Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - January 3, 2016

Good morning! I hope 2016 brings everyone happy and prosperous days ahead! Of course, I also hope it brings us some entertaining television seasons. Since today is Sunday, this is my weekly (except last week) off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken along the way.

My apologies for the lack of posts lately and for even missing the photo post last week. The holidays aren't a great time for me on a personal level, my workplace gets overwhelming and I've been running on empty. It all ends up with a lack of inspiration to do much other than sleep in what little free time I have on hand.

Well, this week I did end up watching the huge The Walking Dead marathon instead of sleeping during my off work hours. It lasted for days! Eek. I really should have slept instead! What do the kids say? Oh, I'll sleep when I'm undead. Heh.

Although we're in for a chilly week ahead, we had the warmest December on record. I have no real complaints about that. Even this week's chill isn't deep freeze surrounded by ice and snow. I don't really mind the cold weather; it's the dangerous walking and driving on icy/snowy streets and sidewalks. My heat for my apartment is included in the rent. My electricity is not included. Thus, the air conditioning season brings about higher bills for me than the heating season.

That's about all I have for you. You'll probably note the lack of real inspiring photo fodder in the photos below. But, hey ... I showed up this week!

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

Looks almost like buds on the tree

But things haven't gotten quite that crazy. It's actually grey clouds and fog lifting and the angle of the morning sun. Photo taken in my 'hood. But that's not my castle. It's not a castle at all. It's a church.

Plainfield Train Station

My last train ride home in 2015. 

Winter dandelion

This weather's been unbelievable. Despite a dip in temperatures, dandelions continue to grow.

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

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous New Year!

May 2016 give us some great television watching times!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everybody is having a wonderful holiday!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - December 20, 2015

Good morning! It's Sunday morning -- time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken along the way.

Unfortunately, I'm a bit under the weather (which was very warm until the last few days) and seem to have caught the stomach bug going around at my workplace. I don't have a ton of photos for you, but here we go:

Clicking on an image will bring up a larger image in a gallery ...

Watchung Avenue on a rainy evening

I miss the wreaths, but the huge lighted snowflakes are festive when they light up and don't have gaps in working bulbs.

Close-up of a flake

Not all are working

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - December 13, 2015

Good morning! Since it's Sunday morning, you know what that means -- it's time for my off television topic weekly reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. Remember to drop by Wednesday evening for the big Survivor finale blog party! Be here or be square.

We're still having record setting warmth here in this part of the country. I won't complain at all. Sure, it would be nice to have an inch of snow on Christmas Eve for the kids. But, before that and after that, I welcome NO SNOW NOR ICE on the streets and sidewalks! Who's with me?

My own week on a personal level was rather tedious and boring. I worked too much. I slept too little. Oh, well.

Onto the photos from this week -- clicking on an image will bring up a larger version in a gallery ...

Ready for winter

The planters near my workplace which boasted the hibiscus blooms all summer are now redone for the season. One year these berries fed extremely early returning robins through horrible cold and snow.

Busy, busy

Looking towards the Rialto Theatre at the intersection of Elm and East Broad Streets in Westfield. 

Keyboard Man works the trumpet

The man I've dubbed Keyboard Man at the Plainfield Train Station had a trumpet in addition to his keyboard one evening this week. I'm beginning to think he can't practice his music where he lives due to the noise factor and has found the power outlets and acoustics just fine at the station. He's not asking for money. And, while I'm really irked about all the people who hang out at the station, he's a pleasant addition.

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

Happy New Year!

 

Wishing all of my friends here on the blog the happiest of New Year wishes! Thank you all so much for hanging out here year 'round!

Merry Christmas and an Announcement!

 

Merry Christmas to all of my family and friends, near and far.

(I haven't been able to get Vincent to wear his Santa suit for years now, so this is far from a new photo of him!)

The announcement? Well, I've been working on a separate photo blog since summer and I'm releasing it today! Nothing will change on this blog -- it will still be TV and the weekly photo review posts on Sundays. However, the new blog -- I Shoot What I See -- will be updated daily with one or two photo posts. Some might be new photos; most are ones I've taken over the last ten or eleven years. 

At the moment, there's a lot of content on there. But the posts are short -- few words, one or two photos per post. If you click on the month on the right side column of that blog, you can quickly go through them by the month. When you first check it out (IF you do and please and thank you!), click on the link to the welcome/about post I have linked in the sentences written across the top. (Please and thank you!)

