Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 5, 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. I will finish posting cast entries for Survivor: Game Changers over the next few days -- you can find any Survivor posts I make at this link right here.

If you want in on the blog's Survivor pool, you must sign up before noon on Tuesday ONLY on the pool sign up post which you can find at this link. If you try to sign up on this post, any other post of the Facebook page, your request might be missed. The two-hour season premiere will be live-blogged here on Wednesday evening (along with a blog party!).

Okay, that's out of the way.

We continue to have whacko weather around here in the NJ/Greater NYC Metropolitan Area. We had those spurts of weather with temperatures in the 60s and 70s to bitter cold with windchills in the single digits. That wind just won't stop blowing! We continue to remain quite snow-free around here. Heavy blinding snow squalls passed through the area on Thursday evening. But the wind ended up blowing away almost all of the snow overnight into Friday morning. The wind was also responsible for spreading some fires throughout the area making the flames go from one building to the next to the next, etc. Thankfully, none of those tragic fires were in the immediate Plainfield area.

My health issues have not improved. That's all I'll say about it at this time. I don't really like public whining. But ... WAH! Woe is me!

Ahem.

Oh! I know a good thing! I finally got a new toilet in my apartment after complaining about my old one for nearly 18 years! It was ancient when I moved in here, never looked good, never functioned really well and its tank decided to crack on its own (probably due to age). I swear I didn't take a hammer to it! Although, in retrospect, a tap from a hammer would have gotten me a new toilet years ago! I know it seems like a little thing. But it's heaven to have a toilet that looks sparking clean -- something the old one never did no matter how much I cleaned it -- and one that doesn't take ten minutes to fill the tank after flushing. The only bad thing about the whole ordeal this week is that I flooded the downstairs neighbor's bathroom. Oops. But, how would I know that the tank would decide to crack overnight?

Onto the photos I took this week. I really didn't feel well and the weather was uncooperative. So, I don't have a heck of a lot. Clicking on an image will open it in a larger gallery window.   

Cold little bird

I think the birds are as confused about the weather as we are. 

Reflections on a train

At night, the reflections in the train windows come to life. In the daytime, not so much.

The Chotola Building is under siege

The birds are taking over the upper floors. It's obviously part of their nefarious plot to take over the world.

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - January 15, 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. Right now I'm still in between seasons of the television shows I regularly cover. That's not to say I'm not watching ANY television, but ...! 

Once again, my photos aren't all that great this week. I've had little inspiration and I'm still a bit in an overworked and not feeling well kind of funk. Nothing has really been going on in my life that's all that interesting and absolutely nothing all that exciting. Work, home, eat, sleep, cater to a certain Vincent cat. Oh, well. In about three weeks I'll have a week off. Yay.

Random observations:

• Apparently the Plainfield Police accomplished my upstairs neighbor's loud stereo issue when the landlord didn't. I've been saying all along that he had sub-woofers sitting on the floor and needed to get them off the floor as the thumping bass was shaking my whole apartment. Well, I called the police about 1am one night about two months ago. He had turned it off before they arrived. But, talking to the police via the intercom, I mentioned the speakers on the floor bit. They went up to talk to him even though he had turned the music off. It worked! They must have said the bit about the speakers on the floor! Since that night, I can hear his music (often), but it's not life-disturbing thumping. I can deal with that. Yes! Now, had the landlord actually said "speakers up off the floor" to him, I wouldn't have had to go through months of torture.
• I'm tired of everyone snipping at each other over local and federal politics. Obviously, the Trump fiasco is divisive. Yet, here in Plainfield, there's all sorts of nastiness going on. I'm tired of it all. Overall, I think Plainfield has made tremendous strides in moving forward during the nearly twenty years I've lived in town. I know there are projects and people living in poverty. Yet, the kids have more organized stuff to do than anywhere I've ever lived and more resources available to them. There are poor areas and wealthy areas in town ... but more people just living, working and trying to peacefully live here. 
• As an observer of stuff, I see friction between some people who grew up here and didn't take part in any enriching of the city and the immigrants who have opened all kinds of businesses. I can get along with anyone out there trying to do the right thing for the city. But a few folks are determined to think their particular group is more important than any other. The city needs to keep moving forward. It's actually the working class people who are the vast majority in town -- and we are black, white, Latino, Asian, etc. We're not the ones shooting each other or hanging out on the streets at night drinking or doing drugs. We don't live in lofty mansions either. We all just keep working and paying the bills. All we want is a decent town in which to live.
• I'm looking forward to the upcoming week's winter weather after today. Yes, you heard me! The forecast is for the low 50s for most of the week. I can deal with that. I don't ski anymore. I don't need snow.
• I was an unwilling bit of someone's Facebook Live session yesterday. Grr. A young woman got off the train in front of me and an older man was right there to hug her (in my way, mind you!). As I tried to get around them, I heard a woman say, "Wave to everyone in Georgia and tell them you arrived safely." Gah. There was an older woman filming this reunion (or whatever). That would have been fine had the man/young woman reunion had not blocked everyone else trying to exit the train! So, hello, Georgia.

