs, downstairs, main level ... ack!

Oh no, you din't!

Yes, Pete. I did. This is my dear train buddy Pete. He hasn't been taking the train lately since they dropped his station to the ... well, wherever dead train stations go. He only lives a few blocks away from me, but I haven't seen him in a while. It was like a reunion as he and I were both stuck at the station with a canceled train on Friday.

Roofus Weather

The weather this week is the kind which brings out a certain roof cat. North Street, Plainfield, NJ.

The Latina Jesus Ladies

I told you about them before. This is the Hispanic contingent of the Jesus Ladies of Downtown Plainfield. Armed with their Watchtowers, they're a bit like a street gang roaming about looking for converts.

Roofus finally faces the camera

I get few front-on shots of Roofus the cat. But, here's one! North Street, Plainfield, NJ

A steeple and an almost full moon

Now, I took this with the Canon. I should have stuck to the Pentax. It was taken early evening from the steps of Plainfield City Hall -- the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church steeple with the moon lighting the way. My goal with the shot is obvious. Alas, it didn't come out as good as I wanted. I blame the Canon.

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was 8/23/09

Welcome to my weekly off TV topic look at the week behind me and what caught my attention (and my camera's attention) here in um ... I guess it's called north central New Jersey. If you're looking for Big Brother live feeds news, just head to my BB posts here. If you want a ramble through the week and a peek at some things I saw and experienced this past week, read on.

We started the week with the first official heat wave of the summer -- highs in the 90s and high humidity levels. When it went down into the 80s, the humidity went up even more. That is, when it wasn't storming. Some terrific storms came through, but it's still just hot and sticky. I don't like sweating. Make it stop.

I actually saw Roofus the Cat from the Plainfield Train Station two separate mornings this week. One day was overcast, the other was horribly hot. I don't blame him for staying off the hot tar roof in the summer.

My week isn't much to write about:

• Write up BB11 live feeds reports and show posts for here and TV Squad.
• Watch BB11 live feeds.
• Work.
• Eat.
• Sleep a bit.
• Sweat a lot.
• Turn up my air conditioning in my apartment.
• Rinse and repeat.

Here's some of what I saw during the week -- clicking on an image will open it larger in a new window:

Roofus and the people below him

Yep, people are in three of the four windows below our beloved Roofus the Cat ... and they don't even know he's up there! I messed around with editing this photo to highlight the windows a bit more. Since Roofus is a black and white cat, there's not much I can do to highlight him. This photo is probably best viewed larger.

Hey! He buzzed me!

Cicadas do NOT belong indoors. This one was in the laundry room. Eek. He came out of nowhere and I thought it was a teeny helicopter attacking me. You know, with teeny aliens and all.

When good sunflowers go bad.

This one is the size of a dinner plate. Some of those leaves are longer than my forearm. East Front Street in Plainfield.

It must be love -- the US Open

I prefer this normal NJ Transit bus advertising over their tendency to shrink-wrap advertise. When they do that, it's hard to tell if it's an NJT bus and, if you sit looking out the window, you're looking through dots. I hate looking through dots. I'm a window sitter and observer and dots make me go dotty! Plainfield, NJ

Roofus the Cat before the roof gets hot.

Obviously, this was the sunny morning I saw him. North Street, Plainfield.

Goldfinch in flight

I really need more shutter speed. Bridgewater, NJ

Goldfinch on the rocks

Sounds like a tasty beverage, eh? Just mix it in the blender ... heehee! I also need a better zoom. One of these days, when I win the Mega Millions, I'll get a fancy-shmancy camera with all those cool lenses. Bridgewater, NJ

Walking in black and white

Urban image I took as I sweated in Plainfield, NJ.

What? The Yellow Cab Company went yellow?

The Plainfield Yellow Cab Company has always had puke neon green cabs. Well, they have all new yellow yellow cabs now. Yikes! They compete with orange, red, blue and other cab companies in town. Taking a cab here is very different from taking one in the city (NYC). About the only thing in common is that you might share a cab with strangers these days.