I hope you enjoy it!

Merry Christmas!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - July 6, 2014

Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way! If you're looking for my latest Big Brother television/live feeds posts, check out this link. This here off topic post is a year-round staple on the blog. Yeah, I know it has nothing to do with television. But, of course, life isn't ALL about TV ... right?

This week was a bit of a rough one for me. I had some sort of stomach virus which kept me sick for most of the week while I was still working at my real job and doing the Big Brother coverage here on the blog. Thankfully that ended pretty much by Friday -- in time for me to have a rare three-day holiday weekend off from my job. Yay!

On the holiday itself, I didn't do much. The weather was a bit iffy and one local parade was canceled. However, yesterday's weather was gorgeous and perfect for a parade! And, it just so happens that my city's parade was already planned for Saturday, not Friday. There's also a three-day holiday festival going on downtown which I plan to check in on later today.

Due to feeling icky and icky weather for most of the week, I don't have a ton of photos. After the jump, I have a slideshow not of flowers this week, but of parade photos. On with the show ... clicking on an image will open it in a new Photobucket window. From there, you can make the image larger twice with the magnifying glass icon at the bottom right of the photo. To return here, just close out the Photobucket page.

Take a picture, it lasts longer!

This wet bunny seems to resent the intrusion of the paparazzi (me). East Front Street, Plainfield.

The chicory is in bloom

Although they keep mowing it down, the chicory at the Plainfield Train Station is determined to keep coming back.

Gotta love the haircut!

I love how Afros and flat-tops are coming back on the kids. I just hope they don't start wearing platform shoes again. Those things were dangerous! I took this photo at the Plainfield 4th of July Parade (held on the 5th). The parade slideshow is just after the jump ... check it out!

*TO SEE THE PARADE SLIDESHOW AND MORE, 

CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK*

Happy New Year!

I hope 2014 brings all of my friends here happiness and catnip!

Catnip?

VINCENT!!!

Merry Christmas!

My best wishes go out to all the blog readers here, hoping you're having a wonderful holiday full of love, fun and food. (And catnip, according to Vincent.)

Although some pesky health issues have kept me from my Christmastime photo stomp in the city (NYC) this year, I put together a slideshow of photos I've taken the past few years ...

Thank you all for being in my life!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - December 22, 2013

Good morning! It's Sunday, time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken along the way. As we approach the holidays, I'll admit I haven't really been posting about (or watching) much television anyway. I've been working. And working. And working. Sigh.

Overall, it hasn't been a great week here for me. I'm still a bit banged up from being in that cab accident last week and now I've had a problem with sciatica the last week or so, too. Ow! Ow! It's like have a constant leg cramp running from my butt down through my calf! Ow. Yet, work is in such a state that I haven't taken any time off other than my regular days off (like today). It's not that I haven't been asked to work extra; I just can't. I'm barely making it through my scheduled days. Gah. It needs to go away!

We had more snow early this week, but today promises to break records as far as warmth. It could very well go about 70 degrees. That should melt most of the snow we have on the ground, definitely de-ice the sidewalks. Good. While I like snow for Christmas for the children, I can do without it myself. Sure, it's pretty. But after dealing with icy sidewalks for a few weeks already, I don't mind a reprieve at all.

Nothing much else is happening here. I didn't and probably won't go into the city (NYC) to take photos of the holiday happenings. I'm really not feeling up to it. I've pretty much been coming home from work and collapsing.

I'm a bit worried about the Target store security breach. I was only there once during the period that the card information was stolen, but once is all it takes. I've been monitoring my account used and haven't seen anything suspicious. However, I think I might just contact my bank anyway. I went into Target yesterday on my way to work and took advantage of their 10% off this weekend for my normal Saturday (mostly grocery) purchases. It was kind of sad. The rest of the shopping center parking lot was crammed (Old Navy, Costco, Marshalls, PetSmart, Michaels, Home Depot, Bed, Bath and Beyond and others) ... Target's lot was only about a third full. I've never seen that on the Saturday before Christmas. It has had a huge negative impact on their business.

I do plan on making some actual television posts this week. I really do. But, for now ... onto the photos --

Snowy station

On Tuesday, we had our fourth pre-winter snowstorm within nine days. True, they weren't huge storms. But many sidewalks were icy messes until Friday when the temperatures got warm enough to melt them. I took this one as I headed home from work on Tuesday. Plainfield Train Station.