That's it. Onto the photos, none of them all that great this week. If you click on an image, it opens up in a larger version. 

As seen from Track 1

The view of North Avenue from the platform at the Plainfield Train Station on Monday before our big snow meltdown. I edited this very ordinary shot with a "nostalgic" filter on Google's Color Efex photo editor. I like how it turned out.

Home to the icy snow last night

We didn't get anything like the midwest got yesterday, but it sure was slick walking getting home from work last night! I'd say maybe a half-inch of snow covered by a layer of ice. The streets seemed to be just wet. However, the sidewalks were treacherous. Plainfield Train Station.

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - December 11, 2016

Good morning! Since it's Sunday, 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. This is a regular Sunday part of this blog in addition to the television posts. 

If you're a fan of Survivor, please stop in Wednesday night for the big two-hour season finale blog party! The show (and blog party) start at 8pm ET. I'll be live-blogging the major happenings as they air here.

I really have very little to report on this week and even but a few photos. It's not really my favorite time of year and my health pain-wise has been rough. Plus, it's been cold! Supposedly, we're expecting snow this afternoon and evening, but it's supposed to turn to rain and warm up overnight.

Despite my pain issues, I'm going to arm myself with some ibuprofen, go into work early tomorrow, then head into the city after work. I haven't been going into Manhattan because I haven't been feeling all that well lately. But I now have a reason to go and a purpose. An online friend of more than 20 years from Glasgow (Scotland) is visiting the city. It's one of those odd nowadays tales of knowing someone so well and so long, but never actually meeting in person. He's much younger than I am. I recall he was an older teenager when we first met in a CompuServe forum circa 1995. At that time, he was barred from flying here due to some sort of marijuana issue.  

Now, fast forward twenty years -- he got married in his kilt a year or so back and he and his wife are passing though after visiting her home town of Ottawa. While I'm meeting them on the Lower East Side for dinner, I'll be arriving at Penn Station, walking over to Herald Square to catch the subway down there and taking a different route back up through the city and returning home by bus from Port Authority at the edge of Times Square. So, I'll definitely be taking some photos even though I won't hit Rockefeller Center and such. To be honest, they do look the same year after year anyway although if you haven't been there during the holidays, you need to get there sometime! The bus home drops me off across the street from my apartment.  

That's it. Here are the few photos I took this week. Clicking on an image will open it in a larger version. 

Holidays at the Plainfield Police

"Darn it, Jim. I'm a cop, not a tree lighting design engineer!" But the sentiment is there! The green lanterns by the entrance to the police department aren't holiday related. When I lived in CT or upstate NY, I never saw green lanterns by police department entrances. I noticed that NYC police stations had the lights, though ... as does Plainfield which is much closer to the city. So, I looked up the meaning behind them. I found this reference -- "According to the NYPD website, "It is believed that the Rattle Watchmen, who patrolled New Amsterdam in the 1650's, carried lanterns at night with green glass sides in them as a means of identification. When the Watchmen returned to the watch house after patrol, they hung their lantern on a hook by the front door to show people seeking the watchman that he was in the watch house. Today, green lights are hung outside the entrances of Police Precincts as a symbol that the "Watch" is present and vigilant." Huh. Interesting. The original Green Lantern(s)!

Here, then gone. Here, then gone.

The struggle is real. I fear the dandelions will lose the war; winter will win it soon.
 