Red sky at night

This was no sailor's delight as it was Friday evening over Westfield, NJ, after a tremendous storm passed through. It rained all day Saturday.

Two in the door!

A friend and I went to the new Five Guys burger place in Westfield, NJ. I could never work there. They're all too energetic for me! But they do have good burgers and great fries.

Yay! A bat in Bridgewater!

I know the image quality isn't the best, but this is important to me. For years there have always been several bats up in the corners and eaves here from May until October. I've taken some amazing photos of them in the past right at eye level. This week I saw not one, but two, back at home. I feared white nose syndrome had gotten to them all. Yes, I like bats. I don't like them in my apartment, no. But they're really neat animals who eat evil insects and they have cute little faces.

The pit bull is waiting for the train

Sigh. This poor dirty pit bull was hanging around the Plainfield Train Station the other day. He's either lost or abandoned. While he wasn't vicious, he was very shy. Another commuter and I tried to give him water, but he slunk away from us and hid behind a trash can.

I got very nervous when he was on the platform as the train was arriving. However, he just waited amongst the crowd and tried to board the train. The conductor said he didn't have a ticket, so he couldn't ride. Maybe he just wants to get out of town. I hope the poor doggie finds his way home or some kind of help.

Get your minds out of the gutter!

It's a MUSHROOM. I think it's a stinkhorn or, as it's more officially noted, a member of the phallus family of mushrooms. I'm not kidding.

Reflective bling on the train

I actually wanted more from this photo when I took it. It does look a bit like the giant watch is over the Dunellen NJ Train Station, eh? What got me was the guy with the bling watch had the dirty t-shirt and jeans of a day laborer. The bling was so incongruous!

Roofus' downstairs neighbor at the window again

I'm not sure why this woman is always looking out the window. The apartments in the building tend to be seasonal migrant sort of folks. No screens, no air conditioning, and across the street from the Plainfield Train Station. I couldn't live there. But I bet some nights it's better than watching TV ... but I wouldn't be hanging out the window!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was

Since I received good reaction to last week's array of photographs taken during the week, I'm giving it another shot. Or, to be more accurate, shots.

This wasn't an easy week for me. I'm missing my cat every day -- things just aren't the same when you lose a friend and confidant of so many years. The weather turned hot and humid, something I really wasn't missing when we had a chilly (for summer) June. Work budget cuts mean that I might not financially be able to do my needed knee surgery this fall.

Other people had a worse week, I guess. Lawmakers, mayors, and rabbis oh my! The latest New Jersey corruption scandal is a doozy. Where else but in NJ could you have the unique twist of corruption involving money laundering, Gucci bags, and body parts? I, of course, am not a suspect in the investigations. You don't want to know how many years it's been since someone offered me a bribe.

I hooked up my Comcast digital adaptor doohickeys with the biggest hitch moving the bookcase blocking my outlet for my living room television. I'm not thrilled that each adaptor sucks up electricity, nor am I happy that I've been told that I'm not eligible for any of the promotional plans. But if I didn't do it, by Tuesday I'd lose several stations I watch. Grr.

Here are some of the shots I took this week (clicking on an image will open it larger in a new window) ... for some reason, it was a big pigeon week:

He had a wild look in his orange-red eye.
Plainfield Train Station, Plainfield, NJ

Jus' waitin' on a train.
Plainfield Train Station

Does that star-spangled banner yet wave?
Historic Quaker Cemetary in back of the
Friends Meeting House
Plainfield, NJ

Hot town, summer in the city.
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty.
Lyrics by the Lovin' Spoonful
Plainfield, NJ

Mourning dove on barbed wire.
Bridgewater, NJ

Roofus the Cat
North Street, Plainfield, NJ

A sunflower grows in Plainfield.
East Front Street, Plainfield, NJ

Pigeons in a window.
Plainfield, NJ

Abandoned condemned Miron Furniture warehouse ...
where pigeons sit in windows.
East Second Street, Plainfield, NJ

Zoom, Every Baby Has a Story, WATERMELONS
East Second Street, Plainfield, NJ

Off Topic: Roofus the Cat

I'll be posting the live eviction blog party post at 8 PM ET. I'm skipping the day report -- not a heck of a lot happened.