Sunset in da 'hood

Thursday's skies were pretty as I headed home.

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - December 8, 2013

Good Sunday morning to all y'all! Y'see, I've been working with someone originally from Alabama. You're lucky I'm not calling y'all "darling." As it is Sunday, this is my off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. If you're looking for TV talk, tonight is the season finale of The Amazing Race and I'll have a blog party post up by 8pm ET for that. Plus, yesterday, I revealed the cast of next season's TAR in this post.

After I posted last week's photo post, the news came in about the train derailment at Spuyten Duyvil. As some of my Facebook friends were worried, I thought I should mention it here -- although I commute by train to work, I take NJ Transit, not Metro North. And, other than the cool name of Spuyten Duyvil (which means Spouting Devil), little in the Bronx holds reason for me to visit that area.

My own regular train line, NJT Raritan Valley Line, isn't as lengthy a trip end to end as is that Hudson River Metro North line. I have ridden that train once, but it was about thirty years ago heading into the city from the Poughkeepsie area. My regular commute train doesn't have any huge curves in it, either. We do have some gentle bends and there have been times that new engineers miss or almost miss the shorter train platforms due to going too fast, but nothing of crash or derailment level that I've ever experienced in the past ten years.

While I can tell if the train is going either faster or slower than usual, I really couldn't tell you the speed. Even going slow, we tend to go faster than cars on the nearby parallel roads. Those roads tend to be 30mph speed limits, so that doesn't say much. I don't believe that NJ Transit has had any passenger or crew deaths this year although I think I read that there have been 27 suicides with people jumping in front of trains, etc. That isn't enough to derail a train. Heck, once my train hit a car and that didn't derail it. Passengers do stand a chance of falling over during rough stops, but that's about it. I always hang onto something as the train is stopping.

I don't think my train line has that technology they've been talking about which automatically slows the train down per conditions although it's supposedly being tested on NJT. We do go over a detector doohickey outside of Dunellen which broadcasts over the walkies the conductors have. Hmm -- there's actually a very short YouTube bit on it. That detector checks the journal boxes for heat and dragging equipment to make sure a wheel isn't going to fall off or anything. I asked one of the conductors if it has ever sensed a defect. He told me every time he's had a defect, it's been a defect in the detector itself, not the train! It would creep me out if my own job had something called a "dead man's switch" -- but that's standard equipment on trains. That detects that the engineer's hands or feet (?) have dropped off the controls and stops the train.

On the whole, even though NJ Transit was SO foolish when Sandy hit (storing all the rail equipment in the flood zone), I feel safe on the trains and have faith in the quality of the equipment and the crews. I know older train cars are in use on the NJT rails, but my line is all the fairly new (some even newer as they're Sandy replacements) double-deckers. Every now and then heading into the city, I'll get the old Comet cars with the brown seats on the Northeast Corridor line. But I mainly stick to my own train line and I have no worries -- it's far safer than being in a car!

After all this train talk, it's evident that not much happened in the Life of Jackie this week, huh? True dat! Work, eat, sleep, had a stomach bug for a couple of days, icky weather going back and forth to work ... not any great photo opportunities to speak of. Today we're supposed to get a bit of snow and the cold has set in once again. At least snow will be pretty, but it's not guaranteed to be a white Christmas at all. It rarely is around here.

Anyway ... onto the photos I took this week --

Gobble Gobble!

I don't recall this being there Thanksgiving week. But it did indeed show up this past week on a porch on Berckman Street in Plainfield.

Griswolds?

While I do enjoy it, the house at the corner of Richmond and East Front is looking a bit like Clark Griswold (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation/Chevy Chase) had a hand in it. If it seeps to the upper floors, we'll know for sure. Plainfield.

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - December 1, 2013

Good morning! It's Sunday morning. You know that that means, right? It's time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. Later on tonight I will get back on the topic of television with The Amazing Race blog party post. If you watch the show, c'mon back for the party as it airs!

Let's see ... what happened this week? Oh, right. Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a good holiday with family, friends, food, whatever brings contentment to your soul. I'm thankful for a lot of things, too many to name. I'm thankful for the friends I've met through the blog. You all rock!

I had a quiet holiday at home. As I have no family nearby and don't really have enough time off to travel any distance, I usually fix a small feast for myself and spend the day with the cat. Often, when people hear I'll be alone for the holiday, I'll get invites. But I'd feel out of place trying to fit in with a family I don't really know. I'm a bit of a strange duck ... I really enjoy my holiday in the comforts of my own home, eating what I want, enjoying the company of a certain cat and just doing my own thing.