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - November 20, 2016

Good morning! Since it's Sunday, 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. This is a regular Sunday part of this blog in addition to the television posts. Right now I'm covering Big Brother: Over the Top daily -- you can find those posts at this link. I'm also live blogging Survivor episodes as they air on Wednesday evenings. Come join the blog parties!

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving will be upon us in just a few days! Around here, we've had more warm days than cold so far. Of course, Thanksgiving is early this year, so there's that. I wouldn't mind temperatures in the 50s all through the winter season, though! But it's already changed. They don't expect temperatures to get out of the forties starting today and remaining for the rest of the week. They predicted snow not far north of here and flurries for here overnight leading into today. I saw no flurries.

With the exception of a Red-Tailed Hawk sitting atop the Chotola Apartment Building on North Avenue (across from the Plainfield Train Station) one morning as I headed to work, it wasn't a great photo week. But I certainly took advantage of the hawk sighting! One of the best things about digital photography is the ability to shoot and shoot ... and shoot. I think I took a total of about fifty shots of him before he flew away!

I found out that the Trader Joe's in Westfield will be reopening in about two weeks. I'm SO looking forward to that! I'm still going through Trader Joe's withdrawal pains since their roof collapsed in a blizzard last January. I have a Peapod grocery order set for Wednesday. But, since it's the day before Thanksgiving, I doubt all items will be in stock. I just know I'll be way busy at work from Friday on, have to work weird hours Monday and Tuesday ... Wednesday is my only day to get groceries other than today. I don't want to go out there today! After making the mistake of going into a food store the day before Thanksgiving in the past, I also refuse to madhouse once again. I figure if Peapod is out of the turkey breast I ordered, they will have the Porterhouse steak and I'll have a good meal on the holiday no matter what.  

Today I'm making up a big batch of beef stew in my crock pot. That will last me through Wednesday for my main meals. When you're me and live with a cat, you don't mind living off of leftovers for three days! I only cook things I like because I have no one to please with my cooking but myself. Often I'll make a big dish on a day off to have for a few days so I don't have to cook on workdays. When you only have one day off at a time and no "weekend" to speak of, it makes life easier. 

Anyway ... onto the photos. Clicking on an image will bring up a larger version.
  

Artsy Red-Tailed Hawk

I edited this shot to highlight the hawk. Deadly to some, yet a magnificent bit of nature.

Morning moon and the hawk

I was so happy to see the hawk sit in place for so long! It's hard to capture them in flight.

The original Hawkeye

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - November 13

Good afternoon! Since it's Sunday, 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. This is a regular Sunday part of this blog in addition to the television posts. Right now I'm covering Big Brother: Over the Top daily -- you can find those posts at this link. I'm also live blogging Survivor episodes as they air on Wednesday evenings. Come join the blog parties!

My apologies for getting this up so late. I'm still fighting the super-cold that's gone rampant through my workplace and the general public. And, it's just not been a great week on the whole for me on a personal level.

The amount of hate and unrest in the world is getting to me. I voted my conscience on Tuesday. Now I see the hatemongers who posted so many racially charged memes of President Obama over the years continuing to post hateful things, I'm dismayed with humanity. 

My upstairs neighbor decided that since Friday was a holiday for him, the world needed to hear his subwoofer stereo late into the night on Thursday. The police responded over a half hour after called and talked to him. But, by then he had turned it off. The landlord will get yet another complaint tomorrow about that. And, mind you, Friday was NOT a holiday at my workplace. 

For the first time ever at the Plainfield Library Photo Contest, not a one of my five photos was deemed worthy of even an Honorable Mention. I don't really like to sound like a sore loser or sour grapes, but obviously the judging criteria has changed with a different person judging the photos. I really feel like I had two photos that were strong contenders and they got zilch even though one of them had all kinds of people gathered around it saying how wonderful it was. I guess I'll rethink what I do next year. 

So, for me ... it's been a week of dismay, disappointment and disturbing. I won't even go into a few deaths of people who touched my life.

Onto the photos, for what they're worth ...    

Reflections on the library.

The Plainfield Public Library's windows reflecting the nearby street scenes.

Yes, I voted

A birds-eye view?

I always liked this building.

Although it could definitely use a bit of tender loving care, this is one fine building. The mosaic tiles are beyond cool. It was obviously built back when art was part of designing buildings. Corner of Park Avenue and East 5th Street in Plainfield.