However, for the regular readers of the blog, I had a Roofus the Cat sighting this morning. He's not quite in his usual place, but it's him! Clicking on the image will open them larger in new windows.

Off Topic: Roofus the Cat

Summer isn't the time to find Roofus the Cat up on his roof. Between the rain and then hot weather, Roofus tends to seek out shade (or dry) this time of year. Other than one sighting a week or so ago when I didn't have my memory card in the camera, I haven't seen Roofus.

But, I have spies. Local Plainfield blogger Bernice peeked into the "abandoned" ex-Budget Rental Car building and there's Roofus! He's hanging out with the big grey cat who's hiding in back of him in this shot.

Somehow they can get in and out of the building and the last time I peeked in closely, there was a fresh litter pan, food, and water. Although the place is definitely abandoned, cat food keeps mysteriously appearing.

I return you to your regularly scheduled blog now. And thanks go out to Bernice!

Tonight's 'So You Think You Can Dance' ... and Stuff

"In the clearing stands a boxer ..." - "The Boxer" by Simon and Garfunkel. Of course, this is more like The Boxer by Jackie. I met this dog this past Saturday. While I tend to have cats, I enjoy a good dog, too!

Speaking of cats, I finally spotted Roofus the Cat yesterday but I had grabbed the wrong camera going out of the door. Um ... I took the Pentax whose memory card was sitting in my computer. Argh! I haven't seen Roofus for quite a while and was relieved to see him. It would have been better with a working camera!

Onto the meat of the matter here tonight ...


It's the two-hour So You Think You Can Dance. None couples are taking the stage. And here's your place to discuss the action! Please feel free to share your thoughts on the show as it airs and afterwards, too. I'll be here.

TV Bits, Photography, Roofus the Cat, and Stuff

Welcome to what just might be the most random entry I've ever made. I mean, I'm talking TV, Roofus the Cat, commuting, spring, life, and the fact that my space key on my keyboard has decided it will stick today. Clicking on any of the images will bring them up larger in a new window.

Roofus the Cat enjoying the sunshine earlier this week.

TV: Yes! A&E is FINALLY airing the finale of The Sopranos tonight! They've been pussyfooting around it for nearly two years. Sure, I know what happens -- I've read about it and have seen clips of the end. But I want to see the whole episode. I swear I've seen every other episode of the series at least twice by now. No, I don't have HBO and I'm too cheap frugal to spend the money on the DVD set.

With a ton of rain in the past few weeks, mushrooms seemed to appear overnight.

Health: I swear my immunities have been lacking since my knee replacement. I seem to pick up every bug that comes along. I told you I had a killer cold last week. Now, I still have lots of cold symptoms, but I think allergies are kicking in as well. I wake up congested, sneeze a lot, and am taking too much over the counter stuff daily. Blergh. The replacement knee continues to do well; the other one continues to fail albeit with a bit of improvement due to the warmer weather (I think). The year anniversary for the replacement knee is only a few weeks away -- May 14th. Oh ... and this swine flu stuff can keep its distance from me, please. Thank you.

It's SPRING!

Life: Grr, the elevator in my apartment building has been broken for two months. They worked on it this week and it worked for a day. I feel like I'm living in the apartment from The Big Bang Theory with its never-working elevator. Yes, it's only a three story building -- four if you count the laundry room in the basement. But it's still a big inconvenience for me, especially arriving home with groceries.

On a better apartment living note: My really loud and annoying fairly new next door neighbors not only had their cars towed (they weren't paying for the parking privileges), but due to complaints from other neighbors they were served with a cure or quit notice regarding excessive noise. Nope, wasn't my doing! Now I only know they're home when they allow their toddler to kick my dining room wall until I kick back.