This year, instead of my usual turkey breast, I made prime rib with mashed potatoes and broccoli. For dessert, I had Trader Joe's Ultra Chocolate ice cream topped with Kahlua (also bought at Trader Joe's). It's odd they have hard liquor there now. When I was in there, I swear I heard the Kahlua calling my name. I haven't had any in years and the price seemed quite reasonable. That was my little feast and I was very pleased with how it all turned out!

I made my Trader Joe's run to nearby Westfield on Monday after work, just staying on the train a few more stops and then taking the bus home. I figured I'd avoid the bad weather expected Tuesday and Wednesday and the crowds on Wednesday. Well, I avoided the bad weather. The crowds were so bad that they had someone in their parking lot directing traffic. Yipes! But, in the newly expanded store with many more registers, the wait in line wasn't bad at all. It was much shorter than the wait people had trying to get through the parking lot. Just walking across the street to the bus was so much easier, too!

The cold rain and winds started here on Tuesday. Although I had to fight through the weather on my way home from work Tuesday, I had Wednesday and Thursday off from work -- regular day off and paid holiday. I made sure there was no need for me to go out in it on Wednesday. And, no sales will ever drag me out on Thanksgiving Day even though I'm usually alone on the holiday. I know that if I need something grocery-wise in an emergency, the bodega around the corner is open every single day of the year. Since the owners also man the store, that's their decision and holidays are lucrative for the small business. But I made sure I needed nothing!

How was your holiday?

As a result of the shortened work week out and about and the bad weather for part of the week, I don't have a lot of great photos this week. Most of them, I took the day I hit Westfield after work. But, here goes ...

Happy Hanukkah!

This is the Menorah at the Westfield Train Station. None of the lights are lit as I took the photo on Monday. 

Mums

I'm surprised some of the mums in planters in Westfield are still hanging in there. Most around here have been taken by the cold nights (and some days!). I was going to take a shot of a dead rose on East Front Street in Plainfield, but it was all too darn sad.

With a red bow

Watchung Avenue in Plainfield on Tuesday afternoon as I headed home from work. Despite the fact they said the rain would start in the evening, it started by noon. Grr. I edited this shot leaving only the bow in color. After the jump, I have a similar photo in actual color.

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday with fine food, family, friends! I'm thankful for all the friends I've met through blogging over the years!

Happy Hanukkah!

It's rare indeed that Hanukkah coincides with Thanksgiving! I wish all those who celebrate, the best Hanukkah ever!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - July 7, 2013

Good morning! Welcome to my really late off television topic photo post! If you're looking for a Big Brother live feeds update, the most recent one I posted is at this link. This here is my weekly reflection of the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. It has nothing to do with television. You've been warned.

I can't believe how late I'm getting this post up. I conked out after coming home from work last night, got up early to review what I missed and get the BB live feeds post up and now I'm here. Between being sick in the beginning of the week, extremely hectic workdays, the heat, the humidity ... well, I'm not at my best for sure.

On the 4th of July itself -- I always have the 4th off as my employer says no way no how will do they want to pay me double time and a half for the day (and I don't blame them; I wouldn't want to pay me that much either although I don't mind earning that much) -- I had the day off. Plainfield, because they don't want to pay their workers extra holiday pay, has the city celebrations on the Saturday after the holiday. I worked yesterday, so missed all but the set-up pre-parade. I have no desire to go to the city fireworks in the evening. It's not only hard for me to get there, but I'm leery of problems which might arise with some of the people attending. The Plainfield Police do come out in strength for the event there and it's probably safer than I think. But it's still hard for me to get there.

I decided to cap off the 4th holiday by having a nice relaxing bubble bath. I drew the water, filled the tub, then went to shut off the water. The hot water faucet broke off in my hand. Frantically I tried everything -- screwdriver, pliers, sheer strength -- nothing would turn off the water.

Fortunately, my newish landlord has a 24 hour repairs number to call. Unfortunately, the person who responded was over in Jersey City to watch the fireworks with his family. I bailed water out of the tub quickly and vigorously for over an hour and a half awaiting his arrival. Otherwise, not only MY apartment would flood, but so would the one downstairs from me. He came, used vice-grips to turn it off and put in new hot, cold and shower faucets the next day while I was at work.