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - October 16, 2016

Good morning! Since it's Sunday morning, 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. This is a regular Sunday part of this blog in addition to the television posts. Right now I'm covering Big Brother: Over the Top daily -- you can find those posts at this link. I'm also live blogging Survivor episodes as they air on Wednesday evenings. Come join the blog parties!

Ah, next week is the return of The Walking Dead. We'll finally see who Lucille did in. I'm thinking it might be Glenn or Maggie. Maybe Carl?!? I dunno.

My work week has been one from heck (or someplace worse) this past week. Between undependable coworkers, a boss who's been taking vacation every other week for two months now (leaving me to do the work) and undependable technology, I'm just shy of a breaking point. Geez, I get five weeks vacation. If I took vacation every other week, my work would never be caught up. Gah. 

At least we're out of summer and into autumn. 

I don't have much else for you other than the photos. Clicking on an image will open a larger version of it.

The Full Hunter's Moon

It's supermoon lighting up the night's sky last night. And, for me, shooting the moon is always a challenge.

Ring in October love!

The landlord at my workplace grounds has gone above and beyond with the decorations this autumn and I'm loving it! Between the pumpkins, the gourds, the stalks, the bundles of hay and the mums in planters, I'm in photo heaven! At first it was huge pumpkins which would take more than one person to steal, but now there are smaller pumpkins as well. I'm talking all over the place. I'm sure many will end up stolen. Sigh.

Early in the week, the day moon

Tis the season for mums!

The mums in planters near my workplace were so photogenic that I have many shots of them this week (see after the jump) -- some I messed around with photo editing software with and others I left just as taken.

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - September 25, 2016

Good morning! Since it's Sunday morning, 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. If you're looking for TV related stuff, this ain't that! However, that said, supposedly the cast reveal for Big Brother Over the Top (BBOTT) will be announced tomorrow and I'll be posting about that when I get the news! I will also continue posting the aftermath stuff from BB18, the current stuff about Survivor ... so, stay tuned!

What a week it's been around here! The beginning of the week started out with summer temperatures and we ended up with autumn a few days after actual autumn began. Also, the beginning of my work week saw all kinds of action as the Chelsea (NYC)/Seaside (NJ) bomber left unexploded bombs at a nearby city's NJ Transit train station. He was captured in a shoot-out in an even closer town. To be honest, I wasn't frightened ... but I did hope they'd cancel the trains and I would have a good excuse not to return to work for my first day after staycation! But, alas, that didn't happen. So, I went to work.

Let's see ... what happened (other than BB18 finale and Survivor premiere) this week? Well, they posted notices at my apartment building that they were going to do repairs to the parking lot on Wednesday and all cars must be moved. I don't have a car, so I never cared (as Paul from BB would say). I had noticed that they had gone through the lot the week before painting red boxes around every pothole, rough area. Wednesday came and went; nothing was done. Now, I don't know what day they did it -- it had to be Friday or Saturday -- but, I went out this morning to throw my recyclables in the dumpster (for them) and saw that they've cut into the pavement in all of the marked spots. I hope no one decides to go fast through the lot as some of the drop-offs are well more than two inches deep! It had to happen while I was gone because I surely would have heard the noise. Vincent was probably annoyed by them.

My sprained ankle is coming along. The swelling has gone down enough that I can actually feel that bony part of the outside ankle instead of just having it feel like a painful pillow around it. I've given up the cane and roughed it. By the end of my workday, it's a bit swollen again and it's always a bit of a nagging pain. But it's doable. Thankfully, I've been tied up at work with scheduling, hiring, training and testing people, so I've managed to stay off of it for the most part.

When I walked out to the dumpster and to get my newspaper from the front of the building today, the hallway smells SO GOOD. I felt like tracking down which apartment is cooking up the magnificent breakfast and inviting myself!

I have a quiet day planned for today. I want to watch some shows online that I missed this week. Right now I have Charles Osgood's last Sunday Morning on CBS show on. I'm going to miss him and his bow-tie. But I did watch the show back when it was hosted by Charles Kuralt. I'll watch it with a new host. It's one of my personal Sunday morning traditions. 

Onto this week's photos! Clicking on an image will bring up a larger version.
   

Yes! It's AUTUMN! Yay!