Two trains head at each other, thankfully on different tracks.

Commuting: I took this photo as my train was stopped at a station and another one was arriving on the other track in Dunellen, NJ. The fluorescent lights and luggage racks are the reflection from inside my train. Yes, it's MY train. NJ Transit just won't recognize that fact.

MY train is fancier than theirs.

Commuting: Nah, not really. The engine on the back (there on engines on either end so the train needn't "turn around") is the same as on the previous image. I'm still not getting the fancy-schmancy double-deckers too often on my commute.

Oh! Boarded-up windows and police barriers on one of Roofus's rooftop buildings!

Life and Roofus: The window coverings appeared almost as quickly as mushrooms, along with a PD saw-horses and "do not cross" tape. I can no longer see through the building from the front. However, the back and part of the roof is all still crumbling away and open. I think they plan to take down the marquee there as it's starting to really strain at the lions' heads. But it's been like this for a week now. I don't know what's up. I just know that Roofus the Cat doesn't seem to be affected by it.

Next stop, Suspicious Acts, NJ. Really ... that could be anywhere in the state, right?

TV: To whomever is responsible for the television ad campaign for tourism in Canada, stop it. I mean it. Stop it now. Have you seen these commercials? They have to be the absolutely-freaking-most-annoying ads I've ever been subjected to. Well, perhaps those Head-On ads were worse, but ...! I don't want to hear people screaming. I just don't. What if blind people are tuned in? They'd have no idea that folks are screaming because a seal swam by. Sheesh. Boycott Canada until these ads are GONE!

Have I mentioned it's spring?

TV: I tried getting into Harper's Island, but dropped it off my viewing list on rather rapid order. I just don't care about the characters -- I think I'd off a few of them myself just to see them die. If I want to waste my life watching overly dramatic deaths, I'll get out my old videotapes of Halloween or something. Yes, I like murder mysteries, but this show just isn't my cuppa. On the other hand, I've been watching Southland. I enjoyed Third Watch by the same folks behind Southland. So far I'm not as totally into the show as I was Third Watch or Homicide, but it's keeping my interest.

More banks will probably become nightclubs as the recession continues.

Life: Even with the recession, I'm working more hours than ever before on my job. That is good as (a.) I'm gathering hours for my FMLA leave requirement for a second knee replacement and (b.) I can use the money. The side writing gigs have taken cuts over time. I'm glad I didn't foolishly quit my job and think I could make it freelancing for a living. In just two years I can see what I can get in my early retirement package and then consider whether that and writing gigs will work.

But chances are, I'm going to have to keep the day job for many years to come. At least, in this economy, I have a proven track record with the company (almost 30 years) and about as much job security as a person can have. The company is stable and I'd have to do something incredibly stupid and out of character to get fired.

Roofus is sleeping on that windowsill once again.

Roofus and Stuff: The people in that apartment have noticed Roofus. I saw them peeking out the window for him -- either that or they were checking for birds. They weren't looking at the street or the train station. And, one day, I saw them open the window and put something out on the ledge. I believe it was food. So far I haven't seen the person and Roofus at the same time. I'm thinking that Roofus probably avoids humans as much as he avoids everything other than rooftops, balconies, windowsills, and birds.

I've seen more of my alma mater this weekend than I have in years. That Craigslist killer guy did his undergraduate work at SUNYA. Well, nowadays they call it U of Albany or something like that. I always said the pre-med students there were a bit too intense. Me? I studied English. That's always great for landing a job later on, right?

It's going to be in the 90s here today. I call RIDICULOUS! I want spring. I don't care for really hot temperatures. I like spring and autumn for the daytime temps in the 70s. It's like we've gone from winter to summer. Sigh. I refuse to go out.

I'll be returning later with The Amazing Race. Can you believe we're down to the final four? Yikes! I hope you all can stop by!