My back and shoulders still hurt from the extended frantic bailing exercise. I feel bad that I ruined his family's night at the fireworks, but it was truly an emergency.

The three days I actually worked this week were just as exhausting. Wah is me. I would have taken yesterday and this coming week off for vacation if not for the fact that I'm going up to Albany next weekend for my high school reunion. So, I'm working Monday and Tuesday, off until I return to work the following Thursday (18th). It will be a mixed week of staycation and a weekend with old friends (and some not so much) and family. I've somehow worked a trip to Ted's Fish Fry, a place I miss so much living away from real fish fry places since 1977 or so, with my brother and his wife into a big family reunion of cousins from upstate NY and Vermont. That will be fun! A few of them I haven't seen since I was a young child, but we're reunited on Facebook.

Onto this week's photos ...

It must have been the 4th of July

Or the 6th of July as the case may be. This woman is always in this get-up, marching along with the parade. She WALKS (in high heat!) from downtown to the start of the parade a good mile or so away, then WALKS back in the parade. More power to her!

Move aside, bunny rabbit!

I encountered this one as I was walking to the train one morning. He was near the corner of East Front and Richmond Streets in Plainfield. I shooed him towards the lawn at Richmond Towers because he was in the patch of grass between the street and sidewalk. I must say, though, I haven't seen any roadkill bunnies. They must be pretty smart when crossing the street.

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

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Oh my. How did Vincent the Cat get atop the building in Times Square?

My best wishes to each and every one there for a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - December 30, 2012

It's the last Sunday of 2012! Why, that must mean it's time for my last off television topic photo post of the year. Woohoo! Of course, I haven't really been posting about television lately as everything is in repeats for the holidays. I did watch the Kennedy Center honors show this week and enjoyed it immensely. The ballet dancer seemed a bit out of her element, but I found the rest of the folks being honored people who have indeed played roles in my own life to a certain extent -- Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, Buddy Guy and Led Zeppelin. I'm just not a big ballet fan albeit I find it beautiful when I do watch.

Last week I had a dearth of photos. This week, probably too many. You just might want to grab a big mug of coffee and some snacks before getting too involved in this. Not only did I find some things of interest in a bit better weather week locally to photograph, but I went into Manhattan on a whim on Christmas Day. 

Since I actually (for a change) had two days off -- Christmas and the day after -- with no real plans other than a quiet holiday at home with Vincent the Cat ... I decided to hop a bus into town. That means I walk about one minute to the bus stop and soon I'm dumped in Midtown. A storm was due Wednesday, but Christmas day was nice. Overcast, but I prefer that for taking photos anyway.

So, after I talked to my brother in California on the phone for a while, I was on my way. I thought it might be a bit quieter with all the big stores closed. Um. No. All the people just mobbed the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center instead of shopping! Oy. I will say that it wasn't as bad with the crowding as was the Chinese New Year parade in the city last year. I was concerned I might have a rib broken in the crowd crush for that.

I walked from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, through Times Square, over to Fifth Avenue, up to Rockefeller Center, back over by Saint Patrick's Cathedral (which had huge crowds, but scaffolding all about as they rehab the exterior), back down Madison Avenue to escape the crowds and breathe, back through Times Square, then back home. Yeah, that was one sentence. Want to make something of it? Uh-oh. I was in my travel in crowds in Manhattan persona. Oops!

The knees held up just fine. I only sat for a few minutes on a chair in Bryant Park. (Oh yeah, I went there, too.) For some reason, five different people stopped me to ask directions to five different places. Hey, just because I'm walking alone in the city doesn't necessarily mean I know where everything is! Thankfully, they all asked for places I do happen to know like Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center and such. So I guess I was a good one to ask. I couldn't answer the folks who asked me a bus question, though. I have never been on a New York City bus. Subways, taxis and on foot, yes. Bus, no. 

Three separate groups of people -- an older white couple, a group of five black hip-hop garbed teenagers, and a family who seemed to speak either Russian or Polish -- handed me their iPhones and asked me to take photos of them. Don't they know that Mayor Bloomberg claims the rise in the robbery rate is due to iPhone and iPad thefts? Do I NOT look dangerous and thuggish? Sheesh. Yeah, I took their photos for them and handed them back their expensive playtoys. I figured I could probably only outrun the elderly couple.

Other than the trip into the city, it was a quiet week. Some real icky weather at times, but quiet for me. How was your week?