On Friday, the temperature hit 90 degrees once again. On Saturday morning as I headed to the train station to go to work, this is what I saw. YES! This is my season! These are the overnight/morning temperatures I want to see! Highs in the low 70s! Perfect!

Ladybug, ladybug ...

This cute little ladybug was kind enough to pose for me one day.

The 59 with a bike

This is the style of bus that NJ Transit runs from town to town within the state. It can only transport two bicycles at a time. If you're the third bike, you're outta luck! I often take the 59 back and forth from near my apartment to the train station when my commute schedule and the bus/train schedules work out well. My monthly train pass is good for that jaunt, so it's free for me. Well, I paid for it, I guess. I just don't pay any more for it! I also will take the 59 into neighboring towns of Westfield and Scotch Plains. I've never taken it all the way into Newark. I keep telling myself that some day I will so I can photo stomp the downtown areas of Newark.

The 113S to Manhattan

It's always tempting to jump aboard this bus as I wait at the Plainfield Train Station to head to work. Yeah, I'd rather roam the streets of NYC than go to work in New Jersey! That's a given. I've never really taken this bus into the city -- the 113N bus goes right by my apartment and I take that one back and forth to the city or sometimes into neighboring Westfield. I have, on occasion, taken the 113S bus home as its last run is an hour later than the 113N and I missed the 113N. When I've done that, I've had to walk a good five blocks or so home, though -- I almost might as well take the train which has its last run at about 2:30am! The last 113S bus from the city goes through here at about 1am. The last 113N is about midnight, but stops right across the street from my apartment. I usually try to catch that one! The NJ Transit commuter buses going in and out of Manhattan are more comfy than are the buses they use town to town within the state. They're kind of like Greyhound sans the bathroom.

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - September 18, 2016

Good morning! Since it's Sunday morning, 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. If you're here for Big Brother news, everything I have for you can be found at this link. I'll be posting another live feeds report late tonight (for what it's worth at this point). But this ain't that. This post is a year-round regular "feature" while Big Brother is a summer obsession. Or, something like that.

Also television-related in this off television topic post -- if you want to be in the blog pool for Survivor 33: Millennials vs. Gen-X -- you need to take action and sign up on THIS LINKED POST. The cut-off for the blog pool is tomorrow, so get in there today! Every season we have late people wanting in and it would be nice if everybody made the deadline!

Okay, as for this week ... it's been a staycation. The timing is good as I'm still trying to recover from my sprained ankle. It's to the point now that, unless I'm on it a lot like I was on Friday, I can actually feel that bony bit that should be felt on the outside of the ankle. I've been trying to stay off it the best I can and pampering it at home with ice and elevation.

As a result of the ankle, I didn't go into the city (Manhattan) at all this week although I had hoped to go photo-stomping the Feast of San Genaro in Little Italy. I did attend a cookout, got together the photos for the library contest and delivered them (Hi, Jeff!) and got a few things done around the apartment but not as much as planned.

A few random things:

• Someone put about twenty books atop the mailboxes for people to take. I looked them over. None of them looked like my cuppa tea. I hope someone takes interest in them, though. I'm just not into historical romance novels.
• Some jerks in a white van with a 908 area code phone number and "Carpet Cleaners" logo pulled up outside last night and filled our apartment dumpsters with carpet remains and other debris. I yelled out the window at them that I was calling the police for illegal dumping to scare them. (There are also signs.) I didn't call the police because I'm not sure of my standing with a complaint as a tenant. I'll call the landlord's office sometime this week to see what they want. I should have gotten the total phone number off the van to give to the landlord. Hopefully, they won't return. But now the tenants in this roughly 40-unit building have no room to put trash in the dumpsters until tomorrow when they're emptied. Grr.
• If there were to be a zombie apocalypse overnight tonight, I wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow.   

Onto the photos for this week (and last). Clicking on an image will open it in a larger version.

The Vincent

I messed with this shot with a photo editor. I really should turn that one couch pillow around. It does match the couch on its other side! I blame it being backwards on the couch because of Vincent the Cat. He knocked it over to sleep atop of it and, without thinking, I put it back up with the wrong side facing out. Yup. All the cat's fault!

Banded bird

Is this my best side? I saw this pigeon watching me at the Bridgewater Train Station. It wasn't until I started shooting him that I noticed the ankle bands. He's someone's bird, whether racing or homing. I don't know what he was doing hanging around the train station!

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