Onto the MANY photos -- clicking on an image will open it in a new Photobucket window, clicking again will make it larger. To return here, just close out the Photobucket window.

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

The holiday light show at Saks Fifth Avenue ...

Empire State Building

The lights are even better now! They replaced the old lighting system with new LED lights and can actually do "light shows." Before, every time they wanted to change colors, they had to physically remove a huge colored lens from each light. Now, it's computerized. Since the colors atop the building change per event, celebration, whatever ... this is going to be fantastic now!

Bryant Park tree and skaters

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

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas! Vincent sure is!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - December 23, 2012

It's Sunday morning. G'morning, y'all. Of course, that would mean that it's time for my weekly off television reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken. Hmmm ... it hasn't been the best of weeks for my photo taking. To think about it, although not horrible by any means, it has been a nondescript kind of week in my life. Perhaps nondescript tinged with a bit of sadness and fatigue. Yeah, that's it!

The holidays aren't always a great time for me on a personal basis. My parents died decades ago, my brothers and I are spread across the country and I have no family (as defined) here. My workplace is always extremely busy this time of year and I don't have any extended time off to go anywhere. I've grown used to all of that. I have my own little things I do on the day and consider my cat Vincent a member of my family! However, it can still be a bit rough as everyone's talking about spending the holiday with their families and, what little family I have left, is scattered far and wide. 

But that's not the cause of the sadness. I'm still reacting to the shootings in Newtown. I tear up just thinking of those children and their surviving families. I'm still in shock every time I hear the town name "Newtown" so casually added in with places I don't personally know such as Columbine. I know Newtown. I lived near it for years. I have old friends in Newtown. 

Then there's all of the controversy what should be done to stop events like this from happening again. I don't think you can stop anyone determined to "go out with a bang." I recall the horror of Charles Whitman way back in 1966. Gun laws or not, it will keep happening. And, that indeed is a sad thing. It's not the gun laws per se (although we seriously need to clamp down drastically on those assault rifles -- no hunter or person protecting their property or life needs that amount of firepower), it's not necessarily mental illness (if every person with a mental illness went around shooting people, there would be few folks left on Earth), it's not the fact that prayer isn't allowed in schools, it's certainly not Asperger's Syndrome. I've grown tired of zealots on each issue arguing. Arguments tend to make my head hurt. Make it stop.

So, those things have been bothering me as we head into Christmas. The weather this week hasn't helped any. It's been warmer than usual, then cold blasts, then monsoon rains and wind. Now that the trains are finally back on their normal schedule, it's dark when I go to work and it's dark when I come home. It's been overcast (or raining) every morning except one on my way to work. I only saw the start of one actual sunrise this week once I arrived at work.

Speaking of trains back on schedule, lots of folks are probably complaining. My morning train, the first westbound train of the day, has arrived and left the station five or so minutes early each day. That's a no-no. It hasn't affected me as I always plan to get to the station ten minutes early. However, all of those folks who always have to run to make it on time when the train is on time or late ... well, they're missing the boat. Er, train.

As a result of the weather and the darkness, my photos this week are severely lacking. My apologies.

Chotola pigeons

Pigeons hunker down in the winds on Saturday, one of the few days I saw daylight. This is the Chotola apartment building on North Avenue in Plainfield, where the long gone Roofus the Cat used to bask on the ledges.

Abandoned

Kind of says it all for the week, eh? I managed to kill one of my best umbrellas battling the wind and rain on Friday morning. Just as I decided I was soaked and it wasn't doing me any good so I might as well close it, the wind ripped it inside out and damaged the framing (spokes? whatever). This is not my umbrella. Mine was better. Wah.

I know you're not there

I don't think parking this empty Community Patrol (COPS) van all around the Plainfield Train Station will stop the ne'er-do-wells who inhabit the benches. I realize it's popular to park an empty decoy police car around trouble areas to give the illusion there's a cop nearby. But not for days at a time!

Bridgewater sunrise

The one start of a sunrise I witnessed this week.

Christmas oasis

The house at the corner of Richmond and East Front in Plainfield.

Wet branches

I used GIMP photo editor's illusion filter on this shot of dripping branches lighted up by a street lamp.

Apartment door wreath

My neighbor's door wreath. It sheds little stars each time the door opens or closes.

Santa, I've been a good cat all year!

Well, for the most part. I seem to recall some toilet tissue incidents and attacks on my bare feet. But, yeah. You're a great cat, Vincent, although you're not always perfectly behaved.